Techniques for modulating peripheral nerves using focused ultrasound (FUS) are provided. Methods include locating a peripheral nerve in a subject using an imaging probe, providing a FUS having one or more ultrasound parameters to a location on the peripheral nerve, and modulating the peripheral nerve. The methods can further include eliciting and measuring a physiological response from the FUS modulation, generating tissue deformation in the vicinity of the FUS modulation, and imaging the nerve and the tissue deformation simultaneously with FUS modulation. Systems for use in the modulation of peripheral nerves are also provided.

Ultrasound is a versatile technology that is used in many different fields such as imaging, chemical processes, and therapeutics. Ultrasound imaging is a widespread technique for monitoring fetal development or cardiac abnormalities, and can be employed as a therapeutic treatment for procedures that require non-invasive, target specific, and temporally efficient procedures. These techniques can utilize the ability of the ultrasound to have thermal, mechanical or a combined thermal/mechanical effect. For example, focused ultrasound (FUS) can involve concentrating multiple intersecting beams of ultrasound on a target region using an acoustic lens. Given the high precision and non-invasive nature of the technique, FUS-related methods have been utilized for the treatment of a variety of diseases including prostate cancer and uterine fibroids.
A subset of therapeutic ultrasound utilizing FUS can be effective at stimulating, or inhibiting neuronal activity in both the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS). For example, FUS can be effective to open the blood-brain barrier and thus can facilitate the diffusion of drug molecules into brain tissue. Moreover, FUS can modulate neuronal activity by stimulating specific regions in the CNS and FUS can stimulate or inhibit the PNS due to either thermal or mechanical effects of FUS. For example, thermal effects can be responsible for blocking action potentials by increasing the temperature of the solution surrounding the ex vivo nerve, first reducing the peak-to-peak response, and eventually blocking the action potential from propagating throughout the axon. A mechanical effect can be indicated during FUS stimulation, for example, the activation of mechanosensitive ion channels with specific FUS parameters during in vitro stimulation of the xenopus oocyte system. FUS stimulation targeting the axon of the sciatic nerve can also elicit compound action potentials ex vivo.
Certain structures in the CNS can be targeted to examine physiological effects of FUS stimulation. Stimulating specific brain regions can result in the delay of antisaccade motion in monkeys and limb twitching in mice, to enhanced tactile discrimination and generation of phosphenes in humans. This illustrates that FUS can have an excitatory or inhibitory effect on neurons, with different potential mechanisms of action depending on the ultrasound parameters employed.
Further, certain methods that treat peripheral nervous system (PNS) diseases, such as drug therapy, electrical stimulation and surgical interventions, can have certain disadvantages. For example, drug therapy can be considered non-specific and spatially untargeted. Electrical stimulation can be either invasive and target the specific damaged peripheral nerve, or non-invasive and non-specific, targeting the region around the damaged peripheral nerve. Therapeutic ultrasound can provide a non-invasive, and targeted approach for treating peripheral nerves, eliminating the potential side effects of drug therapies and invasive surgery. Additionally, FUS systems can be relatively inexpensive and portable, allowing clinicians to treat a larger patient population.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for improved techniques for targeted, specific, and non-invasive treatment options that can modulate peripheral nerves, for example, for the treatment of PNS diseases.

Methods and systems for peripheral nerve modulation using non ablative focused ultrasound with electromyography (EMG) monitoring

The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York


Highly versatile stable photoresist emulsions can be prepared using low levels of neutralization while minimizing the use of surfactants and associative thickeners. High solids, low viscosity waterborne photoresist emulsion compositions are prepared by mixing and comminuting a partially neutralized acid functional latex polymer resin with photopolymerizable monomers and photoinitiators under conditions sufficient to produce a stable emulsion.

It is well established that photosensitive resin compositions may be used as photoresists in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, and the like. Currently, dry film photoresists dominate the market. However, fine line imaging capability of such dry films is limited, because of their inability to conform completely to microscopic variations in the substrate surface (i.e., the copper surface) during lamination. Also, very fine lines tend to be poorly resolvable due to the thickness of such dry film photoresists when combined with the cover sheet (that separates the artwork from the photoresist) during exposure.
As a result, the industry has begun to develop liquid applied photoresist systems. To effectively compete with dry film photoresists, the industry has sought to develop liquid applied photoresists that have the advantages of dry film photoresists (e.g., contact imageability and durability), without their disadvantages (e.g., limitations on fine line imaging and surface contact/adhesion to substrates).
Liquid applied photoresists were initially organic solvent-based systems and solvent developable. Recently, however, in response to health, safety and environmental concerns, the need to reduce and/or remove organic solvents from the preparation of photoresist compositions and photoresist films has become a priority. Waterborne aqueous-developable photoresist compositions have, therefore, been developed to address this need.
In developing waterborne photoresist compositions, the industry has sought to obtain compositions and resulting films that provide the advantages of solvent-based systems. With waterborne photoresist systems, however, the challenge has been to provide compositions that retain their stability, while still being able to form versatile photoresist films. Since stabilization of waterborne photoresist systems has typically required the use of certain additives that can degrade photoresist performance, it is believed that the most versatile photoresist films may be obtained when such additives are limited.
Waterborne photoresist compositions are essentially aqueous emulsions of water-insoluble compounds. These emulsions require stabilization to prevent phase separation of the insoluble compounds. To be effective, these emulsions must be both storage stable and shear stable.
Photoresist emulsion compositions typically require storage stability of at least about 6 months in order to account for formulation time, shelf-time, and shipping time to customers. Photoresist emulsion compositions that are not storage stable for at least about 6 month run the risk of phase separation during storage, shipping, and/or use. Should phase separation occur, the emulsion would become completely unusable, significantly impacting upon manufacturing costs. Therefore, the industry typically demands that photoresist emulsions have a storage stability of at least about 6 months.
Stabilization is also necessary due to the processing requirements and intended application of these photoresist emulsions. These aqueous emulsions are frequently subject to high shear conditions in the manufacturing process, especially in the case of direct emulsification of previously synthesized polymers. In many cases, the photoresist emulsions are then concentrated by evaporation of water and/or organic solvents, often under vacuum and with heat and mechanical shear stress (e.g., wiped filmed evaporators). In cases where organic solvents are emulsified along with other water-insoluble components, the evaporation process itself can be mechanically stressful, as solvent vapors must pass through the surfactant boundary, thus disrupting the stabilizing forces.
Furthermore, photoresist emulsions are frequently formulated with other additives using high shear to mix the components. Additives such as water-dispersible thickeners and organic co-solvents can, however, destabilize emulsions and increase their sensitivity to mechanical and/or thermal stress. Although the exact mechanism is not clear, it is believed that additives tend to make emulsions more susceptible to coagulation.
Application methods may also require high shear stability, especially with regard to spray- and roll-coating processes. Therefore, it is necessary that photoresist emulsion compositions do not degrade or coagulate under high shear conditions.
Emulsifiers and other surfactants are commonly used to overcome emulsion and shear stability problems in aqueous emulsion photoresist systems. However, high levels of surfactants are often required to provide sufficient stability, which can negatively impact upon film formation and the performance characteristics of dried films.
The use of high levels of surfactants can, for example, result in foam stabilization problems in the emulsion during high shear processes, which can lead to the formation of bubbles or pin holes in the final film product. Excessive surfactant levels can also lead to adhesion failure in dried films at the substrate/coating interface, due to their tendency to migrate to the interface surface. Excessive levels of surfactant can further lead to increased sensitivity of the dried films to water or humidity, due to their hydrophilicity. Moreover, an increase in the hydrophilic character of photoresists (by, e.g., the use of increasing levels of surfactants) tends to both increase the developing rate to impractically high speeds and reduce the resistance of the photocured regions to attack by the developer. Therefore, the use of high levels of surfactants to achieve emulsion stability for waterborne photoresist systems is not favored.
Recently, practitioners have turned their focus to stabilizing aqueous photoresist emulsion systems by neutralizing the acid functional polymer of the photoresist emulsion with base. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,435, a waterborne, alkali-developable, photoresist coating composition is disclosed which is said to comprise a multifunctional monomer, a photoinitiator, and a latex of a water insoluble carboxylated acrylate polymer, in which at least 25% of the acid groups of the latex are neutralized. It is stated that a stable photoresist emulsion may be prepared by neutralization at levels greater than at least 25% with a base such as ammonia, and more typically at about 30% to 60%, to achieve desired stability and viscosity.
However, it has been found that while high degrees of neutralization, as required in U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,435, may impart desired Theological properties such as higher viscosity, thereby contributing to emulsion stability, this is achieved by sacrificing film properties. More specifically, increased levels of neutralization tend to reduce chemical resistance of the dried films, since the neutralizer in reacting with the acid functional polymer produces water soluble salts that are not all removed during drying, and become sites for potentially damaging chemical attack. Furthermore, it has been found that at high levels of neutralization, these emulsions become so viscous that they require dilution, to be suitable for coating processes, even at relatively low solids levels. Moreover, it is believed that high levels of neutralization can cause destabilization of these emulsions.
More recently, practitioners have made efforts to overcome these problems by reducing the levels of neutralization, thereby necessitating the use of other additives, emulsifiers and/or other surfactants, to compensate for the loss of rheological properties attendant with high neutralization.
For example, thickeners are well known in the art and commonly used for their ability to adjust rheology of pre-formed emulsions by increasing viscosity (i.e., thickening the emulsion). Although associative thickeners are predominantly used, non-associative thickeners may also be used. Associative thickeners, when used for adjusting rheology of photoresist emulsions, are typically used in the range of about 0.1 wt. % to about 2.0 wt. % (on a weight basis of thickener solids to total solids in the emulsion).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,485 discloses that certain associative thickeners are useful in enhancing particle wetting of materials being added to a resin system (i.e., acting as surfactants).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,737, employs associative thickeners in combination with polymer neutralization of less than or equal to about 20% for a photoresist composition. The patent claims to the use of a polyether polyurethane associative thickener in amounts of from about 1 wt. % up to about 40 wt. %. It is stated in Example 3 that the use of a polyether polyurethane associative thickener at about 2.78 wt. % (on a weight basis of thickener solids to total solids in the emulsion) results in a film with slight ribbing; in Example 4, it is stated that use of about 5.56 wt. % a polyether polyurethane associative thickener results in a film with no ribbing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,737, more specifically, discloses a waterborne photoimagable composition comprising a partially neutralized (.ltoreq.20%) latex binder polymer having carboxylic acid functionality, ethylenically unsaturated monomers, a photoinitiator, and at least about 1 wt. % to about 40 wt. % of a polyether polyurethane associative thickener. The associative thickener is used for the dual purpose of adjusting viscosity and as a surfactant to emulsify the monomer fraction, thereby helping to stabilize the latex emulsion of the binder polymer. The associative thickener is, thus, used in, (1) forming a waterborne emulsion of the latex binder polymer, monomers, photoinitiator, and conventional additives and (2) improving the rheology of the stabilized emulsion.
In comparison with the levels of associative thickener used by skilled artisans to adjust rheology of photoresist emulsions, U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,737, requires relatively high levels of about 1 wt. % up to about 40 wt. % of associative thickener to substantially reduce the level of neutralization of the latex polymer. These required high levels of associative thickener, however, have their own set of disadvantages relating to the nature and level of solids in the emulsion, during photoresist emulsion formation, and to the final film properties in the dried film.
The term "solids" when referring to photoresist emulsions is meant to include all of the non-volatile components of the emulsion that remain in the film when dried. The "solids" in a photoresist emulsion will, therefore, comprise the non-volatile portions of: latex polymers, monomers, photoinitiators, thickeners, surfactants, neutralizing base, and any other non-volatile additives.
The required presence of associative thickeners in emulsion formation of the '737 patent places limits not only on the ultimate total solids content of the emulsion due to viscosity effects, but also on the proportionate distribution of the active photoimageable components (e.g., polymer, monomer, photoinitiator, dye) to the inactive non-volatiles (e.g., thickener, surfactant, defoamer, flow control agent) in the emulsion.
Limiting the total solids content of the emulsion, in turn, limits film thickness that can be reasonably achieved with various application techniques including spray coating, dip coating and roll coating. These application techniques cannot typically tolerate extremely viscous fluids since such materials tend not to flow and level properly after contact with the substrate, or may encounter difficulty in actually transferring to the substrate.
With respect to film thickness, in a given application process optimized for a material with a certain viscosity range, a one mil thick wet coating might be expected to provide a 0.25 mil thick dry coating in the case of a 25% solids emulsion and a 0.5 mil thick dry film in the case of a 50% solids emulsion, based on total solids in the emulsion. In short, the higher the solids content of the emulsion, the thicker will be the resulting film. Perhaps, more importantly, though is the versatility that is achieved with a higher solids content, because such versatility allows for tailoring the solids/rheology of the emulsion to differing requirements of manufacturing equipment and desired products. This is particularly important in achieving fine line resolution (i.e., sharpness) in a film of a given thickness.
Thus, there exists the need for stable, viscosity-adjustable waterborne photoresist emulsions in which the total amount of solids in the emulsion can be tailored to specific needs, including very low solids (<20%) to very high solids (45-60%).
The presence of relatively high levels of associative thickeners in photoresist emulsions, as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,737, tends to promote "tack" and/or "blocking" in the dried film. In the preparation of photoresists, it is usually necessary to bring the dried photoresist film into contact with a phototool (or "photographic" negative) through which it is exposed to actinic light. "Tack" refers to stickiness without transfer from the film, of some of the photoimageable composition when the film is brought into contact with a negative. "Blocking" refers to sticking with transfer between two surfaces of the same material, encountered during stacking of uncured photoresist panels. It is, therefore, important for photoresist films to exhibit anti-tack and anti-blocking, since stickiness and/or transfer of photoimageable composition to the negative can at least necessitate cleaning of the negative, if not destroy it completely.
Another problem with prior art photoresist emulsion materials is that, following coating onto a substrate and drying, they usually cannot be stacked for compact storage. Although the prior art has addressed anti-tack, with respect to contact imageability of negatives by the use of slip aids, the issue of stackability of photoresists has remained unresolved.
During processing of photoresists, it is often necessary that the coated substrate photoresists, such as coated circuit boards, be taken off-line and stored. This may be due to work stoppages, for example, because of equipment failures, personnel situations, holidays, or any other curtailment of the production line.
In the past, coated substrate photoresists have not been able to be stacked because the pressure exerted on multiple layers of coated photoresists of the prior art have exhibited blocking. This blocking is believed to be caused by the presence of relatively high levels of thickener, especially associative thickeners, and certain surfactants, in the formation of the photoresist emulsions that remain as inactive non-volatiles in the dried film. It is, therefore, believed that stackability can also be achieved by limiting the amount of thickeners, especially associative thickeners, and certain surfactants in the formation of photoresist emulsions.
Consequently, there exists a need for photoresist emulsion compositions, and processes for making such compositions, which meet the requirements for a waterborne, liquid applied contact imageable photoresists that provide storage and shear stable emulsions having high solids and low viscosity while minimizing the need for neutralization of the acid-functional polymer latex and minimizing the use of additives such as thickeners and surfactants. There is a further need for such photoresist compositions which when coated and dried onto a substrate material exhibit sufficient anti-blocking properties to provide photoresist substrates that are capable of being stacked.

Waterborne photoresist emulsions and methods of preparation thereof


A railing system includes an upper core member having a cap connector. In a first embodiment, a railing system includes a cap member having a cap flange that detachably couples with the cap connector on the upper core member. The cap member forms an enclosed conduit between the cap member and the upper core member. In a second embodiment, a kit for fabricating a railing span is contained in a packaging. The kit includes an upper core member and lower core member having selected lengths and a plurality of balusters for connection between the upper and lower core members. In a third aspect of the invention, a method of routing an opening for a baluster used in an inclined railing structure includes the step of plunging a router bit into a side of a component at an angle based on the installed angle of the inclined railing structure.

Outdoor railing structures, such as handrails for decks and terraces, are constructed of a variety materials. Many manufacturers and builders of railing structures use polyvinylchloride (PVC) and other plastics to form railing components. Plastic materials require less maintenance than wood, and provide exceptional durability in outdoor installations. In a typical plastic railing system, a pair of closed tubular rails (top and bottom rails) extend parallel to one another between vertical posts or columns. The space between the top and bottom rails is occupied by a series of balusters that connect between the rails.
There are certain drawbacks in using closed tubular rails in a railing system. Closed tubular rails are typically connected to balusters by cutting routed openings in the rails and inserting the ends of the balusters into the hollow interior of the rails. The routed openings introduce areas of relative weakness, called "fracture points", along the span of the rail. This is a significant concern, since the top and bottom rails are the primary load bearing components in the railing structure. Railing systems that are intended for use in residential construction must be tested to ensure that they support minimum load requirements. Load bearing rails that fail to meet the minimum load requirements can not be used for residential construction. Therefore, closed tubular rails with routed openings have certain limitations that may affect whether or not they can be used in a given project.
Structural integrity has been addressed in the past by adding reinforcing members to the railing components. For example, closed tubular rail systems have been installed with aluminum stiffeners inserted in the hollow interior of the rails. Although aluminum stiffeners increase structural integrity, they may not be desirable in every case. Compared to plastic material, aluminum stiffeners are relatively difficult to cut to a specified length. In addition, insertion of stiffeners into plastic railing components adds additional steps to the installation process.
Closed tubular rails also limit the ability to run wires, cables and utility lines along the railing structure. In most instances, the wiring is simply affixed to the exterior of the closed tubular rail. This leaves the wiring visible on the exterior of the railing, which can detract from the appearance of the railing. In addition, the size and shape of the railing may not allow for more than a few wires to be run along the railing. It may be possible to route the wiring through the interior of the closed tubular railing, but this necessitates cutting into the railing to gain access to the interior of the railing. The process of feeding wiring through a closed tubular rail may be further complicated by posts or other components that divide sections of rail and obstruct the hollow interior of the closed rails. Therefore, the process of cutting into an installed railing can require significant time and labor. Cutting through the sides of plastic rails also leaves holes that may detract from the appearance of the railing system.
Known plastic railing systems involve a number of competing interests. Examples of competing interests include the appearance of railing assembly and the ease of installation. It has been found that when an assembly is modified to address one of these objectives, the other objective is sacrificed. This balancing act between appearance and ease of installation is commonly observed with visible hardware. Systems that do not conceal hardware are relatively simple to install, since they usually require fewer components and steps for assembling. In contrast, many known systems that are designed to conceal hardware require the handling of more components, which increase the time and expense for installing the railing assembly.
The goal of improving aesthetic appearance also competes with the goal of providing structural integrity. As noted above, the use of routed openings to connect balusters with railing components provides a neat and virtually seamless appearance. Unfortunately, routed openings can create fracture zones that compromise the structural integrity of the railing system.
Based on the foregoing, there is much room for improvement in existing railing systems. Among other needs, there is a need for railing systems which are more capable of satisfying competing interests.

Railing assembly with detachable and upgradeable components


Framing transmit encoded output data begins by determining a scrambling remainder between scrambling of an input code word in accordance with a 1st scrambling protocol and the scrambling of the input code word in accordance with an adjustable scrambling protocol. The processing continues by adjusting the adjustable scrambling protocol based on the scrambling remainder to produce an adjusted scrambling protocol. The processing then continues by scrambling the input code word in accordance with the 1st scrambling protocol to produce a 1st scrambled code word. The processing continues by scrambling the input code word in accordance with the adjusted scrambling protocol to produce a scrambled partial code word. The processing continues by determining a portion of the 1st scrambled code word based on the scrambling remainder. The process then continues by combining the scrambled partial code word with the portion of the 1st scrambled code word to produce the transmit encoded output data.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to communication systems and more particularly to encoding/decoding and scrambling/descrambling of data within such communication systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Communication systems are known to transport large amounts of data between a plurality of end user devices. Such end user devices include telephones, facsimile machines, computers, television sets, cellular phones, personal digital assistants, et cetera. As is also known, such communication systems may be local area networks (LAN) and/or wide area networks (WAN). A local area network is generally understood to be a network that interconnects a plurality of end user devices distributed over a localized area (e.g., up to a radius of 10 kilometers). For example, a local area network may be used to interconnect workstations distributed within an office of a single building or a group of buildings, to interconnect Internet computer based equipment distributed around a factory or hospital, et cetera.
A wide area network is generally understood to be a network that covers a wide geographic area. Wide area networks include both public data networks and enterprise wide private data networks. A public data network is established and operated by a national network administrator specifically for data transmission. Such public data networks facilitate the interworkings of equipment from different manufacturers. Accordingly, standards by the ITU-T have been established for conveying data within public data networks. Currently, there are two main types of public data networks: packet switched public data networks and circuit switched public data networks. For example, the public switched telephone network is a circuit switched public data network while the Internet is a packet switched public data network. Other examples of wide area networks include integrated service digital networks (ISDN) and broadband multi-service networks.
As is further known, communication systems may be networked together to yield larger communication systems, where such networking is typically referred to as internetworking. Internetworking is achieved via internetworking units that allow communication networks using the same or different protocols to be linked together. The internetworking units may be routers, gateways, protocol converters, bridges, and/or switches.
Regardless of the type of communication system (e.g., LAN, WAN, internetworking LAN and/or WAN), each communication system employs a data conveyance protocol to ensure that data is accurately conveyed within the system. All such data conveyance protocols are based on layers 1, 2, 3, and/or 4 of the open system interconnection (OSI) seven layer reference model. As is known, the layers include a physical layer (layer 1), a data link layer (layer 2), a network layer (layer 3), a transport layer (layer 4), a session layer (layer 5), a presentation layer (layer 6), and an application layer (layer 7).
In general, a protocol is a formal set of rules and conventions that govern how each end user device and/or data terminal equipment (i.e., the infrastructure equipment of the communication system) exchanges information within the communication system. A wide variety of protocols exist, but can generally be categorized in the one of four types of protocols: a local area network protocol, a wide area network protocol, a routing protocol, or a network protocol. Local area network protocols operate at the physical and data link layers and define communication over various local area network and media. Wide area network protocols operate at the lowest three layers of the OSI model and define communication over the various wide area media. Routing protocols are network layer protocols that are responsible for path determination and traffic switching. Network protocols are the various upper layer protocols that exist in a given protocol suite. Examples of such protocols include asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), frame relay, TCP/IP, Ethernet, et cetera. Typically, such protocols include an encoding/decoding and/or scrambling/descrambling scheme. As is known, an encoding/decoding scheme enhances the reliability of data conveyances by encoding and/or scrambling data to include extra bits with the data to produce a code word. When the code word is received by the corresponding decoder and/or descrambler, it utilizes the extra bits to determine if the data was received without error. If the data was received without error, the decoder and/or descrambler uses the extra bits to determine and subsequently correct the error.
One such coding scheme is 64b/66b, which takes 64 bits of data and produces a 66-bit code word. In addition, the 66-bit code word is scrambled to produce a scrambled 66-bit code word. The scrambled 66-bit code word includes a 2-bit sync-header and 64 bits of scrambled encoded data. An issue arises in transmitting and subsequently receiving the scrambled 66-bit code word in that most data buses are 32-bits wide. Thus, every 2 cycles, there are 2 bits leftover, which need to be transmitted during the 3rd cycle.
The current solution to resolve this issue is to use a barrel shifter gearbox. While the barrel shifter works, it is very large with respect to die area and consumes a significant amount of power. For instance, a barrel shifter for a 32-bit bus requires 16×66 registers to store and transfer the scrambled 66-bit code words. The 66 value corresponds to the number of bits in a scrambled code word and the 16 value corresponds to the pattern of the 2 leftover bits repeating every 16 cycles (e.g., 32 bit bus divided by 2 extra bits).
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus for framing code words without the need for a barrel shifter.

Framing of transmit encoded data and linear feedback shifting


A cigarillo includes a tobacco rod element having tobacco cut filler and a binder layer which binds or holds the tobacco cut filler within the rod element; and an outer wrapper of natural tobacco leaf which encompasses or covers the tobacco rod element, wherein the natural tobacco leaf of the outer wrapper comprises a pattern imprinted or impressed therein. A method of producing a cover layer of natural tobacco leaf for use in manufacturing a cigarillo includes providing a substantially continuous web of a support material having a surface profile, which typically includes surface profile elements such as projections; arranging a plurality of natural tobacco leaves extended flat over the web of support material; and layering the substantially continuous web with the plurality of natural tobacco leaves supported thereon, whereby the surface profile of the web impresses or imprints a pattern into the plurality of natural tobacco leaves.

The present invention relates to a smoking article, especially a cigarillo, and to a method of manufacturing such a smoking article. In addition, the present invention provides a method of producing a wrapper or cover layer of natural tobacco leaf for use in manufacturing a smoking article, especially a cigarillo.
In the manufacture of smoking articles, such as cigars and cigarillos, the exterior of the smoking article is typically covered or wrapped with either natural tobacco leaf or reconstituted tobacco. Natural tobacco is considered to be of higher quality and better taste than reconstituted tobacco and therefore is generally considered to result in a higher quality product. Natural tobacco leaf is relatively expensive compared to reconstituted tobacco, however, and the handling of natural tobacco leaf requires more care and labour than the handling of reconstituted tobacco. In this regard, natural tobacco leaf is typically provided on a substrate and can tend to adhere or stick to the substrate, which in turn can make the handling difficult. Accordingly, the cost of manufacturing cigars and cigarillos having a cover layer or outer wrapper of natural tobacco leaf is typically significantly greater than the cost of manufacturing cigars and cigarillos having a cover layer or an outer wrapper of reconstituted tobacco.
In view of the above, therefore, it would clearly be useful and desirable to provide an improved smoking article, especially a cigar or cigarillo, which has an outer layer or wrapper of natural tobacco leaf, and yet which is simpler to manufacture and/or has a lower production cost.

Cigarillo and method of manufacturing same


The present invention relates to ink jet printing ink consisting of an independently dispersed metal ultrafine particles-containing liquid dispersion in which the metal ultrafine particles having a particle size of not more than 100 nm are independently and uniformly dispersed and which is excellent in characteristic properties required for ink. The ink is used in the printing or the formation of conductive circuits using an ink jet printer. The ink can be prepared by steps comprising the first step in which metal vapor is brought into contact with vapor of the first solvent according to the evaporation-in-gas technique to thus form a metal ultrafine particles-containing liquid dispersion; the second step in which a low molecular weight polar solvent as the second solvent is added to the liquid dispersion to thus precipitate the metal ultrafine particles and to extract and remove the first solvent; and the third step in which the third solvent is added to the resulting precipitates to carry out solvent-substitution and to thus give a liquid dispersion containing metal ultrafine particles independently and uniformly dispersed therein, a dispersant being added in the first step and/or the third step.

The ink jet printing system has been used as one of the printing systems. This ink jet printing system is a recording system, which comprises the step of printing by discharging ink drops through a discharge orifice such as a nozzle or a slit to thus make the ink drops directly adhere to a printing member and can usually fall into two broad categories: continuous injection systems and on-demand systems. The ink mainly used in such an ink jet printing system comprises a dye dissolved in an aqueous or nonaqueous solvent.
On the other hand, in the fields of colored paints and conductive paints, a liquid dispersion of metal ultrafine particles has been used, but there has not yet been used such a liquid dispersion of metal ultrafine particles in the formation of a conductive circuit, while making use of the ink jet printing system. Such a conductive circuit has conventionally been formed according to the screen printing techniques or a technique, which makes use of a photoresist and in this case, a large-scaled apparatus should be used and complicated processes should likewise be used.
As methods for preparing the foregoing liquid dispersion of metal ultrafine particles, there have been known those comprising the step of dispersing metal ultrafine particles or powder together with, for instance, a solvent, a resin and a dispersant, according to various means such as stirring, the applying of ultrasonic waves and mixing in, for instance, a ball mill or a sand mill. The liquid dispersion prepared according to this method has been employed in the fields of, for instance, paints and varnishes. There have been known, for instance, a method for directly preparing metal ultrafine particles in a liquid phase such as the technique for the evaporation of a metal in a gas phase (hereunder referred to as "evaporation-in-gas (technique)" comprising the steps of evaporating a metal in a low vacuum atmosphere in the coexistence of vapor of a solvent, and then condensing the evaporated metal into uniform metal ultrafine particles to thus disperse the resulting particles in the condensed solvent and to thus give a liquid dispersion (Japanese Patent No. 2,561,537) and those, which make use of an insoluble precipitate-forming reaction or a reducing reaction using a reducing agent. Among these methods for preparing liquid dispersions of metal ultrafine particles, the evaporation-in-gas technique would permit the stable preparation of a liquid dispersion containing metal ultrafine particles having a particle size of not more than 100 nm and which are uniformly dispersed therein. In the evaporation-in-gas technique, the amount of a dispersion stabilizer or a resin component required for the preparation of a liquid dispersion containing metal ultrafine particles in a desired concentration is smaller than that required in the liquid-phase preparation technique.
As has been described above, the liquid dispersion of metal ultrafine particles has never been used as the ink for ink jet printer or recording (system) for the reason that the conventional liquid dispersion of metal ultrafine particles has never possessed characteristic properties (such as viscosity and surface tension) required for the ink used in the ink jet printing. The metal ultrafine particles prepared according to the conventional evaporation-in-gas technique undergo aggregation and this makes it difficult to prepare any liquid dispersion in which the metal ultrafine particles are stably dispersed. For this reason, when using such a liquid dispersion of metal ultrafine particles as ink for the ink jet printing, the ink suffers from a problem in that aggregates of the ultrafine particles present therein result in clogging of the ink jet nozzles. Moreover, when using a liquid dispersion in which the ultrafine particles are independently or separately dispersed, as ink for the ink jet printing, the liquid dispersion should be prepared using a solvent suitable for satisfying the requirements for characteristic properties of the ink. However, the choice of a solvent suitably used in the ink for the ink jet printing has been quite difficult.
In addition, in the conventional evaporation-in-gas technique, the solvent used is denatured when the evaporated metal is condensed to thus form by-products and accordingly, the resulting liquid dispersion would suffer from various problems such as storage stability, viscosity stability and coloring, depending on the amount of the by-products. Furthermore, in some cases or in some applications, there is a request in that low boiling point solvents, water and alcohol-containing (alcoholic) solvents, which can be used in the evaporation-in-gas technique with great difficulty, must be used for the preparation of liquid dispersions of metal ultrafine particles, as will be detailed below.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to eliminate the foregoing problems associated with the conventional techniques and to provide ink, which comprises a liquid dispersion containing individually dispersed metal ultrafine particles and which can be used in the ink jet printing technique or which can satisfy the requirements for the ink jet printing ink as well as a method for preparing the same.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Ink for ink jet printing and method for preparing the same


A ballast is configured to be selectively coupled to a chassis of a locomotive based on an anticipated change in axle load capacity of a rail. The ballast includes a container, a lid, and a catch plate. The container includes one or more sides and is configured to store a heavy mass of material therein. The lid is disposed on one of a bottom and lateral sides of the container. The catch plate is spaced apart and rigidly attached to the container to define a pocket therebetween. The pockets are configured to allow one or more lifting implements to be inserted such that the container may be hoisted and selectively coupled to the chassis.

Axle load capacities of rails vary from one rail to another. A first rail may be able to withstand a heavy axle load of a locomotive while a second rail may be able to withstand a lighter axle load as compared to the first rail. Typically, locomotives may be of different gross weights and may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. However, these gross weights must comply with the rail capacities at all instants of time. In order to do so, each axle of the locomotive may need to comply with the axle load capacity requirements of the rail. Several methods previously known in the art accomplish adjustments to the gross weight of the locomotives. However, these previously know methods are typically permanent in nature and may not be adjustable after initial manufacture of the respective structures. Further, any adjustment to a weight of the locomotive while in service may be tedious and cumbersome.


An apparatus for aligning a laser leveling instrument along a building line can remain standing unchanged on its base throughout both horizontal and vertical leveling operations. The light source is located in the base of the instrument. The instrument head can be swung through 90.degree. and houses a rotating prism which generates the vertical plane, and an adaptor. The adaptor includes a prism for deflecting the light from the source into the rotating prism and a triple prism which, when brought into the light path, deflects the light coming from the base perpendicular to the generated vertical plane, projecting it onto the building line.

The invention relates to a laser leveling instrument in which vertical and horizontal alignment with a building line may be performed while keeping the base of the instrument in the same position.
Laser leveling instruments emit a horizontal or vertical rotating measurement beam which is detected by a photoelectric receiver. The rotating laser beam defines a reference plane in this case. As soon as the receiver is located in the reference plane, the receiver indicates this by optical and/or acoustic signals.
Such laser leveling instruments can also be used with a laser beam wavelength in the visible region, so that the projected horizontal or vertical plane is visible without additional means.
A laser leveling instrument which optionally emits a horizontally or vertically rotating measurement beam and, in doing so, generates a horizontal or vertical reference plane is disclosed in CH-PS 674,573. Arranged in its base and on its vertical spindle, this leveling instrument has a laser whose beam is guided via a rotating deflecting prism arranged in the leveling instrument head. A horizontal reference plane is generated in this case. In this known laser leveling instrument, the leveling instrument head can, moreover, be swung down at right angles from the base. The laser beam emerging from the base is deflected onto the rotating prism via an additional adaptor having a fixed prism. In this case, a vertical reference plane is generated.
Such vertical reference planes are principally employed in the use of the leveling instrument in the building industry to align wall elements, facade structures or the like. These tasks can be accomplished by means of the laser leveling instrument in the above-mentioned CH-PS 674,573.
Moreover, there are also applications of such a laser leveling instrument in which this vertical reference plane has to be aligned at right angles to an existing wall or along a building line. This can be the case, for example, if the aim is to subdivide a room into individual rooms by means of wall elements. Such tasks can be accomplished with the aide of the laser leveling instrument from CH-PS 674,573 only in a time-consuming, and thus troublesome fashion.

Device for aligning a laser leveling instrument along a building line


A system and method for performing stepped automatic gain control (AGC) for orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexing (OFDM) applications comprises a radio frequency (RF) tuner and an OFDM demodulator operatively connected to the RF tuner, the OFDM demodulator comprising logic circuitry adapted to (i) detect OFDM symbols from a stream of data; (ii) detect boundaries of the OFDM symbols; (iii) detect a cyclic prefix duration of data values associated with the OFDM symbols; and (iv) provide a feedback to the RF tuner of the information pertaining to the boundaries of the OFDM symbols and the cyclic prefix duration.

1. Technical Field
The embodiments herein generally relate to wireless communication systems, and, more particularly, to downconversion in radio frequency (RF) receivers.
2. Description of the Related Art
In wireless communication systems, automatic gain control (AGC) is used to adjust the gain of the receiver to overcome the large variation in the received signal level. The variable gain low noise amplifier (LNA) and variable gain amplifier (VGA) could be designed in two different ways. The first is to have a linear gain response. In other words, the LNA and VGA should be able to have a gain that is directly proportional to the control voltage with the same proportion for all values of the input voltage. The second is to have a stepped gain response. In other words, the LNA and VGA have only a few discrete values for the gain. Switching from one gain value to another depends on the value of the control voltage. A stepped gain response leads to a much simpler implementation and a much lower power consumption for both the LNA and VGA. However, stepped gain response could cause significant glitches and a rather large gain discontinuity to the received signal, which generally does not happen with a linear gain response.
In orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexing (OFDM) systems, a stepped gain response generally cannot be tolerated as any glitch or sudden change in the signal level may cause the loss of an entire OFDM symbol. This could lead to a significant loss of data, especially in the case of long OFDM symbols that are normally used in terrestrial television (TV) applications. In such applications, the length of one OFDM symbol could be as long as one millisecond. Accordingly, stepping the gain suddenly within any portion of an OFDM symbol could lead to the loss of the entire symbol. Therefore, there remains a need for a technique for enabling the use of stepped gain amplifiers for OFDM systems without any loss in performance.

Stepped automatic gain control for OFDM systems


Fast Reroute capability is added to an IP network to guarantee fast recovery to IP traffic in case of link or node failure without the need to deploy a full mesh of MPLS Traffic Engineering Label Switched Paths (LSPs). In one implementation, to protect a link, a 1-hop primary LSP is configured for the protected link and in addition a backup tunnel is configured to protect the 1-hop primary LSP. To protect a node, 2-hop primary LSPs are established for the link pairs traversing the node and backup tunnel(s) are configured to protect these 2-hop primary LSPs.

The present invention relates to data networking and more particularly to systems and methods for providing fault tolerance to data networks.
The Internet and IP networks in general have become key enablers to a broad range of business, government, and personal activities. More and more, the Internet being relied upon as a general information appliance, business communication tool, entertainment source, and as a substitute for traditional telephone networks and broadcast media. As the Internet expands its role, users become more and more dependent on uninterrupted access.
To assure rapid recovery in the event of failure of a network link or node, so-called "Fast Reroute" techniques have been developed. In a network employing Fast Reroute, traffic flowing through a failed link or node is rerouted through one or more preconfigured backup tunnels. Redirection of the impacted traffic occurs very quickly to minimize impact on the user experience, typically in tens of milliseconds.
Fast Reroute, however, has been developed primarily for use in networks that employ MPLS (MultiProtocol Label Switching) Traffic Engineering. Rather than using conventional IP routing techniques where individual packets travel through the network following paths determined individually for each packet as it progresses through the network, MPLS Traffic Engineering exploits modern label switching techniques to build guaranteed bandwidth end-to-end circuits through a network of label switched routers (LSRs). MPLS Traffic Engineering networks are very useful to service providers who want to better utilize their network resources and provide quality of service guarantees to their customers. Such networks may be augmented with Fast Reroute capability by configuring backup tunnels in the form of LSPs in order to guarantee very fast traffic recovery in case of link or node failures. Depending on the particular variant of Fast Reroute employed, backup tunnels may be preconfigured for individual links or nodes, or for entire primary LSPs. Guaranteed backup protection may be provided by configuring the backup tunnels with guaranteed bandwidth. The configured backup tunnel bandwidth dictates the quality of service level of the rerouted Traffic Engineering LSPs during failures prior to reoptimization.
A problem arises in that Fast Reroute capability is highly desirable even in networks where MPLS Traffic Engineering has not been implemented. Fast Reroute capability may be required in an environment where the quality of service features provided by MPLS Traffic Engineering are not required. This is often the case for networks operating within an enterprise. What is needed are systems and methods for providing Fast Reroute capability to IP networks that do not employ MPLS Traffic Engineering end-to-end circuits.

MPLS fast reroute without full mesh traffic engineering


A lever-type connector (1) comprises: a first connector (11); a second connector (21); and a lever (31) configured to be turned to fit the connectors (11, 21) each other. The first connector (11) has a lock portion (14) designed to be flexurally deformed toward its inner surface side and inserted into the attachment hole (42) when the connectors are attached to the attachment hole (52). The lever (31) includes an arm portion (32) located on the inner surface side of the first connector (11) while the lever (31) is being turned. The arm portion (32) includes: a deformation blocking part (36) configured to block the flexural deformation when the deformation blocking part (36) is located on the inner surface side of the lock portion (14); and a deformation allowing part (37) configured to allow the flexural deformation.

A conventional lever-type connector includes: a first connector; a second connector fittable to the first connector; and a lever provided on the first connector and configured to be turned to fit the first connector and the second connector to each other. The first connector and the second connector in a fitted state are attached to an attachment hole in a panel (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-359037).
This lever-type connector is provided with an interference portion extending from the lever, in order to prevent the connectors in an incompletely fitted state from being attached to the panel. The interference portion does not interfere with a hole edge of the attachment hole when the connectors are in a completely fitted state. The interference portion interferes with the hole edge of the attachment hole when the connectors are in the incompletely fitted state.
Accordingly, in the process of attaching the connectors to the attachment hole in the panel, it is possible to detect a fitted state of the connectors based on whether or not the interference portion interferes with the hole edge of the attachment hole.


A system for converting a data file in a first format for data serialization into a second format for workflow specification is disclosed. The system comprises one or more processors and non-transitory memory storing instructions. When executed by the one or more processors, the instructions cause the one or more processors to receive a data file in the first format representing a workflow; automatically generate a functionally equivalent workflow specified according to the second format, via consultation with a correspondence table and replacing a set of elements from the first format with a corresponding set of elements from the second format; automatically fill in any default values required in the second format and not specified within the first format; and output the functionally equivalent workflow in the second format. In a preferred embodiment, the first format is JSON and the second format is BPMN 2.0.

Many businesses have workflows that are complex and prone to error due to a need to comply with a number of internal guidelines or external mandates. For example, hiring a new employee may involve requesting specific data from a candidate, ensuring the candidate's identity and that the candidate has authorization to work within the country, receiving an approval from the right actors in a human resources department, scheduling and conducting interviews, and sending out documents for the employee to sign. If the status is simply tracked on a paper form or in a spreadsheet, it is easier for steps to be omitted, performed but not recorded, or performed incorrectly or out of order, leading to confusion, inefficiency, or non-compliance with standards. If the business process can be accurately expressed in a machine-readable format, software can track the steps of the process, automatically notifying each actor when their action or input is needed, receiving confirmation that the step has been completed, and ensuring nothing falls through a crack due to human error.
A number of modern automated systems for managing workflows, such as IBM's Business Process Manager, the Pega CRM Suite, and the Camunda Stack, require or prefer that workflows be expressed according to the BPMN specification. Because BPMN is a very rigorous and complex specification, extensive training is needed to use it well and businesses often must pay for a consulting specialist to convert existing documentation into a BPMN-compliant form.
Thus, there are advantages to having a system that can quickly and accurately convert processes expressed in a format easier to learn than BPMN into data files that can be used in BPMN-only automation systems.


An automatic (auto) tape searching method which searches the required tape portion fast and automatically by repeating a sequence of operational procedures. The auto tape searching method comprises: a first stage which initializes the port of a microcomputer and the content of a RAM (random access memory), sets the initial values, and controls interrupts at a power-on reset of a video tape recording system; a second stage which checks key input and, for auto random search (ARS) key, performs the auto random search function; a third stage which performs mode checking and, if a present mode needs to accompany the mechanism operation, controls the present mode; and a fourth stage which switches the mode and checks the sensor and an emergency state to make the system in stable condition.

This invention relates to a tape play position searching method of a video and audio processing system and, more particularly, to an auto tape searching method which includes a forward auto random search key and a rewind auto random search key and which can search a play position fast and automatically by repeating the fast search and play operation for a specific time.
In a conventional video tape recorder, for example, in order to search a play position of a tape, the user could find a portion to play or to record after performing a picture search or manipulating the FAST FORWARD (hereinafter referred to as FF), REWIND (hereinafter referred to as REW), STOP and/or PLAY key several times.
On the other hand, in said conventional methods, the former method using the picture search technique has some disadvantages such that not only it shortens the expected life span of a VTR since the method is apt to abrade the head of VTR drum but also it takes long time to search the required position.
Moreover, the latter search method manipulating several keys also has a problem to cause the user inconvenience since the user should manipulate the keys one by one.


A system and method for synchronizing data in first and second computer servers is provided. The first computer server includes a first plurality of data sets each having a first identifier and a first set of attributes. The second computer server includes second plurality of data sets each having a second identifier and a second set of attributes. The method includes transmitting a second identifier and a second checksum value both associated with one of the second plurality of data sets to the first computer server. The method further includes accessing one of the first plurality of data sets having a first identifier corresponding to the transmitted second identifier to determine a first checksum value associated with the accessed data set. Finally, the method includes transmitting the one of the first plurality of data sets from the first computer server to the second computer server to replace a second set of attributes of the one of the second plurality of data sets with the first set of attributes of the one of the first plurality of data sets.

Networked systems generally utilize numerous computer servers that communicate with one another. Further, known networked systems have utilized redundant copies of data sets or databases to allow easy access thereto at multiple physical locations. Generally, a primary computer server will have a primary or "master" plurality of data sets which contains the most "up to date" data sets. For purposes of discussion, a data set is a logically grouped set of software attributes associated with an entity that can be electronically stored in a computer memory. An entity may comprise, for example, one of the following: a communication network element, data, a software event, or a logical operator. A secondary computer server often will have a redundant copy of the primary data set or a copy of a portion of the primary data set, which is called a secondary data set.
When supporting the known networked system it is necessary to synchronize the primary plurality of data sets and the secondary plurality of data sets to ensure that particular attributes stored in the predetermined data sets match one another. To accomplish this system synchronization task, known methods transmit the entire plurality of primary data sets from the first computer server to the secondary computer server to compare and update the secondary plurality of data sets, or vice versa. Accordingly, during this system-synchronization task, the transmission of a relatively large number of data sets, each having a relatively large number of attributes, between the servers in a networked system adversely affects concurrent transmission of other data because most of the system communication bandwidth is being utilized to synchronize the data sets.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for performing data synchronization in a networked system that reduces the amount of information transmitted between the primary and secondary computer servers.

System and method for synchronizing data in a networked system


A polarizing plate with an optical compensation layer is provided, which has an excellent peelability and is easy to reattach after mounted on an image display apparatus. A pressure-sensitive adhesive layer satisfying the condition (I) below is formed on both surfaces of an optical compensation layer, and one of the pressure-sensitive adhesive layers is further laminated with a polarizing plate.

In a liquid crystal display, both surfaces of a liquid crystal cell in which a liquid crystal is retained are generally provided with a polarizing plate. In order to visually compensate for retardation caused by birefringence of the liquid crystal cell in a front direction and an oblique direction, a birefringent layer as an optical compensation layer is disposed between the liquid crystal cell and each of the polarizing plates. In practice, the optical compensation layer and the polarizing plate usually are formed as one piece serving as a polarizing plate with an optical compensation layer (see JP 5(1993)-27118 A and JP 5(1993)-27119 A, for example).
Such a polarizing plate with an optical compensation layer generally has a configuration in which a first pressure-sensitive adhesive layer is formed on one surface of the optical compensation layer and the polarizing plate is made to adhere thereto via this pressure-sensitive adhesive layer. In the polarizing plate with the optical compensation layer, a second pressure-sensitive adhesive layer usually is formed on the other surface of the optical compensation layer. Via this second pressure-sensitive adhesive layer, the polarizing plate with the optical compensation layer is made to adhere to a glass substrate of a liquid crystal cell or the like, so that the polarizing plate with the optical compensation layer is disposed in the liquid crystal display.
For a practical use, the pressure-sensitive adhesive layers have to have some performances, for example, adhesion durability, which prevents partial peeling caused by heat or moisture. On the other hand, if the polarizing plate with the optical compensation layer as described above and the glass substrate are displaced from each other or they inadvertently sandwich foreign matters between them at the time of mounting the polarizing plate on the glass substrate, for example, the polarizing plate has to be peeled off and attached again to the glass substrate. Accordingly, the above-noted pressure-sensitive adhesive layers also need to have reworkability, which allows repeated peeling and attaching. Especially at the time of peeling, there are some cases where the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer is not completely removed and remains on the glass substrate, which is called adhesive residue. In such cases, it takes great effort to reattach the polarizing plate with the optical compensation layer. Moreover, in the case where the pressure-sensitive adhesive and the surface of the glass substrate adhere to each other firmly, the power of peeling the polarizing plate with the optical compensation layer may break the optical compensation layer and a liquid crystal display panel, etc., for example.

Polarization plate with optical compensation layer and image display device

Abstract: condition (I): in the case where a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer causing the optical compensation layer and the polarizing plate to adhere to each other is expressed by a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer (A) and the other pressure-sensitive adhesive layer is expressed by a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer (B) and attached to a glass substrate, the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer (A) causing the optical compensation layer and the polarizing plate to adhere to each other has an adhesive strength exceeding 12 N/25 mm, and the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer (B) causing the optical compensation layer and the glass substrate to adhere to each other has an adhesive strength of 1 to 10 N/25 mm.


A beverage whipper, including a whipper disk configured for spinning within the whipper and having a radius is disclosed. The whipper disk further includes a front surface and a plurality of forward-facing concave surfaces that divide the front surface into a plurality of front surface sections. The concave surfaces extend generally radially over more than half the radius and have a circumferential width and a depth, wherein the width is larger than the depth. The front surface sections have a total area that is at least 4-times the total area of the concave surfaces. Also, a beverage dispenser that includes the whipper for forming beverages having crema such as espresso or cappuccino.

Espresso drinks, in comparison to other coffee drinks, are noted for a fine layer of bubbles ("crema") that settles on the top of the drink from fine bubbles that are interspersed within the drink during the brewing process. Coffee consumers in many markets view a crema as a key indicator of a good cup of espresso. Espresso and other coffee and milk drinks are sometimes prepared by mixing a powder or fluid concentrate in water. However, the quality perception of theses drinks is sometimes an issue if the crema does not resemble that when the espresso is prepared from ground coffee.
Mixing devices are known for speedier preparation of coffee, espresso, and other such beverages and other foods by mixing a powdered or liquid concentrate food component with a liquid, such as water. These devices typically feed the powdered or concentrate component into the water, which is often pumped tangentially into a mixing chamber to create a whirlpool to mix the powder or concentrate into the water. When these products are reconstituted in a dispenser, the process does not follow the same steps as a roast and ground espresso product so a fine layer crema is not generated. Instead, a layer of undesirable large bubbles ("foam") may be generated, the magnitude dependent on the particular recipe of the powder or concentrate and the flow path for dispensing. To the consumer these bubbles could indicate that the coffee was not made correctly.
In known mixing devices, the mixture is then fed to a whipping mechanism, which is usually a rotating plate. The plate aerates the mixture and produces a froth. The frothed mixture is usually dispensed into a container for drinking. Such known whipping mechanisms, however, may only increase the amount of foam present in the coffee because the froth that they produce is aimed at producing bubbles that are much larger than those that distinguish crema.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,553, for example, discloses a mixing and dispensing apparatus with a cruciform frothing blade. Other shapes of frothing blades are also known. For instance, companies such as Rhea and Zanussi use whippers with an axially short disk with very steep sloped walls. U.S. Pat. No. 7,059,498, for example, discusses a mixing device including a conical whipping rotor that is configured to produce large bubbles within a beverage so as to form a layer of foam along the top of the beverage. Other whippers have disks with independent ramps extending from a substantially flat plate. The known devices generally have their greatest efficiency for preparing a small group of products.
Therefore, there is a need for a mixing device with an improved whipping mechanism that reduces or eliminates the production of large bubbles or foam in favor of finer bubbles.
Furthermore, crema generation is often benefited by slow flow speeds, whereas when filling a carafe with a large amount of "American style" coffee, speed is favored and crema production may not even be desirable. If dispensed into a multi-cup carafe for a server to pour from, the large bubbles can often prevent full filling of the carafe if they are overflowing from the top. For this solution, a system is needed that does not produce bubbles or crema and is able to rapidly fill a carafe.


Double mold opto-coupler and method for manufacture. A first subassembly is formed that includes a light detector. The first subassembly is molded with a first mold material to form a molded first subassembly. A light source is attached to the molded first sub-assembly to form a second sub-assembly. The second sub-assembly is molded with a second mold material to form a final assembly with predetermined dimensions.

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) have many useful commercial applications. Because they are monochromatic, LED lights have great power advantages over white lights especially in applications in which a specific color light is needed. Unlike the white lights, the LED does not need a color filter that absorbs most of the emitted white light. Since LED lights are inherently colored and are available in a wide range of colors, LEDs have become of choice in many lighting applications.
One application for LEDs is in opto isolation products, such as opto couplers. The assignee of the present patent application is a manufacture of such opto isolation products. Examples of these opto-isolation products are described at the following Internet address, www.agilent.com.
An opto-coupler includes both a photo detector and a light emitting diode that are separately manufactured on separate integrated circuit or die. Accordingly, one step in manufacturing opto-couplers is the combining of the photo detector IC and the LED IC. Currently, an isolation tape with epoxy on both sides thereof is utilized to attach the LED to the photo detector IC.
Unfortunately, this process for combining the photo detector IC and the LED IC suffers from several drawbacks or disadvantages. First, the application of the epoxy on the isolation tape has very tight process constraints. For example, any excessive epoxy flowing towards the wire bond pad increases the likelihood of difficulty in subsequent wire bonding processing steps. The application of the epoxy is further complicated by the very small amount of clear epoxy that needs to be dispensed.
Second, and perhaps more detrimental, the placement of the isolation tape is critical to the success of the product. For example, misalignment of the isolation tape can result in poor isolation. Third, the optical transmittance of the isolation tape reduces the coupling efficiency of the opto-coupler.
Based on the foregoing, there remains an opto-coupler and method for manufacturing the same that overcomes the disadvantages set forth previously.

Avago Technologies ECBU IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A directed expertise level-based discovery system, method, and device infers an expertise level associated with a system user from a plurality of usage behaviors and delivers one or more computer-implemented objects to the user that are selected in accordance with the inferred expertise level and a directionally distinct relationship between computer-implemented objects. The directed expertise level-based discovery system, method, and device may infer the expertise level from textual information and/or in accordance with calibration information such as test results. Geographic location awareness associated with a portable device may inform the selection of the computer-implemented objects to be delivered to the user. An explanation may be delivered to the user that references information that is used to inform the selection of the computer-implemented objects to be delivered to the user.

Existing computer-implemented recommender systems can provide personalized recommendations basis a determination of the expected interests of recommendation recipients from the behavioral history with respect to a system. However, interest levels alone may be inadequate in some cases for generating the most beneficial recommendations. Thus there is a need for a system and method that incorporates information beyond just inferred interests in generating recommendations.

Directed expertise level-based discovery system, method, and device


A method of separating glass from film in a recycling of laminated panes, includes the following consecutive steps: in a crusher, breaking the glass carried on the film; heating the broken panes in a heating bath; and removing the glass from the film in a separating device.

This invention relates to a method of separating glass from film, particularly in the waste treatment (recycling) of laminated glass panes.
Methods of separating glass from film by means of drum crushers, toothed cylinder crushers or hammer mills are known. With such methods a separation of the glass from the film is achieved only to an extent of approximately 80%. The residual glass-and-film composite is subsequently burned. The drawbacks of these methods further include crusher wear and the fact that the film itself is comminuted. It is also a disadvantage that glass dust is generated which prevents an environmentally friendly recycling.

Method of separating glass from film in the recycling of laminated glass panes


An energy expenditure/training garment includes a suit having integral resistance panels and a base fabric covering other portions of the suit. The suit includes a body portion, arm portions and leg portions. In one practice of the invention the resistance panels and the base fabric are made of contrasting colors to provide indicating structure of the type of garment. In other practices of the invention various connecting structure is used to connect the resistance panels of the leg directly to footwear such as sneakers, roller blades or boots so that the footwear functions as anchor structure for the panels.

The present invention relates to garments which would be used during an exercise or sport or in training, such as military type training, wherein the user would also wear some specialized form of footwear. Garments for expending energy have been known which incorporate elastic resistance elements as separate cords or bands or as panels of the garment. In use of the garments when the user performs certain activities such as bending motions of the hands, legs or body, energy is expended in stretching the material and then in resisting the material returning to its original condition. In order to maximize the effectiveness of such garment the resistance material should be anchored so that it will not tend to ride up, for example, the arms or legs of the user. In my U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,186,701 and 5,306,222 I disclose aerobic resistance exercise garments wherein the resistance elements are separate cords which may be secured to various types of handwear and footwear.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,109,546; 5,201,074; and 5,570,462 which issued to Timothy P. Dicker disclose a different type of exercise garment which incorporates bands or panels that are anchored at the feet by the inclusion of stirrups which loop around the feet of have hand loops.


A release coated liner and security labels containing such release coated liners are described. In one embodiment the labels comprise. (A) a sheet having an upper and a lower surface; PA1 (B) an adhesive layer having an upper surface and a lower surface and having its upper surface in contact with the lower surface of the sheet; and PA1 (C) a liner with a release coating removably affixed to the lower surface of the adhesive layer (B) wherein the release coating contains a microencapsulated material which is capable of marking a substrate when (a) at least some of the capsules are broken, (b) the liner with release coating is removed from the label, and (c) the label, without liner and release coating is applied to a substrate.. The sheet (A) may be a multilayer sheet. In preferred embodiments, the microencapsulated material is an etchant or a fluorescent agent. The security labels may be applied to glass or metal and is preferably applied to painted glass or metal. When graphics or other printing are applied to the security labels by an impact-type printer, the capsules in the release coating are broken in the area of impact, and when the liner with release coating is subsequently removed from the label and the label is applied to a substrate, the material which has been released from the broken capsules will leave an imprint on the substrate.

Labels have been used extensively on articles which are to be sold to indicate the price and/or the identity of the articles such as a stock number. Uniform product codes (UPC) are frequently placed on labels or directly on goods to identify the goods. Transferring price and identification labels from one item to another is a constant problem faced by store-owners, especially in retail areas where customers may switch labels to pay a lower price for the goods.
Label integrity also is vital in the pharmaceutical industry. Switched labels or mis-marked products can cause devastation or fatal results. Counterfeiting of products, and black market resale of original equipment parts are continuing problems. Accordingly, there is a need to permanently mark automotive parts in order to control the use of stolen parts in auto repair work and reduce auto theft.
Labels with vehicle identification numbers (VIN) can readily be produced, but such labels also can be readily removed without in any way damaging the part. Stamping of metal parts with the VIN is prohibitively expensive, and where a part is a thin metal part, such stamping operation may not be undertaken without damaging the part. Thus, there is a need for a practical way to mark automobile parts with identification numbers in such a way that the part can be readily identified with a particular automobile owner, and the marking is not readily removable.
Numerous label designs for tamper-proof labels have been described which provide an indication of the authentification. U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,842 (Green et al) employs a multilayer label consisting of a lower sheet of safety paper and an upper sheet. The lower sheet of safety paper is attached by a permanent adhesive to a product, and the upper sheet is attached by a patterned adhesive layer to the lower safety paper layer. Graphics, price information and variable serial numbers or model numbers can be printed on the top of the upper sheet. Indicia of authentication are printed on the bottom surface of the upper sheet. Authentication requires that the upper portion of the label including the upper sheet be separated from the lower safety paper sheet. Once separated, the layers cannot be rejoined to reconstitute the label. In addition, removal of the top portion is required in order to tell if an additional label has been placed over the top of the upper portion of the label.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,738 (Samonides) describes an identification label containing a microencapsulated etchant. The identification label is useful for marking a metal or other etchable surface such as an automobile part with an identifying indicia. The label comprises a protective cover sheet, a pressure-sensitive adhesive irremovably affixed to the cover sheet, and a liner with a release coating removably affixed to the adhesive. An identifying indicia comprising an etchant in a visible vehicle such as a printing ink is printed on the adhesive at the interface of the removable liner and the adhesive so that when the liner is removed, the remaining portions of the label will be adhesively attached to the metal surface with the etchant of the identifying indicia in etching contact therewith. The identifying indicia will thus be etched into the surface of the part for a permanent marking of the part.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,259 (Mocilnikar et al) describes a tamper-proof label comprising a thicker support material and a thinner fragile portion. The label is formed of a plurality of layers of varnish, adhesive, plastic and ink. The label incorporates an authentication region in which the text can be readily deciphered only with a special viewer. The top surface of the label can be written on with ink and is difficult to erase without destroying the fragile portion of the label. The label is adhered to a product by an adhesive which becomes aggressively bonded to the product over a relatively short period of time. In addition, the adhesive leaves a residue which is visible when illuminated with ultraviolet light.

Release coated liners and security labels containing such release coated liners


A power supply voltage follower connected to a power supply is used for proportionally following an increase of a supply voltage to output a power up reset signal. A pulse generation control circuit coupled to the power supply voltage follower is used for discharging the power supply voltage follower when the supply voltage exceeds a predefined threshold voltage, thereby causing the power up reset signal to produce a reset pulse.

The present invention relates generally to a power up reset (PUR) circuit that generates a reset pulse during a power up operation to reset components, such as flip-flops, latches and registers, in an integrated circuit (IC).
A PUR circuit can bring an IC into a well-defined state before normal operation. The power up reset sequence brings the IC to this state by resetting the system components with pulses generated by the circuit, such that the device will function properly.
Conventional PUR circuit designs are based on a time-triggered system controlled by the charging and discharging time of capacitors. While the system can provide the pulse needed, the circuit may fail when the RC time constants are much faster than the ramp-up time of the supply voltage. Unlike devices with higher supply voltage, the ramp-up rate for a low voltage circuit is slow, and conventional PUR circuit designs often encounter problems when dealing with such slow ramp-up rate. The ramp-up rate of supply voltage in low power circuits can be 1 ms to 10 ms or even slower. As technology continues to improve and low voltage processes are becoming more common, solutions to such a problem are needed. In order for a conventional PUR circuit to function properly at such a slow ramp-up rate, large capacitors or other MOS devices may need to be implemented to increase RC time constants. However, such components will enlarge the circuit, thereby making the circuit impractical.
An ideal PUR circuit should provide a consistent pulse generation at any ramp-up rate, while consuming zero DC current. The ideal PUR circuit should also occupy a small area for practical purposes.
It is desirable in the art of power up reset circuits to have new designs that are not based on triggering by the charging and discharging time of capacitors and reduced in circuit area.

Circuit and method for generating level-triggered power up reset signal

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A new and distinct cultivar of Alternanthera plant named ‘Raspberry Rum’, characterized by its upright to outwardly spreading and mounding plant habit; freely branching habit; dense and bushy growth habit; strong and healthy leaves; leaves that are hot pink and brown in color; good garden performance; and resistance to leaf spot pathogens.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Alternanthera plant, botanically known as Alternanthera ficoidea and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Raspberry Rum'.
The new Alternanthera plant is a naturally-occurring branch mutation of Alternanthera ficoidea 'Cognac', disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 16,411. The new Alternanthera plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor from within a population of plants of 'Cognac' in a controlled greenhouse environment in Alpharetta, Ga. during the summer of 2005.
Asexual reproduction of the new Alternanthera plant by vegetative cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Alpharetta, Ga. since July, 2005, has shown that the unique features of this new Alternanthera plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


Is disclosed an inclination sensor for detecting an inclination of a vehicle body in both lateral and longitudinal directions by a pendulum type movement rotatably supported on a rotation shaft mounted in the case, wherein the rotation shaft of the movement in the case is slanting to form a specified angle between a rotation plane of the movement and the case mounting plate surface attached to the vehicle body.

The present invention relates to an inclination sensor for sensing an inclination state of a running vehicle body and a method of attaching the inclination sensor to the vehicle body. In general, an inclination sensor is used for a safety system of a vehicle, which detects a turnover of the vehicle and, for example, cuts off the feeding of oil and/or switches off the ignition power supply system.
There has been developed an inclination sensor which comprises a case (housing) attached to a vehicle body, a pendulum type movement capable of freely rotating in the case in accordance with inclination of the vehicle body and a detector capable of electromagnetically sensing the magnetized part of the movement when a turnover of vehicle occurs (JP2001-256871).
The inclination sensor has been attached to the vehicle body in such a state that it can detect an inclination of the vehicle body in its lateral directions (sideways) by the pendulum movement set to swing in the same direction as the vehicle body laterally inclines.
The above-mentioned conventional inclination sensor still involves such a problem that its pendulum movement set to rotate in the lateral direction of the vehicle body cannot detect turn-over of the vehicle body in the longitudinal direction. To detect the turn-over of the vehicle in the longitudinal direction (backward or frontward), it is necessary to use an additional inclination sensor separately attached to the body so as to detect the turnover of the vehicle body in the longitudinal direction thereof.

Inclination sensor and method of attaching the same


A construction machine includes a hydraulic actuator circuit including: a first circuit connected to one of travel motors and a boom cylinder; a second circuit connected to the other travel motor and arm cylinder; and a third circuit connected to a slewing motor; control valves for hydraulic actuators; and a merging valve having a first position for unloading hydraulic fluid discharged from a third pump upon no operation except for two travel motors; a second position for merging the hydraulic fluid into the first and second circuits upon a simultaneous operation of the travel motors and an operation of at least one remaining hydraulic actuator except for a boom raising operation; and a third position for merging the hydraulic fluid into the first circuit while blocking it from the second circuit upon the boom raising operation.

The background art of the present invention will be described by taking a hydraulic shovel shown in FIG. 5 as an example.
This hydraulic shovel comprises a crawler-type lower propelling body 1, an upper slewing body 2 mounted on the lower propelling body 1 slewably about an axis X extending in a direction perpendicular to the ground, and a working attachment (excavation attachment) 9 attached to the upper slewing body 2, wherein the working attachment 9 includes a boom 3, an arm 4, a bucket 5, and a plurality of hydraulic actuators for operating them, that is, a boom cylinder 6, an arm cylinder 7 and a bucket cylinder 8. The hydraulic shovel further comprises, as other hydraulic actuators, right and left travel motors for driving the lower propelling body 1 (right and left crawlers), and a slewing motor for slewing the upper slewing body 2.
In this type of hydraulic shovel, there can be required that the slewing movement of the upper slewing body 2 by the slewing motor and other movements by the hydraulic actuators other than the slewing motor is performed independently from each other. As means to ensure the independence, the following Patent Document 1 discloses: dividing a hydraulic circuit to be equipped in the hydraulic shovel into (i) a first circuit to which one of the right and left travel motors and the boom cylinder belong, (ii) a second circuit to which the other travel motor and the arm cylinder belong, and (iii) a third circuit to which the slewing motor belongs; and providing first, second and third pumps for driving the first, second and third circuits in a mutually independent manner.
Besides, this hydraulic circuit is further designed to ensure straight-traveling stability. Firstly, the travel motors included in respective first and second circuits are located on respective upstreammost sides with respect to respective flows of hydraulic fluid discharged from the first and second circuits, so that each of the first and second circuits is set as a circuit for prioritizing travelling. In other words, the first and second circuits are configured so as to give each of the travel motors a priority to be supplied with hydraulic fluid discharged from each of the first and second pumps during a double travel operation for simultaneously driving the two travel motors. Secondly, the hydraulic circuit includes a merging valve for merging hydraulic fluid discharged from the third pump toward the third circuit into a fluid passage leading to the actuator other than the travel motor, in each of the first and second circuits. This hydraulic circuit makes it possible to ensure a movement of each of the remaining hydraulic actuators other than the travel motors, while guaranteeing straight-traveling stability.
The hydraulic circuit includes a plurality of control valves for operating respective hydraulic actuators, wherein each of the control valves has a bleed-off passage. Thus, when the arm cylinder in the second circuit is not operated, i.e., when the control valve for operating the arm cylinder is in a neutral position thereof, the bleed-off passage of this control valve is communicated with a tank to thereby allow hydraulic fluid discharged from the third pump to flow into the tank via the second circuit, thus preventing a pumping pressure of the third pump from sufficient rise. This slows down the movement of each of the remaining hydraulic actuators such as a boom raising movement or a slewing movement. This, however, causes no problem because the above movements are to be performed during traveling; it is rather desirable in view of safety.
In the above conventional hydraulic circuit, the merging valve is adapted to merge hydraulic fluid discharged from the third pump into each of the first and second circuits, regardless of presence or absence of an operation on the two travel motors, and even also when a boom raising operation is performed, in the same manner as that when operations on the two travel motors and at least one of the remaining hydraulic actuators are performed. The conventional hydraulic circuit therefore has a problem that a sufficient pumping pressure cannot be obtained during the boom raising operation irrelevant to the travel operation, resulting in poor performance of the boom raising movement. Specifically, upon the boom raising operation with no operation of the arm cylinder in the second circuit, wherein the control valve for the arm cylinder is in the neutral position to communicate the bleed-off passage of this control valve with the tank, hydraulic fluid discharged from the third pump flows into the tank through the second circuit, thereby hindering the pumping pressure from sufficient rise. As measures against this problem, there can be performed providing an orifice in a merging passage extending from the third circuit to the second circuit to increase the pumping pressure; however, there are remarkable limitations on a rise of the pumping pressure by means of the orifice.
Besides, the conventional hydraulic circuit has a defect that the performance of both of the boom raising operation and the slewing operation deteriorates the slewing acceleration performance due to difficulty in raising pressure for slewing acceleration, in addition to the boom raising performance. Thus, there can be a problem that a cycle time of the work, for example, of loading the bucket with earth and sand and dumping it is extended to thereby deteriorate the work efficiency.
The conventional hydraulic circuit may be designed such that hydraulic fluid discharged from the third pump is merged into the first circuit via a path different from the merging valve, during the boom raising operation; however, such a design is inadvisable, because it involves an increase in complexity of a connection portion between the circuits of the first to third circuits and a need for a special valve, resulting in increased complexity of circuit configuration and increased cost.

Construction machine having hydraulic circuit

KOBELCO CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.


A sensor for performing micro-conductivity measurements during well logging measurements in a borehole includes a magnetic core having a conductive insert wherein windings are driven with alternating current. Some embodiments include a sensor further having a conductive case. Various aspects of the sensor, such as dimensions and conductive properties of fabrication materials are selected to maximize performance of the sensor. Methods for using the sensor call for, among other things, placing the sensor in a well logging tool, and placing the tool in a well bore. A substantial focusing of the magnetic field on the wall of the borehole is achieved and provides for high quality data.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related generally to the field of performing measurements with well logging instruments for the purpose of determining the properties of earth formations. More specifically, the invention provides techniques for making fine measurements of conductivity within a borehole.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electromagnetic induction and wave propagation logging tools are commonly used for determination of electrical properties of formations surrounding a borehole. These logging tools give measurements of apparent resistivity (or conductivity) of the formation that, when properly interpreted, are diagnostic of the petrophysical properties of the formation and the fluids therein.
In thinly laminated sand-shale sequences or shaly-sand formations, the formation electrical anisotropy becomes important in determining the hydrocarbon saturation from the resistivity measurements. Due to the complexity of subterranean formations determining the electrical properties can be complicated. For example, with typical well logging tools, measurements can be imprecise enough that small indications of reserves are overlooked. In some instances, the small indications can lead to significant or substantial findings. Accordingly, it is prudent to investigate small indications.
Investigation of small indications involves micro-conductivity imaging of the wall of a borehole. Prior research has been conducted in this area, and the need for improvements remains. For example, prior art devices implementing the technology are normally based on galvanic excitation and galvanic reading the signal associated with local conductivity of earth formations. One example is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 6,815,954, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Full Offset Resistivity Imaging for Use in Boreholes," issued Nov. 9, 2004 to Iwanicki, et al. This patent makes use of micro-resistivity techniques for obtaining an image of a borehole.
Another approach is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application No. US 2005/0242819, entitled "Compact Magnetic Sensor for Multi-Component Induction and Micro-Resistivity Measurements," published Nov. 3, 2005 and by Gold et al. This application discloses a compact magnetic sensor for use in pad mounted applications and field focusing applications.
Among the various problems with prior art approaches are that galvanic techniques often fail when dealing with a highly conductive formation and low conductive bore mud (oil based mud). Main voltage drop occurs on a low conductive gap (always present) between a button electrode and the formation. The stray electric field and related instability typically causes an unacceptable measurement error as a result.
Other techniques for evaluation of the conductivity of the formation involve probing with an induction-sensing coil that generates an AC magnetic field and corresponding eddy currents in the wall of the borehole. In these embodiments, the induction sensors typically have problems with signal localization and poor sensitivity for variations of the wall conductivity due to poor energy focusing on the spot of interest.
There is a need for advanced methods for providing meaningful results from micro-conductivity evaluations of the walls of a borehole. Preferably, the methods should consistently provide accurate and reliable data and be computationally efficient.

Magnetic head for conductivity imaging for use in boreholes