An incentive based loan method and related system provides a loan to a purchaser in association with the purchase of goods or services. An amount of purchases to be made by a purchaser, such as a small business, is projected over a period of time. The purchases can be goods or services, such as package shipping services. Based on the amount of the projected purchases, an incentive rate is agreed upon by the seller of the goods or services and the purchaser. In lieu of receiving the discounted rate on the goods or services during the period of time, the present value of the total incentives to be earned over the projection period is loaned to the purchaser. The purchaser thereafter pays list price for the goods or services, and the incentives earned are applied to the required loan payment.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to systems and methods for providing and servicing loans to purchasers in conjunction with goods or services. The systems and methods disclosed are also directed to customer retention.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sellers of goods and services often discount charges from a list price. For example, generally, the purchase price of goods or services can be reduced if those goods or services are purchased in relatively large amounts. This is of course due to the economics related to the transaction, specifically, the amount of profit that can be achieved by a seller of those goods or services for the amount being purchased. A seller may be willing to offer a discount for goods or services purchased in large quantities in order to secure the sale to the purchaser and perhaps the purchaser's future patronage. The discount may reduce the per unit profit on those goods or services for the seller. However, the transaction may be economically attractive to the seller due to a number of factors. Normal per unit prices charged for goods or services (sometimes referred to as "list price") may be set according to assumptions regarding the transaction costs that assume purchases will be made in small amounts. Transaction costs may be reduced significantly when a large amount of goods or services are purchased. If a large quantity is purchased, then those assumptions may no longer apply, and profit margins might not be reduced significantly when volume discounts are offered, or those margins might not be reduced at all. Furthermore, a seller may have surplus goods or capacity for providing services that would be advantageous to the seller to transfer to purchasers of larger amounts.
Having a sure sale of a quantity of goods or services to a purchaser at a discounted rate may be attractive to a seller as opposed to uncertain sales at a higher rate. A seller can also use discounted goods or services as a marketing tool to make the seller's products more attractive as compared to a competitor to convince a purchaser to shift business away from the goods or services of competitors. Sellers can also use discounts to retain and reward existing customers.
A purchaser who plans to obtain a significant amount of goods or services therefore has a potentially attractive bargaining position when seeking a source or sources for the goods or services. The purchaser can approach the seller and negotiate a discount due to the large amount of good or services planned to be purchased. Likewise, if a seller approaches the purchaser, the purchaser can attempt to lower the seller's asking price based on the needed quantity of goods or services. The seller can also approach a purchaser marketing their goods or services at a discount. The seller can use incentives as a competitive advantage to secure the purchaser's patronage. The seller and purchaser generally negotiate to a price or rate that is agreeable to both parties, and which commonly redistributes additional profit due to the large purchase across both parties in some percentages.
A counterpart to this concept of reduced prices for quantity purchases is the concept of providing incentives to purchasers for progressive purchases made over time. For example, a seller might offer to sell items to a purchaser at a list price for the first ten items purchased, but offer a reduced price on the next ten and an even deeper discount for the following ten.
Another potential way to structure volume discounts is to make a projection of the quantity of goods or services that will be required by the purchaser over a given period of time. The amounts may not be known precisely due to the unknown demands of the purchaser's customer base or other unforeseeable factors. Using historical information, market data, purchaser plans, etc., however, the amount of goods or services required by the purchaser can be projected. Using this projection, the purchaser and the seller can then negotiate to reach agreement on pricing for the goods or services based on the projected need. Any agreement on pricing could then also include provisions for the eventuality that the actual amount of goods or services purchased over the period of time exceeds or falls short of the projected amount of goods or services.
Other motivations and arrangements for providing price incentives or discounts for goods or services exist. Each of these arrangements allows a purchaser to receive a discount from normal or list pricing, based, for example, on the volume of goods or services purchased, or planned to be purchased. In those cases where a purchaser makes a bulk purchase and the goods or services are purchased immediately, the amount saved by the purchaser in the bulk transaction is immediately available to the purchaser at that time. If the purchaser is a business, which volume purchasers commonly are, then the savings from the discount are available for other expenditures. This is particularly advantageous for small businesses where operating capital is at a premium.
Unfortunately for purchasers whose purchases are spread over a period of time due to the nature of the goods or services purchased or their planned use, etc., the savings due to a volume discount are not available to those purchasers until the purchases are actually made. It would be advantageous for such businesses to be able to obtain the value of a volume discount or incentives to be earned over a period of time in a lump sum. Where those purchasers are businesses, having the savings upfront would provide those businesses with operating capital that could be used in the business during the purchasing period. Indeed, the capital could be instrumental in enabling those businesses to purchase the amount of goods or services upon which the discount is based.
Furthermore, it is in the best interest of the purchaser and the seller for the purchaser to meet its planned purchase levels. It is also in the best interests of the seller to retain the patronage of the purchaser so that the purchaser continues to buy goods or services from the seller through the specified period of time over which purchases have been projected and beyond.
In the past, some companies have implemented programs where advances on marketing funds built into the cost of their products are provided to purchasers to be used for buying related equipment. A beverage supplier, for example, may price their beverages or syrup and supplies such that a portion of the purchase price is collected by the beverage supplier but later returned to the purchaser expressly for marketing the beverage supplier's products. In some arrangements, the beverage supplier has agreed to provide the purchaser with an advance on these marketing funds to purchase equipment for dispensing or vending the beverage supplier's products. For example, the beverage supplier may provide a purchaser with a three-year advance on the marketing funds to be spent towards the purchase of a soft drink vending machine. The purchaser would then need to purchase supplies from the beverage supplier order to cover the amount advanced. Until the advance is paid back, the purchaser would not receive the marketing funds from the beverage supplier as they are applied to cover the advance. Under these programs the purchaser simply continues to buy products from the beverage supplier, for example, until the advance is paid back. These programs have the disadvantage that the purchaser may not know the length of time that it must purchase beverages from the beverage supplier in order to pay back the advance. Furthermore such programs are inflexible as to what the advanced money is used for. That is, the purchaser is restricted and cannot spend the advance freely as it could spend its own operating capital.
What is needed then is a system and method for offering a purchaser new sources of operating capital while at the same time providing a way for a seller to provide incentives beneficial to purchasers without substantially reducing the seller's profit margin. Ideally, such a system and method would encourage a purchaser to obtain needed goods or services from the seller, and also foster goodwill between the purchaser and seller.

Systems and associated methods for providing projected incentive based loans


Methods and apparatus are described for control of friction at the nanoscale. A method of controlling frictional dynamics of a plurality of particles using non-Lipschitzian control includes determining an attribute of the plurality of particles; calculating an attribute deviation by subtracting the attribute of the plurality of particles from a target attribute; calculating a non-Lipschitzian feedback control term by raising the attribute deviation to a fractionary power ξ=(2m+1)/(2n+1) where n=1, 2, 3 . . . and m=0, 1, 2, 3 . . . , with m strictly less than n and then multiplying by a control amplitude; and imposing the non-Lipschitzian feedback control term globally on each of the plurality of particles; imposing causes a subsequent magnitude of the attribute deviation to be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field friction control. More particularly, the invention relates to control of friction at the micro and nano scale.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Despite great progress made during the past half century, many problems in fundamental tribology (such as the origin of friction and failure of lubrication) have remained unsolved. Moreover, the current reliable knowledge related to friction and lubrication is mainly applicable to macroscopic systems and machinery and, most likely, will be only of limited use for micro-and nano-systems. Indeed, when the thickness of the lubrication film is comparable to the molecular or atomic size, the behavior of the (film) lubricant becomes significantly different from the behavior of macroscopic (bulk) lubricant [1]. Better understanding of the intimate mechanisms of friction, lubrication, and other interfacial phenomena at the atomic and molecular scales is needed to provide designers and engineers the required tools and capabilities to monitor and control friction, reduce unnecessary wear, and predict mechanical faults and failure of lubrication in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and nano-devices [2].
The ability to control and manipulate friction during sliding is extremely important for a large variety of technological applications. The outstanding difficulties in realizing efficient friction control are related to the complexity of the task, namely dealing with systems with many degrees of freedom under strict size confinement, and only very limited control access. Moreover, a nonlinear system driven far from equilibrium may exhibit a variety of complex spatial and temporal behaviors, each resulting in different patterns of motion and corresponding to different friction coefficient [3].
Friction can be manipulated by applying small perturbations to accessible elements and parameters of a sliding system [4-10]. Usually, these control methods are based on non-feedback controls. Recently, the groups of J. Israelachvili [4] (experimental) and U. Landman [5] (full-scale molecular dynamics computer simulation) showed that friction in thin-film boundary lubricated junctions can be reduced by coupling small amplitude (of the order of 1 Å) directional mechanical oscillations of the confining boundaries to the molecular degree of freedom of the sheared interfacial lubricating fluid. Using a surface force apparatus, modified for measuring friction forces while simultaneously inducing normal (out-of-plane) vibrations between two boundary-lubricated sliding surfaces, load- and frequency-dependent transitions between a number of "dynamical friction" states have been observed [4]. In particular, regimes of vanishingly small friction at interfacial oscillations were found. Extensive grand-canonical molecular dynamics simulations [5] revealed the nature of the dynamical states of confined sheared molecular films, their structural mechanisms, and the molecular scale mechanisms underlying transitions between them. Methods to control friction in systems under shear that begin to enable the elimination of chaotic stick-slip motion were proposed by Rozman et al [6]. Significant changes in frictional responses were observed in the two-plate model [7] by modulating the normal response to lateral motion [8]. In addition, the surface roughness and the thermal noise are expected to play a significant role in deciding control strategies at the micro and the nano-scale [9, 10].
Since feedback control methods require specific knowledge of the strength and timing of the perturbations, their application to nano-friction has been very limited. On the other hand, feedback control methods (e.g., proportional feedback) have been applied extensively in many engineering fields. All these feedback controls have been Lipschitzian. Recently, non-Lipschitzian (terminal attractor based) feedback control has been successfully implemented in first order systems such as neural networks [11, 12].
Despite their relative simplicity, phenomenological models of friction at the atomic level [10, 13-16] show a fair agreement with many experimental results using either friction force equipment [7, 18, 19] or quartz microbalance experiments [9, 17, 20]. The basic equations for the driven dynamics of a one dimensional particle array of N identical particles moving on a surface are given by a set of coupled nonlinear equations of the form [16]:m{umlaut over (x)}j+γ{dot over (x)}j=−∂U/∂xj−∂V/∂xj+ƒj+η(t), j=1, . . . N   (1)where xj is the coordinate of the jth particle, m is its mass, γ is the linear friction coefficient representing the single particle energy exchange with the substrate, ƒj is the applied external force, and η(t) is Gaussian noise. The particles in the array are subjected to a periodic potential, U(xj+a)=U(xj), and interact with each other via a pair-wise potential V(xj−xi), j, i=1, 2, . . . N. A system represented by Equation (1) provides a general framework of modeling friction although the amount of detail and complexity varies in different studies from simplified one dimensional models [15, 16, 21, 22] through two dimensional and three dimensional models [17, 23, 24, 25] to a full set of molecular dynamics simulations [25, 26].
Phenomenological models of friction at the atomic level can include the following simplifications (assumptions): (i) the substrate potential is a simple periodic form, (ii) there is a zero misfit length between the array and the substrate, (iii) the same force ƒ is applied to each particle, and (iv) the interparticle coupling is linear. The coupling with the substrate is, however, strongly nonlinear. For this case, using the dimensionless phase variables φj=2πxj/a, the equation of motion reduces to the dynamic Frenkel-Kontorova model [16]{umlaut over (φ)}j+γ{dot over (φ)}j+sin(φj)=ƒ+κ(φj+1−2φj+φj−1).   (2)Without control, Equation (2) exhibits four different regimes: (i) rest (no motion), (ii) periodic sliding, (iii) periodic stick-slip, and (iv) chaotic stick-slip. Different motion types are obtained by only changing the initial conditions of the particle's positions and velocities, but not the system's parameters. The average velocity of the center of mass for the "natural" (i.e., uncontrolled) motion, may take only a limited range of values, namely: (i) v=0 for rest (no sliding), (ii) v=ƒ/γ for periodic sliding motion, and (iii) v=nv0, where n is an integer,
            v      0        =                            2                    π                          nN                                                              γ                                                                      π              -                                                cos                                      -                    1                                                                  f                                      π                                                        (                              κ                -                                  κ                  c                                            )                                      1              /              2                                            ,for periodic stick-slip motion, [16].


A patient support system including a frame having first and second portions, at least one of them movable with respect to the other to transition the frame between a first configuration and a second configuration. A first port is coupled to the first portion of the frame, and a second port disposed with the second portion of the frame, such that a distance between the first port and the second port changes when the frame transitions between the first and second configurations. A fluid conduit is arranged between the first port and the second port and configured to transition between a first length and a second length, longer than the first length, when the frame is transitioned between the first and second configurations. The fluid conduit is configured with a resiliency to naturally return toward the first length. A method of using a patient support system is also included.

Patient support systems, such as hospital beds, are well known in the healthcare industry. Some beds, particularly for long term care of patients, include inflatable support surfaces, e.g., mattresses. In order to control inflation of a mattress, a fluid pressure supply unit may be included, e.g., mounted to the footboard of the bed frame (e.g., formed with or separately attached to the footboard), and connected to the mattress via one or more fluid conduits. It is often desired for the beds to be reconfigurable between two or more configurations (e.g., laid flat, reclining, etc.) to improve patient comfort and to facilitate patient care. One solution to provide a reconfigurable bed with an inflatable mattress and fluid supply unit has been to include an excess length of the fluid conduit, such that fluid conduit can accommodate different frame configurations. However, this excess length may dangle under the bed or need to be coiled on the floor under the bed, which may be considered unsightly, cumbersome, or complicate the motion of working components of the bed during reconfiguration.

Extendable fluid conduit for reconfigurable bed


A clamp assembly for a track of an elliptical exercise machine has a base member, a clamp member, and a strap. The base member is coupled to a guide rail of the elliptical and has at least one base-fastener orifice. The clamp member is pivotally coupled to the base member and has at least one clamp-fastener orifice. The strap is proximate the base member and the clamp member and has at least one strap-fastener orifice. The at least one base-fastener orifice, the at least one clamp-fastener orifice, and the at least one strap-fastener orifice are positioned to collectively receive a securing fastener.

The following relates generally to exercise machines, and more particularly to the field of coupling belt tracks to elliptical exercise machines.
Exercise machines having alternating reciprocating foot supports configured to traverse or travel about a closed path to simulate a striding, running, walking, or climbing motion for the individual using the machine are well known and are commonly referred to as elliptical exercise machines or elliptical cross-trainers. In general, an elliptical or elliptical-type exercise machine comprises a pair of reciprocating foot supports designed to receive and support the feet of a user. Each reciprocating foot support has at least one end supported for rotational motion about a pivot point (e.g., a pivot end) with the other end supported in a manner configured to cause the reciprocating foot support to travel or traverse a closed path, such as a reciprocating elliptical or oblong path or other similar geometric outline (e.g., a closed path end). Therefore, upon operation of the exercise machine, each reciprocating foot support is caused to travel or traverse the closed path, thereby simulating a striding motion for exercise purposes. Typically, the reciprocating foot supports are configured to be out of phase with one another by approximately 180 degrees to simulate a natural stride motion.
An individual may utilize an elliptical exercise machine by placing his or her feet onto the reciprocating foot supports. Once standing on the foot supports, the individual may actuate the exercise machine for any desired length of time at any desired pace causing the reciprocating foot supports to repeatedly travel their respective closed paths. This action effectively results in a series of strides achieved by the individual to obtain a desired level of exercise, such as distance traveled or calories burned. Exercise achieved using an elliptical exercise machine is particularly favored by individuals seeking aerobic exercise with little or no physical impact to their frame and joints.
One type of elliptical exercise machine includes a roller carried at the closed path end of the reciprocating foot support. The roller is supported by a track member. Other types of elliptical exercise machines have the roller positioned under the track member, and the track member is moved along with the foot support of the machine through the closed path. Opposing ends of the track member define a maximum travel distance for the reciprocating foot support. The roller usually does not contact either of the opposing ends of the track member when the user is operating the elliptical exercise machine in a normal stride. However, the roller contacts at least one of the ends of the track member when longer than normal strides are taken. This contact can result in high impact forces creating additional wear and stress in the machine and potential discomfort for the user.
An example elliptical exercise machine including a track member is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,618,350 issued to William T. Dalebout et al. and assigned to Icon IP, Inc. In this patent, an elliptical exercise machine includes a pair of track members within which rollers connected to the reciprocating foot supports move during operation of the machine. The track members define straight tracks that support the rollers. Similar elliptical exercise machines can also be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,993,359; 6,422,977; and 7,468,021 and U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2010/0041522 and 2007/0054779. All of these references are herein incorporated by reference for all that they disclose.
In some elliptical exercise machines, flexible belts are used as part of a track apparatus. The belt is suspended at two ends between portions of a belt support member, and roller contacts the flexible belt between those ends, causing the belt to support (or be supported by) the roller. When the reciprocating foot support moves on the exercise machine, the roller slides or rolls relative to the length of the belt supported by the belt support member. As the roller moves, the radius of curvature of the belt with respect to the belt support member increases in the direction of the motion of the roller due to slack in the belt. At the center of the belt, the radius of curvature is at its lowest, and as the roller approaches one of the suspended ends, the radius gradually increases. This gradual change in resistance against the roller provides a smoother striding effect for the user by reducing the chance that the roller will contact the end of a track member when the user takes a long stride.
In these machines, the length of the belt must be carefully managed. With too much slack, the user may experience unsatisfactory high impact forces as the roller causes the belt to contact the rigid belt support member. With too little slack, the range of change of the radius of curvature permitted by the belt may be too limited to give the desired range of resistance for a natural feel to the exercise machine and a perceptible ramp-up toward the ends of the belt. Ideally, then, the belt is suspended in the track apparatus tightly enough to prevent the roller from contacting the remaining track apparatus, but loosely enough to give a satisfactory range of radius change as the roller moves relative to the belt surface.
Retaining a belt at this carefully measured length can be difficult. Belts in elliptical exercise machines are subject to wear and stretching and may need to be adjusted or replaced over time. Thus, permanent attachment is not preferable, but non-permanent attachment systems must ensure safety and security while holding the belt and also be low-cost and easily serviceable. Existing belt-rolling elliptical exercise machines do not provide a sufficient combination of these features.

Clamp assembly for an elliptical exercise machine


Disclosed is a method for detecting neoplastic cells in a tissue sample by examining the cells for centrosomal abnormalities such as ectopic localization of centrosomal proteins, hypertrophic centrosomes, and supernumerary centrosomes.

The mitotic spindle in most eukaryotes, including humans, is organized by centrosomes. These organelles nucleate the formation of microtubules that capture chromosomes and segregate the chromosomes into daughter cells at mitosis.
Most cells have a single centrosome throughout most of the cell cycle. Before mitosis, a new centrosome is formed adjacent to the first centrosome. The two centrosomes then form the poles of the mitotic spindle. Upon completion of mitosis and cytokinesis, cells, which transiently have two centrosomes, resolve into two cells, with each containing a single centrosome. Normal cells are rarely observed with more than two centrosomes.
Recently, centrosomal proteins such as pericentrin and .gamma.-tubulin have been identified. Anti-sera raised against these proteins can be used to identify centrosomes and centrosomal components in mammalian cells.

Cancer detection by centrosome abnormality


An off-axis three-mirror optical system with freeform surfaces includes a primary mirror, a secondary mirror, a tertiary mirror, and an image sensor. The primary mirror receives light rays first and the secondary mirror is located on a path of light reflected from the primary mirror. The tertiary mirror receives light reflected from the secondary mirror. The image sensor is located on a path of light reflected from the tertiary mirror. Each reflecting surface of the primary and tertiary mirrors is a sixth order xy polynomial freeform surface. The secondary mirror reflecting surface is a spherical surface. A field of view of the off-axis three-mirror optical system with freeform surfaces in Y-axis direction is greater or equal to 65°. A field of view of the off-axis three-mirror optical system with freeform surfaces in X-axis direction is greater or equal to 0.8°.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an off-axis optical system.
2. Description of Related Art
Compared with conventional rotationally symmetric surfaces, freeform surfaces have asymmetric surfaces and more degrees of freedom in design, which can reduce aberrations and simplify the structure of the reflective system. Thus, freeform surfaces are often used in off-axis three-mirror optical systems.
However, the mirrors in conventional off-axis three-mirror system are mostly spherical or aspheric surfaces. There are more factors, such as volume, weight, and the number of lenses, to be considered during the designing process; it is difficult to design off-axis three-mirror optical systems with simple structure and excellent imaging. In addition, conventional off-axis three-mirror optical systems with spherical surfaces or aspherical surfaces make it difficult to achieve multiple fields imaging with large field of view (FOV), such as more than 60°.

Off-axis three-mirror optical system with freeform surfaces


The present invention discloses a distributed electrical cross apparatus, and a system and method for the distributed electrical cross apparatus implementing an SNC cascade protection. The apparatus includes a backboard and at least four single-boards integrated with electrical cross units, wherein the single-boards are inserted in the limited number of slots in the backboard, and these single-boards also set line-side service access units, client-side service access units and backboard access units. The present invention has both accessing of line-side services and accessing of client-side services in the same single-board, access and flexible scheduling of various services such as line-side services and client-side services and so on are implemented on the backboard with limited number of slots, and the function of the distributed electrical cross system processing various services is increased in the case of low cost.

Along with the development of packet and broadband of the telecommunication network, the Internet protocol (All-IP) has become the trend of the future service network evolution. According to the prediction, in the next five years, the bandwidth will increase with a growth rate of more than 50% per year. At present, no matter in the backbone level or in the metropolitan area level, the two-layer networking mode of the Wavelength Division Multiplexing (IP over WDM) is gradually replacing the original three-layer mode of the Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (IP over SDH) over WDM, and the flatten architecture of directly bearing IP on the optical layer has become a trend. The IP over WDM networking architecture proposes a new requirement to the optical layer WDM device, and the networking, service scheduling and end-to-end circuit monitoring management function originally done by the SDH network will be mainly charged by the WDM level gradually.
The fundamental driving force of the optical transport network, as the bearer plane of the IP bearer network, facing changes is from the requirements of the IP bearer network. At present, along with increasing of the size of the service granule carried by the IP bearer network, large granule services, such as 10 GE (Gigabyte Ethernet) service, continue to emerge, which will require that the WDM device has the function of flexibly scheduling large granule services. The whole networking idea required can be divided into a region scheduling and inter-region convergence and scheduling which is taken charge by an introduced device with electrical cross function. The core cross capability of electrical cross system is strong, the scheduling of electrical cross system is flexible, and the electrical cross system can achieve the flexible scheduling of 1 GE˜10 GE granules.
Facing the challenge of IP, the metropolitan area optical network device is required to have the flexible service scheduling capability. At present, the scheduling cross of services is implemented primarily by an optical cross based on the Reconfigurable Optical Add-drop Multiplexer (ROADM) and an electric cross based on the Optical Transport Network (OTN). For the solution of the electrical cross, the network nodes can be achieved with the centralized or distributed electrical cross system. The centralized electrical cross system adopts special client-side single-boards and line-side single-boards, and uses a cross single-board to schedule the services; and the trunk service transmission is achieved in the line-side single-board, and the add/drop path of tributary service is achieved in the client-side single-board. The single-boards in the centralized electrical cross system have definite division, and the system function is relatively perfect. Since the centralized cross unit takes a sub-frame as a unit, the resource allocation is designed according to the largest cross capability of the sub-frame; and in the case that the access service capacity is suitable to the design capacity, the performance and price ratio is relatively high, while in the case that the services that need to be scheduled are few, there is resource waste. Therefore, the backbone network and the core network generally adopt the centralized electrical cross system for service scheduling, thus ensuring the network stability.
The distributed electrical cross system is characterized in that there is no independent cross unit, and the cross function is achieved by the fixed connection between the electrical cross unit within each single-board in the distributed electrical cross group and each single-board. Due to the constraint on the fixed connection complexity of the backboard of the network node, the distributed electrical cross group generally takes 4 single-boards as a group, and if there are more than 4 single-boards, it will result in dramatic increase in the circuit connection complexity. Compared with the centralized electrical cross system, the distributed electrical cross has a significant reduction in cost, therefore, in the case that the edge nodes, etc., in the metropolitan area network have not enough processing capability, the distributed electrical cross system is usually adopted.
The existing distributed electrical cross system only is generally a simplified version of the centralized cross system, it is only improved on the basis of the client-side single-boards and the line-side single-boards in the existing centralized cross system to integrate the cross units into the single-boards rather than to centralize to implement through the cross board. Since the single-boards are not improved according to the feature of distributed cross, each single-board only achieves the client-side or line-side service; if the line-side service is protected, the add/drop path of the client-side service cannot be realized, and the sub-wavelength level service cannot be protected also, thus resulting in that the distributed cross scheduling and protection function is limited.
The original ITU-T G808.1 standards respectively defines the sub-network connection (SNC) cascade protection and the SNC cascade protection with the device protection, which is mainly achieved based on the protection switching of the optical cross system or can be achieved through the electrical cross connection.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a sub-network service scheduling and protection Sublayer (SNC/S) cascade system. As shown in FIG. 1, two network layer trail endpoints E connect with the protection switching function nodes P through the connection points C, and four sub-networks are single-point connection through two protection switching function nodes P in the network nodes. When a service in one working sub-network has fault, this service can be replaced with the concurrent service in the protection sub-network to ensure that other places in the network are not affected; however, when any one of the protection switching nodes has a fault, the entire network necessarily faces to paralysis.
If the existing network nodes directly use the optical cross system, although it is able to perform the flexibly scheduling and protecting to the client-side service and the line-side service, it is not suitable to the case that the edge nodes in the metropolitan area network do not have enough processing capability due to the high costs of optical switches, optical-electrical converters and optical cross device. Moreover, the optical cross system cannot achieve the SNC cascade scheduling and protection of the sub-wavelength level service.

Distributed electrical cross device, and system and method thereof for implementing sub-network connection (SNC) cascade protection


A frequency-selective surface designed to transmit (allow to pass through) electromagnetic radiation around one or more predetermined transmission frequencies. The frequency-selective surface comprises at least two layers, whereby the outer layer is made up of at least one electromagnetic reflecting layer with a periodic pattern of conductive elements. The periodic pattern of conductive elements is made to have a reflection resonance frequency for electromagnetic radiation which is of the order of three times higher than the desired transmission frequency. The inner layer is placed at a suitable predetermined distance from the outer layer. The inner layer is made up of at least one electromagnetic transmitting layer having a periodic pattern of aperture elements. The periodic pattern of aperture elements is made in order to have a transmission resonance frequency for electromagnetic radiation which is substantially the same as the desired transmission frequency.

The present invention relates to an arrangement for protecting (shielding) one or more electromagnetic sensors against undesirable electromagnetic radiation.
In many connections there is a desire to protect (shield) one or more electromagnetic sensors, for example antennas, from undesirable electromagnetic radiation and mechanical influences. Very often it is desirable to protect the sensor's sensitive electronics from interfering and/or destructive signals and to influence/reduce/alter the radar signature of the sensor. An object's radar signature is the object's three-dimensional electromagnetic radiation diagram which is obtained from it being irradiated with electromagnetic signals of differing frequencies and from the object's self-produced electromagnetic radiation. An object's radar signature can also be seen as a diagram of the object's equivalent reflection surface in three dimensions, which of course only gives a picture of the radar signature for incident radiation.
One way of achieving a protector/shield which fulfils the aforementioned desire is by using a frequency selective surface/radome (FSS--Frequency Selective Surface, RADOME --RAdar DOME).
In the construction of frequency-selective surfaces, periodic patterns consisting of aperture elements can be used, for example slits which, simply expressed, are holes of some form in an electrically-conductive plane, or periodic patterns can be used which consist of electrically-conductive elements, for example dipoles or printed conductive elements, which can be described as electrically-conductive islands in some form on an insulated plane. These two types of periodic pattern give rise to surfaces with different frequency behaviour.
If aperture elements are used, the surface transmits at the aperture elements' resonant frequency f.sub.0. This means that the surface will have a transmission window (compare with pass-band filters) where the maximum transmission through the surface is obtained at a frequency which is determined by the elements' resonant frequency with a wavelength .lambda. (element length.about..lambda./2{.lambda.=electrical wavelength}). If on the other hand, conductive elements are used, the surface will reflect at the elements' resonant frequency. That means that the surface will have a reflection window (compare with suppression/stop-band filters) where the maximum reflection is obtained at a frequency which is determined by the elements' resonant frequency (element length.about..lambda./2).
The natural choice when constructing a frequency-selective surface/radome is a periodic pattern with aperture elements. Such a surface has a transmission window, i.e. it is transparent for a chosen frequency range. By combining two or more such layers with a space between the layers, the characteristics of the radome can be additionally improved/altered, i.e. full transmission at a desired transmission frequency can be obtained, as well as steeper flanks in the window.
This type of construction has several disadvantages however, partly due to the fact that a radome with such a surface is electromagnetically open (has a pass-band) at multiples of the resonant frequency (nf.sub.0, n=1, 2, . . . ), but also due to the fact that the periodic pattern gives rise to grating lobes for frequencies from about 1.5f.sub.0 (for a typically conventional radome construction). Grating lobes are undesirable lobes, radiation, which occur due to interference when electromagnetic radiation at a suitable frequency meets or transmits through a surface with a periodic and symmetric pattern.
The frequency of the radiation at which the grating lobes occur depends on the packing density of the periodic pattern. If the elements lie more sparsely than .lambda./2, grating lobes occur in the radome's radar signature. That means that the grating lobes will occur for electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength .lambda. which is less than two times the distance between the elements.
In other words, the electromagnetic protection (shielding) which the FSS-radome gives to the sensor is limited. The sensor is electromagnetically unprotected at frequencies which are multiples of the sensor's own frequency and additionally the sensor's radar signature is worsened in that the grating lobes, which were perhaps not present previously, may be introduced at the sensor's own frequency or near to it. The electromagnetic protection which the radome provides is for incident radiation with frequencies lower than the sensor's own frequency, for these frequencies the FSS-surface appears approximately as a purely metallic surface.
Problems with multiple transmission windows present themselves, inter alia, if the FSS-radome is constructed for reasons of radar signature, i.e. if one of the purposes of the radome is to protect sensors which lie behind it from being seen. Another occasion where multiple transmission windows are a problem is if the purpose is to protect the sensor's electronics which lie behind it from both interfering and destructive signals. The problem with grating lobes is only coupled to the desire to reduce/alter the radar signature, on the condition that these do not already occur at an undesired resonant frequency, in which case even the sensor's/antenna's own characteristics are disturbed.
The method of using a periodic aperture pattern in a frequency-selective surface/radome is described in published articles. The method of combining a plurality of layers of similar pattern in order to obtain different characteristics in the FSS-surfaces is also described.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,603 discloses a solution, in which an outer layer consisting of periodic patterns of apertures is combined with an inner interposed layer consisting of a periodic pattern of conductive elements. The purpose according to the patent is to obtain a compact radome solution which transmits at two frequencies. The purpose of the middle layer consisting of conductive elements is to achieve a coupling between the aperture layers, which thereby allows transmission at two frequencies. The described solution does not solve the problem of the radome being open to multiple frequencies of the undesired transmission frequencies. The construction allows a denser packing of the elements than with a conventional solution, which means that the grating lobes can be avoided at f.sub.0. But since the layer which is the interface to the surroundings consists of apertures and is resonant for an undesired transmission frequency f.sub.0, the packing density of the apertures will however be such that the grating lobes will occur from about 2f.sub.0.
In British patent GB 2 253 519 a solution is described having an FSS-surface consisting of densely packed layers with periodic patterns of elements which can be apertures and/or conductive elements. The purpose is to obtain a surface, the transmission/reflection characteristics of which can be altered by the layers being displaced relative to one another. The layers are constructed for transmitting or reflecting at a given frequency which can be changed by the layers changing position with respect to each other. There is nothing in the method which prevents transmission at multiple frequencies or the occurrence of grating lobes. The solution which is presented in the British patent is not intended to solve these problems and neither does it do this.

Protector for one or more electromagnetic sensors


A wearable device includes a unitary first frame assembly which is integrally formed from first and second polymeric materials. The first frame assembly has a first frame portion formed by the first polymeric material and extends around part of a second frame portion formed by the second polymeric material. The first frame member includes a flexible first shell and a first connecting portion which depends from the first shell. The second frame portion forms part of the first shell and continuously extends to the first connecting portion without interruption. The second polymeric material has greater rigidity than the first polymeric material. The device also includes a second frame assembly having a second connecting portion which links to the first connecting portion.

A variety of wearable devices are available for orthopedic and prosthetic applications for providing stability, protection, support, rehabilitation and/or unloading a potion of the human anatomy. Known devices, however, are often associated as being bulky and heavy, and further costly requiring numerous manufacturing processes to produce.
An example of a wearable device is a knee brace. As is well understood, knee braces are widely used to treat a variety of knee infirmities. Such braces may be configured to impart forces or leverage on the limbs surrounding the knee joint in order to relieve compressive forces within a portion of the knee joint, or to reduce the load on that portion of the knee. Moreover, in the event that knee ligaments are weak and infirm, a knee brace may stabilize, protect, support, unload, and/or rehabilitate the knee.
The knee is acknowledged as one of the weakest joints in the body, and serves as the articulating joint between the thigh and calf muscle groups. The knee is held together primarily by small but powerful ligaments. Knee instability arising out of cartilage damage, ligament strain and other causes is relatively commonplace since the knee joint is subjected to significant loads during the course of almost any kind of physical activity requiring the use of the legs.
A healthy knee has an even distribution of pressure in both the medial and lateral compartments of the knee. It is normal for a person with a healthy knee to place a varus moment on the knee when standing so that the pressure between the medial and lateral compartments is uneven but still natural.
One type of knee infirmity that many individuals are prone to having is compartmental osteoarthritis. Compartmental osteoarthritis may arise when there is a persistent uneven distribution of pressure in one of the medial and lateral compartments of the knee. Compartmental osteoarthritis can be caused by injury, obesity, misalignment of the knee, or simply due to aging of the knee.
A major problem resulting from osteoarthritis of the knee is that the smooth cartilage lining the inside of the knee wears away. This leads to a narrowing of the joint space with the development of cysts and erosions in the bone ends. Because of the narrowing of the joint, bone comes directly in contact with bone, and an uneven distribution of pressure develops across the knee which may result in the formation of bone spurs around the joint. All of these changes ultimately lead to increasing pain and stiffness of the joint.
While there are no cures to osteoarthritis, there are many treatments. Individuals who have a diagnosis of isolated lateral or medial compartmental osteoarthritis of the knee are confronted with a variety of treatment options such as medications, surgery, and nonsurgical interventions. Nonsurgical interventions include the use of canes, lateral shoe wedges, and knee bracing.
Knee bracing is useful to provide compartment pain relief by reducing the load on the compartment through the application of an opposing external valgus or varus moment about the knee joint. Unloading knee braces have been shown to significantly reduce osteoarthritis knee pain while improving knee function.
While known knee braces are successful at reducing pain or at stabilizing a knee joint, many users find these braces to be bulky, difficult to don, complicated to configure, and uncomfortable to wear. For these reasons, the exemplary embodiments described herein have streamlined features capable of providing relief for medial or lateral compartmental osteoarthritis, or functional stability of the knee without the attendant drawbacks of known unloading knee braces.
The concepts described in connection with the exemplary knee brace embodiments may be extended to a variety of wearable devices that are configured to be secured to and/or support numerous portions of anatomy.


The instant invention is directed to a mounting device for a load cell scale that is a component of a high speed sheet processing system. The invention has particular utility in a mail processing machines which include the step of weighing mailpieces. The mounting device of the instant invention is one that provides reliability, ease of manufacture, and ease of assembly. In addition, isolation members are included that isolate the scale platform from vibrations caused by the scale's environment.

Load cell weighing scales are well known devices that are used for weighing a variety of items. A load cell weighing scale usually includes a beam that has with oval openings and four strain gauges bonded to the thin portions formed by the oval openings so that a load applied to one end of the beam can be weighed. The load causes the beam to deform and this deformation in the strain gauges. Such change in resistance the strain gauges causes the voltage in electrical power applied to the strain gauges. This change in voltage will be directly proportional to the weight of the load on the scale and in this way the weight of the load can be determined.
Although load cell scales have been used extensively, the use of such a scale in a high speed sheet conveying apparatus is not common. In a device such as a mailing machine, mailpieces are conveyed in series past a number of stations for performing tasks in the processing of the mailpieces. These tasks could include placing inserts into an envelope, sealing the envelope to form a mailpiece, and placing a postage meter indicia on the mailpiece. In order to determine the amount of postage required, the mailpiece must first be weighed. A weighing scale for performing such a task should be able to operate at least at the same speed as the other components in the system, this usually being processing in excess of one mailpiece a second. Heretofore, load cell scales were not generally available that could meet this stringent requirement. Clearly, it would be advantageous to provide a load cell scale with appropriate mounting members so that high speed processing can be achieved.


A liquid crystal composition comprising 5 to 99% by weight of a liquid-crystalline copolymer, which has both an alkyl chain and a siloxane chain in its main chain, and 1 to 95% by weight of a low molecular weight liquid-crystalline compound operates at a wide range of temperatures including room temperature, has an excellent film formability, is easy to orient to a high degree by mechanical orientation methods including bending orientation method and responds to the change of electric field at a high speed.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal composition suitable for the use in various liquid crystal devices, including liquid crystal display devices, liquid crystal optical devices and liquid crystal memory devices. The present invention further relates to an information display apparatus which uses the liquid crystal composition and is suitable for displaying news or advertisement.
(b) Description of the Related Art
As liquid crystal compositions for the use in liquid crystal devices, there were proposed polymer liquid crystal compositions that comprise polymer liquid-crystalline compounds containing asymmetric carbon atoms and low molecular weight liquid-crystalline compounds [Japanese Patent Application Kokai Koho (Laid-open) No. 63-284291]. However, since the side-chain polymer liquid-crystalline compounds exemplified therein have general alkylate or siloxane main-chains which provide insufficient spacing between adjacent side-chains, increasing the molecular weight prevents sufficient mixing of low molecular weight liquid-crystalline compounds for increasing the response speed. This makes it difficult to endow the compositions with a high speed responsibility while maintaining the intrinsic polymeric properties. There is another problem that the temperature range of chiral smectic C phase is so narrow that even the mixing of the low molecular weight liquid-crystalline compounds has difficulty in providing liquid crystal compositions operable at a wide range of temperatures including room temperature.
As to information display apparatuses, there was proposed a display comprising a liquid crystal display, a memory member for memorizing the substance of display, a control member for interface, a connector member for connecting with a host processor and a battery member for supplying electric force [Japanese Patent Application Kokai Koho (Laid-open) No. 64-70793]. After separated from the host processor, the display continue to display the display substance. It, however, involves problems that separation of the host processor necessitates supply of electric force to activate the memory part to perform display, that each time the display substance is changed, connection with the host processor is required, and increasing the display area is difficult due to the use of the conventional liquid crystal display.

Liquid crystal composition and information display apparatus using the liquid crystal composition


An incremental encoding and decoding apparatus and method are provided. The incremental encoding and decoding apparatus comprises current converters, which respectively receive the pair of analog signals and convert the received analog signals into current signals each having a predetermined magnitude and phase; and frequency multipliers, which respectively convert the current signals into voltage signals each having an increased frequency compared to the frequencies of the current signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a position measurement and control apparatus and method. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for controlling the position of an object with high precision.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional incremental encoder sensing system for position measurement. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional incremental encoder sensing system includes an analog encoder sensor 100, an analog inverter 110, a quadrature signal generator 120, a 4:1 analog multiplexer 130, an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter 140, and an absolute position converter 150.
The analog encoder sensor 100 outputs pseudo sine or cosine waves X and Y. The pseudo sine or cosine waves X and Y have a phase difference of 90 degrees. Thereafter, the pseudo sine or cosine waves X and Y are inverted by the analog inverter 110, and the inverted pseudo sine or cosine waves nX and nY are input to the 4:1 analog multiplexer 130 together with the pseudo sine or cosine waves X and Y.
The quadrature signal generator 120 receives the pseudo sine or cosine waves X and Y and enables the 4:1 analog multiplexer 130 to select and output one of the four waves input thereto. A wave or signal output from the 4:1 analog multiplexer 130 provides rather general position information to the A/D converter 140, and the A/D converter 140 processes the position information received from the 4:1 analog multiplexer 130, thereby obtaining more specific position information. The absolute position converter 150 further refines the position information received from the A/D converter 140, thereby providing even more specific position information. The position information output from the absolute position converter 150 is used in, for example, a servo system.
The conventional incremental encoder sensing system divides one cycle of a pseudo sine wave by 4 by using a comparator, thereby obtaining general position information. Thereafter, an analog signal containing specific position information is selected using the 4:1 analog multiplexer 130 and then digitalized using the analog-to-digital converter 140. Accordingly, position information in one cycle of the pseudo sine wave can be obtained using the general position information and the specific position information.
Examples of conventional incremental encoder sensing systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,457,639 and 5,933,106.
The pseudo sine or cosine waves X and Y output from the analog encoder 100 of FIG. 1 are input to an analog multiplier, thereby obtaining signals with two times higher frequencies than those of the pseudo sine or cosine waves X and Y. The signals are used as information for position determination. This type of technique is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 2003-0048648. However, the analog multiplier is large and expensive, and thus it is difficult to apply the analog multiplier to a device with a high integration density.
In order to increase the precision of position determination of the conventional incremental encoder sensing system of FIG. 1, the structure of the conventional incremental encoder may inevitably become very complicated and may need a processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU), in which case the structure of the conventional incremental encoder sensing system becomes even more complex. When assisted by the processor, the conventional incremental encoder sensing system needs a predetermined software program to control the processor, in which case the performance of the conventional incremental encoder sensing system inevitably deteriorates.
In short, in order to enhance the precision of position determination of the conventional incremental encoder sensing system, the structure of the corresponding incremental encoder sensing system may need to become excessively complicated, which results in deterioration of the performance of the corresponding incremental encoder sensing system. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve a desired level of precision for position determination by using the conventional incremental encoder sensing system.
Accordingly, there is a need for an incremental encoder system having enhanced precision while not being overly complex or expensive.

Incremental encoding and decoding apparatus and method


A switch includes a power transistor configured to switch an input voltage to a load. The switch further includes a charge pump and a duty cycle controller. The charge pump is coupled to the power transistor and includes an enable input to cause the charge pump to be turned on and off. The duty cycle controller is coupled to the charge pump and is configured to duty cycle the charge pump based on a comparison of a signal of a gate of the power transistor to a reference signal.

A load switch is a solid state device that can be controlled to turn power on and off to a load. An input voltage received by the load switch is selectively switched on and off to the load in response to a control signal. Thus, the voltage to be provided to the load is also the same voltage that is used to power and operate the load switch itself. Some load switches include p-type metal oxide semiconductor (pMOS) transistors as the active switching device in the load switch. Because a pMOS transistor is turned on with a low gate voltage, load switches built around a pMOS transistor typically do not include a charge pump circuit that otherwise might be needed to generate a sufficiently high voltage for the gate if an n-type MOS (nMOS) transistor were to be used instead of a pMOS transistor.


A method for a computing device to determine a route entails determining a sun position relative to the route, determining weather conditions along the route, and determining whether to provide alternate routing based on both the sun position and the weather conditions. In one implementation, time-specific and weather-specific digital photographs of points of interest along the route are downloaded for display on the device when the device is located at or near the points of interest.

Navigation systems use a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) in conjunction with roadmap data to provide visual and audible directions from a starting point to a destination location. Occasionally, the navigation system will direct the user along a route that aligns with the rising or setting sun which is generally unpleasant and sometimes even dangerous for the driver. Furthermore, such routes frequently become congested because drivers must exercise extra caution. In such cases, it may be desirable to take a detour or alternate route to avoid driving straight at the rising or setting sun.
PCT Patent Application Publication WO 2010/040386 A1 discloses a navigation system that determines a route between two locations and then computes whether the rising or setting sun would be aimed directly at the driver traveling the route. Re-routing is then performed or proposed based on this determination. However, in some cases, this technology will re-route the user unnecessarily. Therefore, an improvement on this technology is highly desirable.
It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals.

Navigation system and method for determining a route based on sun position and weather


A bangle includes first and second bangle members, each having a proximal end and a distal end. The distal end of the first bangle member is pivotally connected to the distal end of the second bangle member to permit relative movement between the first and second bangle members. A first locking member is provided at the proximal end of the first bangle member and a second locking member is provided at the proximal end of the second bangle member. The first locking member is selectively moveable between a closed position where the first locking member engages the second locking member to releasably secure the proximal end of the first bangle member to the proximal end of the second bangle member, and an open position where the first locking member is separated from the second locking member. The first locking member is adapted to be released from the closed position and move to the open position when a force is applied to the first and second bangle members sufficient to cause the first and second bangle members to pivot a predetermined distance in a direction where the proximal ends move toward one another. This force can be applied by squeezing the first and second bangle members between two fingers on the same hand.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to jewelry clasps for releasably coupling ends of an article of jewelry together and, more particularly, to a mechanism for releasably connecting the terminal ends of a bangle, bracelet, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Jewelry items are commonly draped or fastened about the wrist, ankle, finger, neck, or other appendage of a person to accessorize that person's appearance. One example of such a jewelry item is a bangle. In general, a bangle is a bracelet or anklet that typically has one or more rigid arcuate sections designed to substantially encircle the wrist, ankle or other appendage of the person wearing it. Most bangles are designed to appear as a solid, substantially continuous loop having an arcuate, oblong, ring-like, round or circular configuration.
Many bangles are in the form of a continuous or substantially continuous loop having at least two releasably coupled, rigid arcuate sections that can be selectively opened to permit the person wearing it to be place the bangle on or remove it from the wrist, ankle or other appendage. A hinge at one intersection of the rigid arcuate sections permits the bangle to be selectively moved from an open position to a closed position, and vice versa. A closing or locking mechanism is typically provided at the opposing intersection of the rigid arcuate sections to releasably retain the bangle in the closed position about the wrist, ankle or other appendage of the person wearing it.
Because the bangle is frequently worn on a person's wrist, it is necessary for the person wearing it to be able to release or open the closing or locking mechanism with one hand. As a result, many bangles of this type can be difficult to remove. It is, therefore, desirable to provide an improved bangle that provides ease for removal using one hand, preferably two digits on a single hand.


The radiographic X-ray device according to this invention is constituted in such a way that positional relation detecting unit 25 detects in real time the information regarding the positional relations between X-ray imaging systems 4 and 8 that thoroughly represents the overall current status of the positional relations of external surfaces of both X-ray imaging systems 4 and 8 where collisions between first and second X-ray imaging systems 4 and 8 may occur, that the information regarding the positional relations detected by positional relation detecting unit 25 is taken into consideration in controlling the motions of X-ray imaging systems 4 and 8, and that the current status of the positional relations of external surfaces of both X-ray imaging systems 4 and 8 can be thoroughly and accurately reflected upon the motions of X-ray imaging systems 4 and 8 without any difficulty, so that any collisions of X-ray imaging systems 4 and 8 can be avoided without fail.

The radiographic X-ray device based on the double imaging apparatus method, which have hitherto been used typically in healthcare institutions such as hospitals, have had a pair of imaging apparatuses 81 and 82 as shown in FIG. 6. X-ray imaging system 81 comprises an X-ray tube 83 for radiating X-rays and an X-ray detector 84 for detecting transmitted X-rays, which are arranged to face each other and are supported on each end of a C-shaped support arm 85, while X-ray imaging system 82 comprises an X-ray tube 86 for radiating X-rays and an X-ray detector 87 for detecting transmitted X-rays, which are arranged to face each other and are supported on each end of a C-shaped support arm 88, wherein X-ray imaging systems 81 and 82 are moved by rotating and translating C-shaped support arms 85 and 88, thus setting the orientations (shooting directions) and positions (shooting positions) of X-ray imaging systems 81 and 82 respectively to meet the needs of image studies.
Therefore, in the case of the radiographic X-ray device based on the double imaging apparatus method, two X-ray imaging systems 81 and 82 are set up independently in terms of their orientations and positions, thus enabling radiography of a same location of a specimen body M on a top plate 89 from different directions simultaneously by taking X-ray images with X-ray imaging systems 81 and 82 from different directions simultaneously, or radiography of different locations of specimen body M on top plate 89 simultaneously.
The radiographic X-ray device of the prior art based on the double imaging apparatus method, however, has had a problem that X-ray imaging systems 81 and 82 may come in contact with each other while X-ray imaging systems 81 and 82 are in motion. Depending on how the contact occur, damages to X-ray tubes 83 and 86 as well as to X-ray detectors 84 and 87 may occur.
A countermeasure to this concern has been to avoid equipment damages by means of attaching cushioning materials on the areas where contacts are expected to soften the impacts. However, it is difficult to attach cushioning materials to all the places where contacts are expected. Moreover, contact impacts are often be greater than that can be absorbed by cushioning materials.
Another countermeasure has been to have proximity sensors installed at locations of X-ray imaging systems 81 and 82 where contacts may occur so that an alarm can be sounded to call the operator's attention or to stop the motions of X-ray imaging systems 81 and 82 if X-ray imaging systems 81 and 82 come too close to each other. However, it is difficult to install proximity sensors at all locations where contact may occur, so that it is not a secure measure to avoid contacts.
Therefore, the operator has to monitor X-ray imaging systems 81 and 82 visually all the time, and move X-ray imaging systems 81 and 82 at very slow speeds when contacts are likely to occur in order try to avoid contacts. As a result, the picture-taking time tends to be longer, making it an inefficient and painful operation for the operator.
Another possibility is to measure positional relations between X-ray imaging systems 81 and 82 for all possible cases of contacts and register all positional relation data as in a form of a table in order to avoid contacts between X-ray imaging systems 81 and 82 while X-ray imaging systems 81 and 82 are in motion by constantly checking each positional relation data, but the size of the data involved can be enormous if it were to cover all the possible cases of positional relations of X-ray imaging systems 81 and 82 and it is an unrealistic solution in accordance with the work involved in collecting the data and the memory size of data to be registered.


In a voice recognizing apparatus, a voice recognizing method, and a program for recognizing voice are provided to carry out voice recognition with high precision. When a call receiving unit in which a plurality of telephone numbers for receiving are assigned to respective contents of calls receives a call from a caller, a calling voice signal input device inputs a calling voice signal of the call, and a receiving telephone number input device inputs the receiving telephone number of the call. A voice correction device then carries out voice correction processing for the calling voice signal in accordance with the receiving telephone number and a voice recognizing device executes voice recognition processing for the calling voice signal in accordance with the receiving telephone number.

The present invention relates to voice recognizing apparatuses, voice recognizing methods, and programs for recognizing voice, in particular, to a voice recognizing apparatus for executing a voice recognition process appropriate to the content on a calling voice of a telephone, a voice recognizing method, and a program for recognizing voice.

Voice recognizing apparatus, voice recognizing method, and program for recognizing voice


An information representation method for representing an object or a shape includes: dividing a contour shape of an entirety or a part of the object or the shape into one or a plurality of curves; and representing the contour shape of the object or the shape by parameters including a degree of curvature and a positional relationship of each curve obtained by the dividing. Therefore, there is provided an information representation method for an object or a shape, which is capable of robust object recognition against a change in image by geometric transformations and occlusions.

In recent years, as digital image devices such as digital cameras have rapidly prevailed, an expectation for generic object recognition for recognizing what objects are contained in a taken picture image and video is increasing. The generic object recognition has a possible use for various applications such as proper classification of image data stored in a database without being classified, search for necessary image data, further, extraction of a desired scene from a motion image, and cutting out only desired scenes to re-edit then.
As technologies for the object recognition, various recognition technologies such as face recognition and fingerprint recognition have been developed, and all of them are directed to specific applications. If such a recognition technology specialized in a certain single application is used to another application, there arise such a problem that a recognition rate immediately decreases and the like. Therefore, development of technologies for recognizing a generic object is expected.
In order to recognize a generic object, it is necessary to extract feature amounts of an image subject to recognition. As methods for extracting feature amounts, methods of using geometrical features contained in an image, which are described in Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2, are widely known. However, most of those feature amounts cannot be calculated unless parameters such as thresholds are set in advance based on statistical learning or experience of a user. A method which requires the statistical learning and the experience of a user cannot calculate a feature amount for an image which has not been learned, and poses such a problem that an erroneous recognition result is provided.
As a method to calculate a feature amount without necessity of the statistical learning or the experience of a user, a method described in Non Patent Literature 1 and called Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT), which uses a histogram accumulating a local intensity gradient of an image, is widely recognized. By using this technology, the same images including geometric transformations and occlusions can be recognized as being the same. However, this technology is intended to determine whether or not two images are the same, and cannot provide information on to what degree two similar image are similar.
Moreover, recognition using a representation method described in Non Patent Literature 2 and called Curvature Scale Space (CSS), which involves smoothing an image contour stepwise and representing the image by using positions of inflection points of the counter at each step, is also well known. It is known that position information on the inflection points used in this technology has a very similar appearance pattern for the same images or similar images. Thus, by using this technology, images same or similar in contour can be recognized, or images obtained by applying a geometric transformation to the images can be recognized as the same or similar images. However, this technology does not use information on points other than the inflection points at all, but uses only very limited information out of information on the contours. Therefore, for images similar in contour to each other, if the pieces of position information on inflection points are different from each other, it may be determined that the images are not "similar" to each other. Moreover, even for images dissimilar in contour to each other, if pieces of position information on inflection points are relatively similar to each other, it may be determined that the images are "similar" to each other. In other words, this technology cannot calculate a degree of similarity based on features in contour.
On the other hand, a method of recognition based on curvature information on respective points on a contour is also proposed (Patent Literature 3). This technology uses the curvature information on all points on the contour, and can calculate a degree of similarity for contours slightly different in contour shape. However, this technology assumes comparison in contour for an entire periphery of an outline of a shape. As a result, if a contour is disconnected halfway or a part of an object shape overlaps another object shape in an image, this technology cannot be used.

Object or shape information representation method


An optical disk with an improved structure of an information pit, and a method of manufacturing the same. The optical disk has projections respectively projecting from bottom surfaces of a plurality of information pits. Also, in the optical disk, laser beams irradiated onto the information pits from an optical pickup to read information recorded on the optical disk are scattered by the projections. Thus, among the laser beams irradiated onto the information pits, the laser beams reflected toward the optical pickup are largely decreased, so that an amplitude and resolution of a reproduced signal are greatly increased, thereby significantly improving reproduction characteristics of the optical disk.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to an optical disk with an improved information pit structure and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical disk such as a compact disk (CD) or a digital versatile disk (DVD) used as a medium for recording and/or reproducing audio or video information, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes information pits 2 recessed from a reference surface 1a, and the information is written based upon the information pits 2. The reference surface 1a corresponds to the upper surface of a land on an optical disk 1 or that of a groove. The information written on the optical disk 1 can be reproduced by an optical pickup (not shown) of a recording/reproducing apparatus, as is well known. To reproduce the information of the optical disk 1, the optical pickup irradiates a laser beam LB onto the reference surface 1a of the optical disk 1 and detects the amount of the laser beam reflected from the optical disk 1. Since the irradiated laser beam LB is scattered at the portion corresponding to the information pit 2, the amount of the laser beam reflected toward the optical pickup is reduced. The reduction in the amount of the laser beam LB occurs in all the information pits 2, and the information of the optical disk 1 can be reproduced by detecting the change in the reflected light amount in the information pit 2. Thus, the less the amount of the laser beam reflected from the information pit 2, the better the information reproduction characteristics. It is generally known that the amount of the light reflected from the information pit 2 becomes a minimum when the depth (d) of a bottom surface 2a of the information pit 2 is set to .lambda./4n (.lambda.: the wavelength of the laser beam and n: refractive index of the optical disk).
In the conventional optical disk, to adjust the depth of the information pit appropriately, when manufacturing a master board for manufacturing the optical disk, the thickness of a photoresist layer must be consistently controlled. Also, even if the appropriate depth of the information pit is adjusted correctly, the laser beam reflected from the bottom surface of the information pit may be detected by an optical pickup, which has an adverse effect on the information reproduction characteristics of the optical disk.

Optical disk having information pits with projections formed therein


A golf ball including a core and a layer disposed concentrically about the core; wherein at least one of the core or the layer is formed of a polymer composition including a lipid-based nanotubule-encapsulated healing agent; the healing agent being present in an amount between about 0.1% and about 20.0% of the composition by weight.

Golf balls can generally be divided into two classes: solid and wound. Solid golf balls include one-piece, two-piece (i.e., solid core and a cover), and multi-layer (i.e., solid core of one or more layers and/or a cover of one or more layers) golf balls. Wound golf balls typically include a solid, hollow, or fluid-filled center, surrounded by tensioned elastomeric material, and a cover. Solid balls have traditionally been considered not only longer and more durable than wound balls, but also lacking a particular "feel" provided by the wound construction that was preferred by accomplished golfers.
By altering solid ball construction and composition, however, manufacturers have learned how to vary a wide range of playing characteristics, such as resilience, durability, spin, and "feel," each of which can be optimized for various playing abilities. This improvement in construction technology has allowed current solid golf balls to provide feel characteristics more like their wound predecessors. The golf ball components, in particular, that many manufacturers continually look to improve are the center or core, intermediate layers, if present, and covers.
Golf ball cores and/or centers are typically constructed with polybutadiene-based polymer compositions. Compositions of this type are constantly being altered in an effort to provide a higher coefficient of restitution ("COR") while concurrently lowering compression which, in turn, can lower the golf ball spin rate, provide better "feel," or both.
Manufacturers also address the properties and construction of golf ball intermediate and cover layers. These layers have conventionally been formed of ionomers and ionomer blends of varying hardness and flexural moduli. The hardness range of ionomers is limited and even the softest blends can suffer from a "plastic" feel. Recently, however, polyurethane-based materials have been employed in golf ball layers and, in particular, outer cover layers, due to their softer "feel" characteristics, without a noticeable loss in resiliency and/or durability.
There remains a need, however, for improved golf ball center, core, layer, cover, and coating materials. Therefore, the present invention is directed to the use of novel, lipid-based nanotubules blended into the polymers or coatings/adhesives from which golf ball components are formed. The nanotubules are "loaded" (filled) with active agents, such as UV absorbers, light stabilizers, bleaching agents, dyes, fluorophores, and/or healing agents, to name a few, for the controlled release of these compounds during the life of the golf ball. It is envisioned that certain compounds may be selected that can prolong the useful life and performance of a golf ball because they are being "replentished" as a function of time.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Lipid-based nanotubules for controlled release of healing agents in golf ball layers


Systems and methods are described for optimizing resource utilization in a communications network while also optimizing subscriber engagement with media content over the communications network. Requested content objects can be identified as delayable objects that can be queued for opportunistically delayed communication to both requesting and non-requesting subscribers. Queued delayed content objects are scored with an eye toward optimizing both subscriber engagement and utilization of opportunistically available communications link resources. For example, a storage manager calculates a likelihood that each subscriber will engage with the content if it is opportunistically delivered, and a scheduler calculates a priority order in which to queue each requested delayable content object. Content objects can then be multicast to the subscribers in priority order and with associated information that can be used by the subscribers to determine whether to locally store the content objects as they are opportunistically received.

Users of communications services are increasingly accessing media content over data communications networks, like the Internet, through content service providers, web portals, games, interactive electronic program guides, and/or other user interfaces. Typically, media content providers desire to maximize their consumers' (e.g., subscribers) engagement with particular media. For example, media content providers provide various marketing, incentive, and other techniques to help consumers find and access desirable content and/or to nudge the consumers toward particular content, thereby increasing profitability, advertising opportunities, etc.
The resulting increase in consumer engagement with media content yields an increased demand for bandwidth resources of the underlying communications infrastructures. In some cases, communications service providers attempt to combat ever-increasing demands on their networks through increased prices, resource throttling, limitations on service offerings, etc. The result can be a conflict between the desire of media content providers to maximize profitable media engagement and the desire of communications service providers to maximize profitable infrastructure resource utilization.
Some approaches strive to better utilize communications resources while also satisfying increasing demands for those resources through time- and/or demand-shifting techniques. Traditional time- and demand-shifting techniques tend to rely on coarse predictions from limited information regarding either subscriber behavior or network behavior. These traditional approaches do not typically support opportunistic exploitation of dynamically changing resource availability and consumer behaviors across the communications infrastructure.


A method and system for discovering interconnections between a plurality of network devices arranged in a stacked configuration is provided. A probe packet, including a tag indicating a transmit port from which the probe packet was transmitted and a receive port at which the probe packet was received, is sent from one network device to a next network device. A routing packet is sent from each of the network devices, including information regarding the configuration of the stack of network devices. A master network device is elected. The master network device sends a topology packet, which includes final configuration information, to the other network devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for high performance switching in local area communications networks such as token ring, ATM, and Ethernet environments, generally known as LANs. In particular, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for discovering the topology of a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer networks are commonly used to send and receive data, to share resources, and to provide communication between remote users. As computer performance has increased in recent years, the demands on computer networks has also significantly increased; faster computer processors and higher memory capabilities require networks with high bandwidth capabilities to enable high speed transfer of significant amounts of data. Based upon the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) 7-layer reference model, network capabilities have grown through the development of devices such as repeaters, bridges, routers, and switches, which operate with various types of communication media. Thickwire, thinwire, twisted pair, and optical fiber are examples of media which has been used for computer networks. The devices may be interconnected by a high speed local data link such as a local area network (LAN), token ring, Ethernet, etc.
Switches, as they relate to computer networking and to Ethernet are hardware-based devices which control the flow of data packets or cells based upon destination address information which is available in each packet. A properly designed and implemented switch should be capable of receiving a packet and switching the packet to an appropriate output port at what is referred to as wirespeed or linespeed, which is the maximum speed capability of the particular network.
Referring to the OSI 7-layer reference model discussed previously, the higher layers typically have more information. Various types of products are available for performing switching-related functions at various levels of the OSI model. Hubs or repeaters operate at layer one, and essentially copy and "broadcast" incoming data to a plurality of spokes of the hub. Layer two switching-related devices are typically referred to as multiport bridges, and are capable of bridging two separate networks. Bridges can build a table of forwarding rules based upon which MAC (media access controller) addresses exist on which ports of the bridge, and pass packets which are destined for an address which is located on an opposite side of the bridge. Bridges typically utilize what is known as the "spanning tree" algorithm to eliminate potential data loops. A data loop is a situation wherein a packet endlessly loops in a network. The spanning tree algorithm defines a protocol for preventing data loops. Layer three switches, sometimes referred to as routers, can forward packets based upon the destination network address. Layer three switches are capable of learning addresses, maintaining tables thereof which correspond to port mappings, and changing packet data in the process. Processing speed for layer three switches can be improved by utilizing specialized high performance hardware, and off loading the host CPU so that instruction decisions do not delay packet forwarding.