Disclosed is a process for producing a wear-resistant layer, in particular on components of gas turbines or aero engines. The process comprises providing a component with a titanium material on at least part of a surface on which the wear-resistant layer is to be produced, applying a solder formed from a cobalt base material to the titanium material, soldering the solder to the titanium material by applying heat and producing at least one diffusion zone between solder and titanium material which comprises intermetallic phases.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for producing a wear-resistant layer, in particular on components of gas turbines or aero engines which are formed at least partially from a titanium material. Moreover, the present invention relates to a component of this type for gas turbines or aero engines having a corresponding wear-resistant layer.
2. Discussion of Background Information
In the case of turbomachines, such as stationary gas turbines or aero engines, components such as rotor blades, for example, are exposed to high levels of loading on account of the prevailing external ambient conditions, with high temperatures, oxidizing and corrosive media and high rates of rotation and flow, it being possible for these high levels of loading to lead inter alia to wear, in particular fatigue wear and/or abrasive wear, to the components.
This applies in particular to components which are formed from titanium materials, the main constituent of which therefore consists of titanium. The main constituent of the chemical composition in this respect is understood to mean the chemical element of which the proportion in the chemical composition corresponds in absolute terms to the greatest proportion of the material, i.e. correspondingly titanium in the case of titanium materials. Titanium materials are also understood to mean in particular materials on the basis of intermetallic compounds, for example titanium aluminides. Correspondingly, in the present disclosure an alloy consisting, for example, of identical proportions of titanium and aluminum is also subsumed under the term "titanium material".
Since the problem in relation to wear is already known for components of gas turbines or aero engines, there are various proposals in the prior art for protective layers, what are termed wear-resistant layers, which have the intention of reducing the wear to the components. In particular, a wide variety of coatings having a high hardness in order to thereby reduce the wear are known. The various wear-resistant layers can be applied to the components in different ways, for example by thermal spraying, build-up welding processes, physical vapor deposition (PVD) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or by build-up soldering processes. However, the solutions known to date often exhibit the problem that the adhesion, i.e. the bond of the wear-resistant layer to the base material of the component, is inadequate, and therefore the wear-resistant layer can become detached.
In addition, problems can occur when applying wear-resistant layers as a result of incompatibilities with the base material. In this respect, U.S. Pat. No. 8,393,528 B2, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, describes the application of a wear-resistant material, which is soldered onto a TiAl alloy in the form of a separately manufactured body in order to avoid the mixing of the TiAl alloy with the hard material alloy, for example a cobalt-chromium alloy, so as to thereby exclude brittle phases and cracking. However, a process of this type with the separate production of a wear-resistant component and the subsequent application of the component to the surface to be protected is very complex.
In view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to have available a wear-resistant layer for titanium materials and also a corresponding production process which make it possible to achieve simple application and production of the wear-resistant layer combined with a good wear resistance and adhesion of the wear-resistant layer to the base material of the component.

Process for producing intermetallic wear-resistant layer for titanium materials


A surgical device for carrying out an anastomosis in the intestine, including a protective device having an anchor element consisting of a stent and a flexible outer sheath, and an introducer including a first deformable guide tube, where the downstream end of the outer sheath is connected to the first guide tube or to a first connecting piece, the outer sheath being folded inside the first deformable guide tube, and the stent being held in radial compression inside the first deformable guide tube.

Colorectal anastomoses have a disunion rate of about 20%. Disunion of an anastomosis (fistula) is a serious complication with a mortality rate of about 20%. To reduce the deleterious consequences of anastomotic fistulas, some patients benefit from an outlet (a stoma) between the skin and the intestine located upstream of the anastomosis to divert the digestive flow into an external pouch and avoid contact between the anastomosis and the feces. The stoma is closed in a second step after the anastomosis has healed. The presence of a stoma and the need for re-intervention to remove it is a significant burden on the patient and a significant source of health expenditure.
It is in this context that an anastomosis protection device described in FR 2 941 858 and EP 2 395 942 has been provided which allows fecal matter to be diverted into the intestinal lumen and ostomies avoided. The device consists of a flexible outer sheath attached to a stent downstream of the stent, the stent being intended to be anchored upstream of the anastomosis. The stent is the temporary anchor element to the walls of the intestine, which holds the sheath in place and the sheath serves to divert fecal matter towards the anal orifice without contact with the intestinal wall at the anastomosis and thus protect the anastomosis.
In WO 2013/014353, this device was further developed by adding means to control the anchoring or release of the stent from the intestinal wall. To do this, the device's anchorage or release is reinforced by means of a tube opening into the space of a chamber delimited between an inner sheath and the stent wall, which makes it possible to create a suction effect by drawing the walls of the intestine against the stent to reinforce the anchorage or, on the contrary, to insufflate air or a fluid to release it.
To do this, the surgical device of WO2013/014353 essentially consists of taking advantage of the viscoelasticity of the intestine to attract its inner wall towards the outer wall of the stent. Indeed, the intestinal mucosa is flexible and elastic while the stent walls are relatively rigid. The intestinal wall can be attracted (by suction) and bonded to the outer walls of the stent under the effect of negative pressure in the stent-mucosa interface. In this case, the frictional force between the intestine and the stent increases rapidly and significantly due to a kind of suction effect. As a result, the mobility of the stent becomes closely related to the suction effect, the modulation of which then influences the behavior of the stent in the intestine.
More precisely in this patent WO 2013/014353 a surgical anchoring device is described, capable of anchoring itself to the mucous membrane of the internal wall of the intestine comprising;
(a) a temporary anchor element whose anchoring can be modified in a controlled manner, comprising at least a first semi-rigid hollow longitudinal element of the stent type, defining a wall of revolution about a longitudinal axis comprising a substantially cylindrical multi-perforated current part with a substantially circular cross-section called the first wall, said first hollow longitudinal element being made of a material giving it radial elasticity properties so that it can be radially compressed in a retracted position and adopt a said position of maximum radial expansion after release of the radial compression such that said first multi-perforated wall has a first external diameter which can be varied in a controlled manner between:                a first minimum external diameter in said retracted radial position of said first wall of not more than 20 mm, preferably not more than 10 mm, and        a first maximum external diameter at said maximum radial expansion position of said first wall, preferably 18 to 45 mm, and
(b) a flexible outer sheath attached to said stent and extending from its downstream end,
characterized in that at least part, preferably the entire length, of the cylindrical inner surface of said first wall is lined with an independent sealing layer forming an inner sheath, only the longitudinal ends of said inner sheath being attached in a sealed manner to said anchor element by means of first sealing means, preferably by joint fusing or an annular seal of elastomeric glue, at each said longitudinal end of said inner sheath, so as to delimit a chamber referred to as a vacuum chamber between said inner sheath and said first wall, said temporary anchor element being coupled to a flexible or semi-rigid tube referred to as an injection-suction tube, extending outside said anchor element, an open end of said injection-suction tube opening into said vacuum chamber.
More particularly, said injection-suction tube is connected, preferably reversibly at its free longitudinal end, to a connecting endpiece, itself reversibly connected or capable of being reversibly connected with a device for injecting or sucking up air or liquid such as a syringe, said connecting endpiece comprising a shut-off device, preferably an anti-backflow valve, and a vacuum indicator device capable of indicating the content of the vacuum in said vacuum chamber, in particular located on a vacuum ampoule.
Said chamber defines a sealed chamber between the sealed film of the inner sheath and the intestinal wall when said anchor element is in a position of maximum expansion and immobilized by anchoring against the inner surface of the intestinal wall. And, in the event of detachment of said anchor element and/or in the event of migration of said anchor element inside the intestine, said chamber loses its seal. However, air can then be sucked through said tube from its free end from the outside of the patient in order to draw the intestinal wall against the external surface of said first wall over a part or even over the entire external surface of said first wall delimiting said chamber in order to stop the migration of the anchor element by restoring the vacuum in said chamber and thus the sealing of said chamber.
Said anchor element may be held in a radially retracted position with an instrument called an "introducer" described below, the radial expansion taking place after the anchor element has been released from the introducer.
In WO 2013/014353, the introducer can be in a known manner constituted by a semi-rigid guide tube, of the catheter type provided at one of its ends with a handle and whose internal diameter and length make it possible to keep housed therein said anchor element in its retracted form and said sheath, preferably longitudinally extended.
In WO 2013/014353, for anal introduction, said device further comprises an introducer instrument comprising:                a tubular outer sheath capable of containing and holding said anchor element compressed in said retracted position and said injection-suction tube within the distal end of said outer sheath, and long enough to further contain said sheath and said injection-suction tube, said outer sheath preferably being at least 70 cm long, preferably at least 100 cm, and        means for routing the distal end of said introducer from the anal orifice to said anchoring site in the intestine upstream of the anastomosis, and        preferably means for disengaging said anchor element from the outer casing, preferably still consisting of a stop tube having a stop at its distal end, in contact if necessary with the longitudinal end of said anchor element, said sheath downstream of the anchor element surrounding said stop tube inside said outer casing.
An anastomosis is performed in the known manner with a stapler by inserting a circular cross-section part called an "anvil" into the intestine upstream of the anastomosis site, at the level of the free end of the intestine then tightening a wire known as "purse string" around the anvil shaft before engaging the stapler body in the downstream part of the anastomosis up to the level of the anvil shaft to make the circular stapler cooperate with the anvil for the sectioning of the tissues and the placing of the staples.
In these earlier patents cited above, the anastomosis protection device is therefore placed in the intestine once the anastomosis has been carried out with a stapler, for example of the type described in FR 2 846 868. It is by means of a flexible introducer that the device is introduced through the anal orifice and then the anastomosis and then the intestine located upstream of the anastomosis. After removal of the introducer, the stent opens in radial extension and comes into contact with the walls of the intestine while the sheath and suction tube deploy in the lumen of the intestine from its anchoring site upstream of the anastomosis to the anal orifice through the anastomosis.
Despite the proven safety of these maneuvers, some surgeons remain reluctant to introduce an object through a fresh anastomosis as described in WO 2013/014355.
According to the present invention, a protective device is provided which can be introduced into the intestine even before the anastomosis is made, this also in order to facilitate the anastomosis with the anvil and stapler, to reduce the number of steps during the surgical procedure and to reduce the operating time.
To this end, in principle, the object of the present invention is:                means for placing the anastomosis protection device in the intestinal lumen upstream of an anastomosis not requiring instruments introduced through the anal orifice and through the freshly performed anastomosis but using excision of pathological intestine and opening of the upstream intestinal lumen required for the stapler anvil for prior placement of the anastomosis protection device, and        means for deploying the anchoring device, the outer sheath and, if applicable, the suction tube through the anastomosis only after the anastomosis has been performed, the deployment of the sheath and the suction tube taking place by and with the removal of the stapler, i.e. after the steps of:        closing the upper intestine on the axis of the anvil by means of a purse string,        introducing the stapler body through the anal orifice into the downstream intestine, and        securing the anvil to the stapler body,        stapling, and        removing the anvil and stapler through the anal orifice.
For this purpose, the present invention more precisely provides a complex surgical device consisting of a ready-to-use assembly for performing an anastomosis in the intestine with an anvil and a circular stapler and then protecting said anastomosis in the intestine comprising:
(a) a protective device comprising an anchor element consisting of at least one stent capable of being temporarily anchored to the inner wall of the intestine upstream of the anastomosis and a flexible outer sheath, at least the upstream end of which is fixed to said stent, said outer sheath being capable of extending downstream of said anchor element and downstream of said anastomosis in order to allow said anastomosis to be protected, in particular after said anastomosis has been performed and said anvil and stapler have been removed, and
(b) at least a first tube, called first guide tube, said stent being held in radial compression within said first tube, preferably at a distal end of said first guide tube, said first tube being part of a guide tube of an introducer device or being adapted to be reversibly attached to an introducer device, said first tube being deformable in curvature relative to its longitudinal axis (XX′),
characterized in that said flexible sheath is stored, preferably folded, inside said first guide tube, and possibly partly, or even entirely, inside said stent, the downstream end of said sheath being connected to said first guide tube or to a first connection piece independent of said first guide tube, said flexible sheath being able to be deployed downstream of said stent by withdrawing the proximal end of said first guide tube or respectively to said first connection piece to which it is fixed.
More particularly, the proximal end of said first guide tube or respectively said first connecting piece comprises reversible fixing means such that said proximal end is capable of being fixed in a reversible manner to a said anvil, said flexible sheath being capable of being deployed downstream of said stent by the withdrawal of said anvil fixed in a reversible manner to the proximal end of said first guide tube or respectively to said first connecting piece.
More particularly, the proximal end of said first guide tube or respectively said first connecting piece comprise means for reversible attachment to the front face of a said anvil by gluing, screwing, clamping or magnetic connection. It is understood that the removal of said anvil implies the prior disassociation of said anvil with respect to said proximal end of said first guide tube or respectively of said first connecting part.
In a known manner, a said introducer comprises at least (i) said first deformable guide tube, (ii) a second rigid guide tube, the proximal end of said first deformable guide tube being attached or attachable to the distal end of said second rigid guide tube, (iii) a handle connected to the proximal end of said second rigid guide tube, and (iv) a pusher extending from said handle within said second rigid guide tube and said first deformable guide tube comprising a pusher rod and a pusher stop at the distal end of the pusher rod.
In a known manner, said introducer is capable of allowing the implantation of the protective device upstream of the anastomosis site, said pusher stop being capable of pushing said protective device outside the distal end of said first deformable guide tube to allow the radial extension and anchoring of said stent against the wall of the intestine, the proximal end of said pusher rod being capable of cooperating with said handle by manually controlling a relative translation of said pusher rod with respect to the first deformable guide tube.
In the prior art, this type of introducer is used to introduce the stent only after the anastomosis has been performed and said first deformable guide tube is longer than according to the invention because it must extend from the anal orifice to upstream of the anastomosis, i.e. in practice at least 45 cm.
According to the present invention, the introducer is used to introduce the stent before the anastomosis is carried out so that the length of said first deformable guide tube is for example no more than 30 cm, in order to place the stent upstream of the anastomosis site.
Thus the removal of the introducer after anchoring of said protective device upstream of the anastomosis makes it possible to partially deploy said sheath in the intestine downstream of the anastomosis, the complete deployment of said external sheath taking place during the removal of the stapler, via the anal orifice. Indeed, after the removal of the parts of the introducer other than said first connecting piece or said first tube of the introducer attached to said outer sheath, the latter may be reversibly attached directly or indirectly to a stapler anvil in order to perform the anastomosis as explained below.
More particularly still, when the downstream end of said sheath is attached to a said first connecting piece, said first connecting piece is positioned just downstream of said stent, and said means for reversible attachment of said first connecting piece, may serve successively to:                1) attaching to an abutment of a pusher of said introducer during the initial phase of introduction to release said stent out upstream of said first guide tube at the end of the initial phase of introduction under the effect of the thrust of said pusher, said stent thus being found in the upstream intestine at a certain distance preferably 10 to 20 cm upstream of the anastomosis site, then        2) to be fixed to a said anvil after detachment and withdrawal of said pusher and of the assembly of said introducer, to allow said anastomosis to be performed with a stapler, optionally after partial deployment of said sheath downstream of the stent by withdrawal of said pusher up to the level of the site of the anastomosis before detachment of said pusher, the complete deployment of said sheath downstream of said anastomosis resulting from the withdrawal of the assembly integral with said first connecting parts, said anvil and said stapler after said anastomosis has been performed.
More particularly still, when the downstream end of said sheath is connected to said first tube, said first tube is capable of being reversibly attached to an introducer device, said reversible attachment means at the proximal end of said first guide tube serving successively to:                1) be fixed to the end of a second guide tube of the introducer, which is integral with the handle and the pusher, during the initial phase of introduction, then        2) to be fixed to said anvil, after detachment of said first guide tube and removal of the remainder of said introducer including removal of said pusher, to allow said anastomosis to be performed with an anvil and a stapler, optionally after partial deployment of said sheath downstream of the stent by moving back from said first tube to the site of the anastomosis, the complete deployment of said sheath downstream of said anastomosis resulting from the complete removal of the assembly integral with said first guide tube, said integral anvil and said stapler, after said anastomosis has been performed.
The invention is more particularly advantageous when the protective device comprises at least one flexible tube called a suction tube, preferably two suction tubes, each suction tube being capable of extending outside said stent downstream thereof, in particular after carrying out said anastomosis and removing said anvil and stapler, an open end of said suction tube opening into the interior of the stent in a vacuum chamber delimited between the inner wall of the stent and an inner film covering the inner wall of the stent, preferably said film constituting an extension of said sheath, characterized in that each said suction tube is stowed, preferably folded, preferably further helically wound inside said first guide tube, and optionally partly or even entirely inside said stent, the downstream end of each said suction tube being connected to said first guide tube or to a said first connecting piece, each said suction tube being capable of being deployed downstream of said stent by the removal of said anvil reversibly attached to the proximal end of said first guide tube or respectively to said first connecting piece.
The open end of the suction tube preferably consists of a terminal part of the tube within said chamber perforated by multiple perforations.
The use of two suction tubes increases the anchoring force and protects against failure of the first suction tube, for example if the first suction tube becomes blocked.
More particularly, a complex ready-to-use device according to the invention can be implemented in a surgical treatment process with the aid of a complex surgical device according to the invention in which the following successive steps are carried out in which:
S1) said surgical device is introduced into the intestine by the abdominal route in the part of the intestine upstream of the anastomosis site with an introducer device comprising or attached to a first guide tube and said anchor element is released upstream of the anastomosis site by actuating a pusher inside said first guide tube,
S2) the parts of said introducer other than said first guide tube or other than a said first connecting piece to which or respectively to which said sheath and said suction tube are attached are removed from the intestine,
S3) a stapler anvil is inserted which is reversibly fixed to the proximal end of said first guide tube or to said first connecting piece,
S4) the sectioning of the intestinal tissue of the anastomosis area and the preparation of the anastomosis is carried out by stapling with a stapler cooperating with the anvil,
S5) the stapler attached to the anvil, itself attached to said first tube or to said first connecting piece is removed, which causes said sheath and said suction tube to deploy, and
S6) after passing through the anal orifice, the downstream ends of said outer sheath and said suction tube are disengaged, preferably with scissors, from said first guide tube or said first connecting piece, outside said anal orifice, and
S7) the downstream end of the suction tube is connected to a device outside the patient capable of maintaining the vacuum in the vacuum chamber and thus preventing migration of said anchor element.
This procedure is particularly useful for the temporary protection of an anastomosis on the large intestine or colon, rectum or anal canal, to prevent or reduce the risk of anastomotic fistula. In this case, preferably, the distance between said anchoring position upstream of said anastomosis and said anastomosis is at least equal to 10 cm. More particularly, the distance between the anastomosis and the anchoring site is at most 20 cm.
As explained below, the device according to the invention, because of its possible implantation before the anastomosis is performed, makes it possible to implement a stent and a sheath of reduced dimensions on the one hand and therefore implanted at a reduced distance upstream of the site of the anastomosis compared to what was required in previous designs such as in WO 2013/014355, in particular at a distance of only 10 to 20 cm.
The term "anastomosis protection", as used here, means protection of the anastomosis when the intestinal transit is resumed.
"Downstream" and "upstream" refer here to the direction of travel from upstream to downstream of intestinal transit and to a position when the devices concerned are in place in the intestine to fulfil their function. By "downstream end" of said sheath, it is understood that it is the end intended to be deployed in said stent once deployed after removal of the stapler after completion of the anastomosis, even if this downstream end is initially brought closer to the upstream end in order to be fixed to the inner wall of the first guide tube.
The terms "proximal" and "distal" refer here to the position in or of the element concerned in relation to the site of initial introduction into the patient's body and in practice here also in relation to the handle of the introducer with regard to the elements of the introducer. The proximal and upstream ends correspond to the downstream and upstream ends respectively for introduction through the anal orifice or a part of the intestine downstream of the anastomosis.
In this case according to the invention, only the first deformable guide tube of the introducer and part of said second rigid guide tube are introduced into the lumen of the part of the intestine upstream of the anastomosis, the rest of the second rigid guide tube and the handle remaining outside the intestine.
The term "first deformable guide tube" of the introducer means in practice a semi-flexible tube made of elastomer or PU material thicker than said sheath and deformable by bending in relation to its longitudinal axis until it can adopt a 90° external curvature. This first deformable guide tube has graduations enabling the implantation site to be checked before release.
More particularly, in a known manner, said sheath is fixed in a sealed manner to said anchor element by means of sealed fixing means, preferably by fusing joint or an annular joint of elastomer glue, at each said longitudinal end of said inner sheath, so as to delimit a vacuum chamber between said inner sheath and said first wall, said temporary anchor element being coupled to said flexible or semi-rigid tube called suction tube, extending outside said anchor element, an open end of said suction tube opening into said vacuum chamber.
In a first embodiment, the downstream end of said sheath and the downstream end of said suction tube(s) are connected to the distal end of said first guide tube, the proximal end (or downstream end) of said first guide tube comprising a second connecting piece fixed or capable of being fixed in a reversible manner to the distal end (or upstream end) of a second rigid guide tube of an introducer device for the introduction of the protective device upstream of the site of the anastomosis and then capable of being fixed in a reversible manner to a said anvil for carrying out the anastomosis.
The second connecting piece is fixed or capable of reversibly fixing said first guide tube to the distal end of a second rigid guide tube of an introducer device in order to connect them for the introduction of the protective device upstream of the anastomosis site and then to disconnect them for the removal of the introducer before the anvil and stapler are used.
In this first embodiment, said first guide tube comprising a second connecting piece at its proximal end remains inserted in the intestine during the making of the anastomosis and is withdrawn from the intestine when the stapler is removed after the making of the anastomosis because of its connection with the anvil thus allowing the complete unfolding and deployment of said sheath and said suction tube downstream of said stent because of their connection with said first tube.
More particularly, in this first embodiment, the downstream end of said sheath and the downstream end of said suction tube(s) are connected to the distal end (or upstream end) of said first guide tube by adhesive bonding or by a thread.
In this first embodiment, more particularly, the sheath and the suction tube(s) are entirely arranged, in particular folded or rolled, inside the stent except for their downstream parts which leave the stent at its downstream end to join the upstream end of the first guide tube upstream of the stent, these external parts of the sheath and the suction tube(s) being interposed between the stent and the internal wall of the first guide tube.
More particularly, in this first embodiment, said second connecting piece is fixed or capable of being fixed in a reversible manner to an adapter which is itself capable of being fixed in a reversible manner to a stapler anvil.
More particularly still, in this first embodiment, said second connecting part is fixed or capable of being fixed in a reversible manner by screwing, gluing, clamping or magnetic connection, to an adapter which is itself capable of being fixed in a reversible manner to a said stapler anvil, by gluing, clamping or magnetic connection.
More particularly still, in this first embodiment, said second connecting piece comprises a threaded element capable of cooperating by screwing with:                a first complementary threaded element located at the distal end of said second rigid guide tube, and then        a second complementary threaded element located at the distal end of a said adapter.
It is understood that:                said second connecting piece is reversibly attached to the distal end of said second rigid guide tube, during the introduction and release of the protective device by said pusher to allow the introduction and then anchoring of said stent in the intestine upstream of the site of said anastomosis before the anastomosis is performed, and        said second connecting piece is reversibly attached to said anvil or a said adapter after removal of said pusher for reversible attachment of the anvil to allow said anastomosis to be performed with said stapler after said stent has been anchored in the intestine upstream of the site of said anastomosis.
More particularly, the flat proximal part of a said adapter is suitable for attachment by adhesive bonding to the flat front face of a said anvil.
In a second embodiment, the downstream end of said sheath and preferably the downstream end of said suction tube(s) is (or are) connected to a said first connecting piece, at least one proximal end of which is disposed outside the downstream end of said stent.
More particularly, in this second embodiment, the downstream end of said sheath and preferably the downstream end of said suction tube(s) is (or are) connected to a distal part of said first connecting piece independent of said first guide tube, preferably a tubular distal portion arranged or adapted to be arranged inside the downstream end of said stent, and a proximal portion of said first connecting piece is arranged outside and at the downstream end of said stent preferably having a flat proximal face of larger diameter than said tubular distal portion.
Thus, initially and during the introduction phase, said first connecting piece is arranged inside said first guide tube.
In this second embodiment, more particularly, the sheath and the suction tube are entirely stored inside the stent except for their swallowed parts which come out of the stent at its swallowed end to join the first connecting piece which is placed against the swallowed end of the stent.
In this second embodiment, the entire protective device and said first connecting piece are independent of the first guide tube and the introducer.
More particularly, the downstream end of said sheath and the downstream end of said suction tube(s) are connected to a said first connecting piece by adhesive bonding or by a wire.
More particularly still, in this second embodiment, said first connecting part is adapted to be fixed in a reversible manner to a stop of a pusher rod inside said first guide tube when the protective device is introduced upstream of the anastomosis site, preferably by gluing, screwing, clamping or magnetic connection.
More particularly still, in this second embodiment, said first connecting part is suitable for reversible direct attachment to a said anvil by gluing, screwing, clamping or magnetic connection, preferably by adhesive bonding.
In this embodiment, the introducer device can be completely removed from the intestine after introduction of the protective device upstream of the anastomosis site before the anastomosis is carried out, only said first connecting piece remaining introduced into the intestine to be fixed to the anvil for the purpose of carrying out the anastomosis, said first connecting piece being withdrawn from the intestine when the stapler is removed after the anastomosis has been performed because of its connection with the anvil, thus allowing the complete deployment of said sheath and of said suction tube(s) downstream of said stent because of their connection with said first connecting piece.
It is understood that:                said first connecting piece is reversibly attached to said pusher stop during the introduction and release of the protective device by said pusher to allow the introduction and anchoring of said stent in the intestine upstream of the site of said anastomosis before the anastomosis is performed, and        said first connecting piece is reversibly attached to said stapler anvil or to a said adapter after complete removal of said introducer to allow said anastomosis to be performed with said stapler after said stent has been anchored in the intestine upstream of the site of said anastomosis.
More particularly still, for both embodiments, the distal end of said first guide tube is closed by a flexible retaining element capable of retaining said protection device inside said first guide tube in the absence of thrust by a pusher rod stop, said retaining element being capable of deforming elastically and allowing the exit of said protection device under the effect of the thrust by said pusher rod stop.
More particularly still, the complex surgical device according to the invention comprises a said protective device and an introducer capable of allowing the implantation of the protective device upstream of the anastomosis site, said introducer comprising a handle fixed and/or capable of cooperating with the two following parts of the introducer:                (b1) a first deformable guide tube within which said stent is held in radial compression near the distal end of said first deformable guide tube, the proximal end of said first deformable guide tube being fixed to a second rigid guide tube integral with said handle, and        (b2) a pusher comprising a pusher rod deformable in curvature with respect to its longitudinal axis and a said pusher stop at the distal end of the pusher rod extending from the handle within said second rigid guide tube and said first deformable guide tube, the proximal end of said pusher rod being adapted to cooperate with said handle by manually controlling a relative translation of said pusher rod with respect to the first deformable guide tube.
More particularly, the pusher rod is a spiral rod formed by a steel wire wound helically along a virtual longitudinal axis XX′ with coaxial contiguous turns of the same diameter, the diameter of the contiguous turns forming a deformable rod capable of being deformed in curvature with respect to said longitudinal axis to allow it to adopt a curvature to form a 90° bend.
More particularly still, said stent comprises at least one withdrawal loop at one end of its longitudinal ends, preferably two loops at each of its longitudinal ends.
The advantageous and novel features of the process for anchoring the stent and carrying out the anastomosis resulting from the novel structural features of the complex surgical device according to the invention are:                an anchoring of the protective device upstream of the anastomosis site, with deployment of said sheath and said suction tube and removal of the stapler in a single gesture after an anastomosis has been performed by a surgical stapler,        no passage of the introducer through the fresh anastomosis, and        reduction in operating time.
More particularly, the suction tube is a semi-rigid tube, in particular made of PE or PP, and has a length capable of holding in shape and extending inside the intestine from an anal orifice of the patient to said anchor element, preferably the length of said injection-suction tube being at least 20 cm, more particularly from 50 to 150 cm, and the free end of said suction tube outside the patient is connected to a device for sucking or injecting gaseous or liquid fluid, in particular air or a cold liquid as explained below.
More particularly, the length of the outer sheath protects the anastomosis and protrudes from the anal orifice when said anchor element is in the anchoring position and deployed downstream thereof.
Said outer sheath, due to its elastomeric constitution, has radial and longitudinal stretchability properties similar to those of the intestinal wall, which properties are those of an elastomeric material in the form of said sheath, the latter having radial and longitudinal elasticity properties. These radial and longitudinal elasticity properties of the sheath are similar to those of the wall of the colon.
In a preferred embodiment, said runner portion of said first wall extends from the upstream longitudinal end of said first wall to a profiled downstream end portion of smaller diameter than that of the cylindrical runner portion, the maximum radially expanding outer diameter of the downstream end of said first wall being 20 to 40 mm, and the length of said profiled end portion of the first wall being 10 to 30 mm, preferably 15 to 25 mm, preferably the diameter of said end portion decreasing progressively between said runner portion and said downstream end of said first wall.
More particularly, said temporary anchor element is an enteral prosthesis, said first wall of which is formed by a mesh of spiral wires, preferably metal wires. In a known manner, the radial expansion then results from the crossing of the metal wires, the angular variation of which makes it possible to vary the width of the rhombus or parallelogram of the meshes of said mesh of spiral wires.
Advantageously, said anchor element is made of a material which confers on it a said expansion by radial elasticity only at a temperature at least equal to the ambient temperature of 20° C., in particular to the temperature of the human body, said anchor element being in said radial position retracted at a temperature lower than said ambient temperature, preferably lower than 5° C. It is understood that the material in tubular form changes diameter automatically as a function of the ambient temperature.
More particularly still, said anchor element is an enteral prosthesis, said first wall of which is formed by a mesh of spiral threads, preferably made of nitinol. Nitinol is a metal alloy having properties of progressive radial expansion as a function of temperature, at a temperature greater than or equal to room temperature (25° C.), which makes it possible to keep it in retracted form at colder temperatures, in particular at 4° C. during storage. Once retracted at low temperature, it thus remains retracted for sufficient time to be able to house it in the introducer tube and to convey it into the intestine by means of said introducer. Once released in the intestine, the prosthesis gradually regains its radial expansion under the effect of a higher ambient temperature, that of the human body. In fact, for nitinol stents, the shape memory of this alloy makes it possible to modify its shape and rigidity as a function of the ambient temperature. In particular, at temperatures below 15°, nitinol becomes flexible and malleable. Thus, injecting a cold liquid solution between 0° and 15° into the vacuum chamber makes the stent malleable and facilitates its mobilization during passage through the anastomosis or a narrowing zone for example.
Advantageously, said sheath is made of biocompatible synthetic material, with a wall thickness of 0.01 to 1 mm, preferably of elastomer materials of the silicone or polyurethane type with a thickness of 0.05 to 1 mm, and preferably still having radial and longitudinal elasticity properties, and said outer sheath at least having shape memory properties and non-collision properties.
It is understood that said outer sheath, due to its elastomeric constitution, has radial and longitudinal stretchability properties similar to those of the intestinal wall, which properties are those of an elastomeric material in the form of said outer sheath, the latter having radial and longitudinal elasticity properties. These radial and longitudinal elasticity properties of the outer sheath are similar to those of the wall of the colon and allow the intestinal transit to take place correctly in said outer sheath throughout the duration of migration of the anchor element, which is a duration of at least 6 to 10 days.
The longitudinal elasticity of the elastomeric outer sheath can be greater than that of the intestine, without this posing any difficulty. On the contrary, it has the advantage of being able to be pulled over the part of the outer sheath protruding anal, so that it can be cut and retracted into the rectum. By virtue of its radial elasticity, said longitudinal end of the outer sheath remains fixed to said end of said anchor element whatever its level of radial expansion.
On the other hand, the thickness characteristics of the outer sheath combined with its elasticity give it a shape memory property. By "shape memory properties" is meant here that the elastomeric material constituting said outer sheath naturally regains its initial shape when it is deformed by folding. Given the great length of the outer sheath, these shape memory properties are important, so that the material naturally regains its longitudinal shape without creating a transit block in the event of folds in the outer sheath, which may actually occur during its migration after release of the anchor element.
"Non-sticking properties" means that the elastomeric material constituting said outer sheath has a coefficient of adhesion such that the two opposite inner wall surfaces of the outer sheath do not stick together when folded, so as not to create any resistance to the passage of gases and materials.
It is also understood that:                said outer sheath has a resting diameter substantially equal to at least said outer diameter reduced in radial retraction of said hollow anchor element, and less than that of the resting intestine, preferably said resting diameter of said outer sheath is substantially equal to that of the resting intestinal wall, and        said outer sheath extends downstream of the end of said anchor element to which it is attached over a length corresponding to the distance between the anchoring position upstream of said anastomosis and a position downstream preferably to the anal orifice.
In a known way, the radial expansion then results from the crossing of the wires whose angular variation makes it possible to vary the width of the diamond or parallelogram of the meshes of said mesh of spiral wires.
Preferably, and in a known manner, a stent is used whose design and shape of the mesh of the spiral wires make it possible to obtain a variation in the diameter of said stent with a minimum variation in length, preferably practically without variation in length at radial compression.
Other features and advantages of this invention will be better apparent from the description that follows, which is illustrative and not exhaustive, with reference to the following appended drawings.
The anastomosis protection device 5 comprises an anchor element consisting of a stent 1 whose inner wall is covered by a flexible inner sheath 2a delimiting an annular chamber 4 between annular seals 4a-4b which seal between the inner sheath 2a and the perforated wall of the stent. The inner sheath 2a constitutes a sealed film forming a flexible tubular wall and is extended by a flexible outer sheath 2 extending outside said anchor element in the longitudinal direction of said stent. The entire length of the cylindrical inner surface of the inner wall of the stent is thus doubled by an independent sealing layer forming an inner sheath 2a, only the longitudinal ends of said inner sheath 2a being attached in a sealed manner to said anchor element 1 by means of the elastomeric annular seals obtained by fusion at each said longitudinal end of said inner sheath.
As is well known, the stent 1 advantageously includes flared flanges at its upstream and downstream ends as shown in patent WO 2013/014353.
It is understood that the inner sheath 2a is not overstretched so as not to stiffen the stent, so that the distance between said inner sheath 2a and the maximum external diameter of the stent is preferably 0.2 to 10 mm, preferably 1 to 5 mm, and the space between said inner sheath 2a and said stent wall defines a chamber called the vacuum chamber 4.
The protective device 5 according to the invention further comprises a flexible or semi-rigid tube called suction tube 3 extending externally downstream of said stent and opening into the vacuum chamber 4 between the inner sheath 2a and the wall of the stent 1, an upstream part of the suction tube 3 comprising multiple perforations, extends substantially over the entire length of said chamber 4 in the longitudinal direction XX of the device. The suction tube 3 opens into said vacuum chamber by passing in a sealed manner through the elastomeric annular seal at the downstream end of the inner sheath 2a when the tube 3 is introduced through the anal orifice. Said suction tube 3 and said outer sheath 2 extend outside said stent from the same downstream end of said stent.

Complex surgical device for carrying out and protecting an anastomosis


A communication apparatus for performing communication with a communication terminal, and a method of controlling the same. The apparatus performs wireless communication with the communication terminal by a first wireless communication mode and performs wireless communication with the communication terminal by a second wireless communication mode in which either the communication apparatus or the communication terminal becomes an access point. The apparatus receives a switching instruction of communication mode from a user, and determines whether or not the switching of the communication mode in accordance with the received switching instruction is executable, makes a request for an additional instruction to the user when it is determined that it is not executable, and controls the switching of the communication mode in accordance with an additional instruction in response to the request.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication apparatus, a method of controlling the same, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, printing apparatuses, such as multi function peripherals and printers, having a wireless LAN function are increasing. It is common for printing apparatuses having wireless LAN to be provided with a function for connecting wirelessly to an access point as a client. Meanwhile, PCs and mobile terminals are being used for device management in which they communicate with a printing apparatus via an access point, causing the printing apparatus to print desired data by transmitting it, and receiving device information from the printing apparatus.
Meanwhile, in recent years, Wi-Fi Direct (registered trademark) (hereinafter referred to as Wi-Fi Direct) has been established by The Wi-Fi Alliance With Wi-Fi Direct a protocol is defined in which it is determined whether wireless terminals will operate as an access point or as a client. By executing this protocol, it can be automatically decided which wireless terminal will be an access point, and which will be a client. By using Wi-Fi Direct, it becomes unnecessary to prepare an access point separately, and various application services (image sharing, printing, etc.) are executable by direct communication between the wireless terminals.
With printing apparatuses in which the above described protocol is executable, configuration may be taken so that a user can instruct from a control panel, or the like, whether to perform wireless communication directly using Wi-Fi Direct, or whether to perform wireless communication indirectly via a third party access point.
However, there are cases in which problems arise when in the middle of receiving print data from a communication terminal such as a PC by a method of indirect wireless communication, for example, instruction is made for switching operation to direct wireless communication using Wi-Fi Direct. In other words, in such a case, when switching processing is executed immediately, a print material for which the user operating the communication terminal instructed printing is cut off forcibly in the process of printing without being printed to the end. In order to avoid this kind of problem, ideas have been proposed (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-113349).
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-113349, a printing apparatus having an infrastructure mode for performing wireless communication with a terminal apparatus via an access point, and an adhoc mode for performing wireless communication directly one-to-one between terminal apparatuses without going through an access point is recited. When a switching from the infrastructure mode to the adhoc mode is instructed by a user, determination is made as to whether or not currently print data is being received in the infrastructure mode, the switching not performed in such a case, and the user is notified of such by displaying to a display unit.
However, cases other than when print data is being received in which it is better to not perform the above described mode switching other also exist. Amongst these there exist cases unlike when print data is being received in which it cannot be discriminated immediately whether "now is a timing at which it is better to not perform the switching" for the user. For example, in a case where a printing apparatus is operating in Wi-Fi Direct, multiple mobile terminals can connect simultaneously to the printing apparatus. Accordingly, even in a case where the user of a mobile terminal ends a connection with the printing apparatus by Wi-Fi Direct, there is the possibility that a user of another mobile terminal is still connected to the printing apparatus. Here, when the user that ends the connection switches the printing apparatus to an indirect wireless communication mode rather than Wi-Fi Direct, the user of the other mobile terminal may be disconnected in mid-communication In order to avoid these kinds of situations, it is necessary for the user to check that no other user that is currently connected using Wi-Fi Direct exists by checking a communication status of the printing apparatus before performing the switching operation of switching the printing apparatus mode. This kind of check needs to be performed every time, which is cumbersome for the user.

Apparatus and method for performing wireless communication with a terminal switching between communication modes


Methods of analyzing a biological sample obtained from the canine subject for the presence of one or two copies one or two copies of minor allele T of SNP Affx-206229307; or one or two copies of minor allele A of SNP Affx-206560187; or one or two copies of minor allele T of SNP Affx-206229307 and one or two copies of minor allele A of SNP Affx-206560187 are disclosed. The methods are used in methods to identify a canine subject that has an increased likelihood or risk of hypothyroidism and in methods of treating a canine subject to reduce risk of hypothyroidism or to treat a canine subject that has hypothyroidism. The treatments comprise administering to the canine subject a low arginine diet and/or comprising an effective amount of a composition comprising a protein source, a carbohydrate source, a vegetable source, and a fruit source. Canine food compositions are disclosed.

Canine hypothyroidism is the most common endocrine problem in dogs. The incidence estimates range from 1 in 156 to 1 in 500 animals. The onset of disease is typically in middle age (4-6 years). Canine hypothyroidism is the result of insufficient levels of thyroid hormone (T3/T4) and it treated with thyroid hormone supplementation (synthetic T4). While the prognosis for dogs that respond to therapy is good, the disease is a progressive. Dogs should be monitored regularly and the medication dose adjusted as needed.
Canine hypothyroidism is an autoimmune condition and antibodies against thyroid hormone and thyroglobulin are often found in the serum of affected dogs. There are two histological classifications of primary hypothyroidism, Lymphocytic thyroiditis (characterized by lymphocytic infiltration of the thyroid tissue) and idiopathic atrophy, which is thought to be the end stage to lymphocytic thyroiditis where the thyroid tissue has been mostly destroyed.
Not all dogs are at equal risk of developing hypothyroidism. There is a breed predisposition indicating that there is some heritable component to the disease.
Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are a common type of genetic variation. SNPs are single base pair mutations at a specific locus. That is, a SNP is a difference in a single nucleotide in a DNA sequence that occurs at a specific position in a genome. Typically, for a SNP at a specific position, there are two possible nucleotide variations, which are referred to as alleles for that position. Within a population, the nucleotide variation that most commonly appears at a specific base position in a genome is referred to as the major allele; the nucleotide variation that is less common at that specific base position is referred to as the minor allele. Dogs, like most multicellular organisms have two sets of chromosomes. Thus, each dog has two copies of each gene or locus and therefore two copies of each SNP. Accordingly, for each SNP in the dog's genome, the dog may have two copies of the major allele, one minor allele and one minor allele or two minor alleles.
SNPs can act as biological markers. Some SNPs have been found helpful in predicting drug responses and risk of developing particular diseases. SNP genotyping refers to detection of SNPs within the genome. There are numerous methods for detecting SNPs and performing SNP genotyping.
There is a need to develop improved methods to identify dogs having increased likelihood or risk of developing hypothyroidism and other autoimmune conditions, for methods of reducing risk of canine hypothyroidism and other autoimmune conditions in such dogs, and for methods of preventing or delaying the onset of canine arthritis of the hip in dogs identified as having an increased likelihood of developing arthritis of the hip.

Reagents, kits and methods for assessing and reducing risk of developing canine hypothyroidism and other autoimmune conditions


A method of encoding data for transmission from a source to a destination over a communications channel is provided. The method operates on an ordered set of input symbols and includes generating a plurality of redundant symbols from the input symbols based on linear constraints. The method also includes generating a plurality of output symbols from a combined set of symbols including the input symbols and the redundant symbols based on linear combinations, wherein at least one of the linear constraints or combinations is over a first finite field and at least one other of the linear constraints or combinations is over a different second finite field, and such that the ordered set of input symbols can be regenerated to a desired degree of accuracy from any predetermined number of the output symbols.

Transmission of files and streams between a sender and a recipient over a communications channel has been the subject of much literature. Preferably, a recipient desires to receive an exact copy of data transmitted over a channel by a sender with some level of certainty. Where the channel does not have perfect fidelity (which covers most all physically realizable systems), one concern is how to deal with data lost or garbled in transmission. Lost data (erasures) are often easier to deal with than corrupted data (errors) because the recipient cannot always tell when corrupted data is data received in error. Many error-correcting codes have been developed to correct for erasures and/or for errors. Typically, the particular code used is chosen based on some information about the infidelities of the channel through which the data is being transmitted and the nature of the data being transmitted. For example, where the channel is known to have long periods of infidelity, a burst error code might be best suited for that application. Where only short, infrequent errors are expected a simple parity code might be best.
Data transmission is straightforward when a transmitter and a receiver have all of the computing power and electrical power needed for communications and the channel between the transmitter and receiver is clean enough to allow for relatively error-free communications. The problem of data transmission becomes more difficult when the channel is in an adverse environment or the transmitter and/or receiver has limited capability.
One solution is the use of forward error correcting (FEC) techniques, wherein data is coded at the transmitter such that a receiver can recover from transmission erasures and errors. Where feasible, a reverse channel from the receiver to the transmitter allows for the receiver to communicate about errors to the transmitter, which can then adjust its transmission process accordingly. Often, however, a reverse channel is not available or feasible or is available only with limited capacity. For example, where the transmitter is transmitting to a large number of receivers, the transmitter might not be able to handle reverse channels from all those receivers. As another example, the communication channel may be a storage medium and thus the transmission of the data is forward through time and, unless someone invents a time travel machine that can go back in time, a reverse channel for this channel is infeasible. As a result, communication protocols often need to be designed without a reverse channel or with a limited capacity reverse channel and, as such, the transmitter may have to deal with widely varying channel conditions without a full view of those channel conditions.
The problem of data transmission between transmitters and receivers is made more difficult when the receivers need to be low-power, small devices that might be portable or mobile and need to receive data at high bandwidths. For example, a wireless network might be set up to deliver files or streams from a stationary transmitter to a large or indeterminate number of portable or mobile receivers either as a broadcast or multicast where the receivers are constrained in their computing power, memory size, available electrical power, antenna size, device size and other design constraints. Another example is in storage applications where the receiver retrieves data from a storage medium which exhibits infidelities in reproduction of the original data. Such receivers are often embedded with the storage medium itself in devices, for example disk drives, which are highly constrained in terms of computing power and electrical power.
In such a system, considerations to be addressed include having little or no reverse channel, limited memory, limited computing cycles, power, mobility and timing. Preferably, the design should minimize the amount of transmission time needed to deliver data to potentially a large population of receivers, where individual receivers and might be turned on and off at unpredictable times, move in and out of range, incur losses due to link errors, mobility, congestion forcing lower priority file or stream packets to be temporarily dropped, etc.
In the case of a packet protocol used for data transport over a channel that can lose packets, a file, stream or other block of data to be transmitted over a packet network is partitioned into equal size input symbols, encoding symbols the same size as the input symbols are generated from the input symbols using an FEC code, and the encoding symbols are placed and sent in packets. The "size" of a symbol can be measured in bits, whether or not the symbol is actually broken into a bit stream, where a symbol has a size of M bits when the symbol is selected from an alphabet of 2M symbols. In such a packet-based communication system, a packet oriented erasure FEC coding scheme might be suitable. A file transmission is called reliable if it allows the intended recipient to recover an exact copy of the original file even in the face of erasures in the network. A stream transmission is called reliable if it allows the intended recipient to recover an exact copy of each part of the stream in a timely manner even in the face of erasures in the network. Both file transmission and stream transmission can also be somewhat reliable, in the sense that some parts of the file or stream are not recoverable or for streaming if some parts of the stream are not recoverable in a timely fashion. Packet loss often occurs because sporadic congestion causes the buffering mechanism in a router to reach its capacity, forcing it to drop incoming packets. Protection against erasures during transport has been the subject of much study.
In the case of a protocol used for data transmission over a noisy channel that can corrupt bits, a block of data to be transmitted over a data transmission channel is partitioned into equal size input symbols, encoding symbols of the same size are generated from the input symbols and the encoding symbols are sent over the channel. For such a noisy channel the size of a symbol is typically one bit or a few bits, whether or not a symbol is actually broken into a bit stream. In such a communication system, a bit-stream oriented error-correction FEC coding scheme might be suitable. A data transmission is called reliable if it allows the intended recipient to recover an exact copy of the original block even in the face of errors (symbol corruption, either detected or undetected in the channel). The transmission can also be somewhat reliable, in the sense that some parts of the block may remain corrupted after recovery. Symbols are often corrupted by sporadic noise, periodic noise, interference, weak signal, blockages in the channel, and a variety of other causes. Protection against data corruption during transport has been the subject of much study.
Chain reaction codes are FEC codes that allow for generation of an arbitrary number of output symbols from the fixed input symbols of a file or stream. Sometimes, they are referred to as fountain or rateless FEC codes, since the code does not have an a priori fixed transmission rate. Chain reaction codes have many uses, including the generation of an arbitrary number of output symbols in an information additive way, as opposed to an information duplicative way, wherein the latter is where output symbols received by a receiver before being able to recover the input symbols duplicate already received information and thus do not provide useful information for recovering the input symbols. Novel techniques for generating, using and operating chain reaction codes are shown, for example, in Luby I, Luby II, Shokrollahi I and Shokrollahi II.
One property of the output symbols produced by a chain reaction encoder is that a receiver is able to recover the original file or block of the original stream as soon as enough output symbols have been received. Specifically, to recover the original K input symbols with a high probability, the receiver needs approximately K+A output symbols. The ratio A/K is called the "relative reception overhead." The relative reception overhead depends on the number K of input symbols, and on the reliability of the decoder.
It is also known to use multi-stage chain reaction ("MSCR") codes, such as those described in Shokrollahi I and/or II and developed by Digital Fountain, Inc. under the trade name "Raptor" codes. Multi-stage chain reaction codes are used, for example, in an encoder that receives input symbols from a source file or source stream, generates intermediate symbols from the input symbols and encodes the intermediate symbols using chain reaction codes. More particularly, a plurality of redundant symbols is generated from an ordered set of input symbols to be communicated. A plurality of output symbols are generated from a combined set of symbols including the input symbols and the redundant symbols, wherein the number of possible output symbols is much larger than the number of symbols in the combined set of symbols, wherein at least one output symbol is generated from more than one symbol in the combined set of symbols and from less than all of the symbols in the combined set of symbols, and such that the ordered set of input symbols can be regenerated to a desired degree of accuracy from any predetermined number, N, of the output symbols. It is also known to use the techniques described above to encode and decode systematic codes, in which the input symbols are includes amongst the possible output symbols of the code. This may be achieved as described in Shokrollahi II by first applying a transformation to the input symbols followed by the steps described above, said enhanced process resulting in the first output symbols generated by the code being equal to the input symbols. As will be clear to those of skill in the art of error and erasure coding, the techniques of Shokrollahi II may be applied directly to the codes described or suggested herein.
For some applications, other variations of codes might be more suitable or otherwise preferred.
The MSCR codes and chain reaction codes described above are extremely efficient in terms of their encoding and decoding complexity. One of the reasons for their efficiency is that the operations that are performed are linear operations over the field GF(2), i.e., the simple field over one bit where the operation of adding two field elements is simply the logical XOR operation, and the operation of multiplying two field elements is simply the logical AND operation. Generally these operations are performed over multiple bits concurrently, e.g., 32 bits at a time or 4 bytes at a time, and such operations are supported natively on all modern CPU processors. On the other hand, when used as erasure FEC codes, because the operations are over GF(2), it turns out that the chance that the receiver can decode all the input symbols goes down by at most approximately one-half for each additional symbol received beyond the first K, where K is the number of original input symbols. For example, if K+A encoding symbols are received then the chance that the recover process fails to recover the K original input symbols is at least 2−A. What would be a more desirable behavior is if the chance of decoding failure decreased more rapidly as a function of A.
There are other erasure and error-correcting FEC codes that operate over larger fields, for example Reed-Solomon codes that operate over GF(4), or over GF(8), or over GF(256), or more generally over GF(2L) for any L>1, and also LDPC codes that operate over larger fields. The advantage of such FEC codes is that, for example in the case of erasure FEC codes, the chance of decoding failure decreases much more rapidly as a function of A than FEC codes over GF(2). On the other hand, these FEC codes are typically much less efficient in terms of encoding and decoding complexity, and one of the primary reasons for that is because the operations over larger fields are much more complex and/or are not natively supported on modern CPUs, and the complexity typically grows as the field size grows. Thus, the FEC codes that operate over larger finite fields are often much slower or impractical compared to FEC codes that operate over GF(2).
Thus, what is needed are erasure and error-correcting FEC codes that are extremely efficient in terms of their encoding and decoding complexity with the property that the chance of decoding failure decreases very rapidly as a function of the number of symbols received beyond the minimal number needed by an ideal FEC code to recover the original input symbols.

Multiple-field based code generator and decoder for communications systems


A memory device is provided. The memory device includes programming first bit data into a plurality of memory cells; identifying target memory cells which are in a first state and whose threshold voltages are equal to or greater than a first voltage from the memory cells programmed with the first bit data; receiving second bit data which is to be programmed into the memory cells; calculating a plurality of third bit data by performing a first process on the second bit data; selecting third bit data which changes a largest number of target memory cells from the first state to a second state in response to the memory cells being programmed with each of the plurality of third bit data from the plurality of third bit data; and programming the selected third bit data into the memory cells.

1. Field
The exemplary embodiments relate to a memory device and a method for driving the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A semiconductor memory device, such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), has been continuously developed in order to increase the integrity thereof and to improve the operating speed thereof. In order to improve the operating speed of the DRAM, an SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory), which can operate in synchronization with an external clock signal that is input from an outside, has developed.
However, the SDRAM is insufficient to meet the speed of a system that requires high-speed operation. Accordingly, a DDR (Double Data Rate) RAM, which corresponds to a method of processing two sets of data in one clock cycle, has been proposed. The DDR RAM can successively input and output two sets of data in synchronization with a rising edge and a falling edge of an external clock signal that is input from the outside, and thus can perform high-speed operation.
On the other hand, the DDR RAM has been developed to "DDR2 SDRAM," "DDR3 SDRAM," and "DDR4 SDRAM" through generational changes. DDR2 SDRAM allows higher bus speed and requires lower power by running the internal clock at half the speed of the data bus. DDR3 SDRAM has twice the data rate of DDR2 SDRAM. DDR4 SDRAM has a high bandwidth interface. DDR4 SDRAM has faster clock frequencies and data transfer rates than DDR3 SDRAM, while the current remains the same.

Memory device and method for driving the same


A food service container comprises a tray and a lid preferably composed of a leak-resistant, absorptive moldable material such as molded fiber. The tray has a first body portion and a first rim encompassing and projecting laterally outwardly from the first body portion. The first body portion has a primary food storage compartment and at least one beverage cup holding pocket. The beverage cup holding pocket forms resilient, deflectable side wall sections allowing the pocket to firmly hold beverage cups of different sizes. The lid is hingedly mounted to the tray. The lid includes a second body portion and a second rim encompassing and projecting laterally outwardly from the second body portion. The lid is moveable between an open position and a closed position. When the lid is in the closed position, the lid covers the primary food storage compartment.

Occupational demands are increasingly requiring consumers to eat their meals away from home while traveling in vehicles or waiting in airport, bus, and railway terminals. As a result, carry-out service at restaurants has gained in popularity. These restaurants may provide their carry-out customers with one carry-out container for holding food and either another carry-out container or no container at all for holding a beverage. Alternatively, the carry-out customers may be provided with a single container having an open compartment for holding food and a pocket for holding a beverage cup.
Carry-out food and beverage provided in the above manner are not conducive to being transported in a vehicle or being comfortably carried by a carry-out customer with one hand. For example, if the food and beverage are held in a single container with an open food compartment, the food can easily spill out of the open compartment. If the food is heated prior to being served to the customer, a problem is that the open compartment does not retain the heat. Further, carrying the food and beverage may interfere with the ability of the customer to handle other items, which, in the case of a business traveler, could include luggage, a briefcase, a portable computer, etc. If the carry-out customer is attempting to handle such other items along with the carry-out food and beverage, the customer may accidently drop one of the items or spill the food or beverage.

Food service container with beverage cup holding pocket and covered food compartment


Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for applying query-level and parameter-level display profiles to abstract queries are provided. Display profiles allow users to utilize existing abstract queries for purposes of data analysis. In one embodiment, display profiles are used to change the scope of an existing abstract query or incorporate existing data processing functions into the abstract query.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to data processing and more particularly to applying display profiles to queries.
2. Description of the Related Art
Databases are computerized information storage and retrieval systems. A relational database management system is a computer database management system (DBMS) that uses relational techniques for storing and retrieving data. The most prevalent type of database is the relational database, a tabular database in which data is defined so that it can be reorganized and accessed in a number of different ways. A distributed database is one that can be dispersed or replicated among different points in a network. An object-oriented programming database is one that is congruent with the data defined in object classes and subclasses.
Regardless of the particular architecture, in a DBMS, a requesting entity (e.g., an application or the operating system) demands access to a specified database by issuing a database access request. Such requests may include, for instance, simple catalog lookup requests or transactions and combinations of transactions that operate to read, change and add specified records in the database. These requests are made using high-level query languages such as the Structured Query Language (SQL) and application programming interfaces (API's) such as Java® Database Connectivity (JDBC). The term "query" denominates a set of commands for retrieving data from a stored database. Queries take the form of a command language, such as SQL, that lets programmers and programs select, insert, update, find out the location of data, and so forth.
Unfortunately, generating queries using SQL may require a detailed understanding of the possibly complex physical layout of the underlying database and interpretation of cryptic field names. For some applications, to facilitate the query building process, an abstraction model may be utilized that, in effect, hides some of the complexities of the underlying database physical layout from users. The abstraction model may include logical fields with recognizable names that map to corresponding physical fields of the underlying database. "Abstract" queries may be generated containing conditions based on the logical fields. Upon issuance, the logical fields of an abstract query may be mapped to corresponding physical fields to create a physical or "concrete" query (e.g., an SQL query). For some applications, abstract queries may be saved, allowing subsequent users to reuse the saved abstract queries without having to generate their own. The concepts of data abstraction and abstract queries are described in detail in the commonly owned, co-pending application Ser. No. 10/083,075, entitled "Improved Application Portability And Extensibility Through Database Schema And Query Abstraction," filed Feb. 26, 2002, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
While abstraction models and abstract queries make it easier and more efficient for users to access data within a database, there are situations when users want to alter the scope of the abstract queries and further process the queries' result sets without having to modify the syntax of the queries or create new abstract queries. Altering the scope of abstract queries may include, for example, considering additional query conditions directed to expanding a result set, restrict the result set or even calling existing data processing functions to manipulate data within the result set. Unfortunately, the infrastructure facilitating the abstraction model may not be flexible enough to allow for the further use of existing abstract queries and their result sets for such purposes without modifying the syntax of the original abstract queries. One alternative is to create a completely new abstract query, which may be based on combining the syntax of the existing abstract query with the syntax of additional query conditions directed to altering the result set as required by the user. There may be instances where a particular group of query conditions may need to be applied to numerous abstract queries, necessitating the creation of many new abstract queries comprising identical syntax representing query conditions.
Those skilled in the art will acknowledge that the process described above is inefficient, time consuming and wasteful of resources due to redundancies. Therefore, what is needed is a solution that allows for the ability to use previously defined abstract queries (and their corresponding result sets) by allowing for the application of additional query conditions to these base queries. Further, the group of additional query conditions should be packaged in a module and presented in abstract form so that it is convenient for the collection of additional query conditions to be selected for application to other base queries, as required by the user. In other words, the modules comprising additional query components should be capable of being applied to multiple abstract queries.

Utilization of display profiles with abstract queries

International Business Machines Corporation


A content distribution system for transporting audio or video licenses between content players that use digital rights management (DRM) is disclosed. The content distribution system includes at least a second license repository and an authentication engine. The second license repository receives second information describing a second plurality of content licenses. A first license repository stores a first plurality of content licenses. The first plurality of content licenses enable use of a plurality of content objects with a first content player within confines of DRM. The second license repository is geographically distant from the first license repository. The authentication engine authorizes the second plurality of content licenses of the second license repository. The second plurality of content licenses enable use of the plurality of content objects with the second content player within the confines of DRM.

This disclosure relates in general to audio and video licensing and, but not by way of limitation, to moving of licensed audio and video to new computing devices.
Today there are software players that play audio and video downloaded from the Internet or obtained through other sources. The availability of digital rights management (DRM) has made copyright holders more comfortable with this new paradigm of licensing their audio and video in downloadable form. Different software players use different and incompatible DRM that slows adoption by consumers.
A consumer who downloads a song from one download service has to play the song on the corresponding proprietary player. A DRM used by the corresponding proprietary player ties a consumer to that player. Another player is unlikely to play the song as the DRM prevents this use inadvertently because it is incompatible with the DRM used by the new player. For example, a consumer may download a song from the Apple™ music store for their iTunes™ player. Later, should the consumer decide to start using the Rhapsody™ Jukebox, the song would not play. The consumer may have to purchase the song again even though there are arguably rights to use the song with any player.
There are programs that disable or strip the DRM from a song such that it can be used with most player. Some take the position that this type of software is illegal and violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the United States or some other law. Additionally, there are programs that will transcode one codec into another. These programs take a song that might be in a proprietary format and convert it to a format that can be used in a new player. Between the DRM stripping software and the transcoding software, consumers can move their music collection to a new player. This process is complex and, some might say, illegal.


Systems, methods, and computer programmable products are described herein for situational handling using a virtual reality application. A procurement system receives an order including one or more goods and a situation. A cloud platform receives sensor data of a package containing the one or more goods. A scanner scans the package and a storage location of the package. The procurement system provides the storage location to an virtual reality (VR) application for display and a notification of the situation once it occurs.

Goods shipment is a complex process. During the shipment of goods, a package containing such goods can undergo various environmental temperature conditions such as temperature, humidity, and acceleration, jostling during shipment, and/or any other condition measurable by a sensor. Some goods may be susceptible to being damaged when encountering these conditions. Additionally, the location of a package during shipment or its storage may be needed to facilitate more expeditious shipping.

Virtual reality for situational handling


A progressive optic has an optical preform wherein the radius of curvature of the surface is altered by forming discrete spherical portions across the surface. A thin intermediate layer, having a different refractive index from the optical preform, is then cast over the formed optical preform surface. The optical preform having the thin intermediate layer is then cast with a resin superstrate layer which restores the curve of the optic. Each spherical section, defined by the spherical portions and corresponding portions of the outer surface of the superstrate layer, alters the spherical power of the adjacent spherical section by about 0.03 D to 0.05 D.

The term optics includes semi-finished lens blanks, monofocal or multifocal lenses, and finished optical lenses incorporating a wide variety of known lens designs. An optic such as a progressive addition lens is preferred to a bifocal optic because the progressive addition optic provides a channel in which the add power changes continuously while adding only a relatively small level of astigmatism, so that the quality of the image formed by the transition zone remains acceptable. In addition, the front surface of the progressive addition optic remains continuous and smooth, causing the transition zone to remain substantially invisible. This continuous transition from one sagital radius of curvature to a smaller radius inevitably introduces a difference between the sagital to the tangential radii of curvature, which appears as unwanted astigmatism. In order to have a successful progressive addition optical design, it is important to minimize the unwanted astigmatism along the central meridional line which connects the major reference point to the center of the add power zone. Previously, this problem has been approached analytically and by application of finite element analysis. Progressive designs embodying one or more umbilical lines have been proposed. Splines as well as conic sections have been applied to model the surface geometry. Current designs of progressive addition optics contain the deficiencies inherent in the selected design methodology, i.e., a narrow progressive addition channel in which unwanted astigmatism is held to less than 0.25 D, appearance of unwanted astigmatism in the periphery of the optic which reduces the field of view, existence of refractive errors, etc.
Refractive index gradients have previously been used in order to develop a transition of spherical power. For example, Guilino (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,240,719, 5,148,205 and 5,042,936), in a process uniquely applicable to mineral glass, discloses forming continuous refractive gradients (n=f{z}) to construct a continuous progressive addition surface in which the gradient is introduced by means of ion implantation or exposure of the optic to a solution capable of diffusing heavy ions into the material of the optic. Guilino demonstrated that it is possible to reduce the difference between the sagital and tangential radii of curvatures while varying the rate of change of the sagital radius of curvature by introducing an additional function which controls the variation of refractive index sagitally. However, unwanted astigmatism is not eliminated and refractive errors develop at relatively low values of the angle of vision because the design of the refractive gradient, as well as the process of achieving the refractive index gradient, yields plane surfaces of constant refractive indices (i.e., n(z)=f(z)) in order to achieve a continuous surface with continuous first and second derivatives with respect to the sagital depth.

Method of manufacturing a progressive optic


A decoder including a compression module configured to select one or more nodes from a plurality of nodes associated with data being decoded by the decoder, where each node includes one or more bits, and to compress the one or more bits associated with the selected nodes. A memory is configured to store the compressed one or more bits associated with the selected nodes.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
In communication systems, channel noise may cause transmission errors between a source and a receiver. Error correction coding (ECC) may detect and correct channel transmission errors. Low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes are examples of ECC block codes that may be used to detect and correct channel transmission errors.
FIG. 1 shows a functional block diagram of a communication system 10. The communication system 10 may include an encoder 12, a modulator 14, a channel 16, a demodulator 18, and an iterative decoder 20. The iterative decoder 20 may include a channel detector 22 and a decoder 24. For example, the encoder 12 and the decoder 24 may use an LDPC code.
Using the LDPC code, the encoder 12 encodes a stream of datawords (u) from a source. A dataword may refer to a group of binary data bits that is suitable for input to the encoder 12. The encoder 12 outputs a stream of codewords (c), which may be in the form of binary data. A codeword may refer to a group of bits generated by the encoder 12 based on an input dataword.
LDPC codes are block codes. An LDPC code may be represented by an (M×N) parity-check matrix (H) that includes M rows and N columns. M may represent a number of constraints, such as parity-check equations. N may represent a number of bits. Entries of the parity-check matrix may be ones or zeros.
The modulator 14 modulates the frequency, amplitude, and/or phase of the stream of codewords to generate a transmit signal (w) that includes a modulated communication signal or a modulated storage signal (hereinafter a modulated signal). For example, the channel 16 may include a storage medium, such as a magnetic storage medium, an optical storage medium, or a memory integrated circuit. The channel 16 may also include a communication channel (e.g., a wireless or a wireline communication channel). The channel 16 provides a receive signal (w′), which may represent the transmit signal corrupted by noise (n) or other interference.
The demodulator 18 demodulates the receive signal and provides an initial estimate signal (r′) of the stream of codewords. The channel detector 22 of the iterative decoder 20 receives the initial estimate signal, which may be based on hard information in blocks of data. The initial estimate signal may include corrupted bits. Hard information represents hard decisions on whether data bits are ones or zeros. For example, a hard decision for a bit may be either a one or a zero.
The channel detector 22 may generate soft information via a soft decision that is based on the initial estimate signal and data from the channel 16. Soft information represents soft decisions on whether data bits are ones or zeros. For example, a soft decision for a bit may be a real number that represents a probability or a likelihood of belief (e.g., a log-likelihood ratio or LLR) that the bit is a one or a zero.
For example, the channel detector 22 may generate the soft information based on the Viterbi algorithm. The channel detector 22 may also generate the soft information based on channel factors such as a type of modulation used by the modulator 14 and channel parameters such as additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN).
The decoder 24 receives the soft information and may attempt to satisfy M parity-check equations of the parity-check matrix using the soft information. However, if one or more of the parity-check constraints are not satisfied, the decoder 24 may generate feedback information. For example, a message-passing algorithm such as a sum-product algorithm may be used to generate the feedback information. In such an example, feedback messages from check nodes may be summed to generate the feedback information for a bit.
The channel detector 22 receives the feedback information and may update the soft information from the channel based on the feedback information. For example, the channel detector 22 may sum the soft information and the feedback information to generate updated soft information. The decoder 24 receives the updated soft information, and the process repeats.
For example, the iterative decoder 20 may repeat the process for numerous iterations to decode an entire block of data. The iterative decoder 20 may continue until a valid codeword is found that satisfies all M parity-check equations. The iterative decoder 20 may also continue until an allotted time has elapsed or when a certain number of iterations have occurred.
The iterative decoder 20 generates an estimate signal (r) based on the soft information and the iterative decoding process. The estimate signal represents an estimate of the original transmitted stream of datawords. For example, the estimate signal may include the most likely datawords. The estimate signal may also include the original stream of datawords if no error exists.
Referring now to FIG. 2A, the decoder 24 may include a plurality of nodes 30. The nodes 30 illustrate the iterative message-passing process between variable and check nodes that is used by a typical decoder 24. For example, the nodes 30 represents the following parity-check matrix H:
  H  =            [                                    1                                1                                1                                0                                0                                0                                                1                                0                                0                                1                                1                                0                                                0                                1                                1                                0                                0                                1                                                0                                0                                0                                1                                1                                1                              ]        .
The nodes 30 may include check nodes c0 (34-0), c1 (34-1), c2 (34-2), and c3 (34-3) (collectively referred to as check nodes 34). The nodes 30 may also include variable nodes v0 (36-0), v1 (36-1), v2 (36-2), v3 (36-3), v4 (36-4), and v5 (36-5) (collectively referred to as variable nodes 36).
FIG. 2B shows the relationship between the check nodes 34, the variable nodes 36, and the parity-check matrix H. The variable nodes 36 correspond to the N columns of the parity-check matrix H. The check nodes 34 correspond to the M rows of the parity-check matrix H.
The interacting nodes 30 may be referred to as a bipartite graph (called a Tanner graph) because no nodes of the same type (i.e., variable nodes and check nodes) are connected to each other. Communication lines (called edges) connect check nodes 34 to variable nodes 36. For example, one of the check nodes 34 is connected to one of the variable nodes 36 if the corresponding entry in the parity-check matrix is a one. For example, check node c0 (34-0) is connected to variable node v0(36-0) because H0,0=1.
Information received from the channel 16 is communicated to the variable nodes 36 via the channel detector 22. The variable nodes 36 may pass the information up to the check nodes 34. For example, variable node v0 (36-0) may pass a message (i.e., channel information) to check nodes c0 (34-0) and c1 (34-1) because the nodes are connected.
The check nodes 34 may compute messages based on the information received from the variable nodes 36. For example, one of the check nodes 34 may compute a message by summing all messages received from variable nodes 36. The check nodes 34 may then pass the messages back to respective variable nodes 36.
For example, check node c0 (34-0) may compute a message by summing messages received from variable nodes v0 (36-0), v1 (36-1), and v2 (36-2) because the nodes are connected. Check node c0 (34-0) may also send the message back to variable nodes v0 (36-0), v1 (36-1), and v2 (36-2) because the nodes are connected.
The variable nodes 36 may then compute messages based on the messages received from the check nodes 34. For example, one of the variable nodes 36 may compute a message by summing all messages received from check nodes 34. For example, variable node v0 (36-0) may compute a feedback signal by summing messages received from check nodes c0 (34-0) and c1 (34-1) because the nodes are connected.
The check nodes 34 may send the feedback signals back to the channel detector 22. The channel detector 22 may generate updated soft information based on the feedback signals and the soft information. The decoder 24 then receives the updated soft information.
The iterative message-passing process may be repeated until a predetermined condition is satisfied. After the predetermined condition is satisfied, the iterative decoder 20 may generate and output an estimate signal r. For example, the iterative message-passing process may continue until a predetermined number of iterations have occurred or until all parity-check equations are satisfied. For example, the parity-check equations corresponding to the parity-check matrix H are:c0=v0+v1+v2 c1=v0+v3+v4 c2=v1+v2+v5 c3=v3+v4+v5.
FIG. 3A shows an example of a variable node computation. A variable node 38 receives an initial bit estimate (y), which may be an LLR, from the channel detector 22. The variable node 38 may also receive return messages x0, x1, and x2 from different check nodes. The variable node 38 may generate return messages based on the received return messages and the initial bit estimate. For example, as shown in FIG. 3B, the variable node 38 may generate return messages for each check node by summing all of the other received messages.

Memory efficient decoders for low-density parity-check codes