A separator is provided for a fixing device including a rotary fixing member that fixes a toner image on a recording medium and a rotary pressure member pressed against the rotary fixing member to form a fixing nip portion for nipping the recording medium. The separator includes a separation plate and plate-shaped spacers. The separation plate is disposed downstream of the fixing nip portion in a medium feeding direction, with an edge portion of the separation plate facing an outer circumferential surface of the rotary fixing member or the rotary pressure member. The spacers are disposed between portions of the edge portion of the separation plate and the outer circumferential surface of the rotary fixing member or the rotary pressure member to surround the portions of the edge portion in a direction intersecting with an extending direction of the edge portion.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a separator, a fixing device including the separator, and an image forming apparatus including the fixing device.
2. Related Art
An electrophotographic image forming apparatus, such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine combining the functions of these apparatuses, performs image formation by forming an electrostatic latent image on an image carrier, developing the electrostatic latent image with a development device to form a toner image, transferring the toner image onto a recording medium, and fixing the toner image on the recording medium with a fixing device.
Such a fixing device includes a rotary fixing member, such as a fixing roller or a fixing belt, and a rotary pressure member, such as a pressure roller, disposed facing and pressed against the rotary fixing member to form a fixing nip portion. The fixing device fixes the toner image on the recording medium with heat and pressure by having the recording medium fed through and nipped by the fixing nip portion formed between the rotary fixing member and the rotary pressure member.
To prevent the recording medium having passed through the fixing nip portion from winding around the rotary fixing member or the rotary pressure member (hereinafter simply referred to as the rotary member), the fixing device further includes a separator for separating the recording medium from the rotary member. The separator has a substantially planar band shape, for example, and disposed parallel to the axial direction of the rotary member, with an edge portion in the lateral direction (i.e., a long edge portion) of the separator located close to and facing the outer circumferential surface of the rotary member across a certain predetermined gap. If the gap is too narrow, the separator and the rotary member may come into contact with each other, generating stress on the rotary member. If the gap is too wide, the recording medium may pass through the gap and wind around the rotary member without separating therefrom. Therefore, the separator is provided with a positioning mechanism for providing an appropriate gap between the separator and the rotary member.
For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, the fixing device may include a separator 817 including a planar band-shaped separation plate 830 having surfaces formed with a fluororesin layer 832, a bracket 831 for supporting the separation plate 830, and positioning members 836 formed integrally with opposed end portions of the separation plate 830 by bending, for example. The separation plate 830 may be superimposed on and attached to an outer surface 831a of the bracket 831, with an edge portion 830a in the lateral direction of the separation plate 830 projecting from an edge portion of the bracket 831. The shape and so forth of the positioning members 836 may be determined such that, when the positioning members 836 come into contact with a rotary shaft 838 of a fixing roller 837, a predetermined gap is formed between the edge portion 830a (specifically, the fluororesin layer 832 covering the edge portion 830a) and the surface of the fixing roller 837.
Alternatively, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6, the fixing device may include a separator 938 having opposed end portions attached with positioning members (i.e., contact members) 939. The shape and so forth of the positioning members 939 may be determined such that, when the positioning members 939 come into contact with opposed end portions of the outer circumferential surface of a fixing roller 921, a predetermined gap is formed between an edge portion 938a of the separator 938 and the fixing roller 921.
In the above-configured separator 817, however, the positioning members 836 are provided at respective positions separated from the edge portion 830a of the separation plate 830 (specifically, the fluororesin layer 832 covering the edge portion 830a), which forms the gap between the edge portion 830a and the fixing roller 837. Therefore, the shape tolerance of the positioning members 836 and the separation plate 830, for example, may affect the gap, reducing the accuracy with which the gap is formed.
Also in the above-configured separator 938, the positioning members 939 are provided at respective positions separated from the edge portion 938a of the separator 938, which forms the gap between the edge portion 938a and the fixing roller 921. Therefore, the shape tolerance of the positioning members 939 and the separation plate 938 and the installation tolerance of the positioning members 939 may affect the gap, reducing the accuracy with which the gap is formed, similarly as in the separator 817.

Separator, fixing device, and image forming apparatus


A spin transport channel includes a dielectric layer contacting a conductive layer. The dielectric layer includes at least one of a tantalum oxide, hafnium oxide, titanium oxide, and nickel oxide. An intermediate spin layer contacts the dielectric layer. The intermediate spin layer includes at least one of copper and silver. The conductive layer is more electrochemically inert than the intermediate spin layer. A polarizer layer contacts the intermediate spin layer. The polarizer layer includes one of a nickel-iron based material, iron, and cobalt based material. The conductive layer and intermediate layer are disposed on opposite sides of the dielectric layer. The dielectric layer and the polarizer layer are disposed on opposite sides of the intermediate spin layer. The intermediate spin layer is arranged to form a conducting path through the dielectric layer configured to transport a plurality of electrons. Each of the plurality of electrons maintains a polarized electron spin.

This disclosure relates to computational devices for accessing, storing and moving information, specifically an electron spin-based transport channel, component and method of using electron spin in a computational device.
Spintronics involves the use of electron spin in computing or other electronic applications and has application for use in computational devices, such as logic devices and memory devices. Electron spin is the intrinsic angular momentum associated with the electrons in one of two directions, or states. Electron spin could be used to move and store data in computing and electronic application. However, existing components do not use electron spin or do not maintain electron spin during use and transport.

Voltage controlled spin transport channel

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of Commerce


The present invention discloses a frequency-hopping carrier generator, which comprises a current source, a ramp generator and a switch power amplifier. The current source generates a first current; the first current is output to the ramp generator. The output of the ramp generator is coupled to a capacitor to generate a ramp voltage. The ramp voltage is connected to a voltage detection/direction control device and a PWM module. The PWM module receives an audio input signal and generates a PWM signal. When receiving a ramp voltage, the voltage detection/direction control device outputs a control signal to the ramp generator and a counter. The counter is coupled to a digital-control current source. According to the value of the counter, the digital-control current source outputs a second current to the ramp generator. The second current is merged with the first current. The merged current is used to charge/discharge the capacitor. The input end of the switch power amplifier receives a signal from the PWM module and modulates the audio input signal to output a class-D signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a frequency-hopping carrier generator, particularly to a filterless frequency-hopping carrier generator, which generates varied frequencies to reduce the EMI (Electro_Magnetic Interference) peak value according to a first current and a second current.
2. Description of the Related Art
The class-D amplifier (digital audio power amplifier) is an audio power amplifier converting an analog audio signal or a PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) signal into a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal or a PDM (Pulse Density Modulation) signal and then using the PWM or PDM signal to control the switching of a high-power switch device. Therefore, the class-D amplifier is also called a switch power amplifier. The class-D amplifier has a significant advantage: high efficiency. A class-D or digital amplifier comprises an input-signal processing circuit, a switching-signal generating circuit, a switch power circuit (half-bridge or full-bridge) and a low-pass LC filter. The class-D amplifier utilizes a very-high-frequency switching circuit to process audio signals and has the following characteristics:    1. Very high efficiency, usually above 85%; and    2. Compactness (saving much more space than an analog amplifier circuit); and    3. No cracking noise.
Conventional class-D amplifiers have a disadvantage of having to use a low-pass LC filter to reduce EMI, which not only increases the cost, but the bulkiness of a low-pass filter also impairs circuit design. Therefore, advanced manufacturers proposed filterless class-D power amplifiers. In a U.S. Pat. No. 6,545,533, Texas Instruments Incorporated proposed a filterless class-D amplifier using a pseudo noise generator. However, the pseudo noise generator does not synchronize with the PWM carrier of the Class-D amplifier. Thus, the beat frequency of the two signals will interfere with audio signals. As the signal of a pseudo noise generator is a random signal, the beat frequency interference signal thereof is also a random interference signal. Therefore, the interference cannot be reduced with a specific circuit.
In a U.S. Pat. No. 6,847,257, Maxim Incorporated also proposed a filterless class-D amplifier, which has an FFM (Fixed Frequency Modulation) mode and an SSM (Spread Spectrum Modulation) mode, in which a common-mode pulse is added into the original signal. The SSM mode can reduce EMI radiation generated by frequency modulation. However the frequency of the pulse width modulating is varied, cycle to cycle, on a pseudo random basis according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,847,257 claim 11 in Column 7.
Refer to FIG. 1 for a sample spectrogram of a conventional class-D amplifier; wherein the energy peak is −4 db, and the energy level at 5th harmonics is −20 db. Thus, the present invention proposes a frequency-hopping carrier generator, wherein the frequency modulation method is distinct from those mentioned above, to reduce EMI interference when LC filter is not in use. The improvement relative to FIG. 1 with present invention will be discussed in the Detailed Description of the Invention.


A scanning apparatus comprises a scanner body portion having an internal receptacle within a scan head portion thereof. A scanning control unit is disposed within the body portion separate from the receptacle and has an electrical connection that extends through the body portion to the receptacle. A removable optical module is adapted to engage the receptacle and be connected electrically to the scanning control unit through the electrical connection. The module includes an optical sensor adapted to receive light reflected from the bar code symbology through an opening through the body portion and convert the light into data representative of the symbology. The data is thereby provided to the scanning control unit. The optical sensor may comprise either a one-dimensional charge-coupled device, a two-dimensional charge-coupled device, an articulated laser, or a light emitting diode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electro-optical systems for reading a one or two-dimensional bar code symbology, and more particularly, to a generic handheld symbology scanner that can be adapted for various uses by selection of a removable modular optical unit.
2. Description of Related Art
Within the automatic data identification and collection industry, electro-optical systems are commonly used to decipher data symbols printed on objects in order to identify information regarding the objects. A conventional bar code symbol represents a one-dimensional form of symbology, and comprises a pattern of vertical bars of various widths separated by spaces of various widths. Since the bar and space elements have different light reflecting characteristics, a reader can convert the symbology into an electrical signal by analyzing the light reflected from the symbol. The electrical signal can then be decoded to provide an alphanumeric representation of the symbol which identifies the object. Bar code symbols of this nature are now in common usage in various types of applications, such as inventory management and control, point of purchase identification, logistical tracking systems, or time and attendance record keeping.
A bar code scanner typically uses a light source that is drawn, or scanned, across the bar code field. Since the bar code symbol is often disposed on the object to be identified, it is desirable for the scanner to be included in a handheld or portable device so that the scanner can be brought to the object. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are often utilized to provide the light source due to their light weight and low power requirements. The operator can physically move the LED across the bar code field, such as by use of a light pen. Though advantageous for some applications, these LED scanners have a rather limited scanning range. Greater scanning range can be achieved by a bar code scanner that includes movable mirrors to automatically articulate a light beam from a laser emitting source back and forth at a high rate to scan the light beam across the bar code field. Another scanning approach is to utilize a one-dimensional charge-coupled device (CCD) having a single one-dimensional row of imaging elements. The CCD device converts the printed information of the bar code symbol into an electrical signal representation. A one-dimensional CCD scanner can read an entire bar code symbol at once without requiring movement of the light source, as is necessary with the LED or laser emitting systems described above. As with the articulated laser scanners, however, one-dimensional CCD scanners are orientation dependent and must be aligned with the bar code symbol to accurately collect the information.
Since the conventional one-dimensional symbology requires a relatively large amount of space to convey a correspondingly small amount of data, so-called two-dimensional symbologies have been developed. A two-dimensional symbology may comprise a matrix that occupies a uniform amount of space having a generally rectangular or square shape. Instead of bars and spaces, round or square dots disposed at particular rows and columns of the matrix correspond to the characters being conveyed. As a result, a matrix symbology can compress significantly more data into a given volume of space than a conventional one-dimensional bar code. Examples of commercially available two-dimensional symbologies include Code One, Data Matrix, and PDF417.
Though some two-dimensional symbologies may be read using the conventional scanners described above, another approach is to convert the two-dimensional symbol into pixel information that is deciphered into the alphanumeric information represented by the symbology data. Such two-dimensional scanners may utilize two-dimensional CCD devices to obtain an optical image of the symbol and convert it into an electrical signal. These two-dimensional CCD scanners are not orientation dependent like the one-dimensional CCD or laser scanners, since the electrical signal may be processed to determine the rotational orientation of the symbol, remove any extraneous information, and thereby recover the alphanumeric information of the symbol. Thus, these two-dimensional scanners provide greater flexibility to the operator by permitting a symbol to be effectively read from a wide assortment of angles and orientations. An additional advantage of these two-dimensional scanners is that they can also be utilized to read one-dimensional symbology data, such as a conventional bar code symbol.
A drawback of each of the types of one and two-dimensional scanners described above is that they are not interchangeable and thus cannot be converted from one type to another. Each scanner type is optimized to use only one of the aforementioned optical sensors (e.g., LED, laser, CCD, etc.), which is mechanically and electrically integrated into the scanner in a permanent and non-removable manner. Since each scanner type has certain symbol reading applications for which it is most proficient and best suited, a user would select a scanner that is optimized for each particular application. Even if a user only utilizes scanners of the two-dimensional CCD type, there are differences in optical characteristics between individual scanners. For example, one type of CCD scanner may include focusing systems (i.e., lenses) optimized for scanning distances of less than one foot, while another type of CCD scanner may be optimized for distances of three to five feet. While a user can be ready for any scanning application by maintaining a supply of various types of scanners, it can be appreciated that this greatly increases the cost and complexity of operating an automatic data identification and collection system.
Accordingly, a critical need exists for an interchangeable scanner that can be optimized for various different applications. Moreover, such an interchangeable scanner should be able to operate with any type of optical sensor, and have a wide assortment of focusing characteristics.

Generic handheld symbology scanner with a modular optical sensor


Disclosed is an instrument panel designed to be integrated into an aircraft cockpit, the instrument panel comprising a main structure, extending longitudinally and having a concave shape defining a cavity, this cavity being configured to receive a plurality of navigation command and/or control units, and at least one inner wall, configured to delimit at least two recesses each intended to receive at least one of the plurality of navigation command and/or control units, the instrument panel being characterized in that the main structure is made from a single piece made from a composite material.

In a known manner, an airplane cockpit, mounted in a pilot cabin, comprises a plurality of interior furniture items allowing the various pieces of equipment necessary to pilot the airplane, such as control screens and flight control devices, to be received.
More precisely, the cockpit comprises, in a known manner, a central pylon, arranged between the two seats intended for the pilot and the co-pilot of the airplane and generally comprising the engine control lever, two lateral brackets, disposed on either side of the cockpit and each accessible by the pilot or the co-pilot, and an instrument panel, extending substantially transversely to the front of the cockpit. Such an instrument panel is especially configured to present different screens displaying data relating to navigation to the pilot and co-pilot.
In this document, the term transverse is defined with reference to FIG. 1, in which, by way of example, an airplane 100 extends longitudinally along an X axis, laterally along a Y axis and vertically along a Z axis so as to form an orthogonal reference frame (X, Y, Z). In such a reference frame, the term "transverse" defines an object extending along the width of the airplane 100 in the (Y, Z) plane. Furthermore, in such a reference frame, front and rear are defined along the X axis with reference to the displacement of the airplane 100 in flight. In other words, still with reference to FIG. 1, the front and rear of the airplane 100, and therefore of the pilot cabin 200, are defined along the X axis in FIG. 1 which is oriented from the rear to the front.
According to the state of the art, with reference to FIG. 2, an instrument panel 102 is an assembly of metal parts and panels, generally assembled by riveting or by means of bolts. Such a metal structure has the drawback of being heavy and complex to handle. Thereby, in a known way, each metal panel is perforated in order to lighten the structure while ensuring its rigidity. However, such an operation, generally carried out by machining, is complex to implement and increases manufacturing costs. Furthermore, such an assembly of metal parts has the drawback of generating numerous assembly clearances when assembling them, which can lead to significant stresses in the parts and significant loads in the fasteners, especially when these are loaded, for example during airplane take-off.
Also, an instrument panel is known, described in document FR 2964084 B1, made of a composite material with an alveolar structure known as "honeycomb". Such a material ensures both rigidity and lightness of the structure. The instrument panel described in document FR 2964084 B1 is in the form of a panel, thus having a reduced thickness and therefore small overall size in the pilot cabin. However, such an instrument panel only allows the integration of thin monitors, such as flat screens for example.
However, in an airplane cockpit, each display device is generally associated with computing means allowing the analysis of the data processed by the monitor. Such computing means provide the display device with larger dimensions than those of a flat screen. However, the instrument panel described in document FR 2964084 B1 only allows the integration of display devices whose computing means are unsecured from the screen. Thus, such an instrument panel does not allow the integration of all types of monitor, which is a major drawback.
One of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a lightweight, robust and simple to manufacture instrument panel allowing the integration of any type of display screens. In particular, one object of the present invention is a one-piece instrument panel configured to ensure modularity of the locations of the navigation control and/or monitor pieces of equipment, while limiting the number of fasteners.
From document FR 2939766A1, a central pylon disposed between the seats of the two pilots and comprising a shell of composite material is known. However, FR 2939766A1 does not describe an instrument panel placed in front of the pilot seats.


In one aspect, the invention provides a process for the preparation of compounds of Formula I

Ester derivatives of the Formula I
    wherein R1 is —CN, —OP, alkyl, aryl or heteroaryl;    wherein P represents any suitable protecting group; and R2 is alkyl or aryl;are valuable chiral synthons for synthesizing compounds which are known anti-hyptercholesterolemic agents having an inhibitory effect on HMG-CoA reductase (See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,003,080, 5,169,857, 5,354,772; PCT Application WO 01 85702; European Patent Application EP 0304063).
The most common approach for achieving stereoselective synthesis of compounds of Formula I is the reduction of Formula II
    wherein R1 is —CN, —OP, alkyl, aryl or heteroaryl; wherein P represents any suitable protecting group; and R2 is alkyl or aryl;    using special borane reagents (See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,273,995, 5,470,981, 5,489,691). However, reagents such as methoxydiethylborane are hazardous and expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,615 describes an enzymatic synthetic route. This process, however, is not industrially scalable and involves large volumes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,722 describes a process starting from commercially available ethyl-ω-chloroacetoacetate or its benzyloxy derivative. Disadvantages of this process are that a stereoselective reduction using a ruthenium-BINAP catalyst is employed and the desired compound of Formula I is obtained in six steps.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,009 describes a process starting from 4-phenyl-3-butenoic acid and achieves the desired compound in about 5 steps. The process uses hazardous steps (e.g. ozonolysis) to obtain the desired product.
Exemplary synthetic approaches for the preparation of statins using compounds of Formula I are depicted in Schemes 1-6.
The present invention has several advantages over known methods. The process of the present invention is safe and non-hazardous, cost-effective, industrially scalable, requires few steps, and is commercially viable.

Process for stereoselective reduction of β-ketoesters

Abstract: wherein R1 is —CN, —OP, alkyl, aryl or heteroaryl; wherein P represents any suitable protecting group; and R2 is alkyl or aryl;by reacting a compound of Formula II

Abstract: wherein R1 is —CN, —OP, alkyl, aryl or heteroaryl; wherein P represents any suitable protecting group; and R2 is alkyl or aryl;witha reducing agent (e.g. sodium borohydride) in the presence of a metal halid (e.g. CeCl3) or a metal alkoxid (e.g. Ti(OiPr)4).


An image decoding method for decoding a bitstream including a coded signal resulting from coding tiles and slices into which an image is partitioned, the method including decoding the coded signal, wherein each of the slices is either a normal slice having, in a header, information used for an other slice or a dependent slice which is decoded using information included in a slice header of another slice, and when the normal slice starts from a position other than a beginning of a first tile, a second tile coded next to the first tile does not start from the dependent slice.

At present, the majority of standardized video coding algorithms are based on hybrid video coding. Hybrid video coding methods typically combine several different lossless and lossy compression schemes in order to achieve the desired compression gain. The hybrid video coding is also the basis for ITU-T standards (H.26x standards such as H.261 and H.263) as well as ISO/IEC standards (MPEG-X standards such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4).
The most recent and advanced video coding standard is currently the standard denoted as H.264/MPEG-4 advanced video coding (AVC) which is a result of standardization efforts by Joint Video Team (JVT), a joint team of ITU-T and ISO/IEC MPEG groups.
A video coding standard referred to as High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) is also currently examined by Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC) with the purpose of improving efficiency regarding the high-resolution video coding.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Image decoding method, image coding method, image decoding apparatus, image coding apparatus, and image coding and decoding apparatus


In one embodiment, prior to similarity measure computation, concept expansion based on disjunctive normal form (DNF) decomposition and non-conventional reasoning is applied to an original ontology to generate an expanded ontology having the original concepts plus one or more pseudo concepts. As a result, the similarity measure computation can produce results that more accurately reflect a human point of view than convention techniques.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer network-based structured data and, more specifically but not exclusively, to semantic similarity measures for structured data.
2. Description of the Related Art
This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of the invention. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is prior art or what is not prior art.
Data on a computer-based network, such as the World Wide Web, can be linked using structured meta-data. Structured data enables many applications to be developed and to interact using machine-readable and machine-understandable vocabularies. For instance, in the case of network management, structured data of different equipment can be compared to detect failure and to propose recovery solutions. In a banking context, so-called "structured big data" can represent banking transactions and user profiles that an analysis can turn into assets such as proposing targeted products or advertisements to customers.
In the context of data structured using Semantic Web principles, data is annotated by concepts and properties having been formally defined in an ontology, i.e., defined using logical constructors of a given description logic. The comparison of such semantically enriched structures is usually done by applying one or more similarity measures that attempt to characterize how different structures are similar or how they relate to each other. A plethora of similarity measures applied to ontological data have been designed that rely on different points of view to interpret data descriptions (e.g., based on the main concept that they embody, taking into account all their features, etc.).
The problem with existing similarly measures is that the methodology used to compute similarities may easily lead to poor results when complex semantic descriptions are based on highly expressive description logics. In particular, either the similarity measures ignore most of the semantics (i.e., the logical constructs used to represent concepts and properties mapped on data) or they take such semantics into account too strongly, leading to weak similarity measurements for two concepts that would be considered close from a human point of view.


A transceiver antenna has a transmit antenna coil defining a substantially closed transmit coil geometry circumscribing a transmit coil inner area. The transmit antenna coil is configured to conduct a current to generate a magnetic field. One or more receive antenna coils each define a closed receive coil geometry with a number of coil turns. The receive antenna coils are positioned to define one or more inner areas located within the transmit antenna coil inner area and one or more outer areas located outside of the transmit antenna coil. The inner areas and the outer areas of the receive antenna coil(s) are configured so that a first voltage induced by the transmit magnetic field into the outer areas of the receive antenna coils is attenuated by a second voltage induced by the transmit magnetic field into the inner areas of the receive antenna due to phase cancellation.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to antennas for communication and more specifically to a near-field magnetic communication antenna.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Magnetic near-field communication provides secure communications with uses that include but are not limited to access control, financial transactions, and security systems. Some systems for near-field communication use a transmit antenna and a separate receive antenna. Coupling of the transmit magnetic field to the receive antenna plagues these types of systems because the transmit signal voltage is orders of magnitude greater than the desired receive signal voltage. For example, in some systems, the transmit signal voltage is about 400 volts and the desired receive signal voltage is about one volt or less. Therefore, to avoid overloading the receiver circuitry, transmit/receive switches are currently used to isolate the receiver from the transmitter when the transmitter is transmitting. These switches add significant cost and complexity to near-field communication systems due to the cost of the switch itself and also due to the need to control the transmit/receive switch to ensure the receiver is protected. The use of a transmit/receive switch, however, does not allow simultaneous transmitting and receiving of signals. Therefore, such a system is restricted to half-duplex communication only.
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of typical transceiver 4 of the prior art. The transceiver 4 includes a transmitter 1, a receiver 2, and a transmit/receive switch 3. The transmitter 1 is connected to a transmit coil 5 and the receiver 2 is connected to a receive coil 6 via the transmit/receive switch 3. When the transmitter 1 is transmitting, the transmit/receive switch 3, is switched to ground 7 so that no current or voltage from the transmitted signal is coupled into the receiver 2. As a result, the receiver 2 is protected from the high-power transmit signal. When the transceiver 4 is in receive mode, the transmit/receive switch 3 connects the receiver 2 to the receive coil 6, thereby allowing the receiver 2 to receive the desired signal. When the transceiver 4 is receiving, the transmitter 2 is turned off.
In some embodiments of the prior art, the transmit coil and the receive coil are the same coil. In such a system with only one coil, the transmit/receive switch 3 switches between the transmitter 1 and the receiver 2 depending on the state of the transceiver 4. Therefore, simultaneous transmitting and receiving is not possible.
Much work has been done to optimize loop antennas for electronic article surveillance systems. The prior art includes antennas disclosed by Lichtblau (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,938,044 and 4,251,808), Bowers et al. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,602,556 and 5,914,692), Stewart (U.S. Pat. No. 8,854,188), Rhodes et al. (GB 2,475,842A and US 20090160725A1), and Manov et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,836,216). All of these patent references disclose antenna designs that use a single function transmit antenna and a single function receive antenna that are separated by a small distance. These systems detect signals within a range of a few meters and are not used for communication.
Rhodes et al. disclose a transmit-receive antenna that has a transmit loop antenna and a receiver solenoid antenna positioned with its axis in the plane of the transmit loop antenna. The collocated transmit and receive antennas reduce the signal generated in the solenoid receiver antenna during transmit because the receive coils are aligned orthogonally to the magnetic field generated by the transmit coil.
Manov et al. disclose an electronic article surveillance system that has two antenna arrays placed in a spaced-apart parallel relationship, where each antenna consists of two coil assemblies. Each coil assembly has a transmitting coil, a receiving coil, and a compensating coil, where windings of the receiving coil are farther from the windings of the transmitting coil than those of the compensating coil. Antennas are powered in different phases to generate a magnetic field of different orientations within an interrogation zone between the arrays. When a marker is placed near the antenna assembly, the field disturbances produced by its re-magnetization induce voltages in both the receiving coil and in the compensating coils. When used in a theft-prevention system, for example, a person passing through the gap (i.e., the interrogation zone) between the transmit and receive antennas while carrying an article containing a surveillance marker would be detected based on disturbances in the magnetic field. To prevent false alarms due to a shopper merely passing near the system with a surveillance marker, these systems use signal phasing in multiple loops to reduce the range of the signal.
Stewart discloses a radio frequency identification (RFID) system that includes multi-loop signal-cancelling antennas and RFID transponders. The system reduces interference from nearby metal structures in animal and livestock applications. The signal-cancelling antennas limit the spatial penetration of the antenna's magnetic field beyond the vicinity occupied by the RFID transponder. In Stewart's system, a single multi-loop antenna is used for transmit and receive functions. The loops of the signal-cancelling antenna are connected in series, all loops of the antenna have the same number of windings, and loops carry the same electrical current when driven by the signal.
In contrast to systems used for theft prevention and livestock inventory systems, some near-field magnetic communication systems use loop antennas to maximize the signal strength and distance rather than containing it to a small defined area. Additionally, some communications systems collocate the transmit and receive antennas in a closely spaced arrangement so that each communicating entity can both transmit and receive signals.

Near-field magnetic communication antenna


A hip and knee abductor having a pair of leg securing members and a center pocket integrally attached therebetween. The center pocket receives an air inflation means capable of receiving, retaining and expelling air. The introduction of air in the air inflation means permits abduction of contracted legs. The unique use of the air inflation means permits the use of the abductor with fully contracted legs. A pair of rigid plates are inserted within retaining pockets formed in the pair of leg securing members for communicating with the expandable air inflation means and thereby applying lateral pressure to an inner portion of contracted legs.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to hip and knee orthosis devices. More particularly, it relates to a hip and knee abductor having an inflatable air bladder.
2. Description of Prior Art
Hip and knee orthosis devices are known in the prior art. Traditionally, they were used to stabilize the hip and knees of a patient who had experienced trauma to the lower portion of the body. Many of the prior art devices incorporated a pair of curved, rigid members for positioning juxtaposed to the inner thigh portion of the patient. A soft and pliable material is inserted over the rigid members for contact with the person's skin. A static center element is mounted between the rigid members retaining the patient's hip and knees in a stabilized position for treating hip and knee contractures and post operative lower extremity adduction.
In an effort to permit range of motion in a patient experiencing knee contractures and post operative lower extremity adduction, improvements in the above described device were developed. Such improvements enabled the orthosis to be adjusted permitting hip and knee abduction and range of motion to the affected joints. One example of such an improvement provided a center bar having a plurality of holes for receiving a spring loaded pin. The pin can be positioned in any one of the holes for providing different levels of abduction. Although the device has proven to be effective in providing different levels of abduction, the repositioning of the pin has proven to be awkward. In addition, the prior art devices can be difficult to insert between the contracted knees of a patient experiencing extreme contractures, such that a very small space remains between the two opposed inner lateral portions of a patient's contracted knees. Yet further, such prior art devices rely on predetermined positioning. A prior art device as described above does not allow for very small incremental changes to the positioning. Accordingly, a first position could be too small of an amount of abduction while a second adjacent position could be too much of an amount of abduction.
An improved hip and knee orthosis is needed, permitting knee and hip abduction and range of motion to the affected joints which does not utilized a center bar positioning portion and permits very minute incremental abduction changes.


Methods and apparatus for providing an external flash and a global shutter for a device with an integrated rolling shutter camera entail synchronization of the external flash and shutter with the rolling shutter. Responsive to an indication from the device associated with the capture of one or more images, the external flash and shutter are controlled so that exposure is completed before the rolling shutter readout of the camera sensor begins. The disclosed methods and apparatus allow for high quality flash photography not previously possible with such cameras, commonly found in mobile devices, or the like.

As technology evolves and mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets become increasingly commonplace in a wide variety of environments including retail as well as medical settings, among others, there is a growing demand for mobile devices that can capture high quality images using only the camera available on such devices. In doing so, computing device, camera, imaging system, consultation screen and communications device, can all be merged into one portable device.
The ability to capture high quality images is particularly important for applications in which the images are to be further processed and analyzed, such as by image processing systems for identifying, characterizing, or measuring various conditions present in the images. One such application, for example, is in providing skin care consultation or treatment. This often entails the identification and characterization of certain skin conditions, some of which may not even be visible with the naked eye. If unable to minimize the effects of ambient lighting on the subject, the various algorithms and image processing techniques involved in such applications will provide substandard or erroneous results. Additionally for many such applications, standardization from image to image is important, particularly where images are to be compared, such as sequential images of subjects before and after treatment.
To achieve acceptable results, high-end DSLR cameras and well-controlled illumination environments have been typically used. For example, the VISIA system from Canfield Scientific employs a DSLR camera and multiple flash illumination sources within a booth-like enclosure to capture and analyze high quality facial images.
While the cameras built into tablets or other mobile devices are by no means equivalent in quality to high-end DSLR cameras, they have certainly made significant advances since their initial integration into such devices. One of their biggest drawbacks, however, is the lack of a high quality flash illumination source.
Flash photography has been around for over a century and relies on the principle that by creating an intense burst of light in a fraction of a second, the effects of ambient lighting can be negated or at least temporarily reduced as a photographic image is captured. Xenon flashes have been commonly used as illumination sources in flash photography.
While some mobile devices have LED "flashes" integrated therein, these are not nearly as bright as a typical xenon flash and do not operate in a similar manner. Rather than being pulsed for a fraction of a second to emit an intense burst of light, the LED flash of a mobile device is typically turned on as an image capture sequence begins and remains on for the entire process. The LED "flash" of a typical mobile device simply cannot match the performance of a xenon flash to minimize the effects of ambient lighting.
An additional complication arises from the use of a rolling shutter, typical of cameras used in mobile devices. With a rolling shutter, a still picture (in a still camera) or each frame of a video (in a video camera) is captured, not by taking a snapshot of the entire scene at a single instant in time, but rather by rapidly scanning across the scene, either vertically or horizontally. In contrast to a "global shutter," in which the entire frame is captured at the same instant, with a rolling shutter not all parts of the image of the scene are recorded at exactly the same instant. As such, the scene can change as it is recorded piecemeal. During playback of a captured image, however, the entire image of the scene is displayed at once, as if representing a single instant in time. As a result, images captured by rolling shutter cameras will display predictable distortions of fast-moving objects or rapid flashes of light.
Additionally, if illuminated using a flash that is not properly synchronized with the rolling shutter, a captured still image may appear to have two distinctly delineated portions of markedly different brightness. This problem does not occur with the LED "flash" of a typical mobile device camera because the LED is typically turned on as an image capture sequence begins and remains on for the entire process. As mentioned, however, such LED light sources simply cannot match the brightness of a xenon flash which is activated for a much shorter period of time.
One possible approach to address this problem would be to use an external xenon flash. For proper operation, however, precise synchronization of the external flash with the operation of the camera integrated into the mobile device is essential. Access to the circuitry that controls the image capture functions of a typical mobile device, however, is severely limited or non-existent, thereby making it difficult to interface an external flash to a mobile device.
The lack of a high quality flash illumination source is clearly a limiting factor in any attempt to use a mobile device camera to provide the level of image quality and standardization that is required for many applications, such as those mentioned above.

External shutter and flash for rolling shutter camera


A spiral unit includes a base tube extended along a longitudinal axis and made of a first thermoplastic resin, and a fin disposed on an outer peripheral surface of the base tube along a fin axis spirally extended around the longitudinal axis and made of a second thermoplastic resin. The fin includes a strip portion provided in a state of being bonded to the outer peripheral surface of the base tube and spirally extended along the fin axis. The second resin being mixed with a magnetic material in the strip portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spiral unit having a fin spirally disposed around a longitudinal axis on an outer peripheral surface of a base tube extended along the longitudinal axis. Further, it also relates to an insertion apparatus provided with this spiral unit, and a manufacturing method of this spiral unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Specification of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/002981 discloses a spiral unit which is attached to an inserting section of an insertion apparatus, e.g., an endoscope apparatus. This spiral unit includes a base tube extended along a longitudinal axis, and a fin disposed on an outer peripheral surface of the base tube along a fin axis spirally extended around the longitudinal axis. The base tube and the fin are made of a rein. In a state where the spiral unit is attached to the inserting section, the base tube and the fin can rotate together in a periaxial direction of the longitudinal axis with respect to the inserting section. When the base tube and the fin rotate in a state where the fin abuts on a paries portion of a lumen paries or the like, propulsive force in a distal direction or a proximal direction acts on the inserting section.

Spiral unit, insertion apparatus, and manufacturing method of spiral unit


A method and system for constructing at least one intermediate frame of an image between first and second frames in a system such as a wired or wireless telephone network. The system identifies a plurality of points having at least one related characteristic in at least one of the first and second frames. The system determines if at least one of the plurality of points has changed its position between the first frame and the second frame. The system associates the at least one of the plurality of points that has changed its position with at least a first pixel in the first frame and a second pixel in the second frame. The system determines a relationship between a position of the first pixel and a position of the second pixel.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a communications system that communicates data over a narrow or limited bandwidth medium. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for transmission of video over narrow-band transmission channels, such as plain old telephone service (POTS) lines.
2. Description of the Related Art
Video telephones have existed within the marketplace for several years with limited commercial success. The lack of success of videophones is attributable in part to the fact that they do not work very well. It has been problematic to transmit sound and video of acceptable quality across existing telephone lines.
Some available video conferencing systems produce acceptable video and audio quality, and have met with some commercial success. These video conferencing systems depend on wide bandwidth communication connections such as leased lines, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), DSL (Digital Subscriber Lines) and the like. The high bandwidth is necessary to produce acceptable audio and video quality.
The available bandwidth on standard telephone lines has been too low to support industry standard 30 frames per second video. Currently, using compression, the best performance obtainable on standard U.S. telephone lines is approximately 15 video frames per second in one direction. Because 15 video frames per second is less than the persistence of the human eye, which is generally about 24 frames per second, the 15 video frames per second results in a jerky unacceptable video quality. Even with expensive compression hardware, the quality of the resultant video may be unacceptable.
There is therefore a need for video communications systems, which do not depend on expensive compression hardware and yet yield an acceptable video display when transmitted bi-directionally across standard analog telephone lines.

Method and apparatus for video communication over a limited bandwidth medium


A photoacoustic medical imaging device may include a substrate, an array of ultrasonic transducers on the substrate, at least one groove etched on the substrate, at least one optical fiber, and at least one facet. Each optical fiber is disposed in one of the grooves. Each facet is etched in one of the grooves and coated with a layer of metal having high infrared reflectivity. Each optical fiber is configured to guide infrared light from a light source through the fiber and toward the respective facet. The facet is configured to reflect the infrared light toward a target.

Photoacoustic Imaging (PAI) is a non-invasive medical imaging technique capable of viewing anatomical structures inside the tissue. Photoacoustic imaging may deliver both a high spatial resolution and a high contrast in medical imaging applications. To the contrary, conventional pulse-echo ultrasound medical imaging does not deliver both a high spatial resolution and a high contrast due to the similar acoustic properties of different body tissue. Compared to X-ray, photoacoustic imaging is a safer technique because it is non-ionizing and does not affect the molecules in the body.
Photoacoustic imaging is a relatively new technology and has not found its way too much into the clinical arena for use on humans, like ultrasound imaging has been for the last 50 years. One of the primary reasons is that the hardware has been less than desirable. Photoacoustic imaging makes use of infrared-induced ultrasound for constructing images of a target object. In this imaging process, the object to be imaged is flashed with a short near-infrared pulse, for example, a pulse in the order of nanoseconds. The long wavelength of near infrared light allows light to penetrate deep into the tissue. As the light is absorbed by tissue chromophores such as hemoglobin in blood, the tissue heats up and expands through a process called rapid thermoelastic expansion. This instantaneous tissue expansion creates ultrasonic waves which can be received by an ultrasound detector array placed outside the body. The received acoustic signals can be interpreted using beamforming algorithms to generate 2D or 3D images of the target tissue. PAI take advantages of the high contrasts of optical imaging and the spatial resolution of pure ultrasound imaging.
Photoacoustic imaging makes use of the infrared absorption rate difference of different kinds of tissue to create high-contrast images. Thus, different tissue absorbs different amounts of the infrared radiation and transmits ultrasound signals with dissimilar magnitude, phase, and/or frequency. These ultrasound signals are received by a transducer, summed up, and analyzed to produce images of the target tissue.
In photoacoustic imaging of humans and other animals with red blood cells, hemoglobin plays an important role in enhancing the image contrast because hemoglobin has a very high optical contrast when near infrared radiation is applied. As a result, high-contrast imaging of blood-containing structures in tissue, such as tumors or blood vessels, is one of the unique characteristics of photoacoustic imaging. By making use of this blood concentration/content related optical absorption, photoacoustic imaging may be useful for identifying diseases and/or abnormalities related to blood, including bleeding and (early-stage) cancer tumors. Thus, doctors can use photoacoustic imaging to recognize many problems that are difficult to identify via other techniques, such as, for example, ultrasonic imaging. In addition to viewing anatomical structure, photoacoustic imaging is capable of detecting composition of tissue and functional activities of an organ based on blood related infrared absorption rate differences.
In summary, traditional ultrasound imaging has low contrast in soft tissue, because the acoustic properties of different soft tissues are very similar. Photoacoustic imaging, on the other hand, delivers a much better contrast than ultrasonic imaging. Photoacoustic imaging is based on OPTICAL absorption for contrast, which depends primarily on the absorption spectrum of the tissue on the near-infrared light. The information is carried in the ultrasonic waves which allows for 3D imaging. One-way propagation of ultrasound is used to carry the information back to the ultrasound receiver. For photoacoustic imaging of live human or animal's tissue with red blood cells, hemoglobin provides significant help in boosting the contrast ratio. Due to the difference of imaging mechanisms, photoacoustic imaging delivers significant higher image contrast than traditional ultrasound imaging. The differences are especially significant on imaging of blood containing organs, e.g., cancer tumors.
Some conventional tubular ultrasonic internal imagers use piezoelectric transducers for transmitting and receiving ultrasound. Piezoelectric transducers used for medical imaging typically operate at a voltage higher than 100V. This high operation voltage requirement makes it difficult to fit these piezoelectric imagers into a miniature wireless unit for capsule endoscope applications; a wireless capsule endoscope powered by a battery is barely capable of providing such a high voltage even with the help of sophisticated voltage-pump circuits.
Recently, capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) emerged as a promising alternative for piezoelectric transducers for medical imaging. In the ultrasound transmission process, the membrane of a CMUT is generally biased with a d.c. voltage. An a.c. signal is superimposed on this d.c. bias to cause a time-varying deformation of the membrane. This membrane deformation stirs the ambient media and transmits ultrasound. In a reception process, the membrane is also biased with a d.c. voltage, typically smaller in magnitude than that required for the transmission process. The impinging ultrasound deforms the membrane and causes a change in capacitance which is read out by the control electronics. Generally, the ultrasound transmission process consumes much more power than a reception process. For wireless endoscopic applications, lowering the power consumption such that the ultrasonic imager can operate a longer time with a battery may be desirable for the feasibility of the technology.
Currently, one conventional practice for photoacoustic imaging uses a near-infrared laser to illuminate a target biological object. The laser may comprise, for example, a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser or a laser diode coupled to an optical fiber or a lens. A separately located ultrasonic transducer array is used to receive the ultrasound emitted by the tissue. This arrangement may facilitate exploratory experiments, but may not be suitable for clinical uses, since the relative positions between the infrared beam, the target tissue, and the ultrasonic transducer array have to be manually adjusted. The manual alignment/adjustment is time consuming and generally does not deliver the accuracy needed for clinical use. Thus, these systems are not friendly to end users like medical doctors.
In addition to non-invasive detection, photoacoustic imaging has been used in invasive diagnosis for which part or the whole imager system is placed inside the tissue or an organ to be examined. Since it is close to the target being explored, an invasive photoacoustic imager is able to pick up the ultrasound signal before it attenuates appreciably through the tissue. It may therefore provide a better signal-to-noise ratio and deliver an image quality not available from a non-invasive modality.
One example of an invasive photoacoustic imager is an imager used for intravascular diagnosis. Several different modalities have been proposed for intravascular photoacoustic imaging. For example, a commercial side-looking intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) head was tested for photoacoustic imaging of a blood vessel by illuminating the blood vessel from outside of the patient's body using an infrared laser. While preliminary phantom images were obtained with this approach, this setup has at least two drawbacks. First, due to decay and scattering of infrared light in the tissue, laser illumination from outside of the patient's body is generally insufficient in strength for the photoacoustic imaging process on vessels deep inside the body. Second, the obstruction/shadowing of illumination by the IVUS head itself and/or an organ like a bone may introduce a dead viewing angle which could block a significant amount of view.
A possible solution to the aforementioned problem may be to integrate the light source with the ultrasound transducers, thereby providing the infrared illumination from the imager. Such a concept has been utilized in a variety of photoacoustic imaging designs. For example, a front-looking photoacoustic imaging probe that integrates an optical fiber with a polymer ultrasound transducer for intra-arterial imaging has been prototyped. The imaging probe was made up of a 600 μm core diameter optical fiber with a focused polymer transducer element constructed around the core of the fiber at its tip. This device was demonstrated to be capable of receiving the ultrasound signals transmitted by a human's finger tissue and nail in a photoacoustic process. However, due to being equipped with only one single element instead of an array of ultrasound transducers, no actual imaging was achieved.
Another possible solution included a customized optical fiber head for infrared excitation and ultrasound reception. On this all-optical photoacoustic probe, a thermal-sensitive Fabry-Perot polymer film sensor was mounted at the end of an optical fiber for receiving the ultrasound transmitted by a target object in a photoacoustic process. The optical fiber was used to introduce infrared radiation from an external laser source to the target object for stimulation as well as to guide the reflected infrared radiation (which carries the ultrasound information) to an external signal processing optoelectronic unit. This device was designed to look at the forward direction in which the optical fiber tip is pointing and was incapable of side viewing.
The photoacoustic imaging devices of the present disclosure solve one or more of the problems set forth above.

Photoacoustic imaging devices and methods of imaging


A muffler assembly, comprising an outer muffler assembly comprising a plurality of fiberglass discs and a plurality of reactive plates, and an inner muffler assembly comprising a plurality of fiberglass discs and a plurality of reactive plates the inner muffler assembly generally surrounded by the outer muffler assembly and defining therebetween a gas flow gap.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a muffler assembly for dampening acoustic transmission. More particularly, the present invention relates to a muffler assembly for reducing sound transmission in chiller apparatuses.
(2) Description of Related Art
Water cooled chillers used in refrigerator assemblies are required to meet stringent noise level emission standards, such as those prescribed by OSHA. In particular, screw chillers, with low oil flow, tend to emit high levels of noise. The primary source of noise in such systems is the screw compressor.
The noise produced by the compressor is propagated either by gas, or by structure. It is possible to attenuate the intensity of the gas borne noise through the use of a muffler. It is therefore common in the art to employ a single muffler located in the center of a discharge pipe in order to reduce noise level emissions. However, it is often the case that noise level emissions are still above acceptable values even when employing a single muffler as described above.
What is therefore needed is a muffler arrangement for use in refrigerator systems capable of achieving a higher reduction in noise level as compared to that of the art.


An event logging system (5) includes one or more message sources for generating messages, an event logging library (54) for formatting the messages, a local event logging daemon (57) for distributing the messages, and one or more message destinations for receiving the messages. The local event logging daemon distributes the messages from said message sources to said message destinations. The message sources include one or more of an application (50), a hook (51), a kernel module (56), an internal buffer (59) and a remote event logging daemon (58). The message destinations include one or more of said hook, said internal buffer, said remote event logging daemon, a file system (52) and a mail system (53). The event logging system further includes a kernel logging daemon (55) for transmitting the messages from said kernel module to the event logging library. A related method for logging the messages is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer-enabled event logging system and method, and particularly to an event logging system and method adapted to different communication devices.
2. Description of Related Art
With the development of electronic network technology, communication devices such as bridges, switches, routers and gateways have proliferated. Users access a local area network (LAN) such as an intranet or a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet by use of the communication devices. Consequently, communication devices play a very important role in network communications. If any one of communicating devices in a network malfunctions, the entire network can break down. In addition, computer hackers frequently attack a destination device/system/network via the communication devices thereof. The communication devices are liable to be used as tools for invasion by hackers.
In order to protect a network from the above-mentioned problems, a conventional approach is building up an event logging system adapted to the communication devices. The event logging system logs events that happen to the communication devices every day by employing special software. With the event logging system, network administrators are able to not only monitor performance and statuses of the communication devices, but also track invasion by hackers. Thus the event logging system is very important for maintaining the stability and security of the communication devices.
Conventional event logging systems log events that happen to the communicating devices every day, and the resulting collection of logged events can build up quickly. Memory is rapidly expended, and maintenance costs are correspondingly high. The event logging system may become fully occupied by relatively unimportant events, and thus fail to log very important events as they happen. What is needed is an event logging system and method which can log events according to priority levels thereof.

System and method for electronic event logging

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


The invention is directed to purified and isolated novel DAKAR (death associated kinase containing ankyrin repeat) polypeptides, the nucleic acids encoding such polypeptides, processes for production of recombinant forms of such polypeptides, antibodies generated against these polypeptides, fragmented peptides derived from these polypeptides and the uses of the above.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to purified and isolated novel DAKAR (death-associated kinase containing ankyrin repeat) polypeptides and fragments thereof, the nucleic acids encoding such polypeptides, processes for production of recombinant forms of such polypeptides, antibodies generated against these polypeptides, fragmented peptides derived from these polypeptides, and uses thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Cell death occurs by one of two mechanisms, necrosis or apoptosis. Necrosis is uncontrolled cell death which usually results from environmental stresses such as severe trauma to cells. Cell death from apoptosis, however, results from specific internal signals that activate a cell""s death program. Therefore, apoptosis is termed programmed cell death.
The morphological changes that occur during apoptosis are characterized by DNA degradation by endonucleases, cytoplasmic and nuclear condensation, and the formation of membrane xe2x80x9cblebsxe2x80x9d or apoptotic bodies (T. G. Cotter et al., Anticancer Res, September-October: 10(5A):1153-9, 1990). Neighboring cells then move in to engulf the remaining cellular debris. Programmed cell death has been observed during early development and in immune responses where cells, such as lymphocytes, are eliminated via apoptosis when they are no longer needed (C. A. Janeway, Jr. and P. Travers, Immuno Biology G:3 (Garland Publishing Inc., 2nd ed. 1996)).
The biochemical mechanism driving apoptosis begins with a ligand/receptor induced signal that activates (in part through phosphorylation or dephosphorylation) other proteins, such as kinases, along the signal transduction pathway and ultimately concludes with the activation of the cell death program. Such ligand/receptor pairs that can induce apoptosis are, for example, TNF/TNF-RI, TNF/TNF-R2, CD95 ligand/CD95, TRAIL/TRAIL-R1, and TRAIL/TRAIL-R2.
Many of the receptors above and the intracellular kinases that play a role in transducing the signal from the membrane to the nucleus contain a stretch of 80 amino acids that is necessary to activate cell death. This xe2x80x9cdeath domainxe2x80x9d (DD) functions by interacting with other proteins via their DD or via self association. Over expression of many DD-containing proteins results in cell death, indicating that these proteins may play a role in apoptosis (K. Schulze-Osthoff et al., Eur. J. Biochem, 254:439-459, 1998).
Among the proteins involved in apoptosis are the eukaryotic protein kinases (e.g., cell death related kinases, cell proliferation related kinases, etc.). These kinases make up a large and rapidly expanding family of proteins related on the basis of homologous catalytic domains. Spurred by the development of gene cloning and sequencing methodologies, distinct protein kinase genes have been identified from a wide selection of invertebrates and lower eukaryotes, including Drosophila, Caenorhabditis elegans, Aplysia, Hydra, Dictyostelium, and budding (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and fission (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) yeast. Homologous genes have also been identified in higher plants. Protein kinases, however, are not limited to the eukaryotes. Enzyme activities have been well documented in prokaryotes, but the prokaryotic protein kinase genes are not obviously homologous to those of the eukaryotes.
Given the important function of kinases in general and DAKAR specifically, there is a need in the art for additional members of the kinase family. There is also a need in the art for the identity and function of proteins having linase activities. Moreover, given the important roles kinases may play in apoptosis, there is an unmet need for therapeutic compounds which interfere with apoptosis.
In another aspect, the identification of the primary structure, or sequence, of an unknown protein is the culmination of an arduous process of experimentation. In order to identify an unknown protein, the investigator can rely upon a comparison of the unknown protein to known peptides using a variety of techniques known to those skilled in the art. For instance, proteins are routinely analyzed using techniques such as electrophoresis, sedimentation, chromatography, sequencing and mass spectrometry.
In particular, comparison of an unknown protein to polypeptides of known molecular weight allows a determination of the apparent molecular weight of the unknown protein (T. D. Brock and M. T. Madigan, Biology of Microorganisms 76-77 (Prentice Hall, 6d ed. 1991)). Protein molecular weight standards are commercially available to assist in the estimation of molecular weights of unknown protein (New England Biolabs Inc. Catalog:130-131, 1995; J. L. Hartley, U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,758). However, the molecular weight standards may not correspond closely enough in size to the unknown protein to allow an accurate estimation of apparent molecular weight. The difficulty in estimation of molecular weight is compounded in the case of proteins that are subjected to fragmentation by chemical or enzymatic means, modified by post-translational modification or processing, and/or associated with other proteins in non-covalent complexes.
In addition, the unique nature of the composition of a protein with regard to its specific amino acid constituents results in unique positioning of cleavage sites within the protein. Specific fragmentation of a protein by chemical or enzymatic cleavage results in a unique xe2x80x9cpeptide fingerprintxe2x80x9d (D. W. Cleveland et al., J. Biol. Chem. 252:1102-1106, 1977; M. Brown et al., J. Gen. Virol. 50:309-316, 1980). Consequently, cleavage at specific sites results in reproducible fragmentation of a given protein into peptides of precise molecular weights. Furthermore, these peptides possess unique charge characteristics that determine the isoelectric pH of the peptide. These unique characteristics can be exploited using a variety of electrophoretic and other techniques (T. D. Brock and M. T. Madigan, Biology of Microorganisms 76-77 (Prentice Hall, 6d ed. 1991)).
Fragmentation of proteins is further employed for amino acid composition analysis and protein sequencing (Matsudiara, J. Biol. Chem. 262:10035-10038, 1987; C. Eckerskorn et al., Electrophoresis 1988, 9:830-838, 1988), particularly the production of fragments from proteins with a xe2x80x9cblockedxe2x80x9d N-terminus. In addition, fragmented proteins can be used for immunization, for affinity selection (R. A. Brown, U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,412), for determination of modification sites (eg. phosphorylation), for generation of active biological compounds (T. D. Brock and M. T. Madigan, Biology of Microorganisms 300-301 (Prentice Hall, 6d ed. 1991)), and for differentiation of homologous proteins (M. Brown et al., J. Gen. Virol. 50:309-316, 1980).
In addition, when a peptide fingerprint of an unknown protein is obtained, it can be compared to a database of known proteins to assist in the identification of the unknown protein using mass spectrometry (W. J. Henzel et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:5011-5015, 1993; D. Fenyo et al., Electrophoresis 19:998-1005, 1998). A variety of computer software programs to facilitate these comparisons are accessible via the Internet, such as Protein Prospector (Internet site: prospector.uscf.edu), MultiIdent (Internet site: www.expasy.ch/sprot/multiident.html), PeptideSearch (Internet site: www.mann.embl-heiedelberg.de...deSearch/FR_PeptideSearch Form.html), and ProFound (Internet site: www.chait-sgi.rockefeller.edu/cgi-bin/prot-id-frag.html). These programs allow the user to specify the cleavage agent and the molecular weights of the fragmented peptides within a designated tolerance. The programs compare these molecular weights to protein molecular weight information stored in databases to assist in determining the identity of the unknown protein. Accurate information concerning the number of fragmented peptides and the precise molecular weight of those peptides is required for accurate identification. Therefore, increasing the accuracy in determining the number of fragmented peptides and their molecular weight should result in enhanced likelihood of success in the identification of unknown proteins.
In addition, peptide digests of unknown proteins can be sequenced using tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) and the resulting sequence searched against databases (J. K. Eng, et al., J. Am. Soc. Mass Spec. 5:976-989 (1994); M. Mann and M. Wilm, Anal. Chem. 66:4390-4399 (1994); J. A. Taylor and R S. Johnson, Rapid Comm. Mass Spec. 11:1067-1075 (1997)). Searching programs that can be used in this process exist on the Internet such as Lutefisk 97 (Internet site: www.Isbc.com:70/Lutefisk97.html), and the Protein Prospector, Peptide Search and ProFound programs described above. Therefore, adding the sequence of a gene and its predicted protein sequence and peptide fragments to a sequence database can aid in the identification of unknown proteins using tandem mass spectrometry.
Thus, there also exists a need in the art for polypeptides suitable for use in peptide fragmentation studies, for use in molecular weight measurements, and for use in protein sequencing using tandem mass spectrometry.
The invention aids in fulfilling these various needs in the art by providing isolated Death Associated Kinase containing Ankyrin Repeats (xe2x80x9cDAKARxe2x80x9d) nucleic acids and polypeptides encoded by these nucleic acids. Particular embodiments of the invention are directed to an isolated DAKAR nucleic acid molecule comprising the DNA sequence of SEQ ID NO:1 and an isolated DAKAR nucleic acid molecule encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, as well as nucleic acid molecules complementary to these sequences. The invention also encompasses recombinant vectors that direct the expression of the nucleic acid molecules of the invention and host cells stably or transiently transformed or transfected with these vectors.
In addition, the invention encompasses methods of using the nucleic acid noted above to identify nucleic acids encoding proteins having kinase activity or proteins involved in apoptosis signal transduction.
The invention also encompasses isolated polypeptides and fragments thereof encoded by these nucleic acid molecules including soluble polypeptide portions of SEQ ID NO:2. The invention further encompasses methods for the production of these polypeptides, including culturing a host cell under conditions promoting expression and recovering the polypeptide from the culture medium. Especially, the expression of these polypeptides in bacteria, yeast, plant, insect, and animal cells is encompassed by the invention.
In general, the polypeptides of the invention can be used to study cellular processes such as immune regulation, cell death, cell migration, cell-to-cell interaction, and inflammatory responses. In addition, these polypeptides can be used to identify proteins associated with DAKAR kinases.
In addition, the invention includes assays utilizing these polypeptides to screen for potential inhibitors of DAKAR activity. Further, methods of using these polypeptides in the design of inhibitors thereof are also an aspect of the invention.
The invention further provides a method for using these polypeptides as molecular weight markers that allow the estimation of the molecular weight of a protein or a fragmented protein, as well as a method for the visualization of the molecular weight markers of the invention thereof using electrophoresis. The invention further encompasses methods for using the polypeptides of the invention as markers for determining the isoelectric point of an unknown protein, as well as controls for establishing the extent of fragmentation of a protein. Further encompassed by this invention are kits to aid in these determinations.
Further encompassed by this invention is the use of the DAKAR nucleic acid sequences, predicted amino acid sequences of the polypeptide or fragments thereof, or a combination of the predicted amino acid sequences of the polypeptide and fragments thereof for use in searching an electronic database to aid in the identification of sample nucleic acids and/or proteins.
Isolated polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies that bind to these polypeptides are also encompassed by the invention, in addition the use of these antibodies to aid in purifying the DAKAR polypeptide and to inhibit apoptosis.

Death associated kinase containing ankyrin repeats (DAKAR)


The present inventive concept relates to a print controlling terminal apparatus, print controlling method, image forming apparatus and method of controlling the same. The print controlling terminal apparatus according to the present inventive concept includes a user interface unit which inputs a set value determining whether or not to activate a state information analyzing operation of the image forming apparatus, storage unit which stores the input set value, print data generating unit which generates print data including the set value and spools the generated print data to the image forming apparatus, and a control unit which generates a notification message using the received state information according to the set value.

1. Field of the Invention
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the exemplary embodiments relate to a print controlling terminal apparatus, print controlling method, image forming apparatus and method of controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A host apparatus, for example a PC, is connected to an image forming apparatus (for example, a printer, scanner, complexer, facsimile, etc.) and periodically collects state information of the image forming apparatus. In addition, the host apparatus displays a notification message using the collected state information.
An operating system in a host apparatus sometimes provides a notification control function by itself. When the operating system is providing a notification control function by itself, it is possible to set up the operating system such that a notification message is only displayed on a screen at certain increments of time, for example, 1 hour, 3 hours, and 8 hours etc. In addition, when controlling a notification setting, it is possible to change a corresponding function setting by setting a notification message for application units (such as Metro applications, or "Metro apps") on or off. That is, in a case of a control menu which the operating system provides, it is possible to control determination of application units only.
However, in a case of an image forming apparatus, it is not possible to know which application it would be loaded and operated on, and thus there was a problem that it was impossible to control the notification setting with only setting application units on or off.
However, conventional messages are generated in response to all events defined in a driver event module, and thus it is impossible to determine a level of event that a user wants to be notified of, nor set a level such that only messages above the set level are displayed.
In addition, in conventional notification setting, in a case where it is connected by means of a TCP/IP to a host apparatus and image forming apparatus, a network packet is polled in periods defined in a Bidi XML for the notification function. Accordingly, since the image forming apparatus must switch out of a power saving mode when it receives a state information request signal of the host apparatus, there is a problem of an increase in electricity consumption.

Print controlling terminal apparatus, print controlling method, image forming apparatus, and method of controlling for analyzing state information


In a display apparatus (PI) displaying a closed-caption (Scc, DS) multiplexed in the first and second component video signals (Scv1: Y, PB, and PR, Svc2: Y and C) received from externally provided video signal sources, a video signal selector (7) selects one of said first and second component video signals (Scv1, Scv2); a closed-caption extractor (3) extracts the closed-caption (Scc, DS) from said selected one of first and second component video signals (Scv1, Scv2); and a controller (10) controls the closed-caption extractor (3) based on the format type of the selected first and second component video signals (Scv1 and Scv2).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display apparatus that will not fail to display a closed-caption superimposed on a component video signal provided thereto.
2. Description of the Background Art
In FIG. 5, the structure of a conventional display apparatus, typically a television receiver, is schematically shown. A conventional display apparatus PA includes a color-difference signal demodulator 1, a sync-separator 2, a closed-caption (hereinafter abbreviated as CC) decoder 3, an RGB processor 4, and a display 5.
The color-difference signal demodulator 1 demodulates a luminance signal Y and a chroma signal C of NTSC into a color-difference signal U (B-Y) and a color difference signal V (R-Y). The sync-separator 2 separates and extracts a horizontal synchronization signal H-SYNC and a vertical synchronization signal V-SYNC from the luminance signal Y.
The CC (Closed-Caption) decoder 3 extracts data from a closed-caption signal, which is a VBI signal superimposed on the NTSC video signal at the 21H of the first field. Further, the CC decoder 3 decodes the extracted data into RGB display signals and a switching signal Ys for on-screen display process. The RGB processor 4 demodulates component video signals Y, U, and V into RGB signals. The display 5 is structured by a CRT and other components, and displays an image based on the RGB signals.
The operation of the above display apparatus PA is now briefly described. A conventional NTSC composite video signal is separated into the luminance signal Y and the chroma signal C. These separated signals Y and C are then demodulated by the color-difference signal demodulator 1 into a component video signal Scv (not shown) composed of the luminance signal Y, the color-difference signal U, and the color-difference signal V. Note that the luminance signal Y and the chroma signal C may be provided via a so-called S terminal.
The luminance signal Y is provided to the color-difference signal demodulator 1 and also to the sync-separator 2. The sync-separator 2 separates the horizontal synchronization signal H-SYNC and the vertical synchronization signal V-SYNC from the luminance signal Y, and then outputs the separated signals to deflection circuits in the CC decoder 3 and the display 5.
The CC decoder 3 extracts the caption data from the closed-caption signal superimposed on the luminance signal Y. The CC decoder 3 also generates the RGB signals R, G, and B and the switching signal Ys that are synchronized with the synchronization signals H-SYNC and V-SYNC provided by the sync-separator 2, and outputs the generated signals to the RGB processor 4.
The RGB processor 4 switches, or exclusively selects the source of the RGB signals to be received based on the switching signal Ys. That is, if the switching signal Ys is invalid, the RGB processor 4 converts the luminance signal Y and the color-difference signals U and V provided by the color-difference signal demodulator 1 into RGB signals (R, G, B) for output. On the other hand, if the switching signal Ys is valid, the RGB processor directly outputs the RGB signals (R, G, B) provided by the CC decoder 3 to the display 5.
In FIG. 6, an example of the waveform of the closed-caption signal superimposed on the NTSC video signal (luminance signal Y) is shown. As stated above, a closed-caption signal Scc is multiplexed (superimposed) on the 21H of the first field of the NTSC video signal. The closed-caption signal Scc is synchronized with a clock during a clock line CL.
The closed-caption signal Scc is composed of a start bit SB (represented by S in FIG. 6) and a 16-bit (2-byte) data stream DS that include 2-byte-type control data, one-byte-type character data, and 2-byte-type special character data. A color burst signal is inserted between the clock line CL and the horizontal synchronization signal H-SYNC. A detailed description of the closed-caption code system is provided in FCC 91-119 and FCC92-157 by Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Therefore, further description is omitted herein.
In the conventional display apparatus as described above, closed-caption data can be extracted if the closed-caption data signal Scc is superimposed on the NTSC video signal, but cannot be extracted if superimposed on the component video signal. In other words, the conventional display apparatus does not support such a case where a closed-caption signal is superimposed on the luminance signal Y from upcoming video equipment having a terminal for a component video output composed of the luminance signal Y, a color-difference signal PB (Cb), and a color-difference signal PR (Cr).
Various video signal modes such as 480i, 480p, and 1081i are expected for digital broadcasting. Presently, video signals of such modes are received and demodulated by an STB (Set-Top Box), outputted as components Y, PB, and PR, and coupled to a display apparatus such as a television receiver. Of these video signal modes, a signal of the 480i-interlace mode is more likely to have a closed-caption signal superimposed thereon. In such a case, when signals of the other modes are decoded, a closed-caption will be erroneously detected.
In other words, it is assumed in the display apparatus PA, as in a non-progressive DVD player, that only the 480i-interlace video signal is outputted. However, when progressive DVD players emerge, instead of the 480i-interlace video signal, a 480p-progressive video signal of 480 valid scanning lines may be provided. Furthermore, when digital television broadcasting starts, a 1080i-interlace video signal or 720p-progressive video signal may be provided from a digital television STB rather than the 480p-progressive video signal.
However, it is assumed that the closed-caption signal Scc is superimposed on the 21H of the 480i video signal. Therefore, if a signal of another mode such as the above-mentioned progressive signal is directly provided to the display apparatus PA as the component video signal Scv, the CC decoder 3 may erroneously detect the provided component video signal Scv and provide an erroneous character display.

Method and apparatus for processing a plurality of format types of video signals which include closed-caption data

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A gas turbine engine 10 is provided with rigid raft assemblies 290, which may be electrical harness raft assemblies 290 comprising electrical conductors embedded in a rigid composite material. The rigid raft assemblies 290 can be provided with engine dressings, such as pipework and ECUs to produce an electrical raft assembly. In order to assemble or dress the gas turbine engine 10, the rigid raft assemblies can be pre-prepared to incorporate at least a part of at least one gas turbine engine system/component before being installed on the gas turbine engine 10. During maintenance, whole raft assemblies can be removed and replaced with corresponding, pre-prepared assemblies. This can save considerable time during engine build and maintenance.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to assembly and maintenance of gas turbine engines. In particular, aspects of the invention relate to the use of pre-prepared rigid raft assemblies in the assembly and/or servicing of a gas turbine engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical gas turbine engine comprises a number of components and/or systems that need to be attached thereto in order for the gas turbine engine to function in the intended manner. Such systems and/or components include, for example, fluid systems, electrical systems, monitoring systems and various electronic control units. These systems/components may be referred to as auxiliary (or ancillary) components/systems, and/or as engine dressings.
By way of example, FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings shows a typical gas turbine engine including two conventional wiring harnesses 102, 104, each provided with a respective connector component 106, 108 for connection to circuitry, which may be for example accommodated within the airframe of an aircraft in which the engine is installed. A conventional gas turbine engine such as that shown in FIG. 1 may also comprise a number of fluid pipes 116. Such fluid pipes 116, which may be for carrying any suitable fluid, such as liquid, gas or a combination thereof, may be mounted to the engine at available locations.
Such fluid and/or electrical systems/components are conventionally mounted directly to the engine, often using separate mounts for each system/component. Thus, the various systems/components conventionally form a complex array of pipes, leads, wires connectors and other components, each of which typically requires individually mounting.
With regard to the electrical system, a typical gas turbine engine has a substantial number of electrical components which serve, for example, to sense operating parameters of the engine and/or to control actuators which operate devices in the engine. Such devices may, for example, control fuel flow, variable vanes and air bleed valves. The actuators may themselves be electrically powered, although some may be pneumatically or hydraulically powered, but controlled by electrical signals.
Electrical power, and signals to and from the individual electrical components, are commonly transmitted along conductors. Conventionally, such conductors may be in the form of wires and cables which are assembled together in the harness 102, 104. The connections between the individual components and the conventional harness are made, for example, by the multi-pin plug and socket connectors 106, 108. Similarly, communication between the harness and power, control and signalling circuitry is achieved through a multi-pin connector.
The harnesses 102, 104 are assembled from individual wires and cables which are held together over at least part of their lengths by suitable sleeving and/or braiding. Individual wires and cables, for example those indicated at 110, emerge from the sleeving or braiding to terminate at plug or socket connector components 112 for cooperation with complementary socket or plug connector components 114 on, or connected to, the respective electrical components.
Each conventional harness 102, 104 therefore comprises a multitude of insulated wires and cables. This makes the conventional harness bulky, heavy and difficult to manipulate. The conventional harnesses 102, 104 occupy significant space within a gas turbine engine (for example within the nacelle of a gas turbine engine), and thus may compromise the design of the aircraft, for example the size and/or weight and/or shape of the nacelle.
With regard to the fluid systems, these may conventionally comprise fluid pipes 116 provided to the engine, for example in spaces between the electrical harnesses. The fluid pipes 116 may have separate mounts/attachments to the gas turbine engine. The fluid pipes 116, for example in combination with other engine dressings, such as the electrical systems occupy significant space within a gas turbine engine (for example within the nacelle of a gas turbine engine), and thus may compromise the design of the engine/aircraft, for example the size and/or weight and/or shape of the nacelle.
Thus, the complex arrangement of conventional engine dressings may be difficult and time consuming to assemble and/or attach/remove from the rest of the engine, difficult to manipulate, heavy, and/or bulky.
Furthermore, because conventional engine dressings (including, for example the electrical and fluid systems) comprise a large number of components, including various individual wires and/or bundles of wires, pipes, supporting components (such as brackets or cables) and electrical and/or mechanical connectors, the assembly/disassembly process is complicated (and thus susceptible to errors) and/or time consuming. Thus, in many build and maintenance (or repair or overhaul) procedures on a gas turbine engine, removal and subsequent refitting of the conventional engine dressings may account for a very significant portion of the operation time and/or account for a significant proportion of the potential assembly errors.
Still further, the conventional dressings, such as the fluid pipes and/or the electrical conductors in the conventional harnesses, may be susceptible to mechanical damage. For example, mechanical damage may occur during installation (due to exposed components and/or complicated assembly procedures) and/or during service (for example due to vibration). In order to reduce the likelihood of damage to the conductors in a conventional harness, protection such as sleeves/braiding may need to be reinforced/provided, adding still further weight and reducing the ease with which they can be manipulated.

Method of servicing a gas turbine engine


A system for intelligent cycling of a battery for improved lifetime longevity includes a charge interrupt predictor executable to predict a likelihood of a power source disconnect event interrupting a current flow to the battery within one or more segments of a future time interval. The system also includes a charge cycle model executable to model a charge cycle for the battery within the future time interval based on the charge interrupt prediction. The system further includes a charge cycling controller that controls battery circuitry to charge or discharge the battery in accord with the charge cycle model.

In many batteries, internal stresses vary with battery charge level. The total useable lifetime that a rechargeable battery is able to provide can be reduced by routine operation within "high stress" charge zones. Batteries of certain chemistries, such as lithium ion batteries, experience less stress when maintained within a medium-charge zone (e.g., around 50%) than when nearly drained (e.g., less than 10%) or when almost full (e.g., greater than 90%). Although useable battery lifetime is known to be extendable by maximizing the total time that a battery spends in lower stress charge zones (e.g., around 50% for some lithium-ion batteries), this motivation to reduce nominal battery charge level is often at odds with consumer demands for a battery to carry a maximum charge each time it is unplugged from a charging source.

Intelligent battery cycling for lifetime longevity