The present invention relates to a coding apparatus and a coding method by which the circuit scale can be reduced without changing the operation speed in coding of a linear code. An adder 13 integrates the product of an information word D13 of six bits supplied from a cyclic shift circuit 12 and the information part of a check matrix H corresponding to the information for each row in a unit of six rows and supplies the integrated value as a sum D15 to a RAM 14. The RAM 14 stores the sum D15. Further, the RAM 14 successively reads out sums D16 of 2 bits stored already therein and supplies the read out sums D16 as sums D17 to an accumulator 16 through an interleaver 15. The accumulator 16 integrates the sums D17 and outputs a sum D18 obtained as a result of the integration as a parity bit p of a codeword c through a selector 17. The present invention can be applied to an apparatus of a broadcasting station which transmits a satellite broadcast.

In recent years, research in a communication field for example, for mobile communication, deep space communication and so forth or a broadcasting field for ground wave broadcasting, satellite digital broadcasting and so forth is being advanced remarkably. Together with this, also research relating to coding theories is being advanced energetically in order to achieve improvement in efficiency in error correct on coding and decoding.
As a theoretical limit to the code performance, the Shannon limit given by the channel coding theory of Shannon (C. E. Shannon) is known. Research relating to the coding theory is performed in order to develop a code which indicates a performance proximate to the Shannon limit. In recent years, as a coding method which indicates a performance proximate to the Shannon limit, a technique called turbo coding (Turbo coding) such as, for example, parallelly concatenated convolutional coding (PCCC (Parallel Concatenated Convolutional Codes)) or serially concatenated convolutional coding (SCCC (Serially Concatenated Convolutional Codes)) has been developed. Further, while those turbo coding methods are developed, low density parity check coding (Low Density Parity Check Codes) (such a code is hereinafter referred to as LDPC code) which is a coding method known for long time is being placed into the spotlight.
An LDPC code was proposed first in Non-Patent Document 1 by R. G. Gallager, and thereafter attracted attention again in Non-Patent Document 2, Non-Patent Document 3 and so forth.
It is becoming clear by research in recent years that, as well as the turbo codes and so on, with the LDPC code, a performance proximate to the Shannon limit is obtained by increasing the code length. Further, since the LDPC code has a nature that the minimum distance increases in proportion to the code length, the LDPC code has a characteristic that it is good in block error probability property and is advantageous also in that an error floor phenomenon which is observed in a decoding property of the turbo coding and so forth little occurs.
In the following, such an LDPC code as described above are described more particularly. It is to be noted that, although the LDPC code is a linear code and need not necessarily be two-dimensional codes, the following description is given on the assumption that the LDPC code is a two-dimensional code.
The LDPC code has the most significant characteristic in that a check matrix (parity check matrix) which defines the LDPC code is sparse. Here, a sparse matrix is a matrix wherein the number of "1s" in the components is very small. If a sparse check matrix is represented by H, then such a check matrix H as just described may be a matrix wherein, for example, as seen in FIG. 1, the Hamming weight (number of "1s") (weight) of each column is "3" and the Hamming weight of each row is "6" or the like.
An LDPC code defined by a check matrix H wherein the Hamming weight of the rows and the columns is fixed in this manner is called regular LDPC code. Meanwhile, an LDPC code defined by a check matrix H wherein the Hamming weight of the rows and the columns is not fixed are called irregular LDPC codes.
Coding into such an LDPC code is implemented by generating a generator matrix G based on a check matrix H and multiplying the generator matrix G by two-dimensional information word i to generate a codeword. More particularly, a coding apparatus for coding into an LDPC code first calculates a generator matrix G which satisfies an expression GHT=0 with regard to a transposed matrix HT of a check matrix H. Here, where the generator matrix G is a k×n matrix (matrix of k rows and n columns), the check matrix H is a matrix of n−k rows and n columns.
It is to be noted that, for example, in the case of an organization code wherein a codeword c of n bits coincides with a bit string wherein a parity bit p of n−k bits is disposed following an information word i of k bits, where a portion of n−k rows and k columns corresponding to the information word i of k bits from within the codeword c of n bits in a check matrix H of n−k rows and k columns is called information part and another portion of n−k rows and n−k columns corresponding to the parity bit p of n−k bits is called parity part, coding of the information word i into an LDPC code can be performed using the check matrix H if the parity part is an upper triangle code or a lower triangle code.
In particular, if it is assumed that, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the check matrix H is formed from a parity part of a lower triangle matrix and all of the components of the lower triangle portion of the parity part are 1, then the zeroth bit of the parity bit p of the codeword c exhibits a value obtained by arithmetic operation of EXOR (exclusive ORing) of bits which correspond to those elements which have the value 1 in the zeroth row of the information part of the check matrix H in the information word i.
Further, the first bit of the parity bit p of the codeword c has a value obtained by arithmetic operation of EXOR of bits corresponding to those elements which have the value 1 in the first row of the information part of the check matrix H of the information word i and the zeroth bit of the parity bit p.
Further, the second bit of the parity bit p of the codeword c has a value obtained by arithmetic operation of EXOR of those bits which have the value 1 in the second row of the information part of the check matrix H of the information word i and the zeroth bit and the first bit of the parity bit p.
Similarly, the mth bit of the parity bit p of the codeword c has a value obtained by arithmetic operation of EXOR of those bits which have the value 1 in the mth row of the information part of the check matrix H of the information word i and the zeroth to m−1th bits of the parity bit p.
The codeword c of n bits can be obtained by determining the parity bit p of n−k bits and disposing the determined parity bit p following the information word i of k bits in such a manner as described above.
In particular, if a check matrix H whose parity part is a lower triangle matrix is generalized as seen in FIG. 3, then coding of the Information word i into an LDPC code is performed in the following manner using the check matrix H.
In FIG. 3, the components of the zeroth row (uppermost row) of the check matrix H include h0,0, h0,1, . . . , h0,k-1 in the information part and 1, 0, . . . , 0 in the parity part in order from the zeroth column (leftmost column). Meanwhile, the components of the first row include h1,0, h1,1, . . . , h1,k-1 in the information part and h1,k, 1, . . . , 0 in the parity part in order from the zeroth column. Similarly, the components of the n−k−1th row (lowermost row) include hn-k-1,0, hn-k-1,1, . . . , hn-k-1,k-1 in the information part and hn-k-1,k, . . . , hn-k-1,n-2, 1 in the parity part in order from the zeroth column.
Here, the information word i of k bits is represented as i0, i1, . . . , ik-1 and the parity bit p of n−k bits are represented as p0, p1, . . . , pn-k-1. In other words, the codeword c is represented as i0, i1, . . . , ik-1, p0, p1, . . . , pn-k-1. Since the exclusive OR of the products of the codeword c and the rows of the check matrix H is 0, arithmetic operation of the products of the codeword c and the zeroth row of the check matrix H is represented by the following expression (1).
[Expression 1]h0,0i0+h0,1i1+ . . . +h0,k-1ik-1+p0=0(mod 2)  (1)
Accordingly, the parity bit p0 is represented by the following expression (2).
                    [                  Expression                                                              2                ]                                                                      p          0                =                              ∑                          j              =              0                                      k              -              1                                                                                h                              0                ,                j                                                                i              j                                                                                (                              mod                                                                                2                            )                                                          (        2        )
Arithmetic operation of the product of the codeword c and the first row of the check matrix H is represented by the following expression (3).
[Expression 3]h1,0i0+h1,1i1+ . . . +h1,k-1ik-1+h1,kp0+p1=0(mod 2)  (3)
Accordingly, the parity bit p1 is represented by the following expression (4).
                    [                  Expression                                                              4                ]                                                                      p          1                =                                            ∑                              j                =                0                                            k                -                1                                                                                h                                  1                  ,                  j                                                                          i                j                                              +                                    h                              1                ,                k                                                                p              0                                                                                (                              mod                                                                                2                            )                                                          (        4        )
Similarly, the arithmetic operation of the product of the codeword c and the n−k−1th row of the check matrix H is represented by the following expression (5):
[Expression 5]hn-k-1,0i0+hn-k-1,1i1+ . . . +hn-k-1,k-1ik-1+hn-k-1,kp0+hn-k-1,k+p1+ . . . +hn-k-1,n-k-2pn-k-2+pn-k-1=0(mod 5)  (5)
Accordingly, the parity bit pn-k-1 is represented by the following expression (6).
                    [                  Expression                                                              6                ]                                                                      p                      n            -            k            -            1                          =                                            ∑                              j                =                0                                            k                -                1                                                                                h                                                      n                    -                    k                    -                    1                                    ,                  j                                                                          i                j                                              +                                    ∑                              j                =                2                                            n                -                k                -                2                                                                                h                                                      n                    -                    k                    -                    1                                    ,                                      k                    +                    j                                                                                p                j                                                                                (                                  mod                                                                                2                                )                                                                        (        6        )
The codeword c of n bits can be obtained by determining the parity bit p0, p1, . . . , pn-k-1 of n−k bits and disposing the determined parity bit following the information word i0, i1, . . . , ik-1 of k bits in such a manner as described above.
In recent years, research also regarding a mounting method of a coding apparatus for an LDPC code has been and is being carried out, and a method of mounting a coding apparatus using a shift register and a method of mounting a coding apparatus using a RAM (Random Access Memory) in place of a shift register are available.
[Non-Patent Document 1] R. G. Gallager, "Low Density Parity Check Codes", Cambridge, Mass.: M. I. T. Press, 1963
[Non-Patent Document 2] D. J. C. MacKay, "Good error correcting codes based on very sparse matrices", Submitted to IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory, IT-45, pp. 399-431, 1999
[Non-Patent Document 3] M. G. Luby, M. Mitzenmacher, M. A. Shokrollahi and D. A. Spielman, "Analysis of low density codes and improved designs using irregular graphs", Proceedings of the thirtieth annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC), 1998, pp. 249-258


An output circuit for digital integrated circuit devices is presented, comprising a driving device with adjustable drive capability for generating an output pulse (OS), means (SENS) for monitoring the steepness of the output pulse (OS), and means (SEL) adjusting the drive capability of the driving device so as to minimize the difference between the monitored steepness and a predetermined steepness. In a preferred embodiment, said driving device comprises a plurality of driving stages (PM1-NM1, PM2-NM2, PM3-NM3, PM4-NM4, PM5-NM5) which can be activated independently from each other, and the means (SEL) for adjusting the drive capability comprises means for activating one or more driving stages from the plurality of driving stages (PM1-NM1, PM2-NM2, PM3-NM3, PM4-NM4, PM5-NM5).

The present invention relates to output circuits for high speed digital integrated circuit devices. Those digital integrated circuit devices generate digital pulses with typical frequencies up to several MHz.
The sharp rising and falling edges of the digital pulses generated by those digital integrated circuit devices induce so called switching noise, e.g. harmonic distortion, crosstalk, voltage supply dips, peak currents, etc. On the one hand, this switching noise presents several disruptive effects on the internal operation of the circuit, such as pulsing of noise on input and internal circuit ground and power supply lines or local threshold shifts in the reference voltages for high and low potential data signals causing false data signals. On the other hand, the noise causes EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) problems, e.g. radio frequency radiation interference and electromagnetic induction interference noise which may interfere with a host system.
Now, EMC requirements for digital integrated circuit devices are determined on a European level and have to be respected by any device sold. In order to meet these EMC requirements, the interference of the digital circuit with its environment has to be reduced, which means that the steepness of the rising and falling edges of the outgoing signal has to be reduced.
A solution to the above-mentioned problem is disclosed in European patent application EP-A-0 443 435. It relates to an output buffer circuit for integrated digital devices comprising a driving device with an adjustable drive capability. The driving device includes a first and a second output driving stage of different drive capabilities. These two driving stages are connected in parallel and operated sequentially in order to limit the charging or discharging currents of the external load capacitance.
During a transition from low to high at the input of the output buffer, only a first driving stage with a small drive capability is operated in a first step, whereby the external load capacitance is charged by a small charging/discharging current generated by the first driving stage. During this first charging step, the output voltage of the buffer circuit is permanently sensed and when the output voltage exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the second driving stage with a large drive capability is activated. The charging current is then considerably raised during this second step, thereby rapidly completing the charging of the external load capacitance.
During a transition from high to low at the input, the driving stages are operated accordingly in two steps. In a first step the external load capacitance is discharged by a small discharging current generated in the first driving stage. After the output voltage has dropped below a certain threshold value, the drive capability of the driving device is adjusted by activating the second driving stage whereby the discharging of the external load is rapidly completed.
By adjusting the drive capability of the driving device each time that the output voltage of the buffer circuit passes over a predetermined threshold value and thereby charging or discharging the external load capacitance in two steps as described, the output buffer circuit of EP-A-0 443 435 achieves an overall reduction of the steepness of the output signal compared to a driving device with a fixed drive capability, e.g. a single driving stage.
One drawback of the output buffer circuit of EP-A-0 443 435 is, that the steepness of the output pulse is largely dependent on the external load capacitance. In fact, in the presence of a large load capacitance, the small charging/discharging current during the first step and the large charging/discharging current during the second step result in a slow rise/fall of the output voltage, whereas the same currents in the presence of a small load capacitance result in a much faster rise/fall of the output voltage.
In other words, the steepness of the output pulses of the output buffer circuit described in EP-A-0 443 435 is largely depends on the output capacity of the circuit which is driven by the digital integrated circuit.

Output circuit for digital integrated circuit devices


There is provided a multilayer ceramic capacitor including a ceramic body having first and second side surfaces and third and fourth end surfaces, a plurality of internal electrodes and having one ends exposed to the third or fourth end surface, and first and second side margin parts formed so that an average thickness from the first and second side surfaces to edges of the internal electrodes is 18 μm or less, wherein when the first or second side margin part is divided into two regions by a virtual line obtained by connecting mid points of distances between the edges of the internal electrodes and points at which lines extended from the internal electrodes contact the first or second side surface, when a region adjacent to the internal electrodes is defined as S1 and a porosity of S1 is defined as P1, P1 is in a range of 1 to 20 (1≦P1≦20).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multilayer ceramic capacitor and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a high capacitance multilayer ceramic capacitor having excellent reliability, and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, electronic components using a ceramic material, such as a capacitor, an inductor, a piezoelectric element, a varistor, a thermistor, or the like, include a ceramic body formed of a ceramic material, internal electrodes formed in the ceramic body, and external electrodes mounted on external surfaces of the ceramic body so as to be connected to the internal electrodes.
Among ceramic electronic components, a multilayer ceramic capacitor is configured to include a plurality of stacked dielectric layers, internal electrodes disposed to face each other, having the dielectric layer therebetween, and external electrodes electrically connected to the internal electrodes.
Multilayer ceramic capacitors have been widely used as components in computers and mobile communications devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, and the like, due to advantages thereof such as a small size, high capacitance, ease of mounting, or the like.
Recently, as electronic products have been miniaturized and multi-functionalized, chip components have also tended to be miniaturized and multi-functionalized. As a result, there is a need to miniaturize multilayer ceramic capacitors and increase the capacity thereof.
In order to increase the capacitance of multilayer ceramic capacitors, methods of thinning the dielectric layers thereof, stacking the thinned dielectric layers, and improving coverage of the internal electrodes have been considered. In addition, a method for improving an area of the internal electrodes overlapped for forming capacitance has been considered.
In general, multilayer ceramic capacitors have been manufactured as follows. First, a ceramic green sheet is prepared, and a conductive paste is printed on the ceramic green sheet to form the internal electrode. The ceramic green sheets having the internal electrodes formed thereon are stacked in an amount of several tens of layers to several hundreds of layers to fabricate a green ceramic multilayer body. Thereafter, the green ceramic multilayer body is compressed under conditions of high temperature and high pressure to fabricate a hard green ceramic multilayer body, and a cutting process is performed on the ceramic multilayer body to fabricate a green chip. Next, the green chip is calcined and sintered, and the external electrodes are formed thereon to complete the multilayer ceramic capacitor.
In the case of manufacturing a multilayer ceramic capacitor through the above-described manufacturing method, since it is difficult to significantly decrease a margin part region of the dielectric layer on which the internal electrode is not formed, there is a limitation in increasing the overlapped area of the internal electrodes. In addition, since the margin part of an edge of the multilayer ceramic capacitor is formed to be thicker than margin parts in other regions, it is not easy to remove carbon therefrom at the time of calcining and sintering.
In order to solve the above-described problems, a method, in which the margin part region on which the internal electrode is not formed is formed in the previously manufactured ceramic multilayer body, has been considered, but the ceramic multilayer body may be vulnerable to impact due to pores generated in a boundary surface between a cover region of the ceramic multilayer body and the margin part.
A ceramic multilayer body of which a porosity of a cover region is controlled is disclosed in the following Related Art Document, but the above-mentioned problem may not be solved.

Multilayer ceramic capacitor and method of manufacturing the same


Disclosed is an image forming apparatus that is to be detachably attached by a detachable unit, wherein the detachable unit includes a unit side connector that fits a main body side connector disposed in a main body of the image forming apparatus by an attaching operation for attaching the detachable unit to the main body of the image forming apparatus, wherein one of the detachable unit and the main body of the image forming apparatus includes a concave portion extended in an attaching direction in which the detachable unit is attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus, and wherein the other one of the detachable unit and the main body of the image forming apparatus includes a convex portion disposed at a position corresponding to the concave portion.

1. Field of the Invention
An embodiment of the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copy machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a combined machine thereof; a detachable unit detachably attached to the image forming apparatus; and plural detachable units.
2. Description of the Related Art
For an image forming apparatus such as a copier or a printer, a technique has conventionally been known in which, for plural detachable units, corresponding connectors having corresponding different shapes are provided, so as to prevent erroneous insertions of the plural detachable units, which are detachably attached to an image forming apparatus main body (cf. Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 2007-101581)). In such an image forming apparatus, when a detachable unit (e.g., a detachable unit for a magenta color) other than a detachable unit corresponding to a specific mounting unit (e.g., a mounting unit for a black color) is attempted to be attached to the specific mounting unit, a connector of the detachable unit does not engage with a connector at the side of the main body, and thereby the erroneous insertion is prevented.
With such a conventional technique, an effect of preventing a failure in an image forming apparatus can greatly be expected. Here, the failure is such that a detachable unit is attached to a mounting unit other than the mounting unit corresponding to the detachable unit. However, when the detachable unit is attached to the mounting unit other than the mounting unit corresponding to the detachable unit, it is possible that a connector of the detachable unit and a connector at the side of the main body collide with each other without engaging with each other, and thereby the connector of the detachable unit and the connector at the side of the main body are damaged. Such a problem may not be ignored, especially when a user attempts to force a wrong detachable unit to a mounting unit.

Image forming apparatus, detachable unit, and plural detachable units


A shoe sole consists of an upper sole part (1) consisting of wood, and of a running sole (7) found underneath this. The upper sole part (1) is divided in the ball region so that several narrow strips (3) are formed running crosswise to the longitudinal direction of the sole, and the strips are joined together as well as with the front and back sole parts (4, 5) by flexible intermediate pieces (6). In one form of embodiment, a reinforcing layer (8) is rigidly joined on the surface, at least in the region of strips (3) on the under side of upper sole part (1). This reinforcing layer (8) appropriately consists of at least a layer of a wood veneer, which is glued onto the under side of upper sole part (1).

The invention concerns a shoe sole with an upper sole part consisting of wood, whose upper side, which is preferably orthopedically shaped, forms the support for the sole of the foot, and a running sole made of elastic and flexible material which is arranged beneath the upper sole part, whereby the upper sole part is divided, at least in the ball region, into several strips running crosswise to the lengthwise direction of the sole, and these strips are joined together by flexible intermediate pieces, preferably made of polyurethane foamed onto the wood. Further, the invention concerns a process for the manufacture of such a shoe sole.
Shoe soles with an upper sole part consisting of wood and with a running sole made of elastic and flexible material which is attached to the under side of this upper sole part have been known for a long time. Such shoe soles have the advantage that they have excellent support hygienic properties, since they absorb perspiration and control moisture, and that they support the foot in an orthopedically correct manner, particularly if the upper side of the upper sole part is shaped orthopedically. However, there is the disadvantage in shoe soles, whose upper sole part consists wholly of wood, that its rigidity does not make possible in such shoe soles a bending in the ball region, as is necessary for comfortable walking.
In order to eliminate this disadvantage, it has already been proposed to divide the upper sole part consisting of wood in the ball region and to connect the individual parts by flexible intermediate pieces, particularly of polyurethane foamed onto the wood. The arrangement of several flexible intermediate pieces offers the advantage of a better bendability. In this case, however, the strips found between the flexible intermediate pieces in the longitudinal direction of the sole must be narrow in order to be able to arrange all of the elastic intermediate pieces in the ball region. The longitudinal direction of the fibers of the wood runs usually in the longitudinal direction of the sole in the shoe soles, and the division of the upper sole part into strips thus runs crosswise thereto. Now, if the individual strips are narrow, there is the danger that with an unequal load of the same, the strips will break along the longitudinal direction of the fibers of the wood, thus crosswise to the longitudinal direction of the strips. Such an unequal load will occur, for example, if uneven surfaces are tread upon with the sole. Thus, if one treads upon small stones with the shoe sole, this may cause the breaking of one or more strips.
Therefore, the task of the present invention is to avoid this disadvantage and to form a shoe sole in which the danger of breaking the narrow strips is avoided. A solution to this task according to the invention, proceeding from a shoe sole of the type described initially, consists of the fact that the under side of the upper sole part is joined rigidly on the surface with a reinforcing layer at least in the region of the strips. This reinforcing layer effects a reinforcement of the strips crosswise to the longitudinal direction of the fibers of the wood, as a consequence of the rigid surface combination with the under side of the upper sole part, whereby the danger of breaking is excluded even with nonuniform loading of the sole.
According to a preferred form of embodiment of the invention, the reinforcing layer consists of at least one layer of wood veneer attached, preferably glued, to the under side, of the upper sole part. Frequently a single layer consisting of a wood veneer is sufficient for reinforcement. Sometimes, however, it is appropriate to provide several layers, preferably joined together by gluing, whereby if there is produced a diagonal and crosswise gluing of neighboring layers with respect to the longitudinal directions of the fibers, a plywood is formed, which then forms the reinforcing layer. The use of such a wood veneer or such a plywood has the advantage that a solid surface connection, preferably by means of gluing, can be obtained, which is necessary for producing the aimed-at effect, as a consequence of the uniformity of the materials both for the upper sole part as well as for the reinforcing layer.
With the use of a wood veneer as a reinforcing layer, it is of advantage if the longitudinal direction of the fibers runs perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fibers of the upper sole part consisting of wood, at least for one of the layers of wood veneer, since then the reinforcement of the individual strips is produced particularly in any direction in which there is a danger of breaking. If a single layer is provided of a wood veneer, then the longitudinal direction of the fibers of this single layer is to be arranged perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fibers of the upper sole part consisting of wood. With the use of plywood, which is formed, for example, from three diagonal and cross-glued layers of a wood veneer, it is appropriate to allow the longitudinal direction of the fibers of the two outer layers to run perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fibers of the upper sole part consisting of wood and to allow the middle layer to run crosswise thereto.
However, the reinforcing layer may also consist of a plastic part attached by the surface to the under side of the upper sole part. In the simplest case, the reinforcing layer is formed by a plastic foil glued onto the under side of the upper sole part. However, a hardenable, but not yet hardened plastic material, for example, can be coated onto the under side of the upper sole part, for example, by means of spraying or applying with a spatula, and this forms the reinforcing layer after hardening.
The reinforcing layer may also extend over any region of the under side of the upper sole part, in which the intermediate pieces are arranged. However, it is appropriate, if the surface of the under side of the upper sole part formed by the intermediate pieces does not have the reinforcing layer. In this case, since this is particularly appropriate for a simple manufacture of the sole of the invention, the intermediate pieces and the running sole are formed in one piece, since then the reinforcing layer does not form a separation between the intermediate pieces and the running sole.
Another solution to the task of the invention, proceeding from a shoe sole of the type described initially, consists of forming the strips from at least two parts, whose neighboring front surfaces essentially run in the longitudinal direction of the sole and are also joined together by flexible intermediate pieces. In this way, a shoe sole is formed in which the strips can be bent crosswise to their longitudinal direction, thus as a rule in the longitudinal direction of the fibers of the upper sole part consisting of wood, so that in this case also, the danger of breaking these strips with an uneven load is eliminated. It is appropriate, if all of the intermediate pieces are formed in one piece and are thus joined together, so that a good cohesion is also assured between the individual intermediate pieces, and the manufacture of the shoe sole of the invention is simplified.
The process of the invention for manufacturing the described shoe sole essentially consists of the fact that after a reinforcing layer is rigidly joined on the surface, preferably by gluing or with an adhesive, to the under side of a wood piece forming the upper sole part, at least in the ball region, several cuts are produced in this under side in the ball region, for example, by milling, by means of which in the presence of a reinforcing layer, this is layer fully separated and the wood piece forming the upper sole part is at least partially separated, such that this wood piece, if necessary with the reinforcing-layer segments joined rigidly therewith, is inserted into a mold, that a liquid plastic material, preferably a material forming polyurethane, is introduced hereon in the mold, and solidifies, particularly by foaming out, whereby in the region of the cuts, the intermediate pieces and the running sole thus formed in one piece are formed, and that finally the sole part thus manufactured is removed from the mold. The wood piece forming the upper sole part thus need not have the exact [final] form of the upper sole part, but may also be larger; particularly, it may have a greater thickness measured perpendicularly to the upper side of the sole. In this case it is possible to incompletely separate the wood piece forming the upper part of the sole, while a joining is retained on the upper side, whereby the insertion into the mold is essentially simplified. According to another feature of the process of the invention, after demolding, at least the upper side of the wood piece forming the upper sole part is processed, preferably by milling or grinding, and removing excess material, whereby not only the orthopedic shaping of this upper side can be achieved, but also any region can be eroded in which there is still present a joining of the wood part forming the upper sole part, and thus the intermediate pieces reach to the upper side of the upper sole part.

Shoe sole and process for producing thereof

Kastinger Stapa-Schuhfabrik Hans Huemer Gesellschaft m.b.H.


A method for calibrating mismatches of an in-phase signal path and a quadrature signal path of a transmitter, including: additionally configuration at least one mixer calibration coefficient at a transmitting part of the transmitter; obtaining at least one mixer testing signal from the transmitting part via loopback for spectrum analysis to derive at least one mixer spectrum analysis result; adjusting the mixer calibration coefficient of the transmitting part according to the mixer spectrum analysis result; and additionally utilizing an in-phase signal path finite impulse response filter and a quadrature signal path finite impulse response filter to calibrate mismatches between a low pass filter of the in-phase signal path of the transmitting part of the transmitter and a low pass filter of the quadrature signal path of the transmitting part of the transmitter. A similar mismatch calibration operation may be applied to a receiver.

1. Field of the Invention
The disclosed embodiments of the present invention relate to a calibration method, and more particularly, to a systematic defect analysis method which is able to calibrate mismatches between an in-phase signal path and a quadrature-phase signal path of a transmitter/receiver, and an associated apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A modulation technique which is defined as 'complicated' carries more information than in general cases. The data transmission rate may be increased through sophisticated modulation processes, e.g. 64-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) or 256-QAM. A need for high level QAM is therefore increasing. To improve the transmission and receiving ability of the high level QAM, an Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) of a communication system has to be correspondingly improved. One factor affecting the EVM is the extent of an imbalance between in-phase and quadrature-phase (IQ imbalance). The main factor which induces IQ imbalance is a mismatch between the in-phase path and the quadrature-phase path of a radio frequency (RF) circuit. Even a slight deviation may result in an imperfect quadrature modulation/demodulation process and affect the overall communication system, which leads to a high reception bit error rate (BER). The deviation is divided into two categories: amplitude deviation and phase deviation, wherein both categories can introduce an image signal at symmetric frequency. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a received signal at a receiving terminal and an introduced image signal of the received signal. The difference between the magnitude of the received signal and the magnitude of the image signal is known as the image rejection ratio (IRR). In practice, the IRR is inversely proportional to the extent of the IQ imbalance.
In order to solve the above issue, a calibration process (i.e. IQ calibration) may be performed upon a transceiver before the transceiver starts to transmit and receive data. The IQ mismatch phenomenon can present itself in two ways. A first way is, when sending carriers to a mixer of an in-phase path and a quadrature-phase path from a local oscillator (LO), it is difficult to keep a perfect phase difference of 90 degrees, or to guarantee that two amplitudes of the two signals are exactly the same. The other way is imperfection of the circuit manufacturing process, which causes component mismatches between the two paths, such as mismatches between a low-pass filter (LPF) pair, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) pair, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) or a gain amplifier pair. The component mismatches can also explain the interfering image signal as shown in FIG. 1 and are frequency dependent resulting in the extent of interference by image signals at different frequencies varying.
In summary, how to perform IQ calibration in a communication system has become an urgent issue in the field.

Calibration method and calibration apparatus for calibrating mismatch between I-path and Q-path of transmitter/receiver


Disclosed herein are compounds, compositions and methods for modulating splicing of SMN2 mRNA in a subject. Also provided are uses of disclosed compounds and compositions in the manufacture of a medicament for treatment of diseases and disorders, including spinal muscular atrophy.

Newly synthesized eukaryotic mRNA molecules, known as primary transcripts or pre-mRNA are processed before translation. Processing of the pre-mRNAs includes addition of a 5′ methylated cap and an approximately 200-250 base poly(A) tail to the 3′ end of the transcript. Processing of mRNA from pre-mRNA also frequently involves splicing of the pre-mRNA, which occurs in the maturation of 90-95% of mammalian mRNAs. Introns (or intervening sequences) are regions of a pre-mRNA (or the DNA encoding it) that are not included in the coding sequence of the mature mRNA. Exons are regions of a primary transcript that remain in the mature mRNA. The exons are spliced together to form the mature mRNA sequence. Splice junctions are also referred to as splice sites with the 5′ side of the junction often called the "5′ splice site," or "splice donor site" and the 3′ side the "3′ splice site" or "splice acceptor site." In splicing, the 3′ end of an upstream exon is joined to the 5′ end of the downstream exon. Thus the unspliced pre-mRNA has an exon/intron junction at the 5′ end of an intron and an intron/exon junction at the 3′ end of an intron. After the intron is removed, the exons are contiguous at what is sometimes referred to as the exon/exon junction or boundary in the mature mRNA. Cryptic splice sites are those which are less often used but may be used when the usual splice site is blocked or unavailable. Alternative splicing, defined as the splicing together of different combinations of exons, often results in multiple mRNA transcripts from a single gene.
Up to 50% of human genetic diseases resulting from a point mutation result in aberrant pre-mRNA processing. Such point mutations can either disrupt a current splice site or create a new splice site, resulting in mRNA transcripts comprised of a different combination of exons or with deletions in exons. Point mutations also can result in activation of a cryptic splice site or disrupt regulatory cis elements (i.e. splicing enhancers or silencers) (Cartegni et al., Nat. Rev. Genet., 2002, 3, 285-298; Drawczak et al., Hum. Genet., 1992, 90, 41-54). Antisense oligonucleotides have been used to target mutations that lead to aberrant splicing in several genetic diseases in order to redirect splicing to give a desired splice product (Kole, Acta Biochimica Polonica, 1997, 44, 231-238).
Antisense compounds have also been used to alter the ratio of naturally occurring alternate splice variants such as the long and short forms of Bcl-x pre-mRNA (U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,216; U.S. Pat. No. 6,214,986; Taylor et al., Nat. Biotechnol. 1999, 17, 1097-1100) or to force skipping of specific exons containing premature termination codons (Wilton et al., Neuromuscul. Disord., 1999, 9, 330-338). U.S. Pat. No. 5,627,274 and WO 94/26887 disclose compositions and methods for combating aberrant splicing in a pre-mRNA molecule containing a mutation using antisense oligonucleotides which do not activate RNAse H.
Proximal spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic, neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of spinal motor neurons. SMA is an autosomal recessive disease of early onset and is currently the leading cause of death among infants. The severity of SMA varies among patients and has thus been classified into three types. Type I SMA is the most severe form with onset at birth or within 6 months and typically results in death within 2 years. Children with type I SMA are unable to sit or walk. Type II SMA is the intermediate form and patients are able to sit, but cannot stand or walk. Patients with type III SMA, a chronic form of the disease, typically develop SMA after 18 months of age (Lefebvre et al., Hum. Mol. Genet., 1998, 7, 1531-1536).
The molecular basis of SMA is caused by the loss of both copies of survival motor neuron gene 1 (SMN1), which may also be known as SMN Telomeric, a protein that is part of a multi-protein complex thought to be involved in snRNP biogenesis and recycling. A nearly identical gene, SMN2, which may also be known as SMN Centromeric, exists in a duplicated region on chromosome 5q13 and modulates disease severity. Expression of the normal SMN1 gene results solely in expression of survival motor neuron (SMN) protein. Although SMN1 and SMN2 have the potential to code for the same protein, SMN2 contains a translationally silent mutation at position +6 of exon 7, which results in inefficient inclusion of exon 7 in SMN2 transcripts. Thus, the predominant form of SMN2 is a truncated version, lacking exon 7, which is unstable and inactive (Cartegni and Krainer, Nat. Genet., 2002, 30, 377-384). Expression of the SMN2 gene results in approximately 10-20% of the SMN protein and 80-90% of the unstable/non-functional SMNdelta7 protein. SMN protein plays a well-established role in assembly of the spliceosome and may also mediate mRNA trafficking in the axon and nerve terminus of neurons.
Antisense technology is an effective means for modulating the expression of one or more specific gene products, including alternative splice products, and is uniquely useful in a number of therapeutic, diagnostic, and research applications. The principle behind antisense technology is that an antisense compound, which hybridizes to a target nucleic acid, modulates gene expression activities such as transcription, splicing or translation through one of a number of antisense mechanisms. The sequence specificity of antisense compounds makes them extremely attractive as tools for target validation and gene functionalization, as well as therapeutics to selectively modulate the expression of genes involved in disease.
Certain antisense compounds complementary to SMN2 are known in the art. See for example, WO 2007/002390; U.S. 61/168,885; Hua et al., American J. of Human Genetics (April 2008) 82, 1-15; Singh et al., RNA Bio. 6:3, 1-10 (2009). Certain antisense compounds and methods disclosed herein posses desirable characteristics compared to such compounds and methods known in the art. Chimeric peptide nucleic acid molecules designed to modulate splicing of SMN2 have been described (WO 02/38738; Cartegni and Krainer, Nat. Struct. Biol., 2003, 10, 120-125).

Compositions and methods for modulation of SMN2 splicing in a subject


Disclosed herein are system, method, and computer program product embodiments for selectively decoding a multicast subframe in a multi-user frame for a wireless communications protocol. Embodiments include transmitting a request frame including a multicast group address for a multicast group to an access point (AP). The AP can determine a multicast identifier for the multicast group based on the multicast group address in the request frame. The AP can also transmit a response frame including the determined multicast identifier to a station (STA). The STA can receive a multi-user frame containing a multicast subframe from the AP. The STA can determine whether the multicast subframe is destined for the STA based on the determined multicast identifier and a multicast identifier stored in a preamble of the multi-user frame. The STA can determine whether to decode the multicast subframe based on the determination of whether the multicast subframe is destined for the STA.

Technical Field
This disclosure relates to the field of wireless communications, including multicast in multi-user transmissions in a wireless local area network (WLAN).
Background
A wireless communication protocol may support multicast transmission. For example, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11ax standard (current proposals and/or future versions) supports multicast transmission. In a multicast transmission, an access point (AP) may transmit a frame to a group of stations who have joined a multicast group. This is in contrast to a broadcast transmission where an AP transmits a frame to all stations in a wireless local area network (WLAN), or a unicast transmission where an AP transmits a frame to a single station in the WLAN.
A multicast transmission is an efficient way to transmit a large amount of data (e.g., real time audio and video) to a group of stations in a WLAN. A multicast transmission may be more efficient than a unicast transmission because an AP only has to generate a single frame, and this single frame can be simultaneously sent to all stations in a multicast group. In contrast, in a unicast transmission, an AP has to generate a separate frame for each station. Thus, a multicast transmission is often more efficient than a unicast transmission in terms of bandwidth conservation.
A multicast transmission is similar to a broadcast transmission. Both involve the transmission of a frame to multiple stations. However, receiving stations may handle multicast and broadcast transmissions differently. Specifically, because a broadcast transmission is intended for all stations in a WLAN, all stations need to remain awake and decode the entire frame. In contrast, a multicast transmission is often intended only for a group of stations in a WLAN. Therefore, a power saving opportunity exists for other group addressed stations not in a particular multicast group. Specifically, a station in one multicast group does not need to stay awake to decode a multicast frame that is not destined for the station. Because the station does not need to decode the multicast frame, the station avoids performing decode processing which reduces power consumption.
But often a station in one multicast group may need to stay awake to decode a multicast frame not destined for the station. This is because the multicast frame may be included in a multiuser physical layer protocol data unit (MU-PPDU) frame along with one or more frames that are destined for the station. In other words, a MU-PPDU frame may include one or more subframes, and a portion of the subframes may be destined for the station and a portion of the subframes may not be destined for the station. Therefore, when a station in one multicast group receives an MU-PPDU frame containing a subframe destined for it and a multicast subframe not be destined for it, the receiving station may still need to decode the multicast subframe. This unnecessarily increases the time to process the MU-PPDU frame and increases power usage of the receiving device.


Provided herein are a wearable radiation detector and a method of controlling thereof, the detector including: the radiation collection unit operable to collect light and output a signal corresponding to the light collected; a memory; a display unit; a processor operable to receive the signal output by the radiation collection unit, to store a value in the memory corresponding to the signal output by the radiation collection unit, to output an output signal based at least on the signal corresponding to the light collected by the radiation collection unit and to control the display unit to display an indication corresponding to the output signal, wherein the determining includes continually calculating the maximum exposure level based on the light being received by the radiation collection unit.

1. Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present inventive concept relate to a device and method for monitoring radiation exposure, and more particularly, a wearable radiation detection device, and method of controlling the same, for monitoring a wearer's exposure to ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation.
The ultraviolet (UV) region covers the spectral wavelength range 100-400 nm and is divided into three bands: UVA (315-400 nm) UVB (280-315 nm) and UVC (100-280 nm). As sunlight passes through the atmosphere, UVC radiation and approximately 90% of UVB radiation are absorbed by ozone, water vapor, oxygen and carbon dioxide. By contrast, UVA radiation is less affected by the atmosphere, and is able to penetrate the atmosphere to a larger extent. As a result, the UV radiation reaching the Earth's surface is largely composed of UVA radiation with a small component UVB radiation.
Unfortunately, the majority of people are unaware that years of exposure to the sun are cumulative, and ultimately damage the skin. The UV rays of the sun cause degenerative changes in the dermis that result in premature aging from the loss of the elasticity, this leads to thinning, wrinkling, and drying of the skin. Prolonged and repeated sun exposure has been shown to be a major factor in pre-cancerous and cancerous lesions. Studies have shown that UVB radiation may be a key factor in the development of skin cancer—whereas ultraviolet UVA radiation augments the carcinogenic effects of UVB.
The skin is the largest organ of the body and its primary function is to protect the underlying tissue by acting as a surface barrier to the external environment. The epidermis, or the outer layer of the skin, contains melanocytes that produce melanin, a pigment that protects the body from injurious ultraviolet rays. A fair-skinned person, one who has smaller amounts of melanin, should be especially cautious about excessive sun exposure. Even on overcast days, since up to 80% of the UV rays penetrate through the clouds, serious sunburns can occur. Some sunscreens may filter some UVA and most UVB rays, but a sunscreen that blocks all UVA is presently not available.
Moreover, certain topical and systemic medications enhance the sun's effect, even with brief exposure. The chemicals in these medications absorb light and release energy that harms cells and tissue. This is known as drug-induced photosensitivity and the result is unwanted sunburns. Drugs that may cause photosensitivity are: (i) Antidysrythmics, e.g., Amiodorone, Quinidine Antihistamines, Diphenhydramine (Benedryl), Anti-infectives, Sulfonamides, Tetracyclines, Chloroquine, Griseofulvin, Nalidixic Acid, Antineoplastics-Chemotherapy Medications, Dacarbazine, Methotrexate, Fluorouracil (5FU); (ii) Diuretics, e.g., Thiazides, Chlorothiazides and (iii) Psychotherapeutics, e.g. Chlorpromazine, Chlorothiazides, Promazine, Thioridazine, Sulfonylureas.
Other issues of concern regarding UV exposure include the potential for intraocular damage, e.g., increased risk of cataracts. Consequently, protective eyewear and limited exposure are recommended.
Additionally, some individuals are particularly sensitive to UV radiation exposure. For example, post-cosmetic surgery patients must closely monitor their exposure time to UVA rays, and particularly, with chemical facelift and chemical-peel procedures. In this case, because of the reduction of melanin due to the cosmetic procedure, a patient might well be advised to avoid sunlight up to six months in order to prevent hyperpigmentation.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rated popular sunscreen products according to their sun protection factor (SPF). This is a method of measuring the effectiveness of sunscreen filtering and absorption of UVB radiation. Previously; there was no similar rating of products to screen UVA radiation. New FDA regulations require new labels on sunscreens that do not protect from UVA radiation to be labeled "Skin Cancer/Skin Aging Alert: Spending time in the sun increases your risk of skin cancer and early skin aging. This product has only been shown to prevent sunburn, not skin cancer or early skin aging." If the sunscreen blocks both UVA radiation, it will include ingredients such as titanium dioxide, inc oxide, avobenzone and mexoryl SX and be labeled as "Broad Spectrum." Beginning in 2013, the FDA will recognize the words "Broad Spectrum" on sunscreens packaging, as "Broad Spectrum" indicates a wide range of absorbance, including both UVA and UVB wavelengths. Nevertheless, the best ways to avoid overexposure of UV rays is to cover and protect skin and eyes, as well as limit the time spent exposed to UV rays as much as possible.
Other not-so-well-known maladies or conditions exasperated by over-exposure of UVA and UVB are briefly enumerated here: (i) contact dermatitis, e.g., poison ivy, poison oak, allergic rash, photo dermatitis and discoid lupus erythematosus; (ii) prior heat exhaustion/stroke. If a patient has had a previous diagnosis of heat exhaustion, afterward they are more susceptible to heat stroke than before. People who work in the sun, e.g., postal carriers and construction workers, would benefit by being able to monitor how much exposure they receive in order to prevent the development of heat stroke; (iii) rosacea; (iv) radiation patients; and (v) head/neck cancer.
Furthermore, other conditions that are sensitive to over exposure of UVA and UVB include (i) chemotherapy drugs, (ii) some antibiotics such as doxycycline and tricyclic antidepressants; (iii) increased risk for macular damage that could lead to macular degeneration; (iv) increased risk for development of cataracts; and (v) increased risk for melanoma.
In patients that suffer from seasonal affect disorder, some sun exposure is helpful for them, but if there were other diagnosis present that requires limited exposure, it would be beneficial to monitor how much exposure they are actually receiving.
Erythema, or skin redness caused by inflammation, is the most widely used clinical endpoint in human skin photobiology. Erythema is also used in determining the sun protection factor (SPF) of sunscreens. Despite its widespread use, little is known of the basic biology of ultraviolet radiation (UVR)-induced erythema.
Individual sensitivity to UVR is assessed by the minimal erythema dose (MED), most often 24 hours after irradiation. The MED is defined as the lowest UVR dose that will cause either a just perceptible redness or redness with a definite border. One study has shown that the former definition is more reliable.
Several workers have determined action spectra (i.e., relative effectiveness at different wavelengths) for the MED in human skin using "monochromatic" radiation, in reality narrow-to-broad-spectrum radiation, from a monochromator. Some earlier studies have been pooled to generate a reference erythema action spectrum that has been adopted by the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE). These studies show that UVB (280-315 nm) is orders of magnitude more effective per unit dose (J/m2) than UVA (315-400 nm). For example, the median MED at 300 nm is 0.025 J/cm2, whereas exposure at 360 nm is 32 J/cm2. A comparison of the action spectra for erythema and epidermal DNA photodamage provides strong circumstantial evidence that DNA is a major chromophore for erythema. Studies indicate that the most destructive, wavelengths for most biological organisms are between 305 nm and 310 nm.
The global solar UV Index (UVI) describes the level of solar UV radiation at the Earth's surface. The values of the index range from zero upward—the higher the index value, the greater the potential for damage to the skin and eye, and the less time it takes for harm to occur.
The global solar UVI is a simple measure of the UV radiation level at the Earth's surface and an indicator of the potential for skin damage. It serves as an important vehicle to raise public awareness and to alert people about the need to adopt protective measures when being exposed to UV radiation. The UVI was developed through an international effort by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).
UV radiation levels, and therefore the values of the index, vary throughout the day. In reporting the UVI, most emphasis is placed on the maximum UV radiation level in a given day. This occurs during the four-hour period around solar noon. Depending on geographical location and whether daylight saving time is applied, solar noon takes place between local noon and approximately 2:00 p.m. News/weather media usually present a forecast of the maximum UVI radiation level for the following day.
According to the Skin Cancer Foundation about 90% of non-melanoma and about 65% melanoma skin cancers are associated with ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. About 700,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, and the numbers are rising despite the increased use of sunscreen. Additionally, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation, vitamin D is essential for bone health, immune system functioning, and a lack of it puts us at risk for painful weak muscles, inadequate bone mineralization and skeletal deformities in children as well as mineral loss and soft bones in adults. Our bodies manufacture vitamin D when the sun's UVB rays interact with 7-dehydrocholesterol present in the skin [ . . . ] a few minutes at midday are sufficient for many Caucasians [ . . . ] after reaching the production limit, further exposure actually destroys the vitamin, decreasing vitamin D levels. The Mayo Clinic also states that vitamin D, which comes mainly from sun exposure, is responsible for many health-promoting properties such as cancer prevention, inflammation reduction, etc. Therefore, there is a need to balance the benefits versus the risks of exposure, and optimal limits on exposure are desirable.
2. Description of Related Art
Various patents are known which disclose disposable dosimeters designed to warn about the amount of sun radiation absorbed, and thus to inform an individual when she should terminate exposure to sun radiation. However, such related art systems are lacking in both durability and versatility due to their overly simplistic design.
In view of this, it can be seen that there is a need for a UVA and UVB radiation monitoring aid that can be used on a daily basis in order to provide the user with reliable information about the permissible duration of exposure to sun radiation irrespective of the user's skin type, season, and other atmospheric conditions, i.e., allow for personal customization. Further, it is desirable to provide a reliable system which is capable of being worn for extended periods by many different types of individuals under a variety of environmental conditions.


A versatile panty for protecting the garments of wearers who suffer from incontinence and do not have complete bladder control and the like, and comprised of stretchable body panels for constriction onto the wearer and including a crotch area coextensively over which there is a protective membrane impervious to liquid restricting said stretch throughout the crotch area, whereby a pad or sanitary napkin or disposable diaper disposed contiguously between the constricting body panels and said crotch area thereof is reliably secure in position, the panty being fully lined in its preferred form and multi-lined throughout the said crotch area.

Basic undergarments tend to be brief and inconspicuous, and usually made of shear materials reinforced at stress points and/or over vital areas. It is a panty brief with which this invention is concerned, the style and cut of which can vary widely as circumstances require, the general object herein being to provide protection for less fortunate persons who cannot control the discharge of their body liquids, namely urine. Inability to voluntarily stop the flow of urine is quite common and has to do with development of the bladder and associated organs as they are supported by the Paroneal Sling. In short, if the person suffers from incontinence and cannot voluntarily restrict and/or stop the flow of urine, there is the problem of continued seepage resulting in a constant wetting of garments. There are of course various degrees of malfunction in this respect, and various contrivances and absorptive pads have been worn for the collection of said liquids, but with great discomfort to the wearer. However, when the subject person is under reasonable control and able to pay attention to his or her hygene requirements from time to time, then it is entirely possible to wear absorptive materials for the collection of said liquid discharge. Such control can be difficult in the female and it is a panty with which this invention is particularly concerned, a panty that has absorptive properties and a capability of comfortably positioning an additional absorptive pad, all as circumstances require.
The basic undergarment is a panty brief made of relatively shear material, preferably a knit construction designed to stretch in one or both planar directions. For example, the exterior panels of the garment are made from a single knit fabric disposed to stretch laterally (side ways) but not longitudinally (long ways). The interior panels or lining are made from a double knit fabric disposed to stretch both laterally and longitudinally. These knit materials can be of synthetic or natural fibers or any combination thereof, but especially the liner is of highly absorptive material, principally of cotton or the like. The waist band and leg openings are elastic, and the crotch is reinforced as will be described.
Comfort and inconspicuousness are of great concern, while a capacity to collect the liquid discharge must be adequate as well. For example, thin and flimsy materials are generally inadequate for liquid absorption, while a shear garment is desirable for inconspicuousness. Therefore, localized pads and diapers have been resorted to, but to the great discomfort of the user with the ever present problem of its securement and the requirement of a sanitary belt or like harness. And, without securement such pads usually shift out of position. It is to be understood that the use of a pad or diaper is determined by how rapid the discharge and by time periods between change or replacement requirements thereof. In other words, versatility is a requirement, that the panty be self-sufficient at times and that a pad or diaper be installed at other times. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a panty that is comfortably brief, inconspicuous, and which not only has liquid absorptive properties in its concept but which is also adapted to be supplemented by absorptive pads secured in position thereby.
With this invention, the panty is of usual design but lined with absorptive material shielded throughout the critical area by an impervious membrane. It is said membrane which provides a degree of stiffness and body which assures the placement of a pad or diaper, and which restricts the stretch of the panty over that critical area occupied by said pad or diaper. Pads can be secured in place by pressure adhesive strips and are not torn loose by the otherwise continuous stretching and contracting movements, while the more bulky diapers are simply manipulated to shape and positioned and are not dislodged, since the crotch area of this panty is reinforced so as to maintain its area of configuration without distortion that would dislodge the diaper when in use. Furthermore, athletic activities are not restricted when wearing this panty with or without a pad or diaper, as the critical crotch area is reinforced so as to prevent the said otherwise detrimental stretching and working movements.


Embodiments of the present application provide image processing methods and apparatus. A image processing method disclosed herein comprises: acquiring, from an image, two regions which have a textural similarity higher than a first value and have different depths; performing frequency-domain conversion on each of the regions, to obtain a frequency-domain signal of each region; and optimizing the image at least according to the frequency-domain signal of each region, the depth of each region and a focusing distance of the image.

With popularity of portable cameras, users now demand higher requirements of imaging quality. However, due to the fact that a user usually holds the device by hand, image blurring may often be experienced which is caused by camera shake or unstable support, when using the portable cameras to take pictures.
The existing solutions may include estimating a trajectory of camera shake, and restoring a clearer image through deconvolution based on an image shot. There may be different methods for estimating the trajectory of camera shake, for example, an image-based method, a method based on a motion sensor of a camera, and the like.


The invention involves a method for sterilizing biological tissues. The invention also includes sterilized biological tissues.

Surgical implantation of tissue is utilized to replace and/or repair human tissues. For example, hereditary defects, disease, and/or trauma may damage tissues such that replacement and/or repair is desirable. These implantable tissues may be provided by individual human donors. However, because of the scarcity of appropriate human donors, non-human tissues have been increasingly employed instead. Such biological tissues have been used to replace heart valves, ligaments, tendons and skin, among other tissues.
Biological tissues derived from non-human or non-self sources may pose formidable problems to the new recipient. For example, the recipient's immune system may react to the implanted tissue and form an immune response, potentially leading to rejection of the implanted tissue. Thus, the new tissue may become ineffective and/or exhibit poor durability once implanted.
Conventionally, glutaraldehyde has been used to address some of these problems and to stabilize the tissue against in vivo enzymatic degradation. Additionally, glutaraldehyde has been used as a sterilizing agent to inhibit the infectivity of implant tissue. Glutaraldehyde cross-links proteins rapidly and effectively, particularly proteins such as collagen. This treatment increases resistance to proteolytic cleavage and hence increases resistance to enzymatic degradation.
In addition to crosslinking with glutaraldehyde, it is also well known to sterilize the crosslinked tissue with gamma radiation and the like prior to storage of the biological tissue.
Gamma radiation, and similar sterilization protocols, transfers energy to material primarily by Compton scattering i.e., scattering involving elastic collisions between incident photons and unbound (or weakly bound) electrons in which the incident energy is shared between the scattered electron and the deflected photon. These electrons recoil a short distance as unbound electrons, giving up energy to the molecular structure of the material as they collide with other electrons, causing ionization and free-radical formation. The scattered gamma ray carries the balance of the energy as it moves off through the material, possibly to interact again with another atomic electron. Since the probability for Compton scattering is low, gamma rays typically penetrate relatively deeply into the tissue before scattering occurs. Accordingly, gamma rays deposit energy in material over relatively large volumes so that penetration is typically high (typically greater than 50 cm in unit-density material) but dose rates are typically low (typically about a maximum of 20 kGy/hr). See FIG. 1.
Most techniques for sterilizing biological tissues produce undesirable results in the material, but the undesirable results may be more prominent when gamma radiation is used. Such undesirable results include but are not limited to the formation of radicals, hydrogen, and low-molecular-weight hydrocarbons; increased unsaturation; discoloration; and oxidation. Furthermore, gamma radiation typically requires a low dose rate in combination with a high exposure period, and degrades the structure of most conventional packaging materials.
Biological tissues prepared by the prior art methods suffer from a number of disadvantages, which limits their use in implantation, particularly human implantation. First, the use of some chemical sterilizing agents e.g., glutaraldehyde, increases the risk that a toxic response will be evoked in sensitive individuals, even after thorough rinsing of the tissue prior to implantation. Second, the use of certain sterilizing agents requires that the tissue be sterilized prior to packaging, thus necessitating a packaging step which must be carried out under stringent aseptic conditions. Third, gamma radiation can degrade polymeric materials employed in packaging by facilitating damaging oxidative reactions of polymers. Fourth, because gamma radiation typically involves relatively low dose rates, correspondingly long periods of exposure to effect sterilization may be necessary.
Thus there is an unaddressed need in the art for a method of sterilizing biological tissues that minimizes the possibility of immune rejection. Additionally, there exists a long-felt need for a method of sterilizing that does not necessitate an aseptic packaging step. Further, there is a need in the art for a method of sterilizing tissues which does not degrade the polymeric materials employed in packaging sterilized biological tissues. There is also a need for a method of sterilizing biological tissues that is quick, efficient, and results in a biological tissue with enhanced performance characteristics.

Electron beam sterilization of biological tissues


A scale for weighing an animal as it moves along a weighing platform. The platform is suspended at four corners with tensile load cells mounted to mechanisms suspending the platform at the corners. Weight applied to the platform will produce tensile stress in the load cells. The cells produce analogue signals that are proportional to the magnitude of the tensile forces. A restraining device allows slight vertical platform movement (in response to applied load) while restraining longitudinal and transverse platform movement. The suspension means and restraining means operate to allow transfer of vertical stress on the load cells with horizontal restraints being eliminated through the suspension and restraining means.

The present invention is related to scales used for weighing animals such as cattle as they move along a chute.
It is very helpful for a rancher to control feeding by maintaining proper growth rate charts on his animals. It is also beneficial to keep a chart on each animal as means for keeping track of health conditions and maturity. Consequently it is necessary to periodically weigh the animals.
The typical livestock scale includes a weight "beam" supporting a floating deck. The animals are directed onto the deck which will move both vertically and horizontally under the weight of the animal. Cattle become easily frightened when they are unsure of their footing and movement of the platform generally upsets the animal. Therefore, time must be spent in calming the animal before an accurate weight measurement can be recorded. One of the difficulties, then, is the inability for conventional forms of animal scales to quickly weight moving animals.
The prior forms of animal scales include the weight sensing mechanisms directly below the weighing platform. The usually sensitive mechanism is therefore exposed to extremely adverse environmental conditions and must be continuously and carefully cleaned. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the scales varies with the ground terrain upon which the scales rest. Uneven terrain will result in inaccurate weight recordings. It is always preferable to have these scales on a perfectly flat, horizontal surface. Otherwise, the weighing platform of the scale will meet resistance in downward movement and inaccurately display animal weight.
It becomes desirable, from the above situations, to obtain some form of animal weighing scale that will accurately and relatively instantaneously weigh a moving animal. This becomes a particularly desirable feature when many animals are to be weighed in a short period of time.
It is also desirable to obtain some form of scale that will weigh animals over a wide weight range to enable weighing of both young and mature animals.
It is also desirable to obtain some form of animal scale that is totally portable and that may be set up on relatively uneven terrain.
It is also desirable to obtain such a scale that includes its weight sensing mechanism above the animal receiving platform and therefore avoid the adverse environment beneath the platform.


A cardiac stress table employing a cycle type ergometer upon which a patient can be supported during exercise for scintillation camera scanning. The table includes means for adjusting the pedals of the ergometer both longitudinally of the table and vertically with respect to a seat for the patient. A back-supporting member is pivotally adjustable relative to the seat. Counterbalancing means is provided to facilitate lifting of the ergometer during vertical adjustment.

This invention relates generally to the field of surgical tables, and more particularly to an improved table adapted to support a patient for observation of the result of cardiac stress using scintillation camera equipment while the patient develops a predetermined or measured amount of work. Most conveniently, this is accomplished using a pedal operated ergometer.
Cycle type exercise machines are well known in the exercising device art. Such devices normally include a seat for the occupant, a pair of handle-bars to support him in normal cycle riding position, and a sprocket-driven fly-wheel responding to normal pedaling motion. A caliper type brake is also provided to vary the amount of work necessary to turn the pedals.
Unfortunately, when using such devices, a patient is not positioned for camera scanning, and such scanning cannot normally be made unless the position is in an at least partially inclined position.
While the attachment of a known ergometer to one end of a table is a relatively simple matter, prior art constructions not having any means for adjustment of the ergometer relative to the table have resulted in positioning the patient such that operation of the ergometer has resulted in the patient moving his legs to a position wherein the knees and/or thighs contact the scintillation camera, disturbing both the patient and the process of observation. Further, his operation of the ergometer is uncomfortable, and due to lack of adequate support, there is inadequate patient restraint to permit accurate observations to be made.


An assembly is provided which is portable and which includes a cuplike base having mounted therein an article such as a lamp unit. The base is provided with a cover which normally protects the article and renders the same readily portable and for storage. The base or the cover or both are provided with magnetic surfaces for mounting the article on a flexible panel such as the type formed of fabric or cloth mas may be found, for example, in a tent. In one embodiment, the article is a lamp unit which may be of several forms including a simple lamp socket suspended from the lamp cord. The lamp unit may also be in the form of a fixed lamp socket retained within the base by a special lens. On the other hand, the lamp socket may be carried by a plurality of arms which are pivotally mounted to one another so as to projectable from within the base to a depending position supporting the lamp socket.

It is known to suspend articles on opposite surfaces of a support. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,518,884 to Wood, Jr. teaches that magnets may be utilized to support thermometers on opposite sides of a vertical glass pane. U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,214 to Fisher et al. teaches that an illumination system may be suspended from a fixed ceiling panel for sliding movement relative to that ceiling panel to accurately position the light. The system includes an upper mechanism positioned above the ceiling panel and a lower mechanism positioned below the ceiling panel with there being no physical connections between the two mechanisms. The two mechanism include electrical coils which induce current from the upper mechanism into the lower mechanism for powering the lamp. These induction coils also function as electromagnets which serve to suspend the lower mechanism from the upper mechanism through the ceiling panel.
It is also known to provide portability for articles such as lamps and the like whereby they can be adapted for use in situations where the normal amenities of modern life are not readily available. For example, in hiking and camping, it is useful to have articles such as lamps, clocks, hangers, and the like to be lightweight, portable, protected from the elements, and capable of easy use in wilderness areas. There is a need for a simple, self-contained, portable assembly which will contain an article such as a lamp for storage and transport and also be capable of mounting the article to a flexible panel such as the wall of a tent.


Apparatus and method for use in determining the location of object surface points wherein a short pulse of optical energy is projected at the object surface and a time dependent gain function is used to modify the reflected optical energy resulting from the pulse so that time delay information indicative range can be developed and processed.

This invention relates to methods and apparatus for use in determining the spatial location of the points on an object surface and, in particular, to an improved method and apparatus of this type.
A variety of different types of systems have been used to determine the spatial location of the points on an object surface. One type of system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,199,253 and 4,854,698, assigned to the assignee hereof, and the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference.
In the system of the '253 patent, optical energy is first projected at the object surface. The object surface then reflects certain of the projected optical energy and the reflected optical energy is collected by a receiver. At the receiver, the time delay of receipt of each of a number of individual parts of the received reflected optical energy is determined. This time delay is indicative of the outward distance (i.e., the so-called "range") of the surface point corresponding to the particular received energy part. The time delay information along with other two-dimensional information contained in the received optical energy and with the position of the lens node of the receiver are then used to locate surface points in three dimensions using standard triangulation processing.
In the '253 patent system, time delay information is developed by using different preselected time dependent gating functions to gate a shutter means in the receiver. These time dependent gating functions together encode the object surface points into corresponding time delay intervals. As a result, the presence or absence of an individual optical energy part in the reflected optical energy received during the different gating functions provides a code from which the time delay interval for the surface point corresponding to the optical energy part can be determined.
The '253 patent further contemplates the use of multiple receiver channels and a single projected pulse as one mechanism for subjecting received optical energy to the different gating functions. Also contemplated is a second mechanism in which a succession of optical pulses are transmitted over a single channel and the different gating functions are applied to the resultant succession of optical signals received over the single channel.
The ability of the digital type of system disclosed in the '253 patent to provide fine spatial resolution of the object surface points requires the use of a large number of channels or a large succession of pulses and complex circuitry for generating the gating functions. This has prompted continued efforts to design systems for surface point determination which are less complex.
One such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,616, the teachings of which are also incorporated herein by reference. The system of the '616 patent is an analog type system in which a continuously and sinsusoidally modulated optical laser beam is projected at an object surface. The optical energy reflected from the surface is then received in a receiver designed to determine the phase shift of the received energy parts relative to a reference signal. The measured phase shift then serves as an indication of the range of the energy part and, therefore, its corresponding surface point.
In the receiver of the '616 patent, the received optical energy first undergoes conversion to an electron beam. During this conversion the energy is modulated by a sinsusoidal signal at the same frequency as the original modulation frequency of the projected signal. The modulated electrical signal is then converted back to an optical signal and the resultant optical signal conveyed to an array detector. Each cell of the latter detector averages over time the intensity of a corresponding part of the received optical signal to provide a measure of the energy and, hence, the phase-shift of the signal part. The measured phase-shift then serves as an indication of the range of the corresponding surface point.
The '616 patent mentions that in order to provide more reliable and broader range detection, multiple measurements can be made, one measurement using a cosine modulation function and the other a sine modulation function at the receiver. This increases the so-called "ambiguity range", i.e., the distance before which an ambiguity arises because of a repeat in the modulation values, to a full 360.degree. in phase angle corresponding to a distance of one-half of the modulation frequency. It also enhances measurements where the cosine function changes slowly, and, therefore, loses accuracy.
Additionally, the '616 patent also mentions that greater immunity to noise can be realized by making measurements at two frequencies which are different integer multiples of the same common frequency. In this case, processing can be carried out such that a long ambiguity interval characteristic of the lower common frequency is realized, while good range resolution characteristic of the higher integer multiple frequency is also realized.
While the system of the '616 patent can provide range resolution equal to that of the above-discussed digital system, the need to provide continuous optical laser illumination has undesirable consequences. First, it makes the system sensitive to relative motion between the system components and the object surface. This motion sensitivity can lead to erroneous and less reliable range determinations. Also, the laser power used must be relatively low in order to preserve the integrity of the object surface during continuous illumination. This makes the system more susceptible to background illumination and other noise sources. Additionally, the system is not readily adaptable to multiple channel use.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus and method for use in determining the spatial location of the points on an object surface.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus and method as mentioned in the previous objective and which are less susceptible to relative motion between the apparatus and object surface point and to background noise and which provide high range resolution.

Apparatus and method for improved determination of the spatial location of object surface points


A flexible pipe body and a method for manufacturing flexible pipe body is disclosed. The flexible pipe body includes an internal pressure sheath, at least one insulating layer comprising a mesh layer comprising a plurality of pockets and an outer sheath.

Traditionally flexible pipe is utilized to transport production fluids, such as oil and/or gas and/or water, from one location to another. Flexible pipe is particularly useful in connecting a sub-sea location to a sea level location. Flexible pipe is generally formed as an assembly of a pipe body and one or more end fittings. The pipe body is typically formed as a composite of layered materials that form a fluid and pressure-containing conduit. The pipe structure allows large deflections without causing bending stresses that impair the pipe's functionality over its lifetime. The pipe body is generally, but not necessarily, built up as a composite structure including metallic and polymer layers.
In many known flexible pipe designs the pipe includes one or more tensile armour layers. The primary load on such a layer is tension. In high pressure applications, such as in deep water and ultra deep water environments, the tensile armour layer experiences high tension loads from the internal pressure end cap load as well as weight. This can cause failure in the flexible pipe since such conditions are experienced over prolonged periods of time.
Unbonded flexible pipe has been an enabler for deep water (less than 3,300 feet (1,005.84 meters)) and ultra deep water (greater than 3,300 feet) developments for over 15 years. The technology enabled the industry to initially produce in deep water in the early 90's and then to ultra deep waters up to around 6,500 feet (1,981.2 meters) in the late 90's. Water depths greater than 6,500 feet push the envelope where typical free-hanging riser configurations and flexible pipe in general can operate.
It is the increasing demand for oil which is causing exploration to occur at greater and greater depths where environmental factors are more extreme. In such deep and ultra-deep water environments ocean floor temperature increases the risk of production fluids cooling to a temperature which may lead to pipe blockage. For example, when transporting crude oil blockage of the internal bore of the flexible pipe can occur due to paraffin formation. As a method to overcome such problems it has, in the past, been suggested that a layer of thermal insulation should be provided around the barrier layer of a flexible pipe, the barrier layer being the layer forming the inner bore along which fluid is transported. The thermal insulation has been somewhat effective in insulating the inner bore of the pipe from external low temperature thus helping prevent blockage. Nevertheless, the insulation effects provided have been limited.
A further problem with known insulating techniques is that the formation of insulating layers can be a complex process which involves careful alignment, heating and cooling steps during manufacture. It will be appreciated that prior known insulating techniques have appreciably increased costs and time for manufacturing flexible pipe body.
It is an aim of the present technology to at least partly mitigate the above-mentioned problems.
It is an aim of embodiments of the present technology to provide flexible pipe body which can be used in flexible pipe of a type able to transport production fluids and which includes at least one thermal insulation layer between an internal pressure sheath, such as a barrier layer or liner, and outer shield layer of the flexible pipe body.
It is an aim of embodiments of the present technology to provide flexible pipe body which includes one or more insulating layers which are simple and quick to manufacture and yet which provide a highly effective thermal resistance to impede flow of heat energy in the radial direction across the flexible pipe body.
It is an aim of embodiments of the present technology to provide a riser assembly, jumper, flowline and/or method of manufacturing a flexible pipe able to operate in deep and ultra-deep water environments.
According to a first aspect of the present technology there is provided flexible pipe body for a flexible pipe, said pipe body comprising:
an internal pressure sheath;
at least one insulating layer comprising a mesh layer comprising a plurality of pockets; and
an outer sheath.
According to a second aspect of the present technology there is provided a method of manufacturing flexible pipe body, comprising the steps of:
providing a tubular internal pressure sheath;
forming an insulating layer comprising a mesh layer comprising a plurality of pockets over the internal pressure sheath; and
forming an outer sheath layer over the insulating layer.
According to a third aspect of the present technology there is provided a method of transporting a fluid comprising the steps of:
providing a flexible pipe comprising an internal pressure sheath, at least one insulating layer comprising a mesh layer comprising a plurality of pockets, and an outer sheath; and
transporting a fluid through the flexible pipe.
The flexible pipe can be used, for example, for the extraction, transport or refining of mineral oil, crude oil or related fluids, or the transport of cold fluids, such as ammonia.
Embodiments of the present technology provide flexible pipe body in which a thermal insulation layer is formed between a barrier layer or liner and an outer sheath. One or more such insulating layers may be formed each comprising a mesh layer comprising a plurality of pockets. The mesh layer may be a weave of woven filaments with holes between filaments forming the pockets or may be a sheet of material in which the pockets are formed by a plurality of through holes or blind holes.
Embodiments of the present technology provide an insulating layer having a number of pockets in which an insulating fluid such as air or gas or some other insulating material such as aerogel material can be located.
Embodiments of the present technology provide a co-axial pipe with at least one low conductivity insulating layer between an inner and outer layer of the pipe. The insulating layer which may be a weave or punched out sheet or other such structure serves as a means of increasing the thermal resistance of the pipe wall. The interstitially insulated pipeline will decrease the thermal loss of flowing fluid such as crude oil, delaying the onset of paraffin crystallisation and delaying or preventing the deposit of solid material on an interior surface of the pipe. As a result the need to 'pig' the pipeline may be delayed or eliminated.
In the drawings like reference numerals refer to like parts.


The present invention provides an improved fishing rod holder which is especially useful for holding and tending a fishing rod when surf fishing from a sandy beach, or when fishing from an earthen shoreline. The invention also provides an inexpensive method of producing the fishing rod holder of the invention from readily available materials.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention is broadly related to holders for fishing rods. In one of its more specific embodiments, the present invention is concerned with an improved fishing rod holder which is especially useful for holding and tending a fishing rod and reel when surf fishing from a sandy beach, or when fishing from an earthen shoreline. The invention is also concerned with a novel method of producing the fishing rod holder of the invention.
2. The Prior Art
A wide variety of fishing rod holders have been proposed heretofore. However, in general the prior art fishing rod holders have one or more serious deficiencies and thus are not entirely satisfactory in all respects.
For example, it is recognized by skilled fisherman that a fishing rod should be pulled up and straight back from the general direction of the attached fishing line immediately upon getting a strike, i.e., at the time that a fish takes the baited hook and attempts to swim away therewith. This action must be taken very quickly in order to set the hook and thus catch the striking fish before it senses danger. It is also very desirable to maintain a taut fishing line after setting the hook, and thereby prevent the fish from throwing the hook and escaping. There usually is no problem in these respects in instances where an avid experienced fisherman holds the fishing rod directly in his hands.
In instances where the fisherman tires after an extended period of vigorous fishing or otherwise desires to give little or no attention to the fishing rod, it is common practice to use a prior art fishing rod holder to hold and tend the fishing rod. As a general rule, the prior art fishing rod holders are not capable of holding and tending a fishing rod in a proper fishing position with little or no attention until obtaining a strike, and then allow the fisherman to immediately and rapidly pull up and back on the fishing rod to thereby quickly set the hook without giving warning to the striking fish.
The prior art fishing rod holders also do not have a combination of desirable secondary features. For example, as a general rule they are not strong and durable, light in weight, easily portable from fishing site to fishing site, and of a unitary construction which eliminates the possibility of losing one or more pieces when moving frequently on a fishing trip. The prior art fishing rod holders also do not permit a wide degree of flexibility when fishing in both fresh and salt water.
As a result of the foregoing and still other deficiencies well known to those skilled in this art, fishermen have long sought an entirely satisfactory fishing rod holder. However, one has not been available prior to the present invention in spite of the long standing need therefor.