A method for increasing the copper to superconductor ratio of a superconductor core wire by forming a copper-based strip about the core wire which at least partially encloses the core wire in contact therewith by deforming the strip longitudinally into a U shape nested about the wire; and soldering the wire and strip in the assembly of step (a) to form a strong mechanical, electrical and thermal bond therebetween.

Superconductor wire is commonly formed of one or more fine filaments of superconductor composition (e.g. NbTi or Nb3Sn) which are embedded in a copper or copper-based matrix. A typical processing sequence for producing a NbTi multifilament conductor using a hex stack, starts with a can of copper which is fabricated by back extruding a copper pipe 12 inches in diameter and 36 inches long. A cone is fixed to one end and the interior of the can is filled with hexagonal rods. The rods are a composite with a round core of NbTi and a jacket of copper. The rods are assembled into the can in a hexagonal array to completely fill the interior with a minimum void volume. The spaces between the ID of the can and the hex stack, which are too small to accommodate a full hex, are filled with partial hexes of copper cut to fit the spaces.
A lid is pressed onto the can and the can is evacuated and welded by an electron beam welder. The can is then extruded from the 12 inch diameter to about 3 inches. The rod thus formed is over 40 ft long and is then drawn in steps of about 20% area reduction to final size. At various places during the drawing process, the rod/wire is heat treated to cause precipitation, which increases the current density of the final wire.
The hex composite rods are themselves fabricated by extrusion. Typically, an eight-inch billet of NbTi is inserted into a copper can that is sealed as above and extruded. The resultant rod is drawn and hexed at the desired size without any intermediate heat treatment.
An example of a typical process for the manufacture of a multifilamentary Nb3Sn conductor, begins with the drilling of a plurality of holes in a Cu/Sn bronze billet for the insertion of Nb rods. This billet is then extruded to a rod, which is then drawn down to fine wire. In some cases it is desirable that even more filaments be produced; this can be done by cutting the rod into a large number of equal lengths at some intermediate size, inserting these into an extrusion can, extruding this assembly and drawing the result to fine wire. The extrusion can in this case is either copper with a Nb or Ta barrier to prevent Sn diffusion, or bronze. The rod may be drawn through a hex-shaped die prior to cutting; if the rod is thus hexed, the lengths pack together in the extrusion can with less wasted space. In some cases it is desirable that there be provided a quantity of pure copper of good electrical conductivity. This may be done by lining a copper extrusion can with a layer of metal which (in the case of Nb3Sn) is impermeable to tin, during high temperature heat-treatment, so that the tin does not diffuse into the copper and lower its conductivity; tantalum is the metal most commonly used. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,661.
The copper to superconductor ratio of a superconductor wire (expressed as the ratio of area of copper to area of superconductor "Cu/SC" in a cross-section of the wire) is an important parameter related to stability. A quantity of a good electrical conductor in close proximity to the superconductive material is useful as an alternate current path or shunt in situations where it is likely that some fraction of the superconductive filaments will return to the normally-conducting state, which can happen, for example, in a rapidly-varying magnetic field. If in the initial phase of manufacture of the wire all of the required copper is included in the original billet, the cost of the process is very high. In addition, the processing becomes far more difficult if not impossible. To produce a superconductor with a large amount of copper is difficult because of the possibility of center burst. Center burst is the occurrence of broken filaments in the center of the composite. Center burst occurs during wire drawing if the ratio of soft matrix (copper) to hard filaments (e.g., NbTi or Nb) is too high. By maintaining this ratio low, i.e., by using a low amount of copper during the initial fabrication steps, one can avoid this problem. The alternative is to add additional copper at the final stages of fabrication. Various means have been devised to clad this additional copper in the final manufacturing step. These include:                a) Soldering the low copper-to-superconductor ratio round wire into a rectangular cross-section copper channel. For example, a superconductor wire (core wire) with a ratio of 1:1 copper to superconductor can be converted to a 8:1 ratio by soldering the core wire into a copper channel.        b) Hot cladding on a cladding line        c) Cladding on a tube mill        d) Cabling copper wire around a core wire of superconductor.
There are disadvantages to all of the above processes. Soldering into a rectangular channel limits applications to those requiring a conductor having a rectangular cross section. Hot cladding subjects the superconductor to very high temperature in order to create a metallurgical copper-to-copper bond. This bond is not always of the quality required and the high temperature may reduce the current density of the superconductor. The control of interface surface quality is not simple. Cladding on a tube mill with low temperature operation may not form a metallurgical bond between the copper tube clad over the superconductor core, and interface surface quality control can be quite difficult here also. Even with extensive redrawing, a true metallic bond is not formed and thus redrawing can subject the core to various problems such as center burst. Cabling usually requires soldering with the limitations listed above, as well as damage to the core wire if the cable is subjected to any reduction or shaping operations.

Increasing the copper to superconductor ratio of a superconductor wire by cladding with copper-based strip


The present invention pertains to methods for preventing reovirus recognition in the treatment of cellular proliferative disorders, and particularly ras-mediated cellular proliferative disorders, in mammals. The mammal may be selected from dogs, cats, sheep, goats, cattle, horses, pigs, mice, humans and non-human primates. The method comprises suppressing or otherwise inhibiting the immune system of the mammal and, concurrently or subsequently, administering to the proliferating cells an effective amount of one or more reoviruses under conditions which result in substantial lysis of the proliferating cells. In particular, the methods provide for reovirus treatment of immunosuppressed or immuno-deficient mammals to treat the proliferative disorders. Immunosuppression, immunoinhibition or otherwise inducing an immunodeficient state in a mammal renders the reovirus more effective. The methods may include the selective removal of immune constituents that may interfere with the systemic delivery of the virus; preventing reovirus recognition by the host immune system; and removal of the virus from an immune suppressed or immune incompetent host following treatment with reovirus. Alternatively, reovirus may be administered to a mammal with a diminished immune response system under conditions which result in substantial lysis of the proliferating cells. Immune systems may be compromised by one or more of the following: an HIV infection; as a side effect of chemotherapy or radiation therapy; by selective removal of B and/or T cell populations; by removal of antibodies (anti-antireovirus antibodies or all antibodies), and the like.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to methods for preventing reovirus recognition in the treatment of cellular proliferative disorders, and particularly ras-mediated cellular proliferative disorders, in mammals. In particular, the methods provide for reovirus treatment of immunosuppressed or immunodeficient mammals to treat the proliferative disorders. Immunosuppression, immunoinhibition or otherwise inducing an immunodeficient state in a mammal renders the reovirus more effective. The methods may include the selective removal of immune constituents that may interfere with the systemic delivery of the virus; preventing reovirus recognition by the host immune system; and removal of the virus from an immune suppressed or immune incompetent host following treatment with reovirus.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods for preventing reovirus recognition for the treatment of cellular proliferative disorders


The present invention provides a method of determining a plurality of beamforming weights for application to multicast transmission to a plurality of users by a corresponding plurality of antennas associated with a base station. One embodiment of the method includes determining a covariance matrix associated with the plurality of users. The covariance matrix is determined based on a channel matrix and a noise-plus-interference vector associated with each user. The method also includes determining the plurality of beamforming weights based on a gradient of the covariance matrix associated with a selected one of the plurality of users and storing the plurality of beamforming weights.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to communication systems, and, more particularly, to wireless communication systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Base stations in wireless communication systems provide wireless connectivity to users within a geographic area, or cell, associated with the base station. The wireless communication links between the base station and each of the users typically includes one or more downlink (or forward) channels for transmitting information from the base station to the mobile unit and one or more uplink (or reverse) channels for transmitting information from the mobile unit to the base station.
Downlink channels may be used to multicast a common radio message to several user terminals on a multicast channel. For example, users may subscribe to a multicast service that is provided by a server in a wireless communication system. The subscribers may receive the multicast information at a predetermined time or when the information becomes available. Exemplary multicast applications include the transmission of television signals, radio, audio, and/or video streaming, stock valuations, news summaries, and the like. Although multicasting information is advantageous because it permits information to be transmitted to multiple users over a single channel, the coding rate for the multicast information is typically limited by the subscriber having the lowest channel quality. For example, multicast systems are designed so that the multicast channel can be decoded by users in a large percentage of the locations served by each base station. Consequently, multicast messages transmitted by the base station must be encoded at a low rate so that even the most distant subscribers can decode the multicast transmission.
If the transmitters and/or receivers are equipped with multiple antennas, beamforming techniques can potentially be used to improve the performance of the multicasting system. For example, let nT denote the number of transmit antennas at a base station and let K indicate the number of users connected to the base station. Each user is equipped with nR receive antennas. The channel coefficients between each transmit antenna and each receive antenna at user k can be assembled into an nR×nT matrix Hk, k−1, . . . , K. The relationship between transmit and receive signals can be represented as:yk=Hkx+nk where x is an nT-dimensional vector containing the transmit signals, yk is the nR-dimensional vector of received signals at user k and nk is an nR-dimensional noise vector with a covariance of Σk=E[nknk+]. The beamforming operation that generates x is defined as x=ws, where s is a multicast signal with power P=E[|s|2] and w represents the beamforming vector whose entries indicate the complex weights applied to each transmit antenna. In order to preserve the overall signal power, the beamforming weights must satisfy the requirement ∥w∥=1. In a wide band system such as a system that uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, the matrices and vectors described above may be functions of frequency and therefore the above equations would describe what happens on any specific narrow subband of the wide band system.
The beamforming weights can be adjusted using information available at the transmitter. For example, statistical channel state information can be used to adjust the beamforming weights to influence the average signal-to-interference-and-noise ratios (SINR) at the receivers. The problem of determining optimal beamforming weights based on the SINR can be defined using the average SINR for the kth user: SINRk(w)=Pw+Θkw where Θk the covariance matrix:Θk=E[Hk+Σk−1Hk]where the expectation is defined over the fading within Hk. In the illustrated case, the channel statistics are not a function of frequency and so the beamforming weights are also independent of frequency. The optimum beamforming vector is defined by the set of beamforming weights that maximize the minimum data rate offered within the coverage area. Thus, the problem of finding the optimum beamforming vector may be expressed as:
  w  =      arg                                        max                                          w                                -          1                                  min                                                                        SINR            _                    k                                                                    (          w          )                    where the minimization is taken over all users within the appropriate coverage area. However, finding an optimal beamforming solution in a MIMO wireless communication system using the approach described above is an NP-hard problem.

Method of transmit beamforming for multicasting in a wireless communication system


A package having a container having an inner surface, an outer surface, and a sidewall defining a cavity, with the container having an inner locking tab in the cavity defining a recess in the outer surface of the container, and with a stiffening material being placed in the recess to add strength to the locking tab.

1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to packages, and more particularly to sterile packages having a plurality of sterile articles therein. Still more particularly, it relates to the carriage of products within such packages.
2. The Background Art
Sterile packages for retaining a plurality of sterile articles are known. Typically, such packages have a tray with recesses, with the sterile articles being received in the recesses. The recesses are commonly covered with a cover permeable to the passage of a sterilization gas and impermeable to the passage of bacteria. The tray and articles are rendered sterile by passing the sterilization gas through the cover and onto the articles and tray. The covered trays may then be stored and transported while maintaining the sterile barrier in the tray. At the time of a medical procedure, the cover is removed by operating personnel to expose the sterile articles for use in the procedure. For larger sterile articles, a large container may be used with a tray retaining the sterile articles being received in a cavity of the container.
In a suitable form, such containers may be vacuum formed, by a process in which a plastic sheet is clamped to a frame, and the sheet is heated and drawn down into a mold by a vacuum. Since the entire package is preferably disposable, it is desirable to minimize the thickness of its walls in order to reduce the cost and bulk of the container. This also aids in allowing the sheet to conform to the mold. However, the vacuum formed container may have regions of weakness due to a reduced thickness of the wall induced by the vacuum forming process. In this case, the region of weakness may rupture or tear, thus exposing the sterile articles to the atmosphere which may cause contamination of the tray unknown to the attending operating personnel, with possible deleterious results to the patient.
In one form, the plastic sheet and corresponding container walls may be made thicker, but, in that case all of the walls in the container will also be thicker which is actually unnecessary, adding to the cost of the sterile container, as well as its bulk, and complicating the vacuum forming process. Hence, it is desirable to provide a sterile container at minimum cost and thickness and maximum strength to prevent contamination of the sterile articles which are used in the procedure.

Container with reinforced tab and method


A lever and a weight are supported on a first shaft for swinging movement in a latch mechanism. The weight gets closer to a head actuator member based on swinging movement in a first direction. A restriction member restricts the swinging movement of the weight in a second direction opposite to the first direction. A swinging member is contacted with the lever swinging around the first shaft so that the swinging member gets into a predetermined path of the head actuator member through the swinging movement around the second shaft. The disk drive always allows the weight, the lever and the swinging member to start swinging from corresponding inoperative positions, even if the disk drive suffers from a sequential driving force in opposite directions due to impact. A head slider at the tip end of the head actuator member is reliably prevented from colliding against the disk.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk drive such as a hard disk drive (HDD). In particular, the invention relates to a disk drive comprising a disk and a ramp member located at a location outside the disk.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A head actuator is incorporated in a hard disk drive, for example. The head actuator includes an actuator arm allowed to swing around a support shaft along a predetermined path. When the actuator arm furthest swings in a normal direction outward in the radial direction of the magnetic recording disk, the actuator arm is positioned at the inoperative position. The tip end of the actuator arm is received on a ramp member. When the actuator arm swings from the inoperative position in the reverse direction opposite to the normal direction, the tip end of the actuator arm is released from support of the ramp member.
A so-called latch mechanism is often incorporated in the hard disk drive. The latch mechanism includes a lever supported on a first shaft for swinging movement. A weight is coupled to the lever. The weight is thus supported on the first shaft for swinging movement. When the lever swings around the first shaft from a neutral position based on the inertial force of the weight, the lever is contacted with a swinging member. Contact with the lever swinging in a first direction, or contact with the lever swinging in a second direction opposite to the first direction causes the swinging movement of the swinging member around a second shaft from an inoperative position. The swinging member is thus allowed to get into the predetermined path of movement of the actuator arm.
When impact of a fall serves to induce a sequential driving force in the normal and reverse directions in the hard disk drive, for example, the lever is forced to swing from the neutral position around the first shaft in the second direction based on the driving force in the normal direction. The swinging member swings around the second shaft from the inoperative position. The swinging member is thus allowed to get into the path of movement of the actuator arm. The actuator arm is held at the inoperative position. The actuator arm thereafter starts swinging back from the inoperative position based on the driving force in the reverse direction.
In this case, since the lever and the swinging member have already been positioned off the neutral and inoperative positions, respectively, the swinging movement of the lever and the swinging member cannot start from the neutral and inoperative positions. It takes a long way for the lever and the swinging member to reach the path of movement of the actuator arm. The actuator arm thus passes by the swinging member before the swinging member gets into the path of movement of the actuator arm. The swinging member cannot restrict the swinging movement of the actuator arm. The actuator arm is in this manner released from the support of the ramp member. A head slider at the tip end of the actuator arm thus collides against the surface of the magnetic recording disk. There is a possibility that the head slider gets damaged.

Disk drive internal latch assembly with movement restriction member to generate opposing rotation moments on shaft opposing sides


A bodily fluid sampling device includes a flexible test strip, a lancet, and a deflection mechanism. The test strip is biased to be positioned over the incision site formed by the lancet. The deflection mechanism positions the test strip away from the incision site during lancing so as to allow the lancet to have clear access to the incision site. Due to the flexible nature of the test strip, after lancing the incision, the test strip returns to the original position so as to collect fluid from the incision.

The present invention generally relates to bodily fluid sampling devices and more specifically, but not exclusively, concerns an integrated body fluid sampling device that is adapted to position a test strip directly over the incision site.
General Fluid Testing
The acquisition and testing of bodily fluids is useful for many purposes, and continues to grow in importance for use in medical diagnosis and treatment, and in other diverse applications. In the medical field, it is desirable for lay operators to perform tests routinely, quickly and reproducibly outside of a laboratory setting, with rapid results and a readout of the resulting test information. Testing can be performed on various bodily fluids, and for certain applications is particularly related to the testing of blood and/or interstitial fluid. Such fluids can be tested for a variety of characteristics of the fluid, or analytes contained in the fluid, in order to identify a medical condition, determine therapeutic responses, assess the progress of treatment, and the like.
General Test Steps
The testing of bodily fluids basically involves the steps of obtaining the fluid sample, transferring the sample to a test device, conducting a test on the fluid sample, and displaying the results. These steps are generally performed by a plurality of separate instruments or devices.
Acquiring—Vascular
One method of acquiring the fluid sample involves inserting a hollow needle or syringe into a vein or artery in order to withdraw a blood sample. However, such direct vascular blood sampling can have several limitations, including pain, infection, and hematoma and other bleeding complications. In addition, direct vascular blood sampling is not suitable for repeating on a routine basis, can be extremely difficult and is not advised for patients to perform on themselves.
Acquiring—Incising
The other common technique for collecting a bodily fluid sample is to form an incision in the skin to bring the fluid to the skin surface. A lancet, knife or other cutting instrument is used to form the incision in the skin. The resulting blood or interstitial fluid specimen is then collected in a small tube or other container, or is placed directly in contact with a test strip. The fingertip is frequently used as the fluid source because it is highly vascularized and therefore produces a good quantity of blood. However, the fingertip also has a large concentration of nerve endings, and lancing the fingertip can therefore be painful. Alternate sampling sites, such as the palm of the hand, forearm, earlobe and the like, may be useful for sampling, and are less painful. However, they also produce lesser amounts of blood. These alternate sites therefore are generally appropriate for use only for test systems requiring relatively small amounts of fluid, or if steps are taken to facilitate the expression of the bodily fluid from the incision site.
Various methods and systems for incising the skin are known in the art. Exemplary lancing devices are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. Re 35,803, issued to Lange, et al. on May 19, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,879, issued to O'Brien on May 15, 1990; U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,311, issued to Duchon et al. on Feb. 16, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,983, issued to Douglas on Jan. 12, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,489, issued to Douglas et al. on Feb. 6, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,871, issued to Douglas et al. on Dec. 25, 2001; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,718, issued to Duchon et al. on Oct. 12, 1999. A representative commercial lancing device is the Accu-Chek Softclix lancet.
Expressing
Patients are frequently advised to urge fluid to the incision site, such as by applying pressure to the area surrounding the incision to milk or pump the fluid from the incision. Mechanical devices are also known to facilitate the expression of bodily fluid from an incision. Such devices are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,311, issued to Duchon et al. on Feb. 16, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,983, issued to Douglas on Jan. 12, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,489, issued to Douglas et al. on Feb. 6, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,492, issued to Douglas et al. on Sep. 14, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,493, issued to Douglas et al. on Sep. 14, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,718, issued to Duchon et al. on Oct. 12, 1999; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,545, issued to Roe et al. on Jul. 11, 2000. A representative commercial product that promotes the expression of bodily fluid from an incision is the Amira AtLast blood glucose system.
Sampling
The acquisition of the produced bodily fluid, hereafter referred to as the "sampling" of the fluid, can take various forms. Once the fluid specimen comes to the skin surface at the incision, a sampling device is placed into contact with the fluid. Such devices may include, for example, systems in which a tube or test strip is either located adjacent the incision site prior to forming the incision, or is moved to the incision site shortly after the incision has been formed. A sampling tube may acquire the fluid by suction or by capillary action. Such sampling systems may include, for example, the systems shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,352, issued to Douglas et al. on Apr. 11, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,484, issued to Douglas et al. on Aug. 8, 2000; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,871, issued to Douglas et al. on Dec. 25, 2001. Examples of commercial sampling devices include the Roche Compact, Amira AtLast, Glucometer Elite and Therasense FreeStyle test strips.
Testing General
The bodily fluid sample may be analyzed for a variety of properties or components, as is well known in the art. For example, such analysis may be directed to hematocrit, blood glucose, coagulation, lead, iron, etc. Testing systems include such means as optical (e.g., reflectance, absorption, fluorescence, Raman, etc.), electrochemical, and magnetic means for analyzing the sampled fluid. Examples of such test systems include those in U.S. Pat. No. 5,824,491, issued to Priest et al. on Oct. 20, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,962,215, issued to Douglas et al. on Oct. 5, 1999; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,719, issued to Douglas et al. on Jul. 7, 1998.
Typically, a test system takes advantage of a reaction between the bodily fluid to be tested and a reagent present in the test system. For example, an optical test strip will generally rely upon a color change, i.e., a change in the wavelength absorbed or reflected by dye formed by the reagent system used. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,802,842; 4,061,468; and 4,490,465.
Blood Glucose
A common medical test is the measurement of blood glucose level. The glucose level can be determined directly by analysis of the blood, or indirectly by analysis of other fluids such as interstitial fluid. Diabetics are generally instructed to measure their blood glucose level several times a day, depending on the nature and severity of their diabetes. Based upon the observed pattern in the measured glucose levels, the patient and physician determine the appropriate level of insulin to be administered, also taking into account such issues as diet, exercise and other factors.
In testing for the presence of an analyte such as glucose in a bodily fluid, test systems are commonly used which take advantage of an oxidation/reduction reaction which occurs using an oxidase/peroxidase detection chemistry. The test reagent is exposed to a sample of the bodily fluid for a suitable period of time, and there is a color change if the analyte (glucose) is present. Typically, the intensity of this change is proportional to the concentration of analyte in the sample. The color of the reagent is then compared to a known standard which enables one to determine the amount of analyte present in the sample. This determination can be made, for example, by a visual check or by an instrument, such as a reflectance spectrophotometer at a selected wavelength, or a blood glucose meter. Electrochemical and other systems are also well known for testing bodily fluids for properties on constituents.
Testing Difficulties
Performing the above-discussed steps can be difficult for patients, especially for patients with limited hand dexterity, such as the elderly. In a typical procedure, the patient first creates an incision in the skin by lancing the skin with the lancet. Once a sufficient amount of fluid collects as a droplet on the skin, the patient has to position a test strip over the incision site such that the test strip contacts and absorbs a sufficient amount of the fluid for testing. Usually, these droplet of fluid are quite small, and patients, especially ones with poor hand motor control, may experience great difficulty in positioning the test strip so as to collect an adequate sample from the droplet. As should be appreciated, a patient can become quickly frustrated by this procedure and, consequently, they may perform the test less often or may even quit testing altogether.
Thus, needs remain for further contributions in this area of technology.


Methods and therapeutic compounds for treating pain, mitigating inflammation, effecting analgesia and/or effecting sedation in a subject are described. A subject is administered an effective amount of a therapeutic compound which is a nitrate ester. Novel pharmaceutical compositions are also described.

The nitrate ester, glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), or nitroglycerin, has been used as a vasodilator in the treatment of angina pectoris for over a hundred years, and the dominant, contemporary belief is that GTN exerts its therapeutic effect through in vivo release of nitric oxide (NO). Other organic nitrates (nitrate esters), such as isosorbide dinitrate, have also been identified as effective and clinically important vasodilators. NO itself has been identified as Endothelium Derived Relaxing Factor (EDRF) and several classes of compounds, for example nitrosothiols, in addition to organic nitrates, have been proposed as NO donors or NO prodrugs.
Several organic nitrates, in which an alkyl mononitrate is appended to a moiety with analgesic properties, such as aspirin (ASA) or a Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID) have been reported as analgesics which possess reduced gastro-intestinal irritation and ulceration properties, purportedly through release of NO. The combination of the vasodilator nitroglycerin with opioid analgesics such as morphine, has been suggested to be effective in the management of both surgical and cancer pain. However, no attempt has been made to develop organic nitrates themselves as analgesic agents, that is, organic nitrates that do not rely on an ASA or NSAID moiety, nor an opiate, for analgesic properties. Thus, there is a need for synthetic organic nitrates as new and useful therapeutic agents for treatment and mitigation of pain associated with disease states and chemotherapy of those disease states.

Methods and compositions for mitigating pain


A method and system for communicating between two independent software components of the WINDOWS® SIDESHOW™ device are disclosed. Specifically, one embodiment of the present invention sets forth a method, which includes the steps of independently queuing an incoming packet from a second software component via an emulated serial transport in a first software component before parsing and responding to the incoming packet and independently queuing an outgoing packet in the first software component before transmitting the outgoing packet to the second software component also via the emulated serial transport.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to WINDOWS® SIDESHOW™ technology, and more particularly, to a method and system for communicating between two independent software components of a SIDESHOW™ device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Windows® Vista® is a commercially available operating system from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., hereinafter referred to as WINDOWS VISTA. Windows® SideShow™ is a commercially available application program from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., hereinafter referred to as WINDOWS SIDESHOW. With WINDOWS VISTA operating systems becoming the dominant operating systems for personal computers, a variety of software or hardware applications compatible with Vista-based computer systems are also becoming more and more popular. One of the Vista-based software/hardware applications WINDOWS SIDESHOW, which is a technology that supports an auxiliary screen to the Vista-based computer system.
To illustrate, FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram showing a software stack 100 for a WINDOWS SIDESHOW device. The software stack 100 includes a built-in gadget 102, a SIDESHOW Application Programming Interface (API) 104, a tiny media API 106, a tiny Common Language Runtime (CLR) 108, and an embedded operating system (OS) 110. Here, two distinct software components, such as the built-in gadget 102 and the embedded OS 110, communicate with each other via emulated serial transports such as virtual Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) ports. Unlike their physical counterparts that directly access the hardware of the WINDOWS SIDESHOW device, these virtual UART ports are created to emulate the characteristics of the physical UART ports and to facilitate the communication between two software components. Specifically, for the built-in gadget 102 to access the hardware of the WINDOWS SIDESHOW device, the built-in gadget 102 may invoke function calls supported by the tiny media API 106, wherein the function calls further depend on routines that are supported by the tiny CLR 108. To abstract some of the operation details of the software stack 100 from the built-in gadget 102, some of the data or commands from the built-in gadget 102 are encapsulated and sent through virtual UART ports 112, so that the data or commands can be further operated on by the embedded OS 110.
However, there currently lacks a method or system to ensure the robustness of the communication between the aforementioned two independent software components through the emulated serial transports. More particularly, conventional methods or systems neither guarantee the success of the transfer of packets from one software component to another nor enable the software component that sends the packets to efficiently acquire the status of such transfer.
What is needed in the art is thus a method and system that enable two independent software components of the WINDOWS SIDESHOW device to communicate robustly and efficiently and address at least the problems set forth above.

Method and system for communicating between two independent software components of a device


A method of selecting a sub-set of a plurality of available sensors to guide an interceptor to a target is described. The method includes characterizing a quality of position estimate received from each of the plurality of available sensors, projecting the positioning errors of the sensors onto a plane normal to a line-of-sight of the interceptor, and selecting the sub-set of the plurality of available sensors based on the projection of positioning errors.

Conventional tracking systems for guided interceptor missiles use a single sensor to track a target. These tracking systems use the information from the sensor to guide the interceptor missile to intercept and destroy a target, which may be a missile. However, a tracking system based on a single sensor is susceptible to positioning errors due to the geometry between the sensor and the target as well as errors due to the geometry between the interceptor and the target when sensor data is used to guide the interceptor. A multiple sensor system may reduce the positioning error, but monopolizes the full capabilities of all of the sensors thereby requiring additional sensors to track and target multiple targets.
Accordingly, an improved sensor and tracking system is desirable.

Geometry and sensitivity weighted dynamic multi-sensor selection system and method


A dehumidifying air handling unit for an HVACR system includes a housing, a desiccant wheel, and a cooling heat exchanger. A main airflow path extending through the housing from an air inlet to and air discharged outlet of the housing. The desiccant wheel includes a first end and a second end that are each disposed in the main airflow path and a metal organic framework desiccant that is moved between the first end and the second end. A desiccant wheel includes a metal organic framework desiccant disposed on a surface of the desiccant wheel. Rotation of the desiccant wheel moves a position of the surface between a first end and a second end of the desiccant wheel. The metal organic framework desiccant has an majority absorption-desorption operating band of 25% relative humidity or less.

HVACR systems are generally used to heat, cool, and/or ventilate an enclosed space (e.g., an interior space of a commercial building or a residential building, an interior space of a refrigerated transport unit, or the like). An AHU is part of a HVACR system that is used to regulate and circulate air. A ductwork ventilation system can be connected to the AHU and directs conditioned air from the AHU to the enclosed space and air from the conditioned space to the AHU. The AHU can include a housing, fan(s), and a heat exchanger(s). The AHU can be a dehumidifying AHU that includes a desiccant wheel for dehumidifying air.

Dehumidifying air handling unit and desiccant wheel therefor


An array of photon sensitive devices is configured to provide outputs. Pulse shaping circuits operate to shape a respective output of the array in a normal mode of operation and shape a calibration signal in a calibration mode of operation.

Devices for determining the distance to objects are known. One currently used method is called "Time of Flight". This method comprises sending a light signal towards the object and measuring the time taken by the signal to travel to the object and back. Generally, the calculation of the time taken by the signal for this travel is obtained by measuring the phase shift between the signal coming out of the light source and the signal reflected on the object and detected by a light sensor. Knowing this phase shift and the speed of light enables the determination of the distance to the object.

STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited


Requestors acquire tokens before issuing access requests to a memory controller. The access requests issued are accumulated in a command queue of the memory controller. When the amount of access requests accumulated in the command queue is smaller than or equal to a first threshold, or in level 0, tokens are generated at a rate equivalent to 200% of a bus bandwidth. If the amount of accumulation is greater than the first threshold and is smaller than or equal to a second threshold, i.e., in level 1, tokens are generated at a rate equivalent to the bus bandwidth. If the amount of accumulation exceeds the second threshold, the token generation is stopped.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing technology, and in particular, to an information processing apparatus which performs data transmission via a bus while processing a plurality of tasks in parallel, and an access control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the significant progress of information processing technology in recent years, information processing apparatuses that perform high-speed operations are becoming increasingly common. As processors have improved in computing speed and the like, information processing apparatuses and electronic devices currently in the mainstream are capable of processing a plurality of applications or tasks in parallel. For parallel processing, it is typically the case that tasks are time-divided for the purpose of allocating the processing time of a processor. Virtual memory areas are also allocated to respective applications. The allocation of the processing time, memory capacity, and the like to a plurality of tasks is performed by an operating system (hereinafter, abbreviated as OS). The OS also exercises exclusive control, synchronous control, and the like over accesses among the processor, memory, and I/O devices when processing a plurality of tasks.
Now, the increase in the speed of processors and the introduction of virtual memory systems have made it possible to process a large volume of data at high speed, with an emerging problem in the efficiency of use of bus bandwidths intended for data transmission. Take, for example, the case of executing a plurality of applications including one to which real-time responses are essential, such as a game which displays three-dimensional moving graphics images. Even if the image processing is performed smoothly, a situation may occur in which the outputting of image data of the game is hindered because other applications are transmitting large volumes of data through a bus.
One of the approaches that has been proposed to solve this problem is a technique of granting permission to use the bus at higher frequencies to tasks of higher priority (for example, see U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2005/0138621). In this case, before issuance of data transmission requests, processing for acquiring issuance permission, called a "token," is performed. Since tokens are granted up to rates that are determined in advance for respective source units of data transmission requests, tasks of lower priority are provided with lower rates of data transfer so as to reduce their impact on other processing tasks.
In the meantime, demands for faster processing are ever increasing, creating a desire for technology that is capable of achieving high speeds at lower cost without an increase in implementation area. The inventors have recognized, however, that even with the foregoing technology for using bus bandwidths efficiently, for example, some latency can occur from the processing of granting tokens with a possible delay in processing time.

Information processing apparatus and access control method capable of high-speed data access


An image forming apparatus includes an image forming device configured to form a toner image on a sheet and a fixing device configured to fix the toner image on the sheet. In the fixing device, a heater heats a fixing belt. A pressing roller applies a pressure to a fixing roller via the fixing belt to form a nip between the pressing roller and the fixing belt. A controller switches the fixing device between an increased pressure mode and a decreased pressure mode in a state in which the fixing roller and the pressing roller rotate. In the increased pressure mode, the pressing roller applies an increased pressure capable of fixing the toner image on the sheet to the fixing roller. In the decreased pressure mode, the pressing roller applies a decreased pressure incapable of fixing the toner image on the sheet to the fixing roller.

1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary aspects of the present invention relate to an image forming apparatus, a fixing device, and an image forming method, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus, a fixing device, and an image forming method for fixing a toner image on a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
A related-art image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, or a multifunction printer having two or more of copying, printing, scanning, and facsimile functions, forms a toner image on a recording medium (e.g., a sheet) according to image data by an electrophotographic method. For example, a charger charges a surface of a photoconductor. An optical writer emits a light beam onto the charged surface of the photoconductor to form an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor according to image data. A developing device develops the electrostatic latent image with a developer (e.g., toner) to form a toner image on the photoconductor. The toner image is transferred from the photoconductor onto a sheet. A fixing device applies heat and pressure to the sheet bearing the toner image to fix the toner image on the sheet. Thus, the toner image is formed on the sheet.
The fixing device includes a fixing belt, a heating roller, a fixing roller, and a pressing roller. The fixing belt is formed in an endless belt-like shape, and is looped over the heating roller and the fixing roller. The pressing roller opposes the fixing roller via the fixing belt. The heating roller heats the fixing belt. Therefore, the fixing belt may be easily heated even when the fixing roller includes an elastic layer of reduced thermal conductivity.
A rubber roller is generally used as the fixing roller or the pressing roller. The rubber roller includes a core and silicon rubber formed on the core to cover the core. However, the fixing roller or the pressing roller may include silicon sponge of reduced thermal conductivity, as the elastic layer so as to increase a length in a sheet-conveyance direction of a nip formed between the pressing roller and the fixing roller opposing each other via the fixing belt and to prevent or reduce a thermal effect on the fixing belt.
When the silicon sponge is used under high pressure or under conditions in which the silicon sponge is substantially deformed, the silicon sponge may be permanently deformed by compression. To address this problem, in one example of a related-art fixing device, the pressing roller separates from the fixing roller and the fixing belt in a standby mode in which the fixing device does not perform a fixing operation.
Although the silicon sponge can withstand increased pressure temporarily applied while the fixing roller and the fixing belt do not rotate, silicon sponge durability does decrease when the fixing roller and the fixing belt are rotated and thereby deformed repeatedly. Even when the fixing device has a configuration in which the pressing roller separates from the fixing belt or applies reduced pressure to the fixing roller via the fixing belt in the standby mode, a load applied to the fixing roller and the fixing belt might not decrease while the fixing roller and the fixing belt rotate, and thus the durability of the fixing roller might not be improved thereby.
Since a Teflon®-coated surface layer of the fixing belt is soft, a sheet conveyed in the fixing device may generate surface asperities on the surface layer of the fixing belt. The surface asperities may generate gloss stripes on a toner image on a sheet. To address this problem, the pressing roller rotates at a linear speed different from a linear speed at which the fixing belt rotates at the nip formed between the pressing roller and the fixing belt, so as to reduce the surface asperities of the fixing belt. However, when the pressing roller and the fixing belt rotate at the different linear speeds, respectively, a sheet may generate paper dust while the sheet passes through the nip formed between the pressing roller and the fixing belt. The paper dust may scrape the fixing belt, resulting in decreased durability of the fixing belt and the fixing roller including the silicon sponge.

Image forming apparatus, fixing device, and image forming method


A method, system and apparatus are provided to identify, collect and parse content for business intelligence. Particularly, the method, system and apparatus provide for deriving, over a communication network, knowledge from information indicative of human communication, emotions, reactions, and experiences to evaluate trends and decisions that impact business. Also, a system, method and apparatus are provided for processing and analyzing social media conversations via one or more modules communicating with a social cognition technology platform. A module according to an exemplary implementation of the present invention, implements next-generation business intelligence that finds, aggregates, and interprets an exhaustive source of digital Internet content (such as textual and voice conversational, and word-of-mouth content) in conjunction with a social cognition technology platform.

As media continues to become increasingly social, expression of opinion has never been as open or as pervasive. In today's highly interactive information environment, complete understanding of sentiment, emerging topics and influential voices through all media channels is critical to maintaining informational advantages over your competition. Social cognition helps enterprise entities to utilize technological solutions to solve complex business challenges.
Conventional Web crawler systems (such as Google, Yahoo, etc.) search for data on the Internet, however, these systems leave pockets of information that was not searched, thus leaving large amounts of data not utilized for business intelligence.
In this regard, while conventional Web search systems provide search results for content on the Internet, the results of these conventional systems are unorganized, topical, limited and/or lacking analysis. Other convention systems that require really simple syndication ("RSS") or manual feed have further drawbacks including but not limited to irrelevant results, relying on push data, limited results, and high dissatisfactions.
Also, conventional Web search systems index Web sites according to the Web site's content and type but not by topic. These systems utilize spiders that regularly crawl the Web to rebuild their index, where crawls can be based on Webpage rank, links to the Web page, number of parameters in a URL, dynamic vs. static pages, and/or any number of factors that can affect the crawl frequency of individual Web sites. Various algorithms determine which Websites to crawl, the frequency of crawls, and quantity of data to fetch from each Website. Hence, according to conventional Web search systems, not all pages on all sites are updated with the same frequency because the update process may take a very long time (4-15, or more, days) to go through the entire Internet.
Likewise, conventional social media monitoring systems provided analysis based on limited data. These systems rely on data feeds which limit their access to a small amount of available data, and the limited publication tool.
Embodiments and/or implementations of the present invention propose methods, systems and apparatuses for addressing at least the above noted drawbacks of conventional systems and methodology.

Method, system and apparatus for identifying and parsing social media information for providing business intelligence


A voice service node (VSN) serving a wireless speech terminal (WST) connected to a mobile switching center (MSC) comprises a bypass unit, a speech codec and a speech recognizer. The bypass unit exchanges messages with a remote bypass unit at the MSC, and switches the operation of the VSN between a PCM mode, for analog speech terminals, and a codec bypass mode, for digital speech terminals. The speech codec operates during the bypass mode to decode a speech frame into a sequence of digital words for the speech recognizer and to encode a voice prompt signal form a speech prompting system from a sequence of digital words into a speech frame. The speech recognizer receives the sequence of digital words and a flag indicating the status of the frame and provides a set of parameters characterizing the sequence of digital words. The set of parameters and the flag are applied to a distance computation unit for determining a set of distances between a speech model and the set of parameters. A searching unit receives the set of distances and locates a plurality of choices in a lexicon. A top choice is determined, or all choices are rejected if none of them is above a recognition threshold.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to a method for providing enhanced performance for speech recognition services on digital wireless networks, and more particularly to a digital connection for voice activated services on wireless networks.
2. Background Art
A voice service node (VSN), is a platform which interacts with the telecommunication network to which it is attached through a switch, and provides one or more services such as banking information, user profiles, voice messages, call delivery, direct dialling, etc. under voice control, through speech recognition. The VSN guides the dialogue with the user through voice prompts, usually questions aimed at defining which information the user requires. An automatic speech recognizer is used to recognize what is being said and the information is used to control the behaviour of the service rendered to him/her.
Modem speech recognizers make use of phoneme based recognition, which relies on phone-based sub-word models to perform speaker independent recognition over the phone. In the recognition process, speech `features` are computed for each incoming frame. Modern speech recognizers also have a feature called rejection. When rejection exists, the recognizer has the ability to indicate that what was uttered does not correspond to any of the words in the lexicon.
End-pointing is the process whereby the speech recognizer tries to determine exactly when a person begins and ends speaking. End points are also used to determine if the person did not actually say anything, or said something that is longer than expected, which will be likely out of the vocabulary.
The users of wireless communication services expect to have access to all services available to the users of the land communication systems, and to receive a similar quality of service. The voice activated services are particularly important to the wireless subscribers because the dial pad is generally away from sight when the subscriber listens to a vocal prompt, or is out of sight when driving a car. With speech recognition, there are virtually no restrictions on mobility, because callers do not have to take their eyes off the road to punch in the keys on the terminal.
Unlike land connections, the wireless connections used for mobile and fixed access communications are subject to a number of impairments, such as the time varying `multipath fading`, shadowing, interference, etc., that result in channel errors. These errors degrade the quality of voice and services provided to the mobile users. For example, multipath fading is a physical phenomenon due to lack of a direct line-of-sight communication between the antennae at the edges of the communication channel, such as the antenna at the cell site and the antenna of a mobile. Instead, the signal is reflected and diffracted by building surfaces and edges, or by natural objects such as hills, mountains, trees, so that the signal received on an antenna is the sum of multiple signals, each having followed its own path.
Most digital wireless systems encode and transmit speech in packets built from speech samples corresponding to a time slice called frame. For example, many systems collect and transmit speech information on 20 ms frames. Because of the wireless impairments mentioned above, the compressed information is sent with forward error control (FEC) protection and some mechanism (CRC) to detect at the receiver when a frame has been damaged to the point of being unusable or `bad`. The current approach to correct the air link errors is a standard `replication and muting` sequence effected by the speech decoder. When such a `bad` frame is received, the speech decoder uses information from previous `good` frames to regenerate speech; eventually the signal is muted.
As such, in the traditional wireless communication systems, pulse code modulated (PCM) samples coming out of the mobile telephone exchange (MTX) are sent to the VSN, feeding the speech recognizer with a signal that is attenuated and sometimes muted due to the RF impairments. Speech recognition errors occur as a result. In particular, the end-pointer that finds the beginning and end of each word is adversely affected by the muting intervals that can have the appearance of silence following speech, while actually occurring during utterances.
Furthermore, the recognizer does not have any indication about the frame boundaries or about which frames were muted/replicated or which are `good`.
There is a need for enhancing the performance of the speech recognizer by providing the VSN with a means for minimizing the effects of air link errors.

Digital connection for voice activated services on wireless networks


A rack has a first shelf and a second shelf disposed upwardly of said first shelf, and a display unit is placed on the first shelf and disposed between the first shelf and the second shelf. The display unit is fixed to the second shelf by a display unit fixture. The display unit fixture has a display unit fixing member fixed to said display unit, i.e., a first fixing member, and a second fixing member having a magnet which can be attracted to a lower surface of the second shelf. The second fixing member can removably be fixed selectively to a desired position on the lower surface of said second shelf. The first fixing member and said second fixing member are connected by shafts to respective opposite ends of a connector for rotation about the shafts and are also rotatable with respect to the connector within a plane or planes perpendicular to the display screen of the display unit and a horizontal plane.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fixture for fixing a display unit, in particular a thin display unit such as a liquid crystal display unit, to a shelf.
2. Description of the Related Art
Display units such as liquid crystal display units connected to personal computers, for example, are usually placed on a dedicated rack or desk. Such a dedicated rack or desk is called a personal computer rack or personal computer desk, for example. Generally, a display unit connected to a main unit of a personal computer is placed on a shelf on the rack or desk, and a peripheral device, particularly a printer, of the personal computer is placed on another shelf positioned above and integrally formed with the display unit shelf.
The personal computer rack or personal computer desk allows the main unit of the personal computer, the display unit, and the peripheral device, particularly a printer to be accommodated in a small space.
However, if a display unit is put on the personal computer rack or personal computer desk, when the peripheral device operates, e.g., when the printer discharges a printed sheet, it may produce vibrations, which vibrate the personal computer rack or personal computer desk, causing the display unit to resonate. When the display unit resonates, it produces relatively large vibrations, which tend to make it difficult for the user to see the displayed images clearly.

Fixture for display unit for allowing displayed image to be seen with ease even upon vibrating


A channel characteristic of a transmission channel between a remote terminal and a central office is estimated by collecting information in the remote terminal, transferring this information from the remote terminal to the central office and matching the received information at the central office with a channel and remote terminal simulation model. The values of parameters of the latter simulation model, which define the channel characteristic to be estimated, are determined as a result of the matching process. The information collected by the remote terminal typically is information that is automatically collected by the remote terminal for operational purposes. such as equalizer setting and, bit allocation.

The present invention relates to a method to estimate a transmission channel characteristic as defined in the non-characteristic part of claim 1, a transmission channel characteristic estimating arrangement able to perform this method as defined in the non-characteristic part of claim 8, and a related remote terminal as defined in the non-characteristic part of claim 9.
Such a method to estimate a transmission channel characteristic and related equipment are already known in the art, e.g. from the U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,995, entitled 'Digitally Controlled Transmission Impairment Measurement Apparatus'. Typically, the operator needs knowledge of certain channel characteristics of a transmission channel between a central office and a remote terminal to be able to guarantee a certain service to a subscriber that has installed the remote terminal. The presence of line imperfections such as bridged taps, line attenuation, ageing effects, disturbers like radio frequency interference, and so on, has to be estimated by the operator before a certain quality of service can be guaranteed. To estimate all basic parameters necessary to characterize a transmission channel for its ability to carry data traffic, U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,995 describes a portable microprocessor controlled apparatus that measures specified parameters for a telephone channel. The known apparatus for channel characteristic estimation either consists of two units to be connected respectively to both ends of the transmission channel, or of a single unit to be connected to a single end of the transmission channel. The latter embodiment of the known channel characteristic estimating apparatus requires manual loop-back at the end of the transmission channel whereto the apparatus is not coupled. Summarizing, U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,995 describes dedicated transmission channel test equipment enabling off-line measurement of channel characteristics. To apply the known technique, transmission of user data over the transmission channel has to be interrupted and test equipment has to be connected to the transmission channel either at one or at both sides of the channel.

Method and arrangement to estimate transmission channel characteristics


A method and system for autonomously operating an aircraft. The method comprises a pre-flight training step comprising: retrieving recorded surveillance data of a plurality of flights corresponding to at least one aircraft type and at least one route; inferring aircraft intent from the recorded surveillance data; computing reconstructed trajectories using the inferred aircraft intent; selecting a training dataset comprising aircraft intent and reconstructed trajectories of flights corresponding to a particular aircraft type and route; and applying a machine learning algorithm on the training dataset to obtain a mapping function between aircraft states and actions. The method further comprises a real-time control step executed during a flight of an aircraft, the real-time control step comprising: repeatedly retrieving onboard sensor data; obtaining real-time aircraft states from the onboard sensor data; determining actions associated to the real-time aircraft states using the mapping function; and executing the selected actions on the aircraft.

Single pilot operations (SPO)—i.e. flying a commercial aircraft with only one pilot in the cockpit—, fully automated commercial airplanes and unmanned air vehicles (UAV), need to be assisted by advanced onboard automation tools.
Crew cost and crew availability are typical key business drivers for an airline. Improvements in these areas lead to cost reduction and an increase of business revenues. However, the operation of commercial aircraft, especially freighters, in an autonomous way must be safely performed.
A critical part on any autonomous system is training. To some extent, current training methods include data driven modelling of flight dynamics, flight control and trajectory planning on unmanned aircraft that learn from data available for small vehicles.
However, data availability is an important drawback of current data-driven UAV training systems, and there is no existing solution that addresses the problem of training an on-board automation tool based on surveillance data. Although there are researches for specific models of small UAV trained with data from a particular sensor, none of the current training methods are generic (i.e. they cannot be generalized and implemented on any unmanned vehicle). Besides, management of uncertainty present on training data is not taken into account on current data driven training systems.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a new process to train and operate an aircraft onboard command and control system that overcome the existing drawbacks.

Method and system for autonomously operating an aircraft


The invention discloses a dual-modes switching method for blocking a network connection, comprising: a data packet collecting step of collecting data packets transmitting from all network nodes in a network segment, a data packet analyzing step of analyzing the data packets collected to obtain network node identification data, a list comparing step of comparing the network node identification data with identification data registered in an information device list to determine an illegal network node, an illegal-network-node-type determining step of determining what kind of type the illegal network node is, and a network connection blocking step of switching a first network connection blocking mode and a second network connection blocking mode according to the type of the illegal network node, thereby blocking the network connection of the illegal network.

In consideration of information security, a company makes all-out efforts to prevent external information devices from accessing the data stored in internal network of the company. The data access from external information devices may cause an unexpected network attack from a ransomware. Therefore, a data security staff in a company always pays more special attention about how to completely block data access to the company's internal network from the external information devices.
However, a data security system merely applying the above mentioned blocking mode, i.e., "completely blocking data access to the company's internal network from the external information devices" is with disadvantages that the data security system could not flexibly adjust blocking operation according to different types of information devices. Accordingly, a completely blocking data access from external information devices to company's internal network could not be achieved. Moreover, there is another problem of not efficiency. The diverse types of external information devices may cause the data blocking operation being performed in a low efficiency, thereby provoking a drawback that enormous information packets are lost in the company's internal network.

Dual-modes switching method for blocking network connection


A coil for use in a deflecting electromagnet in which two coil end portions are bent as well as a method of manufacturing the same. In the coil, a plurality of coil units 4 in each of which two coil end portions 3c are bent such that they oppose each other are laid on top of another, and the individual coil units are electrically connected to each other. Alternatively, two-layer coil units in each of which the two ends of the conducting wire are located on the outer side of the outer diameter portion of the coil unit are laid on top of another, so that all the connecting portions of the conducting wires between the individual two-layer coil units can be located on the outer side of the outer diameter portions. Alternatively, the connecting portions of the conducting wires between the individual coil units are extended such that they are separated from the coil unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coil for use in a charged particle deflecting electromagnet used in, for example, a synchrotron radiation generating apparatus, and a method of manufacturing such a coil.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 12 is a schematic plan view of a charged particle generating apparatus disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No 2300/1989. In the apparatus shown in FIG. 12, charged particles incident through an incident portion (not shown) and an acceleration portion (not shown) are deflected by two superconducting deflecting electromagnets 30 disposed in opposed relation and thereby move on an elliptical path 20.
FIG. 13A is a plan view of one example of a superconducting coil of the superconducting deflecting electromagnet 30 shown in FIG. 12, and FIG. 13B is a section taken along a line XIIIB--XIIIB of FIG. 13A.
Two superconducting coils 1, each of which is formed by winding a superconducting wire 2, are disposed in opposed relation at the upper and lower portion of the elliptical path 20. Each of the superconducting coils 1 is curved at a predetermined radius of curvature. The superconducting coil 1 has an inner diameter portion 1a located on the inner diameter side of the path 20, an outer diameter portion 1b located on the outer diameter side of the path 20 and curved in the same manner as the inner diameter portion 1a, and coil end portions 1c located between the inner and outer diameter portions 1a and 1b.
The thus-arranged superconducting coil 1 exhibits superconductivity when it is cooled to a temperature of, for example, -268.degree. C. Conduction of a current in the superconducting coil 1 exhibiting superconductivity produces a magnetic field having a high magnetic flux density of several teslas. The path 20 of the charged particles is bent in the manner shown in FIG. 12 by this generated magnetic field.
FIGS. 14A to 14C show another example of the conventional superconducting coil 1. This superconducting coil 1 has been described from page 2457 to page 2460 of IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, Vol. 1, Mag-24, No. 6, published in November 1985. FIG. 14A is a perspective view of the superconducting coil 1, FIG. 14B is a sectional view of the outer diameter portion 1b, taken along a line XIVB--XIVB of FIG. 14A, and FIG. 14C is a sectional view of the coil end portion 1c, taken along a line XIVC--XIVC of FIG. 14A.
In the superconducting coil 1 shown in FIG. 14, each of the coil end portions 1c is bent at a predetermined angle .theta. in a direction in which it is separated from the path 20 so as to allow the path 20 to be less affected by the magnetic field generated by the coil end portions 1c. This superconducting coil 1 is called the banana coil with bending ends. The superconducting coil 1 is disposed at the upper and lower portions of the path 20, as in the case of the coil shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B.
As shown in FIG. 14B, at the outer diameter portion 1b of the coil 1, N layers of the superconducting wire 2, from a first layer L1 to an Nth layer LN ,are laid on top of another in the horizontal direction with the first layer L1 being disposed on the innermost side. At the inner diameter portion 1a, layers of superconducting wire 2 are formed similarly with the exception that the first layer L1 is disposed on the right end. At each of the coil end portions 1c, the layers of the superconducting wire 2 are laid on top of another in the vertical direction with the first layer L1 being disposed on the lowermost side.
A conventional method of manufacturing the superconducting coils 1 shown in FIG. 14A will be described below with reference to FIG. 15.
First, the first layer L1 of the coil 1 is formed by winding the superconducting wire 2 a predetermined number of times in a left-handed fashion (starting from the outer diameter portion 1b, the coil end portion 1c, the inner diameter portion 1a and then the coil end portion 1c) and outwardly (starting from the uppermost portion as viewed in FIG. 14B). Subsequently, the second layer L2 is formed by winding the superconducting wire 2 along the first layer L1 in a left-handed fashion and inwardly. Thereafter, the superconducting wire 2 is wound similarly along the previous layer until the number of layers reaches the predetermined number N to manufacture the superconducting coil 1.
In the conventional superconducting coil of the above-described type, since the superconducting wire 2 must be wound in a curved fashion and three-dimensionally, a complicated winding device (not shown) is required, increasing production cost and hence the price of the coil. Furthermore, the superconducting wire 2 is sequentially wound outwardly to form the odd layers and inwardly to form the even layers. At that time, particularly when the even layers are formed, a gap may be generated between the adjacent superconducting wires 2 at the portion indicated by an arrow R in FIG. 15. With the gap between the adjacent superconducting wires 2, when a current is supplied to the superconducting coil 1, the wire 2 may be moved due to the electromagnetic force, generating quenching which leads to breakage of the superconducting state.

Coil for use in charged particle deflecting electromagnet and method of manufacturing the same


An optical filter that uses multiple reflections to provide spectral bandpass filtering of ultraviolet, visible and infrared radiation with a very high transmission of wavelengths within a selected passband coupled with exceptional off-band rejection. The reflection filter uses dielectric-coated spherical reflectors or mirrors manufactured with absorbing glass substrates. The multiple-pass feature of the reflection filter is achieved using a traditional long-path absorption cell such as a White Cell or Wilkes Cell. The light transmitted through the reflection filter is only that light which has undergone multiple reflections as the wavelengths of high mirror reflectivity reflect off the dielectric-coated substrates. All remaining light at wavelengths corresponding to high mirror transmission is attenuated by absorption in the mirror substrate. The degree of attenuation of light at wavelengths corresponding to high mirror transmission can be chosen simply by selecting an appropriate number of reflections in the multiple-pass reflection filter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bandpass filters and particularly to a multiple-pass reflection filter which provides spectral bandpass filtering of ultraviolet, visible and infrared radiation with a very high transmission of wavelengths within a selected passband coupled with exceptional off-band rejection.
2. Description of Related Art
Bandpass filters are used to isolate wavelength intervals without the use of dispersive elements. Commercial bandpass filters fabricated of stacked dielectric layers are widely available for filtering applications from the vacuum UV to the far IR. The simplest bandpass filters are nothing more than small Fabry-Perot interferometers. Their light transmission characteristics depend on the nature of the interference of the light caused by multiple reflections within the dielectric stack. Most bandpass filters are made by combining the dielectric stack interference filter with additional blocking filters such as colored glass or metal films.
Filters are available as edge filters (short-wavelength pass or long-wavelength pass) or true bandpass filters (interval isolation with rejection of both longer and shorter wavelengths). These bandpass filters offer considerable flexibility in the specification of the center wavelength and the width of the passband. The performance of interference-type bandpass filters can be improved by fabricating the filter with several repeating units (cavities) of multi-layer dielectric stacks. Although the passband can be narrowed and the off-band rejection improved in this manner, the overall transmission off-band can not be reduced below a value of T.about.10.sup.-4 without seriously degrading the transmission at the center wavelength as well.
The transmission characteristics of interference-type bandpass filters are extremely angle dependent. In order to realize the anticipated transmission characteristics, the filter must be used in an optical system which ensures that only highly collimated light is incident on the filter. If uncollimated light is allowed to illuminate the filter, then light outside the expected passband may be transmitted. Simultaneously, the transmission of light at the passband may decrease dramatically. If the filter was constructed with metallic blocking layers, the passband can be split into two shifted passbands that transmit oppositely polarized light. Often only very small field angles (<5 degrees) are necessary to cause such deleterious effects.
Although interference and selective absorption are the most common techniques used for optical filters, other methods are also used. Polarization interference, scattering, and selective reflection are alternative techniques used for spectral filtering. In particular, reflection filters offer a simple method to obtain high maximum transmission of wavelengths within a selected passband coupled with a large off-band rejection. These filters are simply mirrors having reflectivity in the wavelength range of interest, but which absorb or transmit all other wavelengths. Reflection filters have been used to isolate wavelength intervals from the UV to the IR. Spectral filtering in the UV can be a particularly demanding application for which a reflection filter is well suited. For example, the transmission of a four-pass reflection filter manufactured by Schott Glasswork had a peak transmission of 0.91 at 250 nm and transmission of only 0.001 at 220 nm and 285 nm. The peak of the passband, as well as its width, is largely determined by the characteristics of the reflective coating.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


The disclosure discloses a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium, storing the template processing program for executing steps on a control device of an operation terminal. The terminal is connected with a print label producing apparatus using a template t, and with a server configured to store a plurality of language versions of mutually different language types for the template. The terminal comprises a display device, the control device, and a memory. The steps comprises a language selection receiving step for receiving a selection of at least one language type, a downloading step for downloading from the server at least one template that contains the language version of the language type, a combined file generating step for generating a combined file that combines a plurality of language versions using mutually different language types into a single file, and a storing step for storing the combined file in the memory.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a template processing program and a template processing method executed on an operation terminal capable of operating a print label producing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is already known, for example, a print label producing system configured to produce a preferred print label via an operation from an operation terminal such as a PC, etc. According to this system, when an operator operates the operation terminal (computer device) to specify the printed contents of a print label (label with adhesive material) that he or she wants to produce, the corresponding print data is transmitted from the operation terminal to the print label producing apparatus (tape printing head). Then, printing means (a thermal head) provided to the print label producing apparatus executes printing corresponding to the print data on a print-receiving medium (laminated film), thereby producing the print label.
When the operator connects the operation terminal to the print label producing apparatus to produce a print label as described above, it is extremely cumbersome for the operator to manually set all print objects, such as text, visual objects, and the like, to be printed on the print label. Here, according to this prior art, a plurality of types of so-called templates in which a plurality of print object layout frames is assigned in a predetermined format is normally prepared. The operator then selects a template suitable for his or her intended print format and assigns preferred text, etc., to the print object layout frames of the template, thereby easily producing a preferred print label.
In recent years, in response to market internationalization, there have been cases where a manufacturer of a print label producing apparatus, for example, prepares a plurality of language versions (Japanese version, English version, French version, etc.) of mutually different language types for a single template. The plurality of language versions of each template is prepared and stored in advance on a server, for example. Nevertheless, normally the plurality of language versions is often provided in individual files even though the templates are of identical contents. As a result, it is extremely troublesome in a case where the operator wants to acquire two or more language versions of a single template since the operator must perform downloading from the server for each language and, even after downloading, the language versions are provided in separate files.

Template processing program and template processing method


A system for monitoring a subsea structure is presented. The system includes a sensor disposed on or about one or more tubular components of the subsea structure, where the one or more tubular components of the subsea structure include a riser, a flow-line, and a subsea umbilical. Moreover, the system includes a controller operatively coupled to the one or more tubular components of the subsea structure and configured to detect an anomaly in the one or more tubular components of the subsea structure. A method for monitoring the subsea structure is also presented.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to monitoring of subsea structures, and more specifically to monitoring of pressure and/or stress in risers, pipes, and flow-lines of the subsea infrastructure.
In subsea hydrocarbon production, risers are utilized to deliver fluid from the subsea well to a collecting asset, such as a production vessel or an injection fluid to the subsea well from the production vessel. Also, during subsea drilling a riser is used to contain the drill pipe and provide a return path for drilling fluid. Typically, risers extend from a seabed to the surface and are subject to bending, twisting, and tensional forces due to currents and movements of the production vessel. Depending on flow parameters such as flow rate, temperature, and consistency, the risers can experience stress build-up due to pressure difference between ambient and a flow channel. In order to ensure effective operation of risers, it is beneficial to continuously monitor the stress experienced by the risers. Also, identifying pressure and/or stress variations aids an operator in ensuring efficient transfer of oil from the subsea well to the collecting asset.
Occasionally, strain sensors such as strain gages and fiber Bragg sensors are employed to sense mechanical stress in the risers. Additionally, pressure sensors may be employed to measure pressure in the flow-lines and the risers. Use of the strain sensors and/or pressure sensors generally entails mechanical coupling with the flow-lines and risers. Extended use of these sensors results in loss of strength of mechanical adhesion of the sensors. Also, the sensors may be subject to harsh environments for extended periods of time. In addition, repair or replacement of sensors may be a challenging task.
Furthermore, the riser and/or the flow-line are generally designed and deployed with a fixed number of sensors disposed at determined locations. However, it may be desirable to either increase the number of sensors on the riser and/or flow-line, or vary the locations of the sensors during the lifetime of the riser and/or flow-line. However, varying the number and/or location of the sensors is an expensive and laborious task.

System and method for monitoring tubular components of a subsea structure


A book kit for a drawing game which includes a book and a pen. The book has a front cover page which has a series of holes located along one edge thereof and a back cover page which has a series of holes located along one edge thereof. Such edge corresponds to the edge of the front cover page. A number of internal pages located between the front cover page and the back cover page. The internal pages each have a series of holes located along one edge thereof. The internal pages are transparent pages alternated with non-transparent pages. One side of each of the non-transparent internal pages contains a photograph or print of clouds in the sky. There is a binder which is a metal or plastic spiral or which has pliable prongs which extend through the holes along the side of the front cover page, the back cover page and the internal pages. The binder has a lateral cross-section which is round and has a central longitudinal passageway. A pocket is located on the internal face of the back cover page. The pen can be inserted at least partially into the central longitudinal passageway of the binder or it can be otherwise packaged with the book in, for example, shrink wrapping or other packaging material. The pen can be used to write on the transparent pages of the internal pages whereby outlines can be drawn of animate and inanimate objects observed or perceived to be the clouds shown on the adjacent, facing side of one of the printed pages.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a book kit for a drawing game and a process of using the book kit. The invention also relates to a set of flash cards and a process of using the set of flash cards.
2. Background Art
Attention is drawn to U.S. Pat. Nos. 135,315, 333,483, 491,160, 1,041,435, 1,282,382, 1,421,975, 2,143,608, 2,427,612, 2,918,732, 3,492,743, 4,439,159, 4,498,238, 5,137,453, 5,217,376, 5,430,964 and 5,580,250.


A traffic control device includes a base having a post aperture, a post adjustably and removably coupled to the base through the post aperture and a pavement marker. The pavement marker is affixed to a surface. The base may include a recess for receiving the pavement marker, such that a bottom side of the base rests on the surface with the pavement marker retained within the base. The post aperture extends from a top surface of the base to the recess of the base. The post includes one of a magnet and a metal plate coupled to an end of the post. The pavement marker includes one of a magnet and a metal plate, wherein the pavement marker comprises a magnet if the post comprises a metal plate and the pavement marker comprises a metal plate if the post comprises a magnet.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to a portable, moveable traffic sign or marker having a magnetic base for use in traffic control and the method of using the sign or marker.
2. State of the Art
Pedestrian safety is a big concern, especially in school zones where small children may be present. In one method for improving pedestrian safety, in-street pedestrian crossing signs are used to alert drivers of potential pedestrians. The use of in-street pedestrian crossing or school zone signs has been shown to increase driver yielding compliance. Additionally, posts or other markers positioned along the edges of a crosswalk increase driver awareness of the location of the crosswalk.
While these in-street signs and posts are a low-cost safety improvement, there are problems and disadvantages associated with them. In some instances, such as during snow removal or other maintenance, it is desirable for the signs and posts to be easily portable to facilitate set up and removal. For example, in a school crossing zone, such signs and posts may be set up and removed at least twice per day during school commute times. In order for the signs and posts to be easily portable, the sign, the post and the base to which the sign or post is attached may be relatively lightweight. One disadvantage of this is that the lightweight sign or post may move from the desired location due to weather or impact from passing cars.
In order to ensure that the signs and posts remain in the desired location, the base may either be relatively heavy or fixedly attached to the roadway. One disadvantage of a heavy base is that it is not easily portable. One disadvantage of a fixedly attached base is that it may impede the flow of traffic.
Accordingly, there is a need in the field of traffic control for a traffic control device that is easily portable and is also attached to a surface in a substantially fixed position.


A towing bitt assembly comprising:                an arched structure defining an opening for a towing rope to run there through;        a roller assembly comprising                    a coupling means for coupling the roller assembly to the arched structure so that the roller assembly is movable along a centre line of the arched structure; and            a roller means for guiding the towing rope, the roller means being rotatable around the centre line of the arched structure.

Towing ships for carrying out towing and escorting maneuvers need to provide a significant pulling force, which is transmitted through a towing rope or line, in order to be able to tow a vessel. The towing rope that connects the towing boat and the vessel must therefore resist a substantial force. Towing bitt assemblies known in the art have a static bitt structure such that when the towing rope continuously slides through a towing bitt located on the deck of the towing boat, abrasion and wear can seriously damage the towing bitt structure as well as the towing line. In fact, towing lines need to be replaced regularly, which is relatively expensive, and furthermore, a towing line failure could put the vessel and his load in danger.
There is therefore a need for a towing system that allows for safe rendering and recovery features without damaging the towing system structure or the towing rope.


The present invention is directed to a water separator for separating a two-phase stream into a liquid water component and a gas component. The water separator includes a housing defining a cavity and includes an input port, a gas output port and a water output port. A hydrophobic filter is provided in the cavity and interposed between the input port and the gas output port so as to prevent a liquid water component of a two-phase stream of gas and water entering the input port from exiting the gas output port. A hydrophilic filter is provided in the cavity and interposed between the input port and the water output port so as to prevent the gas component entering the input port from exiting the water output port. The gas component separates from the water component by passing through the hydrophobic filter and leaving the separator through the gas output port, and the liquid component separates from the gas component by passing through the hydrophilic filter and leaving the water separator through the water output port.

A fuel cell power plant must manage its product water. This is normally accomplished by evaporative removal or entrainment from the cell stack assembly (CSA) by one or both of the fuel and oxidant reactant vent streams. The product water that is produced by the chemical reaction between hydrogen in the fuel reactant and oxygen in the process oxidant reactant is then typically passed on to a downstream condenser/sump where the product water is collected and stored for disposition within or outside the fuel cell system.
Land based fuel cell power plants employ gravity to separate its product water from the gaseous reactant exhaust. Power plants located in space and operating in a zero-gravity environment separate the water by centrifugal means. Centrifugal separation is accomplished by a high rotational speed pump/separator which has inherent high frequency noise and high energy torque associated with its operation. A drawback with the above-mentioned separation methods is that they are not suitable for underwater, space or terrestrial applications where gravity and/or attitude independence, low rotational torque and stealth are imposed simultaneously.
In response to the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a static water separator which overcomes the drawbacks and disadvantages of prior water separator systems. Other objects and advantages of this invention will become more readily apparent when the following description is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Apparatus for separating water from a two-phase stream


A method, system and software for broadcasting, receiving, providing and/or configuring an electronic program guide (EPG). A broadcast station broadcasts a template to a system where program information is inserted into the broadcasted template, thereby creating a station specific EPG. The template accesses program information, service information, event information, user interface information, etc., for configuration and presentation of the EPG to the user. User interface assets and other associated information such as program information, tuning information, etc., may be accessed through a local data base or even through a broadcast signal containing the desired information. Event handling instructions are provided for selecting programs and events and accessing service information, tuning information, etc., for selected programs and events. Additionally, application program interfaces are accessible for execution, tuning, program, and scheduling information, etc. Templates are provided through a propagated signal wherein the signal may contain further information relating to channel information, user preference information, application information, return channel information, etc.

Electronic program guides (EPGs) provide consumers with a means of identifying services and events available through a television transport stream. EPGs may be embedded as applications in a DTV (digital television) receiver. These embedded EPGs are commonly tailored to the needs of the receiver manufacturer or, in the case of a cable system, the needs of the cable operator.
An alternative to embedded EPGs is to broadcast or insert a template that configures an EPG within the bandwidth of DTV channels. This strategy permits the broadcaster to tailor the EPG template to their needs, whether that be through branding, emphasizing their own content, or enhancing their revenue stream through advertising or additional data services.
With today's receivers, consumers may explore available programming through an embedded EPG. This embedded EPG rarely emphasizes the branding of one broadcaster over another, preferring to emphasize the manufacturer's branding over that of the current channel's broadcaster. With the broadcast EPG of the future, broadcasters will no longer have to relinquish control of how their branding and programming are delivered to the consumer. In addition, broadcasters will be able to emphasize current programming, what's on next, as well as big ticket events of the future. Additional revenue opportunities will be available to broadcasters using broadcast EPGs through the use of user-interactive links such as advertising, links to additional content, impulse purchase items, etc. Additionally, DTV receivers of the future will be able to download and execute applications delivered through the DTV transport stream.
What is needed is a system, method and software for providing additional electronic program guide information. The system should provide a customizable electronic program guide template capable of being inserted into a television transport stream. The electronic program guide template should be further enabled to call and execute applications, as well as provide an interface with which the user can interact.

Method, system, and software for creating and utilizing broadcast electronic program guide templates