The medical articles which including the following: (a) a ceramic or metallic region whose surface includes a plurality of depressions, (b) a multilayer coating region including multiple polyelectrolyte layers deposited over the surface of the ceramic or metallic region; and (c) a therapeutic agent disposed beneath or within the multilayer coating region. According to another aspect of the present invention, medical articles are provided, which include: (a) a ceramic or metallic region, (b) a multilayer coating region including multiple polyelectrolyte layers deposited over a surface of the ceramic or metallic region, the multilayer coating region including a plurality of protuberances; and (c) a therapeutic agent disposed within regions beneath the protuberances. Also described herein are methods of making such medical articles, and methods of administering a therapeutic agent to a patent using such medical articles.

Medical articles are frequently used for delivery of therapeutic agents. For example, an implantable or insertable medical device, such as a stent or a catheter, may be provided with a polymer matrix coating layer that contains a therapeutic agent. Upon placement of the medical device at a desired location within a patient, the therapeutic agent is released from the polymer matrix and into the patient, thereby achieving a desired therapeutic outcome.
Such coatings, however, are frequently formed from relatively soft and tacky polymers, which may experience damage, for example, due to the mechanical forces that are exerted upon the medical device during loading and deployment of the same. In addition, where stents are utilized, unwanted polymer bridges can be created over the stent windows during stent deployment. Furthermore, where a biostable polymer is utilized as a coating material, an empty polymer shell remains after the drug has been eluted, which may be disadvantageous in some instances.
In contrast to most polymers used in for drug delivery, metallic structures (e.g., stainless steel and nitinol) and ceramic structures (e.g., aluminum oxide, titanium oxide and iridium oxide) are quite robust, resulting in excellent resistance against mechanical damage. Moreover, metallic and ceramic structures are frequently more biologically inert than polymers, and in some cases are biocompatible. Furthermore, metallic and ceramic structures can be made porous, thereby enabling them to hold large amounts of drugs. Unfortunately, drug release from porous structures is typically not well controlled.
The above and other challenges are addressed by the present invention.

Medical articles having regions with polyelectrolyte multilayer coatings for regulating drug release


In a method for magnetic resonance imaging, by combined switching of radio-frequency excitation pulses, slice selection gradient pulses, phase-coding gradient pulses and readout gradient pulses, a matrix in the k-space is scanned row-by-row and transformed using a Fourier transformation into a matrix in the spatial domain, with the polarity of the slice selection gradient being inverted during the scanning of the k-matrix, allowing elimination of the ambiguity artifact.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) as used in medicine for examining patients. The present invention relates in particular to a method for preventing the ambiguity artifact, particularly when using spin-echo sequences as well as when using gradient echo sequences, but without affecting the measurement duration and the signal-to-noise ratio.
2. Description of the Prior Art
MRT is based on the physical phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance and has been successfully used as an imaging technique for more than 15 years in medicine and in biophysics. In this examination method, the subject is exposed to a strong, constant magnetic field. As a result, the nuclear spins of the atoms in the subject become aligned after having been previously randomly oriented. Radio-frequency energy can now excite these "ordered" nuclear spins to product a certain oscillation. In MRT, this oscillation produces the actual measurement signal which is detected using suitable receiving coils. By using non-homogeneous magnetic fields produced by gradient coils, the examination subject can be spatially coded in all three spatial directions in the respective region of interest (also known as the field of view or FOV for short), this procedure being generally known as "spatial coding."
The recording of data in MRT takes place in what is known as "k-space" (frequency domain). The MRT image in the "image" is linked thereto using a Fourier transformation with the MRT data in k-space. The spatial coding of the subject which defines the k-space takes place using gradients in all three spatial directions. The slice selection (gradient defines slice in the subject from which data will be acquired, normally along the Z axis), the frequency coding (gradient defines a direction in the slice, normally along the x axis) and the phase-coding (gradient defines the second dimension within the slice, normally the along y axis).
In other words, first a slice is excited selectively, for example, in the z direction. The coding of the spatial information in the slice takes place by combined phase and frequency coding by means of these two orthogonal gradient fields already mentioned which are produced in the example of a slice excited in the z direction by the aforementioned gradient coils in the x and y directions.
A first possible form of recording the data in an MRT exposure (measurement) is shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. The sequence used is the known spin-echo sequence. The magnetization of the spins is flipped in the x-y plane by a 90° excitation pulse. Over the course of time, a dephasing of the magnetization components occurs, which jointly form the cross magnetization in the x-y plane Mxy. After a certain time (e.g., ½ TE, where TE is the echo time), a 180° pulse is emitted in the x-y plane so that the dephased magnetization components are mirrored without changing the precession direction and precession speed of the individual magnetization components. After a further time interval of ½ TE, the magnetization components again point in the same direction, i.e., a regeneration of the cross magnetization (known as "rephasing") occurs, and the magnetic resonance signal is read out. The complete regeneration of the cross magnetization is known as "spin-echo".
In order to measure an entire slice of the examination subject, the imaging sequence is repeated N times for different values of the phase-coding gradient, e.g., Gy, the frequency of the magnetic resonance signal (spin-echo signal) being scanned, digitized and stored for each sequence pass through the Δt-clocked ADC (analog/digital converter) N times in equidistant time steps Δt in the presence of the readout gradient Gx. In this manner, one obtains as shown in FIG. 2B a numerical matrix produced row-by-row (matrix in the k-space or k-matrix) having N×N data points (a symmetrical matrix with N×N points is only an example; asymmetrical matrices can also be produced). From this data set, using a Fourier transformation an MR image of the observed slice can be directly reconstructed with a resolution of N×N pixels.
The scanning of the k-matrix (k-matrices in the case of data from multiple slices) typically requires, for spin-echo sequences with diagnostically usable image quality, several minutes of measurement time, which is a problem in many clinical applications. For example, patients cannot remain still for the required interval of time. In the case of examinations in the thorax or pelvic regions, movement of the anatomy is generally unavoidable (heart and respiratory movement, peristalsis). A way of speeding up spin-echo sequences was published in 1986 as the turbo spin-echo sequence (TSE sequence) or rather under the acronym RARE (Rapid Acquisition with Relaxation Enhancement) (J. Hennig et al., Magn. Reson. Med. 3, 823–833, 1986). In this imaging technique (which is much faster than the conventional spin-echo technique described above), after a 90° excitation pulse a plurality of multiple echoes are generated, each of these echoes being individually phase-coded. A corresponding sequence diagram is shown in FIG. 3A for the case in which respectively seven echoes are produced. Before and after each echo, the phase-coding gradient must be switched corresponding to the Fourier row to be selected. In this manner, after a single RF excitation pulse (90°) a row-by-row scanning of the k-matrix takes place, as is shown in FIG. 3B. The required overall measurement time is reduced in this example by a factor of seven. The signal function is shown in FIG. 3A in an idealized fashion. In reality, the later echoes have smaller and smaller amplitudes due to the decay of the cross magnetization T2.
An even faster imaging sequence is represented by a combination of RARE with Half-Fourier technology; this was presented in 1994 and is known as the HASTE sequence (Half-Fourier Acquired Single shot Turbo spin Echo) (B. Kiefer et al., J. Magn. Reson. Imaging, 4(P), 86, 1994). HASTE uses the same basic technology as RARE, but only a half of the k-matrix is scanned. The other half of the k-matrix is reconstructed computationally using a Half-Fourier algorithm. Here, one takes advantage of the fact that the data points of the k-matrix are arranged with mirror symmetry about the center point of the k-matrix. For this reason, it is sufficient to measure only the data points of a k-matrix half and then to computationally fill out the raw data matrix by mirroring with respect to the center point (and complex conjugation). In this manner, the measurement time can be reduced by half, but the reduction of the recording time is associated with a degradation of the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio by a factor of √2.
A further method of obtaining or scanning the k-matrix in a quick manner is a technique known as "gradient echo imaging" (GE imaging, GE sequence). The pulse and gradient pattern of a typical GE sequence is shown schematically in FIG. 4. As with the spin-echo sequences, here as well a rephasing in terms of the slice selection gradient Gz takes place and a pre-dephasing in terms of the frequency coding gradient Gy. Due to this gradient switching, the dephasing of the cross magnetization caused by the gradients is compensated so that an echo signal arises which is known as "gradient echo" (GE). Sequences in which the echo signal is generated exclusively through gradient inversion are known as gradient echo sequences (GE sequences).
In contrast to spin-echo sequences, the nomenclature for GE sequences is not consistent, and varies from company to company. The two most common GE sequences are known as the FLASH sequence ("Fast Low Angle SHot") and the FISP sequence ("Fast Imaging with Steady Precession"). The two differ only in that the cross magnetization in the FLASH sequence is spoiled after data acquisition (using a spoiler gradient) ("spoiled GE sequence") whereas it is maximized in the FISP sequence ("refocused GE sequence"). The GE sequence in FIG. 4 thus represents a FLASH sequence with the spoiler gradient.
In MRT imaging using spin-echo sequences as well as when using GE sequences, there is the general problem that the resonance condition during the radio-frequency excitation by the HF pulse exists not only in the field of view (FOV, characterized by homogeneity of the basic field as well as the gradient fields) but also in the non-homogeneous boundary region of the FOV. This means that superimposed on the image of the actual measurement field is a generally disruptive image from the inhomogeneity region in the form of an artifact. This undesired artifact is known as an "ambiguity" artifact. The ambiguity artifact becomes more pronounced the shorter the extent of the basic field magnet in the z direction.
Heretofore, the ambiguity artifact could be suppressed only in spin-echo sequences but not in gradient echo sequences. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0101237 describes suppression thereof (unlike the conventional slice excitation of an spin-echo sequence) by switching the slice selection gradient during the slice excitation by the (90°) RF pulse, in comparison to the slice selection gradient which is switched during the (180°) refocusing pulse, with inversion in terms of its sign (polarity). This results in the resonance condition of the 90° pulse being fulfilled outside of the FOV at a different spatial position from the resonance condition when using the 180° pulse with the inverted sign. The ambiguity artifact cannot arise because the magnetization excited outside of the FOV is not refocused. A technique for suppressing the ambiguity artifacts in GE sequences is currently not known.

MRI method and apparatus with elimination of the ambiguity artifact


An insert to provide stiffness to a baseball glove. Conventional baseball gloves have cavities for receiving the digits and palm of a hand. The insert includes a central expanse, a first elongate extension extending outwardly from the central expanse, and a second elongate extension extending oppositely from the first elongate extension outwardly from the central expanse. Preferably, a central elongate extension extends intermediate the first elongate extension and the second elongate extension. The first elongate extension is fittable within a digit-receiving cavity of the glove, such as that intended to receive a thumb, the central elongate extension is fittable within another cavity of a glove, such as that intended to receive the middle finger of a hand, and the opposing elongate extension is fittable within a cavity of the glove corresponding to the pinkie of a hand.

The present invention relates to an insert that provides excess stiffness to a baseball glove, such as a fielder's glove. By "excess stiffness," it is meant that the glove is too stiff to catch a moving ball easily. It prevents the player from being able to flex the glove, such that it cannot be used to clutch or grasp a ball one-handedly.
This excess stiffness forces a player wearing the glove with the insert inside the glove to compensate for the deficiencies of the glove, and use both hands when catching a moving ball. It also forces the player to develop what are known as "soft hands," since a player needs to move both hands in the direction that the ball is traveling at the time it is caught to improve the chances of maintaining the ball in the glove. The invention further teaches the player to assume a position in the direct path of the ball to maximize the chance of making a firm catch of the ball. It has been found that use of the insert of the present invention improves the ability of baseball players to catch balls when the insert is removed.
One of the most difficult habits to develop in players is the practice of centering on the incoming ball and to use both hands while making the catch. This may be due in part to the flexibility of most off-the-shelf baseball gloves, which allow a player to grasp or clutch the ball with the gloved hand. Although some players may consistently execute successful catches using one hand, there is a significant chance of dropping a thrown or hit ball if one-handed catching is used instead of two-handed catching. Furthermore, the use of both hands helps a player make a throw with the caught ball much more quickly, because the ungloved throwing hand is already in contact with the ball as part of making the catch.
Various devices are known to reduce the stiffness of baseball gloves, or to act as substitutes to a flexible baseball glove. For example, such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,121,824, 4,208,051, 4,637,610, 4,802,699, 4,817,209, 4,874,168, 5,346,208, 5,601,285, and 5,671,477, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.


An embodiment includes a radio frequency (RF) sensor system having a plurality of magnetoresistive (MR) sensors, where each MR sensor includes a configuration of MR elements and is adapted to produce a time-varying output voltage in response to a time-varying, external magnetic field. The RF sensor system also includes combiner circuitry, electrically coupled to the plurality of MR sensors, and adapted to receive and combine a plurality of time-varying output voltages from the plurality of MR sensors to generate a sensor output voltage. Another embodiment includes an electromagnetic sensor array having a plurality of MR sensors arranged in an array configuration, where each MR sensor includes a plurality of MR elements forming a Wheatstone bridge circuit, and where each MR sensor is adapted to produce a time-varying output voltage in response to a time-varying, external magnetic field. Still another embodiment includes a method for manufacturing an electromagnetic sensor array.

Radio frequency (RF) electronics systems are commonly used for communications, radar threat warning, direction finding, and other applications. Many RF electronics systems specify limits on the weight, dimensions, and physical profile of their associated antenna systems. For example, mobile platforms (e.g., airborne, vehicle-borne, and human-borne platforms) may particularly specify strict limits on the physical characteristics of an antenna and other system components associated with the antenna, such as support structures and processing electronics. The physical characteristics of an antenna may vary greatly, depending on the particular antenna technology used, the bandwidth that the antenna is designed to support, and other factors. In airborne platforms, for example, commonly used antenna technologies include phased array antenna systems, surface acoustic wave (SAW) based antenna systems, and monopole or slot antenna systems.
An antenna system typically includes the antenna element, itself, along with associated mounting and support structures and processing electronics. An antenna system may also consist of an array of antenna elements arranged in a planar configuration for increased gain and directivity. RF energy may be received via "slots" associated with the antenna array. When used in conjunction with an airborne platform, the slots may be formed through a surface of the aircraft "skin" or outer covering. To achieve reasonable performance, the in-plane dimensions of each receiving antenna element typically are selected to have a size of at least one-half wavelength of the lowest frequency limit of the intended bandwidth. Accordingly, given a fixed number of antenna elements, the overall dimensions of an array antenna increases as the lower bandwidth limit increases. These characteristics of array antennas makes them unsuitable or non-optimal for some platforms having restrictive antenna weight and size specifications, as well as for platforms in which interruptions (e.g., slots) in the outer surface may be undesirable. These restrictions become more severe at lower frequencies, such as frequencies in a range of about 1 to 100 Megahertz (MHz).
Other types of systems may include a ground plane, which is adapted to carry currents produced from RF energy incident upon the ground plane. In some of these systems, antennas may couple to the system's ground plane (e.g., a portion of an aircraft's outer covering), and may draw power from induced currents flowing in the ground plane. These types of systems may include, for example, surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices and/or monopole (or slot) antennas, which are positioned above and in contact with the ground plane (or formed by an opening in the ground plane, with a backing cavity). Although these types of antennas are suitable for use on some platforms, they also may be unsuitable or non-optimal for others. For example, in some cases, the antenna profile above the ground plane may cause undesirable effects (e.g., decreased aerodynamic efficiency).
For the above reasons, it is desirable to provide antenna elements, antennas, and systems that may support a wider range of bandwidths while having physical dimensions and profiles that are within the specifications of restrictive platforms. In addition, it is desirable to provide antenna elements, antennas, and systems that do not include significant physical interruptions in the ground plane (e.g., slots) or require appreciable modification to the structure (e.g., backing cavities or protruding monopole elements). Other desirable features and characteristics of embodiments of the inventive subject matter will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Radio frequency sensor systems, electromagnetic sensor arrays, and methods of manufacture


The log hanger assembly includes a first saddle support, a second saddle support and a saddle member that is pivotally attached to both saddle support. The first and second saddle support include arcuate base plates that are arcs about a log axis with an arc radius that is substantially equal to the log radius of the log to which the base plate and extends outward from the convex side of each base plate. The saddle member is pivotally attached to the posts of the saddle. The saddle member extends 180 degrees around a rafter or moist and has a saddle member axis that is substantially perpendicular to an axis of a log to which the saddle supports are attached.

Buildings have been constructed from logs for hundreds of years. Some of these buildings have employed rough logs with the bark still on them. The ends are notched so that one wall joins an adjacent wall at a right angle, and the notches cooperate to lock the two walls together.
By connecting the ends of four such walls together at their adjacent corners a four sided building is constructed. The gaps between adjacent lower and upper logs are filled with material such as wet clay and straw or other fibers. The clay hardens as it dries and forms relatively air tight connections between two logs. However, over time the logs tend to dry and shrink and the bark tends to crumble. As a result the clay cracks, breaks and crumbles. Replacement of the caulking clay or similar material becomes a frequent maintenance requirement.
Bark is generally removed from logs in more recent years to avoid problems associated with bark deterioration. Removal of bark reduces insect problems and reduces problems relating to drying of logs and to shrinkage. However, the problems relating sealing the spaces between upper and lower logs remains.
Builders of some log buildings have chipped wood away to form each log into a beam with a square cross section. Chipping away portions of a log is a labor intensive activity that requires great strength, endurance and time. This system reduces the size of cracks between adjacent logs. However, these cracks must still be sealed to keep water out and reduce the passage of air. Some settling between such beams occurs due to changes in moisture content of the wood and deterioration of the rough outside surfaces.
Logs are shaped by powered cutters to have uniform diameters from one end to the other to make log buildings today. Engaging edges of the logs are also shaped to obtain substantiality air tight mounting surfaces that will shed water. These logs will still dry, warp and settle some over time.
Connections between logs at the corners of walls require hand fitting of the logs. Even with power tools, cutting notches into the sides of logs is a time consuming task. Cutting notches in logs for floor joist as well as for rafters is also a time consuming task. When using notches in two logs to form a right angle connection between the two logs, a substantial amount of wood is removed to form the required joint. The removal reduces the strength of the logs at the connection location. If a notch is cut half way through a floor joist or rafter and a mating notch is cut in a supporting log, the strength of each log may be reduced by half or more. This is a particularly serious problem for floor joists and rafters which are often required to support significant loads.


A compact radiation-modulated transconductance varistor device having both a radiation source and a photoconductive wide bandgap semiconductor material (PWBSM) integrally formed on a substrate so that a single interface is formed between the radiation source and PWBSM for transmitting PWBSM activation radiation directly from the radiation source to the PWBSM.

Limited voltage capability of junction devices, such as diodes and transistors, is known, resulting from most of the applied voltage being confined to the very thin region on either side of the junction. This region is commonly referred to as the depletion region and is identified as the "space charge region" illustrated in FIG. 1. The thickness of this region is governed by many of the physics processes occurring in the device and can generally be only microns thick for most doping amounts. As a result, very little voltage divides across the bulk of the device (e.g., the thick vertical lines on the left extreme of the p-doped and the right extreme of the n-doped regions below). This effect is shown in the schematically represented voltage curve in FIG. 1. Thus the volume between the depletion region boundaries and the electrodes (labeled "neutral region") are largely useless in increasing the amount of voltage that can be applied to the overall device. For junction devices made from GaN and SiC, this breakdown can occur in the range of 400 to 4,000 V across the device.
Wide bandgap semiconductor (WBS) materials are also known, e.g. GaN, SiC, etc., which when illuminated, irradiated, or otherwise energized by a radiation source of photons or subatomic particles, renders the material conductive, and may therefore be used, for example, as a photoconductive switch. Typically, the optical transport used to transport the radiation from the radiation source (e.g. a laser) to the WBS material is either through "free space" or an intermediate optical conduit, e.g. fiber optic cables, as illustrated in FIG. 2. In the case of optical conduits, however, at least two additional optical surfaces are required between the radiation source and the WBS: one additional surface (i.e. first optical conduit surface) forming the interface between the radiation source and the optical conduit, and another additional surface (i.e. second optical conduit surface) forming the interface between the optical conduit and the WBS. Each optical surface can contribute about 4% loss, and these loses, termed Fresnel losses, functionally follow a power multiplier. That is:Total Transmitted Energy=(Initial Energy)(1-fractional loss at each interface)Total Interfaces Thus for two interfaces as in the above example, only 92% of the initial energy from the optical source is transmitted to the substrate. Because the optical source can be highly inefficient (typically only about 10% efficiency in the best cases, but more typically 1% efficiency), any lost optical energy substantially impacts the overall system.
Furthermore, radiation sources such as optical sources have a certain amount of beam divergence and the acceptance of the optical conduit (e.g. fiber) is generally much less than that divergence. In addition, the divergence exiting the fiber is very large and some energy can be lost at the interface between the optical conduit and the WBS material due to this divergence. To overcome this loss requires the addition of lenses between the radiation source-to-optical conduit interface and the optical conduit-to-WBS interface. Unfortunately, each lens used introduces two interfaces per lens. So then in this example, only 78% of the initial energy from the optical source is transmitted to the substrate. While these loses can be reduced with special coatings at each interface, this technique can introduce added complexity and cost to the overall device. In addition to these losses, the added length of the optical conduit/fiber attenuates the optical energy resulting in more losses. And finally, the typical size of the output of the radiation source can be several square millimeters. And the WBS material can similarly be several square millimeters. The fiber, however, must be substantially less than those areas to maintain the mechanical flexibility. Thus, because the energy from the optical source must be concentrated into the fiber, the surface can be easily burned or damaged.
Electrically, the control/modulation of the WBS is functionally dependent on the capacitance of the overall device. But for a system, the desire is to minimize the number of optical feeds. Thus each switch must be fairly large in extent to minimize the number of optical feeds. As a result, each switch is highly capacitive. This capacitance adversely impacts the range in high frequencies that can be achieved. One method of minimizing this problem is to use a distributed capacitive system, such as shown in FIG. 3, having multiple optically triggered switches, in place of a lumped capacitive system having a single switch, in a circuit to drive a load (e.g. an antenna). The distributed capacitive system would produce a better frequency response due to reduced switch capacitance. Thus the useful range of frequencies can be extended by using a distributed system. However, one difficulty with such a distributed capacitive system is the complexity of multiple optical fibers being used to transmit the optical energy from the radiation source. For instance, a multiple fiber bundle would be required connected with specific outputs to connect the radiation source at point A to each switch so that the electrical delay from each of the distributed switches SA, SB, . . . and SC to point B is exactly compensates by the optical delay. The objective in such an arrangement is an equal delay from point A to point B through any switch SN, which can be problematic.
Additionally, in many wide bandgap fabrication methods, the desired WBS substrate (e.g. gallium nitride, GaN) is by necessity grown on a supporting substrate. In the particular case of GaN, the supporting substrate can be either sapphire or silicon carbide. With such processes, after the desired material is of sufficient thickness is grown, it must be removed from the sapphire or silicon carbide by invasive techniques. One such technique is a laser lift-off technique where the laser is applied through the transparent gallium nitride causing rapid heating at the gallium nitride and sapphire or silicon carbide interface. However, spalling and fracture may then occur at the boundary to enable the deposited gallium nitride to be removed. Such processes can generate defects and result in eventual failure of the gallium nitride under modulation conditions.

Compact optical transconductance varistor

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC


A method of using a finger swipe fluid transfer collection assembly includes providing a finger swipe fluid transfer collection assembly including a base, a test media carried by the base, an inlet for receiving a sample fluid, an outlet, a finger swipe fluid transfer mechanism carried by the base between the inlet and the outlet and including an interior; swiping the finger swipe fluid transfer mechanism with one's finger to impart a negative pressure in the interior of the finger swipe fluid transfer mechanism to draw the sample fluid into the interior of the finger swipe fluid transfer mechanism through the inlet; and swiping the finger swipe fluid transfer mechanism again with one's finger to impart a positive pressure in the interior of the finger swipe fluid transfer mechanism to pump the sample fluid through the outlet and be transferred to the test media.

Collection kits used for testing one or more analytes of a sample include multiple separate components such as a pipettes, collection tubes, vials or ampoules containing needed diluents or reagents, and test media devices. Because these collection kits have so many separate pieces, in most cases, use of such collection kits has been limited to a laboratory. Simple tests may be performed outside of the laboratory using only test media devices, but these test media devices are limited as to the types of tests that can be performed. More elaborate tests require diluents, pipettes, collection tubes, etc., and are difficult and awkward to perform outside of the laboratory.
Accordingly, a need exists for a simple fluid transfer and mixing collection assembly that does not include numerous separate pieces, is easy to use, can be used for multiple different types of tests and can be used in and outside a laboratory.

Finger swipe fluid-transfer collection assembly and method of using the same


Access to hierarchical data arranged in parent/child data levels is obtained and each data level is assigned a data level display symbol. The data level display symbols associated with a common parent data level are then identified and grouped into sets of related data level display symbols. Each of the data level display symbols within each set of related data level display symbols is then assigned a weighting value that determines one or more visual emphasis parameters to be associated with the data level display symbols. All the sets of related data level display symbols are then displayed on a single user interface display screen in accordance with their assigned weighting value and associated visual emphasis parameters. Any of the data level display symbols can then be activated through the user interface display screen.

Due to the almost complete integration of processing and data storage mechanisms into virtually every aspect of modern life, there are now orders of magnitude more information available to the average human being than at any other time in human history. This abundance of data has led many to describe the current era as the "information age."
One issue associated with the massive amounts of information and data available today is how to organize the data in such a way that desired information and/or data can be relatively easily identified and accessed in a systematic and reliable way. One way data is currently arranged for relative ease of access is as hierarchical data. Hierarchical data is arranged in parent/child data levels, also known as a "one to many" data arrangement. This type of data arrangement has proven extremely useful and particularly intuitive for consumer-based systems such as, but not limited to, data categorization systems, such as menu-based systems; financial transaction categorization systems; geo-location and positional systems; audio file organizational systems, such as, but not limited to, playlists; video file organization systems, such as, but not limited to, video library and menu systems; and numerous other systems or situations where large amounts of data needs to be accessed in an efficient and intuitive way.
While hierarchical data arrangements have proven very effective, one long-standing problem associated with hierarchical data arrangements is the fact that, currently, hierarchical data is typically arranged in lists of parent data levels and one or more child data levels displayed in an outline-like, linear, and static display structure.
For relatively small amounts of data, and relatively few parent and child data levels, the system is sufficient. However, when larger numbers of data levels are present, or when a display screen is of limited size, current display implementations of hierarchical data often result in considerable user input, often in the form of the user having to scroll through multiple user interface display screens, to view all, or a sufficient number of, the data levels.
For instance, FIG. 1 shows a typically prior art hierarchical data arrangement of financial transaction category types including parent data levels, i.e., parent categories "Health & Fitness" and "Home." As seen in FIG. 1, the parent category "Health & Fitness" includes the child data levels, i.e., categories, "Dentist", "Doctor", "Eyecare", "Gym", "Health Insurance", "Pharmacy", and "Sports". It is worth noting that the user interface display screen 101 of FIG. 1 only displays a single complete set of related categories with the same parent category, i.e., "Health & Fitness." Consequently, display screen 101 of FIG. 1 only displays a very small portion of the hierarchical data and numerous user interface display screens would have to be accessed in order to see all of the hierarchical data, i.e., all the potential financial transaction categories.
As a result, when current hierarchical data arrangements are used to display even moderately long/deep lists of parent and/or child data levels, the user is often forced to either remember both the parent data level name and the child data level name, or to scroll through a long list of data level names to try and identify the parent data level, and/or the child data level name, desired.
Even in the age of desktop computing systems, and large display screens, the situation described above was considered problematic. However, with the advent of mobile computing, current hierarchical data arrangements are, at best, a nuisance to users who must scroll through multiple user interface screens, and are often impractical and unusable with mobile computing systems, such as smart phones, with their very limited display screen space. Consequently, current hierarchical data arrangements often limit a modern user's ability to efficiently and intuitively access desired data.

System and method for visual representation and selection of hierarchical data


Ultrasonic nozzle devices without a central channel but employing a design of cascaded multiple Fourier horns in resonance produce micrometer-sized monodisperse or narrowly-sized droplets with greatly reduced electrical drive power requirements. The liquid to be atomized is brought externally to or adjacent to the endface of the nozzle tip. The above liquid transport method is equally applicable to the ultrasonic nozzle-array devices that are made up of a plurality of ultrasonic single-nozzle devices configured in parallel. The longitudinal length, transverse width, shape, and area of the nozzle endface of single-nozzle and nozzle-array devices may be tailored or designed (e.g. enlarged) to obtain optimum or large quantities of product droplets to achieve high throughput. By increasing the drive frequency to 8 MHz or higher, sub-micrometer-sized monodisperse or narrowly-sized droplets can be produced using the ultrasonic single-nozzle and nozzle-array devices or any solid endface.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of production of micrometer- and sub-micrometer-sized monodisperse or narrowly-sized droplets and transport of the liquid feed. Monodisperse or narrowly-sized droplets less than 10 μm in diameter in sprays are highly desirable in nanoparticles synthesis from heat sensitive precursor solutions because they can be processed at a conveniently low temperature and atmospheric pressure. Also, monodisperse or narrowly-sized droplets (particles) 1 to 6 μm in diameter have multiple biomedical applications including pulmonary drug delivery, micro encapsulation of drugs, and drug preparation for inhalation. Other potential applications include thin-film coating and three-dimensional (3-D) spray coating for micro- and nano-electronics and photonics.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Droplet (or drop) formation based on acoustic techniques has been an important research and development subject area in recent years because of its various potential applications. For example, nozzle-less droplet ejectors that use focused acoustic waves at 5-900 megahertz (MHz) to eject micrometer-sized droplets, one drop at a time, are applicable to high-resolution ink-jet printing. A micromachined ultrasonic droplet generator based on a liquid horn structure is capable of droplet ejection from 5- to 10-μm orifices at multiple resonant frequencies between 1 and 5 MHz and has been shown to be applicable to inhalation drug therapy. Piezoelectrically actuated flextensional micromachined ultrasonic transducers with annular piezoelectric disk and operating resonance frequencies from 450 kHz to 4.5 MHz have also been designed and fabricated for droplet ejection. Current ultrasonic nebulizers that use vibrating micrometer-sized mesh technology are also capable of producing micrometer-sized droplets for applications such as pulmonary drug delivery, but the resulting drop size distributions are rather broad because various atomization mechanisms such as cavitation, impinging, and jetting are also involved in addition to the capillary wave mechanism. Furthermore, the electrical drive power required is typically greater than 10 W. Finally, commercially available metal-based bulk-type ultrasonic nozzles (Sono-Tek Corp., Milton, N.Y.) that use capillary waves at frequencies far below 1 MHz are capable of producing sprays of droplets (mist) with a diameter smaller than the nozzle orifice diameter, but much larger than 10 μm. All of the aforementioned devices under research and development and commercial devices are either incapable of producing monodisperse or narrowly-sized droplets of such desirable size range (1 to 6 μm) or producing them only at very low throughput. Furthermore, they are bulky, requiring much higher electrical drive power, and do not have potential for mass production using batch fabrication. Clearly, it is desirable to explore and realize miniaturized ultrasonic nozzle devices that operate at megahertz drive frequencies for producing sprays of micrometer-sized or even sub-micrometer-sized droplets with narrow size distributions, or even monodisperse droplets, at high throughput and low electrical drive power.
Additionally, several attempts have been made in the prior art to transport the liquid to be atomized through the ultrasonic nozzle in which it is to be ejected from. Typically, a central channel was used in the prior art to transport the liquid to be atomized to the endface of the nozzle tip of the single-nozzle ultrasonic device. Specifically, in the Sono-Tek metal-based bulk-type ultrasonic nozzle referred to earlier a cylindrical channel is bored through the nozzle body. In the silicon-based multiple Fourier horns ultrasonic device a pair of identical nozzles each with an etched trough along the nozzle axis was bonded to form a 200 μm×200 μm central channel for transport of the liquid to the endface of the vibrating nozzle tip. As the amplitude of vibration on the endface of the nozzle tip in the direction perpendicular or nearly perpendicular to the endface reaches a threshold or critical vibration amplitude at the MHz resonance frequency of the multiple Fourier horns, the liquid resting on the endface is broken into micrometer-sized monodisperse or narrowly-sized droplets. Formation of this central channel requires several additional micro-fabrication steps. Furthermore, as the operating frequency of the nozzle increases, the physical size of the device decreases. As a result, the area of the vibrating endface decreases, and the degree of complexity involved in channel fabrication increases. Finally, the corresponding reduction in the channel cross section will result in decreased liquid flow rate and, thus, droplet throughput.
What is needed is a method and device or devices that eliminate the need for a central channel and its corresponding fabrication complexities while at the same time maintaining a high flow rate and a high-throughput production of monodisperse or narrowly-sized droplets in micrometer and sub-micrometer sizes, and low electrical drive power.

Method for transporting a liquid for atomization and a method and devices for atomizing the same


A printer or other powder deposition device may include multiple toning stations, and the toning stations may be positioned in various configurations within the device. The various configurations may position the toning stations so as to increase the toning width of the device, thereby allowing the device to print larger process widths. The device may also perform processing control for the multiple toning stations.

Processes for developing electrostatic images using dry toner are well known in the art. Such development systems are used in many electrographic or electrophotographic printers and copiers (collectively referred to herein as "printers") and typically employ a developer consisting of toner particles, hard magnetic carrier particles and other components. Magnetic brush development may also be used for powder coating applications. In many current and prior art developers, the carrier particles are much larger than the toner particles, on the order of up to 30 times larger.
The developer is moved into proximity with an electrostatic image carried on a receiver, whereupon the toner component of the developer is deposited on the receiver. Deposition of toner onto the receiver is driven by the electric field between the electrostatic image on the receiver and the magnetic brush. In electrophotographic printers the receiver is a photoconductor, and the toner is subsequently transferred to a sheet of paper or other final receiver to create the final output of the device, which can be an image. Developer is moved into proximity with the electrostatic image by a rotating toning shell, an electrically-biased, conductive metal roller that is rotated cocurrent with the photoconductor, such that the opposing surfaces of the photoconductor and toning shell travel in the same direction. For powder coating applications, an electric field drives toner deposition from the developer onto a substrate or receiver, which can be electrostatically charged or to which a bias voltage can be applied relative to the toning shell.
Located inside the toning shell is a multipole magnetic core, having a plurality of magnets, that is either fixed relative to the toning shell or that rotates, usually in the opposite direction of the toning shell. The developer is deposited on the toning shell and the toning shell rotates the developer into proximity with the receiver, at a location where the receiver and the toning shell are in closest proximity, referred to as the "toning nip."
On the toning shell, the magnetic carrier component of the developer forms a "nap," similar in appearance to the nap of a fabric, because the magnetic particles form chains of particles that rise vertically from the surface of the toning shell in the direction of the magnetic field. The nap height is maximum when the magnetic field from either a north or south pole is perpendicular to the toning shell. Adjacent magnets in the magnetic core have opposite polarity and, therefore, as the magnetic core rotates, the magnetic field also rotates from perpendicular to the toning shell to parallel to the toning shell.
When the magnetic field is parallel to the toning shell, the chains collapse onto the surface of the toning shell and, as the magnetic field again rotates toward perpendicular to the toning shell, the chains also rotate toward perpendicular again. Thus, the carrier chains appear to flip end over end and "walk" on the surface of the toning shell and, when the magnetic core rotates in the opposite direction of the toning shell, the chains walk in the direction of photoconductor travel.
The magnetic toning roller and toning shell are located in a housing or sump, in which fresh toner is mixed with the magnetic developer and applied to the toning shell. Augers and ribbon blenders are typically used to mix developer and fresh toner. Bucket assemblies, magnetic rollers internal to the sump or paddle wheels are used to apply the developer to the toning shell. The amount of developer applied to the toning shell is usually limited by a skive adjacent to the toning shell, which extends down the length of the toning shell and is spaced uniformly from the toning shell.
Exemplary development systems that implement hard magnetic carriers are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,473,029 and 4,546,060, the contents of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. Alternatively, in other development systems the toning shell may or may not rotate. Other developments systems implement magnetic carriers that are not hard (i.e. soft). Still alternatively, in other development systems the magnetic core may not rotate.
Ideally the toning shell and the magnetic core are as long as necessary to provide the developer to the entire printing width of a printer. In the case of coating applications, the toning shell and the magnetic core are as long as necessary to provide developer to the entire width of the substrate. The toning width could be increased by increasing the length of the toning station; however, the overall length of the toning station described above is limited by manufacturing tolerances for these components and the adverse effects these longer components have on image quality. Thus, increasing the length of the toning station causes a corresponding decrease in the uniformity of the toner deposition and the image quality of a printer or other powder deposition device.
Many common printing applications and powder coating applications require a larger toning width. For these applications there exists a tradeoff between increasing the length of the toning roller and maintaining the uniformity of toner deposition, and therefore also the uniformity of laydown in a coating system or the image quality in a printer. That is, the toning width could be increased by increasing the length of the toning roller, but runout, spacing differences to the receiver along the length of the roller or other non-uniformities in the longer toning roller would cause a decrease in the uniformity of toner deposition and the image quality. Similarly, the uniformity of toner deposition and the image quality could be maintained by using a shorter toning roller with more precise dimensions, which would then decrease the toning width of the development station.
Therefore, there exists a need to provide an improved system for increasing the toning width of a printer or other toner deposition system while still maintaining the quality of the resulting image and the uniformity of toner deposition.

Method and system for wide format toning


Truck Bed Companion will keep groceries from spilling all over the truck bed, allow contractors to transport tools and sheets of plywood or drywalls with ease, eliminate the need to ties down lawn mowers or gas cans and create separate areas for tool boxes, saws or other necessities.

While trucks are used to transport various types and sizes of cargo, their open-bed design can create problems. Smaller, lightweight items can roll and slide when the truck is in motion. Larger cargo can crush or break other items and many things need to be tied down before the vehicle is moved. All of this can be an inconvenience to the driver.


A value to better match a termination circuit to a characteristic impedance of a bus signal line is determined. A determination is also made as to when a bus, that includes the line and that is being used by a bus agent in its normal mode of operation, will be available for adjusting the termination circuit in a Quiet Cycle, based at least on knowledge of the bus protocol and tracking of certain bus protocol events. The termination circuit is adjusted according to the determined value, during the Quiet Cycle.

One or more embodiments of the invention relate generally to the field of high-speed bus communications and more particularly to a method and apparatus for bus signal termination compensation via detection of a "Quiet Cycle" during normal bus operation.
Communications between devices that make up an electronic system are typically performed using one or more buses that interconnect such devices. These buses may be dedicated buses coupling only two devices, or they may be used to connect more than two devices. The buses may be formed entirely on a single integrated circuit die, thus being able to connect two or more devices on the same chip. Alternatively, a bus may be formed on a separate substrate than the devices, such as on a printed wiring board.
Modern systems such as advanced desktop and notebook computers are optimized to run at high bus speeds or bus dock frequencies, for greater performance. In such cases, proper bus signal termination, which matches the characteristic impedance of a bus line, is needed to avoid unwanted signal reflections that can interfere with bus communications.
Within advanced electronic systems, bus signal termination may be provided by on-chip termination resistors. Unfortunately, these resistors generally have an effective resistance that is not constant and instead changes as a function of several parameters, including fabrication parameters, signal voltage level, power supply voltage, and temperature. These parameters can introduce a variation in effective resistance of nearly 2:1. As a result, achieving proper termination in practice generally requires the use of on-chip, adjustable termination circuits.
Typically, the adjustable termination circuits within a manufactured device, such as a processor integrated circuit die, implement a linear compensation scheme to compensate for variations in termination resistors. In such a scheme, resistance changes are continuous (typically under the control of an analog bias voltage), rather than in discrete steps. The desired compensation may be determined, for example, by in effect measuring the resistance of the termination resistor relative to that of a reference resistor (typically an external or off-chip precision resistor), to determine the difference. This may be done during initial startup or reset of the processor, and then the on-die termination circuits are adjusted only once, prior to enabling the start of normal operation of the processor. With linear compensation schemes, it may be possible to update the termination circuit "on the fly", that is while the bus is being used for communicating data symbols, without hampering the transmission and receipt of symbols on the bus.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Apparatus and method for bus signal termination compensation during detected quiet cycle


A first degradation degree detector detects a first degradation degree of one of a plurality of image forming devices for forming toner images, respectively, which is provided at an extreme downstream position in a direction of rotation of an intermediate transfer member. A first degradation degree judgment device judges whether or not the first degradation degree of the extreme downstream image forming device detected by the first degradation degree detector reaches a first level of deterioration. A bias controller decreases a bias to be applied by a transfer device to transfer the toner images, which are formed by the plurality of image forming devices and transferred on the intermediate transfer member, onto a transfer sheet, when the first degradation degree judgment device judges that the first degradation degree of the extreme downstream image forming device detected by the first degradation degree detector reaches the first level.

1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary aspects of the present invention relate to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method using a plurality of image forming devices for forming respective toner images.
2. Description of the Related Art
Related-art image forming apparatuses, such as copiers, facsimile machines, printers, or multifunction printers having at least one of copying, printing, scanning, and facsimile functions, typically form an image on a recording medium (e.g., a transfer sheet) based on image data using electrophotography. Thus, for example, a charger uniformly charges a surface of an image carrier; an optical writer emits a light beam onto the charged surface of the image carrier to form an electrostatic latent image on the image carrier according to the image data; a development device supplies toner particles to the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier to make the electrostatic latent image visible as a toner image; the toner image is directly transferred from the image carrier onto a transfer sheet in a direct transfer method or is indirectly transferred from the image carrier onto a transfer sheet via an intermediate transfer member in an indirect transfer method; a cleaner then cleans the surface of the image carrier after the toner image is transferred from the image carrier onto the transfer sheet; and finally, a fixing device applies heat and pressure to the transfer sheet bearing the toner image to fix the toner image on the transfer sheet, thus forming the image on the transfer sheet.
Such image forming apparatus may include a plurality of image forming devices, each of which includes the charger, the image carrier, the development device, and the cleaner, so as to form a color toner image on a transfer sheet. For example, the plurality of image forming devices forms toner images in respective colors and the toner images are sequentially transferred onto a transfer sheet being conveyed in such a manner that the toner images are superimposed on the transfer sheet to form a color toner image on the transfer sheet in the direct transfer method. Alternatively, the toner images formed by the plurality of image forming devices, respectively, are transferred onto a rotating intermediate transfer member sequentially in such a manner that the toner images are superimposed on the intermediate transfer member, and then the superimposed toner images are collectively transferred from the intermediate transfer member onto a transfer sheet being conveyed to form a color toner image on the transfer sheet in the indirect transfer method.
Such image forming apparatus can form a toner image properly when the image forming device is new. However, over time, a charge amount of a developer used in the image forming device decreases, resulting in formation of a low-quality solid image and a low-quality halftone image having a low toner density. Especially, the low-quality image having the low toner density may appear as a rough image.
To address this problem, a technology to set a proper transfer electric current for transferring a toner image onto a transfer sheet that varies according to a number of sheets printed is proposed. Such technology is applicable to an image forming apparatus including a single image forming device, but is not applicable to an image forming apparatus including a plurality of image forming devices. It is especially difficult to apply such technology to an image forming apparatus using the indirect transfer method, because each of the plurality of image forming devices degrades at different rates and to different degrees. Accordingly, the conditions under which the superimposed toner images are properly transferred from the intermediate transfer member onto a transfer sheet may be different for each of the toner images formed by the plurality of image forming devices and superimposed on an intermediate transfer member.
Further, toner images formed by image forming devices provided upstream in a direction of rotation of the intermediate transfer member are transferred onto the intermediate transfer member and then conveyed past other image forming devices provided downstream from the upstream image forming devices, during which time the toner images are susceptible to various physical actions performed by the other image forming devices. Accordingly, such toner images need to be transferred from the intermediate transfer member onto a transfer sheet under conditions different from the conditions for an image forming apparatus including only a single image forming device.

Image forming apparatus and image forming method capable of effectively transferring toner images


A display allowing further miniaturization when including a plurality of display panels is obtained. This display comprises a first display panel formed on a substrate and a second display panel formed on the same substrate on a region different from that formed with the first display panel. Thus, the display can be further miniaturized as compared with that having a first display panel and a second display panel formed on different substrates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display, and more particularly, it relates to a display including a plurality of display panels.
2. Description of the Related Art
A portable display employed as the display panel of a portable telephone or the like is known in general. A folding portable telephone or the like including two display panels, i.e., a main panel and a sub panel, is also known in general.
FIGS. 23 and 24 are perspective views showing the folding portable telephone 400 including two liquid crystal display panels, i.e., a main panel 401 and a sub panel 402. Referring to FIGS. 23 and 24, the conventional folding portable telephone 400 is constituted of a display part 400a and an operation part 400b. The display part 400a includes the main panel 401 provided on the surface closer to the operation part 400b and the sub panel 402 provided on the surface opposite to the operation part 400b. When the portable telephone 400 is not used, the display part 400a is folded toward the operation part 400b as shown in FIG. 23. In this folded state, the sub panel 402 displays time information or the like. When the portable telephone 400 is used, the display part 400a is opened along arrow in FIG. 23 and brought into the state shown in FIG. 24. In this state, the main panel 401 displays a telephone number, a dynamic image or the like.
The housing of the aforementioned portable telephone 400 is inconveniently increased in size due to the main panel 401 and the sub panel 402 mounted thereon independently of each other. Therefore, the portable telephone 400 is hard to miniaturize.
In relation to a portable apparatus such as the portable telephone 400 including a main panel and a sub panel, therefore, there is proposed a technique of arranging the main panel and the sub panel above and under a backlight thereby sharing the backlight by the main panel and the sub panel. Thus, the housing of the portable apparatus can be miniaturized due to the shared backlight.
A liquid crystal display used for the portable apparatus must be further miniaturized in response to particularly strong requirement for miniaturization. In the aforementioned technique of sharing the backlight, however, the main panel and the sub panel themselves are mounted independently of each other, and hence miniaturization of the liquid crystal display is limited. Consequently, it is difficult to further miniaturize the liquid crystal display according to the aforementioned technique of sharing the backlight.
In the aforementioned technique of sharing the backlight, further, the main panel and the sub panel themselves are mounted independently of each other, and hence it is difficult to further reduce the number of components and further simplify assembling steps. Consequently, it is also difficult to further reduce the component cost as well as the device cost.

Display including a plurality of display panels


The present invention is in the field of a system for gas recovery from wastewater, a method for treating wastewater, and a method wherein ammonia and carbon dioxide are recovered. Typically a wastewater stream is fed into the system, treated and stripped from ammonia and carbon dioxide, and a cleaner stream is released.

Typically wastewater originates from households and industry. It may be collected and transferred to a treatment facility.
Wastewater treatment is aimed at converting wastewater into an aqueous effluent that can be returned to the nature water cycle, or aimed at (direct) reuse of water. The latter is also referred to as water reclamation. A minimal impact on the environment is aimed at. The treatment process typically takes place in a wastewater treatment plant or sewage treatment plant. Typically pollutants are removed or broken down. Various processes may be involved, such as phase separation, sedimentation, filtration, oxidation, polishing, tertiary treatment, and biochemical treatment, such as by using microorganisms. By-products from wastewater treatment plants may also be treated in a wastewater treatment plant.
A contaminant typically found in wastewater is nitrogen, such as in the form of urea, nitrate and nitrite. Excessive discharge of nitrogen (N) leads to eutrophication of receiving surface waters and subsequent deterioration of the aquatic environment. To prevent this, nitrogen compounds in wastewaters are preferably removed before discharge of the water. In various types of wastewater, N is present as ammonium ion (NH4+) in combination with an ion such as bicarbonate (HCO3—). In many industrialized areas in the world, NH4 is converted to nitrates and eventually to dinitrogen gas, at the expense of considerable capital costs and energy.
The majority of the produced NH3 is used as fertilizer. As a consequence of use thereof, ultimately NH3 becomes available in waste streams: for example, in manure, urine, and sewage. The total amount of NH3 discharged to domestic sewage treatment plants in 2016 in the Netherlands was about 32 million kilogram, while the amount of NH3 in manure in 2013 was about 471 million kilograms. Current state-of-the-art technologies require at least 11 MJ/kg-NH3 to remove NH3 from wastewater.
A treatment technology used is Anammox. In wastewater containing NH4HCO3, NH4+ is biochemically oxidized, forming N2 and H2O. This process requires energy. The application of Anammox finally does not lead to the possibility of resource or energy recovery. Also CO2 may remain in treated water, leading to amongst others acidification.
Ammonium nitrate may be removed from wastewater. However, in such as treatment of wastewater containing NH4NO3 species, the NH4NO3 can unfortunately not be reused in certain cases because it contains traces of radioactive compounds.
For (NH4)2SO4 fertilizer production initially CO2 may be stripped and released into the air to increase the pH and lower the buffer capacity. Subsequently, NH3 gas is stripped, requiring significant amounts of energy and the addition of chemicals. The NH3 is then scrubbed in acid, to produce (NH4)2SO4, which can be used as (resource for) fertilizer. However, the demand and economic yield of (NH4)2SO4 are low: the required acid is more valuable per kg than the produced (NH4)2SO4. Additionally, there are extra costs for the required chemicals and energy. Because this fertilizer has a high sulphur content, the applicability is limited to specific situations.
Some prior art documents relate to gas recovery from aqueous systems.
US 2016/271562 A1 recite a process and system for removing ammonia from an aqueous ammonia solution. A first aqueous solution and the ammonia solution are flowed respectively through a first and a second separation chamber of a bipolar membrane electrodialysis stack. The first separation chamber is bounded on an anodic side by a cation exchange membrane and the second separation chamber is bounded on a cathodic side by the cation exchange membrane and on an anodic side by a bipolar membrane. The bipolar membrane has an anion-permeable layer and a cation-permeable layer respectively oriented to face the stack's anode and cathode. While the solutions are flowing through the stack a voltage is applied across the stack that causes the bipolar membrane to dissociate water into protons and hydroxide ions. The protons migrate into the second separation chamber and react there with ammonia to form ammonium ions that migrate to the first separation chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,983 A recites an apparatus containing a multiplicity of three chamber units comprising a combination of ion exchange membranes and bipolar membranes with certain of said chambers containing a fluid permeable filler of ion-exchange material. The apparatus can be used in a process to remove weakly ionized gases from fluid mixtures.
An article by Pronk et al. "Treatment of source-separated urine by a combination of bipolar electrodialysis and a gas transfer membrane" in Water Science Technology, 53, 3, p. 139-146, 2006, recites that urine contains nutrients which can be applied usefully as a fertiliser in agriculture, but the relatively high pH can lead to ammonia evaporation. Electrodialysis with bipolar membranes was combined with an additional mass transfer unit in order to render a product containing ammonium and phosphate at a low pH. In one case, the additional mass transfer unit consisted of bubble columns placed in acid and basic concentrate streams, connected with a circulating gas phase. In the other case, the unit consisted of a gas-filled (hydrophobic) membrane placed in between the circulating acid and basic concentrate streams. The results showed that ammonia was transferred through the gas phase, but also carbonate, which is present in stored urine originating from the hydrolysis of urea. Although the pH in the product stream decreases initially, it rises above pH 7 at longer operation times. This pH increase can be attributed to a combination of proton compensating effects. The use of ammonia-selective membranes for the transfer into the acid concentrate could provide a solution to generate an ammonium phosphate product at low pH and high recoveries.
An article by Shuangchen et al. "Experimental study on desorption of simulated solution after ammonia carbon capture using bipolar membrane electrodialysis", Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control, Elsevier, Vol. 42, Nov. 3, 2015, p. 690-698, recites ammonia capture in solutions.
An article by Ali et al. in J. Membrane Science, Elsevier, Vol. 244, Nr. 1-2, Nov. 15, 2004, p. 89-96 recites that splitting of ammonium nitrate to nitric acid and ammonia was achieved by a coupled process including bipolar membrane electrodialysis and in situ ammonia stripping. The effect of homopolar ion-exchange membranes on current efficiency led to the selection of specific membranes. The main parameters influencing the current efficiency were acid and ammonia concentrations. Proton leakage through the anion-exchange membrane is proportional to acid concentration. Ammonia diffuses through the membranes independently of the current. Higher current efficiency was obtained at higher current density. Batch and continuous processing were compared.
A further issue with prior art systems may be potential fouling of the membranes used. Therefore one has to cope with the various contaminants present in wastewater. As mentioned the required energy, the process control strategy, and the economic feasibility, is sub-optimal.
The present invention therefore relates to a system for gas recovery from wastewater, and a method of operating such a system, which solve one or more of the above problems and drawbacks of the prior art, providing reliable results, without jeopardizing functionality and advantages.


Bird feeders of various shapes are formed at least partially of an expanded steel mesh material. The mesh is formed from thin sheet metal which is slit, expanded and formed into a portion of a bird feeder body.

This invention relates to a variety of bird feeders incorporating expanded metal mesh as a portion of the bird feeder body.
Many bird feeders incorporate either woven or welded wire screening or mesh for the purpose of retaining bird feed. The screening or mesh may be incorporated into the sides of the bird feeder and/or form a portion of the bottom of the feeder in order to permit drainage while retaining the feed.
Examples of bird feeders using conventional screening or mesh are illustrated by: U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,123,501; 1,891,042; 4,434,745; 5,111,772; 5,195,459; 5,377,617 and 5,479,878; and Design Pat. Nos. Des. 214,735; 277,514 and 351,691.
The welded or woven wire screening, which may be galvanized and/or vinyl coated, is relatively expensive and lacks strength and rigidity unless the mesh is substantially oversized or double layers are used. The issue of strength occurs, for example, when the mesh is incorporated into a seed catcher tray or in the bottom of a conventional bird feeder.


A device resting on a floor surface for enhancing the self-mobility of a person comprises a base structure comprised of a plurality of floor rail stabilizers and a base platform. The plurality of floor rail stabilizers include parallel sides. The base platform is comprised of a base frame and a base plate fixably attached to the base frame with the base frame having parallel side surfaces and being fixably attached in flush surface-to-surface relation to the plurality of floor rail stabilizers for strength and stability. The base platform is located and positioned between the plurality of floor rail stabilizers for holding the device to the floor surface. A plurality of upright side stands are sized and positioned on the floor rail stabilizers for sustaining and transferring a lateral force applied by the person. Each upright side stand is comprised of a plurality of vertical rail members and a plurality of angled rod members. Each upright side stand is located and positioned with each angled rod member positioned in a direction toward the back end of the corresponding floor rail stabilizer to provide stability and each vertical rail member thereby transferring the lateral force to the corresponding angled rod member. Each angled rod member thereby transfers the lateral force to the corresponding floor rail stabilizer to resist tipping and to relieve the corresponding vertical rail member of stress.

1. Field of the Invention
My invention relates generally to mechanical aids and methods that enhance the self-mobility of a person, especially physically challenged individuals. More particularly, the invention pertains to an improved device for assisting the person in safely rising from a seated position to a standing position and for assisting the person in safely sitting from a standing position to a seated position without the assistance of a caregiver. My invention also incorporates a therapeutic or fitness feature wherein the person receives the simultaneous benefit of exercise to the arms and legs without causing joint or muscle strain to any muscle group.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The health care industry has experienced a series of transformations and challenges in recent years as it has attempted to cope with an ever increasing population of physically challenged individuals, such as elderly and disabled individuals. These physically challenged individuals have suffered the most under budgetary constraints and they typically live on fixed incomes provided by the U.S. Social Security administration so that they typically lack the significant personal financial resources necessary to pay for sustained private or home health care. Hence, these individuals often spend extensive amounts of time alone and without any form of assisted living provided by other individuals or outside agencies.
A number of prior art devices are found which attempt to provide a means for lifting or hoisting a patient or other incapacitated person from a sitting or prone position, these prior art devices often require the explicit assistance of at least one other caregiver to operate the prior art device and to assist the individual in keeping his or her balance. Some of the prior art devices use motorized or electrically powered features which are often expensive, prone to repair, and do not allow the user to effectively exercise any portion of their physical body which may not be subject to their particular handicap or disablility.
Other prior art devices, such as the devices found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,449,013, 5,465,744, and 4,844,107 attempt to assist a disabled person to rise from a seat to a standing position and to assist the disabled person to sit from a standing position. The prior art device in U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,013 requires a brace 18 connecting the forearm supports 14 and 15. The brace 18 can get in the way of the person's feet when using this device. The forearm supports 14 and 15 have a roundish shape which does not transfer a lateral force applied by the user to hand grips 16 and 17 to a floor surface by way of the forearm supports 14 and 15. Thus, the hand grips 16 and 17 bear the lateral force and the device could tip over, hurt the user. Furthermore, a modular construction 50 is contemplated by using a plurality of struts 81 and pins 90. Such construction provides a potential weak point wherein the pins 90 fail in shear while the device is in use and the user again risks injury from a potential fall. The device also discloses the use of round tubular floor rails 12 and 13 which do not provide for a strong, flush welding surface that would add strength and stability to the device.
The adjustable mobility assist device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,744 requires leverage from a stationary object such as a wall or bed. It does not contemplate a device that is self-assisted and that could be used without such stationary objects. Furthermore, this device contemplates the use of four casters 60, 62, 64, and 66 attached to the underside of base 12. This construction could make the device slide easily on the floor surface while in use and could result in the user falling and sustaining injury.
The portable standing and sitting aid or device in U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,107 uses a support arm 5 that is removable from an initial position to assist the user in easily moving the device from room to room. The support arm 5 is received in a slot means 4 and is removably disposed by way of a screw connection or any other easily removable connection. This connection provides a weak point wherein the screw connection could fail and cause the user to fall and sustain injury.
Furthermore, other prior art devices are often bulky, heavy, and incapable of being disassembled and thereby make them unsuitable for home use. In most cases, the individual would be wholly unable to physically move the prior art device around their living quarters and up and down any stairs. Clearly, the purchase of two or more of these prior art devices is a financial impossiblity for most physically challenged individuals and their families. Moreover, an institutional user, such as a hospital or nursing home, would require a conveniently located elevator to transport these prior art devices from floor to floor of the institution as needed or be faced with purchasing a large number of separate prior art devices. In addition, the institutional user may need to use the prior art device on an almost "emergency" basis or risk injury from a potential fall.
At the same time, the fitness equipment industry has experienced an almost unprecedented boom. In particular, the home fitness segment offers health-conscious consumers a wide array of products designed to effectuate exercise and cardiovascular improvement. However, nearly all of the existing products are directed towards users that are essentially already healthy and have the physical mobility to safely operate exercise equipment devices, such as "bike" and "ski" devices. In fact, many of these exercise equipment devices warn certain users to seek medical consultation before beginning use of the device. Clearly, many physicians would be reluctant to allow their physically challenged patients to operate such sophisticated exercise equipment devices. Thus, once again, the disabled, infirm, and handicapped, are likely left without any effective alternatives to exercise those major muscle groups or joints which may not be effected by their particular handicap or disability.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of my invention to provide a lightweight, solid, durable, and completely self-assisted device for physically challenged individuals wishing to safely rise from a seated position or to safely sit from a standing position without the assistance of a caregiver.
Another object of my invention is to provide a device that allows the physically challenged individual to maintain their balance throughout the process of moving from either the seated to a standing position or from a standing to a seated position thereby decreasing the possibility of falling and increasing psychological confidence in the process.
Another object of my invention is to provide a device that allows the physically challenged individual to rise from a seated position or sit from a standing position more quickly and with less effort so that there is less strain on arms, legs, major muscle groups, and joints.
A further object of my invention is to provide a degree of physical exercise to the disabled individual or handicapped user who, without interaction with others, may not otherwise receive such exercise.
Another object of my invention is to provide a portable, mobile device easily capable of being physically moved by a handicapped or disabled.
Other objects of my invention, as well as particular features, elements, and advantages thereof, will be elucidated in, or apparent from, the following description and the accompanying drawing figures. As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, my invention solves all of the aforementioned problems and employs a number of novel features that render it highly advantageous over the prior art.

Device to assist a person to sit and stand while maintaining their balance


A method and apparatus for edge finishing glass sheets. Glass sheets are separated into desired sizes, after which the edges of the glass sheets are finished using edge polishing methods, such as, for example, by contacting and moving the edges of the glass sheet against rotating polishing wheels which are oriented al least approximately orthogonally to said sheet.

Conventional glass finishing technology has largely been developed for thick sheet glass manufacturing techniques, primarily for the automotive industry. These finishing techniques typically employ a mechanical scoring and breaking process in which a diamond or carbide scoring wheel is dragged across the glass surface to mechanically score the glass sheet, after which the glass sheet is bent along this score line to break the glass sheet, thereby forming a break edge. The edges of the glass sheet are then typically rounded using a metal grinding wheel having a radiused groove on its outer periphery, with diamond particles embedded in the radiused groove. By moving the glass sheet against this radiused groove and rotating the diamond wheel at a high rpm, a radius is literally ground into the edge of the glass sheet. Such methods are commonly employed, for example, to make the rounded edges on automotive windows, and for this purpose these methods are completely satisfactory.
Flat panel display substrates require much thinner glass sheets than are employed in the automotive industry, and have product requirements and robustness requirements which are significantly different from these products. Mechanical scoring and breaking techniques commonly result in lateral cracks about 100 to 150 microns long which emanate from the score wheel cutting line. Previously, these lateral cracks would have to be removed by diamond wheel grinding methods, discussed above. However, to do so involved removal of about 100 to 200 microns or more of the glass edge. Consequently, the diamond wheel grinding step (and also the mechanical scoring step) created an enormous amount of debris and particles.
In addition, in spite of repeated washing steps, particles generated during finishing continue to be a problem. For example, in some cases particle counts of substrates prior to shipping were actually lower than subsequent particle counts taken after a period of time. This is because the grinding of the glass sheets resulted in chips, checks, and subsurface fractures along the edge of the ground surface, all of which serve as receptacles for particles. These particles subsequently would break loose at a later time, causing contamination, scratches, and sometimes act as a break source in later processing. Consequently, such ground surfaces are "active", meaning subject to expelling particles with environmental forces, such as temperature and humidity. The present invention relates to methods for reducing these "lateral cracks" and "micro-checking" caused by grinding, thereby forming a glass sheet having edges which are more "inactive".
Laser scoring techniques can greatly reduce lateral cracking due to conventional mechanical scoring. Previously, such laser scoring methods were thought to be too slow and not suitable for production manufacturing finishing lines. However, recent advances by Corning Incorporated have potentially enabled the use of such methods in production glass finishing applications. Laser scoring typically starts with a mechanical check placed at the edge of the glass. A laser with a shaped output beam is then run over the check to create an expansion to occur on the glass surface, followed by a coolant quench to put the surface in tension, thereby thermally propagating a crack across the glass in the path of travel of the laser. Such heating is a localized surface phenomenon. The coolant directed behind the laser causes a controlled splitting. Stress equilibrium in the glass arrests the depth of the crack from going all the way through, thereby resulting in "score-like" continuous crack, absent of lateral cracking.
Unfortunately, laser scored edges alone are not as durable as beveled "ground" edges, due to the sharp edges produced during the laser scoring process. It would therefore be desirable to design processes to remove such sharp edges without having to resort to the mechanical diamond wheel like grinding methods traditionally employed.

Method and apparatus for edge finishing glass


A method for identifying joined rows in a database comprising a plurality of tables. The method comprises selecting a group of tables directly or indirectly joined with each other, selecting an order of the group based on relationships among the tables, generating an intermediate data structure which identifies the group of tables, a number of virtual tables equal to one less than the number of tables in the group, and an indication of an adjacent table, and a common table and key for at least some of the group of tables and the virtual tables, generating indexing data structures for the group of tables and virtual tables, and, inserting information from rows of the group of tables into the indexing data structures using the intermediate data structure. The indexing data structure for one virtual table indicates which of the rows of the tables have common data elements.

A database may comprise a set of tables, each table having one or more columns and a plurality of rows. Each table may be indexed using a B-Tree. A B-Tree is a tree data structure which can be used to identify selected rows of a single table based on certain keys. The time required to insert, delete or search for keys in a B-Tree varies logarithmically with the number of data elements in the B-Tree.
Some databases employ a variation of the B-Tree known as a B+Tree. A B+Tree differs from a standard B-Tree in that all row identifiers are stored in the leaves of a B+Tree.
Databases often include a number of related or "joined" tables. Two tables are joined if each of the tables includes one or more columns that are related to corresponding columns in the other one of the tables. When such a database is queried to locate all rows having a particular data element (referred to as a "key"), some prior art systems execute a join for all of the tables of the database to produce a join table. A join is an operation wherein all of the rows of all of the tables of the database are scanned to identify rows containing the key specified by the query. Performing join operations can be time consuming.
Performance has been always a challenge for relational database systems. A major problem with relational database systems is that a good relationship schema requires many tables having columns in common between them. Accordingly, it is often necessary to calculate many joins to execute queries.
A database administrator typically spends a lot of time to tune the structure of a database to permit queries to be executed efficiently. In order to reduce the number of joins required to execute queries, some database schemas avoid the use of normal forms such as the Boyce-Codd normal form (BCNF). One prior art example of such a schema is known as the "Star Schema". The Star Schema was developed to simplify joins. A database organized according to the Star Schema typically has one main table or "fact table", and a plurality of other tables or "dimension tables" which are each in direct join with the fact table.
Another example of a prior art system for dealing with joins is the bitmap join index originated by the Oracle Corporation of Redwood Shores, Calif. A bitmap join index has pre-joined the tables. Queries can quickly retrieve row ID lists of matching table rows in all tables by consulting the bitmap join index. Some restrictions on using the bitmap join index include:                indexed columns must be of low cardinality;        SQL queries must not have any references in their WHERE clauses to data columns that are not contained in the index; and,        updating bitmap join indexes involves substantial overhead.In practice, bitmap join indexes are typically rebuilt each evening to incorporate data changes made by daily batch load jobs. Accordingly, bitmap join indexes may be unsuitable for databases that are modified during the processing day.
The inventor has developed efficient systems to make join tables available for a database without the need to calculate them each time the database is queried, and without avoiding the use of normal forms or limiting the number of distinct values in the columns of the tables.

Methods and systems for joining database tables using indexing data structures


A semi-passive acoustic transponder providing identity information related to the transponder when it is reflecting a received pulsed acoustic signal underwater. The transponder includes a memory unit holding ID-sequence data controlling operation of the switching device, and an electronic circuit includes frequency adjusting means for adjusting the frequency and duration of the switch such that the duration of the ID-sequence data is shorter than the duration of pulses of the received acoustic signal. Additionally, a method and system may provide position and identity information related to one or more of said semi-passive acoustic transponders.

A transponder is a device that emits or reflects an identifiable signal in response to an interrogating received signal. For underwater acoustic applications, there are two main types of transponders, i.e. active and passive transponders.
An active transponder emits signals to be tracked and monitored. It may be automatic devices, which strengthen and/or modifies signals received and relay them back or to another location. In order to do this, an active transponder includes its own transmitter and power supply. Active transponders may further "ping" its identity at set intervals and a receiver will listen for the signal. If it pings frequently, it may be detected quickly. Frequent pinging will however consume more power.
In order to reach far, most transponders used in underwater acoustic applications are active systems. They may transmit a unique identification as well as data if a sensor is included. Transponders operating underwater are typically used for measuring distance, position tracking, navigation or transmission of data from external sensors. This kind of transponders typically comprises a transducer(s), one or more sensors, and some intelligence such as a processor and a controller unit. The intelligence decodes an incoming signal, and estimates which information to be transmitted. This information is converted to acoustic signals by the transducer. The energy in these signals depend on energy available in batteries which have to be replaced or charged on a regularly basis. Depending on the operation-time of the batteries, such systems will stop working if the battery is not replaced or re-charged. These transponders are therefore not fit for identification of lost items, due to the energy solution.
The benefit of an active transponder is that it typically has a longer range than a passive transponder. The drawback is that it is bulky, expensive and has a relatively short power life. This makes it well suited for some specific purposes, while not so well for others.
A passive transponder allows a system to identify you, without having it's own transmitter and power source. Pure reflection systems for under water applications are thus normally not called transponders, but reflectors.
EP 1 846 917 B1 describes a passive acoustic system with some degree of identification. A sphere of a defined radius reflects the incoming signal at the front and at the back. The sphere is made of two materials having different material parameters. One material makes a thin surface layer, the other the rest of the sphere. As sound waves hit the sphere from any direction, sound is reflected at the front, but also refracted into the sphere. A third part is converted to surface waves, travelling around the sphere. All the waves add at the back of the sphere, getting reflected at the transition sphere/water. The amplitude and time lag relative the first reflection is determined by material parameters, thickness of surface layer, size of sphere and frequency. The two reflections define a sort of identification. The transponder is completely passive and does thus not require a power supply. The solution is however not suited for unique identification of several transponders and applications where the reflection signature of a transponder needs to be varied.
The benefit of passive transponders is that they are cheap, small and they do not need a power source. The shortcoming of a passive transponder is that they have comparatively restricted range.
There is a need for small and relatively inexpensive transponders being able to be uniquely identified, located and monitored over a long time without service. This implies no recharging/refilling of energy. Several such transponders can be linked to a wide variety of objects for providing different signatures of reflected acoustic signals.
This will provide a good solution for several underwater applications. One application may include identification of lost fishing gear, which is known to be a global environmental problem. Another application is for providing accurate positions of a trawl door or a Danish seine; a third application is monitoring underwater systems, like aqua culture nets. In order to prevent escapes it is especially important to be able to continuously monitoring the shape of such nets when exposed to heavy wind and current. An alarm can for instance be triggered if the shape of a net falls outside a given norm.
Existing systems suited for providing unique identification are mostly based on active transponders with transmitters requiring relatively high power for operating and transmitting. This is a known problem and lead to dead transponders if not found after a short time for recharging or changing batteries.
The present invention comprises an acoustic transponder for underwater applications, identifying itself through a unique ID-sequence modulated into the received and reflected signal at the transponder. This is implemented by a dynamic change in reflection coefficient. A small battery feeds the electronics generating the ID-sequence with energy, naming it semi-passive. The transponder is based on reflection of acoustic signals, where the incoming signal, the reflection coefficient and the unique code in combination define the reflected signal. Only very little power is necessary for operation, making a power source last for many years.
The present invention will provide a cheaper solution than active transponders suitable for use in underwater applications. It is further maintenance-free for several years with respect to energy, and well suited for identification and retrieving of lost fishing gear, monitoring of net cages for alarm purposes, and positioning units on fishing gear in use like trawl and Danish Seine.
The invention is further well suited for applications where a tagged object is to be invisible. In order to be identified a receiver has to search for specific signatures in the reflected signal from a transponder. An echo from a transponder may thus easily be mixed up with echoes from other objects in the sea.