A detector for detecting information carried by a wobble signal having a sawtooth-like shape with a base frequency of fwob. The detector includes a first band-pass filter having a center frequency close to 2*fwob for filtering the wobble signal and generating a first filtered signal, a second band-pass filter having the center frequency close to fwob for filtering the wobble signal and generating a second filtered signal, first and second comparators for respectively comparing the first and second filtered signal with a reference voltage and generating first and second compared signals, a delay unit for delaying the second compared signal by a time period, and then outputting a delayed signal, and a sampling unit for sampling the first compared signal using the delayed signal as a sampling clock, and for outputting a sampled value representing the information carried by the sawtooth wobble.

The invention relates to a detector for detecting information carried by signal having a sawtooth-like shape.
Along with advances in optical disc technologies, a new generation of the optical disc rewritable format that is defined as the Blu-Ray has been developed. The track groove in the Blu-Ray optical disc has a wobble shape, and the basic wobble pattern of the track groove is a sine/cosine wave. In the Blu-Ray optical disc, one nominal wobble length (referred to as NWL hereinafter) is equivalent to 69 channel bits, which is the minimum record unit of the Blu-Ray optical disc.
The basic pattern of the wobble is a cosine wave: cos{2π*fwob*t}, where fwob denotes the basic frequency of the wobble. Wobbles in this basic shape are called "Monotone Wobbles" (MW). In addition, some wobbles are modulated in order to carry the address information which are referred to as the ADIP (Addresses in Pre-groove), of some record units on the disc, wherein two modulation methods are involved. The first modulation method is the minimum shift keying—cosine variant (referred to as MSK-cos hereinafter), and the second method is the harmonic modulated wave (referred to as HMW hereinafter).
FIG. 1 shows the definition of the MSK mark (referred to as MM hereinafter). As shown in FIG. 1, one MSK mark consists of three NWLs with the following wobble patterns:
a first NWL starts MSK mark with a cosine wobble with a frequency 1.5* fwob, and is given by cos{2π*(1.5*fwob)*t};
a second NWL continues the MSK mark with a cosine wobble with a frequency fwob, and is given by −cos {2π*fwob*t}; and
a third NWL terminates the MSK mark with a cosine wobble with a frequency 1.5*fwob, and is given by −cos{2π*(1.5*fwob)*t}.
FIG. 2 shows the definition of the sawtooth wobble (referred to as STW hereinafter), which is a wobble having a sawtooth-like shape. A STW is formed by combining the basic cosine wave and a sine wave of the double frequency and is given by:cos{2π*fwob*t}±a*sin {2π*(2*fwob)*t} in which a=0.25.
Such a combination of a cosine signal with the basic frequency fwob and a weighted second harmonic signal forms a sawtooth-like waveform. The "+" or "−" sign creates the left or right inclination of the waveform, where the "+" sign is used to represent an information bit of logic one, while the "−" sign is used to represent an information bit of logic zero.
FIG. 3 shows the typical ADIP structure of the Blu-Ray optical disc. The data to be recorded onto the optical disc must be aligned with the ADIP addresses which are modulated in the wobble. As shown in FIG. 3, 56 NWLs correspond to two recording frames and each group of 56 NWLs is called an ADIP unit. Each recording frame includes 1932 channel bits containing a sync filed and a data field. Moreover, two adjacent ADIP units are separated by a recording frame having a period of about 9.5 wobble cycles.
FIG. 4 shows the format of an ADIP unit. As shown in FIG. 4, the following types of ADIP units are defined:
monotone unit: consisting of 1 MM followed by 53 MW;
reference unit: consisting of 1 MM followed by 15 MW, 37 STW, and 1 MW;
sync—0 unit: consisting of 1 MM followed by 13 MW, 1 MSK mark, 7 MW, 1 MM, and 27 MW;
sync—1 unit: consisting of 1 MM followed by 15 MW, 1 MSK mark, 7 MW, 1 MM, and 25 MW;
sync—2 unit: consisting of 1 MM followed by 17 MW, 1 MM, 7 MW, 1 MM, and 23 MW;
sync—3 unit: consisting of 1 MM followed by 19 MW, 1 MM, 7 MW, 1 MM, and 21 MW;
data—1 unit: consisting of 1 MM followed by 9 MW, 1 MM, 3 MW, 37 STW, and 1 MW; and
data—0 unit: consisting of 1 MM followed by 11 MW, 1 MM, 1 MW, 37 STW, and 1 MW.
Hence, the ADIP addresses on the optical disc are positioned according to the unit types of the above-mentioned ADIP unit. So, in order to judge the unit types of the ADIP unit correctly, it is an important subject to correctly judge whether the information bit carried by the STW is logic one or logic zero.

Detector for detecting information carried by a signal having a sawtooth-like shape


While a photolithographed array internal to the retina provides superior resolution, an array external to the retina provides easier implantation and improved manufacturability. Therefore it is advantageous to supply a high-resolution electrode array internal to the sclera, near the fovea and a lower-resolution electrode array eternal to the sclera near the periphery of the retina.

In 1755 LeRoy passed the discharge of a Leyden jar through the orbit of a man who was blind from cataract and the patient saw "flames passing rapidly downwards." Ever since, there has been a fascination with electrically elicited visual perception. The general concept of electrical stimulation of retinal cells to produce these flashes of light or phosphenes has been known for quite some time. Based on these general principles, some early attempts at devising a prosthesis for aiding the visually impaired have included attaching electrodes to the head or eyelids of patients. While some of these early attempts met with some limited success, these early prosthetic devices were large, bulky and could not produce adequate simulated vision to truly aid the visually impaired.
In the early 1930's, Foerster investigated the effect of electrically stimulating the exposed occipital pole of one cerebral hemisphere. He found that, when a point at the extreme occipital pole was stimulated, the patient perceived a small spot of light directly in front and motionless (a phosphene). Subsequently, Brindley and Lewin (1968) thoroughly studied electrical stimulation of the human occipital (visual) cortex. By varying the stimulation parameters, these investigators described in detail the location of the phosphenes produced relative to the specific region of the occipital cortex stimulated. These experiments demonstrated: (1) the consistent shape and position of phosphenes; (2) that increased stimulation pulse duration made phosphenes brighter; and (3) that there was no detectable interaction between neighboring electrodes which were as close as 2.4 mm apart.
As intraocular surgical techniques have advanced, it has become possible to apply stimulation on small groups and even on individual retinal cells to generate focused phosphenes through devices implanted within the eye itself. This has sparked renewed interest in developing methods and apparati to aid the visually impaired. Specifically, great effort has been expended in the area of intraocular retinal prosthesis devices in an effort to restore vision in cases where blindness is caused by photoreceptor degenerative retinal diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age related macular degeneration which affect millions of people worldwide.
Neural tissue can be artificially stimulated and activated by prosthetic devices that pass pulses of electrical current through electrodes on such a device. The passage of current causes changes in electrical potentials across visual neuronal membranes, which can initiate visual neuron action potentials, which are the means of information transfer in the nervous system.
Based on this mechanism, it is possible to input information into the nervous system by coding the information as a sequence of electrical pulses which are relayed to the nervous system via the prosthetic device. In this way, it is possible to provide artificial sensations including vision.
One typical application of neural tissue stimulation is in the rehabilitation of the blind. Some forms of blindness involve selective loss of the light sensitive transducers of the retina. Other retinal neurons remain viable, however, and may be activated in the manner described above by placement of a prosthetic electrode device on the inner (toward the vitreous) retinal surface (epiretinal). This placement must be mechanically stable, minimize the distance between the device electrodes and the visual neurons, and avoid undue compression of the visual neurons.
In 1986, Bullara (U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,481) patented an electrode assembly for surgical implantation on a nerve. The matrix was silicone with embedded iridium electrodes. The assembly fit around a nerve to stimulate it.
Dawson and Radtke stimulated cat's retina by direct electrical stimulation of the retinal ganglion cell layer. These experimenters placed nine and then fourteen electrodes upon the inner retinal layer (i.e., primarily the ganglion cell layer) of two cats. Their experiments suggested that electrical stimulation of the retina with 30 to 100 uA current resulted in visual cortical responses. These experiments were carried out with needle-shaped electrodes that penetrated the surface of the retina (see also U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,933 to Michelson).
The Michelson '933 apparatus includes an array of photosensitive devices on its surface that are connected to a plurality of electrodes positioned on the opposite surface of the device to stimulate the retina. These electrodes are disposed to form an array similar to a "bed of nails" having conductors which impinge directly on the retina to stimulate the retinal cells. U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,049 to Byers describes spike electrodes for neural stimulation. Each spike electrode pierces neural tissue for better electrical contact. U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,088 to Normann describes an array of spike electrodes for cortical stimulation. Each spike pierces cortical tissue for better electrical contact.
The art of implanting an intraocular prosthetic device to electrically stimulate the retina was advanced with the introduction of retinal tacks in retinal surgery. De Juan, et al. at Duke University Eye Center inserted retinal tacks into retinas in an effort to reattach retinas that had detached from the underlying choroid, which is the source of blood supply for the outer retina and thus the photoreceptors. See, e.g., E. de Juan, et al., 99 Am. J. Ophthalmol. 272 (1985). These retinal tacks have proved to be biocompatible and remain embedded in the retina, and choroid/sclera, effectively pinning the retina against the choroid and the posterior aspects of the globe. Humayun, U.S. Pat. No. 5,935,155 describes the use of retinal tacks to attach a retinal array to the retina. Alternatively, an electrode array may be attached by magnets or glue. U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,844 to de Juan describes a flat electrode array placed against the retina for visual stimulation.
A human retina naturally provides very high-resolution near the fovea at the center of vision. Resolution near the periphery is much lower and is primarily designed to detect movement. When our peripheral vision detects movement, we move first our eyes, and then our heads toward the movement, detecting the object with our fovea. This happens so quickly and automatically, that we are generally unaware of the lower resolution in the periphery. Further, we tend to scan a scene and our brain remembers details after they are scanned by the fovea. This gives us the perception of continuous high-resolution vision.
Photolithographic techniques are the best know technique for creating an electrode array that approaches the natural resolution of the fovea. However, photolithographic techniques require that the array be made flat, not curved like the retina. Other techniques such a silicone molding over hand welded wires are easily made curved, but can not produce the high-resolution of a photolithographic array.
Further, it is necessary to implant electronic drivers for the electrodes external to the eye as the vitreous within the eye will not efficiently dissipate the heat of the electronics. It is difficult to pass a large number of wires through the sclera because the incision, or scleratomy, much heal and seal around those wires.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Retinal prosthesis with separate central electrode array and peripheral electrode array

Abstract: Even if a separate lower-resolution array is implanted internal to the sclera, super-choroidal (between the choroid and sclera) or intra-scleral (between the layers of the sclera), it is easier to make a lower-resolution array in a curved shape.


The present invention discloses a proofing head apparatus and a proofing printer for generating a proof. The proofing head assembly comprises a color light analyzer and a color printhead joined by a housing to align the color light analyzer and to direct both the printhead and the color light analyzer at a media. In certain embodiments a controller is provided to drive the color light analyzer to make color measurements of an image and to instruct the printhead to render images on a receiver media. The controller can adjust the colors printed by the printhead so that an image printed by the printhead will match the appearance of the same image as printed by another printer. The proofing printer assembly of the present invention incorporates the proofing head with a media advance and translation mechanism.

In the printing industry, it is common to provide a sample of an image to the customer for approval prior to printing a large number of copies of the image using a high volume output device such as a printing press. The sample image is known as a "proof". The proof is used to ensure that the consumer is satisfied with the contents, composition and color gamut and tone characteristics of the image.
It is not, however, cost effective to print the proof using high volume output devices of the type used to print large quantities of the image. This is because it is expensive to set up high volume output devices to print an image. Accordingly, it has become the practice in the printing industry to use digital color printers to print proofs. Digital color printers render color prints of images that have been encoded in the form of digital data. This data includes code values indicating the colors to be printed in an image. When the color printer generates the printed output of an image, it is intended that the image recorded on the printed output will contain the exact colors called for by the code values in the digitally encoded data.
In practice, it has been found that the colors in the images printed by digital color printers do not always match the colors printed by high volume output devices. One reason for this is that variations in ink, paper and printing conditions can cause a digital color printer to generate images with colors that do not match the colors produced by a high volume output device using the same values. Therefore, a proof printed by a digital color printer may not have colors that match the colors that will be printed by the high volume output device.
Accordingly, digital color printers have been developed that can be color adjusted so that they can mimic the performance of high volume output devices. Such adjustable color printers are known in the industry as "proofers". Two types of adjustments are commonly applied to cause proofers to produce visually accurate proofs of an image: color calibration adjustments and color management adjustments.
Color calibration adjustments are used to modify the operation of the proofer so that the proofer prints the colors called for in the code values of the images to be printed by the proofer. These adjustments are necessary to compensate for the variations in ink, paper and printing conditions that can cause the colors printed by the proofer to vary from the colors called for in the code values. To determine what color calibration adjustments must be made, it is necessary to determine how the proofer translates code values into colors on a printed image. This is done by asking the proofer to print a calibration test image. The calibration test image consists of a number of color patches. Each color patch contains the color printed by the proofer in response to a particular code value. The stand-alone calibration device measures the colors in the test image. The color of each color patch is compared to code values associated with that patch and the comparisons are used to determine what adjustments must be made to the proofer to cause the proofer to print desired colors in response to particular color code values.
Color management adjustments are used to modify the operation of the proofer so that an image printed by the proofer will have an appearance that matches the appearance of the same image as printed by a high volume output device. The first step in color management is to determine how the high volume output device converts color code values into printed colors. This is known as characterization. To characterize a high volume output device it is necessary to obtain a characterization test image. The characterization test image can be printed by the high volume output device. However, if it is known that the high volume output device converts code values into printed colors in accordance with an industry standard proofing system such as MatchPrint ™ or Cromalin ™, then a test image printed in accordance with that standard can be used for characterization purposes.
In either case, the characterization test image is submitted to the stand-alone color management device. The color patches on the characterization test image are compared to the color code values associated with the patches. This comparison is used to determine the adjustments that must be made to cause the proofer to print images having the same color gamut and tone characteristics as the images printed by the high volume output device. The proofer is then adjusted accordingly.
In this manner, the proofer is adjusted so that the proofer is properly calibrated to render images having the colors called for in the code values in the image to be proofed and is also adjusted to modify the code values in the image to be proofed in accordance with the profile for the output device. Thus, the proofer renders images having the colors that will appear the same as the colors in the images printed by output device.
It will be recognized that both calibration adjustments and color management adjustments are based upon objective measurements of the color gamut and tone characteristics of the test images printed by the proofer and by the high volume output device.
Various devices are used to measure the color content of an image. The most common devices are the densitometer and the color scanner. These devices typically analyze the color content of the light reflected by an image by dividing light into a set of primary colors, such as red, green and blue. These devices divide light into primary colors by passing the light through a set of colored filters. By measuring the intensity of the light in each primary color, it is possible to objectively measure the color content of an image.
A special form of densitometer, the colorimeter, can also be used to objectively measure the color gamut and tone characteristics of an image. Colorimeters are designed to objectively measure the color of a sample in a way that approximates human visual response. This is accomplished by the use of filters that are chosen to mimic human visual response.
A more accurate device for measuring color for calibration and color management purposes is the spectrophotometer. The spectrophotometer measures the reflectance or transmittance of an object at a number of wavelengths throughout the visible spectrum. More specifically, a spectrophotometer exposes a test image to a known light source and then analyzes the light that is reflected by the test image to determine the spectral intensity of the sample. A typical spectrophotometer is capable of measuring a group of pixels in an image and includes an apparatus that measures the light that is reflected by a portion of an image at a number of wavelengths throughout the visible spectrum to obtain data that reflects the true spectral content of the reflected light. Because the spectrophotometer measures color with greater accuracy than do the other measurement devices discussed above, the spectrophotometer is preferred.
Thus, densitometers, colorimeters, color scanners, and spectrophotometers can be used for color measurement. However, these are typically stand-alone devices and the use of such devices during proofing is very costly. Part of this cost is created by the inherent redundancy of many of the systems used in these devices. For example, a stand-alone spectrophotometer, has an "X-Y" table to move the test image relative to the spectrophotometer. A digital color printer or proofer also contains an "X-Y" displacement mechanism for moving the paper and printing element or printhead. Similarly, both the spectrophotometer and the proofer contain separate electrical control systems, motors and other components. Thus, the total cost of the proofing system including a separate stand-alone color measurement device and a proofer is high and can be in excess of more than U.S. $10,000.00.
Installation and maintenance costs are also high because two separate devices, typically manufactured by different vendors, must be separately purchased, installed, and maintained. Finally, there is a significant labor cost associated with making calibration and color management adjustments to the proofer using a stand-alone color measurement device.
Accordingly, there are substantial cost and efficiency penalties associated with stand-alone proofing combinations and what is needed is an integrated proofing apparatus.
Special printers having integrated color scanners or densitometers for color calibration purposes exist. Examples of color calibration and correction systems of this type can be found in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,053,866, and 5,491,586. These patents show specially designed printing systems for generating a color image and adjusting the color content of subsequent images based upon the colors printed in the color image. However, these specially designed systems also use redundant structures for printing and color measurement and do not teach or suggest color management capabilities.
It will also be recognized that many high quality color digital printers exist. However, these printers are not designed with integral proofing capabilities. Thus, what is also needed is a proofing head having calibration and color management capabilities and that can be readily integrated into an existing printer.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a proofer that is low in cost and is easily maintained.
It is also an object to provide a proofer that substantially automates the proofing process.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a proofing head that can be readily incorporated into a printer of conventional design to permit the printer to act as a proofer.

Proofing head and proofer printer apparatus


Tire pyrolysis systems and processes are provided which include feeding tire shreds to a pyrolysis vessel (40) and pyrolyzing the shreds in a pyrolysis vessel (40) to produce a pyrolysis gas and carbon black mixture. The pyrolysis gas processed by centrifugally separating entrained particles therefrom, separating the pyrolysis gas into a hydrocarbon condensate and a light vapor, removing entrained hydrocarbon condensate from the light vapor, and purifying and refining the hydrocarbon condensate. The carbon black mixture is processed by pulverizing the mixture to break up all strands and clumps of inorganic solids, cooling the carbon black mixture, separating the gross contaminants from the carbon mixture, and purifying and refining the carbon black. The hydrocarbon condensate is purified and refined by removing all remaining contaminants, removing any polycyclic aromatics to produce a clear, colorless plasticizer oil. The carbon black is purified and refined by pulverizing it into a powder, removing all remaining particulate contaminants, optionally pelletizing the carbon black, and bagging or packaging it for shipping.

The present invention relates generally to methods and devices for pyrolyzing scrap materials having a high hydrocarbon content and for recovering marketable end products from the pyrolysis of these materials. More specifically, it relates to a system for pyrolyzing scrap rubber shreds and refining the pyrolysis by-products to produce high quality carbon black and plasticizer oil.
Modern society is producing ever increasing amounts of scrap materials having a high hydrocarbon content. Certain scrap material originates from commercial products that have generally been produced through industrial processes requiring hydrocarbon-containing natural resources which may be either renewable (such as forest products) or non-renewable, such as petroleum, oil, and coal. Disposal of such scrap materials presents a problem. They must either be dumped as landfill, put into the ocean, or decomposed/destroyed in some manner. Each of these alternatives presents its own problems; however, the latter solution has the advantage that the end products from such decomposition/destruction may have further commercial value which may justify the cost of the process economically. It is highly desirable to find a way in which to efficiently recover valuable materials from such scrap materials in order to reduce the environmental pollutants which result from their decomposition/destruction.
Scrap material of particular concern is the disposal of automobile tires. In the United States alone approximately 350 million tires are discarded annually. Most of these tires are quartered or shredded and the shreds are sent to land fills after being quartered or shredded. Such shreds constitute about two percent of solid waste in the United States and about 164 million cubic feet per year of land fill space. Moreover, since these shreds are composed of hydrocarbon materials and hydrocarbons are a principle source of energy, the buried tires represent over 90 million MMBTU's per year of wasted energy. An alternate method of disposing of scrap tires is to burn them. This does recover about one-third of the economic value in terms of carbon black and generated energy. However, this method of disposal is not efficient, and it produces environmental pollutants.
Unfortunately, the rubber from scrap tires cannot be recycled directly into the manufacture of new tires because of the different types of rubber involved. A small portion, about 15 percent, of the scrap tire rubber can be recycled as tire chips for use in various end products such as matting and road surface compositions. However, this disposal method is limited in the amount of scrap rubber that can be processed. It is also relatively expensive due to the amount of liquid nitrogen the chip recycling process requires.
Pyrolysis offers great promise for disposal of hydrocarbon-containing scrap materials generally and scrap tires in particular. Pyrolysis provides an efficient, cost effective method for processing large volumes of scrap rubber and recovering marketable end products. Conventional scrap rubber pyrolysis produces two end products. First, it produces a coarse and impure grade of carbon black requiring further processing before it can be reused. The impurities are generally the steel used in the tire carcass, sulfur used in the vulcanization of the rubber, some zinc, and other trace materials. Second, scrap rubber pyrolysis produces a pyrolysis gas having a heavier weight hydrocarbon fraction and a lighter weight hydrocarbon fraction. The heavier weight hydrocarbon fraction, which is condensed as a liquid from the pyrolysis gas, is a low grade oil suitable as fuel oil. The lighter weight hydrocarbon fraction remaining in a vapor state has little value and can typically be recycled back through the pyrolysis process as fuel for the burners; it can also be sold as fuel under certain special circumstances or simply flared to the atmosphere.
Pyrolysis of tire shreds presents several unique problems. First, the pyrolysis gas exiting from the pyrolysis system contains entrained carbon black particles which are difficult to remove during the condensation of the pyrolysis gas into its liquid and vapor fractions. Second, it is difficult to obtain a consistent hydrocarbon condensate composition when condensing the pyrolysis gas into its liquid and vapor fractions. Third, because carbon black has a high affinity for gasses, it frequently contains an excess of pyrolysis gas which is adsorbed while it is still in the pyrolysis system; this presents problems in the further refinement of the carbon black.
It can be seen that a generic model for a Hydrocarbon Recovery System can be considered as being composed of the following three subsystems: a Pyrolysis System, a Gas Processing System, and a Solids Processing System. The Pyrolysis System receives the hydrocarbon-containing material and breaks down the material into a hydrocarbon-containing pyrolysis gas and a solid by using of intense heat in the absence of oxygen. The system may include a input component for handling the input material and delivering it to the pyrolysis process components; it may also include a removal component for providing the pyrolysis gas and solids in a pre-processed form to other systems for further refinement. The Gas Processing System refines the liquid fraction of the pyrolysis gas to produce usable end products. The Solids Processing System refines the impure carbon black provided by the Pyrolysis System to produce a usable form of carbon black, depending upon the application. According to this model, it should be noted that the division of functions between the Gas/Solids Processing Systems and the Pyrolysis System removal component is highly dependent as a practical matter upon the allocation of functions between these two areas. This functional allocation can also depend upon the physical configuration of the components and how they are laid out within the facility.
The Hydrocarbon Recovery System can be generally characterized as a continuous system where the input materials are provided in a more or less continuous rate, rather than in batches, and the products are produced at a continuous rate. It is intended to process feed stocks composed of fairly homogeneous hydrocarbon materials, generally described as waste or scrap products. These feed stocks take the form of scrap rubber produced from used automobile tires which have been shredded; coal or shale having a high sulfur content coal and shale; or forest products such as tree bark, waste lumber, leaves, branches, etc. Ideally, the Hydrocarbon Recovery System will process such materials in an energy efficient, cost effective manner which is environmentally safe with regards to the marketable materials produced and the byproducts of the process, e.g. exhaust gases, pyrolysis vapor, heated coolants, removed contaminants, etc. Such a system will provide end products which are marketable, recoverable, and economical.

Apparatus for recovering marketable products from scrap rubber


A receiver, modeled after the spade-like lug attachment of a M198 howitzer spade, inserts into the recess on the bottom rear end of the left trail of the howitzer. On this end surface is a square hole for inserting the spade key which secures the receiver to the trail. Attached to the receiver is an interface plate that acts as the union between the receiver and a pair of caster wheels. The interface plate has a keyway, in which the receiver bottom inserts, and also has two built-in handles. Two bolts affix the receiver to the interface plate and thread directly into the receiver body. The interface plate is bolted to dual-pneumatic caster wheels. This combination allows the left trail of the howitzer to be mobile and facilitates the increased mobility of the M198 howitzer.

The United States Army's M198 towed 155-mm Field Artillery Howitzer is a medium weight weapon weighing approximately 16,000 pounds. Operated by an 11 man crew, this weapon is designed to provide general support and direct support artillery fire for infantry and air assault divisions and in the corps general support battalions. It is also used to increase light infantry division capabilities as required by specific missions. The M198 is used by both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine corps units, active and reserve.
Currently there are four methods of transporting the M198 howitzer; air, ground, water, and rail. The principal method of transport is by ground. Because of its high tongue weight (4,200 lbs. In the stowed configuration) the M198 howitzer must be towed by a relatively large vehicle, such as a 21/2 ton or a 5-ton cargo truck. The 5 ton cargo truck is assigned to the artillery unit and transports the unit personnel, their ammunition, equipment, and the M198 Howitzer in a stowed or towed A-frame position configuration. The 5-ton cargo truck is equipped with a rear pintle hook that attaches to the M198 howitzer's lunette (a ring in the trail plate of the towed howitzer, that is used to attach the howitzer to the pintle of the 5-ton cargo truck). Towing in the towed A-Frame configuration is recommended in tactical situations because towing in the stowed configuration usually requires removal of the muzzle brake.
During combat operations, it may be necessary for the commander to quickly move his fire support assets forward to engage targets that are beyond the weapons range capabilities and then quickly move them back to support the close battle. To conduct these missions, the commander would use the heavy lift assets within the Corps to airlift the howitzers on an artillery raid.
The primary method of air transport of the howitzer is the CH-47D, or larger, heavy lift helicopter. The howitzer is externally rigged for air transport with lifting hardware attached to the four lifing eyes. The howitzer is in the A-frame configuration during air transport. The crew, ammunition, and equipment are secured within the helicopter. Once the aircraft reaches its destination, it drops off the howitzer, crew, ammo, and equipment and then departs. There currently is no method of moving the howitzer once it has been positioned by the helicopter, since the 5-ton truck is not air-liftable.
To meet the increased requirement for responsiveness and survivability demanded by the broad range of future combat missions, towed howitzers must have the capability to be rapidly and accurately emplaced, conduct fire missions, and move to a new location.

Device to improve the mobility of towed howitzers

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


The integrated light absorber comprises a light chamber integrated in an optical chip, the chamber having upper and lower walls lying substantially parallel to the chip and peripheral walls extending there between and a light input port in a peripheral wall for receiving light to be absorbed, e.g. from a rib waveguide. At least one of the walls have light absorbing properties and the chamber is shaped so that the majority of light which enters the chamber through the light input port undergoes multiple reflections and so is absorbed by the walls of the chamber. Circular and star-shaped chambers are described.

Certain features of integrated waveguide circuitry call for the dumping or absorption of light in a controlled manner. Light may need to be confined so it does not escape into the waveguide substrate and is not back reflected into the waveguide from which it came.
Low reflection terminations for waveguides based on anti-reflection (AR) coated angled facets exist and are successful at reducing back reflections into a waveguide. They are not suitable, however, for beam-dumping because light is released into the substrate rather than being absorbed.


Systems, methods, and devices for an improved recovery for the downlink are described herein. In some aspects, delay and overhead associated with retransmission of data lost due to an interruption can be reduced and/or eliminated by configuring a receiver to generate and transmit status information following resumption from the interruption. The receiver can be configured to generate and transmit status information immediately upon resuming from the interruption. In some aspects, the receiver can be configured to automatically generate and transmit status information independent of receiving a polling request from the sender. Status information can indentify at least last received user data prior to the interruption. In some aspects, status information further identifies lost data due to the interruption.

1. Field
The present application relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to systems, methods, and devices for an improved recovery for the downlink.
2. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice and data. Typical wireless communication systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems may include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, and the like. Additionally, the systems can conform to specifications such as third generation partnership project (3GPP), 3GPP2, 3GPP long-term evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced, etc.
Generally, wireless multiple-access communication systems may simultaneously support communication for multiple mobile devices. Each mobile device may communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from base stations to mobile devices, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from mobile devices to base stations.
As the demand for high-rate and multimedia data services rapidly grows, there has been an effort toward implementation of efficient and robust communication systems with enhanced performance. For example, in recent years, users have started to replace fixed line communications with mobile communications and have increasingly demanded high voice quality, reliable service, and low prices.
To accommodate increasing demand, evolution of core networks of wireless communication systems followed from evolution of radio interfaces. For example, System Architecture Evolution (SAE) lead by 3GPP aims to evolve a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM)/General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) core network. The resultant Evolved Packet Core (EPC) is a multi-access core network based on the Internet Protocol (IP) that enables operators to deploy and utilize one common packet-based core network with a plurality of radio access technologies. The EPC provides optimized mobility for mobile devices and enables efficient handovers between different radio access technologies (e.g., between LTE and High Rate Packet Data (HRPD)). In addition, standardized roaming interfaces enable operators to offer services to subscribers across a variety of access technologies.
The devices in a wireless communication system may transmit/receive information between each other. As part of the communication process, a first device that receives information from a second device may transmit a positive acknowledgment (ACK) to the second device acknowledging that the first device received the information. Further, the first device may transmit a negative acknowledgment (NACK) to the second device indicating that the first device has not received the information. The act of transmitting a positive acknowledgment and/or negative acknowledgment informs the first device whether the transmitted information was received successfully by the second device or whether information needs to be retransmitted.
In certain situations, the first device may not have received information transmitted by the second device due to an interruption. In such situations, the first device may employ one or more recovery mechanisms to indicate to the second device that information needs to be retransmitted. However, the delay and overhead associated with utilizing such recovery mechanisms may be especially problematic in some wireless systems. For example, when the second device transmits a continuous steam of information to the first device, such as during a voice and/or video call, the delay and overhead associated with recovering lost information can cause severe degradation of call data rates. Thus, improved systems, methods, and devices for recovering from interruptions in data transmission and reception are desired.

Systems and methods for improved recovery for the downlink


Neutrinos and antineutrinos are generated by electromagnetic excitation of elementary subatomic particle magnetic moments in a DC magnetic field and causing the orientation energy of magnetic moments resulting from such excitation to be converted into the neutrinos and/or antineutrinos. A beam of neutrinos and antineutrinos is derived by enclosing a neutrino antineutrino source with neutrino scattering crystals having an aperture therein. Neutrinos and/or antineutrinos are amplitude modulated by varying the amplitude of electromagnetic excitation of the elementary particle magnetic moments, or the DC field or momentum mechanically imparted to a stiff crystal including the subatomic particles.

Neutrinos and antineutrinos are presently generated by radioactive beta decay, man-made nuclear reactors and nuclear processes in the sun and other stars. Generation of neutrinos and antineutrinos from any of these sources has certain disadvantages. Neutrino and antineutrino emission from heavenly bodies is basically random and unpredictable. Hence, amplitude modulation of neutrinos emitted from heavenly bodies is not feasible. While neutrino and antineutrino emission from radioactive beta decay sources and man-made nuclear reactors is relatively predictable and can therefore be reliably amplitude modulated, such sources pose certain problems with regard to health of personnel located in proximity thereto, and are relatively expensive. Of course, it is desirable to provide neutrino sources having predictable, relatively constant amplitude, so that such sources can be amplitude modulated for communication purposes. These problems of prior art neutrino antineutrino sources could be overcome if electrical energy could be employed to power a neutrino source.
Neutrino and antineutrino communication is highly desirable because of the capability of neutrinos and antineutrinos to penetrate the earth and propagate between diametrically opposed points on the surface of the earth. In addition, the frequency of neutrino and antineutrino propagation, approximately 3.times.10.sup.20 Hz, enables many messages to be modulated on neutrino and antineutrino emissions.
Neutrino and antineutrino emissions are generally isotropic. For communication applications, it is desirable for a beam of neutrinos to be derived from an anisotropic neutrino antineutrino source.
It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved apparatus for and method of generating neutrinos and/or antineutrinos; in the claims of this document, the generic term "neutrino type particles" is used to designate neutrinos and/or antineutrinos.
Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved neutrino antineutrino source wherein electric power is used as an excitation source, rather than nuclear reactor or beta decay sources.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved method of and apparatus for generating neutrinos and/or antineutrinos, which method and apparatus is particularly suited for deriving neutrino emissions that can be modulated.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved apparatus for generating a neutrino beam.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved neutrino antineutrino source that derives a predictable, relatively constant level of neutrinos and antineutrinos.
In my earlier U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,576,777 and 4,732,728, respectively issued Mar. 18, 1986 and Mar. 22, 1988, there are disclosed methods and structures for detecting neutrino antineutrino energy. In the '777 patent coherent inelastic neutrino antineutrino scatterers are employed, while in the '728 patent elastic neutrino antineutrino scatterers are used. In the '777 patent, individual atoms in a stiff crystal absorb energy from the neutrino and/or antineutrino particles to scatter the particles and produce stimulated coherent radiant energy fields. The coherent fields produced by the individual atoms are detected to provide an indication of the presence of the neutrino or antineutrino particles in the beam.
The crystals employed in my prior art patents are relatively large and nearly perfect, having great stiffness, i.e., high Debye temperatures. Momentum of incident neutrinos or antineutrinos is exchanged by quarks in nuclei of atoms forming the crystal when energy is exchanged with a nuclear spin system in a magnetic field. The entire crystal recoils as a single entity. Detection is accomplished by observing changes in nuclear spin system temperature.
In the processes and apparatus of my aforementioned prior patents, one or a very small number of nuclei in the very stiff crystal scatters neutrinos or antineutrinos by momentum exchange, by one or a very small number of nuclei. Momentum exchange at a nucleus is quickly transferred to the crystal center of mass. Usually, the entire crystal recoils as a single entity, without exciting sound vibrations in the crystal. The scattering site cannot be determined by subsequent measurements, an important feature in obtaining a high probability process.
In my '777 patent, nuclear magnetic resonance techniques are employed for neutrino and antineutrino detection. A bulk material having nuclei with non-zero spin non-zero magnetic moments is employed. The material has sufficient stiffness to recoil as a single entity after absorbing momentum from each neutrino or antineutrino incident thereon. Exemplary materials are described as crystals of sapphire or silicon, respectively including the isotopes 27Al and 29Si, that exhibit nuclear magnetic resonance properties when excited with appropriate magnetic fields. While the material is irradiated by neutrinos or antineutrinos, a magnetic field applied to it causes the nuclei to normally precess about the magnetic field longitudinal axis at a predetermined angle. The neutrino may cause a shift in the nuclei precessing angle or may modify the quantum states of the nuclei spins by altering correlations established by applied electromagnetic fields. The nuclei changes are detected by using a nuclear magnetic resonance detecting apparatus. The magnetic field intensity necessary to detect the nuclear magnetic resonance field is quantified in the '777 patent as ##EQU1## where: E.sub..nu. =the energy of neutrinos in the beam;
.mu..sub.m =the scattering nuclear magnetic moment of the material; PA1 .beta..sup.2 =the fraction of nuclei of the material with moments parallel to the direction of the magnetic field; and PA1 N=the total number of neutrino scatterers of the material.
A crystal is considered to be stiff if it has the proper recoil properties as represented by a crystal Debye temperature exceeding 500.degree. Kelvin. This definition of a stiff crystal is employed in the present specification and claims.
In accordance with one feature of the '728 patent, neutrino and/or antineutrino particles in a beam incident on scatterers of a crystal mounted on a mechanical resonator are amplitude modulated at the resonant frequency of the mechanical resonator or a harmonic thereof. The amplitude modulation is provided by chopping the neutrino or antineutrino beam incident on the crystal containing elastic coherent scatterers mounted on the mechanical resonator. The neutrino beam is preferably chopped by mounting a plurality of scatterers for the neutrino and/or antineutrino particles in the beam on a structure turned by a motor. Such a modulation mechanism, however, does not provide amplitude modulation in response to variable amplitude signals. Hence in my prior art modulator amplitude variations of a modulation source does not result in a concomitant variation of neutrino antineutrino emissions.
Accordingly, a further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved neutrino antineutrino amplitude modulator.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a new and improved method of and apparatus for amplitude modulating neutrinos and/or antineutrinos in response to a variable amplitude signal so that as variations in the amplitude of the signal occur there are concomitant variations in the amplitude of the neutrinos and/or antineutrinos derived from the modulator or by the modulation process.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved method of and apparatus for amplitude modulating neutrinos and/or antineutrinos, wherein the transparency of a scatterer to neutrinos is controlled for the neutrinos and/or antineutrinos in response to the amplitude of a modulating signal.

Method of and apparatus for generating neutrinos and/or antineutrinos, a neutrino modulation method, and a neutrino beam generator


A method is disclosed for fabricating bulk superconducting materials into shaped articles, including ones of relatively large sizes and complex shapes, which have high densities, high integrity, high magnetization and critical current densities. A mixture of superconducting material is completely or substantially melted and the molten material is then cooled to room temperature and ground to a powder. The ground powder is next mixed with a second phase made up of either precursor superconducting powder or a mixture of metallic silver and copper. The resulting mixture is then shaped into an article by conventional ceramic article forming techniques: pressing, extruding, molding or the like. The resulting shaped article is heated to a temperature at which a substantial amount of its content of second phase material is melted, thus facilitating densification of the entire shaped article. The resulting dense specimen is annealed in an appropriate environment while it is being cooled to room temperature.

High temperature superconducting materials based on either Y--Ba--Cu--O (YBCO) or Bi--Sr--Ca--Cu--O (BSCCO) are known to have high transition temperatures of about 90.degree. K and about 115.degree. K, respectively. Both of these systems have been successfully used to produce high quality thin films. In the YBCO system, large current densities exceeding 1 million amperes per square centimeter at 77.degree. K have been reported by many groups.
The formation of large bulk specimens (including wires) having very high current densities and high magnetizations has not been as successful as has the preparation of thin films, for reasons which have been associated with intergranular weak links and macro-defects, such as the presence of voids or other second phases, present in such larger bulk specimens. The advent of melt processing techniques in recent years, however, has allowed smaller bulk specimens to be produced, some of which are almost free from weak links, exhibit very high magnetization (about 5000 Gauss at 77.degree. K) and current densities up to about 5.times.0.sup.4 A/cm.sup.2. Unfortunately, these small articles have little practical application, and cannot be used, for example, in magnetic levitation, electric power transmission, as permanent magnets, or in magnetic energy storage, where much larger (or in the case of wires, longer) specimens are required.
Melt processed high temperature bulk superconductors have proven to be superior to sintered materials with respect to critical current density and magnetization. The melt processing techniques which have produced the best quality bulk specimens to date are those where the superconducting powder precursors (either calcined or non-calcined) are first melted and then cooled rapidly.
At this stage, however, the phases which are present are not superconducting. Thus, it is necessary to next go through several peritectic reactions in order to re-convert the majority of the material to a superconducting phase or phases. The conversion is accomplished by reheating the rapidly cooled (quenched) superconducting powder precursor to a temperature above the lowest peritectic temperature, typically above about 1080.degree. C., and then slowly cooling the mass to room temperature (about 25.degree. C.). During the phase decomposition associated with the peritectic reaction achieved by reheating the quenched material above the lowest peritectic temperature, the liquid phases which are formed are either drained from the specimen under gravitational force or are drawn to the exterior surfaces of the mass by interfacial surface energy. Under normal processing conditions both processes often take place simultaneously. A lack of sufficient liquid phase, and the rigidity of the material, which prevents changes in the volume of the solid phases, can lead to the presence of voids and insulating defects in the finished bulk specimens. See, for example, H. Hojaji, et al., "Melt-Processed YBCO Superconductors: Processing and Properties", High Temperature Superconductors, Ed. J. J. Pouch, et al., Mater. Res. Forum, Trans Tech Publications, Switz., 1992; H. Hojaji, et al., "Superconducting Cuprates Prepared by the Melt Quench Process and Containing Excess Y or Additives", Mat. Res. Bull., 25, 765-77, 1990; S. Hu, et al., "Bulk YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.x Superconductors Through Pressurized Partial Melt Growth Processing", J. Mater. Res., 7, 1-5, April, 1992.
In an attempt to produce better materials, zone melting and gradient melting have been used to produce texturing in a more controlled manner. See A. Goyal, et al., "Fabrication of Highly Aligned YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.7 --.delta.-A.G MELT-Textured Composites", Physica C, 182, 203-18 (1991). However, such techniques have not been totally successful in overcoming these defects in large superconducting specimens. Other innovative methods have been tried, such as mixing superconducting powders with a polymer matrix in order to form a composite material. See C. K. Chiang, et al., "Levitation of Superconducting Composites", Amsahts, 90, 181-85, NASA Publication 3100, Apr. 1, 1990. Although these methods are capable of producing large and complex shapes, they lack the ability to eliminate the inter-granular weak links discussed above.
Another method of fabricating improved bulk materials is a method in which the grains of a granular superconductor are first aligned in a magnetic field below the transition temperature (i.e., below 90.degree. K in the case of YBCO). See Y. Nakagawa, et al., J.J. of Appl. Phys.. 28, L547-50, April 1989. The magnetic field aligns the grains along the Cu-0 planes, as they normally carry more current than the perpendicular direction. The alignment is frozen in, and then the body is sintered to preserve the alignment Although this method is superior to regular solid state sintering, it does not eliminate the weak links in the structure.
It should be noted that in order to obtain high-quality superconducting specimens, insulating line defects, such as cracks and insulating grain boundaries, should be eliminated. However, localized phase impurities can be very useful by acting as flux pinning centers. Several methods have been proposed to obtain high quality melt based materials.
One such method is disclosed in Hojaji, et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/659,719, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. This method includes the introduction of an impurity phase to improve flux pinning and has proved to be beneficial in increasing the pinning forces, even at very high applied fields.
Another prior art melt processing method which uses secondary processing, i.e., a second thermal treatment of the melted and quenched material. This addresses a problem found in single stage processes: leakage of the liquid phase at elevated temperatures in such processes is detrimental to the formation of macro-defectfree large bulk superconductors.
A third prior art melt processing method involves mixing silver with ground melt processed material. This method, however, also suffers from certain drawbacks. For example, the presence of non-superconducting silver at the grain boundaries can hinder the supercurrent from circulating across the whole material. As a result, complete shielding of the magnetic flux cannot be obtained. This means, in turn, that partial penetration of the magnetic flux into non-superconducting regions of the bulk superconductor produces a lower levitation force and a correspondingly low current density compared to impurity free superconductors. See A. Goyal, et al., Physica C, 182. 1991.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a method of processing bulk superconducting materials that produces highly dense bulk specimens with excellent magnetic and transport properties. It is believed, without limiting the scope of this invention, that the effectiveness of this inventive method is due to its success in eliminating the aforementioned defects and weak links which reduce current-carrying capability, while it permits the presence of flux pinning centers.
This method can be used to produce very large specimens with complex shapes that also have excellent mechanical integrity.

Dense melt-based ceramic superconductors


Provided is a method of manufacturing a flexible display device, comprising: forming a concavo-convex area comprising a first concavo-convex pattern on one surface of a carrier substrate; forming a flexible substrate on the one surface of the carrier substrate; forming a display element configured to display an image on the flexible substrate; and separating the flexible substrate from the carrier substrate.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a flexible display device, a touch screen panel, and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Discussion of the Background
Recently, demand for flexible display devices made foldable or bendable has been increasing. A flexible display device can be made to maintain a display of images while being bent like paper, by using materials such as flexible plastics rather than a conventional glass substrate that lacks flexibility.
Meanwhile, among display devices, an organic light emitting display (OLED) device has various advantages such as light weight, slim structure, and compactness. Hence, an OLED device is frequently employed as a display panel of a flexible display device. In some products, a touch screen panel can be attached to the display device. In this case, the touch screen panel attached to the display device having flexibility should also have flexibility.

Manufacturing method of flexible display device and manufacturing method of touch screen panel


A powerful throughput magazine of the ‘first in first out’ type is activated for the handling of diapers (10) or similar objects during the transport from a converter (13) to a packer (14), the diapers being transported as diaper groups (19) through said magazine. The magazine (15) comprises of an endless magazine conveyor (18) having transversely directed bars (20), wherein one diaper group (19) each is disposed between adjacent bars on the magazine conveyor (18) in an upright position. After removing the diapers (10) from the magazine (15), the diaper groups (19) are separated again, and the diapers are individually fed to the packer (14).

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a device for handling and transporting sheet-like articles, in particular diapers, which, coming from a production machine—converter—, can be supplied to a packaging machine for the packaging of groups of articles, in particular of diaper groups.
2. Related Art
This relates to the handling of sheet-like articles, of which the measurement in the third dimension is small in relation to the measurements of the other two dimensions. It relates, in particular, to the handling of diapers which are to be processed as flat structures with low dimensional stability. Diapers only are referred to below for the sake of simplicity.


In resin transfer molding, each mold cavity is charged initially with a hot curing resin system, then while the first resin is still uncured, successively injecting one or more resin systems which push the previous systems to the periphery of the mold. Each of said successive resin system curing at a lower temperature then the preceding system. Thus each resin system cures progressively faster than the previously injected resin system such that all resin systems cure at substantially the same point in time.

This invention relates to a method for molding products from thermosetting resins, and in particular to resin transfer molding.
In resin transfer molding, a fibrous reinforcement preform is placed in a mold, the mold is closed and resin is introduced into the mold cavity to wet the preform and to fill the mold. When the resin has set, a finished component can be taken from the mold and passed to any necessary clean up processes.
The choice of the resin system (resin plus catalyst) is carefully chosen to ensure that the resin flows completely to the edges of the mold cavity before it sets, and so that setting takes place as soon as possible after the mold is completely filled.
In order for resin transfer molding to be useful for the production of components in volume, it is necessary to reduce the cycle time, i.e. the time between successive openings of the mold, as far as possible.

Method for the simultaneous curing of thermosetting resins


A navigation apparatus includes: a route search unit that obtains a route to take from a start point to a destination; a vehicle position detection unit that detects a vehicle position; and a route guidance unit that provides route guidance based upon the obtained route. And the route guidance unit displays the route within a predetermined range from the vehicle position as a straight bar together with the vehicle position, displays an intersection indicator on the straight bar in correspondence to an intersection present within the predetermined range on the route and varies display mode when displaying the intersection indicator depending upon whether the intersection is a guidance-requiring intersection at which the route guidance is provided or a non-guidance intersection at which the route guidance is not provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a navigation apparatus that provides route guidance.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are car navigation apparatuses known in the related art that display a roadmap around the current position, calculate a route to take from a start point to a destination and provide route guidance based upon the calculated route. In such a car navigation apparatus in the known art, the route obtained through a route search is displayed on the map distinguishably from other roads. In addition, it is known in the related art that if there is any lane information available with regard to a guidance-requiring intersection at which route guidance is necessary provided as the vehicle approaches the area, the lane information is also displayed (see, for instance, Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. H 2000-251197).


A disclosed optical testing apparatus comprises: a plurality of optical fibers, each optical fiber having a collection end in optical communication with an output end; and a support member supporting the collection ends of the optical fibers so as to simultaneously view an examination region from different angles. A disclosed optical testing apparatus comprises a plurality of optical fibers having collection ends arranged to simultaneously view an examination region from a plurality of different angles. A disclosed optical testing apparatus comprises a plurality of optical fibers, each optical fiber having a collection end, the collection ends of the optical fibers arranged in fixed spatial relationship respective to one another to simultaneously view an examination region from different angles.

The following relates to the optoelectronic arts. It finds particular application in testing angular distribution of light generated by light emitting devices such as phosphor-coated light emitting diode (LED) based devices, or light processed by optical components such as phosphor coated domes, lenses, frosted diffusion domes, and so forth. The following will find more general application in conjunction with testing spatial distributions of light generated by light sources or processed by optical components.
A characteristic of a wide-angle light source or optical component that is sometimes of interest is the angular distribution of light generated by the light source or processed by the optical component. For example, a conventional light emitting diode chip typically emits in a generally Lambertian pattern, in which the intensity at the sides is substantially decreased compared with intensity directly in front of the chip. In some applications a more hemispherically uniform output is desired. One approach for achieving such an output is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,224,000 which discloses, in some illustrated embodiments, a light source including one or more blue, violet, or ultraviolet light emitting diode chips mounted on a circuit board and covered by a phosphor-coated dome. The phosphor converts the direct chip radiation to a desired output, such as white light. Since this conversion occurs across the surface of the dome, a more hemispherically uniform light output is generated by the light source. Other approaches for achieving more hemispherically uniform light output include epoxy encapsulation, use of microlenses, and so forth. Moreover, in some applications a Lambertian or other angular distribution may be desired. Thus, it is desirable to have a rapid and effective way to characterize the angular distribution.
In one approach, a camera acquires images of the operating light source, or of the optical component under test in its usual operative arrangement. By acquiring images at several different viewing angles, the angular distribution can be extrapolated. This approach entails substantial post-acquisition image analysis to extrapolate the three-dimensional angular distribution from the two-dimensional acquired images. Such extrapolation, light diffraction in the imaging optics, or other factors, can adversely affect the extrapolated angular distribution.
A more elaborate version of this approach is employed by the SIG-300™ Source Imaging Goniometer (available from Radiant Imaging, Duvall Wash.). This apparatus captures uses a goniometer configuration to acquire images and flux measurements from thousands of angular viewpoints around the source. Other goniometer-based apparatuses employ a single point detector. Such apparatuses can provide more data from which to extrapolate the angular distribution. However, the goniometer is a complex mechanical device which mechanically changes the angular position of the camera or detector prior to each measurement. As a result, such apparatuses are relatively slow, and can be subject to mechanical failures.


A fluid supply valve includes a valve plate having cold and hot apertures respectively aligned with the cold and hot inlets. A pressure balancer is rotatably supported adjacent to the mixing valve plate. The pressure balancer is rotatable between a closed position to prohibit fluid flow through the mixing valve plate and a range of positions to enable fluid flow through the pressure balancer and through the mixing valve plate to supply fluid from the outlet port.

Fluid supply devices are implemented in bath tubs and/or showers to control water flow. The fluid supply devices operate as a valve between cold and hot water supply lines. The fluid supply devices are articuable to provide cold water flow, hot water flow or varying degrees of mixed hot and cold water flow.
Contemporary fluid supply devices include a pressure balancer for balancing the pressure of the cold and hot water supply. For example, if cold water supply pressure suddenly drops, the pressure balancer adjusts the pressure of the hot water supply to compensate. In this manner, the temperature of the water supplied to the tub and/or shower remains constant. This prevents sudden supply of extremely cold or hot water from the tub/shower faucet.
The pressure balancer itself, however, can be sensitive to pressure spikes in the water supply line. While the fluid supply device is closed or "off" (i.e., water flow is prohibited into the tub and/or shower) pressurized cold and hot supply water is present within the pressure balancer. A sudden spike in pressure can result in damage to the pressure balancer, thereby preventing proper function of the pressure balancer.


The present invention relates to a method for transdifferentiating cells. The present invention provides a method for transdifferentiating fibroblasts into chondrocytes, comprising: forming a micromass of fibroblasts by culturing fibroblasts in a high density; and applying an electrical stimulation such as a current or magnetic field to the micromass of fibroblasts while culturing the micromass of fibroblasts in a culture medium not containing growth factors.

Cartilage is a very unique tissue in the human body and it has no blood vessel, no nerve, and does not regenerate well. Genes that induce the overexpression of three types of proteins (i.e., SOX5, SOX6 and SOX9), which are transcription factors known to be important for cartilage differentiation, were introduced into skin cells and directly transdifferentiated into chondrocytes successfully, but the characteristics of the cells as fibroblasts were not completely removed and they thus appear to be fibrous cartilage rather than glassy cartilage (Ikeda, T., et al., Arthritis Rheum. 50: 3561-3573, 2004). As a result of the development of reprogramming technology that introduces four types of transcription factors into differentiated cells and artificially transforms them into stem cells, studies on tissue regeneration using iPSCs (i.e., stem cells prepared by reprogramming) have been actively carried out. However, the tissue regeneration using iPSCs have disadvantages in that the tissue regeneration process is a complex process that has to undergo two steps (i.e., a reprogramming process and a differentiation process of differentiating cells into desired cells) and that there is a risk that undifferentiated cells may cause cancer when differentiating iPSCs. Recently, in order to overcome the disadvantages of tissue regeneration using iPSCs, the importance of the development of transdifferentiation technology that differentiates already-differentiated cells into desired cells has been raised. In particular, skin cells can easily be collected from a patient's body and are very easy to grow, and thus studies have been actively carried out to regenerate tissues by transdifferentiating using skin cells. It has been reported that genes that induce overexpression of C-Myc and Klf4 (i.e., two types of transcription factors that cause induction into artificially induced stem cells) and Sox9 protein (i.e., a transcription factor that induces cartilage differentiation) were introduced into mouse skin cells and successfully led to the direct transdifferentiation into glassy cartilage (Hiramatsu, K. et al., Journal of Clinical Investigation, 121: 640-657, 2011). Additionally, it has been reported that the introduction genes that induce overexpression of two genes encoding transcription factors that cause induction into artificially induced stem cells (C-Myc and Klf4) and a gene encoding Sox9 protein which is a transcription factor that induces cartilage differentiation) into human skin cells enables direct transdifferentiation into glassy cartilage (Outani, H. et al., PLoS ONE, 8:e77365, 2013).

Method for inducing transdifferentiation of fibroblasts into chondrocytes


This invention relates to a cooling structure for cooling a cylinder liner by circulating coolant in a water jacket formed along an outer periphery of the cylinder liner. This cooling structure includes an annular first water reservoir for temporarily storing coolant. This first water reservoir allows the coolant to uniformly flow circumferentially of the cylinder liner. The cooling structure also includes a plurality of coolant passages provided radially for connecting the first water reservoir to the water jacket. The coolant is caused to strike a part of a wall defining the water jacket substantially vertically from the radial coolant passages, thereby to generate turbulent flow in the coolant to efficiently cool the cylinder liner.

As a cooling structure of this kind, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-364456, for example, discloses a cylinder liner cooling structure which is provided with a sleeve including a plurality of small openings through which coolant flows in a water jacket. This cylinder liner cooling structure will be described with reference to FIG. 8.
As shown in FIG. 8, a sleeve 104 formed with a plurality of openings 103 is provided within a water jacket 101, or more specifically, between an outer wall and a cylinder liner 102 forming the water jacket 101, concentrically with the cylinder liner 102.
Coolant flows from an inlet 106 provided in a lower portion of the water jacket 101 through the openings 103 in the sleeve 104 within the water jacket 101 to an outlet 107 provided in an upper portion of the water jacket 101.
If the coolant inlet 106 is only provided at a single location, for example, the coolant does not flow well circumferentially of the water jacket 101, producing areas where the coolant is likely to stagnate. Consequently, high-temperature spots are produced locally in the cylinder liner 102, resulting in a nonuniform temperature distribution in the cylinder liner 102.
Also, the velocity of flow of the coolant passing through the openings 103 located far from the inlet 106 is smaller than that of the coolant passing through the openings 103 located near the inlet 106, due to the friction force acting on the coolant flow and reduction in the amount of flow by the amount flowing out through the openings 103 located near the inlet 106.
The differences in the flow velocity of the coolant passing through the openings 103 cause differences in the level of turbulence generated in the coolant passing through the openings 103 and striking the cylinder liner 102. In short, generation of turbulence is nonuniform by location within the water jacket 101. This causes heat transfer efficiency to be different by location, and thus causes a nonuniform temperature distribution in the cylinder liner 102 as above, preventing effective cooling of the cylinder liner 102.
Thus, there is a desire for an art which provides a more uniform temperature distribution in a cylinder liner to effectively cool the cylinder liner and increase cooling efficiency.
Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. HEI-6-80821, for example, discloses another conventional cylinder liner cooling structure in which bores through which coolant fluid flows are formed in a cylinder liner, and a finned core is inserted into each bore. This cylinder liner cooling structure will be described with reference to FIGS. 9, 10A and 10B.
As shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of bores 202 are formed in a cylinder cover 201 of an internal combustion engine, and finned cores 203 are disposed in the respective bores 202. The clearance between the fins and the inner surface of the bore 202 is set at a predetermined dimension t (see FIG. 10A).
FIG. 10A is an enlarged view of the finned core 203 disposed in the bore 202.
As shown in FIG. 10B, when coolant fluid flows through the bore 202, turbulent flow in the coolant fluid occurs within the bore 202.
The cooling structure shown in FIG. 9 has the elongated bores 202 as passages for coolant fluid, and thus has difficulty in ensuring an adequate amount of flow of the coolant fluid as compared to a system of cooling a cylinder liner by a water jacket, for example, having a disadvantage in cooling capability. Also, since it can only cool portions near the bores 202, it is difficult to uniformly cool the entire cylinder liner by the bores 202 formed in the cylinder liner. If the number of the bores 202 is increased to increase the amount of flow of the coolant fluid, for example, the number of man-hours to form the bores 202 is increased, resulting in an increased manufacturing time.
In addition, since the finned core 203 consists of a shaft member and a large number of fins fixed on the shaft member, it is difficult to keep, in the elongated bore 202, the clearance between each fin and the inner surface of the bore 202 at the predetermined dimension, due to a bend of the shaft member and variations in the outside diameter of the fins. When the clearance exceeds the allowable range, there is no alternative to replacing the finned core 203 to adjust the clearance. There is thus a desire for a structure which allows precise formation of the clearance.
Furthermore, when a cylinder liner integrated with a cylinder block wears, for example, the cylinder liner cannot be replaced. If the cylinder block as a whole is made from cast iron to prevent wear of the cylinder liner, it leads to an increased weight of the cylinder block.
Thus, there is a desire for a cylinder liner cooling structure which allows more uniform cooling, easy manufacturing, and precise formation of a clearance between a distal edge of a fin and a wall opposite to the fin, and also allows replacement of a cylinder liner portion and a reduction in weight of a cylinder block.


A base station device and a terminal device determine resource element mapping in which a PDSCH is mapped and perform efficient communication. The terminal device uses a first parameter set among up to 4 parameter sets in order to determine resource element (RE) mapping for the PDSCH, when decoding the PDSCH based on detection of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) or an Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (EPDCCH) with a Downlink Control Information (DCI) format 1A and transmitted on an antenna port 7, and determines RE mapping for the PDSCH by using the number of antenna ports for and/or a frequency position of a Cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS) in the serving cell when decoding the PDSCH based on detection of the PDCCH or the EPDCCH with the DCI format 1A and transmitted on antenna ports 0 to 3.

In the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a radio access method and a radio network for cellular mobile communication (hereinafter referred to as "Long Term Evolution (LTE)," or "Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (EUTRA)") have been considered. In LTE, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) scheme is used as a downlink communication scheme. In LTE, a Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) scheme is used as an uplink communication scheme. In LTE, a base station device is referred to as an evolved NodeB (eNodeB) and a mobile station device (a terminal device) is referred to as User Equipment (UE). LTE is a cellular communication system in which the area covered by a base station device is divided in a cellular pattern into multiple cells. A single base station device may manage multiple cells. A single mobile station device performs communication in single or multiple cells. A cell that is used for communication is also referred to as a serving cell.
In LTE, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is used for data transmission from the base station device to a mobile station device. Furthermore, in the 3GPP, the support of a coordinated multi-point transmission and reception (CoMP) transfer scheme in which multiple base station devices mutually cooperate to perform interference coordination has been considered.
It is proposed that, in such radio communication system, in addition to determining a starting position of a resource element to which the PDSCH is mapped based on information (a control format indicator (CFI)) that is transmitted on a Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), the starting position is included as part of PDSCH resource element mapping configuration (NPL 1).

Terminal device, communication method and integrated circuit


A computer implemented method and computer program product for protecting a pre-filled user input field on a returned webpage from an accidental overwrite. The method identifies the pre-filled input field by detecting a mouseover. In response to a user command to change the state of the pre-filled input field, the method changes an initially unlocked pre-filled input field to a locked state or changes an initially locked pre-filled input field to an unlocked state.

1. Field of the Invention
The illustrative embodiments relate generally to an improved data processing system and in particular to a method for processing data. Still more particularly, the illustrative embodiments are related to a computer implemented method and computer program product for protecting pre-filled user input fields from an accidental overwrite.
2. Description of the Related Art
A growing number of computer applications and Internet websites require a user to provide information, such as a name, address, and account number, before the website may transact with the user. Websites may also require the user to create a user id and/or a password to interact with the website. The user input fields are typically shaded to indicate that the input fields are editable. The user may then type all of the required information and perhaps some additional information into the input fields. Depending on the website, a considerable amount of information may be input into the webpage. Some of the information may not be readily available to the user such as hard to remember account numbers or passwords.
Upon presenting the webpage to the user on a return visit, many websites may, as a convenience to the user, pre-fill the user information into the user input fields. Pre-filling the input fields saves the user the task of retyping the information. A pre-filled input field, as used herein, indicates an editable input field that contains default data upon the display of the webpage. Encrypted passwords may also be pre-filled into a returned webpage.
Historically, pre-filled input fields are unprotected, editable fields. Therefore, if the user accidentally types over the existing data in the input field, that existing data may no longer be available during the session. Often if the user logs out of the website and logs back into the website, the default data will pre-fill the input field and the user may then proceed. Retyping is a loss of time and an inconvenience for the user. However if the user fails to note an overtype error in an input field and submits the webpage, the default data may be altered to the new mistaken value, leading to a loss of data. The user may then need to look up account numbers and passwords to resubmit the webpage.

International Business Machines Corporation


The present disclosure involves systems, software, and computer implemented methods for providing voice-enabled human tasks in process modeling. One example method includes receiving a deployment request for a workflow that includes a human task. The workflow is deployed to a workflow engine in response to the deployment request. An instance of the workflow is created in response to a request from a client application. The instance of the workflow is processed, including execution of the human task. The human task is added to a task inbox of an assignee of the human task. A request is received from the assignee to access the task inbox from a telecommunications system. Voice guidance is provided, to the assignee, that requests assignee input. Voice input from the assignee is processed for completion of the human task. Workflow context for the human task is updated based on the received voice input.

A workflow is a repeatable pattern of actions performed in an organization. A workflow can be modeled, with a model including a defined sequence of operations, processes and tasks, with connected logic. A workflow management system is a software system for setting up, modeling, performing, and monitoring workflows. Workflows can be modeled and managed to increase productivity, reduce costs, and improve information exchange within an organization.

Voice-enabled human tasks in process modeling


A method of using a MR compatible deflectable catheter is provided. The MR compatible deflectable catheter includes a steerable sheath having a tubular shaft. The tubular shaft receives first and second longitudinal movement wires at a distal end thereof. A control handle is coupled to a proximal end of the first and second longitudinal movement wires and causes longitudinal movement of the wires. Longitudinal movement of the wires causes the catheter to deflect approximately 180 degrees.

MRI has achieved prominence as a diagnostic imaging modality, and increasingly as an interventional imaging modality. The primary benefits of MRI over other imaging modalities, such as X-ray, include superior soft tissue imaging and avoiding patient exposure to ionizing radiation produced by X-rays. MRI's superior soft tissue imaging capabilities have offered great clinical benefit with respect to diagnostic imaging. Similarly, interventional procedures, which have traditionally used X-ray imaging for guidance, stand to benefit greatly from MRI's soft tissue imaging capabilities. In addition, the significant patient exposure to ionizing radiation associated with traditional X-ray guided interventional procedures is eliminated with MRI guidance.
A variety of MRI techniques are being developed as alternatives to X-ray imaging for guiding interventional procedures. For example, as a medical device is advanced through the patient's body during an interventional procedure, its progress may be tracked so that the device can be delivered properly to a target site. Once delivered to the target site, the device and patient tissue may be monitored to improve therapy delivery. Thus, tracking the position of medical devices is useful in interventional procedures. Exemplary interventional procedures include, for example, cardiac electrophysiology procedures including diagnostic procedures for diagnosing arrhythmias and ablation procedures such as atrial fibrillation ablation, ventricular tachycardia ablation, atrial flutter ablation, Wolfe Parkinson White Syndrome ablation, AV node ablation, SVT ablations and the like. Tracking the position of medical devices using MRI is also useful in oncological procedures such as breast, liver and prostate tumor ablations; and urological procedures such as uterine fibroid and enlarged prostate ablations.
MRI uses three fields to image patient anatomy: a large static magnetic field, a time-varying magnetic gradient field, and a radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic field. The static magnetic field and time-varying magnetic gradient field work in concert to establish both proton alignment with the static magnetic field and also spatially dependent proton spin frequencies (resonant frequencies) within the patient. The RF field, applied at the resonance frequencies, disturbs the initial alignment, such that when the protons relax back to their initial alignment, the RF emitted from the relaxation event may be detected and processed to create an image.
Each of the three fields associated with MRI presents safety risks to patients when a medical device is in close proximity to or in contact either externally or internally with patient tissue. One important safety risk is the heating that may result from an interaction between the RF field of the MRI scanner and the medical device (RF-induced heating), especially medical devices that have elongated conductive structures, such as braiding and pull-wires in catheters and sheaths.
The RF-induced heating safety risk associated with elongated metallic structures in the MRI environment results from a coupling between the RF field and the metallic structure. In this case several heating related conditions exist. One condition exists because the metallic structure electrically contacts tissue. RF currents induced in the metallic structure may be delivered into the tissue, resulting in a high current density in the tissue and associated Joule or Ohmic tissue heating. Also, RF induced currents in the metallic structure may result in increased local specific absorption of RF energy in nearby tissue, thus increasing the tissue's temperature. The foregoing phenomenon is referred to as dielectric heating. Dielectric heating may occur even if the metallic structure does not electrically contact tissue, such metallic braiding used in a deflectable sheath. In addition, RF induced currents in the metallic structure may cause Ohmic heating in the structure, itself, and the resultant heat may transfer to the patient. In such cases, it is important to attempt to both reduce the RF induced current present in the metallic structure and/or eliminate it all together by eliminating the use of metal braid and long metallic pull-wires.
The static field of the MRI will cause magnetically induced displacement torque on any device containing ferromagnetic materials and has the potential to cause unwanted device movement. It is important to construct the sheath and control handle from non-magnetic materials, to eliminate the risk of unwanted device movement.
When performing interventional procedures under MRI guidance, clinical grade image quality must be maintained. Conventional steerable sheaths are not designed for the MRI and may cause image artifacts and/or distortion that significantly reduce image quality. Constructing the sheath from non-magnetic materials and eliminating all potentially resonant conductive structures allows the sheath to be used during active MR imaging without impacting image quality. Similarly, it is as important to ensure that the control handle is also constructed from non-magnetic materials thereby eliminating potentially resonsant conductive structures that may prevent the control handle being used during active MR imaging.
Conventional steerable sheaths utilize metallic braiding for torque delivery and kink resistance; metallic pull-wires and anchor bands for distal tip deflection; metallic marker bands for fluoroscopy visualization; and ferromagnetic metals in the control handle to minimize cost. Thus because the pull-wires incorporate a conductive materials they will react with the RF field of the MRI scanner and result in RF heating and the associated danger to patients and image degradation and artifacts. Additionally, the control handles incorporate ferromagnetic materials that may be attracted to the strong static magnetic field of the MRI scanner. Moreover, the fluoroscopy marker bands in conventional designs may not be compatible with the MR environment due to static field interactions and image degradation and, therefore, are not optimal for visibility in the MRI environment. Therefore, visualization within the MR environment may require the use of either passive or active MR tracking techniques. Passive tracking techniques include passive markers that may lead to image distortion due to direct currents or the use of inductively coupled coils. Active tracking is more robust than passive tracking but involve resonant RF coils that are attached to the device and directly connected to an MR receiver allowing for the determination of the three-dimensional coordinates of the resonant RF coils within the scanner. To the inventors' knowledge neither active nor passive tracking techniques are presently utilized in conventional steerable sheaths or control handles.
Thus, there is a need for a steerable sheath catheter and control handle that are built with MR compatible materials to eliminate the magnetic resonance environment limitations of conventional sheaths while maintaining other characteristics of conventional sheaths. In particular, there is a need for a more efficient way to delivery tools and other instruments into a body cavity or passageway during treatment in an MR environment.

MRI compatible handle and steerable sheath