This crane is provided with: a boom; a wire rope suspended down from a leading end section of the boom; a suspender that is fixed to a lower end of the wire rope and is for suspending a slinging tool for hanging a load; a calculation unit that calculates a first load, which is the weight of a member that is suspended down from the suspender; a slinging tool database unit that stores information pertaining to the slinging tool corresponding to the first load; a determination unit that determines whether a load is being suspended from the suspender; and a control unit that acquires the information pertaining to the slinging tool corresponding to the first load from the slinging tool database unit if the load is being suspended, and sets the vertical length of the slinging tool on the basis of the acquired information pertaining to the slinging tool.

Conventionally, in a crane, vibration occurs in a load being conveyed. Such vibration is vibration as a single pendulum having a load suspended down at a leading end of a wire rope as a mass point, or a double pendulum having a hook portion as a fulcrum, with the acceleration applied during conveyance as a vibromotive force.
Further, in addition to the vibration due to the single pendulum or the double pendulum, vibration due to bending of a structure included in a crane such as a telescopic boom or a wire rope occurs in a load conveyed by the crane including the telescopic boom.
The load suspended down on the wire rope vibrates at a resonance frequency of the single pendulum or the double pendulum, and is conveyed while vibrating at a natural frequency in a hoisting direction of the telescopic boom, a natural frequency in a turning direction, and/or a natural frequency at the time of expanding/contracting vibration due to elongation of the wire rope.
In such a crane, in order to stably lower the load to a predetermined position, an operator needs to perform an operation of canceling the vibration of the load by turning or hoisting the telescopic boom through a manual operation using an operation tool. For this reason, conveyance efficiency of the crane is affected by the magnitude of vibration generated during conveyance or a skill level of the crane operator.
Therefore, there is known a crane that suppresses the vibration of the load and improves the conveyance efficiency by damping a frequency component of a resonance frequency of the load from a conveyance instruction (control signal) of an actuator of the crane (see Patent Literature 1).
A crane device described in Patent Literature 1 calculates the resonance frequency from the rope length (hanging length), which is a distance from a center of rotation of oscillation of the wire rope to a center of gravity of the load. Then, the crane device removes a component near the resonance frequency from the conveyance instruction by using a filter unit.
Incidentally, when a resonance frequency of swing of the load from the hanging length is calculated, it is necessary to calculate a length from a boom leading end section to the load. The length from the boom leading end section to the load is a value obtained by adding a length from the boom leading end section to a hook and a length from the hook to the load.
The length from the boom leading end section to the hook can be calculated based on the amount of reeling out of the wire rope (length of the wire rope) and the number of times of winding the wire rope around the hook. However, in practice, in order to calculate the resonance frequency of the swing of the load from the hanging length of the load, the length from the boom leading end section to the hook and the length of the slinging tool to be hung on the hook are required. In this case of acquiring the length of the slinging tool hung on the hook, various measuring devices, etc. for measuring the length of the slinging tool are required. Such a measuring device has a complicated device configuration and increases the manufacturing cost. Therefore, there is a demand for a technology for easily acquiring the length of the slinging tool without requiring various measuring devices, etc. for measuring the length of the slinging tool.

Crane and method for acquiring length of slinging tool


A seismic circuit controller includes a ring-shaped first conductor; a second conductor defining a concave conductive surface; a base for supporting the first conductor horizontally oriented above the second conductor, the second conductor being concave upwardly, the conductors being connected in a circuit having first and second circuit nodes. A conductive ball that rollably contacts the second conductor makes electrical contact between the first and second conductors in response to lateral movement of the conductors, an SCR latch circuit of the controller maintaining a low-impedance current flow between the first and second circuit nodes in response to the electrical contact between the first and second conductors when the controller is connected in series with a battery and a load. A control switch that is also connected in series with the load arms the controller when ON and resets the latch circuit when OFF. The base together with the first and second conductors, the conductive ball, and the latch circuit can be configured interchangeable with a conventional battery cell of a flashlight, the load being powered when the control switch is activated and upon predetermined seismic movement, the battery continuing to power the load after termination of the electrical contact and until the control switch is deactivated.

The present invention relates to motion sensors for circuit activation of flashlights and the like in emergencies such as earthquakes, and devices such as flashlights having motion sensing capability.
The prior art includes numerous devices for activation of an illuminator or other alarm in response to abnormal motion. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,248,723 to Miethe discloses a motion sensing device in a standard flashlight casing having an audible alarm in place of the flashlight bulb. U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,845 to Washburn discloses a flashlight that is activated upon the occurrence a gross motion such as tipping the flashlight over. U.S Pat. No. 4,841,288 to Addicks discloses a lamp assembly for removably fastening to a wall, the lamp being activated by vibration of the wall.
These and other prior art devices are subject to one or more of the following disadvantages:
1. They do not remain activated after the abnormal motion has ceased;
2. They are expensive to provide because they are not compatible with standard flashlight construction;
3. They are ineffective in that they respond to gross movement only while not responding to earthquake motion that is likely to result in interruption of utility power.
Thus there is a need for a seismic circuit activator that overcomes the above disadvantages.


A display apparatus and a method for recognizing a motion thereof are provided. The method includes setting an active area in which the externally input motion is recognizable, wherein the active area corresponds to a portion on a screen of the display apparatus, changing the display apparatus from an overall area motion recognition mode to a partial area motion recognition mode configured to only recognize the externally input motion in the active area, recognizing the externally input motion in the active area, and disabling the partial area motion recognition mode in response to the recognized externally input motion being a disabling motion configured to disable the partial area motion recognition mode.

1. Technical Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a display apparatus and a method for recognizing a motion thereof, and more particularly, to a display apparatus which can recognize a motion only in an active area in a partial area motion recognition mode, and a method for recognizing a motion thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A panel key on the display apparatus or a remote controller is frequently used as interface methods between a display apparatus and a user. Advancements and development in display technologies has provided display apparatuses that may be equipped with various and complex functions such as, for example, the ability to execute content or browse the Internet. Controlling these functions may be equally variant and complex and may therefore be not easily done using a remote control or panel keys to control all functions of the display apparatus. Thus, the functionality and control that may be offered may become complex and are diversifying due to the size or function limit of the remote controller and panel keys.
Further, another method on controlling a display apparatus may include the user making a motion toward the display apparatus which receives the motion and may be controlled by motion recognition. Also, the user may utter a command and the display apparatus, which receives the command, may be controlled by voice recognition.
However, the display apparatus which is capable of motion recognition may recognize a motion that is input through a camera regardless of a user's intention (for example, when the user moves the user's hand to drink water), and may cause a false operation. Also, when a plurality of users use the display apparatus, the false operation is more likely to occur than when a single user uses the display apparatus.

Display apparatus and method for motion recognition thereof


A method for determining fracture parameters of heterogenous or homogeneous formations which takes into account spurt-loss is provided. The invention provides a method of determining fluid-loss coefficient, spurt-loss and closure pressure based on a general minifrac analysis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to improved methods for determining fracture parameters of subterranean formations, and more specifically relates to improved methods for determining fluid-loss coefficient, spurt-loss and closure pressure for such formations.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is common in the industry to hydraulically fracture a subterranean oil-bearing formation in order to increase oil production. The success of a hydraulic fracturing treatment often hinges on being able to reasonably estimate the rate at which fluid leaks off from the fracture into adjacent permeable formations. An overestimate of fluid-loss rate can result in the use of excessive pad volumes, leading to increased treatment costs and increased potential for formation damage. More importantly, an underestimate can result in the use of insufficient pad volumes or insufficient fluid-loss control additives, resulting in premature treatment screen-out.
An indirect measurement of the effective fluid-loss coefficient is provided by the "minifrac" or the "minifracture" analysis which is well known in the art. Minifracturing was developed as a pretreatment technique for gaining information on fracture growth behavior. Since its inception, various expansions, modifications, and refinements have increased the applicability of the minifrac analysis. By using the minifrac analysis to analyze the pressure decline during the shut-in period following the creation of a small test fracture, or even a full-scale fracture, parameters such as fracture width and length, fluid efficiency, and closure time may be determined. Of the parameters that may be determined from the minifrac analysis, the most useful, at least for design purposes, has been the effective fluid-loss coefficient. The effective fluid-loss coefficient provided by minifrac analyses has usually provided more reliable estimates of fluid-loss rates and volumes than can be obtained through theoretical calculations based on fluid and formation properties and laboratory measurements of filter cake resistance.
Despite the increased reliability typically associated with fluid-loss coefficients obtained from minifrac tests, the insufficiency of conventional test techniques for naturally fractured formations is becoming known in the art. It is known that these techniques fail to adequately predict formation behavior. For example, sand-out cases have occurred that the conventional analysis and design techniques could not predict.
An attempt was made to solve this problem empirically by developing a correlation based on numerous field cases. Although the correlation has been applied successfully, its use may be limited to the formations for which it was developed. Similar correlations will have to be developed for various naturally fractured reservoirs.
Further, conventional minifrac analyses (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,038) do not properly address spurt-loss. Spurt-loss is an initial brief period of rapid fluid-loss that has been observed in laboratory experiments. Because of its brevity, it is commonly characterized as an apparent positive intercept on plots of fluid-loss volume versus square root of time plots.
Most minifrac analysis techniques ignore the effect of spurt-loss. The only attempt to consider the effect of spurt-loss was presented by Nolte. Nolte, K.G., "A General Analysis of Fracturing Pressure Decline With Application To Three Models, SPE Formation Evaluation, December, 1986, pages 571-83. Nolte utilized a term .kappa. to account for increased fluid-loss during pumping due to spurt-loss. However, no technique to calculate this factor from pressure decline data was proposed.
The present invention is directed to an improved method of determining the fluid-loss or leakoff coefficient and the spurt-loss of a subterranean formation using a general minifrac analysis.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a new method for determining the spurt-loss and leakoff coefficient of a subterranean formation.

Method for determining fluid-loss coefficient and spurt-loss


An apparatus includes a memory module connector assembly physically secured along an edge of a printed circuit board. The printed circuit board includes a first plurality of contacts on a first surface of the printed circuit board and a second plurality of contacts on a second surface of the printed circuit board. The memory module connector assembly includes a first edge connector socket for receiving a first memory module, a second edge connector socket for receiving a second memory module, a first plurality of electrical leads electrically connecting contacts within the first edge connector socket to the first plurality of contacts on the first side of the printed circuit board, and a second plurality of electrical leads electrically connecting contacts within the second edge connector socket to the second plurality of contacts on the second side of the printed circuit board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a memory module connector secured to a printed circuit board for receiving a memory module.
2. Background of the Related Art
Packaging density of memory modules is important for many electronic systems, such as computer servers. A high packaging density of memory modules, such as small outline memory modules, may be provided by nesting two connectors in close proximity on one surface a printed circuit board. For example, a lower connector might be at a seating height of 5.2 mm above the surface of the main printed circuit board and an upper connector might be at a seating height of 9.2 mm above the surface of the printed circuit board and somewhat offset from the lower connector. The stacked connectors provide two sockets that accommodate two stacked memory modules. Moreover, the stacked connectors are of a type that require insertion and rotation of a memory module, which provides electrical contact between pads on an edge of the memory module and corresponding contacts within the connector with any contact wipe.

Lenovo Enterprise Solutions (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A continuous process for forming multilayer circuit structures which includes applying and curing a film forming polymer onto the matte side of a copper foil. The opposite (shiny) side of the foil is optionally but preferably cleaned, and applied with a photoresist which is then optionally but preferably dried. The photoresist is exposed, and developed to remove the nonimage areas but leave the image areas. The foil under the removed nonimage area is then etched to form a copper pattern, and the remaining photoresist is optionally but preferably removed. The foil is then cut into sections, and then optionally but preferably punched with registration holes. The copper pattern is then optionally but preferably treated with a bond enhancing treatment, optionally but preferably inspected for defects, and laminated onto a substrate to form a multilayered circuit structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the manufacture of circuit boards. More particularly, the invention relates to a continuous process for forming a multilayered circuit structure, which prevents damage to conductive foils during the formation of multilayered circuit structures while enhancing etching precision and accuracy of the circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
Circuit boards and printed circuits have wide application in the field of electronics. They are useful for large scale applications, such as in industrial control equipment, as well as in small scale devices, such as telephones, radios and personal computers. In producing such printed circuits, it is important that a high degree of accuracy and resolution is attained for very small line and space widths to ensure good performance of the circuit.
The ability to produce accurate features having very small dimensions, particularly of 100xcexc or less, is extremely important in the production of small and large scale equipment. Etching precision becomes more important as the circuit patterns become ever smaller. It is well known in the art to use known photolithographic techniques to produce printed circuit boards having small features with a high degree of accuracy. Typically, an electrically conductive foil is deposited onto a substrate, and a photoresist is then deposited onto the foil. The photoresist is then imagewise exposed and developed, forming a pattern of small lines and spaces which are then etched into the conductive foil.
It is a common practice to then subject the foil to a bond enhancement such as a xe2x80x9cblack oxidexe2x80x9d treatment, in which the copper is pre-roughened by chemical micro-etching, and is chemically treated with a layer of copper oxide (which is black). This treatment helps to promote secure adhesion of the foil to other materials. See, for example, the discussion in U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,516, which is incorporated herein by reference, for a discussion of forming a black oxide on the surface of a foil. The adhesiveness of the foil surface to prepregs or other materials is greatly enhanced by the black oxide treatment, resulting in greater heat and moisture resistance of the resulting multilayer circuit structure.
One problem that arises in the formation of circuit structures is that damage to metallic foil surfaces, resin spots on the foil, and handling of thin laminates have been known to cause low yield. This damage is mainly caused by excessive manipulation of the foils during manual handling processes, such as those presently widely used in the art. It would therefore be desirable to employ a process for forming multilayer circuit structures which avoids or reduces damage and imperfections to metal foils, while etching circuit lines and spaces with high resolution and accuracy. The present invention provides a solution to this problem by providing a continuous process which minimizes manual handling of copper foils, to thereby avoid or reduce unnecessary damage to the foils.
Continuous processes are used in the manufacturing of flexible printed circuits that minimize yield losses due to material damage. The flexible substrate (usually a copper clad polyimide or polyester film) has a circuit pattern put on one or both sides. Typical process flows are described by J. Fjelstad, Flexible Circuit Technology, Silicon Valley Publishers Group, 1994. The reel to reel technique was also described by D. Weiss, et al xe2x80x9cManufacture of 4 Layer MCM-L""s Using Reel to Reel Manufacturing Methodsxe2x80x9d, Institute for Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits, 1997, in the production of four layer multichip modules made from epoxy laminate. He contended that if the epoxy substrate is extremely thin, it would be flexible enough to be processed in a continuous process. The problem with epoxy substrates is that the core thickness is limited to approximately 150 microns, since above that the substrate loses flexibility. Additionally the current flexible printed circuit process is limited in substrate thickness between 50 and 200 microns in 50 micron increments. The present invention addresses these issues in that a wide range of finished product thickness can be obtained in very small increments.
According to the present invention, multilayer circuit structures are formed by a continuous process which includes applying and curing a film forming polymer onto the matte side of a copper foil. The opposite (shiny) side of the foil is optionally but preferably cleaned, and applied with a photoresist which is then optionally but preferably dried. The photoresist is exposed, and developed to remove the nonimage areas but leave the image areas. The foil under the removed nonimage area is then etched to form a copper pattern, and the remaining photoresist is optionally but preferably removed. The foil is then cut into sections, and then optionally but preferably punched with registration holes. The copper pattern is then optionally but preferably treated with a bond enhancing treatment, optionally but preferably inspected for defects, and laminated onto a substrate to form a multilayered circuit structure. This approach is preferably conducted in a reel to reel manner. This technique results in more accurate etching and better etch uniformity than known methods, because the optimal orientation (face down) through the wet processing steps can be utilized.
The invention provides a continuous process for forming a multilayered circuit structure which comprises:
(a) unrolling a roll of copper foil, which foil has a shiny surface side and a matte surface side;
(b) applying and curing a film-forming polymer onto the matte side of the foil,
(c) optionally cleaning the shiny side of the foil;
(d) applying and optionally drying a photoresist onto the shiny side of the foil;
(e) imagewise exposing the photoresist to actinic radiation to thereby form image and nonimage areas;
(f) developing the photoresist thereby removing the nonimage areas and leaving the image areas;
(g) etching the foil under the removed nonimage areas of the photoresist to thereby form a copper pattern;
(h) optionally removing the remaining photoresist;
(i) cutting the foil into sections;
(j) optionally punching registration holes through the foil;
(k) optionally treating the copper pattern with a bond enhancing treatment;
(l) optionally inspecting the copper pattern for defects; and
(m) laminating at least one foil section to a substrate; thus forming a multilayered circuit structure.
The invention also provides a continuous process for forming a multilayered circuit structure which comprises:
(a) unrolling a roll of copper foil, which foil has a shiny surface side and a matte surface side;
(b) applying and curing a film-forming polymer onto the matte side of the foil,
(c) cleaning the shiny side of the foil;
(d) applying and drying a photoresist onto the shiny side of the foil;
(e) imagewise exposing the photoresist to actinic radiation to thereby form image and nonimage areas;
(f) developing the photoresist thereby removing the nonimage areas and leaving the image areas;
(g) etching the foil under the removed nonimage areas of the photoresist to thereby form a copper pattern;
(h) removing the remaining photoresist;
(i) cutting the foil into sections;
(j) punching registration holes through the foil;
(k) treating the copper pattern with a bond enhancing treatment;
(l) inspecting the copper pattern for defects; and
(m) laminating at least one foil section to a substrate; thus forming a multilayered circuit structure.
The invention further provides a continuous process for forming a multilayered circuit structure which comprises:
(a) unrolling a roll of copper foil, which foil has a shiny surface side and a matte surface side, both sides having been treated with bond enhancing treatment;
(b) applying and curing a film-forming polymer onto either side of the foil,
(c) optionally cleaning the side of the foil that has not been applied with the film-forming polymer;
(d) applying and optionally drying a photoresist onto the uncoated side of the foil;
(e) imagewise exposing the photoresist to actinic radiation to thereby form image and nonimage areas;
(f) developing the photoresist thereby removing the nonimage areas and leaving the image areas;
(g) etching the foil under the removed nonimage areas of the photoresist to thereby form a copper pattern;
(h) optionally removing the remaining photoresist;
(i) cutting the foil into sections;
(j) optionally punching registration holes through the foil;
(k) optionally inspecting the copper pattern for defects; and
(l) laminating at least one foil section to a substrate; thus forming a multilayered circuit structure.
The invention still further provides a continuous process for forming a multilayered circuit structure which comprises:
(a) unrolling a roll of copper foil, which foil has a shiny surface side and a matte surface side, whose shiny side has been treated with a bond enhancing treatment;
(b) applying and curing a film-forming polymer onto the shiny side of the foil,
(c) optionally cleaning the matte side of the foil;
(d) applying and optionally drying a photoresist onto the shiny side of the foil;
(e) imagewise exposing the photoresist to actinic radiation to thereby form image and nonimage areas;
(f) developing the photoresist thereby removing the nonimage areas and leaving the image areas;
(g) etching the foil under the removed nonimage areas of the photoresist to thereby form a copper pattern;
(h) optionally removing the remaining photoresist;
(i) cutting the foil into sections;
(j) optionally punching registration holes through the foil;
(k) optionally treating the copper pattern with a bond enhancing treatment;
(l) optionally inspecting the copper pattern for defects; and
(m) laminating at least one foil section to a substrate; thus forming a multilayered circuit structure.

Manufacture of printed circuits using single layer processing techniques


An anchoring system for a urethral catheter (14, 36), and a method of its use, involve a resilient anchor-interval portion (40) of a catheter drainage shaft (42, 42'), positioned between a bladder balloon (26) and a urethral anchoring cuff balloon (44). The anchor-interval portion has a sinusoidal configuration lengthwise thereof which provide a proper linear elastic resilience for allowing the bladder balloon and the urethral anchoring cuff balloon to be separated a substantial distance for impinging against what remains of a prostate gland (20, 28, 32).

This invention relates to urethral catheters and more specifically to systems and methods for anchoring such catheters in urethras.
An example of a urethral catheter of the type to which this invention relates is a catheter disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,161 to Richard C. Davis, Jr. In the catheter disclosed in that patent there is a valve which, when the catheter is properly anchored in the patient's urethra, can be activated by application of an external force. That catheter is designed so that when it is installed its downstream tip does not extend beyond a penile meatus in any patient position. As is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,161 of Richard C. Davis, Jr., a method of inserting such an indwelling urethral catheter includes the step of determining the length of the patient's urethral tract. Thus, since the advent of the indwelling urethral catheter of the type described above, proper sizing of the catheter has been appreciated as a critical element in a protocol for positioning the device and in its proper functioning.
During development of this catheter it has come to be better appreciated that as the bladder fills and empties and the body moves, the bladder and urethra shift and stretch relative to one another. It has been determined that overall urethral length is generally shortest when a patient is lying down and lengthens when the patient is sitting or standing. Thus, it has been determined that a properly sized male indwelling urethral catheter of this type must be short enough to remain totally inside the patient's urethra in all positions, but yet long enough to allow easy access the valve located in the patient's urethra for voiding and for removal of the catheter itself.
If it is sized too long, the catheter may occasionally protrude from the tip of the penis, potentially causing pain, swelling, and infection. If the catheter is too short, the patient may not be able to easily access the valve to properly actuate it. Further, the patient may have difficulty removing the catheter.
Another feature of the indwelling urethral catheter described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,161 to Richard C. Davis, Jr. is that it includes not only a bladder balloon but also an anchoring urethral cuff balloon along a catheter drainage shaft for inflating in the patient's urethra. A primary purpose of the urethral anchoring cuff balloon, as was described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,161, is to prevent retrograde movement of the catheter into the bladder by using the prostatic urethra as a buttress against which the urethral anchoring cuff balloon is juxtaposed.
To meet different lengths of normal adult urethral tracts, indwelling urethral catheters of the type of this invention, have been, to date, manufactured in six different overall lengths so that most any length of an adult male penis and urethral tract can be accommodated. However, notwithstanding this, sizing problems have continued to be encountered. In this regard, until recently, an indwelling urethral catheter of the type of this invention was fitted to a patient by first placing a measuring catheter, having a bladder balloon and drainage shaft extending beyond the patient's penile meatus, in the patient. By noting the position of the penile meatus along the measuring catheter's drainage shaft, with the patient in various positions, the overall length of the patient's urethral tract was determined. An indwelling urethral catheter was then chosen from the six different lengths corresponding to the overall length of the patient's urethral tract. Using this method, however, problems have continually been encountered in choosing the proper length catheters. That is, after catheters, whose lengths were determined as described above, have been installed it has been found that they often have not remained in their preferred positions. As the body accommodates to the presence of the device in some cases they have shifted downstream to extend beyond a patient's penile meatus when the patient was in a lying position and in other cases they have shifted upstream so far from the meatus that the patient has not been able to activate the valve to urinate. Because of this, it has sometimes been necessary to try various size catheters in a patient, one after the other--even though the patient was previously measured--until a catheter of the correct size, if ever, was found. Thus, in many cases, catheter sizes have actually been determined as much by trial and error as by measuring, if at all. Such trial and error has resulted in discomfort for patients and has proven to be expensive, since it has resulted in the expenditure of many catheters and much time and effort; and often patients were not able to be fitted at all.
The problem has been that some inserted prior-art indwelling urethral catheters, of the type of this invention, have experienced undue relative linear movement along urethral tracts. That is, sometimes they have appeared to be in their correct positions but then at other times they have moved linearly, within the urethral tract, to inappropriate positions. Thus, when some catheters were initially sized using the above-described method, which relied solely on the bladder-to-meatus length, they were occasionally noted to shift downstream in the urethra; thereby appearing to be "too long", and their tips intermittently protruded from the penile meatus. It has been assumed that such shifting represented "device failure"; presumably the bladder balloon had leaked thus allowing downstream migration. An opposite situation has been noted in some patients who at first could easily access their valves but who, over time, had increasing difficulty accessing their valves because their catheters migrated upstream. Again, this was previously interpreted as a "device failure" whereby the urethral anchoring cuff balloon was thought to have deflated allowing such upstream migration.
It has now been realized that the distance between the bladder neck orifice and the bulbous urethra, which shall be referenced herein as the "interballoon urethral segment length" and as the "prostatic urethral length", varies tremendously among patients. Such a difference in interballoon urethral segment lengths is illustrated in FIG. 3 where are shown diagrammatically: a patient's bladder 10, the patient's penis 12, and a urethral sizing catheter 14 extending through a urethral tract 16 from the bladder 10 to beyond a penile meatus 18. For purposes of illustration, three different size interballoon urethral segment lengths (i.e. prostate gland or prostate Fossa as the case may be) are represented diagrammatically on FIG. 3. It should be understood that individual patients will have only one of these interballoon urethral segment lengths; however, all three are depicted on FIG. 3 so that a reader can compare the different size interballoon urethral segment lengths with interballoon spacings (balloon spacings).
A normal-size prostate gland 20 has a downstream side 22 which is located approximately four centimeters from the interior surface of a bladder neck orifice 10a (or downstream side 24 of a bladder balloon 26). This four centimeter spacing is represented by the letter "b" in FIG. 3. However, an enlarged, or hypertrophic prostate gland 28 has a downstream side 30 which is spaced approximately 5.5 cm from the downstream side 24 of the bladder balloon 26 in the bladder 10. This 5.5 cm measurement is signified by the letter "a" in FIG. 3. Finally, a post prostatectomy prostatic Fossa 32, which is essentially what is left when a prostate is removed (or at least diminished), has a downstream side 34 which is spaced approximately 2.0 cm from the downstream side 24 of the bladder balloon 26 when it is in the bladder 10. This downstream side of the bladder balloon 26 can also be influenced to some extent by the position of a bulbous urethra 68. In this regard, when a patient's prostate is removed, it sometimes happens that some of the bladder must also be removed and reconstructed. In this process, these elements move relative to one another to some extent.
In any event, this 2.0 cm measurement is indicated by the letter "c" in FIG. 3. It should be understood that these measurements are only given as approximations and that they can vary significantly from patient to patient. However, it can be seen from these approximations, in FIG. 3, that the relative interballoon urethral segment lengths ("b", "a", and "c") of patients--and thus necessary catheter balloon spacings--can vary by a factor of nearly three (comparing "a" with "c").
It has been suggested that both urethral sizing catheters and indwelling urethral catheters be manufactured in sets, with the catheters of each set having approximately the same length, but each catheter of the set having different balloon spacings to accommodate the different interballoon urethral segment lengths (a, b, c). Under this system, it has been anticipated that up to 18 different indwelling urethral catheter sizes will be necessary, with there being six different overall clinical catheter lengths, but at least three different balloon spacings for each overall clinical catheter length. Further, it is anticipated that at least three urethral sizing catheters will be necessary.
Although the system of these many different catheters solves the problem of the various interballoon urethral segment lengths, it is expensive to manufacture so many different-size catheters.
Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide an anchoring system for an indwelling urethral catheter and, possibly for a urethral sizing catheter, which accommodates various interballoon urethral segment lengths so that a single catheter can be used with various interballoon urethral segment lengths.
Similarly, it is an object of this invention to provide a method of anchoring a urethral catheter which accommodates substantial differences in urethral anatomies.


A system for making clipped thermoplastic yarns or filaments, such as chipped glass yarns, including at least a die co-operating with at least a cutting machine located in extension of each other. A mechanism sizes the yarns and/or filaments coming from the die. The system further includes at least one return mechanism and a floor. Further, a mechanism displaces and positions the cutting machine in at least two positions, the first position being beneath the floor and the second position being above the floor. A first opening is provided in the floor through which the cutting machine is moved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of the manufacture of chopped thermoplastic yarns, in particular of glass yarns, and it relates more specifically to a system for the manufacture of such yarns.
2. Description of the Related Art
Numerous devices capable of carrying out such manufacturing operations are known. These systems generally comprise at least one bushing from which glass yarns are drawn and conveyed to a chopping device composed, for example, of a back-up roll or anvil which interacts with a chopping roll equipped with evenly distributed blades at its periphery. The chopper is positioned so as to come into contact under pressure with the circumferential surface of the back-up roll, thus defining a chopping region.
The French certificate of addition FR 2 075 019 illustrates a system of this type in which a bushing is used in combination with a chopping device.
In order to increase the production efficiency of plants for the manufacture of chopped yarns, solutions have been devised according to which several bushings feed a single chopping device. French patent FR 2 490 251 illustrates a solution of this type. These techniques exhibit a priori the advantage of having a single chopping machine used in combination with several bushings.
However, in use, these plants display several disadvantages: first, rapid wearing of the chopping rolls, this being because these rolls have to chop very large amounts of yarns. Production is ordinarily of the order of 12 tones of chopped yarns per day, so that the chopping rolls have to be replaced after 6 to 8 hours of operation. This arrangement exhibits the following disadvantages:                the loss of glass flowing from the bushings        thermal conditions for the bushings and duct which are disrupted.
Furthermore, as several yarns feed a single chopper, the dispersion with regard to the glass delivery of each bushing makes it necessary to consider the mean of the deliveries for the calculation of the speed of a chopping device. That is to say, a high standard deviation with regard to the count, which is not satisfactory with regard to the quality of the finished product and which gives outputs which decline in proportion as the bushing departs from the standard.
In addition, the current tendency is to increase the number of filaments per strand. Each strand thus becomes increasingly difficult to chop. This results in uneven chopping with more or less fine offshoots and, consequently, in a nonhomogeneous density of the final product. An increase in the chopping pressure, which prematurely wears out the wheels and can result in melting phenomena, should also be noted.
Another important problem related to this concept concerns the splittings of the yarns. These splittings or "breakages" lead to human intervention to restart the yarn in the chopping machine. This incident is therefore particularly damaging to the production output as it requires a relatively long preparation time.
Furthermore, the broken end from a bushing can interact and result, by rolling up on a guiding member, in the breakage of the other bushings, with then the necessity to restart all the bushings. This human intervention indeed necessitates a very long period of interruption of the production since the operator then has to successively restart each of the yarns.

System for making clipped thermoplastic yarns


The present disclosure describes systems, methods, devices for performing thought-controlled neuromuscular stimulation. Also described are methods for producing a neuromuscular stimulation cuff. The systems and methods generally relate to receiving and processing thought signals indicative of an intended action, and then delivering stimulation to effectuate the intended action through a neuromuscular stimulation cuff. The neuromuscular stimulation cuff includes a flexible printed circuit board having at least one finger and a plurality of electrogel discs disposed on the at least one finger. The neuromuscular stimulation cuff may be produced by providing a layer of polyimide, etching a conductive copper circuit including a plurality of electrodes into the layer of polyimide to form an etched circuit layer, adhering a cover layer onto the etched circuit layer to form a flexible printed circuit board (PCB), and cutting at least one finger from the flexible PCB. The neuromuscular stimulation cuff employs a flexible multi-electrode design which allows for reanimation of complex muscle movements in a patient, including individual finger movement.

The present disclosure relates to systems, methods, and devices for thought-controlled neuromuscular stimulation. Generally, the system may be used to receive thought signals indicative of an intended action and provide electrical stimulation to a damaged or degenerated neuromuscular region to effectuate the intended action. Methods to produce a flexible neuromuscular stimulation cuff are also disclosed. The device may be a neuromuscular stimulation cuff which delivers stimulation to restore movement to parts of the body not under volitional control due to damaged or degenerated neural pathways from spinal cord injury, stroke, nerve damage, motor neural disease, and other conditions or injuries. The system can also be used in a patient that has some local neural or muscle degeneration for therapeutic or rehabilitation purposes.
Subcutaneous implantable neurostimulation cuffs have been commonly used to block pain and to restore function to damaged or degenerative neural pathways. These implantable cuffs are wrapped around a target nerve and generally include one or more electrodes arranged to stimulate the nerve. By including more than one electrode and/or a different geometry of electrodes, implantable cuffs such as the flat interface nerve electrode (FINE) have been able to achieve stimulation selectivity at the level of individual nerve vesicles.
Transcutaneous neurostimulation cuffs behave similarly to implantable cuffs, however there are important differences. Because the electrodes are placed against the skin, rather than through it, stimulation is preferably performed on skeletal muscle tissue or muscle groups, rather than peripheral nerves located deeper under the skin. Muscular stimulation may be preferable to stimulating major peripheral nerves, e.g. ulnar, median, radial nerves, as stimulating these nerves may cause a patient to feel a tingling sensation. By increasing the number and layout of electrodes in a neuromuscular cuff, similar to the direction taken with implanted nerve cuff designs, current generation neuromuscular stimulation cuffs have been able to selectively stimulate individual muscles or muscle groups.
Flexible transcutaneous cuffs have been developed which fit around a human appendage such as a forearm to control the wrist or fingers. These flexible cuffs may include sensors which record muscle activity, or EMG signals, and stimulate in response to the EMG signals. Thin film technologies have also become important in the development of functional electrostimulation (FES) devices. Devices incorporating thin film technology are often based on a polyimide substrate covered by a chromium, gold, or platinum film.
Current neuromuscular cuffs present many limitations, for example, their inability to receive a stimulation signal which is directly processed from thought signals. These neuromuscular cuffs are also not flexibly positioned over multiple stimulation points. Flexible electrode positioning is desirable when attempting to restore complex muscular movements through neuromuscular stimulation. Current neuromuscular cuffs are also incapable of accommodating a wide range of patient appendage geometries, e.g. varying circumferences, while also staying well adhered to the skin.
An effective wireless system for transmitting human brain signals directly to muscles, and thereby enabling movement through thought-control, has not yet been developed. Neuromuscular stimulation cuffs for such a system, e.g. which receive an input consisting of encoded "thought" signals and provide stimulation to muscular regions according to the signals, have also not been developed.

Systems including neuromuscular stimulation cuff


Systems and methods for accurate temperature modification of a patient, or selected regions thereof, including inducing hypothermia. The temperature modification is accomplished using an in-dwelling heat exchange catheter within which a fluid heat exchange medium circulates. A heat exchange cassette attached to the circulatory flow lines of the catheter, the heat exchange cassette being sized to engage a cavity within a control unit. A temperature measurement scheme for obtaining body core temperature is provided, including methods of obtaining and analyzing temperature data to provide feedback to the control unit for use in controlling the heating and cooling of the heat exchange medium so as to heat or cool a patient to a desired target temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to medical devices and methods and, more particularly, to a programmable, microprocessor based controller and method for controlling the temperature and flow of a thermal exchange fluid that is circulated through a heat exchange catheter inserted into a patient's body for the purpose or cooling or warming at least a portion of the patient's body.
2. Description of Related Art
Under ordinary circumstances, the thermoregulatory mechanisms of a healthy human body serve to maintain the body at a constant temperature of about 37° C. (98.6° F.), a condition sometimes referred to as normothermia. To maintain normothermia, the thermoregulatory mechanisms act so that heat lost from the person's body is replaced by the same amount of heat generated by metabolic activity within the body. For various reasons such as extreme environmental exposure to a cold environment or loss of thermoregulatory ability as a result of disease or anesthesia, a person may develop a body temperature that is below normal, a condition known as hypothermia. A person may develop a condition that is above normothermia, a condition known as hyperthermia, as a result of extreme exposure to a hot environment, or malfunctioning thermoregulatory mechanisms, the latter being a condition sometimes called malignant hyperthermia. The body may also establish a set point temperature (that is, the temperature which the body's thermoregulatory mechanisms function to maintain) that is above normothermia, a condition usually referred to as fever.
Accidental hypothermia is generally a dangerous condition that may even be life threatening, and requires treatment. If severe, for example where the body temperature drops below 30° C., hypothermia may have serious consequences such as cardiac arrhythmias, inability of the blood to clot normally, or interference with normal metabolism. If the period of hypothermia is extensive, the patient may even experience impaired immune response and increased incidence of infection.
Simple methods for treating accidental hypothermia have been known since very early times. Such methods include wrapping the patient in blankets, administering warm fluids by mouth, and immersing the patient in a warm water bath. If the hypothermia is not too severe, these methods may be effective. However, wrapping a patient in a blanket depends on the ability of the patient's own body to generate heat to re-warm the body. Administering warm fluids by mouth relies on the patient's ability to swallow, and is limited in the temperature of the liquid consumed and the amount of fluid that may be administered in a limited period of time. Immersing a patient in warm water is often impractical, particularly if the patient is simultaneously undergoing surgery or some other medical procedure.
More recently, hypothermia may be treated in a more complex fashion. Heated warming blankets may be applied to a patient or warming lamps that apply heat to the skin of the patient may be used. Heat applied to the patient's skin, however, has to transmit through the skin by conduction or radiation which may be slow and inefficient, and the blood flow to the skin may be shut down by the body's thermoregulatory response, and thus, even if the skin is warmed, such mechanisms may be ineffective in providing heat to the core of the patient's body. When breathing gases are administered to a patient, for example a patient under anesthesia, the breathing gases may be warmed. This provides heat relatively fast to the patient, but the amount of heat that can be administered without injuring the patient's lungs is very limited. An alternative method of warming a hypothermic patient involves infusing a hot liquid into the patient via an IV infusion, but this is limited by the amount of liquid that can be infused and the temperature of the liquid.
In extreme situations, a very invasive method may be employed to control hypothermia. Shunts may be placed into the patient to direct blood from the patient through an external machine such as a cardiopulmonary by-pass (CPB) machine which includes a heater. In this way, the blood may be removed from the patient, heated externally, and pumped back into the patient. Such extreme measures have obvious advantages as to effectiveness, but also obvious drawbacks as to invasiveness. The pumping of blood through an external circuit that treats the blood is generally quite damaging to the blood, and the procedure is only possible in a hospital setting with highly trained personnel operating the equipment.
Accidental hyperthermia may also result from various conditions. Where the normal thermoregulatory ability of the body is lost, because of disease or anesthesia, run-away hyperthermia, also known as malignant hyperthermia, may result. The body may also set a higher than normal set point resulting in fever which is a type of hyperthermia. Like hypothermia, accidental hyperthermia is a serious condition that may sometimes be fatal. In particular, hyperthermia has been found to be neurodestructive, both in itself or in conjunction with other health problems such as traumatic brain injury or stroke, where a body temperature in excess of normal has been shown to result in dramatically worse outcomes, even death.
As with hypothermia, when the condition is not too severe, simple methods for treating the condition exist, such as cold water baths and cooling blankets, or antipyretic drugs such as aspirin or acetaminophen, and for the more extreme cases, more effective but complex and invasive means such as cooled breathing gases, cold infusions, and blood cooled during CPB also exist. These, however, are subject to the limitations and complications as described above in connection with hypothermia.
Although both hypothermia and hyperthermia may be harmful and require treatment in some cases, in other cases hyperthermia, and especially hypothermia, may be therapeutic or otherwise advantageous, and therefore may be intentionally induced. For example, periods of cardiac arrest or cardiac insufficiency in heart surgery result in insufficient blood to the brain and spinal cord, and thus can produce brain damage or other nerve damage. Hypothermia is recognized in the medical community as an accepted neuroprotectant and therefore a patient is often kept in a state of induced hypothermia. Hypothermia also has similar advantageous protective ability for treating or minimizing the adverse effects of certain neurological diseases or disorders such as head trauma, spinal trauma and hemorrhagic or ischemic stroke. Therefore it is sometimes desirable to induce whole-body or regional hypothermia for the purpose of facilitating or minimizing adverse effects of certain surgical or interventional procedures such as open heart surgery, aneurysm repair surgeries, endovascular aneurysm repair procedures, spinal surgeries, or other surgeries where blood flow to the brain, spinal cord or vital organs may be interrupted or compromised. Hypothermia has even been found to be advantageous to protect cardiac muscle tissue after a myocardial infarct (MI). Controlled reduction in body temperature may also be advantageous in treating and/or preventing other maladies, including ischemic or toxic damage to body tissues and organs, such as, for example, to minimize the toxic effect on the kidneys of contrast agents used during various diagnostic procedures.
Current methods of attempting to induce hypothermia generally involve constant surface cooling, by cooling blanket or by alcohol or ice water rubs. However, such cooling methods are extremely cumbersome, and generally ineffective to cool the body's core. The body's response to cold alcohol or ice water applied to the surface is to shut down the circulation of blood through the capillary beds, and to the surface of the body generally, and thus to prevent the cold surface from cooling the core. If the surface cooling works at all, it does so very slowly. There is also an inability to precisely control the temperature of the patient by this method.
If the patient is in a surgical setting, the patient may be anesthetized and cooled by CPB as described above. Generally, however, this is only available in the most extreme situations involving a full surgical team and full surgical suite, and importantly, is only available for a short period of time because of the damage to the blood caused by pumping. Generally surgeons do not wish to pump the blood for periods longer than 4 hours, and in the case of stroke or traumatic brain damage, it may be desirable to induce hypothermia for longer than a full day. Because of the direct control of the temperature of a large amount of blood, this method allows fairly precise control of the patient's temperature. However, it is this very external manipulation of large amounts of the patient's blood that makes long term use of this procedure very undesirable.
Means for effectively adding heat to the core of the body that do not involve pumping the blood with an external, mechanical pump have been suggested. For example, a method of treating hypothermia or hyperthermia by means of a heat exchange catheter placed in the bloodstream of a patient was described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,208 to Ginsburg, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Means of controlling the temperature of a patient by controlling such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,003, also to Ginsburg, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. A further system for such controlled intervascular temperature control is disclosed in publication WO OO/10494 to Ginsburg et al., the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Those patents and publication disclose a method of treating or inducing hypothermia by inserting a heat exchange catheter having a heat exchange area into the bloodstream of a patient, and circulating heat exchange fluid through the a heat exchange balloon while the balloon is in contact with the blood to add or remove heat from the bloodstream. (As used herein, a balloon is a structure that may be readily inflated by increasing pressure in the balloon and collapsed by reducing pressure in the balloon vacuum.) A patient's core body temperature can fluctuate unpredictably with the insertion of various medical devices within the patient's body during a medical procedure that can skew the reading of the body temperature when taken in the immediate area of the lumen where the medical device is inserted. Although current medical devices on the market include thermal or temperature sensors mounted directly on the device itself for measurement of the temperature within the body lumen (i.e., a catheter, an electrode on a catheter shaft, etc.), these types of medical devices only measure the temperature of the fluid in the vessel in the immediate area of the inserted device. Further, the placement of the temperature sensor on the catheter used to treat or control the patient's body core temperature puts the sensor in a position where the blood or other body fluid is perturbed by the catheter. For example, cooling or heating fluid flowing through the catheter to a heat exchange device mounted on the distal end of the catheter may slightly heat or cool the body fluid flowing past the body of the catheter upstream of the temperature sensor, resulting in biased temperature readings when the slightly warmed or cooled body fluid reaches the temperature sensor compared to core body temperature as determined by the average blood temperature. Such a bias may result in undershooting the target temperature when the biased temperature readings are used to control heating or cooling of the blood of the patient. This inability to control the patient's body core temperature during a medical procedure because of the devices' difficulty in obtaining an accurate measure of a patient's blood temperature may result in reduced treatment effectiveness if the patient's core temperature is heated or cooled beyond a target temperature.
Although heat exchange catheters, such as described above, provide a rapid and effective means to add or remove heat to a patient's blood to control the body temperature of the patient, accurate control of the temperature of the heat exchange fluid circulating within the heat exchange catheter is necessary to prevent too rapid heating or cooling, or over or under shooting of the target patient temperature sought to be obtained. Various attempts to measure the patient's body temperature during the heat exchange procedure have been attempted. For example, in one method, a temperature probe is inserted in the patient's esophagus and the signal from the temperature probe is communicated to a controller which adjusts the energy being added to or withdrawn from the heat exchange fluid circulating within the heat exchange catheter accordingly. While the esophageal temperature obtained is typically a reasonably accurate measurement of the patient's core temperature, inaccuracies may occur due to improper placement of the probe. Further, placement of the esophageal temperature probe is time consuming, requires precision in placing the probe in the proper area of the esophagus, and also may interfere with other tubes or catheters that may need to be inserted either through the patient's mouth or nasal passage.
Temperature probes, such as thermistors or thermocouples, have been located within the heat exchange catheter itself to provide a temperature signal to the controller. In this method, it is necessary to periodically stop the flow of fluid through catheter so that the fluid temperature may equilibrate with the temperature of the blood flowing outside of the catheter. Various methods of reducing the amount of time the fluid flow is stopped have also been attempted so that the fluid stoppage does not adversely affect the targeted rate of cooling or heating, nor allow the natural heating of the body to occur which would negate the desired benefit of the induced hypothermia.
One such apparatus and method is described in publication WO 03/015673, entitled "System and Method for Patient Temperature Control Employing Temperature Projection Algorithm", the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. A principle disadvantage of this method is that each time the flow is stopped, the maximum heating or cooling rate is decreased. Moreover, if the interval before the first stoppage is lengthened to speed heating or cooling, the method provides increased risk of overcooling or overheating unless the pump is stopped and the patient's temperature is confirmed. Additionally, when using algorithms to project the actual blood temperature, the fluid flow may never be stopped long enough for the heat exchange fluid to equilibrate with the actual blood temperature, thus providing only an estimate, and not an actual measurement, of the blood temperature.
Another method used has been to locate the temperature probe on the exterior surface of the heat exchange catheter, typically slightly distal to the heat exchange balloon. Such arrangements, however, typically provide fluctuating temperature signals to the controller, which may adversely affect the controller's ability to accurately determine the temperature of the patient's blood. The fluctuating signal is a result of the placement of the temperature sensor in the blood stream. As the blood flows around the heat exchange catheter, the flow of blood tends to separate into a cooler layer immediately adjacent the catheter and a warmer layer further away from the catheter. The situation is reversed if the catheter is being used to warm the patient. As the blood mixes as it flows downstream, the temperature sensor may be exposed to temperature fluctuations caused by incomplete mixing of the blood, which are detected by the sensors, resulting in a fluctuating temperature signal.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for an improved heat exchange system that provides for more accurate temperature measurement for use in controlling a heating/cooling means that warms or chills fluid that is then circulated through a heat exchange catheter. Such a system should be capable of estimating the actual core temperature of a patient's body from direct temperature measurement of the patient's blood, and should also be capable of identifying events, such as a change in heating or cooling parameters, a loss of a supplemental warming device, such as a heating blanket, or onset of shivering by the patient that may affect the control of the heating or cooling of the patient. Moreover, such a system should be capable of achieving such an estimate while minimizing or eliminating the interruption of fluid flow through the heat exchange catheter. The present invention fulfills these needs and others.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for determining and controlling core body temperature


An automatic cleaning drain structure includes a cover member, a base, a fan blades set and an object expeller set. The fan blades set is installed interior of a holding space of the base A wind power device extends from the object expeller set, and functional connection of the bearing between the fan blades set and the wind power device is used to effect rotation thereof, Accordingly, when a water flow flows past the fan blades set or the wind power device is blown by the force of wind, then a plurality of strip members of the object expeller set and a plurality of strip members of the wind power device rotate around the cover member about the bearing as center, thereby enabling the drain to achieve the objective of clearing away foreign objects to allow unimpeded water flow.

(a) Field of the Invention
The art of the present invention provides an automatic cleaning drain structure, and more particularly to a drain that uses the driving force of wind power and water power to drive and rotate strip members.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a drain A of prior art comprises a cover A1 configured with a plurality of stop strips A2. The stop strips A2 are joined to a bottom disk A3, and the bottom disk A3 is joined to a bottom portion A4. When the drain A is used outdoors to channel water flow and separate foreign objects A5, then the foreign objects A5 easily become intermixed with the water flow, and the intermixed foreign objects A5 easily become entrapped on the cover A1, thereby resulting in an accumulating retention of the foreign objects A5 on the cover A1 and increasing thickness thereof, causing the drain A to become blocked and thereby losing effectiveness to allow unimpeded water flow.                Hence, the inventor of the present invention proposes to resolve and surmount existent technical difficulties to eliminate the aforementioned shortcomings of prior art.


This application provides a coding method and apparatus, and a device. The method includes: dividing, by a sending device, a subchannel location sequence number set into at least two mutually exclusive subsets based on an interleaving operation, where a subchannel location in each subset still belongs to the subset and does not belong to another subset after any quantity of interleaving operations are performed; determining, by the sending device, an information bit location set and a frozen bit location set of a to-be-coded polar polar code based on the at least two mutually exclusive subsets; and coding, by the sending device, the to-be-coded polar code based on the information bit location set and the frozen bit location set. The coding method and apparatus, and the device provided in this application can improve communication performance of polar coding.

In a long term evolution (LTE) system, a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carries a master information block (MIB). A length of the MIB is 24 bits, and the MIB includes content such as a downlink system bandwidth, a PHICH (Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel) size, and eight most significant bits of a system frame number (SFN). FIG. 1 shows a processing process of a PBCH at a transmit end. A base station first performs cyclic redundancy check (CRC) coding on a to-be-sent MIB to obtain a 16-bit CRC sequence. Then, the base station performs channel coding and rate matching on a 40-bit sequence (including a 24-bit MIB and a 16-bit CRC) to obtain a coded sequence, segments the coded sequence to obtain four PBCH independent units of an equal size, and scrambles the four PBCH independent units by using four scrambling code sequences respectively. After the scrambling, the base station completes subsequent modulation, mapping, and sending procedures.
Channel coding of the PBCH uses TBCC (tailing bit convolution coding), and the four scrambling code sequences use different phases. The four PBCH independent units carry same coded bits. After procedures such as scrambling, modulation, and mapping are performed, the four PBCH independent units are sent in a time window of 40 ms (transmission time of four radio frames and 10 ms for each radio frame).
FIG. 2 shows a processing process of a PBCH at a receive end. It can be learned from description of the transmit end that the four PBCH independent units carry same coded bits. Therefore, when channel quality is good enough, the receive end receives only one PBCH independent unit in 40 ms to successfully complete operations of descrambling, decoding, and CRC check. Because the receive end successfully descrambles a scrambling code sequence, the receive end learns of a radio frame in which the transmit end sends the MIB in 40 ms, i.e., learns of two least significant bits of the SFN.
When channel quality is relatively poor, if descrambling and decoding of the only one received PBCH independent unit fail, the receive end performs soft combination on the received PBCH independent unit and a PBCH independent unit sent in next 10 ms and performs decoding, until decoding succeeds.
Three major types of scenarios defined in the 5th generation (5G) communications system and more subsequent possible communications systems include: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine type communications (mMTC). The eMBB services mainly include an ultra-high-definition video, an augmented reality AR, a virtual reality VR, and the like. The eMBB service is mainly characterized by a large data transmission volume and a high transmission rate. The URLLC service is mainly used for industrial control, unmanned driving, and the like in the Internet of Things. The URLLC service is mainly characterized by ultra-high reliability, a low latency, a smaller data transmission volume, and a burst. The mMTC service is mainly used for a smart grid, a smart city, and the like in the Internet of Things. The mMTC service is mainly characterized by a large quantity of connected devices, a small data transmission volume, and a long latency that can be tolerated.
At the 87th meeting of the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) RAN (Radio Access Network) 1, a polar polar code is officially accepted as a channel coding scheme for uplink and downlink control channels in the 5G eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband) scenario.
When the polar polar code is applied to channel coding of the PBCH, there is still room for improvement.


For ion mobility spectrometry applications, a desired shape of a sensor structure may be created by forming a desired shape from a ceramic material, such as aluminum nitride. In various embodiments, the sensor structure may be formed using discrete individual ceramic sheets and/or from a preformed ceramic tube. Via holes are formed into the sensor structure to provide for efficient circuitry configurations of the IMS drift tube and/or providing electrical connections between the interior and exterior of the drift tube.

Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) utilizes relative low electric fields to propel ions through a drift gas chamber and separate these ions according to their drift velocity. In IMS, the ion drift velocity is proportional to the field strength and thus an ion's mobility (K) is independent of the applied field. In the IMS both analyte and background molecules are typically ionized using radioactive alpha or beta emitters and the ions are injected into a drift tube with a constant low electric field (300 V/cm or less) where they are separated on the basis of their drift velocity and hence their mobility. The mobility is governed by the ion collisions with the drift gas molecules flowing in the opposite direction. The ion-molecule collision cross section depends on the size, the shape, the charge, and the mass of the ion relative to the mass of the drift gas molecule. The resulting chromatogram is compared to a library of known patterns to identify the substance collected. Since the collision cross section depends on more than one ion characteristic, peak identification is not unique. IMS systems measure a secondary and less specific property of the target molecule—the time it takes for the ionized molecule to drift through a tube filled with a viscous gas under an electric field—and the identity of the molecule is inferred from the intensity vs time spectrum.
Other mobility-based separation techniques include high-field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) also known as Differential Mobility Spectrometry (DMS). FAIMS or DMS is a detection technology which can operate at atmospheric pressure to separate and detect ions. Compared to conventional ion mobility, FAIMS/DMS devices operate at much higher fields (˜10,000 V/cm) where ion mobilities become dependent on the applied field. FAIMS/DMS devices may operate in conjunction with IMS drift tube devices in spectrometers having multiple stages. For specific descriptions of features and uses of instruments for ion detection and chemical analysis, including features of IMS drift tube devices used in connection with one or more FAIMS/DMS devices, among other components, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 8,173,959 B1 to Boumsellek et al., entitled "Real-Time Trace Detection by High Field and Low Field Ion Mobility and Mass Spectrometry," U.S. Pub. No. 2012/0273669 A1 to Ivashin et al., entitled "Chemical Analysis Using Hyphenated Low and High Field Ion Mobility," and U.S. Pub. No. 2012/0326020 A1 to Ivashin et al., entitled "Ion Mobility Spectrometer Device with Embedded FAIMS," which are all incorporated herein by reference.
Known IMS device construction techniques include the use of alternate stacking of metallic and insulator rings to produce sensor structures. These sensors structures, such as IMS drift tubes, are used in the ion transport and analysis applications at atmospheric or near atmospheric pressure. Further, other techniques are known for producing IMS sensor structures using ceramic material rolling processes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,155,812 B1 to Peterson et al., entitled "Method for Producing a Tube," and which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a process of rolling a pliable green (i.e. prefired) ceramic sheet around a form for multiple revolutions and in which electrical conductors are disposed on a surface of the ceramic sheet. The rolled ceramic sheet is subject to pressure and fired to produce the IMS drift tube. The ceramic may be a low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC). It is noted that in some cases use of a continuously rolled sheet process may limit the functionality and complexity of circuit or sensor components of the IMS drift tube. Other techniques for producing three-dimensional ceramic circuit structures are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,890 to Briscoe et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,473 to Vitriol et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,967 to Kanai et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 3,755,891 to Muckelroy et al., all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide advantageous and efficient techniques for producing high performance, low cost, miniature drift tubes or other sensor structures for IMS devices on a large production scale.

Miniature sensor structures for ion mobility spectrometers


A side sickle for a lawn tractor including a sickle having a first end pivotally coupled with respect to the lawn tractor. The sickle adapted to transfer between a stored orientation and a horizontal orientation wherein the sickle is extended perpendicular with respect to a side of the tractor. The sickle has a plurality of reciprocating blades.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a side sickle for a garden tractor and more particularly pertains to cutting weeds with a lawn tractor or the like that is equipped with a side sickle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of sickle mechanisms is known in the prior art. More specifically, sickle mechanisms heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of cutting foliage are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, the prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,725 to Ruder, Sr.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,400 to Sorensen et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,334 to Honey et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,699 to Hallberg; U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,916 to Parsons, Jr.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,006 to Mullet et al.
In this respect, the side sickle for a garden tractor according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of cutting weeds with a lawn tractor.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved side sickle for a garden tractor which can be used for cutting weeds with a lawn tractor or the like that is equipped with a side sickle. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


The invention relates to a low profile lumen free balloon catheter and a system for advancing the lumen free balloon from a build wire to a wire guide. The low profile balloon lacks an internal wire guide cannula between the catheter shaft and the soft tip. A releasable engagement is provided to connect/disconnect the build wire to/from the wire guide. A soft tip seals around the wire guide following advancement of the balloon catheter over the wire guide.

Wire guides are frequently used to position medical devices, such as balloon catheters, at a desired location in a patient's body (e.g., the vascular system). In a typical procedure, a wire guide is first inserted into a body lumen and steered into position followed by advancing a balloon catheter over the wire guide to the desired treatment site.
Typical balloon catheters are composed of an elongated shaft with an inflatable balloon portion attached to the distal end of the elongated shaft. The shaft typically has multiple lumens, one being an inflation lumen for the balloon and another serving as a wire guide lumen to allow the catheter and shaft to be advanced over a wire guide that has already been positioned in a patient. The elongated shaft of one type of typical balloon catheter terminates just inside the proximal end of the balloon, where a second, smaller single lumen shaft/cannula is bonded onto the main shaft and extends through the interior of the balloon in order to preserve the wire guide lumen through to the distal end of the balloon. The presence of the smaller shaft within the balloon allows the balloon to initially be mounted on the proximal end of the wire guide and advanced over the wire guide without the wire guide poking and damaging the balloon material.
The smaller wire guide shaft within the balloon may be about 0.050″ in outer diameter in order to accommodate a wire guide of about 0.035″ outer diameter. The presence of the smaller shaft in the interior of the balloon, however, adds to the overall dimensions of the balloon, thus limiting the use of the balloon catheter in applications requiring a still lower profile balloon. Thus, there exists a need for lower profile balloons and systems for advancing lower profile balloons onto wire guides that have already been positioned in a patient.

System for a wire-lumen free balloon catheter


The present invention relates to a vitamin E-based amphipathic compound, a method for producing same, and a method for extracting, solubilizing, stabilizing, or crystallizing a membrane protein using same. By using a compound according to the present invention, not only is an excellent membrane protein extraction and solubilization effect achieved, but the membrane protein can be stably stored for a long period of time in an aqueous solution, and thus the compound can be utilized in analyzing the function and structure of the membrane protein. Moreover, the vitamin E-based amphipathic compounds exhibited superb properties in the visualization of protein compounds through an electron microscope. Membrane protein structure and function analysis is one of the fields of greatest interest in biology and chemistry today, and since at least half of new drugs currently being developed target membrane proteins, the vitamin E-based amphipathic compounds may be applied to the membrane protein structure research, which is closely related to the development of new drugs.

The present invention relates to a newly-developed vitamin E-based amphipathic compound and a method of extracting, solubilizing, stabilizing, crystallizing or analyzing a membrane protein using the same.
Membrane proteins play a pivotal role in a biological system. Since these bio-macromolecules include hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties, amphiphilic molecules are required for extraction of membrane proteins from a lipid environment, and solubilization and stabilization of the membrane proteins in an aqueous solution.
To analyze the structure of a membrane protein, it is necessary to obtain a high quality of membrane protein crystals, and to this end, structural stability of the membrane protein in an aqueous solution should be preceded. Although there are 100 or more types of conventional amphiphilic molecules that have been used in membrane protein studies, only five of them are actively used for the membrane protein structure studies. These five types of amphoteric molecules include n-octyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (OG), n-nonyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (NG), n-decyl-β-D-maltopyranoside (DM), n-dodecyl-β-D-maltopyranoside (DDM), and lauryldimethylamine-N-oxide (LDAO) (Non-Patent Document 1, Non-Patent Document 2). However, since a lot of membrane proteins surrounded by these molecules are changed in structure, for example, easily denatured or aggregated, leading to rapidly losing their functions, there are a lot of limits on the research on the function and structure of a membrane protein using these molecules. This is because conventional molecules do not exhibit sufficiently diverse properties due to their simple chemical structures.
To analyze the structure of a membrane protein, maintenance of the structural stability of a membrane protein in an aqueous solution s important, and since there are still many unknown types of membrane proteins, and they have diverse structural properties, the number of membrane proteins that can be identified with the conventionally used amphiphilic molecules has been limited.
To solve the above-described problems, various amphipathic molecules have been developed, but currently, there are few examples using a natural substance as a hydrophobic group.
For this reason, the inventors had developed a novel amphipathic molecule containing a natural substance, vitamin E, as a hydrophobic group, and thus the present invention was completed.    (Non-Patent Document 1) S. Newstead et al., Protein Sci. 17 (2008) 466-472.    (Non-Patent Document 2) S. Newstead et al., Mol. Membr. Biol. 25 (2008) 631-638.

Vitamin E-based amphipathic compound, and use thereof

Industry-University Cooperation Foundation Hanyang University Erica Campus


Disclosed are various examples for enforcing network access permissions on applications that are installed on a client device. A network whitelist or network blacklist can be deployed by a management service onto a managed client device. A management component can facilitate enforcement of the whitelist and/or blacklist to enforce network access rules on installed applications.

An enterprise can use a management service capable of protecting enterprise data, like email and corporate documents, from theft, data loss, and unauthorized access. The enterprise can require devices used by employees to be enrolled with the management service to protect enterprise data. These managed devices can include enterprise-owned devices and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) technologies. With the emerging use of BYOD technologies by enterprises, management systems are increasingly likely to require support for a variety of devices and a variety of platforms. Platforms that include features or options directed to supporting both enterprise use and personal use can be referred to as management platforms. Management platforms include versions of the Android operating system. When used in an enterprise setting, Android can be referred to as "Android enterprise," "Android in the enterprise," or "Android for Work."
Management of these devices in an enterprise environment can provide various management options for an administrator. An administrator can define and enforce compliance policies or rules on a particular device. The administrator can also push applications to a user's enrolled device. The administrator can also cause various profiles to be installed on a user's device, such as a security certificate, wireless network credentials, authentication tokens, or other data. The administrator can leverage a management service that is executed remotely from a user's device that is in communication with a management component or application that is installed on the user's device. The management component can enforce policies or rules, install or delete data from the device, or take other enforcement actions on the device on behalf of the management service.
In some scenarios, an administrator might wish to impose restrictions on applications that are installed on the user's device, such as when they are permitted to access a network connection of the device. However, without modifying the application code itself, it can be difficult to enforce these restrictions.

Network access by applications in an enterprise managed device system


A liquid crystal composition is described, including a liquid crystalline compound (A), and at least one nitrogen-containing compound (B) selected from compounds represented by formula (1) and compounds represented by formula (2),

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a liquid crystal composition, a liquid crystal display (LCD), and a method for producing a liquid crystal display.
2. Related Art
An LCD normally includes a pair of substrates disposed opposite to each other, a liquid crystal layer including liquid crystal molecules, and liquid crystal alignment layers (liquid crystal alignment films) disposed on both sides of the liquid crystal layer to control the liquid crystal molecules to be in the desired orientation (alignment) state. Various types of LCDs that differ in the electrode structure, the properties of the liquid crystal molecules, or the production process, etc., have been developed. For example, a TN-mode LCD, an STN-mode LCD, a VA-mode LCD, an in-plane switching (IPS)-mode LCD, an FFS-mode LCD, and so on have been known.
In recent years, an LCD has been used in various applications such as an LCD TV, a car navigation system, a mobile phone, a smartphone, and an information display in addition to a display terminal such as a personal computer. A further improvement in quick response capability of a liquid crystal panel has been studied, and attempts have been made to incorporate an alkenyl-based liquid crystal in the liquid crystal layer (see Patent Document 1).    Patent Document 1 is the Japanese Translation of PCT International Application Publication No. 2010-535910).

Liquid crystal composition, liquid crystal display, and method for producing liquid crystal display

Abstract: wherein R′ is a hydrogen atom or a monovalent organic group that is bonded to the nitrogen atom via a chain-shaped hydrocarbon group or an alicyclic hydrocarbon group, R2 and R3 are independently a divalent organic group that is bonded to the nitrogen atom via a chain-shaped hydrocarbon group, an alicyclic hydrocarbon group or *—CO—R4—, A1 is a nitrogen-containing heteroaromatic ring, X1 is a cyclic ether group or a polymerizable unsaturated group, and R10 is a divalent organic group that is bonded to the primary amino group via a chain-shaped hydrocarbon group or an alicyclic hydrocarbon group.


An improved method of using an ID saw slicing machine for slicing a single crystal ingot in a direction normal to the axis of the ingot to obtain wafers, of which the improvement lies in that the cutting load which the blade of the ID saw slicing machine imposes upon the single crystal ingot is continually detected in terms of three vector elements along three mutually perpendicular directions throughout the slicing operation, and that, when the magnitude of that vector element of the cutting load which extends in the slicing direction exceeds a predetermined value, the feed rate of the ingot to the blade is decreased and, at the same time, the rotational speed of the blade is increased in accordance with a predetermined control pattern.

An ID saw slicing machine is a slicing machine equipped with a thin doughnut-shaped blade with the inner edge coated with a hard material such as diamond powder. This machine is particularly useful in slicing a brittle rod such as a single crystal semiconductor ingot. As the blade of the ID saw slicing machine is rotated at a high speed, either the ingot or the slicing machine is slid in a manner such that the inner edge of the doughnut-shaped blade crosses the ingot in a direction normal to the axis of the ingot.
In the technical field of semiconductor wafer manufacturing, a silicon single crystal pulled up in a conventional single crystal pulling apparatus is sliced with an ID saw slicing machine (hereinafter also referred to as "an ID slicer") in a direction normal to the axis of the ingot, and a number of thin silicon semiconductor wafers are cut out. However, after a long use, the diamond-powdered grinder edge of the blade of the ID slicer wears and is covered with a densified cut powder layer and thereby starts wobbling roughly; this causes a sliced wafer to have a so-called bow to a greater degree, which is a warp of the wafer in one direction. The bow is attributable to the residual stress in the wafer.
In order to solve this problem, some of the commercially available ID slicers are equipped with a displacement gauge which measures the wobble displacement of the blade of the slicer. The wobbling amount of the blade is detected by means of the displacement gauge, and based on the result of the detection, the blade is appropriately dressed and trued; also the feed rate of the ingot is modified in response to the result of the detection of the blade displacement in a feed back manner. Thus, efforts have been made in an attempt to obtain semiconductor wafers having as small a bow as possible.
However, in the conventional slicing method and apparatus, when the single crystal ingot to be sliced has a large diameter, as the current trend makes this situation more common, the inner diameter of the ID slicer has to be likewise increased, and the greater the inner diameter of the ID slicer, the harder it is to minimize the bow of the semiconductor wafer, since the greater inner diameter of the ID slicer results in greater wobbling of the slicer blade.
Also, since the wobble displacement of the blade is by nature very small in magnitude, it is a difficult task to control and remove the bow of the semiconductor wafer through a feed back manner based on the wobble displacement measurement. Therefore, a need continues to exist for an improved method and apparatus that can reduce even the infinitesimal bow from the wafers.
The present invention was made in view of these problems, and it is an object of the invention to provide a method of using an ID slicer for slicing a single crystal ingot into wafers in which the amount of bow is reduced, and also to provide a slicing apparatus for effecting this method.

Method of and an apparatus for slicing a single crystal ingot using an ID saw slicing machine therein


A system and method for estimating azimuth angle, elevation angle and signal detection and which includes an antenna system having a plurality of elements, each element receiving a different concurrent portion of an incoming analog signal having a real and an imaginary portion. A converter is provided for each antenna element for converting each analog signal to digital form. A processor is provide for multiplying the sum of the real parts of the signals from a first group of the elements with the conjugate of the sum of the remainder of the elements to provided an estimated azimuth, elevation of signal detection measurement. In the case of a four element antenna, AzEst=Angle((A+B)*(C+D)Conjugate))=(x.sub.A +iy.sub.A +x.sub.B +iy.sub.B)*(x.sub.C -iy.sub.C +x.sub.D -iy.sub.D), ElEst=Angle((A+D)*(B+C)Conjugate))=(x.sub.A +iy.sub.A +x.sub.D +iy.sub.D)*(x.sub.B -iy.sub.B +x.sub.C -iy.sub.C) and Magnitude ((A+B*(C+D)Conjugate)) or Magnitude ((A+D*(B+C)Conjugate)). When the antenna system includes four antenna quadrants A, B, C and D, false detections due to responses coming from the sidelobe regions are suppressed by subtracting the offset OffsetAz=ScaleFactor*Magnitude(DeltaAz), where the offset is a scale factor to make the numbers come out correctly to provide a synthetic beam response: SyntheticAz=Magnitude((A+B)*(C+D)Conjugate)-OffsetAz the processor further including a comparator for comparing the Synthetic Az to a threshold to determine validity of the signal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of estimating the angle of arrival of a signal at an antenna to an accuracy that is a small fraction of the antenna aperture beamwidth.
2. Background of the Invention
In the field of antenna design, it is known that the ratio of wavelength (WL) to antenna diameter (D), (wherein "antenna diameter" can refer to dimensions other than the diameter in the case of non-circular antennas as is well known in the art and generally is a function of the antenna area) determines the resolving power for that antenna, assuming a conventional approach.
Monopulse processing is an unconventional approach that has been used for several decades to improve the standard angular resolution limit of the antenna which is WL/D (measured in radians). Monopulse effectively divides the antenna aperture into segments. Multiple linear combinations of segment outputs are formed. Nonlinear operations on these linear combinations are performed. One output normally defines the elevation angle of arrival (AOA-el) of the signal relative to boresight and another output defines the azimuth angle of arrival (AOA-az) of the signal relative to boresight.
Consider a four quadrant aperture in accordance with the prior art, and assume the aperture quadrants are labelled A, B, C and D in a counterclockwise direction commencing with the upper left (FIG. 3) with the elevation direction being from quadrant B toward quadrant A or quadrant C toward quadrant D and the azimuth direction being from quadrant B toward quadrant C or quadrant A to quadrant D. Standard monopulse processing forms: a sum beam wherein sum=Real(A+B+C+D), an azimuth difference beam wherein DeltaAz=Imaginary((A+B)-(C+D)) and an elevation difference beam wherein DeltaEl=Imaginary((A+D)-(B+C)).
Signal detection is typically performed by amplitude testing the quantity Sum*SumConjugate where "Conjugate" has its standard mathematical meaning, namely that the imaginary portion of the signal is of opposite sign to the quantity which is not the conjugate.
Azimuth angle estimation is computed as: AzEst=(DeltaAz*SumConjugate)/(Sum*SumConjugate) for amplitude monopulse, or as AzEst=arctangent (DeltaAz/Sum) for phase monopulse.
Elevation angle estimation is computed as: ElEst=(DeltaEl*SumConjugate)(Sum*SumConjugate) for amplitude monopulse, or as ElEst=arctangent (DeltaEl/Sum) for phase monopulse.
In standard monopulse processing, a division is required in order to estimate target angle of arrival (AOA) within the main beam. Usually, this requires that the signal to noise ratio (SNR) be upward of 10 dB to insure an extremely small probability of dividing by zero or a number close to zero.
The prior art systems which use the above described functions require an additional antenna in the array, an additional manifold and receiver channel or a separate array for the purpose of blanking or cancellation of sidelobes.

Method for improving monopulse processing of aperture segment outputs


An image processing device includes a processor. The processor is configured to perform: acquiring input image data representing an input image having a plurality of objects; identifying a plurality of object regions in the input image, the plurality of object regions representing respectively the plurality of objects; generating a mask image using sharpness adjustment degrees that are set for the plurality of object regions respectively; generating output image data by performing an unsharp masking process on the input image by using the mask image, the unsharp masking process being performed so as to adjust sharpness of the input image; and sending the output image data to a printing unit.

Various types of image processes to improve the quality of printed images are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-285231 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-4300. In these processes, techniques have been proposed for creating an unsharped mask that is less blurry than an original image. The image-sharpening process is performed to sharpen images using the unsharped mask.

Image processing device setting sharpness adjustment degrees for object regions and performing unsharp masking process