A device is provided for raking and tedding a crop, such as hay. The device includes a frame with a main conveyor rotatably mounted on the frame. The main conveyor has an input end and a discharge end. A pick-up roller is located adjacent the input end of the main conveyor. A rear conveyor assembly is located adjacent the discharge end of the main conveyor. The rear conveyor assembly includes at least one auxiliary conveyor having a first end and a second end, with the second end of the at least one auxiliary conveyor pivotally mounted on the frame. Also, a raking and tedding device is provided in which the rear conveyor assembly includes a lateral conveyor hingedly mounted on the frame and configured to move from a first, operative position under the discharge end of the main conveyor to a second, inoperative position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a device for harvesting crops and, more particularly, to a device configured to both rake and ted the crop.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In harvesting crop material, such as hay, the hay is generally cut by a mower which lays the hay down in swaths approximately 7 to 9 feet wide. It is impractical to pick up and bale the hay when the moisture content of the hay is high. Therefore, the cut hay is typically left in the field to dry naturally by the sun. However, if the hay is left to dry too long, the action of the sun causes some of the nutrient value of the hay to be lost. Further, the longer the hay lies drying, the greater is the chance that the grain structure of the hay will be destroyed. Therefore, it is important to dry the hay as quickly as possible. To accelerate drying after the hay has been cut, it is desirable to pick up and fluff the hay and then lay the hay back down on the ground in order to promote more even drying. This pick up and fluffing of the swath is known as tedding.
Additionally, the hay in the swath may be collected and formed into relatively narrow rows called windrows. This operation is generally called raking. After raking, the ground under the windrow may become wet due to moisture and by being covered by the windrow. This causes uneven drying of the hay, i.e., the top part of the windrow dries but the bottom part remains wet. Therefore, there is a need to pick up the windrow, aerate it and then return the hay back onto the ground in a windrow to facilitate more even drying.
It is customary to use different apparatuses for raking and tedding. The need to have separate tedding and raking devices increases the cost of crop harvesting. In addition to the initial cost of each device, each device must also be separately maintained and serviced to keep the device in working order. Further, two separate devices take up more valuable storage space than would a single device.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a single device which may be used to both rake and ted a crop. Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device with which the crop can be easily and quickly formed into windrows on either side of the device or directly behind the device. It is additionally an object of the invention to provide a device in which the crop can be picked up, turned over and formed into windrows on either side of the device.


A weapon sight can be mounted on a weapon. According to a different aspect of the invention, the sight can detect a level of ambient illumination, and takes a selected action if the detected illumination level is below a selected level.

Over the years, various techniques and devices have been developed to help a person accurately aim a firearm, such as a rifle or a target pistol. One common approach is to mount a sight or scope on the firearm's barrel. A person then uses the sight or scope to view an intended target in association with a reticle, often with a degree of magnification. Although existing firearm sights of this type have been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been satisfactory in all respects.
For example, some pre-existing sights have included the capability to record an image showing a target and/or a reticle, and to later display one or more of these recorded images. However, when these recorded images are displayed, it is possible for a safety hazard to occur. For example, if the recorded image is presented on an electronic display that is separately used to show actual targets, a user may mistake the recorded image for an actual target, and may then discharge the weapon in the belief that he or she is shooting at something in the recorded image, when the weapon is actually pointed at some other person or thing. Moreover, even if the user does not intentionally discharge the weapon while viewing recorded images, there is always a risk of accidental discharge. Consequently, if the user is distracted while viewing recorded images, or gives the weapon and sight to another person who is distracted or who is not familiar with weapon safety, the weapon may be inadvertently pointed in a direction that presents a safety hazard.
A different consideration is that hunting regulations in most states stipulate that hunting is allowed only during the time from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. The intent of these regulations is to prevent the unsafe practice of shooting in very low light levels, where the actual identity of a target may be questionable. The level of illumination at one-half hour before sunrise and at one-half hour after sunset is sometimes referred to as "civil twilight", and falls in a luminance range of 0.1 to 1.0 foot-candles. This luminance range corresponds to a cloudless sky. Other conditions can cause the illumination level to drop below that of civil twilight at almost any time during the day, for example where there is a dense cloud cover, or where a hunter is in a dense forest. There is no easy way for hunters and game wardens to determine actual levels of illumination, and this is why states have adopted the compromise approach of defining allowable hunting conditions in terms of dusk and dawn, rather than in terms of actual levels of illumination. Existing sights provide hunters with no assistance in detecting or avoiding actual low light conditions that can present potential safety hazards.
Still another consideration is that virtually all states have a hunting regulation that requires hunters to wear a fluorescent orange garment above the waist while hunting. This color does not occur naturally in any big game animals, or in their environment. The fluorescent orange color is thus intended to be a visual cue to a hunter that a person is present, rather than a potential animal target. Even where such a garment is present, the patch of orange color may be partly obscured by other objects in the scene, or may be very small if the hunter is a significant distance from the person wearing the garment. In either case, the presence of the orange color in the scene may be inadvertently and unintentionally overlooked by a hunter, resulting in a potentially dangerous situation for the person wearing the garment. Existing rifle sights provide hunters with no assistance in detecting fluorescent orange to avoid potentially dangerous hunting situations.

Method and apparatus for safe operation of an electronic firearm sight depending upon detected ambient illumination


A device (1) is described for controlling and/or regulating a hydraulically activatable shifting element. The shifting element (2) is configured with a piston-cylinder unit (3) that can be acted upon by a hydraulic operating pressure (p) and can be arranged in an installation space that is connected to an oil sump of the gearing mechanism device. In addition, the device (1) is provided with an electric motor (5) that can be actuated by a control and/or regulator unit (4), and which is provided with a drive-transformer device (6) that has a functional connection to the electric motor (5), by way of which the rotational drive of the electric motor (5) can be transformed into the hydraulic operating pressure (p) for the shifting element (2).

In the gearing mechanisms known from conventional practice, shifting elements are preferably hydraulically activated due to the demand for high power density. A central hydraulic control device normally produces a control pressure in a hydraulic system by way of pressure controllers and valve units placed downstream from them, along with the hydraulic fluid flows necessary to actuate the shifting elements. In the operation of an automatic gearing mechanism, the central hydraulic control device is supplied by a permanently driven oil pump, or as the case may be, a pumping device by way of which the hydraulic system of a gearing mechanism is acted upon by the hydraulic-fluid volume flows that are required in all operating states of the gearing mechanism.
However, this has the disadvantage that the hydraulic-fluid volume flow delivered by the pumping device does not depend on requirements, but rather on rotation speed, i.e., is dependent on the number of revolutions produced by the main engine of the vehicle, the characteristic curve of the pumping device being designed for an operating state in which the pumping device displays its minimum delivery volume, and in which the users of the gearing mechanism, which have to be supplied with control pressure and hydraulic fluid via the hydraulic system, demonstrate a high requirement for hydraulic fluid. In this way, the pumping device, at high drive speeds, i.e., in high rotational-speed ranges of the driving engine, circulates hydraulic-fluid volume flows in the hydraulic system that are not needed to this extent by the hydraulic users of the gearing mechanism. In these operating ranges, the pumping device has an unnecessarily high power consumption, which reduces the efficiency of an automatic gearing mechanism and leads to an increase in fuel consumption in vehicles equipped with this type of automatic gearing mechanism compared to vehicles equipped with manual transmissions, whose shifting elements are essentially mechanically actuated.
In addition, hydraulic systems with gearing mechanisms that are configured as hydraulically actuatable shifting elements are known, in which a central feed line is supplied by a central pumping device with hydraulic fluid that is compressed to a predefined level of pressure, similar to a common-rail fuel-injection system of a diesel combustion engine. The feed line can be brought into functional connection with the shifting element via pressure controllers arranged in the proximity of shifting elements to be hydraulically actuated in such a way that the shifting elements are supplied or, as the case may be, acted upon by the pressure and hydraulic-fluid volume flows necessary to actuate them.
A disadvantage of this method is that the portion of the hydraulic fluid of an automatic transmission that is normally supposed to be raised to a lower level of control pressure, such as a lubricant-circuit or cooling-oil circuit level, is condensed to the high holding-pressure level of the portion of the hydraulic fluid of an automatic transmission that is intended for the actuation of multiple-disk clutch or multiple-disk brakes. This also means that the power consumption of the pumping device in these hydraulic systems is higher than that needed to supply the users of an automatic transmission. This leads to impairment of the efficiency of an automatic transmission and to an undesirably high fuel consumption by the vehicle.
The present invention is, therefore, based on the task of providing a device for controlling and/or regulating at least one hydraulically activatable shifting element of a gearing mechanism device, by way of which a gearing mechanism can be operated at a high degree of efficiency, and to create a gearing mechanism that can be operated at a high degree of efficiency.

Device for controlling and/or regulating a hydraulically activatable shifting element of a gearing mechanism and a gearing mechanism


A keepsake for being filled with party favors, treats, small gifts, gift cards and/or greeting cards includes a flexible sheet provided with oppositely disposed front and rear sides, oppositely disposed top and bottom edges, oppositely disposed right and left portions, a center portion intermediately disposed between the right and left portions, a bottom portion extending upwardly from the bottom edge and spanning across the right, center and left portions, respectively. A decorative item (e.g., party favor, treat, small gift, gift card and/or greeting card) is positioned proximate to the pocket such that the decorative item (e.g., party favor, treat, small gift, gift card and/or greeting card) is visible from the front side without blocking the pocket when the sheet is oriented in the tri-folded position.

1. Technical Field
Exemplary embodiment(s) of the present disclosure relate to keepsakes and, more particularly, to a decorative keepsake configured to be filled with party favors, treats, small gifts, gift cards and/or greeting cards.
2. Prior Art
Every weekend, countless consumers across the country attend parties, showers and similar festive gatherings. Whether a surprise "Sweet 16" party thrown for a favorite adolescent, a bridal shower attended by a group of college friends, anniversary party which honors a couple married twenty-five years, parties and similar celebrations enable consumers to spend precious time with friends and loved ones in a fun and relaxing setting and/or even just a single card to a special person. At most parties and holiday celebrations, a festive mood is easily created through simple party decorations. While brightly colored streamers and balloons may be appropriate for a child's birthday party, soft glowing candles and beautiful floral arrangements are often the norm at elegant gatherings attended by adults. In many cases, gifts are exchanged between guests and the guest(s) of honor. Further, party hosts and hostesses themselves often offer a memento or keepsake to party guests as a means of celebrating a special day.
Accordingly, a need remains for a decorative keepsake configured to be filled with party favors, treats, small gifts, gift cards and/or greeting cards in order to overcome prior art shortcomings. The exemplary embodiment(s) satisfy such a need by providing a decorative keepsake that is convenient and easy to use, lightweight yet durable in design, versatile in its applications, and designed for being filled with party favors, treats, small gifts, gift cards and/or greeting cards.

Decorative keepsake and associated use thereof


Techniques used in configurable systems for providing audit trails for configuration changes. In the techniques, configuration tables in a database system are used to store configuration information. Code is associated with each of the configuration tables that causes changes in the configuration information to be recorded in configuration change tables and the audits are made by querying the configuration change tables. Audit area definition tables define two levels of subsets of the configuration tables and an audit may be limited to one of the defined subsets. An audit may also be limited to changes made by a particular person or changes made over a particular period of time. A simple GUI is used to indicate how the audit is to be limited. The preferred embodiment is implemented in a process control system.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to techniques for maintaining records of changes made in persistent data by data processing systems and more particularly to techniques for maintaining records of changes in persistent data that defines the configuration of the data processing system.
2. Description of Related Art
The task of a large class of applications that run on computer systems is to make changes in persistent data, that is, data that is not lost when the program that is manipulating it ceases execution. Many such programs have provisions for tracking the changes made in the persistent data. A simple example of these provisions is the change tracking arrangements provided by most word processors, which can be used to provide a history of the changes made to a document over time. More complex examples are the logging facilities provided for large database systems, which record every transaction performed in the database system.
The main reason for the existence of logging facilities in large database systems is being able to recover from system failure. If there is a log, one can use the log to redo transactions that were lost because of the failure. Of course, people quickly found other uses for the log. If it could be used to redo transactions, it could also be used to replicate transactions; further, since the log recorded every transaction in the system, it could be analyzed both to see whether the database system's efficiency could be improved and to see how outside events were reflected in the database system. For example, one could examine the log to see whether the number of a certain kind of transaction increased during an advertising campaign. Finally, because the log recorded every transaction, it could be used to make an audit trail, that is, to determine what changes were made as a result of a transaction, who made them, and when they were made.
The chief difficulty with using traditional database system log files to analyze transactions or make audit trails was that the log files recorded changes at the level of the physical blocks used to store data in the database system. While the information was all there, getting it was a tedious and error prone process. Among the techniques used to simplify getting information out of the log files were producing a printable version of the log file in which the information was in printable form and making logical versions of the log. The printable version was of course much more easily read by humans than the original physical log file and could also be searched using standard text search tools. In the logical version, the transaction was described in terms of the query language commands which brought it about. Again, this made it more readable by humans. A further advantage of the logical version of the log was that it could be made into a database table and queried to obtain information from it. An example of such a logical version of the log is the one provided by the LogMiner facility in the Oracle 9i™ data base management system manufactured by Oracle Corporation, Redwood City, Calif.
While printable log files and logical log files are much easier to use than physical logs, getting from a printable log file or a logical log file to an audit trail is still difficult. One reason is the sheer mass of information in the log file; locating the information needed to make a particular audit trail in the log file still requires a precise knowledge of what text is to be searched for in the printable log file or what tables are involved in the transactions in the logical log file in order to make queries that will return the desired information. Another reason is that the information in the log file is still only a starting point. In the LogMiner facility, for example, there is no easy way to relate a transaction to the person responsible for it. The transaction in both the physical log file and the logical log file is identified by a transaction number, and information outside the logical log file is needed to determine what person is responsible for the transaction. Similarly, there is no easy way to determine when a transaction was performed. Transactions are ordered in the physical and logical log files by sequence numbers and there is nothing within the physical or logical log file which provides a mapping from sequence numbers to time.
While making audit trails remains hard, the need for them is increasing. That is particularly the case for process control systems that are used in the pharmaceutical industry. There, 21 CFR Part 11 has extended the audit trail requirements for such process control systems to require audit trails of changes in the configuration of the process control system. What is needed is a way of fulfilling these new requirements that is less cumbersome than the techniques described above for extracting such information from physical log files, printable log files, or logical log files. It is thus an object of the invention disclosed herein to simplify the process of making audit trails of configuration changes.

Techniques for providing audit trails of configuration changes


An object is to provide a memory device including a memory element that can be operated without problems by a thin film transistor with a low off-state current. Provided is a memory device in which a memory element including at least one thin film transistor that includes an oxide semiconductor layer is arranged as a matrix. The thin film transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer has a high field effect mobility and low off-state current, and thus can be operated favorably without problems. In addition, the power consumption can be reduced. Such a memory device is particularly effective in the case where the thin film transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer is provided in a pixel of a display device because the memory device and the pixel can be formed over one substrate.

A technique by which transistors are formed using semiconductor thin films formed over a substrate having an insulating surface has been attracting attention. A transistor is used for a display device typified by a liquid crystal television. Silicon is known as a material for a semiconductor thin film applicable to a transistor; however, an oxide semiconductor has attracted attention in recent years.
As a material for the oxide semiconductor, zinc oxide or a material containing zinc oxide as its component is known (e.g., Patent Documents 1 and 2). Further, a transistor formed using an amorphous oxide (oxide semiconductor) having an electron carrier concentration of less than 1018 cm−3 is disclosed (e.g., Patent Document 3).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


The invention described herein provides methods for the detection of soluble antigens. In particular, the methods provide for the detection of soluble proteins and chemicals. In addition, the invention provides methods of detecting a nucleic acid sequence in a sample. Also described is an emittor cell comprising an Fc receptor and an emittor molecule for the detection of a target particle in a sample wherein the target particle to be detected is bound by one or more antibodies. Also provided is an optoelectronic sensor device for detecting a target particle in a plurality of samples.

The need for small, fast, and sensitive detectors of biological agents which are able to monitor an environment for extended periods of time is underscored by the proliferation of biological and chemical weapons, the poor man's nuclear weapon. Under battlefield conditions, a useful detector would rapidly alert a soldier when a specific biological or chemical agent is detected so that countermeasures can quickly be implemented.
Such detectors would be useful in non-military applications as well. Rapid detection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in a patient would help clinicians select a more effective therapeutic regimen. Continuous monitoring of a city's drinking water supply would provide early warning of potential pathogens, giving public works officials more time to manage the potential health risks to the public. In addition, the use of these detectors in meat and poultry inspections would be a significant improvement over the current "poke-and-smell" procedure. In general, such detectors are sorely needed analytical and diagnostic applications within the fields of medicine (e.g., veterinary medicine), agriculture, environmental protection (e.g., to diagnose sick building syndrome), and food processing or regulation.
All vertebrates acquire a specific immune response to a foreign agent (antigen) in part by generating an immense diversity of antibody molecules. Antibody molecules bind to antigen with high specificity, e.g., they can differentially bind to two closely related strains of bacteria, viruses, protein, nucleic acid, fungus, protozoa, multicellular parasite, or prion, as well as products produced or induced by those particles.
Antibodies are produced by B cells, a crucial component of the immune system. An antigen can activate a B cell by binding to antibodies on its surface, leading to a cascade of intracellular biochemical reactions which causes a calcium ion influx into the cytosol of the B cell.
For a review of antibody structure and function and B cell activation, see Paul, editor, Fundamental Immunology, 3rd ed., Raven Press, New York (1993).
Devices that exploit antibody diversity for detection of multiple and rare target particles or antigens have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,087,114 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,248,542.
These devices generally include a liquid medium containing sensor cells (e.g., a B cell, macrophage or fibroblast), also referred to herein as "CANARY" cells or emittor cells, an optical detector, and the liquid medium receiving target particles to be detected. Each of the cells has receptors (e.g., chimeric or single chain antibodies) which are expressed on its surface and are specific for the antigen to be detected. Binding of the antigen to the receptor results in a signaling pathway involving chemical or biochemical changes (e.g., an increase in calcium concentration). The cells also contain emitter molecules (e.g., aequorin or indo-1) in their cytosol which can emit photons in response to the signaling pathway (e.g., increased calcium concentration in the cytosol). The detector can be separated from the medium containing the cells by a covering (e.g., glass) that is transparent to the photons. Such a covering can serve to support the medium, protect a fragile surface of the detector, or be used as a lens. The optical detector, e.g., a charge-coupled device (CCD) is able to detect the photons emitted from the cells in response to the receptor-mediated signaling pathway and indicate to the user that the antigen to be detected is present. Other optical detectors which can be used in the device include photomultiplier tubes, photodiodes, complimentary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) imagers, avalanche photodiodes, and image-intensified charge-coupled devices (ICCD) (see for example, those available from Photek Ltd., East Sussex, UK). In some embodiments, the optical detector is able to distinguish individual cells.


Embodiments relate to operating a service registry for web services, the service registry comprising a plurality of different environments for the web services. An aspect includes detecting the creation of a first endpoint definition document for a specific web service, the first endpoint definition document defining address data for the specific web service in one environment. Another aspect includes accessing data defining the different environments associated with the service registry. Another aspect includes creating one or more additional endpoint definition documents for the specific web service from the first endpoint definition document and the accessed data. Yet another aspect includes storing the one or more additional endpoint definition documents using the service registry.

The present disclosure relates to decision definition for documents, and more specifically, to a service registry for web services.
Web services are described using Web Services Description Language (WSDL) documents where a WSDL document simply contains a set of definitions. These Web Service Definitions are often provided at three levels. Service interface definitions describe the interfaces in terms of operations and signatures provided by a service. These will often reference extensible markup language (XML) schemas to define common message formats or operation parameters. Service binding definitions describe how the interfaces are represented in the infrastructure and over the wire. This defines the transport protocols that are supported such as simple object access protocol (SOAP), Java module system (JMS) (Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates), and others. This references the service Interface definition to indicate exactly which operations are supported over this transport protocol. Service endpoint definitions describe each individual deployed service and describe how a consumer finds and connects to a service. They define the endpoints and indicate which bindings and thus interfaces are supported on each endpoint.
Each of the three levels of service definition may be defined in separate WSDL documents, with each document importing other documents as needed. This approach results in cleaner service definitions and maximizes the ability to reuse service definitions. The implication of following this approach when using a registry/repository product, such as WebSphere (WebSphere is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation) Service Registry and Repository (WSRR), is that it is required to load an endpoint WSDL document into the registry/repository for each environment to which a service is deployed, as the web service moves through the service development lifecycle. The only difference between these endpoint WSDL documents is usually the universal resource locator (URL) of the endpoint for the web service in question. While the generation of these documents might not be too onerous when considering a single service, the overhead of manually generating these endpoint WSDL documents can become an issue as the number of services grows or as the number of environments used (development, test, staging, production, etc.) grows.


An apparatus and method for manufacturing a pharmaceutical dose which dispenses a variable selectable quantity of at least one pharmaceutical onto a pharmaceutical receiving medium. The quantity of the dispensed pharmaceutical(s) are controllably dispensed to customize each pharmaceutical dose to suit the needs of a particular user. The apparatus is coupled by an external telecommunication network to a remote signal source for receiving pharmaceutical quantity and type data for custom manufacturing a pharmaceutical dose. In one aspect, a replaceable cartridge contains a reservoir carrying at least one pharmaceutical component and a fluid drop generator which is mountable in the fluid dispenser. The reservoir may contain a number of separate compartments, each carrying different pharmaceutical component.

1. Field of the Invention
Present invention relates to apparatus and method for manufacturing pharmaceutical doses.
2. Description of the Art
Pharmaceutical doses in tablet or liquid form are made by pharmaceutical companies in formulations of a predetermined quantity of pharmaceutical units in each dose. Such pharmaceutical doses are frequently available in different strengths, such as 50 mg, 100 mg, etc.
A doctor typically prescribes a pharmaceutical or medication for a patient. The doctor, when prescribing a particular medication and medication strength, typically takes into account the patient's age, weight, sex, strong versus weak health condition, available dosage types, and the severity of the patient's illness, disease, or condition. The prescription is filled by a pharmacist who provides the selected pharmaceutical or medication in the desired strength and pharmaceutical type.
Errors can occur in this process due, for example, to the pharmacist being unable to clearly read the doctor's written prescription. This could cause the pharmacist to inadvertently select the improper strength or the wrong pharmaceutical. It would be desirable to provide a pharmaceutical dispensing apparatus and method which minimizes the occurrence of these problems.
For certain illnesses or physical conditions, people frequently take multiple pharmaceuticals at different times of the day, often in different combinations at different time intervals. Such a process is prone to error by the user by selecting the incorrect pharmaceuticals, or taking the proper pharmaceuticals at the wrong times or in the wrong combination. It would be desirable to provide a pharmaceutical dispensing apparatus and method which simplifies the taking of pharmaceuticals, especially combinations of different pharmaceuticals by providing multiple pharmaceuticals of selected strengths in one dose or pill.
Previously, fluid jetting devices based on ink-jet printer technology have been used to dispense chemicals onto a substrate. Piezoelectric or thermal let heads with one or more fluid reservoirs or chambers have been used to dispense a plurality of fluid drops of defined volume onto a medium or substrate. Typically, the fluid jetting heads dispense the same constant fluid volume.
It would be desirable to provide an apparatus and method for the custom dispensing of pharmaceutical to form pharmaceutical doses where each pharmaceutical dose contains one of more pharmaceuticals in a single tablet or liquid dose and where the type of pharmaceutical, and the quantity of the selected pharmaceutical may be easily varied to meet a specific prescription or to manufacture a specific pharmaceutical dose.
It would also be desirable to provide an apparatus and method which is capable of dispensing variably selectable quantities of pharmaceuticals to a pharmaceutical receiving medium, such as a tablet or a liquid vial. It would be also be desirable to provide an apparatus and method which is capable of dispensing multiple, different pharmaceuticals in varied, selected quantities to a single pharmaceutical receiving medium.
It would also be desirable to provide an apparatus and method which is automatically responsive to an input prescription or pharmaceutical quantity signal to dispense the prescribed quantity and type of pharmaceutical to a pharmaceutical medium.
It would also be desirable to provide an apparatus and method which is capable of dispensing multiple pharmaceuticals in separate stages to a medium, each separated by a barrier or sealing layer to isolate the different pharmaceuticals from each other in the medium as well as to provide an outer barrier layer to protect the pharmaceuticals in the medium.
It would also be desirable to provide an apparatus and method for dispensing pharmaceuticals which uses replaceable pharmaceutical reservoirs enabling different pharmaceuticals to be dispensed and re-supplied.

Pharmaceutical dispensing apparatus and method

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Disclosed herein are compositions comprising Porphyra, as well as methods of making and using such compositions.

The red marine alga Porphyra is high in protein, vitamins, minerals, and soluble fiber, and it is the most widely eaten and commercially valuable seaweed in the world. Commonly called "Nori," it is commercially grown in the open seas off the coasts of Japan, China, Korea, and Taiwan on nets covering nearly 70,000 hectacres. Annual harvests result in over 130,000 metric tons, with sales totaling over $6 billion US dollars. The market for Nori sheets in the US alone is estimated to be worth at least $50 million dollars annually and is growing at a rate of over 17% per year.
The development of cultivation techniques to reduce costs, increase yield, and to enhance the levels of various nutrients in Nori has been of major importance. Some improvements made to the technical aspects of Nori cultivation include the development of techniques for controlled culturing using land-based seawater ponds and for artificial seeding of spores onto cultivation nets, which can be stored until placed in the ocean.
With approximately 70 species of Porphyra worldwide, genetic improvement of cultured species has also been crucial for maximizing yield and developing cost-effective cultivation programs. To this end, classical breeding methods, particularly strain selection, have been the most successful at improving seaweed cultivation techniques. For example, as a result of strain selection efforts, there are several dozen cultivars of two Porphyra species, P. yezoensis and P. tenera, farmed in Japan. These cultivars were developed primarily as a result of an intensive strain selection program in Japan. Over many years of repeated selection, improvements were made in increasing the average length of fronds, as well as the length of the growing seasons of these two species.
Despite the success of such efforts to improve cultivation techniques, there are still a number of challenges, disadvantages, and limitations. In particular, repeated strain selection usually requires many years of intensive effort and is very labor intensive. Thus, selecting particular strains of Porphyra that yield desired levels of various nutrients can be difficult. In addition, the existing genetic variability in one or more populations of interest may not be sufficient for strain selection purposes. This can limit strain selection techniques to those varieties with high genetic variability, potentially foreclosing the use of strains that may contain desirable nutrient levels but that may not have the genetic variability suitable for strain selection.
What are needed are methods that allow one to obtain multiple types of Porphyra compositions without the need to cultivate multiple strains of Porphyra. Also needed are methods that can be used to produce specific and tailored Porphyra compositions but that minimize the use of specialized cultivation or strain selection techniques. Compositions prepared from such methods, and methods of using such compositions are also needed. Disclosed herein are compositions and methods that meet these and other needs.


The present invention differs from the prior art in that the present invention provides one or a network of passive or active radio frequency identification (RFID) transceivers and antenna elements in different numbers, in various network sizes, in different configurations and on various substrates. The RFID transceiver can be co-located with standard semiconductor devices, for cost-effective circuit design and non-destructive fabrication test and analysis of integrated circuits and printed circuit boards after fabrication, and to locate, track and identify the integrated circuit, printed circuit boards and products in which they are implemented. The RFID transceivers can be coupled to substrates containing matter in gas, liquid, or solid form, such as medical devices like breast implants, for effective monitoring of the substrates to ensure that the substrate is in an unaltered state and the matter is still contained securely within. The RFID transceivers can be coupled to secure tapes of various lengths and widths and mesh bags or sheets of various sizes and they can be applied at the carton-level using them to locate, track and identify the integrated circuit, printed circuit boards and products in which they are implemented and/or the cartons in which they were placed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention provides RFID device comprising a network of radio frequency identification (RFID) transceivers and antenna elements in different numbers, in various network sizes, in different configurations and on various substrates, a method for making the same and a method of using the RFID devices.
2. Description of Related Art
A radio-frequency identification (RFID) transceiver is a device that includes RF (radio frequency) circuits, control logic and memory, plus an antenna, all mounted on a supporting substrate. It receives an electronic signal, generates a response signal, and then transmits the response signal. RFID transceivers have been used to locate, identify and track merchandise palettes, shipping containers on a palette or individual items within a container, on a retailer shelf or in use by an end user. There are active and passive RFID transceivers. Active RFID requires a battery. A passive RFID draws its energy and transfers information in the form of low power radio waves resulting from illumination of the RFID reader.
RFID devices on flexible organic substrates with a typical overall thickness of about 1.5 mils are known and allow for applications of RFID technology. By giving RFID devices additional intelligence, they can be used to provide state information whenever probed by the RFID reader.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,303,958; 6,511,877; 6,424,263; 6,496,113; 6,164,551; 6,220,516, 6,325,294; 6,375,780 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,424,315, semiconductor devices that simply have low cost RFID functionality through the benefit of integrated circuitry are described. U.S. Pat. No. 6,424,315 uses an antenna on top of the RFID IC with an insulating layer between the IC and antenna with a connection on top of the IC. Implementation of the antenna on the integrated circuit provides an RFID transceiver that is small in size, physically rugged, and relatively inexpensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,518,885 describes packaging for RFID semiconductor devices that allows for an ultra-thin height.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,285,342; 6,646,328; 6,107,920; 6,215,402; 6,268,796; 6,259,408; and 6,278,413 describe antennas that can effectively be used with RFID semiconductor devices.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,112,940, 6,135,291 and 6,695,571 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,330,971 describe tracking and sorting of semiconductor devices by using separate RFID devices associated with the wafer and the sorting bins.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,828,753 and 6,209,098 describe two integrated circuit chips with cryptographic engines used solely to encrypt outgoing information being output across the interconnect or to decrypt incoming information received from the interconnect. U.S. Pat. No. 5,920,690 describes access protection in an integrated circuit whereby access protection circuitry includes access attribute bits which are compared to the access attributes of a memory request. U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,225 discloses a validity circuit that is used with an analog circuit in a mixed signal system to determine whether the supply voltage is at an adequate voltage level to assure stable operation of the analog circuit. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,452,411 and 6,559,671 disclose a system for testing integrated circuit devices in which a tester communicates with a known good device through a channel. U.S. Pat. No. 6,553,496 relates to security protection within an integrated circuit design and pertains particularly to integration of security modules on an integrated circuit so that operations cannot be probed or altered. U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,180 describes a method and system for testing interconnected integrated circuits. U.S. Pat. No. 6,757,832 pertains to an authentication chip protected from unauthorized modification by storing data in intermediate states of the multi-level flash memory between the minimum and maximum voltage level states. U.S. Pat. No. 6,749,115 describes a monolithic integrated circuit with dual public key cryptographic protected central processing units in a computing device. U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,317 relates to the validation of integrated circuit designs in which part of the design is obscured to maintain its confidentiality.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 6,654,890 describes a method to wirelessly authenticate laptops to prevent unauthorized users from being able to use the laptops. Also, many current car radios are disabled when removed from vehicles (i.e., the power supply) until the proper code is entered, to deter theft.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,229 describes packaging tapes with RFID devices in the tape to facilitate the use of the RFIDs to seal cartons or envelopes that are to be shipped or stored. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,429,831 and 6,262,692 describe making a laminated article for use as an RFID label to place on cartons or envelopes that are to be shipped or stored. U.S. Pat. No. 6,140,146 describes processes and apparatus for manufacturing radio frequency transponders having substrates formed from a flexible tape or film. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,831,531, 5,646,592 and 5,406,263 describe a simple trip-wire or magnetic circuit associated with a shipping container that provides continuity, which, if disabled by a forced entry of the container, an RFID tag would alert the owner or monitoring station. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,727,817 and 6,262,664 describe the tamper detection and the prevention of separating a key (or other object) from its ID card, such as an RF tag or other circuitry for storing and transmitting an ID to a controller. The key and the ID card are connected by a tether. When the tether is cut, transmission of an ID code can no longer pass through the tether. U.S. Pat. No. 6,384,727 describes a way to capacitively power a radio frequency identification device.
The above-described patents concern using semiconductor and laminate technology to implement the RFID, antennas to be used with the RFID integrated circuits, putting RFID devices into tapes and labels, tracking and sorting semiconductors using separate RFID devices or non-RFID circuit methods of verifying the correctness, reliability, functionality and trustworthiness of integrated circuits, or providing a means to protect an IC or enclosure from reverse engineering, using single RFID devices to broadcast the unwanted separation or opening of objects. As discussed above, although some of these patents describe methods that can reduce the cost and size and ease of use of the RFID, it is desirable to provide further cost and size reduction for widespread deployment of RFIDs.

RFID devices for verification of correctness, reliability, functionality and security


In a situation where a host computer or storage system is an initiator and the storage system or another storage system is a target, when the initiator intends to check LUs in the target, if the initiator judges that the number of delay ACKs is set to more than one, it simultaneously issues the same number of check commands—SCSI Inquiry LUN#a and LUN#b—as the number of delayed ACKs, or check commands in multiples of the number of delayed ACK, to the target; and, when receiving check results—SCSI Data-In—in response to the check commands from the target, sends an acknowledgement to the target. Accordingly, when the number of delayed ACKs set in the TCP in the initiator is more than one, the initiator simultaneously issues check commands to the target designating the same number of LUs as the number of delayed ACKs, and the responses will not be influenced by the delayed ACK.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method, adopted in the situation where communication between a storage system having a plurality of I/O ports that can be connected to a network and a host computer connected to the storage system via the network, or communication between storage systems, is carried out using iSCSI protocol, for shortening the time for the host computer to check a plurality of logical units in the storage system or for a storage system to check a plurality of logical units in another storage system.
2. Description of Related Art
iSCSI (internet SCSI) is a protocol used for carrying out SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) communications on a TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) network.
With iSCSI, commands and data are transmitted in units of iSCSI PDUs (Protocol Data Units). A PDU—a unit of data handled by a communication protocol—is a packet in TCP/IP or a frame in Ethernet (registered trademark). With ISCSI, a read command is called a Read Command PDU and the data sent in response to the read command is called a Data-In PDU. Incidentally, an iSCSI PDU is transmitted in the form of being packed in a TCP/IP packet in the network. In other words, Read Command PDUs and Data-In PDUs are transmitted substantially as TCP/IP packets.
With ISCSI, an initiator issues, in addition to read commands and write commands, an Inquiry PDU—a command to check logical unit(s) (LUs) in a target—and the target sends back a Data-In PDU as a reply. In iSCSI communication, if an initiator issues a check-requesting SCSI command after it receives a response for a previously issued check-requesting SCSI command, the check results, i.e., Data-In PDUs, from the targets are often sent together in one TCP/IP packet.
For the purpose of reducing network loads, TCP use the delayed acknowledgement ('delayed ACK') for delaying an acknowledgement for a received packet. With this delayed ACK, an acknowledgment is delayed by 0.5 seconds or less or until two packets are received (Non-patent document RFC1122, paragraph 4.2.5). As mentioned above, because the check results—Data-In PUDs—are sent in one TCP/IP packet, a host computer sends an acknowledgment to a storage system after a maximum of 0.5 seconds based on the delayed ACK. Because there is no communication established between the host computer and the storage system during that 0.5 seconds, the host computer issues Inquiry commands to the storage system having many LUs based on the delayed ACK, which causes a problem that the command response time as well as the check time increase.
For example, as shown in FIG. 2, in the situation where an initiator is a host computer 106 and a target is a storage system 101 or the initiator is the storage system 101 and the target is another storage system 101, when the initiator intends to check the LUs in the target, it repeats processing composed of the steps of: issuing a check command 202a—an SCSI Inquiry LUN#a—to the target; when receiving a check result 203a—an SCSI Data-In—from the target as a response to the check command, sending an acknowledgement (ACK) 205a to the target after a maximum of 0.5 second, which corresponds to waiting for two segments, based on the delayed ACK; and, when receiving an SCSI Inquiry Response 206a from the target as a response to the delayed ACK, sending an acknowledgement (ACK) 207a to the target after a maximum of 0.5 seconds, which corresponds to waiting for two segments, based on the delayed ACK. Consequently, the command reply time increases; in other words, the check time increases due to the delayed ACK.
This problem may be solved by disabling the delayed ACK; however, as delayed ACK is employed in many kinds of equipment and operating systems, disabling the delayed ACK function may badly influence the applications that run on that equipment and those operating systems. One method for avoiding the influence of delayed ACK has been suggested in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application Publication No. 2005-174097.
This publication describes that, after required commands are sent to peripheral devices that have delayed ACK, an 'any command' is sent to the peripheral device to avoid the effect of the delayed ACK. To be precise, the number of commands sent to the peripheral devices is counted and when the number reaches a predetermined number, an 'any command' is sent.
However, there are cases where, depending on the connection environment between the peripheral devices, the 'any command' reaches the peripheral devices after an acknowledgement delayed due to the delayed ACK does. In these cases, there is a problem in that the effect of the delayed ACK is fully active. This problem often occurs because TCP/IP is based on best-effort communication. Moreover, that 'any command' ends up in continuously running around on the connection line as unnecessary data. In other words, when an initiator checks a plurality of LUs in a storage system by means of iSCSI communication, the check time increases due to the delayed ACK employed in the TCP in the initiator.
This invention aims to prevent the increase in check time caused by the delayed ACK employed in an initiator's TCP when the initiator checks LUs in a target.

Storage system and logical unit checking method for the same


According to one embodiment, a memory system includes a first compression unit, a second compression unit, a non-volatile memory, a first decoding unit, a conversion unit and an output unit. The first compression unit is configured to output second data obtained by compressing first data. The second compression unit is configured to output third data obtained by compressing the second data. Fourth data based on the third data is written to the non-volatile memory. The first decoding unit is configured to decode the third data based on the fourth data to the second data. The conversion unit is configured to acquire fifth data by converting a format of the second data. The output unit is configured to output the fifth data to a host.

In recent years, a memory system having a function of compressing and decompressing data has been known in order to effectively utilize a memory area. In such a memory system, when a write command is issued from a host connected to the memory system, the data can be compressed and written to the non-volatile memory. On the other hand, when a read command is issued from the host, the data (compressed data) read from the non-volatile memory can be decompressed and output to the host.
However, when the above-described memory system is used for a database or the like with a high frequency of the read command, a bus bandwidth usage rate for outputting the decompressed data to the host becomes high (that is, a bus bandwidth becomes a bottleneck). Therefore, the performance of the entire information processing system including the memory system and the host may not be improved.

Memory system and information processing system


The present disclosure provides a method and an apparatus for removing biasing due to a signal source during random number generation. At least one embodiment includes a method, performed by a random number generation apparatus, for generating a random number having a signal source biasing removed, including: generating a raw bit string by sampling, at a predetermined cycle, a physical signal input from a signal source; and generating the random number by performing block partial sum or sequential partial sum on the generated raw bit string.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and do not necessarily constitute prior art.
Random numbers are usually generated by using a signal source with a noise characteristic or a metastable characteristic for sampling the signal source outputs and comparing the same with a reference value. It is noted that all output values of the random number are supposed to have no correlation, and it is necessary to have a uniform frequency of occurrence of all n values that make up the n-ary random numbers.
However, it is also noted that when using thermal noise as the signal source or using a metastable state, considerable correlation occurs between the signals before and after the generated random number, wherein the proportion of a particular value is far greater than those of other values, which is called biasing.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating biasing present in the resulting sample values from sampling a signal source with deviation.
When a deviation occurs in the signal source due to changes in the external environment or for other reasons, its resulting sample values inherit the biasing that occurs due to a high frequency of occurrence of a particular value. For example, section B of the resulting sample in FIG. 1 shows 1s more frequently than 0s, which is due to the signal source having the deviation in that time zone.
Since such biasing lowers the utility of generated random numbers, there are various methods, attempting to overcome the biasing issue. It is noted that the typical solution to the biasing issue is analyzing sample signals and monitoring whether values that make up the random numbers are generated in a certain ratio for performing appropriate control and signal processing.
For example, a structure for generating a random number using noise as a signal source is configured in such a way that a direct current (DC) filter or a high pass filter is disposed between noise and sampling circuits so as to remove an average value that deviates from a central value.
Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2007-0036799 discloses a method for sampling a signal, analyzing the sample value using a signal processing circuit, and then feeding back an offset controlling signal to a sampling circuit with an offset function for input signal decision threshold.
Examples of other methods using signal processing include a method for scrambling sample signals by a signal processing circuit disposed after a sampling circuit (Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2005-0084153) and a method for analyzing and equalizing sample values (Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2003-0027724).
However, the inventor(s) experienced that among these methods for overcoming the biasing, the method for feeding back deviation of a signal source possibly causes an unintended DC deviation. The inventor(s) also experienced that In the signal processing method such as scrambling, equalization, and so on, when using an algorithm, the merit of a generated random number as a random number is degraded due to its calculability like a pseudo random number, and a relatively complex or high-performance circuit is needed, requiring a long time for signal processing such as scrambling, equalization, and so on.

Method and device for removing biasing due to signal source during random number generation


A thermoplastic elastomer composition containing a (meth)acrylic elastomer (component A), a thermoplastic resin having a melting point of from 180° to 350° C., and having a functional group reactive with an epoxy group (component B), and a vinyl copolymer having a solubility in tetrahydrofuran and having two or more epoxy groups in one molecule, on average (component C), wherein proportions of each of the components are: 40 to 95 parts by weight of the (meth)acrylic elastomer (component A), 5 to 60 parts by weight of the thermoplastic resin (component B), and 0.1 to 30 parts by weight of the vinyl copolymer (component C), a total of the (meth)acrylic elastomer (component A) and the thermoplastic resin (component B) being 100 parts by weight, wherein the component C is constituted by monomer units containing 50% by weight or more of monomer units (monomer unit c1) of which SP value is from 17.5 to 25.0, and wherein a flow beginning temperature is from 180° to 350° C. The molded article obtainable from the thermoplastic elastomer composition of the present invention can be used in various kinds of fields such as electric and electronic parts, automotive parts, sealants, packing, vibration proofed materials, and tubes.

Patent Publication 1 discloses, as a thermoplastic elastomer composition for use in key pads, having excellent flexibility, heat resistance, adhesion, clicking feel, and recycle use, a thermoplastic elastomer composition for use in key pads, characterized in that the thermoplastic elastomer composition contains a block copolymer (A) comprising a (meth)acrylic polymer block (a) and a (meth)acrylic polymer block (b), wherein (a) and (b) are different from each other, as an essential component.
Patent Publication 2 discloses, as an objective of providing a thermoplastic elastomer (block copolymer) having excellent heat-resistant degradability, and having excellent heat resistance that shows excellent rubber elasticity even at high temperatures, a composition containing a thermoplastic resin and a block copolymer (A) comprising (a) a (meth)acrylic polymer block and (b) an acrylic polymer block, the composition being prepared by dynamically treating these components.
Patent Publication 3 discloses as an objective of providing a molded article made of a resin composition having excellent molding processability, recycle use, flexibility, elastic properties, heat resistance, oil resistance, weathering resistance, transparency, cohesiveness with substrates, and the like, a resin composition containing an acrylic block copolymer (A) comprising a methacrylic polymer block (a) and an acrylic polymer block (b), and at least one member selected from the group consisting of a thermoplastic resin (B), a thermoplastic elastomer (C), a rubber (D), and a thermosetting resin (E).
Patent Publication 4 discloses as an objective of providing a resin composition having excellent surface hardness, and in preferred embodiments having excellent rigidity, a resin composition comprising a blend of 1 to 200 parts by weight of an acrylic resin (B), and 0.1 to 100 parts by weight of a compatibilizing agent (C) having one or more functional groups selected from a glycidyl group, an acid anhydride group, and a carboxyl group, based on 100 parts by weight of a thermoplastic polyester resin (A).


A method for drag reducing low molecular weight liquids is provided. More specifically, a method to separate drag reducers from low molecular weight liquids, such as hydrocarbons and anhydrous ammonia, is provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to drag reducing methods for low molecular weight fluids. More specifically, the present invention relates to separation of drag reducers from low molecular weight liquids, such as hydrocarbons and anhydrous ammonia.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When fluids are transported by a pipeline, a drop in fluid pressure typically occurs due to friction between the wall of the pipeline and the fluid. Due to this pressure drop, for a given pipeline, fluid must be transported with sufficient pressure to achieve a desired throughput. When higher flow rates are desired through the pipeline, more pressure must be applied due to the fact that as flow rates are increased the difference in pressure caused by the pressure drop also increases. However, design limitations on pipelines limit the amount of pressure that can be employed. The problems associated with pressure drop are most acute when fluids are transported over long distances. Such pressure drops can result in inefficiencies that increase equipment and operation costs.
To alleviate the problems associated with pressure drop, many in the industry utilize drag reducing additives in the flowing fluid. When the flow of fluid in a pipeline is turbulent, high molecular weight polymeric drag reducers can be employed to enhance the flow. A drag reducer is a composition capable of substantially reducing friction loss associated with the turbulent flow of fluid through a pipeline. The role of these additives is to suppress the growth of turbulent eddies, which results in higher flow rate at a constant pumping pressure. Ultra-high molecular weight polymers are known to function well as drag reducers, particularly in hydrocarbon liquids. In general, drag reduction depends in part upon the molecular weight of the polymer additive and its ability to dissolve in the hydrocarbon under turbulent flow. Effective drag reducing polymers typically have molecular weights in excess of five million.
Low molecular weight hydrocarbon fluids such as natural gas liquids ("NGLs") and liquefied petroleum gases ("LPGs") often are pipelined long distances under pressure as liquids. NGLs are often fractionated into their components which can include, but are not limited to, methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8), butane (C4H10), pentane (C5H12), and heavier cuts (C6+). LPGs can comprise fractionated ethane, propane, and butane that result from the processing of NGLs. Other LPGs can include, but are not limited to, iso-butane, dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3), and natural gasoline (or condensate). Ethylene which results from the cracking of ethane is also transported as an LPG.
Liquefied natural gas ("LNG") is a natural gas that has been cooled to below its boiling point (about −260° C.) such that it condenses to a liquid. In LNG applications, the liquid is at temperatures where drag reducing agents ("DRAs") do not dissolve readily and, thus, usually cannot provide drag reduction. In general, most LNG applications do not require drag reducers since the LNG typically can be transported over long distances as cargo in insulated ships or trucks. Pumping as a liquid generally only occurs during loading and unloading of these vessels.
NGLs or LPGs generally are conducive to high levels of drag reduction, because when they are being transported in pipelines, the fluid is in turbulent flow and because the hydrocarbon DRA polymers are very soluble in the hydrocarbon fluid. However, typically, DRAs have not been utilized to drag reduce NGLs or LPGs due to a vast difference in the volatility of the DRA polymers relative to the NGL or LPG components.
The active ingredient in most commercial hydrocarbon DRAs for pipelines is an ultra-high molecular weight poly-alpha-olefin polymer. Because of the extremely large molecular size, the polymer molecules usually do not vaporize at any reasonable temperature. In fact, because of the large molecular size, the poly-alpha-olefin polymer can begin to thermally degrade at temperatures (about 550° F.) well below any theoretical polymer vaporization temperature. At temperatures above about 550° F., the polymer can break down into much smaller components which can vaporize at reasonable temperatures. Likewise, carrier fluids and other inactive components of many DRAs are larger molecules which do not vaporize unless temperatures are greater than about 360° F. However, in many cases, NGLs eventually can be vaporized in processing at temperatures well below about 360° F. or even about 550° F. If lower temperature vaporization occurs, usually only the NGL components will vaporize, and the DRA components will remain behind at the location of the vaporization.
If the NGL is only partially vaporized, then the DRA components can remain in solution, i.e., in the remaining unvaporized (liquid) portion of the NGL. The DRA then can be carried through the process in solution in this liquid portion, albeit now at a higher concentration due to the lower amount of liquid present after the partial vaporization. If full vaporization of the NGL occurs at a low temperature, then the DRA can remain behind at the location of full vaporization and, in theory, will have no liquid NGL component to carry it any further through the process. The DRA which deposits or remains behind at this location can be in a rubbery, semi-solid form, possibly along with some liquid portions of a DRA carrier. These dynamics can be present in the distillation/fractionation processes for NGL and are especially present in reboiler units. Depending upon the design of the reboiler unit, partial or full vaporization of the hydrocarbon stream can occur, and periodic flushes can be required to prevent over-concentration or deposition of DRA within the reboiler unit.
For the end use of LPGs (usually butane and propane) treated with DRAs, similar downstream effects need to be considered. If the LPG is used for blending into other liquid streams, such as fuels, then the presence of the DRA will, most likely, not be an issue. For instance, butane can be blended into gasoline, which is already an automobile fuel which is often treated with DRA. If the LPG is to be used in a downstream chemical process or directly as a fuel, then that process or end-use needs to be examined in detail for potential points of full vaporization. Fuels, such as propane, typically can be vaporized prior to carburization, and any DRA can "fall out" in the vaporizer unit.
Polymer deposition or "fallout" can cause problems if deposition occurs in an undesired location. Since poly-alpha-olefin DRA polymers can be soluble in hydrocarbon (e.g. oil, diesel fuel, kerosene), the polymer possibly can be solvated and flushed from the system. However, depending upon the amount of fallout and consistency of the deposited material, the solvation and flushing process can take considerable time, considerable volumes of solvent, and likely can require equipment downtime. Because DRAs can be soluble in the liquid medium they are drag reducing, DRA polymers cannot be removed by simple methods such as filtration. Therefore, a method to easily remove DRA polymers from low molecular weight pipeline liquids is needed.

Drag reducing polymers for low molecular weight liquids applications


Unit pixels in a color display device each include a first and a second subpixel. The second is provided with a color filter, and each has a medium changing optical properties (hue and brightness of transmitted light) depending on an applied voltage. A voltage is applied to the first subpixel to modulate those optical properties of the medium, and a voltage is applied to the second subpixel to modulate the brightness of light passing through the medium disposed at the second subpixel. When display of the color display device is switched, a correction voltage of the second subpixel is calculated from a voltage applied to the first subpixel before the display is switched and a voltage applied to the first subpixel after the display is switched, and the voltage applied to the second subpixel is set to a value obtained by superposing the correction voltage on a voltage determined by the display at the second subpixel in a predetermined period after the voltage applied to the first subpixel is switched. The correction voltage modifies the color of the second subpixel so as to produce an achromatic color at that unit pixel by mixing a chromatic color, transitionally appearing at the first subpixel when the display is switched, with the color of the second subpixel.

Heretofore, there is a display apparatus provided with a display device which effects color display depending on three types of signals corresponding to images of three colors of red, green and blue. As such a display apparatus, there are various display devices such as CRT, plasma display (PDP), organic EL display (OLED), and these display apparatuses have already been widely put into practical use. Among them, the LCD has characteristics, such as a thin shape, a low power consumption, and a high display quality, so that it is applied to every color display apparatus, such as a cellular phone, a monitor for PC, a home television, and the like.
Almost all the color display methods of the LCD employ a microcolor filter (MCF) method wherein a liquid crystal display device capable of performing monochromatic modulation is used and one pixel is divided into three subpixels which are provided with color filters of red, green and blue, respectively. As a color display method different from this, a field sequential color (FSC) method wherein a display state of a liquid crystal display device capable of performing monochromatic modulation is switched at high speed and light sources of red, green and blue are synchronized with the display device, thereby to utilize a color mixture effect of the three primary colors by time division.
On the other hand, in the conventional LCDs, there are those with no color filter and there have been known a liquid crystal display apparatus of ECB-type (electrically controlled birefringence (effect)-type) proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,195 or Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. Tokkaihei 6-175125.
In the case of the liquid crystal display device of a transmission-type, linearly polarized light which comes in through one of polarization plates is changed into elliptically polarized light consisting of respective wavelength light fluxes different in state of polarization by the action of birefringence of liquid crystal layer in a process of transmitting a liquid crystal cell. The elliptically polarized light enters the other polarization plate and the transmitted light having passed through the other polarization plate is colored light consisting of light fluxes of colors corresponding to light intensities of the respective wavelength light fluxes.
More specifically, the ECB-type liquid crystal display apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as an ECB color LCD) is capable of coloring light by utilizing the birefringence action of the liquid crystal layer of the liquid crystal cell and the polarization action of polarization plate, so that it causes no light absorption by the color filter, thus effecting bright color display at a high transmittance of light. In addition, the birefringence of the liquid crystal layer is changed depending on a voltage applied to the liquid crystal cell, so that by controlling the voltage applied to the liquid crystal cell, it is possible to change the color of the transmitted light or the reflected light. By this, it is possible to display a plurality of colors at the same pixel.
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a relationship between an amount of birefringence (called retardation R) of liquid crystal display device used in the ECB color LCD and coordinates. According to this figure, it is found that the color at a retardation R from 0 to about 250 nm is achromatic color since the retardation range is located substantially at a center portion of the chromaticity diagram but is changed when the retardation exceeds the retardation range.
When a liquid crystal material having a dielectric anisotropy (Δε) which is negative is used as the liquid crystal and liquid crystal molecules thereof are homeotropically (vertically) aligned with respect to the substrates, the liquid crystal molecules are inclined with voltage, so that an amount of birefringence is increased with a degree of the inclination of the liquid crystal molecules.
In this case, in a cross-nicol condition, the chromaticity is changed along a curve indicated in FIG. 15. For example, when the voltage is not applied, the retardation R is substantially zero, so that light does not pass through the display device to provide a dark (black) state. With an increase in voltage, brightness (lightness) is increased in the order of black, gray, and white. When the voltage is further increased, the light is colored to change the color (hue) in the order of yellow, red, violet, blue, yellow, violet, light blue, and green.
As described above, under voltage application, the ECB color LCD at the vertical alignment mode is capable of changing the brightness between a maximum brightness and a minimum brightness in a modulation range on a low voltage side under and changing a plurality of hues in a higher voltage range.
And now, the LCD provides a high display quality even in motion picture display and has been applied to and developed into a big-screen television. Among others, an overdrive driving method (OD method) reported by H. Okumura et al., in SID '92, pp. 601-604 (1992) has been frequently used in the LCDs for motion picture display.
The OD method is used in order to improve a low halftone response speed of LCD. For example, in the LCD in a normally white mode (display mode in which white display is effected at the time of no voltage application), when a previous state of white is switched into a halftone level, a response time required for reaching an objective halftone level is shortened by setting a voltage value only in one frame immediately after the switching so as to be somewhat higher than a voltage value for displaying an original halftone level. When the previous state is black, the voltage value is set to be somewhat lower than the original voltage value. In a second frame or later, a drive voltage for displaying the original halftone level may be applied as usual.
By this method, optical response of the LCD can be completed in about one frame or within one frame.
As described above, by improving the response speed of liquid crystal in the monochromatic modulation area, it becomes possible to obtain a high-quality motion picture even in either of the MCF method or the FSC method.
Incidentally, as described above, in the conventional color LCD, although the response time is almost within one frame, it takes a time close to one frame with respect to halftone response.
When switching from white to an intermediary tone of blue in the LCD using the MCF method, all the subpixels of red, green and blue are placed in an ON state in the white state, and in the intermediary tone state of blue, the red and green subpixels are placed in an OFF state and the blue subpixel is placed in an intermediary brightness state. When response at this time is observed in detail, in a state immediately after the switching of voltage, the red and green subpixels are in a transition response state between the ON state and the OFF state and the blue subpixel is in a transition response state between the ON state of blue and the intermediary tone state of blue.
In other words, in the first frame immediately after the switching, red and green are in the respective intermediary tone states and blue is in an intermediary tone state brighter than a desired intermediary tone state after the switching. When this is viewed with eyes, it is possible to say that display of blue which is low in color purity and somewhat bright is effected.
Further, similarly, the display color is changed from black to the intermediary tone of blue, it is found that a color purity is the same as a desired one in the first frame immediately after the switching but somewhat dark blue display is effected.
As described above, even when the LCD has a response speed of about one frame period, complete display is not effected, so that in the first frame immediately after the switching, display somewhat different in brightness or color saturation is effected.
In the MCF method, as described above, the hue (or systematic color) is not largely changed, so that it is considered that looking and listening become possible without feeling large inconformity even in the case of displaying quick motion picture as in a liquid crystal television which is currently commercially available.
On the other hand, in the ECB color-type LCD, e.g., when switching from white to blue is performed, transitional response with a change in hue is observed in the first frame immediately after the switching. More specifically, in the transitional response state from white to blue, along a curved line shown in FIG. 15, intermediary display colors are represented in the order of yellow, red, and violet and thereafter blue display is effected.
In short, in the transitional response state, a display color, such as magenta, different in systematic color from blue is observed. Further, when such a display color different in systematic color is observed, coloring is observed at an edge portion of a moving body in the motion picture display to result in inconformity with respect to the motion picture display.
There is also the coloring case not only in the motion picture display but also when switching from a still picture (image) to another still picture is performed.
Further, in the case where dithering is used at the time of displaying natural picture, two-valued gradation control is effected at a unit pixel but gradation display by a spatial color mixture effect is performed, so that two-valued information to be displayed is largely changed even when an image is slightly changed. Accordingly, in the case where an image effecting natural picture display by dithering is displayed as motion picture, the change becomes a cause of destruction of color balance not only at the edge portion but also in the entire image.

Color display device and driving method thereof


The data-content authentication center includes a data-content receiver comprises a transceiver for receiving data/content directly from a data/content generation/capturing device by first checking and confirming a registered device identification (ID) of the data/content generation/capturing device before receiving the data/content transmitted from the data/content generation/capturing device into the data-content receiver.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to systems and methods for authenticating the originality of a document. More particularly, this invention relates to the systems and methods to generate, preserve, collect, search, and to certify the authentic originality of the documents.
2. Description of the Related Art
Even though there are tremendous progress made in the data and media content generation, storage, search, transmission and presentation technologies, there is difficulties and limitations for a network user searches and retrieves these data of media contents to authenticate the originality of the data or content received from the networks. Specifically, there are multiple ways and technologies to modify and change the data or media contents transmitted over the networks. A regular network user has no way to distinguish or verify any of the files or documents are true original.
As more and more business activities are carried out online, there are urgent needs to provide a system and method such that a network user can conveniently and securely validate a document, file or media content received from the network is indeed a true original document. Different techniques and methods are attempted to achieve this purpose including electronic signature system and other methods. However, the state of art techniques are still confronted with various kinds of difficulties and limitations.
In a published US Patent Application 2003/0159045, Nishimoto, et al. discloses original creating apparatus and an originality guaranteeing apparatus to prevent a document and a signature from being falsified while visually displaying the signature, etc. The time data (t1) is added to data of a document (development plan document) and data of a seal column of a creator, an electronic signature is put, and a checksum (CS1) is generated. Then, an original file including also the checksum (CS1) is created, and transmitted to an approver side. The approver side verifies the checksum (CS1), makes a comparison between the checksum (CS1) obtained as a result of the verification, and the checksum recorded to the file, and whether or not both of the checksums match is determined, so that the originality is confirmed. With such a configuration, the authentication process for preventing document falsification can be achieved, whereby a document transfer can be visually made while guaranteeing the originality of document data.
Such methods are still limited by the difficulties that the data and media contents have limited availability and accessible only by those involved in the business transactions. As large amount of media data and contents are generated and captured by large number of networked device, a network user would still require a more convenient and accessible data serve to more readily satisfy the needs for authenticating and validating the originality of data or media contents transmitted and available on the networks.
Therefore, a need still exists in the field of computer network to provide new and improved system configuration and methods to overcome such limitations.

Systems and methods to generate, preserve, collect, search, and certify authentic original documents


A braking system for a rollator with a frame includes an adjustable handle to be installed on a right subframe or a left subframe of the frame of the rollator, a bracket fixedly connected to the handle, a lever rotatably connected to the bracket, a lock movably connected to the bracket and configured to fix the lever in a locked position when the lock is moved relative to the bracket once the lever is rotated toward the frame, and a wire operably connected between the lever and a brake on the frame of the rollator, such that the wire applies the brake when the lever is rotated toward the bracket and when the lever is fixed in the locked position.

Patients, their family members, and their caregivers agree that traditional rollator breaks are hard to operate. Patients have to remove their hands from the rollator handles and press down to secure the braking system. There is increased risk for a patient to lose their balance, which could result in falling. Also, it is difficult to secure the breaks due to requiring upper body strength which a majority of patients lack.


Soles for articles of footwear including a mechanically anisotropic three-dimensional mesh. The mechanically anisotropic three-dimensional mesh can include one or more mechanically anisotropic regions with a first lattice shear modulus measured in a first direction and a second lattice shear modulus measured in a second direction opposite to or orthogonal to the first direction. The first and second lattice shear moduli are different to provide the three-dimensional mesh with mechanically anisotropic properties. The mechanically anisotropic three-dimensional mesh can be three-dimensionally printed.

The human foot is a complex and remarkable piece of machinery, capable of withstanding and dissipating many impact forces. The natural padding of fat at the heel and forefoot, as well as the flexibility of the arch, help to cushion the foot. Although the human foot possesses natural cushioning and rebounding characteristics, the foot alone is incapable of effectively overcoming many of the forces encountered during every day activity. Unless an individual is wearing shoes that provide proper cushioning and support, the soreness and fatigue associated with every day activity is more acute, and its onset may be accelerated. This discomfort for the wearer may diminish the incentive for further activity. Equally important, inadequately cushioned footwear can lead to injuries such as blisters; muscle, tendon, and ligament damage; and bone stress fractures. Improper footwear can also lead to other ailments, including back pain.
Individuals are often concerned with the amount of cushioning an article of footwear provides. This is true for articles of footwear worn for non-performance activities, such as a leisurely stroll, and for performance activities, such as running, because throughout the course of an average day, the feet and legs of an individual are subjected to substantial impact forces. When an article of footwear contacts a surface, considerable forces may act on the article of footwear and, correspondingly, the wearer's foot. The sole of an article of footwear functions, in part, to provide cushioning to the wearer's foot and to protect it from these forces.
Proper footwear should be durable, comfortable, and provide other beneficial characteristics for an individual. Therefore, a continuing need exists for innovations in footwear.

Footwear midsole with anisotropic mesh and methods of making the same


Methods for navigating a graphical user interface on a smaller display. One method may include displaying a virtual desktop or a portion of a virtual desktop on a display, displaying a map pane over the portion of the virtual desktop, wherein the map pane includes an internal frame, increasing the opacity of the map pane in response to detecting a cursor over the map pane, and panning the virtual desktop in response to detecting the cursor dragging the frame within the map pane. The map pane preferably includes a scaled down image of the virtual desktop. In one embodiment, the portion of the scaled image of the virtual desktop within the frame in the map pane corresponds to the portion of the virtual desktop displayed on the screen.

Small, handheld computing devices have been steadily growing in popularity in recent years. The devices go by different names, including, but not limited to, palmtops, pocket computers, personal digital assistants, personal organizers, handheld personal computers and ultramobile personal computers.
In general, handheld ultra-mobile personal computers are small, pocket-sized devices having an LCD (liquid crystal display) with a touch-sensitive screen, a stylus to enter data through the screen, and an input device such as a keypad or miniature QWERTY keyboard. Handheld ultra-mobile personal computers have a microprocessor, memory, and are capable of running an operating system and one or more applications on the operating system.
One of the most desirable characteristics of handheld personal computers is their portability. The compact, portable handheld ultra-mobile personal computers provide a user with real computer or computer-like applications, such as email, PIM (personal information management), an Internet browser, a spreadsheet, and word processing, and practically anything else that a user may do with a conventional personal computer. As examples, a user can receive email messages, schedule meetings or appointments, and browse the Internet from the handheld ultra-mobile personal computer.
Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for computers are now common. They allow a user to graphically interact with a computer in a more intuitive and flexible manner when compared with command line interfaces (CLIs) or menu-driven interfaces. For example, one particularly popular graphical user interface is provided with the Microsoft Windows XP operating system. While graphical user interfaces work well on personal computers and laptop or notebook computers, some graphical user interfaces do not scale well to small displays such as those found on handheld devices like mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and full fledged handheld personal computers.
For example, if a typical personal computer's graphical user interface was displayed on a PDA sized display (e.g., 5″ diagonal or less) screen, the text and icons would be too small to be legible (particularly for users who do not have good vision). In addition, navigating and usability within the graphical user interface can be difficult on a small screen. Even if the user is able to discern which icon represents the desired file or application, the icon may be so small as to make it difficult for the user to position the cursor over the icon (target).

System and method for navigating a graphical user interface on a smaller display


Provided is a document reading apparatus for identifying irregular shadow generated when reading document and for correcting the identified irregular shadow. Lights are irradiated toward the reading areas of the document from a plurality of directions with different light amount. Through the photoelectric conversion of the reflected light, the first image data of a target pixel and the second image data of the target pixel are obtained. Then, through the determination of the type of the document of the target pixel based on the first data and the second data of the target pixel and through the verification (re-determination of the document type) based on the type of the document of peripheral pixel adjacent to the target pixel, irregular shadow is accurately identified.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document reading apparatus which irradiates light toward document and generates image data representing content described in the document through photoelectric conversion of the reflected light and a document reading method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a document reading apparatus is configured to, after a document is irradiated with light from light source, guide the reflected light from a document surface to an photoelectric conversion element. Typically, as a document for reading, a paper document with some irregularities, e.g., bumps and dents, thereon is used. However, a document with metallic gloss or photos etc., may be used as a document for reading. The term "metallic gloss" refers gold color or silver color having very high glossiness like the document on which foils are transferred through hot stamping. The photoelectric conversion element generates image data representing content printed on such a document.
FIGS. 8 and 9 are schematic diagrams illustrating, with arrow lines, directions to which lights irradiated toward general paper document are reflected. If a document surface of paper document 50 is rough and many fine irregularities exist thereon, radiation light 60 is respectively reflected by the irregularities, as shown in FIG. 8. Therefore, reflected light 71 is diffused in various directions. On the other hand, the reflected light 71 of the radiation light 60 irradiated toward the document surface of the document 51 having high glossiness is, as shown in FIG. 9, almost equal to a regular reflection light 72. The regular reflection refers reflection in a direction symmetric with respect to an incident angle, in which the incident angle θ is equal to the reflection angle θ. The document 51 having high glossiness includes a document on which foils are transferred through hot stamping, photos and the like.
As above, depending on a surface state of the document (state of the part of the document to be read, hereinafter referred to as "reading area"), the ratio of the regular reflection light 72 largely changes.
In a conventional document reading apparatus, however, lights diffusing in a vertical direction with respect to the surface of a document 50 and a document 51 are guided to photoelectric conversion element. Therefore, in case of the document 51 having high glossiness, though the ratio of the regular reflection light 72 with respect to the total reflected light 71 is very high, the regular reflection light 72 is not guided to the photoelectric conversion element. Unfortunately, as a result, the image data represents an image with low luminance.
A technology could be a solution to this problem is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-274299 as an image reading apparatus. The image reading apparatus comprises a normal first light source for reading paper document. In addition to this, the image reading apparatus comprises a second light source dedicated to reading gloss document.
A document is irradiated with light by the second light source, which is the same emission wavelength as the first light source, at an irradiation angle different from that of the first light source. In case of the document having high glossiness, the regular reflection light of the second light source is guided to the photoelectric conversion element. Further, providing light adjustment means such as liquid crystal shutter between the second light source and the document reduces the irradiation amount toward the document surface by the second light source.
The image reading apparatus as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-274299, however, still has following problems.
FIG. 10A is a schematic diagram illustrating reflected lights in reading areas A to F of a document 52 having a surface which is an ideal mirror in terms of its surface condition such as glossiness, flatness, surface roughness. FIG. 10B shows image data (which is a luminance value in 256 gradations) in reading areas A to F which are read and output by the image reading apparatus as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-274299. Further, FIG. 11A is a schematic diagram illustrating reflected light in the reading areas A to F in case of the document 51 having high surface glossiness. FIG. 11B shows image data (which is a luminance value in 256 gradations) in the reading areas A to F which are read and output by the image reading apparatus as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-274299.
In the image reading apparatus as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-274299, a first mirror 91 is placed in a path of the regular reflection light of the second light source. Then, the regular reflection light reflected by the first mirror 91 is guided to the photoelectric conversion element 95 through a second mirror 92 and a third mirror 93. As shown in FIG. 10A, if the surface of the document is an ideal mirror surface which only reflects the regular reflection light, the reflected light travels toward path 100, which is directed to the first mirror. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10B, correct image data are obtained in the reading areas A to F. It is general, however, that even the document having high glossiness, there are some irregularities on the surface. Therefore, most reflected lights turn to the regular reflection light, however, not all the reflected lights turn like that.
In this case, in the image reading apparatus as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-274299, in which light is irradiated only from one direction, reflection light which travels in a direction different from that of the regular reflection light is generated as shown in FIG. 11A. This results in a generation of pixel which is almost incapable of guiding the reflected light to the photoelectric conversion element 95. This generates shadowed image data of read areas A and F, as shown FIG. 11B, for example. When such image data are read, there will be many black shadows (hereinafter referred to as irregular shadow) on metallic gloss.

Document reading apparatus, document reading method and storage medium