A method for preparing a hydrogel comprising mixing a solution of a polymer with a photoinitiator, where the polymer comprises multiple subunits each having a non-aromatic unsaturated functional group, and irradiating the mixture with visible light to produce the hydrogel.

Articular cartilage is found at the surface of the articular joint and functions to facilitate the transmission of loads. However, chronic disease such as arthritis leads to degeneration and erosion of the cartilage, causing movement instability as well as significant impairment to the quality of life. Recent statistics show that 52.5 million adults in the USA have arthritis and this figure is projected to increase to 67 million by year 2030. As cartilage is an avascular tissue, it has limited capacity for intrinsic healing and repair. Although therapies such as autologous chondrocyte implantation and microfracture have been implemented in clinics, these treatments are only able to provide symptomatic relief until the need for surgical joint replacement. Therefore, new strategies to repair or replace the damaged cartilage are being sought.
In recent years, tissue engineering approaches which combine cells, signalling factors and scaffolds, have emerged as promising treatments for arthritis. These scaffolds are mostly hydrogels, which are highly hydrated polymeric networks and have previously been shown to have structural similarity to native extracellular matrix. Their high water content allows good permeability and diffusion of nutrients and oxygen to the encapsulated cells, as well as waste products released from the cells to the environment. These hydrogels can be fabricated from synthetic polymers such as poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) or from biological polymers such as alginate, hyaluronan, collagen and gelatin. Among all these hydrogels, gelatin has emerged as a potential material for cartilage repair. It is water soluble with low immunogenicity but most importantly, being a product of collagen hydrolysis, it also retains many of the native molecular epitopes in collagen that are important for cell signalling and maintenance of chondrocyte phenotype.
In particular, gelatin hydrogels fabricated by photo-polymerisation are especially attractive as spatial and temporal control over the polymerisation process is possible, and the process can be performed at room or physiological temperature, with fast curing rates and minimal heat generation. This photo-polymerisation process often requires grafting gelatin with functional moieties such as methacryloyl groups. Depending on the degree of methacryloylation and the macromer concentration, the physical properties (crosslinking density, swelling and stiffness) of the gelatin-methacryloyl (Gel-MA) hydrogels can be tailored, which makes this material a versatile platform for various tissue engineering applications. To date, the most commonly used photo-initiator for crosslinking Gel-MA is 1-[4-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-phenyl]-2-hydroxy-2-methyl-1-propane-1-one, which is also known as Irgacure2959 (12959). When exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light, the 12959 molecules absorb photons of light and dissociate into radicals, which then propagate through the methacryloyl groups, forming covalent kinetic chains to hold the polymer chains together.
However, one major drawback of using this system is that 12959 requires UV light for photo-excitation, which can potentially damage cellular DNA. Previous studies have shown that both UVA (320-400 nm) and UVB (290-320 nm) radiation induce chromosomal as well as genetic instability in mammalian cells. UV light can also produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) which can cause oxidative damage to the DNA. Therefore, photo-polymerisation systems using visible light (400-700 nm), which is less phototoxic to cells, are more favourable for tissue engineering applications.
A number of visible light initiating systems such as camphorquinone, fluorescein, riboflavin and rose bengal have been examined to fabricate cell-laden hydrogels. However, these initiators have poor water solubility and limited photo-reactivity or cytotoxicity. A recently synthesised photo-initiator, lithium phenyl-2,4,6-trimethylbenzoylphosphinate (LAP), which absorbs at 405 nm, has good photo-reactivity as well as cyto-compatibility.
However, LAP requires a complex synthesis route and is not yet commercially available. In contrast, another new emerging visible light initiating system consisting of commercially available initiators, a ruthenium (Ru) based transition metal complex and sodium persulfate (SPS), has shown potential for tissue engineering applications. This Ru/SPS system has been used to crosslink polymers with phenol moieties, where the resultant hydrogels have been applied as tissue sealants or matrices to encapsulate fibroblasts and neural cells. When irradiated with visible light, Ru2+ photo-excites into Ru3+ by donating electrons to SPS. The photo-excited Ru3+ then reacts with phenol groups on the polymers forming covalent crosslinks. After accepting electrons, SPS dissociates into sulfate anions and sulfate radicals. These sulfate radicals can propagate through the methacryloyl groups causing covalent crosslinking. However, a significant disadvantage of crosslinking via phenol groups is that crosslinking efficiency is low. Consequently, the amount of light energy required to generate sufficient crosslinking can be very high. Further, hydrogels formed using this photoinitiation/crosslinking system tend to have limited mechanical characteristics. They are often not tailorable to different applications due to poor physico-chemical properties.
One problem associated with the preparation of many hydrogels, including Gel-MA hydrogels, is the effect of oxygen inhibition. In the case of some photo-polymerisation systems, e.g. the use of UV light (320-365 nm) and the photo-initiator 12959, any oxygen present is able to quench the radicals required for crosslinking. This results in incomplete or insufficient formation of crosslinks and therefore the inability of the construct to maintain its shape. This is especially important for the use of hydrogels as bio-inks in computer-aided biofabrication techniques for building 3-dimensional constructs or scaffolds of biomaterials. A hydrogel preparation system that exhibits low levels of oxygen inhibition of hydrogel formation is advantageous.
It is therefore an object of the invention to overcome or ameliorate one or more of the above mentioned disadvantages or problems by providing a hydrogel that can be prepared by irradiation of a polymer using visible light or to at least provide a useful alternative to known hydrogel formation systems.

Light-activated preparation of hydrogels


A method and apparatus of encouraging distribution, registration, and purchase of free copyable software and other digital information which is accessed on a User's System via a Programmer's Program. Software tools which can be incorporated into a Programmer's Program allow the User to access Advanced Features of the Programmer's Program only in the presence of a valid Password which is unique to a particular Target ID generated on an ID-Target such as the User's System. Advanced features will thus relock if the Password is copied to another ID-target. If a valid Password is not present, the User is invited to obtain one, and provided with the means of doing so, and of installing that Password in a place accessible to the User's System on subsequent occasions. The present invention also provides Programmers with means to invoke business operations as well as computational operations with their programs, and thus to automatically obtain payment from Users who elect to obtain passwords.

This invention relates to a method of encouraging distribution, registration, and purchase of freely copyable software and other digital information. The invention applies to software as well as other information which can be repeatedly copied with little loss of fidelity, and which is expressed via a hardware- or software-programmable apparatus, such as a computer or a digital audio tape player.
The Copyability of Software—Problem and Opportunity.
Digitally encoded information ("software") is one of the most economically important commodities of the era. The ease and economy with which perfect copies can be made, copied and distributed has promoted the spread of software and related technologies through "traditional" commercial channels (retail and mail order sales, etc.) and through "non-traditional" distribution channels: computer user groups, user-to-user copying and sharing (e.g., of software and of music and video tapes), digital data networks such as the internet, Compuserve, static media such as CD-ROM disks loaded with large quantities of data, public libraries, and broadcast media. These non-traditional distribution channels in particular have made it difficult for software creators and copyright holders to regulate the use of their creations, or to receive payment and registration information from their users. Consequently, software producers forfeit substantial revenues and valuable information about their customer base and potential markets, while businesses and universities find themselves subject to legal prosecution and intimidation for software piracy.
Two approaches to these problems are copy-deterrence, and copy-encouragement. Copy-deterrence is implemented through laws, license agreements and copy-protection technologies. Copy-encouragement is practiced by "shareware" and small scale marketers who tolerate the low registration rates in order to reach the many potential users who can be reached at little cost through non-traditional distribution channels. Separately and in combination, however, these approaches have had significant disadvantages.
Copy-deterrence.
Legal copy-deterrence techniques such as licensing agreements, and litigation against companies and universities whose members knowingly or unknowingly engage in piracy are inefficient, expensive, and often unsuccessful. They incidentally create large numbers of "software criminals" or "pirates" who routinely violate these unenforceable, hard-to-understand, and often unreasonable contracts.
Hardware and software copy-deterrence technologies have also been developed, but they often raise the price and complexity of the software product, and inspire the development, sale and use of counter-technologies intended to defeat these copy-protection technologies. Copy-protection techniques often inconvenience Users who have legitimate needs and good reasons for making copies, and User protests against such inconveniences have in fact caused many software vendors to abandon copy-protection schemes. Yet another disadvantage of hardware-based copy-protection techniques, as well as those which involve modification or customization of the executable program itself is that they prevent software vendors from exploiting the remarkable non-traditional distribution networks which have sprung up in the software marketplace, and which have given rise to the alternative approach, copy-encouragement.
Copy-encouragement
Shareware programmers and vendors encourage their users to copy, share, and distribute software to others in hopes that an adequate proportion of recipients will voluntarily contact the vendors, register themselves, and pay for the software which they are using. Only a small fraction of users actually oblige, but the non-traditional distribution channels reach so many potential customers so cheaply, that the shareware strategy has been adopted by small-scale vendors who do not have the resources for traditional manufacturing, advertising, packaging, and distribution methods.
In addition to the explicitly-shareware oriented software vendors, it has been observed that many purveyors of popular software packages actually tolerate a large amount of illicit copying in the hopes that users will eventually purchase a copy or an upgrade. In any case, it is obviously and crucially desirable to the vendors of easily-copyable software that users register and pay for software.
Users of freely copyable software are often encouraged to register and pay for software by offering them additional benefits including "enhanced" versions of the software. But this strategy is deficient: withholding such benefits reduces the attractiveness of the product to potential users, and reduces the probability that users will recommend or give the program to other paying customers. And once a user has purchased one enhanced copy, he or she has even less incentive for registering additional copies to be used on additional machines, and is now able to pirate the more powerful program, thus undercutting incentives for registration among future users who might receive copies. There is a need for a means of INSTANTLY rewarding Users who register and pay for freely copyable software, without undercutting future incentives for registering, copying, and distributing additional copies.
Another problem with the prior art is that the people who actually create software (i.e., programmers) often do not have the financial resources, business experience, time or motivation required for registering, billing, and collecting money from paying users. This is why they often license their programs to established publishers and settle for a small percentage of the profits which arise from the sale of their creations. Programmers would benefit greatly if they could "program a business operation" into their software just as they can now "program a computational operation" into their software—i.e., by adding a few lines of code which activate other routines which will do their bidding. The present invention provides a means of satisfying this unrecognized need in the industry.

System and method for selling protected information in an oem context


A technique for creating a resource in a cloud computing system is described. A method implementation of this technique comprises providing a plurality of predefined base resource descriptions, each base resource description defining a base resource in the cloud computing system and specifying one or more properties of the base resource, providing a plurality of predefined modifiers, each modifier being applicable to a resource in the cloud computing system to add, remove or change a property of the resource, wherein each modifier is associated with metrics information, and receiving a resource request indicating one or more desired properties for a target resource in the cloud computing system. In response to receipt of the resource request, a selection operation is performed to select a base resource description and one or more modifiers that are to be applied to the base resource corresponding to the selected base resource description to create the target resource in the cloud computing system, wherein the selection operation is based on the metrics information. In a next step, the selected base resource description is deployed to create the corresponding base resource in the cloud computing system, and application of the selected modifiers to the base resource in the cloud computing system is triggered to create the target resource.

Cloud computing and virtualization are current trends in the field of information technology that are also gaining momentum in neighboring fields such as telecommunication. A primary advantage of cloud computing is the fact that it can almost instantly provide unlimited computing, storage, or networking resources.
Large public cloud providers, such as Amazon, can provide hundreds or thousands of computers in a matter of minutes to any user in need of cloud computing resources. Computing clouds may also be private, for example, to a company. In a private cloud scenario, the cloud is operated and used by the same company, and virtual resources are only made available inside the company. By their nature, private clouds have a limited capacity and are therefore often combined with public clouds to create so-called hybrid clouds so as to jointly utilize public and private cloud resources.
Today, different computing clouds typically rely on different technologies. That is, there are little standardization efforts regarding, for example, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), virtualization platforms (so-called hypervisors) or resource description formats (e.g., for Virtual Machines, VMs). Also, the environments offered by the clouds (e.g., with respect to networking) may differ from cloud provider to cloud provider. Major providers that offer public or private clouds are VMware with their own hypervisor, the vCloud and vSphere APIs and a proprietary format for virtual machines, Amazon with Xen as hypervisor, the EC2 and S3 APIs and their own proprietary AMI format for virtual machines, or Eucalypthus with KVM or Xen as hypervisor, the EC2 and S3 API and the proprietary EMI virtual machine format, to name only three providers.
To create cloud computing resources for a specific service, conventionally a customized virtual machine image is first defined locally for the service. This image is then uploaded ("deployed") via the API to the computing cloud. As a next step, a new virtual machine is started (sometimes also referred to as "deployed") in the cloud, again via the API, from that image. Afterwards, some cloud technologies, e.g., VMware, allow for a certain customization of the deployed virtual machine by executing a customization script. Similar deployment approaches are utilized for other virtual resources (e.g., for cloud storage or networking resources).
Some of the major challenges for cloud management solutions are the efficient management of the various configurations of resources that need to be maintained across different clouds and the complexity arising from hybrid clouds (e.g., in the case of different hypervisors and different hypervisor-specific managers). It is becoming increasingly apparent that the management of cloud resources and their configuration is a demanding task as, in any realistic deployment, a very broad range of resources are requested by the cloud users, and these are typically not generic "base resources" such as an "empty" operating system or an "empty" application server. Rather, in many cases various items of software still need to be deployed, and customizations have still to be made.
A typical base resource can be a virtual machine with an installed operating system. To turn it into a target resource with desired resource properties, application software needs to be installed and configured (i.e., customized). Furthermore, additional cloud resources such as networking or attached storage resources may need to be set up. As an example, the Ericsson Composition Engine (ECE) as described in J. Niemöller et al., "Ericsson Composition Engine—Next-generation IN", Ericsson Review, 2/2009, pages 22 to 27 may need to be installed on an application server in a cloud computing system to turn the application server into the desired target resource. After the basic ECE software is installed, different so-called skeletons need to be deployed to instruct the ECE how to react to incoming signals. Also for the skeletons, many further customizations can exist, for example to adapt the ECE to the needs and environments of different customers.
The ECE example illustrates the huge amount of possible configurations of a cloud resource that need to be managed in an efficient manner to arrive at a desired target resource in the cloud computing system. Existing solutions typically address this challenge by creating a so-called resource template for each possible resource configuration (e.g., for each possible virtual machine image). Although there are first attempts to make configurations more dynamic (e.g., post-deployment scripts in VMware vCenter), these attempts still rely on many static base resources.
The amount of pre-configured resource templates that define a set of base resources can thus become enormous. Moreover, the manual management effort required to, for example, post-configure a deployed base resource to turn it into the desired target resource necessitates, for example, that all deployed images need to be updated one by one. In hybrid cloud scenarios, this effort most often has to be multiplied by the number of hypervisor types used, because the virtual machine formats and template generation mechanisms are often not compatible with each other.

Technique for resource creation in a cloud computing system


A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided to identify a particular wireless communication node of one or more wireless communication nodes as a beamforming node. The method, apparatus and computer program product also restrict use of the particular wireless communication node for positioning purposes relative to another one of the wireless communication nodes that has not been identified as a beamforming node. In relation to restricting the use of a beamforming node for positioning purpose, the use of a beamforming node may be restricted in relation to the generation or updating of a radio map and/or in relation to the determination of a position of a mobile device.

Various positioning systems have been developed for determining the position of a mobile device, such as a smart phone or other type of user equipment. At least some of these positioning systems utilize models of wireless communication nodes that, in turn, are based on radio fingerprints that have been received by a plurality of mobile devices. The wireless communication nodes may be part of a cellular system, such as a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) system, a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, a time division synchronous code division system multiple access (TD-SCDMA) system, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, a Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) system, a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, etc. or a non-cellular system, such as a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) system, a Bluetooth (BT) system, a Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) system or a Zigbee system.
In relation to the models of wireless communication nodes that are utilized by positioning systems, databases containing information regarding the radio signals received by mobile devices at different locations from the wireless communication nodes are created. The databases are typically formed of data provided by the mobile devices in the form of radio fingerprints. Each radio fingerprint includes an estimate of the location of the mobile device at the time at which the radio signals were captured and a measurement of the radio signals that were captured. With respect to cellular signals, the measurement of the cellular signals may include an identification of the cellular network cell, e.g., base station, that is transmitting the cellular signals that are received by the mobile device, such as a global and/or local identifier (ID) of the cellular network cell. The measurement of the cellular signals may also include a measurement of the signal strength and/or an estimate of the path loss as well as a timing measurement, such as a Timing Advance measurement or a Round-Trip Time measurement. With respect to the measurement of a non-cellular signal, the measurement may include an identification of the access point generating the non-cellular signals that are received by the mobile device, such as the basic service set identifiers (BSSIDs), e.g., a media access control (MAC) address of the air interface of an access point, e.g., a WLAN access point, or the service set identifier (SSID) or network name of the access point, e.g., WLAN access point. The measurement of a non-cellular signal also includes a measure of the signal strength, such as the received signal strength, the Rx level, etc. and/or a path loss estimate. In some embodiments, the measurement of a non-cellular signal also includes a timing measurement, such as the Round-Trip Time measurement.
The data, such as the radio fingerprints, collected by the plurality of mobile devices is generally uploaded, such as to a server or the cloud. By reference to the data, the positioning system then generates or updates a model of the wireless communication nodes and, more particularly, the radio signals transmitted by the wireless communication nodes that are received by mobile devices at different respective locations, such as based upon one or more algorithms. The model may then be utilized for positioning purposes, that is, to determine the location of a mobile device based upon radio signals received by the mobile device at the respective location. Various models may be constructed including models based upon the coverage areas of the wireless communication nodes, models based upon the positions of the wireless communication nodes, radio propagation models, models based upon the Rx fields of the wireless communications nodes or the like. The resulting models may be stored by one or more network entities, such as by the positioning system, and/or may be transferred to one or more of the mobile devices.
The models may then be utilized to determine the position of a mobile device. For example, a mobile device may subsequently capture measurements of the cellular or non-cellular signals at an unknown location. By reference to the model that has been constructed, the measurements of the radio signals may be evaluated and the location of the mobile terminal may be determined.
Traditionally, the cellular network cells, such as the base stations, of a cellular network and the access points of a non-cellular network have a fixed coverage model. As shown in FIG. 1, a fixed coverage model of a wireless communication node, such as a cellular network cell or a non-cellular access point, has a transmission power level distribution that is stable and static. In this regard, FIG. 1 depicts a wireless communication node 10 having a signal antenna element transmitting in a fixed direction. Since the transmission power level distribution is stable, the resulting coverage model 12 of the wireless communication node is depicted to be relatively static with the measured transmission power level around the wireless communication node not varying over time.
However, some radio technologies, such as fifth generation (5G) cellular networks and 802.11ac non-cellular networks, support beamforming. Beamforming is a technique that utilizes an array of antennas, such as phase-controlled antennas, that are controlled to individually transmit radio signals in a respective direction. Rather than transmitting radio signals in all directions, a beamforming node is configured to initially determine a direction of interest, such as the direction of a mobile device relative to the beamforming node, and then to control the array of antennas so as to send and receive a stronger beam of radio signals in the direction of interest than in other directions. Alternatively, a beamforming node may sequentially transmit radio signals by each of the antennas of the phased array such that radio signals are preferentially transmitted and received in different directions in a predefined sequence. As the direction in which a stronger beam of radio signals is transmitted and received may vary over time, the resulting coverage model of the beamforming node is dynamic. In other words, at different times, the power level of the radio signals transmitted by a beamforming node that are received and measured at a particular location relative to the beamforming node can vary significantly.
By way of example, FIG. 2A depicts the coverage model 14 of a beamforming node 16 at one point in time, while FIG. 2B depicts the coverage model of the same beamforming node at a different point in time. As illustrated, the coverage models of the same beamforming node differ with the radio signals being preferentially transmitted and received by different antennas of the phased array at different points in time.
The dynamic nature of the coverage model of a beamforming node creates challenges with respect to the generation of a radio model that is based upon radio fingerprints collected by mobile devices at different points in time based upon the radio signals transmitted by the beamforming node. In this regard, the radio fingerprints collected by a mobile device at the same location relative to a beamforming mode may be different at different points in time because of the changes in the coverage model of the beamforming node. Thus, the accuracy and reliability of the resulting radio model may be reduced in instances in which the wireless communication nodes include one or more beamforming nodes due to the changing nature of the coverage model of a beamforming node. Similarly, the location of a beamforming node that is estimated based on the radio fingerprints including the signal strength values of the radio signals transmitted by the beamforming node is also less accurate due to the dynamic nature of the coverage model relative to a wireless communication node having a static coverage model.

Method and apparatus for restricting use of a beamforming node for positioning purposes


Methods and systems for representing a customer's product purchasing profile to a customer service representative in an automated customer relationship management environment is provided which includes identifying a set of products for a sales campaign, identifying one or more relationships between the products within the set of products and representing each product from within the set by a distinct image in a graphical display. The product images are visually distinguished in the graphical display based upon the identified product relationships. A propensity of the customer to purchase each unowned product may be determined based upon one or more demographic attributes of the customer, and the product images distinguished in the display based upon the determined purchase propensities.

Today businesses are increasingly using outbound contact campaigns over a variety of channels such as e-mail, facsimile, regular postal mail, telephonic communication and the like, to market their products and services. Of these various channels, telephonic communications is the most popular and widely preferred contact campaign channel used to reach consumers.
Typically, a business will identify a service or product which it desires to market to consumers. A market analyst will then identify individuals which are believed to be likely candidates for purchasing the service or the product. The individual names and telephone numbers of these identified consumers may be acquired from a variety of sources, such as organizations external to the selling business, which compile and sell large amounts of information about consumers, internal customer data stores controlled by the selling business, and the like.
Often business or marketing analysts will mine a plurality of internal data stores using a variety of existing automated customer relationship management tools, such as, for example, NCR Corporation's Relationship Optimizer™ solution, in order to define appropriate profiles of potential customers, and to correspondingly restrict the contact campaign to the potential customers matching the profiles. These data stores typically consist of historical information gathered from past campaigns and historical customer information collected during past interactions of all types with the customer, such as prior purchases, credit applications, web site interactions, and others.
After a campaign is identified, and a contact list created, a variety of existing automated software packages permit the campaign to be automatically managed, placing calls to the targeted customers and connecting the calls (after the customer answers) to the next available customer service representative. For example, the contact list may be electronically provided to a Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) software package (e.g. Genesys, Geotel, and the like), wherein a record for each contact is maintained electronically and logically hooked to a customer database where additional information about a contacted customer may be acquired and provided to the representative during the contact. The CTI packages typically do not require representative's to dial any telephone numbers, rather contact with a potential customer is handled automatically by the package.
In addition to using CTI's, businesses with outgoing contact campaigns often utilize any one of a variety of internal business front office applications, such as, for example, Vantive, SilkNet, Siebel, ONYX, and Clarify to manage the internal operational aspects of the campaign. These front office application's typically permit modifications to fields in the internal customer database, and provide a wide range of electronic screens that appear on a representative's workstation display in real-time when a call is delivered to a representative, in order to provide the representative with a range of additional information about the potential customer. This additional information will have been previously mined from the data stores and analyzed to determine that most useful to the representative, such as customer preferences, marketing segments, and the like.
As front office applications and data mining techniques become increasingly more sophisticated, these software applications are providing representative's with ever increasing amounts of data in real-time regarding customer contacts. This data may include demographic information about the potential customer, past purchase history, customer value to the business, and the like. Accordingly, to accommodate all the available information often many screens or windows within the same front office application must be consulted by the representative prior to or during a customer contact in order for the representative to fully synthesize the data into a mental image of the types of products purchased by the customer in the past, as well as those most likely to be purchased during the present interaction. Furthermore, the information is often presented as text fields or lists on the representative's workstation screen, requiring the representative to read through the information in order to assimilate it.
While the large amounts of available data increase the business's potential for a successful outcome with each contacted customer, it also decreases the efficiency of each representative by increasing the amount of time spent by the representative on each contact. The increased time per contact decreases the number of potential contacts a representative is able to reach within a given time period, and also may hinder sales to existing contacts, who may become irritated or turned off by the slower pace at which the representative is able to conduct the interaction. Thus, decreasing the efficiency of the representative negatively impacts the business, by reducing the total number of potential customer contacts and, therefore, successful contacts that can be achieved by the representative during a given time period.
Aside from outbound call campaigns, representative's who deal directly with potential customers in face-to-face transactions, such as in a retail store or bank, also frequently have a need for detailed, personalized information regarding the customer and the customer's past purchases, as well as related products and services. As with representative's in a call center, this customer information is typically presented to the representative through a front office application, in which the representative must read through multiple windows or screens, with the customer present, in order to assimilate the customer's data. As in the call center environment, this need to review data across multiple windows or screens while actively engaged with the customer tends to reduce the efficiency of the representative, and reduce the potential for successful sales.
Accordingly, to enable a customer service or sales representative to assimilate a large amount of customer data while simultaneously maintaining a high level of customer contacts and successful transactions, it is desirable to provide the customer data in a format in which it can be easily reviewed and assimilated by the representative. In particular, it is desirable for the representative to be able to quickly and efficiently identify the products or services previously purchased by the customer, as well as other related products or services most likely to be purchased by the customer during the interaction. In addition, it would be beneficial for the customer data to be visually presented to the representative in a graphical, summarized format, to reduce the time required to assimilate the data, and to enable the representative to capture "at a glance" a comprehensive understanding of the customer and their purchasing history and propensities. Further, it is desirable to not only present graphically summarized customer data to a representative, but also to suggest a sales approach based upon the data.

System and methods for graphically representing purchase profiles and sales guidance to a customer service representative


An electrically coupled insulation displacement system comprises a first contact having a first insulation displacement slot therein having an open end and a closed end. The first insulation displacement slot has a first portion having a width adjacent the open end and a second portion having a width intermediate the first portion and the closed end, the first portion has a larger width than the second portion. The insulation displacement system further comprises a second contact, which includes a second insulation displacement slot therein having an open end and a closed end. The second insulation displacement slot has a first portion having a width adjacent the open end and a second portion having a width intermediate the first portion and the closed end, the first portion has a smaller width than the second portion.

In a telecommunications context, connector blocks are connected to cables that feed subscribers while other connector blocks are connected to cables to the central office. To make the electrical connection between the subscriber block and the central office block, jumper wires are inserted to complete the electrical circuit. Typically jumper wires can be connected, disconnected, and reconnected several times as the consumer's needs change.
An insulation displacement connector, or IDC, element is used to make the electrical connection to a wire or electrical conductor. The IDC element displaces the insulation from a portion of the electrical conductor when the electrical conductor is inserted into a slot within the IDC element so the IDC element makes electrical connection to the electrical conductor. Once the electrical conductor is inserted within the slot with the insulation displaced, electrical contact is made between the conductive surface of the IDC element and the conductive core of the electrical conductor.
Occasionally, it may be desirable to place a second electrical conductor within an IDC element to make the jumper connection. However, when the IDC element has a single, uniform slot, a greater force is required to insert the second wire because the first wire encounters significant resistance when inserted further into the slot. Additionally, when the first wire is inserted further into the slot, undesirable bending outward of the IDC element may occur. The outward bending may interfere with making a proper connection between the IDC element and second electrical conductor.

Insulation displacement system for two electrical conductors


The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a metal film material, the method including: applying an ink composition by discharging the ink composition onto a substrate via an inkjet method, the ink composition containing at least one first monomer having at least one group selected from the group consisting of a cyano group, an alkyloxy group, an amino group, a pyridine residue, a pyrrolidone residue, an imidazole residue, an alkylsulfanyl group, or a cyclic ether residue, at least one second monomer that has polyfunctionality, and at least one polymerization initiator, a total monomer content in the ink composition being 85% by mass or greater; forming a cured film by carrying out at least one of light exposure or heating of the ink composition that has been applied; applying a plating catalyst or a precursor thereof to the cured film; and a plating processing step of performing plating with respect to the plating catalyst or precursor thereof that has been applied.

A substrate having a metal film on a surface thereof (a metal-plated material; hereinafter, also referred to as a "metal film material") has been used as a metal wiring board that wires electronic parts, semiconductor elements, or the like. Further, in general, formation of a desired metal pattern (a conductive pattern) has been carried out by performing pattern-wise etching of the metal film on the surface of the metal film material using a treatment liquid.
As to a method for manufacturing the metal film material, the formation of a metal film by providing a polymer layer on a substrate and performing plating on this polymer layer has been studied. As one example of the above-described method for manufacturing a metal film material, a technique of using a mixture of a polymer and a monomer for the polymer layer and introducing a group that causes an interaction with a metal into at least one of the polymer or the monomer to improve the adhesion between the substrate and the metal film has been disclosed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2009-263707).
Further, as a technique for improving the adhesion between the metal pattern formed and the substrate or improving the insulating property of the metal pattern formed, a technique of applying a composition for forming an electroless plated pattern, the composition including a (meth)acrylate compound and a chelating agent, onto a base material by an inkjet method has been disclosed (see, for example JP-A No. 2004-353027).

Metal film material and method for manufacturing the same


Disclosed is a page buffer for a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and a related method of operation. The page buffer includes a unidirectional driver between a loading latch unit used for storing a data bit in the page buffer and a bitline used to program a memory cell connected to the page buffer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device. More particularly, the invention relates to a page buffer for a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device.
A claim of priority is made to Korean Patent Application 2004-0107934 filed on Dec. 17, 2004, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
2. Description of the Related Art
A common method for programming a memory cell in a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device comprises electrically connecting source/drain and bulk regions of the memory cell to ground VSS and applying a high-level programming voltage (e.g., +20V) to a control gate of the memory cell by way of a wordline. Such a voltage bias condition creates Fowler-Nordheim tunneling between the bulk region and a floating gate of the memory cell, causing the memory cell to become programmed. In general, bitlines for memory cells being programmed are electrically connected to ground VSS, and bitlines for memory cells not being programmed are electrically connected to a power source voltage VCC.
Nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices often include a page buffer for loading and storing data before the data is written to a memory cell. Depending on the logic state of data stored in the page buffer, a voltage level for a bitline is selectively set to ground VSS or power source voltage VCC.
A conventional page buffer for a memory cell is illustrated in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, a page buffer 100 stores a data bit waiting to be written to a memory cell. The data bit is loaded and latched at a latch node NLAT in a loading latch unit 110. The data bit at latch node NLAT is transferred to a bitline BL in response to metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors 180 and 190 turning on. MOS transistors 180 and 190 are turned on in response their respective gate signals, namely, a bitline shielding signal BLSHF and a buffer selection signal PBSLT.
In page buffer 100, latch node NLAT is directly connected to bitline BL through MOS transistors 180 and 190. Unfortunately, this direct connection creates a problem. Since parasitic capacitance on bitline BL is significantly larger than parasitic capacitance at latch node NLAT, connecting latch node NLAT to bitline BL can cause the logic state of the data bit at latch node NLAT to become flipped rather than being transferred to bitline BL depending on data previously presented at bitline BL. This is especially true in cases where a voltage level of the previous data bit stored on bitline BL is ground VSS. In such cases, the logic state of the data bit at latch node NLAT is frequently flipped from a logic state "high" to a logic state "low".
In order to prevent the logic state of the data bit at latch node NLAT from being flipped rather than transferred to bitline BL, conventional page buffer 100 typically executes a programming operation that includes a bitline precharging step PSBP as shown in FIG. 2. The data bit at latch node NLAT is transferred to bitline BL after bitline BL is precharged to power source voltage VCC. Bitline precharging step PSBP prevents the data bit at latch node NLAT from being undesirably changed from a logic state "high" to a logic state "low".
Unfortunately, the bitline precharging step of conventional page buffer 100 decreases the speed of programming operations for semiconductor memory devices using the conventional page buffer. As a result, the precharging step of the conventional page buffer has a negative overall impact of the performance of the semiconductor memory devices. What is needed is a page buffer for a semiconductor memory device that does not have a negative impact on the semiconductor memory device's performance.

Page buffer for nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and method of operation


Apparatus are disclosed which include a low pressure tube through which a pump discharge line can extend. The tube is sealed in at least two separate elevations to define a purge zone that can be purged of all volatile gases and permit the discharge line to be raised vertically through the low pressure tube.

Storage tanks for cryogenic fluids must be capable of maintaining the cryogenic fluid at extremely low temperatures (about -250.degree. F. to -150.degree. F.) and pressures (0.5 psig to 2 psig). Such tanks are used at liquefied natural gas storage sites and onboard ships. A pump to transfer the cryogenic fluid from the tank to another destination is typically capable of discharge pressures greater than 1000 psi.
If a large tank storing liquefied cryogenic fuel, such as liquefied natural gas, were to have a pipe line joined near the bottom of the tank, any pipe line failure could lead to the tank being emptied and the possibility that property in the vicinity could be damaged. To ensure that such a failure can not occur, discharge lines from cryogenic tanks exit the top of the tanks. With such an arrangement, it is necessary to place a high-pressure pump in the tank to pump liquid up the height of the tank through a discharge pipe.
To withstand high internal pressures, a discharge line must have thick walls. Further, to withstand the extreme cold temperatures of the cryogenic fluids the material used to make the pipe must be stainless steel or other cryogenic materials. Complicating the pump and discharge line arrangement in cryogenic storage tanks is that the pump requires electrical power and suitable electrical cables must be run into the tank and to the pump.
Further, a high-pressure pump must be disposed in the tank in such a manner that it can be removed for maintenance, repair, or replacement when necessary without draining the tank and taking the tank out of service, which can cost considerable time and resources.
One means for removing a pump from a cryogenic fluid storage tank includes a large diameter high-pressure pipe that acts both as a discharge line and a chamber for isolating the pump from the cryogenic tank contents during installation and removal. Failure to isolate the tank contents from an opening in the tank could result in the contents boiling off rapidly and escaping into the atmosphere. To isolate the contents, the high-pressure pipe includes at its lower end a foot valve that is normally closed but which can be opened simply by resting the pump on the foot valve. During installation, with the high-pressure pipe empty, the pump is lowered on a cable until it is near the bottom of the pipe. Before the valve is opened by setting the pump on the foot valve, a seal is placed near the top of the pipe so that the rush of cryogenic fluid into the pipe does not create a hazardous condition to the workers above. Once the seal is in place, the pump can be lowered to the bottom of the pipe and onto the valve to open the valve and permit the cryogenic fluid to flow into the pipe and be available to the pump.
To remove the pump, the high-pressure pipe is purged using inert gas at a pressure that is higher than that of the tank's contents. Once the high-pressure pipe is purged, the pump is raised by a cable to close the foot valve and seal the tank's contents from the high-pressure pipe.
Consequently, a high-pressure pipe for use in a cryogenic liquid storage tank must: extend from the top to the bottom of the tank; have a large enough internal diameter to accommodate the pump as it is installed and removed; have adequate strength to resist extremely high internal pressures; and be made of materials that can withstand the extreme cold of the cryogenic fluid. Such pipes are extremely expensive to build, maintain, and install.
A need exists for a method and apparatus for installing and removing a pump from a cryogenic liquid storage tank without the use of a large diameter, high-pressure discharge pipe.

Method and apparatus for removing a high pressure in-tank pump using a low pressure tube


A pressure angle of the worm is set to be greater than a pressure angle of the worm wheel so that a maximum number of meshing teeth becomes smaller than or equal to n (where n is a natural number) with respect to the speed reduction mechanism in which a number of meshing teeth is always n+1 or changed between n+1 and n by rotation under a condition in which the pressure angles of the worm and the worm wheel are the same with respect to each other.

As shown FIG. 5(a) and FIG. 5(b), a speed reduction mechanism including a worm 51 and a worm wheel 52 is conventionally proposed. In such a speed reduction mechanism, pressure angles of the worm 51 and the worm wheel 52 are typically set to the same value (e.g., α°) with respect to each other. Patent document 1 discloses a speed reduction mechanism for reducing a wear volume by setting the pressure angle of the worm greater than the pressure angle of the worm wheel.

Speed reduction mechanism, motor with speed reduction mechanism, and method for producing speed reduction mechanism


The present invention provides a garment (2) having large openings or perhaps even breast slits (14) in the garment that allow easy access to the full breast for instruction and access for nursing a newborn among other uses. Movable panels (12) may be provided on a front side (10) of a gown which can cover the openings while to nursing and can even provide privacy for the mother during nursing of their infant (1). The present invention may include a holder element (25) such as a skirt tuck element to allow the bottom of the gown to be pulled up and secured at a waistline area. Various closing elements may be located on the gown, such as but not limited to a sleeve closure element (18), a back closure element (22), and perhaps even a front closure element (16) to secure moveable panels.

Hospital gowns as well as other garments that can be used for nursing have been known for many years. Hospital gowns are typically a one piece material that opens in the back and can allow access to a patient for any of various medical procedures, observation and the like. They also are easy to put on and are meant to be comfortable for the patient.
Perhaps one of the most significant problems that those in some fields have faced is that a mother may desire privacy during nursing otherwise known as breast feeding. Some designs such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,813 to Booze may incorporate cover panels on an interior of a garment to cover a breast when not nursing. A pleat may be provided, however, such solutions may not have been adequate.
As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,365 to Wood, it has been known to utilize flaps that can be secured with ties and eyelets in a raised position. One of the problems with such a technique, however, may be that it may take extra time to have to fasten the flaps to the secured position, which may be frustrating. Securing a flap in a raised position also does not allow for privacy during nursing. The Wood reference also includes elastic in the gown which may be uncomfortable for the user.
Another problem may be that there is a need for adequate access to a breast for the instruction and learning process as well as for nursing a baby. Efforts in this regard may include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,086 to Eggen including a design having circular openings for the breasts to protrude through. The circular openings may not adequately expose the breast for instruction and initial nursing of a baby.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,086 to Truitt provides for a hospital gown with an openable seam. In similar fashion, U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,153 to Bowens includes a hospital gown having three adjacent panels for access to a patient. Not only do such systems take time to open and close the seam, but they may also expose other parts of the body, when only the breast area may be needed.
Another problem associated with efforts in the past may be that the gowns are mostly open in the back. This may expose a patient's back side and may cause a need for a robe or the like to cover up a patient's back side.


An object of the present invention is to provide an electric power steering apparatus which can continue control even if some of current detectors that detect phase currents of a three-phase motor break down. Phase currents of the failure current detectors are calculated by using detected signals from the normal current detectors, and the electric power steering apparatus can be continued to be controlled by using the current values.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric power steering apparatus, and particularly relates to the electric power steering apparatus which is capable of being continuously operated even if a current detector for detecting a motor current breaks down.
2. Prior Art
Electric power steering apparatuses, that assist steering devices of automobiles and vehicles by means of torque of motors, apply driving forces of motors as assist forces to steering shafts or rack shafts by means of transmission mechanisms such as gears or a belt via reduction gears. Since such conventional electric power steering apparatuses generate assist torque (steering assist torque) accurately, motor current is controlled to be feed-backed. The feedback control is for adjusting a motor applying voltage so that a difference between a current control value and a motor current detected value becomes small or zero, and the motor applying voltage is adjusted generally by adjusting a duty ratio of PWM (pulse width modulation) control.
A general constitution of the electric power steering apparatus is explained with reference to FIG. 1. A shaft 102 of a steering handle 101 is joined to a tie rod 106 of a steering wheel via reduction gears 103, universal joints 104a and 104b and a pinion rack mechanism 105. The shaft 102 is provided with a torque sensor 110 that detects steering torque of the steering handle 101, and a motor 120 that assists a steering power of the steering handle 101 is connected to the shaft 102 via the reduction gears 103. An electric power is supplied from a battery 114 via an ignition key 111 and a power source relay 113 to a control unit 130 that controls the power steering apparatus. The control unit 130 calculates a current command value Iref of an assist command based on a steering torque T detected by the torque sensor 110 and a vehicle speed V detected by a vehicle speed sensor 112, and controls an electric current to be supplied to a motor 108 based on the calculated current command value Iref.
The control unit 130 is composed of mainly a CPU (including a micro processor unit or a micro controller unit), and a general function which is executed by a program in the CPU is shown in FIG. 2. For example, FIG. 2 does not show a current command value computing unit as hardware independent from a current command value computing section 204, but shows a current command value computing function to be executed in the CPU.
The function and the operation of the control unit 130 are explained. The steering torque T which is detected by the torque sensor 110 and is inputted and the vehicle speed V detected by the vehicle speed sensor 112 are inputted into the current command value computing section 204, so that the current command value Iref is calculated. On the other hand, a motor current I detected by a current detector 205 is feed-backed to a subtracting section 207, and a deviation "ΔI=Iref−I" from the current command value Iref is calculated. The deviation ΔI is inputted into a proportional-integral control section (PI control section) 208 as one example of a current controller, and a voltage command value Vref is calculated. A PWM control section 210 inputs the voltage command value Vref therein, and transmits a PWM signal determined based on the voltage command value Vref to an inverter circuit 211. The inverter circuit 211 supplies a motor current I to the motor 108 based on the PWM signal.
The above explains a basic control system of the feed-back control with respect to the motor of the electric power steering apparatus. In the feed-back control, it is an important requirement that the motor current can be correctly detected. As vehicles become larger, however, handle steering by a human power is more difficult, and thus even if the current detector breaks down, it is desired that the assist of the electric power steering apparatus is continued. In the case where the current detector breaks down, therefore, a control system that switches the control into a feed-forward control without using the motor current detected by the current detector so as to continue the assist of the handle steering is used as the control system that continues the assist as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 10-167086 A, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-49002 A and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-87304 A.
The conventional control system for continuing the assist, however, relinquishes the feed-back control and switches the control into feed-forward control, but the feed-forward control has problems that the feeling of steering is inferior and an excess current which is not less than rated current might flow in the motor or the like in comparison with the feed-back control.


A heater and thermocouple assembly for use with a hot runner nozzle with an elongated heater body, said heater body having at least one first heating section, which in operation is positioned adjacent to the front end portion of the hot runner nozzle, and at least one second heating section which in operation is positioned adjacent to a nozzle head of the hot runner nozzle and has an at least partly annular distance section with a wall which is arranged between the first and second heating sections.

The present invention concerns a removable heater and thermocouple assembly for a hot runner nozzle.
Heater and thermocouple assemblies are used for the temperature control of hot runner nozzles in injection-molding machines. It is desirable for mass-produced injection-molded parts to be as uniform as possible. Temperature fluctuations of the melt can lead to larger dimensional tolerances of the injection-molded parts.
Starting from this, the present invention is based on the object of reducing the temperature fluctuations of the melt.
This is achieved according to the invention through the teachings of Claim 1. Preferred further developments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.


Systems and methods for a user to personalize Internet content from an Internet service provider using selected policy applications. The policy applications may be discrete, single purpose applications. The system may be controlled from home gateways and remote devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the provision of Internet service. The invention relates more particularly to a system in which an end user to mediate his Internet service by exercising control over the access privileges, usage, content and other aspect of Internet use across his household network.
2. Background Art
Since the Internet was launched in 1995, online services have emerged for many consumer and business needs and applications. The power of the Internet has been attributed to its unique properties as a global, two-way medium that allows any user the ability to reach global users or businesses and interact with them, literally at the speed of light. The term "globalization" has become the new order of the economic day, powerfully enabled by the Internet, which has caused massive shifts and transformations in how consumers and businesses conduct their day-to-day personal and commercial business.
In today's "information age" people frequently perform various types of searches using computing devices connected to the Internet. The Internet has made searching for information far more simple than using manual techniques, which typically involve going to a library and searching through various indexes to find articles or books, for example. To perform a computerized search, a searcher simply enters a word or words (termed "keywords") into a website query box in order to find information related to the entered words. Searching on the Internet has become so ubiquitous that Internet use is really no longer about searching, but rather about actually connecting with services that are suited to the needs of the user.
The success of the Internet has rested primarily on its ability to make information immediately available to and accessible by all. In early Internet applications, information came in the form of news and other information services delivered directly to end users. Later, many applications evolved into information exchanges, community-based sharing services, and eventually, to social networking and related applications.
In the early to middle part of the Internet expansion, search engines were the tool of choice for Internet users. In the absence of other mediums, search engines addressed the simple but profound human desire to explore and discover the expanding set of information available on the Internet. Today, search engines still play an important role. However, other mediums like social networking sites and apps on mobile devices have gained ground as the primary means for users to participate in today's Internet society.
In today's Internet, "sharing" is quickly replacing "exploring" as the primary Internet use case. Likewise, "individualization" (through self-selection) has begun to demand an equal place with "personalization" (intent based systems) in the informational hierarchy for end users. Against this backdrop, the search engine no longer dominates the end user mindset and is slowly becoming the tool of last resort for Internet users.
Today's Internet users are increasingly adopting platforms and services that allow a self-selected Internet experience as the primary means of access. A good example of this phenomenon would be the meteoric rise of social networking sites (e.g. Facebook and Twitter) and other web sites that allow selective, sophisticated and granular sharing (e.g. Flickr) among user groups and sub-groups. This new trend is not limited to the fixed line or home experience.
A prime example is the enthusiastic adoption by the public of Smartphones. Smartphones have transformed the mobile phone into a highly intuitive, easy to use, easy to individualize, device for an average consumer. Users may check and update their status on the go, use a variety of apps to access the informational warehouses on the Internet at their whim, link and share with other users, and control other applications. Each of these uses increases the Internet's impact on the daily lives of the users. Smartphone outlets allow users to self-select applications that serve their individual whims, from the frivolous to the informative. With all these new tools at their disposal, users can experience the Internet in a discrete, self-serve and transactional manner, separated from the need to rely on search engines as the primary discovery and access medium for the information available on the Internet.
With all its benefits, the Internet also has an unproductive and, in cases, destructive side. In fact, navigating, managing, and mediating the sometimes intrusive nature of the Internet is a challenge for every user. The challenge exists because of the ubiquitous nature of the Internet and the profound impact of the Internet on social interaction. Some of the inherent challenges of the Internet are listed in the following paragraphs.
The Internet has inherent duality. On the one hand, the Internet has vast positive value for users; on the other hand, it has an equal range of threats like malware—, phishing, virus etc. Most users today remain unprotected by client based (or network based solutions).
The Internet has become a utility class service that is founded on easy and immediately available information. However, other than "pulling the plug" there is no way to control the flow of information from the Internet, both good and bad. Not all Internet content is worthy of or appropriate for all users all the time. The complexity of household use in cases involving multiple users of different ages and levels of sophistication and maturity have not been adequately addressed in the prior art.
Examples of the shortcomings in the prior art are found in software packages that control the content displayed on the computers in a home. The packages will typically include no mechanism to manage other access devices, such as Smartphones, that may be available to members of the household that should be subject to policy enforcement. Therefore controlling content only at the computer level may accomplish little more than piquing the curiosity of certain users (children for instance). Accordingly, there is a need for a system which enables users to more effectively personalize the content of the Internet service they receive.


A photoelectric conversion device is disclosed. The photoelectric conversion device includes an electrode layer and a semiconductor layer. The semiconductor layer is located on the electrode layer and contains a group I-III-VI compound. In the semiconductor layer, an atomic ratio of a group I-B element to a group III-B element decreases from one principal surface side of the semiconductor layer on the electrode layer side to a central portion in a thickness direction and increases from the central portion to another principal surface side on a side opposite to the electrode layer.

As a photoelectric conversion device to be used in a photovoltaic power generation system or the like, those in which a semiconductor layer is formed with a chalcopyrite-based group I-III-VI compound, such as CIS and CIGS, have been provided. Such a photoelectric conversion device is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-135498 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Literature 1), for example.
The photoelectric conversion device containing a group I-III-VI compound has a configuration in which a plurality of photoelectric conversion cells are two-dimensionally arranged side by side. Each photoelectric conversion cell includes a lower electrode such as a metal electrode, a semiconductor layer containing a group I-III-VI compound as a light absorption layer, a buffer layer, and an upper electrode such as a transparent electrode or a metal electrode, which are stacked in this order on a glass substrate or the like. The plurality of photoelectric conversion cells are electrically connected in series by electrically connecting the upper electrode of one of adjacent photoelectric conversion cells and the lower electrode of the other of the adjacent photoelectric conversion cells by a connection conductor.


The present invention provides a manually powered drive assembly for a vehicle. A foot crank winds a helical torsion spring through a system of shafts and sprockets in a first direction. By releasing a brake applied to a wheel, or wheels, of the vehicle, the wound spring transfers a rotational movement from a spring shaft to a freewheel sprocket coaxially aligned with the axle supporting a wheel, so that the rotational movement upon the wheel assists a user in manually moving the vehicle. The drive assembly may be advantageously used with a wheelbarrow to assist in building up momentum for moving heavy loads.

The present invention relates to the field of small wheeled vehicles, and more specifically, it is directed to a drive assembly for a manually propelled wheelbarrow, driven without the use of a motor or electric power.
Laborers in a variety of industries frequently use wheelbarrows and carts to manually move heavy or awkward loads about a work site. For example, in commercial settings construction workers may use wheelbarrows to transport supplies, waste debris, mixed concrete, and other materials as needed from point to point. In private settings, landscapers and gardeners may use wheelbarrows to aid in transporting rocks, soil and potting material, and other tools from a supply location to a work site.
The wheelbarrow has been known in one form or another since early civilization. It generally consists of a carrying enclosure such as a tub or box supported by two parallel handles, the handles being supported by the axis of a wheel serving as a fulcrum on one end and being lifted and pushed by a person holding the opposing end. The single wheel allows the load in the tub to be pushed and easily maneuvered along the ground around challenging obstacles. The size of the load carried in this manner is limited by the ability of the person pushing the wheelbarrow to vertically lift the load mass and then to apply horizontal force to cause the wheelbarrow to roll about its wheel axis along the ground. The horizontal force required to move the loaded wheelbarrow can be increased by obstacles on the ground that impede the rolling action of the wheel (such as rocks, ridges, uneven ground, tools, etc.) or grades. Engines and motors have sometimes been added to the wheelbarrow structure to assist the wheelbarrow user in moving the wheelbarrow horizontally over these obstacles and grades by applying an additional, cooperative driving force to the wheels.
Other wheeled vehicles that are manually powered utilize the same basic principles as wheelbarrows. Such items as garden carts, trash disposal containers, and wagons all employ manual effort for moving the vehicle and may have more than one wheel. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 424,903, issued to Rogers, teaches a spring powered drive apparatus for a three-wheeled vehicle that utilizes a diamond-shaped spring compressed by use of a hand lever. U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,213, issued to Bleicher, discloses a self-propelled cart powered by motors that power independent drive wheels so that each wheel thus equipped with its own motor assists the user in moving the cart over rough or uneven surfaces. The motors are powered by electrical means such as batteries. U.S. Pat. No. 2,2918,133, issued to Ericsson, discloses a barrow or cart also propelled by a gasoline-powered engine driving a single front axle having dual wheels.
Such modifications as adding engines and motors to the basic manual vehicle configuration greatly assist the user in moving heavy loads. However, there are a number of drawbacks to such arrangements. First, motors and engines are generally more expensive than the vehicle structure itself. Second, engines and motors are heavy and bulky and contribute to the weight of the combined vehicle structure and load. Third, the use of the engine or motor imposes a requirement to have a readily available source of fuel. In the case of an engine, gasoline or some other such volatile liquid must be provided; in the case of a motor, the battery must be recharged when it is depleted. In either case, the fuel source must accompany the vehicle or cart when using the apparatus in a remote area. Fourth, use of engines and motors increases the complexity of the apparatus. Engines in particular must be maintained and serviced at periodic intervals. Fifth, an engine is frequently noisy and creates air pollution from the exhaust fumes.
Thus, it can be seen that there is a need for a manual propulsion apparatus to assist the user in moving heavy loads around obstacles and up steep grades, the apparatus being inexpensive, simple to maintain, lighter than standard motors and engines, quiet, non-polluting, and requiring a readily available or renewable source of fuel. It can also be seen that such technology should be available to retrofit existing vehicles to reduce the cost of redundantly purchasing a new vehicle having the technology built-in to the vehicle.


An excitation system includes a pair of piezoelectric elements configured to apply respective excitation forces to a test structure, a clamp including an adjustable arm, the adjustable arm being configured to capture the test structure between the pair of piezoelectric elements, a controller coupled to the pair of piezoelectric elements and configured to generate a respective excitation control signal for each piezoelectric element, each excitation control signal being configured such that the respective excitation forces are matched to one another, and a pair of sensor film structures to generate respective output signals indicative of the excitation forces applied to the test structure, each sensor film structure being disposed between a respective one of the pair of piezoelectric elements and the test structure.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates generally to vibration testing.
2. Brief Description of Related Technology
Vibration testing of very flexible, light, or lightly damped structures is often conducted by exciting the structure without contact. Noncontact excitation avoids adding mass, stiffness, or damping to the test structure. One example of noncontact excitation is acoustic-based excitation. Speakers are used to provide the excitation force. However, such acoustic excitation systems are only capable of transmitting very low forces and very low amounts of power to the test structure.
Speaker-based excitation systems may also be unsuitable for excitation of structures with complex geometry due to space constraints. Speakers are not practical for excitations at high frequencies due to the large amount of power involved. The large power may be available, but the power comes at the cost of large size. The large size of the test system may render the acoustic approach impractical for structures with complex geometry. For example, acoustically exciting the blade of a turbomachinery bladed disk at high frequencies may not be possible because the speaker has large size and thus cannot fit between two adjacent blades.
Other excitation systems provide mechanical excitation via direct contact. For example, the use of stingers may provide direct forces to the excited structure. However, these methods involve contact between the stinger and the structure being tested. The properties of the test structure (e.g., mass, stiffness, and/or damping) may be changed due to interaction with the stinger.

The Regents of the University of Michigan, University of Michigan Office of Technology Transfer


A method for generating a smooth surface in a material-specimen includes generating a substantially smooth, first surface region by removing a first material-volume by particle beam etching. The first material-volume is partially defined by the first surface region. An angle between a beam direction and a surface normal of the first surface region is greater than 80° and less than 90°. The method also includes generating a substantially smooth, second surface region by removing a second material-volume. The second material-volume is partially defined by the first surface region and is partially defined by the second surface region. An angle between the beam direction and a surface normal of the second surface region is less than 60°.

In the semiconductor industry and other areas of technology, there is a demand for analyzing and/or modifying objects embedded in a volume of a material-specimen such as embedded semiconductor structures or lead layers in a semiconductor element. For example, an electron microscope can be used for analyzing in order to generate an image of the object of interest. As the object of interest is embedded in the material-specimen, the object's surface is exposed by removing a material-volume from the material-specimen before. Background information on such methods of processing may be obtained from, for example, chapter 6.10. of the book "High Resolution Focused Ion Beams: FIB and Its Applications" by Jon Orloff and Mark Utlaut, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
The material-volume may be removed precisely by ion beam etching using an ion beam. As the removing of material by ion beam etching is a relatively slow process, at least a portion of the material-volume may also be removed by laser beam processing or by other mechanical or chemical methods. Using laser beam processing and other viable methods, more material-volume per unit time can be removed compared to ion beam etching. However, a surface region having a desired shape can be generated much more precisely by removing material of the material-specimen using ion beam etching than by using laser beam processing and other methods.
It is often desirable to remove material from the material-specimen so that a surface region of the material-specimen is generated which has a substantially smooth shape, i.e. a small roughness.

Method of processing a material-specimen


A cannula for use as for example on the inflow end of an implantable intravascular heart pump. The stiffness of the cannula is differentiated along its length, wherein its proximal end is stiffer than its distal end, while a substantially constant wall thickness is maintained along its entire length. Attached to the flexible distal end, is a rigid tip component having inlet ports and an interior surface profile that minimizes the risk of hemolysis and thrombogenisis.

The present invention generally relates to cannulas and more particularly pertains to cannulas suited for applications requiring a high degree of maneuverability as well as the ability to accommodate high blood flow rates therethrough with minimal blood damage.
Cannulas must often be able to satisfy a number of competing requirements. In applications such as for example, the inflow cannula of an implantable intravascular heart pump, the inner diameter of the cannula must be as large as possible in order to accommodate the extremely high flow rates inherent in such application. On the other hand, the outer diameter of the cannula should be as small as possible in order to enable it to be maneuvered through the convolutions of the patient's vasculature, for example around the aortic arch through the aortic valve and into the heart. Moreover, a smaller outer diameter minimizes the size of the puncture that must be made in the vasculature in order to gain access thereto. Additionally, the cannula must be stiff enough to allow its distal end to be routed through vasculature by manipulation of its proximal end, yet flexible enough to conform to the vasculature and not injure the tissue it comes into contact with. Blind retrograde insertion into for example, the left ventricle through the aortic valve is especially problematic in that an advancing cannula has a natural tendency to enter the sinus region adjacent the valve leaflet and become jammed rather than retrogradely passing through the periodically opened valve. Additionally, because substantial flow velocities and possible suction pressures may be involved, the risk of shear or cavitation must be addressed while the presence of a foreign body within the blood flow poses a risk of thrombogenisis especially in flow stagnant areas.
Cannulas have been previously devised in an attempt to satisfy the requirements associated with heart pump applications but have fallen short of overcoming many of the difficulties involved. The importance of preventing the radial collapse of the cannula had been recognized and consequently a spiral spring had previously been incorporated in some cannulas. On the other hand, in order to render the distal end as soft as possible, the spiral spring was terminated somewhat short of the distal end and while this does soften the distal end, the section of cannula sans spring was then prone to kinking, and consequently flow obstruction. The flexible tip is also subject to being sucked against parts of the vasculature or ventricular apparatus and can subsequently collapse to block the flow of fluid therethrough. In an effort to simultaneously impart the necessary flexibility and rigidity to the cannula, the wall thickness of hereto known cannulas has been varied along its length. By significantly increasing wall thickness near the proximal end, the necessary forces can be transmitted without sacrificing the flexibility needed at the distal end. However, while this imparts the desired stiffness differentiation, it has the undesired side effect of either significantly increasing the cannula's maximum external diameter or decreasing its minimum internal diameter. Additionally, the entrance ports formed in heretofore known cannulas have failed to take into consideration the substantial blood flow velocities that may be forced therethrough and the injury that may be sustained by the blood due to the abrupt directional changes that are encountered.
A cannula configuration is needed that is sufficiently soft and sufficiently rounded at the distal end to prevent injury yet not prone to collapse or wall suction. Moreover, the cannula must be sufficiently resistant to deformation to ensure maneuverability without sacrifice to its flow capacity. Blood flow into and through the cannula must be managed so as to minimize damage to the blood while minimizing pressure losses therewithin. Heretofore known cannulas have failed to adequately address these requirements.

Cannula having constant wall thickness with increasing distal flexibility and method of making


A toner powder for the development of latent electrostatic or magnetic images, the toner powder containing a polyester resin based on an etherified diphenol and a dicarboxylic acid mixed with a reaction product of an epoxy resin and a phenol compound or a carboxylic acid, and the process for forming fixed images on an image receiving material utilizing the above toner powder, the surface of an intermediate medium consisting of material having a lower affinity for the softened toner powder than does the image receiving material and the toner powder being softened by heating before and/or during transit through a pressure zone.

2. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a developer composition and more specifically to a toner powder for the development of latent electrostatic or magnetic images, and to a process for fixing toner developed images on an image receiving material.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
There is disclosed in British Patent 1,373,220 a toner powder comprising a polyester resin based on an etherified diphenol and a dicarboxylic acid, and, if required with acids having more than two carboxyl groups or alcohols having three or more hydroxyl groups. It has been found in practice that in the preparation of such thermoplastic resins it is difficult to control the spread in thermal properties of the resulting product. Another disadvantage of the use of such thermoplastic resins in the preparation of toners, is that despite the fact that the fixing temperature of such a toner powder prepared with these resins can be reduced, for example, by controlling the molecular weight distribution thereof, the storage stability, is adversely affected by such adaption.
Furthermore, in order to function properly, toner powders must satisfy a large number of other requirements. The conventional method of preparing a toner powder is to mix the constituents in the melt, cool the melt, and then grind and screen it to the correct particle size. The toner must, accordingly, be well adapted to grinding and satisfy certain requirements with respect to toughness and brittleness. During storage the toner powder must also be stable over a wide temperature range and at extreme relative humidities in order to avoid caking. In addition, the toner powder must not agglomerate under conditions prevailing in a developing device, such as mixing, high temperature, and so forth. It has been found in practice that a glass transition temperature higher than 40.degree. C. is favorable to the avoidance of agglomeration. Furthermore, deposition of toner resin on a photoconductor affects the photoelectric properties of the photoconductor. Accordingly, the toner powder should not leave any non-removable residues on the photoconductor.
The toner image should also be capable of being satisfactorily fixed on a receiving material. The toner image should be fixed so that it is scarcely removed, if at all, under mechanical loads such as by folding and rubbing. The fixing temperature in these conditions should be as low as possible so as to satisfy minimum energy consumption.
The working range of a toner powder should, preferably, be so wide that any temperature inequalities occurring in the fixing station are taken into consideration. The working range of a toner powder is defined as the temperature range between the lower fusing limit, the lowest possible fixing temperature at which the toner image is still adequately fixed, and the upper fusing limit, the maximum fixing temperature at which, using for example the hot-roll fixing method, no toner is deposited on the fixing roller (the "hot roll").
It must also be possible to provide both sides of a receiving material with a toner image. With double sided or "duplex" copying, it is a conventional practice to provide first one side of the receiving material with a toner image, to fix this toner image on the receiving material, to turn the receiving material over, and then provide the other side with a toner image and fix that toner image. This may result in the deposition of toner powder from the toner image on the pressure rollers, which would necessitate regular cleaning of such rollers, and may also cause soiling of subsequent copies. During the last fixing step the first toner image fixed must not be subjected to deformation or become detached from the paper. This means that the softening range and the adhesive and cohesive properties of the toner powder must satisfy certain requirements. Moreover, after the heat treatment, the fixed toner image must rapidly become permanent and lose its tackiness in order to avoid any damage to the toner image on transport through the copying machine.

Toner powder for the development of latent electrostatic or magnetic images and a process for forming fixed images on an image receiving material


An infrastructure for a real time bank-centric universal payment system in which a central processing unit (CPU) defines an electronic commerce trust system formed from a plurality of financial service provider members subscribing to a common standard having applicability throughout the infrastructure. The central processing unit is operatively interconnected to the correspondent processing units of financial service provider members that in turn are operatively interconnected through access mechanisms to a network of customers and goods and services providers who are account subscribers with the financial service provider member and subject to the common standard of the system. The CPU provides non-revocable real time debit and credit transactions and effects provider net settlement between and among members through a central exchange monetary system. Features of the infrastructure include an ECTS hot file, bill presentment and payment options and provider designed services that enhance brand identity.

The current financial transaction payment system is undergoing change in response to developments in information technology. Software and information media providers are seeking aggressively to disintermediate banks from their traditional customers. New entrants are more often than not non-banks with different regulatory constraints that purport to offer less costly infrastructures that are proposed to provide traditional banking services. The software and media industries seek to integrate the movement of information with the movement of money. It is an objective of the invention to preserve banks as a focus of payment transactions and to create a bank-centric link between information and payments. Fulfilling this objective, the invention allows banks to capitalize on their traditional position in payment systems and to lead in commerce in the introduction of new payment infrastructures. The invention allows banks to continue to focus on core competencies such as preservation and development of existing customer relationships, expansion of market presence and expertise in risk management, while growing the role banks play in providing value added transactional information.
The invention provides a bank-centric system that leads in electronic commerce initiatives, that develops value added information services, and that ensures soundness in new and existing payment systems. To fulfill these objectives, the invention establishes a framework that enables banks to continue to perform the critical role of trust, to lead migration to the virtual world, to create innovative value added information services, and to set the foundation for new real time payment transaction systems.
The invention provides an electronic commerce trust system as a new real-time payment infrastructure (ECTS) that integrates payment functions with information, offers multiple and secure access through public and private networks, and has a capability to utilize a wide range of access mechanisms, including smart-cards, ATM's, kiosks, TV set-tops, hand-held devices, personal computers and other network access devices. The payment system ensures that the information supporting a financial transaction is controlled by the principal parties to the purchasing process: the buyer, the seller and their respective financial institutions. The electronic commerce trust system of the invention encourages adoption of electronic payments by setting standards and certifying hardware and software components and ensures interoperability while maintaining the soundness of the payments infrastructure. As a result, banks can focus on providing value added services and will expand their customer relationships from that of a facilitator of payment transactions to that of a provider of value-added information as a transaction intermediary.
Currently about 85% of all consumer transactions in the United States are based on paper, a further 13% involve consumer use of paper and plastic. According to the Institute for the Future, the transition to electronic payments for consumers will be steady for the next decade. The share (in volume) of payments made by cash or check is expected to decline from 85% today to about 60% in 2005. At the same time, the share of payments made electronically is forecast to rise from about 2% today to about 18% by 2005. Id.
Payments for regular monthly bills that account for around 60% of all checks written are expected to migrate to some form of credit card or electronic payment. Ibid. In addition, consumer and corporate customer preference for credit cards, debit cards and emerging E-cash systems are projected to take over as much as 13% of cash payments. The use of smart cards is similarly expected to expand as government units such as states and counties begin to use smart cards as a mechanism for benefit payments.
Within this perspective, financial institutions, merchants and corporations have made substantial past investments in building and in maintaining existing payments infrastructures that position banks at the center of the transfer of payment value. This present infrastructure, which was costly to develop and is expensive to maintain, may inhibit financial institutions from developing new media and information distribution channels that may threaten to render the past investment obsolete.
While traditional financial institutions support the evolution of payment mechanisms, opportunities for new electronic payment and information services are also being taken up by non-financial institutions, including telecommunications companies, technology providers and other non-banks. If banks' traditional roles diminish in the absence of new bank-centric infrastructure development, bank revenues for value-added and basic services will continue to decline--while simultaneously--the risk of the transaction will remain with the banks.
The invention allows banks to continue to play a critical and value-added role in payments systems for a new era, by providing specifications of new technologies and forms of payment transactions that interoperate with other existing and emerging payment systems as customers continue simultaneously to use both old and newly emerging payment mechanisms.
It is the object of the invention to foster the growth and development of electronic banking in an open environment that will encourage greater choices in banking software, access devices, and the development of more efficient processing capabilities for the benefit of bank customers. Further objectives are to accelerate the establishment of new electronic payment and product delivery systems by facilitating the development of interoperable specifications and standards; to create through a certification process for providers of banking products an environment for a safe and secure electronic infrastructure that will enhance bank brands and safeguard consumer privacy; to enhance consumer confidence by way of a standardized and unique acceptance or certification mark; and to evaluate the feasibility of industry-driven payment certification and real-time transactions or settlement. The invention will improve access to banking services for the largest number of people, enhance and support bank brands, and serve as a benchmark infrastructure for bank-centric electronic transaction information delivery systems and electronic payment systems.
The system of the invention is described more fully by reference to the following description of the preferred embodiment considered with the drawings in which:

Real time bank-centric universal payment system


Unwanted electronic messages can be avoided by screening them before they enter a receiving client. Only messages from authorized sending parties are passed to the receiving client while messages from sending parties not previously authorized are discarded or returned. The same arrangement can be used with cellular and conventional telephones, facsimile machines, and other devices.

Currently-available e-mail systems used with the Internet accept any message directed to the recipient's address. An exception to receipt of such messages is a blocking device that will selectively block a specific address or series of addresses, perhaps identified by a particular domain name. To utilize this type of blocking, one must identify the unwanted sender and enter its identify in a database. However, this still permits the receipt of other, heretofore unidentified, but unauthorized messages. A scheme that would prevent the receipt of such messages without having to first identify them would be highly desirable.

Method and apparatus for source-based message authorization and rejection