A knowledge-base computer system includes an inference section which provides retrieval inference means, state information generating means and execution control means. The retrieval inference means retrieves frame knowledge relative to output information specified at an input section, and calculates output in formation value corresponding to the output information selected from a knowledge base section. The state information generating means executes the calculation of output information value corresponding the output information by each solution in each frame, and generates state information indicative of a state of the executed result of the calculation when the retrieval inference means searched information including a plurality of solution. The execution control means determines the execution of next solution in response to the state information on the basis of the execution control, method information. Therefore, the execution by this computer system is continued without stopping the execution even when a calculation impossibility is occurred.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in a knowledge-base computer system which solves a problem of a design procedure or control procedure constituted by information including ambiguous applied conditions, or if-then rules.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional knowledge-base computer system is generally arranged to flexibly execute a procedure by utilizing previously memorized procedure and solution for a design or control in the form of information unit such as a frame. Such a computer system includes an input section, an output section, an inference section and a knowledge base section. The computer system is designed to seek a value of output information by means of the object oriented method. That is, when output information to be outputted is requested in a frame knowledge, input information related to the output information is searched from the knowledge base section. Until the input information satisfies the condition for obtaining the output information, every input information is repeatingly obtained while a newly obtained and unsettled information is taken into consideration to be searched. Thus, the conventional knowledge-base computer system is designed such that the frame knowledge has to perfectly provide the applied condition for the output information. Accordingly, when the condition for judgement in a frame is not clear, the answer "its frame output information" can not be obtained.

Knowledge-base computer system with state information indicative of ambiguous applied conditions


Methods and devices for retrieving a filter fixed to a guidewire disposed within a blood vessel are disclosed. A catheter for retrieving a filter fixed to a guidewire disposed within a blood vessel in accordance with the present invention includes an elongate shaft and a housing fixed to the elongate shaft proximate a distal end thereof. A tip member is slidingly disposed within a cavity defined by the housing. In a preferred embodiment, the tip member is configured such that the housing is substantially centered about the guidewire. In another preferred embodiment, the tip member is slidingly disposed within the housing, and the tip member may be moved between a first position and a second position.

It is critical that the heart muscle be well oxygenated so that the blood pumping action of the heart is not impaired. Blood vessels which have become occluded (blocked) or stenotic (narrowed) may interrupt the oxygen supply to the heart muscle.
Occluded or stenotic blood vessels may be treated with a number of medical procedures including angioplasty and atherectomy. Angioplasty techniques such as percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) are relatively non-invasive methods of treating a stenotic lesion. These angioplasty techniques typically involve the use of a guidewire and a balloon catheter. In these procedures, a balloon catheter is advanced over a guidewire such that the balloon is positioned proximate a restriction in a diseased vessel. The balloon is then inflated and the restriction in the vessel is opened. During an atherectomy procedure, the stenotic lesion is mechanically cut or abraded away from the blood vessel wall using an atherectomy catheter.
During atherectomy procedures, stenotic debris that is separated from the stenosis may be free to flow within the lumen of the vessel. If this debris enters the circulatory system, it may facilitate the formation of an occlusion in the neural vasculaturre, or in the lungs, both of which are highly undesirable. An occlusion in the neural vasculatture may cause a stroke, and an occlusion in the lungs may interfere with the oxygenation of the blood. During angioplasty procedures, stenotic debris may also break loose due to manipulation of the blood vessel.


In the preferred and illustrated embodiment, a scaffold is shown for attachment on the bottom side of an offshore drilling rig or platform. The scaffold is quickly installed and removed. It is fabricated with a set of upright hanger straps which, in turn, clamp to eye beams spanning the bottom side of the offshore structure. The hanger straps incorporate opposing hooks at the upper end. The central portion is comprised of an elongate strap or hanger, the length accommodating workmen. Each strap terminates at its lower end with a support to receive framing members such as horizontally deployed structural beams. The beams support deck planking arranged horizontally thereon and spaced from the bottom side of the offshore structure.

This disclosure is directed to an accessory which materially assists and expedites the construction of an offshore platform. An offshore platform is defined for purposes of this disclosure as a permanent or semipermanent structure which is erected above the water surface at an offshore location. A permanent structure will utilize a superstructure above the water supported on a set of legs. Alternatively, it can be used with jackup drilling rigs which are portable, at least to the extent that they are moved from location to location between drilling jobs. Without regard to the manner of construction of the offshore platform, it avails itself of the present apparatus to enhance and expedite construction thereon. The construction which is referred to is not construction of the platform, itself; rather, it refers to construction of equipment on that platform. Typical equipment which is supported on the platform often includes pumps, valves, separators, a battery of storage tanks and the like. This type of equipment is normally found in a production platform. Alternatively, a fixed platform may be installed with drilling equipment on it, in which instance there will be a large number of mud tanks, mud pumps, a significant amount of superstructure and substructure for the drilling rig, itself, and other equipment.
The setting in which the present apparatus is used is one fraught with expensive hand labor in a dangerous environment. Typically, a platform will be formed at a shore location. Whether the platform is a permanent platform or a semisubmersible drilling rig, it is transported to a desired location at sea. The platform is then installed either temporarily or permanently. The platform so installed is normally installed with only the platform, but the operative equipment which is to be placed on it is normally attached only after the platform is made secure at sea. Thus, a large, fixed offshore platform will be assembled in parts (sometimes two or three major structural components) at a shore location, and the parts will thereafter be towed to sea for erection. At the time of erection, the platform is erected so that the deck is located significantly above the water and high above the wave action. At this time, the platform is actually devoid of drilling equipment or production equipment. It is merely a working surface for such equipment. The drilling equipment or production equipment, as the case may be, is thereafter installed on the platform. For instance, a barge supporting a crane will travel to the platform site, and, in conjunction with barge carried, fluid handling equipment, construction of the production or drilling equipment at the platform then occurs. Consider, as an easy example, well completion apparatus including a battery of tanks, a separator, valves and pumps. All of this equipment is carried by barge to the offshore platform. It is lifted by crane from the transportation barge to the platform. Thereafter, it must be plumbed by making suitable connections to the producing well and connections between the various components supported on the platform. A tremendous number of connections must be made. In many instances, the connections made are not permanent. They may be left intact for a few weeks or months and thereafter switched as the needs of the moment change. As an example, the platform may support both production equipment and drilling equipment. Later on, the drilling equipment may be removed and replaced with production equipment. Later on, the nature of the production may, itself, change, and new production equipment may be required. In every instance, it is necessary to disconnect and perhaps reconnect (via plumbing) the equipment at the platform.
The foregoing provides a setting or context in which the problem met by the present apparatus is assisted through the implementation of this apparatus. Thus, one advantage of the present invention is that it accommodates and expedites installation of equipment at the platform. As an example, if a tank battery is placed on the platform, it may be necessary to make a large number of connections through the platform floor, along the bottom side and back up through the floor to interconnect the various tanks in the tank battery. As this occurs, the platform is cut many times, and various and sundry hangers are connected on the bottom side to support the various pipes, valves and other equipment. Most of the plumbing is installed on the bottom side because the top surface is reserved for the equipment supported on the platform and at least a minimum area for workmen. Accordingly, the platform is perforated at many locations, and a great number of pipes will be hung from the bottom side. This occurs in a random manner, and, accordingly, the bottom side of the platform, after the platform has been replumbed two or three times, becomes a veritable forest of odd sizes and shapes of scaffoldings, miscellaneous hangers and the like. This makes working on the bottom side of the platform difficult to set up and difficult to conduct. All kinds of jerry-rigged scaffolding devices have been used heretofore.
From the foregoing, it will be observed that the bottom side of the platform becomes so littered with cut off pieces of scaffolding, old connectors, pipes no longer in use and operative plumbing and pipes that convenient access is almost impossible to obtain. The present invention overcomes this handicap in that it provides a system for rigging scaffolding beneath a plaform which leaves the platform intact after the scaffolding has been removed. Moreover, it can be installed quickly and easily without welding. One advantage is, therefore, the speed with which installation is made, and removal is implemented when desired. The scaffolding of this disclosure is advantageous over competitive types of scaffolding which have primarily been structures of convenience, typically tack welded to the bottom side of the platform at some location. The installation of temporary scaffolding heretofore has simply littered the bottom side of platforms so that accessibility is thereby limited after erection of scaffolding several times.
This disclosure sets forth an improved scaffolding system which is temporarily installed and subsequently removed without damaging or harming the platform structure. It has the advantage that it can be used incrementally; by that, reference is made to the fact that the scaffolding can be installed to provide a small or a very large work area. In the event a large work area beneath the platform is desired, this invention furnishes a scaffolding which is extended by merely repetitively utilizing the same apparatus to support a larger surface area. This carries with it the benefit of uniformity. The uniform structure enables rather rapid fabrication and disassembly.
A further advantage of the present apparatus is that its connection to the platform does not leave any debris in the form of welded plates scattered at random across the bottom side of the platform. After removal, the only thing remaining on the bottom side of the platform is the plumbing and other pipes which are installed beneath the platform with the equipment on it. However, the scaffolding, itself, is fully removed.
With these advantages and objects in mind, the present apparatus is briefly summarized as an accessory to be attached to the nether side of a platform at an offshore location. It utilizes hanger straps which are elongate straps terminating at a pair of facing hooks at the upper end which clamp to beams in the platform structure. They terminate at support plates which, in turn, hold up scaffolding beams, enabling construction of planking into decks of an extent determined by the number of hangers and beams installed in the scaffolding. It is installed by temporarily connecting the hanger straps to the platform. It is removed by disconnecting them. They connect and disconnect through manipulation of a pair of facing hooks.


A technique for wordspotting based on hidden Markov models (HMM's). The technique allows a speaker to specify keywords dynamically and to train the associated HMM's via a single repetition of a keyword. Non-keyword speech is modeled using an HMM trained from a prerecorded sample of continuous speech. The wordspotter is intended for interactive applications, such as the editing of voice mail or mixed-media documents, and for keyword indexing in single-speaker audio or video recordings.

Speech recognition is the ability of a computer controlled system to recognize speech. Wordspotting is an application of speech recognition technology that enables the location of keywords or phrases in the context of fluent speech.
The use of HMMs in wordspotting in speech recognition applications is well known in the art. See, for example:
J. R. Rohlicek, W. Russel, S. Roukos, H. Gish, "Continuous Hidden Markov Modeling for Speaker-Independent Word Spotting". Proc. of the Int. Conf. Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, Glasgow, Scotland, May 1989, pp. 627-630;
R. C. Rose, D. B. Paul, "A Hidden Markov Model Based Keyword Recognition System". Proc. of the Int. Conf. on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, April 1990, pp. 129-132;
J. G. Wilpon, L. R. Rabiner, C. H. Lee, E. R. Goldman, "Automatic Recognition of Keywords in Unconstrained Speech Using Hidden Markov Models". IEEE Trans. on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, Vol. 38, No. 11, November 1990, pp. 1870-1878;
L. R. Bahl, P. F. Brown, P. V. de Souza, R. L. Mercer, M. A. Picheny, "Acoustic Markov Models Used in the Tangora Speech Recognition System". Proc. of the Int. Conf. on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, New York, N.Y., April 1988, pp. 497-500;
J. G. Wilpon, C. H. Lee and L. R. Rabiner, "Application of Hidden Markov Models for Recognition of a Limited Set of Words in Unconstrained Speech", Proceedings of the International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, Vol. 1, pp. 254-257, Glasgow, Scotland, May 1989; the contents of all of the preceding papers being incorporated herein by reference.
The system of the invention involves using HMMs to model speaker utterances. Hidden Markov models consists of a set of states with associated outputs, where the output of a state is a feature vector describing a sound. Transition probabilities between states allow modeling a sequence of sounds. In this invention, the states for the HMMs correspond to clusters of sounds, or acoustic units. A keyword is modelled as a specific sequence of states, or acoustic units. Nonkeyword speech is modelled as an arbitrary sequence of these units.
Previous speaker-dependent wordspotting systems have been based on template matching using dynamic time warping, as described in the following papers:
R. W. Christiansen, C. K. Rushforth, "Detecting and Locating Key Words in Continuous Speech Using Linear Predictive Coding". IEEE Trans. on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, Vol. ASSP-25, No. 5, October 1977, pp. 361-367;
A. L. Higgens, R. E. Wohlford, "Keyword Recognition Using Template Concatenation". Proc. of the Int. Conf. on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, Tampa, Fla., March 1985, pp. 1233-1236;
C. S. Myers, L. R. Rabiner, A. E. Rosenberg, "An Investigation of the Use of Dynamic Time Warping for Word Spotting and Connected Speech Recognition". Proc. of the Int. Conf. on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, Denver, Colo., April 1980, pp. 173-177.
While these techniques are applicable to wordspotting tasks, they are generally inferior to HMM's in modeling the acoustic variability associated with multiple repetitions of a keyword due to speaking rate, context, etc. HMM's also provide a more natural means of modeling non-keyword speech than do the filler templates used in the more sophisticated DTW-based systems. See the March 1985 Higgens et al paper.

Wordspotting for voice editing and indexing


Techniques for assigning context to a digitally captured image, and for manipulating recognized data fields within such image. In an exemplary embodiment, a context of an image may be assigned based on, e.g., user input or pattern recognition. Based on the assigned context, recognized data fields within the image may be manipulated according to context-specific processing. In an aspect, processing specific to a sales receipt context may automatically manipulate certain data, e.g., calculate updated sales tax and subtotals based on user-designated fields, and display the automatically calculated data in an output receipt. Fields not designated by the user may be selectively concealed in the output receipt for privacy. Further aspects disclose processing techniques specific to other contexts such as restaurant menu, store shelf, and fillable form contexts.

Digital image capture technologies have seen widespread use in consumer devices. Utilizing Optical Character Recognition (OCR), such technologies are capable of recognizing certain limited content, such as the presence of text characters, in the digitally captured images. However, current technologies do not offer users the flexibility to manipulate or post-edit the recognized content in a manner customized to the content of the image.
For example, if a document such as an itemized store receipt is digitally captured, current OCR software may identify text on the receipt, but may not automatically provide the user with capabilities to manipulate text items, re-calculate sales tax and price information based on the manipulation, or otherwise perform receipt-specific functions that would be convenient to the user. Similarly, other types of captured images such as restaurant menus, fillable forms, etc., may contain content-specific information that is not easily manipulated or post-edited using current technologies.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide novel and efficient techniques to assign context to an image based on the image content, and to provide flexible and context-specific options for a user to manipulate recognized data fields in the image.


A method, system, and article of manufacture for updating features. When a cross-reference (XREF) to a non-local or non-native part is encountered, a bridge node carries a reference to a base part and holds derived part edge orderings in lieu of modifying the base part itself. The bridge node is utilized to maintain cross-part dependencies without modifying the base part, and to ensure these dependencies get chased when either the reference to a non-native/non-local part is refreshed/recomputed, or an editing session on a non-native part is completed. Features of a node/part may be suppressed/excluded as a result of the interaction or combination with another node/part. When a node/part has been modified and the drawing containing the part has not been refreshed to reflect the changes in a part, the node/part is scheduled for update. The update process traverses a dependency graph for the node part to determine if any nodes that are dependent on the updated node also need to be updated. For example, a derived part may need to have certain features suppressed as a result of the changes to the base part. The bridge node may be utilized to reflect any changes to parts dependent on the XREF part. For example, if the bridge node is suppressed, the parts dependent on the bridge node or features that connect to the bridge node may also be suppressed. Accordingly, the bridge node provides a mechanism for updating parts and features without modifying the base part or derived part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer-assisted design (CAD) systems, and in particular, to a method for cell selection during feature generation in a solid modeling system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Over the last decade, designers have changed their fundamental approach to graphics design, moving from 2D drawing systems to 3D solid modeling systems. New software makes solid modeling technology available and affordable to virtually anyone.
Solid modeling is a technique that allows designers to create dimensionally accurate 3D solid models in 3D space represented within a computer, rather than traditional 2D drawings. 3D solid models include significantly more engineering data than 2D drawings, including the volume, bounding surfaces, and edges of a design.
With the graphics capabilities of today""s computers, these 3D solid models may be viewed and manipulated on a monitor. In addition to providing better visualization, 3D solid models may be used to automatically produce 2D drawing views, and can be shared with manufacturing applications and the like.
Some 3D solid modeling systems generate parametric feature-based models. A parametric feature-based model is comprised of intelligent features, such as holes, fillets, chamfers, etc. The geometry of the parametric feature-based model is defined by underlying mathematical relationships (i.e., parameters) rather than by simple unrelated dimensions, which makes them easier to modify. These systems preserve design intent and manage it after every change to the model.
Moreover, these features automatically change as the model is changed. The system computes any related changes to parts of the model that are dependent on a parameter, and automatically updates the entire model when the parameter is changed. For example, a through-hole will always completely go through a specified part, even if the part""s dimensions are changed to be bigger than the hole. Additionally, the geometry/volume of one part may be used to create or modify the geometry of a second part (referred to as the base or host part). The part resulting from the combination of the first part and base part is said to be derived from the first part.
Examples of derived parts include using the first part as a toolbody to perform a boolean operation (i.e., a join/union, intersect, or cut/subtract volume operation) on the base part thereby creating a combined part. A toolbody is a part (e.g., a first part) that is aligned with a base part and then used to perform a boolean operation on the base part. The combination of the base part and the toolbody in accordance with the boolean operation specified results in a combined part. Another example of a derived part includes placing an assembly feature/constraint through an occurrence of the first part, making the second part a unique variation on the first part. An assembly constraint determines how instanced parts and subassemblies are placed relative to each other. Assembly constraints reduce the degrees of freedom of each part. Accordingly, the second part is derived from and is equal to the first part with an assembly constraint (i.e., when the first part has an assembly constraint that restricts how the first part may interact with other parts).
The process of identifying dependent features on derived parts is straightforward if all base parts are native parts stored in a single drawing file. However, if a base part is either non-local (e.g., stored in an external file) or is a non-native part (e.g., a part designed using another solid modeling system/application), the process is more difficult because of the lack of access to information such as the part history graph of the base part. Such access to information is necessary in order to establish or update a connection of a derived part.
Consequently, there is a need in the art for a solid modeling system that supports non-local or non-native parts, maintains cross-part dependencies without modifying a base part, and ensures that dependencies get followed/chased when either a cross reference (XREF) of a non-native part is refreshed/recomputed, or an editing session on a non-native part is completed.
In a solid based modeler, a user may create and/or use non-native or non-local parts in a 3d solid model. Further parts may be derived from such non-native or non-local parts. Additionally, various features of the parts may connect or utilize the non-native or non-local parts.
One or more embodiments of the invention provide a method, system, and article of manufacture for updating a host drawing and features maintained within a host drawing. Non-local or non-native parts may be accessed and utilized in a drawing. For example, a part may be based on or derived from a non-local or non-native part. When a part is derived from another part, the derived part is said to be dependent on a base or host part. When a part is dependent on a non-local or non-native base part, the derived part is referred to as an orphaned part and cross references (XREF) the base part.
Information regarding such cross referenced non-local or non-native parts may not be accessible. Accordingly, when a XREF to a non-local or non-native part is encountered, a bridge node is utilized. A bridge node carries a reference to a base part and holds the derived part edge orderings (an element that provides the computation order for reconstructing a part) in lieu of modifying the base part itself. The bridge node is utilized to maintain cross-part dependencies without modifying the base part, and to ensure these dependencies get chased when either the reference to a non-native/non-local part is refreshed/recomputed, or an editing session on a non-native part is completed.
Features of a node/part may be suppressed/excluded as a result of the interaction or combination with another node/part. When a node/part has been modified and the drawing containing the part has not been refreshed to reflect the changes in a part, the node/part is scheduled for update. The update process traverses a dependency graph for the node part to determine if any nodes that are dependent on the updated node also need to be updated. For example, a derived part may need to have certain features suppressed as a result of the changes to the base part.
The bridge node may be utilized to reflect any changes to parts dependent on the XREF part. For example, if a base part or feature on a base part is suppressed/excluded, the corresponding bridge node for that feature is suppressed. Similarly, the bridge node for a base part could be suppressed if the base part""s database were unloaded from memory. In any case, parts dependent on the suppressed bridge node or features that connect to the suppressed bridge node may also be suppressed. Accordingly, the bridge node provides a mechanism for updating parts and features without modifying the base part or derived part.

Method for updating feature recipes in a history-based solid model


In a video telephone in which images of telephoners as well as writings or drawings are alternately formed and transmitted, a single video camera is fixed and the optical axis extending from the video camera is optionally changed to select one of two directions, so that it is possible to form the images alternately of the telephoners and of the writings or drawings.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a video telephone in which images of telephoners as well as writings or drawings are alternately formed and transmitted.
2. Description of the Related Art
A well known type of video telephone disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent No. 61-179690 comprises a video camera and a monitoring display. Images of a telephoner are formed in the video camera and sent to another monitoring display of a telephonee, and images of the telephonee are given by the monitoring display of the telephoner.
Recently, a video telephone shown in FIG. 4 was disclosed, in which the images of the telephoner A as well as the writing or drawing B are alternately formed in a single video camera 3 and transmitted.
Provided on one side of a display stand 7 is a camera stand 15, on a top of which a pivot 16 is secured for a support arm 17 to be turned horizontally on the pivot 16, and further, a video camera 3 is secured to be turned vertically on another pivot 18, which is secured to the distal end of the arm 17.
To form the image of the telephoner A in the video camera 3, the video camera 3 is turned above a display 6 to become parallel to a direction indicated by arrow a, and positioned as indicated in solid lines in FIG. 4. When the image of the writing or drawing B is formed, the arm 17 is turned through an angle of 180.degree. in a direction of arrow b on the pivot 16 as indicated in chain-dotted lines in FIG. 4, and then, the video camera 3 is turned through an angle of 90.degree. in a direction of arrow c on the pivot 18 to become parallel to a direction indicated by arrow d. Thus, the image of the writing or drawing 8 is to be formed in the video camera 3.
However, in the video telephone shown in FIG. 4, the video camera 3 is required to travel rather a large distance between two positions where the images of the telephoner A and the writing or drawing B are formed, respectively. In addition, in the course of the travel, the video camera 3 is turned two times on the pivots 16 and 18.
Thus, the telephoner A is inconvenienced by moving the video camera 3 in order to take pictures alternately of himself A and of the writing or drawing B during telephoning, which wastes his time.
Moreover, a mechanism for moving the video camera 3, which comprises the support arm 17 and the two pivots 16 and 18, is complicated in structure, is rather expensive for manufacturing, and requires a large space for the support arm 17 to travel. In addition, movable portions, such as the pair of pivots 16 and 18 are apt to often break down, and also, the video camera itself is apt to break down because of being frequently moved.


A brushless motor having a casing for containing a stator body and for a rotor with a driving shaft, an exit cap with an outlet for the driving shaft and a closure cap. The closure cap includes an output for power cables and is disposed opposite the exit cap and supports an electronic board for controlling the brushless motor. The closure cap further includes a recess for containing the electronic control board, which is defined so as to be recessed in an axial direction with respect to the outer surface of the cap.

Conventional brushless motors typically include a casing for containing a stator body and a rotor with driving shaft, an exit cap with an outlet for said driving shaft and a closure cap, which is opposite said exit cap, which supports an electronic board for controlling the brushless motor and comprises an output for power cables.
Currently, the need is felt increasingly to have a brushless motor which is dimensionally compact, both axially and radially, and in which at the same time the electronic board is in a protected position that is easily accessible in case of repair or replacement.
In a known type of brushless motor, the electronic control board, usually an encoder, is arranged outside the cap, inside a protective hood that is extended externally to said cap in an axial direction.
This solution, though having the merit of allowing easy adjustment of the encoder, which is easily accessible by removing the hood, which is external to the cap, without having to disassemble the cap from the brushless motor proper, suffers the drawback that it increases significantly the axial space occupations of the motor and determines a single output for cables which is radial with respect to the motor, an arrangement that is a limitation for applications requiring a reduced radial space occupation.
In a further, different, type of brushless motor, in order to reduce axial space occupations the encoder is arranged inside the cap, fixed to an annular portion that extends from said cap and is coaxial to the rotation axis of the driving shaft, in a region located further inward than the bearings for the driving shaft on the side of said cap.
This arrangement of the encoder, while making the motor more compact axially, makes it impossible to access the encoder except by disassembling the cap, and this entails the loss of the protection degree and makes the operation of synchronization between the signal of the encoder and the rotor magnetic field more difficult; as is known, this synchronization is necessary for the operation of a brushless motor.


A treadmill apparatus having a non-motorized tread, a sensor for sensing a parameter indicative of the tread speed, and a controller operatively connected to an angle adjustment mechanism to increase and decrease the angle of the tread. During operation of the treadmill, the controller compares the speed of the tread to a target speed, and based on the comparison, adjust the angle of the tread so that the operator's weight will adjust the speed of the tread.

The present invention relates to a treadmill with a non-motorized tread, as well as methods to set and control the speed of the tread.
Exercise treadmills are widely used for walking or running aerobic-type exercise while the operator remains in a relatively stationary position. Exercise treadmills typically have a tread, which is an endless running surface extending between and movable around two substantially parallel and spaced apart rollers. The tread may be made of a belt of a rubber-like material, or alternatively, the tread may be made of a number of slats positioned substantially parallel to one another and attached to one or more bands which extend around the rollers.
Early treadmills had non-motorized treads that required the operator to provide all of the force necessary to drive and control the speed of the tread by walking or running on the tread surface. Such treadmills were difficult to operate and control. To help control tread speed, some non-motorized treadmills included a flywheel engaged with belt rollers to limit the speed of the belt. Yet even with a flywheel, these treadmills were difficult to use, and the speed of the treadmill was difficult to control.
Some non-motorized treadmills were designed to be propped up at one end, such that the tread was inclined at an angle. The inclined non-motorized tread was easier to start because the weight of the operator caused the tread to slide down the slope of the incline. This addition of an inclined tread eliminated some of the effort required by the operator to get the tread surface moving, but it was still difficult to maintain a desired speed especially if the tread angle was set too low. Conversely, if the tread angle was set too high, the tread might move faster than desired. Braking mechanisms or speed governors were then added to limit the speed of the treadmill.
Motorized treadmills were developed to solve some of the limitations of the earlier non-motorized treadmills. In a typical motorized treadmill, the belt tread is driven by a motor rotating the front roller, which then rotates the tread. The speed of the motor was adjustable to simulate running or walking, as desired. Some current treadmills also have the ability to adjust the tread incline, and some have power driven inclination systems to vary the exercise effort or aerobic effect, with small changes in tread inclination. These motorized treadmills offer independent control of the tread speed and the incline angle of the tread.
The addition of the motors to treadmills has some disadvantages. For example, motorized treadmills require the treadmill to be located near an appropriate electrical source, which limits the potential locations where the treadmill can be placed. The power requirements of some treadmill drive motors are large, and require specialized power sources, such as dedicated circuits, 20 Amp circuits, 240 Volt electrical outlets, or three-phase electrical outlets. The cost of operating and maintaining motorized treadmills is also higher than non-motorized treadmills.
In addition, motorized treadmills typically cost more than non-motorized treadmills because drive motors and motor controllers are relatively expensive and can account for a significant portion of the total cost of the treadmill. Another disadvantage of motorized treadmills is that the physical size and weight of a drive motor increases the overall size and weight of the treadmill, and may require specialized designs for moving and storage.
Thus, there is needed a treadmill that limits power usage while also enabling an operator to reach and maintain desired tread speeds with relative ease.


A method, consisting of providing a metal wire having a wire diameter and an end, and positioning a conductor at a distance from the end of the wire. The method further includes creating an electrical discharge between the conductor and the end, while setting the distance and an electrical potential of the discharge, so as to create a bead of a predefined size on the end. The method also includes assembling the wire with the created bead into an invasive probe, so that the bead is positioned at an outer surface of the probe.

Invasive medical probes or catheters used for cardiac procedures typically use electrodes in order to acquire potentials of a region of the heart being investigated or being operated on. The electrodes may also be used to inject current into the heart, for example for ablation, pacing, or for determining a location of the probe. In order to minimize trauma to the patient involved, the probe typically has a diameter that is as small as possible,
The small size of the probes consequently means that the electrodes of the probes have a correspondingly extremely small size. Furthermore, in some cases it is desirable that one probe should have a number of electrodes that are spatially separated and electrically insulated from each other. Such multiple electrode probes can be used for simultaneous potential acquisition from, and/or simultaneous ablation of, spatially separated sites in the heart. However, the multiple electrodes of necessity have to be of an extremely small size.
Other types of procedures using electrodes, such as electroencephalographic procedures, also benefit from using small probes with extremely small electrodes, so as to minimize trauma to patients.
U.S. Patent Application 2013/0060245, to Grunewald et al., whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes an ablation catheter adapted for direct tissue contact. The catheter is stated to have micro-elements that provide more accurate sensing of tissue, including thermal and electrical properties for temperature and impedance measurements. The micro-elements extend through a hollow chamber of an irrigated ablation electrode, and distal ends of the micro-elements can protrude outside of the electrode or be flush with the electrode.
Japanese Patent Publication JP2000-235995, to Kyomasu Ryuichi, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a ball forming method for wire bonding. The disclosure states that a high voltage is applied between the tip of a wire extending from the bottom of a capillary and a discharge electrode, forming a ball at the tip of the wire.
Documents incorporated by reference in the present patent application are to be considered an integral part of the application except that, to the extent that any terms are defined in these incorporated documents in a manner that conflicts with definitions made explicitly or implicitly in the present specification, only the definitions in the present specification should be considered.


A photographed image reproducing apparatus is used to reproduce photographic images recorded on successive frames of a film having magnetic tracks on which information is writable for each frame. The apparatus includes a read/write device for reading or writing frame information on the magnetic track. The frame information is read or written in one transporting direction while the image is sensed in the other transporting direction. Also, an information reader is provided at an upstream portion while the information writer is provided at a downstream portion to enable the reading and writing to be executed at the same time. The apparatus considerably reduces the reproduction time.

This invention relates to a photographed image reproducing apparatus for reproducing a photographed image on a developed film on a television monitor.
PCT International Publication No. WO 90/04302 discloses a reproducing apparatus in which: Photographed images recorded on successive frames on a developed film are sensed and converted into a video signal which the photographed images are in turn reproduced on a television monitor in accordance with.
Also, the developed film carries magnetic tracks on which information, such as trimming, zooming instructions, is recorded. The reproducing apparatus which is provided with information reading means for reading information recorded on the magnetic tracks determines an appropriate reproducing way based on the read information. Further, the reproducing apparatus is provided with information writing means for writing new information on the magnetic tracks.
In the reproducing apparatus, however, a photographed image on a selected frame is reproduced after information for the selected frame is read and an appropriate reproducing way is determined. Also, writing of new information for the selected frame is executed after the reproduction of the image for the selected frame is completed. A long time has been inevitably consumed to reproduce an image for one frame.
In view of the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a reproducing apparatus which makes it possible to execute reading and writing of frame information and reproducing of images for a shorter time of period.

Photographed image reproducing apparatus


Methods for displaying a location of a point of interest on a 3-D model of an anatomical region of a person are provided. In one exemplary embodiment, the method includes generating first and second 2-D images of the anatomical region utilizing an image acquisition system when an X-ray source of the image acquisition system is disposed at first and second positions, respectively, in a 3-D coordinate system of the image acquisition system. The method further includes selecting first and second points in the first and second 2-D images, respectively. The method further includes utilizing a triangulation technique utilizing the first and second points to determine a point of interest in a 3-D coordinate system of the 3-D model of the anatomical region.

A fluoroscopy system has been utilized to generate a 2-D image of an anatomical region. Further, a CT system has been utilized to generate a 3-D model an anatomical region. However, a drawback associated with the fluoroscopy system and the CT system, is that a point of interest identified on a 2-D image cannot be automatically identified in a 3-D model of the anatomical region.
The inventors herein have recognized a need for a method for displaying a location of a point of interest on a 3-D model of an anatomical region, utilizing at least one point on at least one 2-D image of the anatomical region.


A low-alloy steel containing, by weight percent, C 0.03-0.13%, Mn 0.90-1.80%, Si≦0.40%, P≦0.020%, S≦0.005%, Ni 0.10-1.00%, Cr 0.20-1.20%, Mo 0.15-0.80%, Ca≦0.040%, V≦0.10%, Nb≦0.040%, Ti≦0.020% and N≦0.011% for making high-strength, weldable steel seamless pipe, characterized in that the microstructure of the alloy steel is a mixture of bainite and martensite and the yield stress is at least 621 MPa (90 Ksi).

The technological evolution in the offshore sector tends to an increasing use of high strength steels with yield strength in the range from 80 to 100 ksi for flowlines and risers. In this context, one key component is the riser system, which becomes a more significant factor as water depth increases. Riser system costs are quite sensitive to water depth.
Although in-service conditions and the sensitiveness of environmental loads (i.e. wave and current) are different for the two riser types Top Tension Risers (TTRs) and Steel Catenary Risers (SCRs) for ultra-deep environment, the requirement to reduce raiser weight is extremely important. By reducing the weight of the line, there is a decrease in the cost of the pipe and a significant impact on the tensioning system used to support the riser.
In addition, using high-strength alloy steels can decrease the wall thickness of a pipe up to 30% due to the more efficient design. For riser systems, which rely on buoyancy in the form of aircans for top tension, the thinner wall pipe available with high strength steel allows reduced buoyancy requirements which, in turn, can reduce the hydrodynamic loading on these components and, thus, improve riser response. Riser systems where the tension is reacted by the host facility benefit from high strength steel as the total payload is reduced.
In the past years, there have been several types of high-strength alloy steels developed in the field of quenched and tempered (QT) seamless pipes. These seamless pipes combine both high strength with good toughness and good girth weldability. However, these seamless pipes have wall thickness of up to 40 mm and outside diameter not greater than 22 inches and, thereby, are quite expensive and can only reach a yield strength below 100 ksi after quenching and tempering.
For example, high-strength, weldable steels for seamless pipes have been known in U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,676 which describes an alloy steel that can reach grades of up to X80 after quenching and tempering and has excellent resistance to wet carbon dioxide corrosion and seawater corrosion, comprising in weight % more than 0.10 and 0.30 C, 0.10 to 1.0 Si, 0.1 to 3.0 Mn, 2.5 to less than 7.0 Cr and 0.01 to 0.10 Al, the balance includes Fe and incidental impurities including not more than 0.03% P. However, these types of steels can not reach grades higher than X80 and are quite expensive due to the high content of Cr.
Likewise, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/341,722 published Jan. 31, 2002 describes a method for making seamless line pipes within the yield strength range from that of grade X52 to 90 ksi, with a stable elastic limit at high application temperatures by hot-rolling a pipe blank made from a steel which contains 0.06-018% C, Si≦0.40%, 0.80-1.40% Mn, P≦0.025%, S≦0.010%, 0.010-0.060% Al, Mo≦0.50%, Ca≦0.040%, V≦0.10%, Nb≦0.10%, N≦0.015%, and 0.30-1.00% W. However, these types of steels can not reach yield strength higher than 100 ksi and are not weldable in a wide range of heat inputs.
It is, therefore, desirable and advantageous to provide an improved high-strength, weldable alloy steel for seamless pipes to be used in a riser system with yield strength well above 90 ksi and with a wall thickness (WT) to outside diameter (OD) ratio adequate to expected collapse performance which obviates prior art shortcomings and which is able to meet good mechanical properties in the pipe body and weld.

High-strength steel for seamless, weldable steel pipes

Abstract: It is a second object of the present invention to provide a high-strength, weldable steel seamless pipe, comprising an alloy steel containing, by weight percent, C 0.03-0.13%, Mn 0.90-1.80%, Si≦0.40%, P≦0.020%, S≦0.005%, Ni 0.10-1.00%, Cr 0.20-1.20%, Mo 0.15-0.80%, Ca≦0.040%, V≦≦0.10%, Nb≦0.040%, Ti≦0.020% and N≦0.011% also characterized in that the microstructure of the alloy steel is predominantly martensite and the yield stress is at least 690 MPa (100 ksi).


The present disclosure provides a planetary gear train of an automatic transmission for a vehicle having advantages of improving power transfer performance and fuel efficiency by implementing ten forward speeds and one reverse speed. The planetary gear train includes: first, second, third, and fourth planetary gear sets; an input shaft; an output shaft; eight shafts connected to the respective rotation elements of the first, second, third, and fourth planetary gear sets; four clutches and two brakes which are control elements; and a transmission housing H. With this arrangement, rotation power from an engine which is input from the input shaft is shifted by a mutual complementing operation between the first, second, third, and fourth planetary gear sets, and is then output through the output shaft.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
In the field of an automatic transmission, more multiple shift-stages are used to enhance fuel efficiency and drivability of a vehicle. Recently increased oil price leads to a more competition in enhancing fuel efficiency of a vehicle.
In this sense, research for the engine-downsizing has been conducted to reduce weight while enhancing fuel efficiency. Similarly, research on an automatic transmission has been performed to simultaneously provide better drivability and fuel efficiency through more shift stages with reduced the number of parts.
In order to achieve more shift stages for an automatic transmission, the number of parts, especially the number of planetary gear sets, is typically increased, which may deteriorate installability, production cost, weight and/or power flow efficiency.
An automatic transmission of eight or more shift-stages typically includes three to four planetary gear sets and five to seven control elements (frictional elements), and thus may be easily lengthy transmission, thereby undermining installability.
We have discovered that disposing planetary gear sets in parallel or employing dog clutches instead of wet-type control elements is sometimes attempted. However, such an arrangement may not be widely applicable, and using dog clutches may easily deteriorate shift-feel.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the present disclosure and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Planetary gear train of automatic transmission for vehicles


In one general aspect, a method can include identifying contact with a surface of a touch-sensitive input device, identifying a location of the contact on the surface of the touch-sensitive input device, and calculating a change in a mutual capacitance between a first electrode and a second electrode included in a sensor module disposed below the surface of the touch-sensitive input device. The first electrode can be adjacent to the second electrode. The first electrode and the second electrode can be located approximate to the identified location of the contact on the surface of the touch-sensitive input device. The method can include estimating a contact-coupled capacitance based on the calculated change in a mutual capacitance between the first electrode and the second electrode, and calculating a force applied to the surface of the touch-sensitive input device at the identified location.

Computing devices can provide a user with multiple ways to control the operations of and to input data to a computing device. A computing device can include, for example, a touchscreen display device, a keyboard, a mouse, a trackpad, a touchpad, a pointing stick, one or more mouse buttons, a trackball, a joystick, and other types of input devices. A user of the computing device can interact with one or more of these input devices when providing input to and/or otherwise controlling the operation of an application running on the computing device. For example, the user can interact with the computing device by making direct contact with (e.g., touching with one or more fingers, touching with a stylus) the touchscreen display device.
A touchpad, which may also be referred to as a trackpad, can be included in a computing device and can be used as a pointing device to facilitate user interaction with the computing device. For example, a user can interact with the touchpad by making direct contact with the touchpad (e.g., touching with one or more fingers, touching with a stylus). In some cases, the touchpad can be used in place of or in addition to a mouse to maneuver a cursor on a display device included in the computing device, or to trigger one or more functions of the computing device.

Force sensing using capacitive touch surfaces


A head (14) for an oral care implement (10) has a mounting surface (20) with a proximal end (41) and a distal end (40), the head (14) comprising at least one tuft of a first type (16) and at least one tuft of a second type (18). The at least one tuft of the first type (16) comprises filaments having a substantially circular cross-sectional area extending in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and an end-rounded free end, and the at least one tuft of the second type (18) comprises flagged filaments having split free ends. The at least one tuft of the first type (16) is arranged at the distal end (40), and the at least one tuft of the second type (18) is arranged at the proximal end (41) of the head (14).

Tufts composed of a plurality of filaments for oral care implements, like manual and powered toothbrushes, are well known in the art. Generally, the tufts are attached to a bristle carrier or mounting surface of a head intended for insertion into a user's oral cavity. A grip handle is usually attached to the head, which handle is held by the user during brushing. The head is either permanently connected or repeatedly attachable to and detachable from the handle.
In order to clean teeth effectively, appropriate contact pressure has to be provided between the free ends of the filaments and the teeth. Generally, the contact pressure depends on the bending stiffness and the displacement of the filaments, while the bending stiffness of a single filament depends on its length and cross sectional area. Usually, filaments with greater length show lower bending stiffness as compared to shorter filaments. However, relatively thin filaments tend to flex away easily and the relatively low bending stiffness results in reduced plaque removal efficiency on teeth surfaces, as well as in less interdental penetrations properties and cleaning performance. In order to compensate said reduction in bending stiffness of longer filaments, the size of the cross sectional area of a filament could be increased. However, relatively thick filaments may create an unpleasant brushing sensation and tend to injure the gums in the oral cavity.
Further, tuft patterns composed of filaments having tapered or flagged free ends are also known in the art. Such filaments should improve cleaning properties of oral care implements during normal use. In particular, the relatively thin ends of the filaments should provide improved interdental penetration in the interproximal areas during a brushing process to improve removal of plaque and other residuals in these hard to reach areas.
While these toothbrushes may clean interdental areas adequately, they are generally not as well suited to provide adequate removal of plaque and debris from the buccal and lingual surface via a scrubbing and polishing action since its bending stiffness is not sufficiently high.
In order to achieve and preserve good oral health, and to prevent gingivitis, it is important to clean both, substantially flat tooth surface via a scrubbing and polishing action, as well as along the gum line and in interdental areas, in particular in the region of the back molars. Further gaps between teeth and periodontium, the so called gingival groove has to be thoroughly cleaned. It is known that a lack of good removal of plaque in the gingival groove can cause gingivitis, i.e. inflammation of the gum tissue. Additionally, standard tufts do not provide sufficient capillary effects to remove plaque and debris from the teeth and gums during brushing. However, in order to achieve good cleaning results, the plaque must be reached by the tufts/filaments, then the plaque must be disrupted and, finally, taken away. Further, the tufts shall provide good sensory feeling on the gums during brushing.
Additionally, the mechanical stress occurring within flagged or tapered filaments during a brushing process leads to higher stress in the tips of the filaments as compared to circular-shaped filaments. This means, in tufts having the same overall stiffness, flagged or tapered filaments have to bear higher maximum stress values as compared to circular-shaped filaments. This increased stress in the individual filaments can lead to an increased wear behavior during usage. This wear is characterized by an increased splay of the tuft which leads to less consumer acceptance.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a head for an oral care implement which overcomes at least one of the above-mentioned drawbacks. It is also an object of the present disclosure to provide an oral care implement comprising such head, and a method for manufacturing said head.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Head for an oral care implement, oral care implement and method for manufacturing such head


A mounted, elevatable, lightweight pivotal boom is provided which defines an elongate internal track defining a downwardly facing slot. An electromechanical winch mechanism is provided for lifting and handling objects such as the windshield of an automotive vehicle and which includes roller supports having rollers that are received by the internal track of the boom. The winch mechanism includes a DC motor which is provided with a detachable control circuit to provide for its selective operation. The horizontal, pivotal boom is supported by fixed and movable telescoping standards and may be elevated manually or by means of a jack mechanism such as a manual or powered operable mechanical, hydraulic or electrical jack. The lightweight nature of the lift components enable the lift to be easily positioned by a single worker for optimum lifting and handling of lightweight loads.

The multi-layered safety glass windshields for various types of automotive vehicles are subject to being struck by rocks and other debris as the automotive vehicle is used on roadways. In some cases, the windshield can be struck with sufficient force that the windshield can become cracked or otherwise damaged. In such case, it is often necessary to remove the damaged windshield such as by cutting away a portion of the elastomer seal that is typically provided in original equipment Windshield installation. After the windshield trim has been removed from its location about the windshield opening, typically the outer portion of the elastomer seal is cut away to expose the edges of the damaged windshield. Thereafter, the damaged windshield is forced outwardly typically by a worker who pushes against the inner surface of the windshield. A replacement windshield is then installed by locating it in supported relation with the seal and by using a bonding or cementing material to secure and seal the windshield. In some cases during windshield removal, a worker may apply force against the inner surface with the feet or by pushing against it with the worker's head. It is not unusual in the case of for windshield glass replacement workers that the neck vertebrae can become injured to the extent that nerves can become pinched as the result of pushing against a windshield with the head. In such cases, the worker must typically undergo certain medical or chiropractic therapy to ease the pain of such nerve damage.
Historically automotive windshield replacement has been accomplished inside a repair facility at which the owner of the vehicle presents the vehicle for service. These facilities generally have heavy duty lifts or hoists which are movable along I beams. Though these types of lifts are suitable for heavy duty truck installation, they are not suitable for lightweight vehicles such as standard and small pick-up trucks. In more recent years automotive windshield replacement is also being accomplished at the site of the automotive vehicle. In this case, the glass replacement personnel, typically carry replacement windshields in the bed of a small truck such as a pick-up truck. For replacement of automotive windshields on site, the worker will remove the damaged windshield in the manner described above. Thereafter, the worker will obtain a new windshield from the windshield stock typically supported in a protective rack retained within the bed of the service truck. The worker will then properly place the replacement windshield in assembly with the seal, utilizing bonding material or other suitable sealant in order to establish a positive, weather-tight seal between the new windshield and the remaining portion of the original seal.
Since the replacement windshield must be expertly placed, and since the worker can not climb onto the vehicle during replacement, it is typically required that the worker grasp the new windshield by one end and hold it outwardly and bring it into proper placement with the prepared seal. The manual lifting and awkward support that is needed to enable a worker to hold a windshield by its end and properly place it in assembly with the seal requires considerable manual dexterity, effort, and strength. The worker typically stands on the ground beside the vehicle for which the windshield is being replaced and holds the windshield horizontally, with the worker's arms typically outstretched. This is almost always a very awkward, unsatisfactory lifting position. For this reason it is well known that windshield replacement workers have a very high frequency of back injuries that result from handling heavy automotive windshields in this awkward lifting position. Consequently, the medical expenses associated with automotive windshield repair and replacement by on-site workers are quite high. It is becoming almost mandatory that, for on-site windshield replacements, there be provided a two-worker windshield replacement crew to thereby enable two workers, each holding respective ends of the windshield to remove it or to support and properly place it. Obviously, the requirement for a second worker for mobile on-site windshield replacement adds significantly to the labor requirement for the windshield replacement operation. It is desirable, therefore, to provide an effective windshield replacement system that will enable a single worker to perform on-site automotive windshield replacement without requiring that worker to exert significant manual lifting force for lifting, handling and placing windshields. It is also desirable to minimize the possibility of injury to on-site windshield replacement workers and to eliminate the additional labor that results when a two-worker windshield installation crew is employed for this purpose. It is also desirable to provide an automotive vehicle windshield replacement system that enables a single worker to easily and accurately achieve removal of a damaged windshield and installation of a replacement windshield without exerting significant manual lifting during the entire operation.

Vehicle mounted lightweight pivoting hoist


A device and method for applying positive airway pressure to a patient includes an indirect calorimetry system for measuring a patient""s resting energy expenditure (REE). The device includes a breathing circuit, one end of which includes a patient interface device such as a nasal face mask. A bi-directional pump is positioned within the breathing circuit. The bi-directional pump pumps gas in a first direction during the application of positive airway pressure. The bi-directional pump reverses direction when the device is in the indirect calorimetry mode. In this IC mode, patient""s expired gases are diluted and passed through an IC module containing an oxygen sensor, a carbon dioxide sensor, and a flow rate sensor. The device includes a microprocessor for calculating the patient""s REE based on the measured oxygen concentration, carbon dioxide concentration, and flow rate.

The field of the invention relates generally to devices for the treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). More specifically, the invention relates to devices and methods for the treatment and resolution of the underlying obesity that causes, exacerbates, or triggers OSA. The device and methods employ objective monitoring of the metabolic rate of a patient.
Sleep related breathing disorders adversely affect an individual""s breathing during periods of sleep. Breathing disruption in sleep often results from the collapse or closing of an individual""s air passageway. OSA, as one common example of a sleep related breathing disorder, is an abnormal physical condition that affects a person""s ability to breathe properly after falling asleep. Persons suffering from sleep apnea can stop breathing for periods as short as a few seconds and as long as a few minutes.
Frequently, a patient that suffers from OSA is obese. Obesity contributes to an increase in the upper airway resistance due to deposits of adipose tissue in the upper airway, specifically, the hypopharynx. During periods of sleep, tissue in this region relaxes and blocks airflow into and out of the afflicted person""s lungs.
Typically, sleep related breathing disorders such as OSA are treated by Continuous Positive Air Pressure (CPAP) therapy. In CPAP therapy, a device that is essentially an air pump forces air into an individual""s air passageway. The CPAP device maintains sufficient pressure to keep the air passageway open during periods of sleep. The patient typically wears a masklike device that is connected to the CPAP device to provide an elevated air pressure in the patient""s upper air passageway. One such device is the ALURA Nasal CPAP System sold by Thermo Respiratory Group/Bird SensorMedics Bear, 1100 Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs, Calif. 92262. Other devices known as BiPAP (Bi-Level Positive Airway Pressure) devices operate at two positive air pressure levels. A lower pressure level is used during exhalation while a higher pressure level is used during inhalation. The BiPAP device makes it easier to exhale due to the lower pressure used during exhalation. BiPAP devices are often prescribed for individuals that require higher pressures than those present in CPAP devices.
Since OSA is so often associated with obesity, it is desirable to treat the underlying obesity condition. Generally, obesity may be resolved by the strict application of nutrition and diet control. It has been demonstrated, for example, that the measurement of resting energy expenditure (REE) by indirect calorimetry (IC) is useful in determining an individual patient""s caloric needs and monitoring the patient""s nutritional intake.
At the present time, there does not exist a comprehensive device that can monitor a patient""s REE that also delivers positive airway pressure (CPAP or BiPAP). A device combining these two functions has been elusive since there is a natural clash between the positive airflow of CPAP/BiPAP devices and the negative airflow requirement of IC devices. Accordingly, there is a need for a single device that can (1) provide positive airway pressure to a patient, and (2) monitor or measure the REE of the patient.
In a first aspect of the invention, a device for applying positive airway pressure to a patient and measuring the patient""s resting energy expenditure includes a breathing circuit having a first end and a second end. A patient interface device is coupled to one of the first and second ends. A bi-directional pump is positioned within the breathing circuit between the first end and the second end. An indirect calorimetry module is positioned within the breathing circuit. The indirect calorimetry module measures the patient""s resting energy expenditure.
In a second aspect of the invention, a device for applying positive airway pressure to a patient and measuring the patient""s resting energy expenditure includes a breathing circuit having a patient interface device connected at one end and an inlet/exhaust port at the other end of the breathing circuit. A bi-directional pump is positioned within the breathing circuit between the patient interface device and the inlet/exhaust port. An indirect calorimetry module is also positioned within the breathing circuit and adjacent to the bi-directional pump. The indirect calorimetry module includes an oxygen sensor, a carbon dioxide sensor, and a flow rate sensor. The device also includes a microprocessor for calculating the patient""s resting energy expenditure based on the concentration of oxygen, the concentration or carbon dioxide, and the flow rate within breathing circuit.
In a third aspect of the invention, a method of supplying positive airway pressure to a patient includes the steps of supplying a patient with positive airway pressure via a breathing circuit, the positive airway pressure traveling through the breathing circuit in a first direction. Next, the flow in the breathing circuit is reversed during one or more expiration breaths of a patient. The concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide is monitored in the breathing circuit during the one or more expiration breaths. The flow rate of gas in the breathing circuit is also monitored during the one or more expiration breaths. Finally, the resting energy expenditure of the patient is calculated based on the concentration of oxygen, the concentration of carbon dioxide, and the flow rate within the breathing circuit.
It is an object of the invention to provide a device that delivers positive airway pressure to a patient that also has the capability to measure REE. The device can be used in connection with a patient""s weight reduction or weight maintenance program. The device gives objective feedback to the patient and/or health care provider about the patient""s caloric expenditure.

Positive airway pressure device with indirect calorimetry system


This articulation comprises two coaxial annulus gears with internal sets of teeth (20, 22) of different pitch, one stationary and the other mobile, meshing with at least one planet (S1 to S4) bearing two external sets of teeth (24, 26) capable of mating with the internal sets of teeth (20, 22). The external set of teeth (26) that mates with the mobile internal set of teeth (22) extends over a shorter sector than the other external set of teeth (24), which means that the planet (S1 to S4) can move over a travel in which its two external sets of teeth (24, 26) are in mesh with the two internal sets of teeth (20, 22), between two end-of-travel positions beyond which the stationary internal set of teeth (20) is kept in mesh with the mating external set of teeth (24) while the other external set of teeth (26) is disengaged from the mobile internal set of teeth (22).

The present invention relates to an articulation intended particularly for a motor vehicle seat.
The state of the art already knows an articulation of the type with parallel gears comprising two coaxial annulus gears with internal sets of teeth of different pitch, one stationary and the other mobile, meshing with at least one planet bearing two external sets of teeth that mate with the internal sets of teeth and are off-centred with respect to these internal sets of teeth, the axis of the articulation coinciding with the axis of the annulus gears.
An articulation of this type is advantageously used in a motor vehicle seat to connect the seat cushion and the backrest of the seat together. The stationary and mobile annulus gears are, respectively, as one with the seat cushion and with the backrest. The articulation allows the inclination of the backrest with respect to the seat cushion to be adjusted continuously.
Customarily, the articulation is operated by an operating knob which the user turns in the desired direction in order to adjust the inclination of the backrest. The articulation allows very accurate infinitesimal continuous adjustment of the inclination of the backrest, without the user having to exert a significant amount of torque on the operating knob because of the high degree of demultiplication obtained by the gearing of the articulation.
However, when the user wishes to move the backrest through a large angle, for example to bring it from a normal, roughly vertical position into a reclined, roughly horizontal position, he or she has to turn the operating knob through a great many turns, which is a lengthy and irksome operation.

Articulation intended particularly for a motor vehicle seat


A reconfigurable antenna capable of dynamic reconfigurability of several antenna parameters. Specifically, the present invention is an antenna comprising a plurality of surface PIN devices arranged in a gridlike array. Each of the SPIN devices can be individually activated or deactivated. When a SPIN device is activated, the surface of the device is injected with carriers such that a plasma is produced within the intrinsic region of the device. The plasma can be sufficiently conductive to produce conductor or metal like characteristics at the surface of the device. Various ones of the SPIN devices can be activated to electronically paint a conductive pattern upon the substrate supporting the PIN devices. Through selective activation of the SPIN devices various surface antenna patterns can be produced upon the substrate including dipoles, cross dipoles, loop antennas, Yagi-Uda type antennas, log periodic antennas, and the like. Additionally, the SPIN device grid may be selectively activated to produce holographic antennas. In a holographic antenna the SPIN devices are activated to produce a simulated metallization pattern that is excited by a surface RF wave transmitted onto the substrate from a surface mounted dipole antenna. The surface wave excites a particular antenna pattern depending upon the shape of the activated SPIN devices. Changing the pattern of the holographic antenna elements causes a beam steering and/or frequency adjustments of the antenna.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to antenna systems and, more particularly, the invention relates to a reconfigurable antenna.
2. Description of the Related Art
The detection, location, identification, and characterization of electromagnetic (EM) signals of types that have a low probability of intercept is an increasingly challenging problem. In general, EM signals with a low probability of intercept are transmitted by adversarial sources and thus employ various methods to reduce their signature. Such methods include frequency hopping, multiple signal polarizations, and spread spectrum encoding techniques. In addition, the locations of the sources of such signals are not fixed and may change quite rapidly. The number of sources or EM signals that need to be located and tracked may also change depending on the particular circumstances.
A broadband antenna is generally required in order to track such EM signals. Frequency independent antennas such as spirals and quasi frequency independent antennas such as log periodic antennas are quite large and their use in antenna array is quite limited. Also, an adaptive array using such broadband elements would require a feed structure integrated to a true time delay network in order to achieve multiple beams and beam scanning. Such feed networks are difficult to design and are expensive to implement.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a reconfigurable antenna capable of dynamic reconfiguration of operating frequency, polarization, bandwidth, number of beams and their spatial directions, and radiation pattern shape without the need for a complex feed network.
The disadvantages associated with the prior art are overcome by a reconfigurable antenna capable of dynamic reconfigurability of several antenna parameters. Specifically, the present invention is an antenna comprising a plurality of surface PIN (SPIN) devices arranged in a gridlike array. Each of the SPIN devices in the array can be individually activated or deactivated. When a SPIN device is activated, the surface of the device is injected with carriers such that a plasma is produced within an intrinsic region of the SPIN device. The plasma is sufficiently conductive to produce conductor or metal-like characteristic at the surface of the device. Various ones of the SPIN devices in a SPIN device array can be activated to electronically xe2x80x9cpaintxe2x80x9d a conductive pattern upon the substrate supporting the SPIN devices. Through selective activation of the SPIN devices, various surface antenna patterns can be produced upon the substrate including dipoles, cross dipoles, loop antennas, Yagi-Uda type antennas, log periodic antennas, and the like.
Additionally, the SPIN device array may be selectively activated to produce holographic antennas. In a holographic antenna, the SPIN devices are activated to produce a holographic metallization pattern. The pattern is excited by a surface RF wave transmitted onto the substrate from a surface mounted radiator such as a surface mounted dipole antenna. The surface wave excites a particular antenna pattern depending upon the shape of the pattern produced by the activated SPIN devices. Changing the pattern of the SPIN devices results in beam steering of the antenna radiation pattern.


There is provided a computerized method and system of optimized video encoding of an input video sequence corresponding to a plurality of input frames, the method comprising: obtaining an input frame; performing a first encoding of the input frame using a first encoding parameter determined in accordance with a target bit-rate, giving rise to a first encoded frame; performing a second encoding of the input frame using an iterative quality-driven encoding scheme initialized with an initial second encoding parameter, the initial second encoding parameter determined based on the first encoding parameter, the second encoding performed in an attempt to seek a second encoded frame having a lower bit-rate than the first encoded frame and meeting a quality criterion relative to the first encoded frame; and in case of the second encoded frame being found, providing the second encoded frame as an output frame corresponding to the input frame.

With the proliferation of viewing platforms, file formats and streaming technologies competing in today's online media ecosystem, today's networks are more congested with video than ever. This is mainly due to two factors: the quality expectations of consumers, which drives resolution and bitrates higher, and the sheer amount of video that crosses the network, driven by the shift to Over The Top (OTT) streaming of video, and video consumption in mobile devices.
Video encoding has been widely deployed in many applications and equipment, ranging from digital cinema, mobile handsets, cable and satellite digital video transmissions, to machine vision and recognition systems, etc. To counter the trend of network congestion, the goal of video encoding is often to create an encoded video which has maximal quality and best user experience, while making an effort to reduce video bitrates, given a set of limited resources such as total bandwidth, computation power etc. Some of the currently available video encoders may focus on encoding at a certain bit-rate without considering the encoded video quality, whereas some others may target at achieving a given quality criterion while neglecting time and bit consumption of such encoding. It is widely acknowledged that optimal encoding and re-encoding of video content, such as, e.g., video compression and recompression, to provide an optimal video encoding solution that is both efficient and cost-effective remains as a longstanding challenge in the field.

Method and system of video coding optimization


A photosensor comprises an emitter that emits light when a forward voltage is applied to a junction between semiconductor regions different in conduction type, wherein the photosensor detects visible light from a current or a voltage from the emitter based on the wavelength of the visible light applied to the emitter.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a photosensor.
2. Related Background Art
To detect illuminance of light of the surrounding environment, photodiodes or phototransistors made by using simplex Si (silicon) have been used as detectors. Detectors are often used to detect visible light in the wavelength band approximately from 400 nm to 720 nm and to control devices. For example, detectors are often used in liquid crystal monitors of electric devices such as portable phones, mobile computers, and so forth. In such a device, if the environment is bright for human eyes, the detector detects the illuminance of the ambient visible light, and the electric device automatically controls and darkens the backlight of the liquid crystal to minimize consumption of the battery.
FIG. 10 shows graphs of spectral responses of a Si phototransistor, standard eye responses, and wavelength characteristics of various light sources. The graph a shows spectral responses of a Si-phototransistor, and the graph b shows the standard eye responses. The graphs c, d and e show wavelength characteristics of sunlight, fluorescent light, and incandescent light used as light sources, respectively.
The graphs are shown as relative sensitivities and relative intensities with respect to wavelengths of light waves. Relative sensitivities and relative intensities are ratios of sensitivity values or intensity values relative to maximum values of sensitivities or intensities.
Standard eye responses represent responses of visible light to eyes. For normal human eyes, light having the wavelength around 555 nm is most visible. Therefore, standard eye responses are maximized around 555 nm, and have an extension as shown by the graph b within the wavelength band of visible light approximately from 400 nm to 720 nm.
However, as shown in FIG. 10, sunlight has a small part of its intensity in the infrared band, and light of an incandescent light has a large part of its intensity in the infrared band (see the graphs c and d).
Additionally, in spectral responses of the Si phototransistor, sensitivity to light of the infrared band is maximum (see the graph a). That is, the Si phototransistor has a relatively low spectral response to visible light and a relatively high spectral response to infrared light.
Therefore, even in an environment where the illuminance of visible light is relatively low and it is dark for human eyes, the Si phototransistor may undesirably detect and react on sunlight, or especially infrared light from an incandescent light. This invites malfunctions of the electric device. For example, even when the environment is dark for human eyes, the electric device nevertheless darkens the backlight of its liquid crystal. Therefore, to ensure the detector reacts only on the illuminance by visible light, it is necessary to adjust the spectral responses of the detector nearer to the standard eye responses.
To ensure a Si phototransistor accurately detects the illuminance of visible light exclusively, the existing techniques locate a correction luminous-efficiency filter outside the Si phototransistor. The luminous-efficiency correction filter adjusts the spectral responses of the Si phototransistor (see the graph a) nearer to the standard eye responses (graph b) by correcting the wavelength of light entering into the Si phototransistor.
However, the use of the luminous-efficiency correction filter inevitably increases the size of the detector and needs a larger area or space for surfacing the detector in the electric device.
Moreover, the use of the luminous-efficiency correction filter increases the cost of the detector and the electric device.
It is therefore desirable to realize a photosensor having spectral responses closer to standard eye responses without the need of a luminous-efficiency correction filter.


A vegetable food product and a method of making a dehydrated vegetable food product are provided. A quantity of vegetables is cut to a predetermined size. The quantity of cut vegetables is cooked. The quantity of cut vegetables has surface moisture removed. A flavoring material is imparted into the quantity of vegetables. The quantity of cut vegetables is substantially dehydrated, wherein each of the cut vegetables has a jerky-like texture, whereby shearing through the jerky-like texture requires a force of at least 30 N until a 95% strain is achieved utilizing a TA-HD Plus Texture Analyzer Device. The quantity of vegetable may include a quantity of potatoes.

Currently, there are many types of edible snacks made for human consumption that are sold in food stores, convenience stores and the like. Of these snacks, jerky has for a long time been popular due to its unique and flavorful taste along with its tough, chewy consistency. The Oxford Dictionary defines the noun 'jerky' as "meat that has been cured by being cut into long, thin strips and dried".
The most popular jerky produced and sold on the market is beef jerky. Other meats are used to produce jerky and are sold on the market as turkey jerky, chicken jerky, pork jerky, venison jerky, and fish jerky. When properly produced and packaged, jerky is a shelf-stable product (having low water activity (aw) of 0.85 or less), one that does not require refrigeration and will remain edible for extended periods of time after consumer purchase.
Jerky has a unique texture and consistency, which is tough and harder to chew than other snacks and consumable foods. It is a unique and preferred snack due to the fact it takes longer to chew than most foods and the person eating it can savor the flavor and eating process longer. These attributes make jerky a highly desired snack for consuming at home, at work, while driving in the car, or during outdoor activities, such as hiking, biking and camping.
Consuming jerky requires more biting force than most other snack foods, as the person consuming it needs to bite down harder and with more force to shear the jerky food into smaller more palatable pieces in the mouth. Once it is broken down to smaller pieces in the mouth, the person may begin to start chewing the food in order to break it down so it is soft enough and small enough to be safely swallowed. The shear force required for a human to bite through foods is best simulated and measured using a TA-HD Plus Texture Analyzer Device, which is testing equipment commonly used in the food industry by food producers to determine a foods' particular hardness. This analyzer uses cutting blades to simulate the biting of the human front teeth and measures the force in grams (g), kilograms (kg), or Newtons (N) that is required to shear and cut the food being tested.
There are some beef jerky manufacturers that produce jerky pieces for sale that do not use solid strips of beef and instead use beef that has been ground into small pieces and is then extruded, formed or pressed into an exacting shape and size of jerky strips. Although it has similar jerky taste, this extruded beef jerky product has a noticeably processed texture compared to solid meat pieces used to make beef jerky, and is a less preferable form of jerky for many consumers. In the past, there have been extruded jerky-type products made with various ground meats, such as chopped beef or ground chicken and also included potato flour as part of the ingredients.
For non-meat foods, the cooked potato vegetable is a healthy food containing complex carbohydrates, natural vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and anti-oxidants. However, unless the potatoes have first been cooked, potatoes are mainly indigestible to humans, provide little nutritional value, and people find eating them undesirable due to the raw bitter taste and very hard texture.
Cooking the potato vegetable differing ways can produce common potato foods such as baked potatoes, mashed potatoes and potato salad. Consumers and food processors use a combination of cooking and/or frying with oil to produce other common potato foods such as potato chips, French fries, and hash browns. Food processors also use a combination of cooking and dehydrating potatoes to make potato flakes, which in turn are sold to consumers for the use in making instant mashed potato products. The consumer takes the dehydrated potato flakes and reconstitutes them into mashed potatoes by adding liquid, such as water or milk, and then by a process of heating and stirring the mixture.
Other food processors have cooked and then freeze-dried potato for use in food products intended with very long term shelf-life, typically sold in sealed packages for use as rations for humans in emergencies, the military and remote camping. The consumer commonly takes the freeze-dried potato product, adds warm water to mix, and thereby reconstitutes the potato to the food processor's original cooked potato state.
Regarding taste, there are flavoring companies that specialize in replicating the tastes of beef, chicken or any other type of meat or vegetable, or that can combine many of their uniquely developed flavors and seasonings to produce new and exciting tastes. Their natural flavors are used by many of the large manufacturers for flavoring potato chip products, drinks, soups, and many of our daily foods and are added to products to get the specifically manufacturer desired taste for the products they sell to consumers.
Beef and other meats contain protein and essential minerals including iron, but also contain fat and cholesterol, which can be unhealthy for the human diet. Beef and other meat jerky are relatively expensive for consumers, due to the high cost of the meat used and the associated manufacturing costs to make it. In making jerky, some food manufacturers utilize artificial preservatives, along with chemicals including monosodium glutamate, which is a known neurotoxin and may be unhealthy for human consumption.
In recent years, consumer mistrust of food processors and manufacturers of animal-based food products, such as beef, has risen due to the use of antibiotics, growth hormones, and pink-slime type additives in the meat food, as well as manufacturer forced recalls due to contamination from dangerous bacteria or pathogens, including mad cow disease.
Inexpensive foods, such as potatoes and other vegetables, are considered healthy to eat and contain many vitamins, essential minerals and dietary fiber. However, vegetables are often not as desired for consumption as flavorful snacks because they lack the proper texture and taste when eaten raw or simply dehydrated, and lack the proper texture, taste and shape that is sought after in a beef jerky product. Also, most vegetables have a short shelf-life which may make them undesirable snacks if they have to be taken to areas for extended periods of time without proper refrigeration.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Dehydrated vegetable food product and methods of making the same


A method for increasing production in a reservoir, comprising performing a swabbing test at a depth in a pipe, wherein the pipe is located in a wellbore and wherein a portion of the wellbore is located inside the reservoir, periodically measuring, during the swabbing test, pressure in the bottom portion of the pipe using the pressure gauge to obtain a plurality of pressure measurements, wherein the pressure gauge is affixed to an inner wall of a bottom portion of the pipe, and determining a plurality of flow rates of fluid flowing from the reservoir through perforations in the wellbore into the pipe using a flow rate equation and the plurality of pressure measurements.

There are typically three main phases that are undertaken to obtain hydrocarbons from a given field of development or on a per well basis. The phases are exploration, appraisal and production. During exploration one or more subterranean volumes (i.e., reservoirs) are identified that may include fluids in an economic quantity.
Following successful exploration, the appraisal phase is conducted. During the appraisal phase, operations, such as drilling wells, are performed to determine the size of the oil or gas field and how to develop the oil or gas field. After the appraisal phase is complete, the production phase is initiated. During the production phase fluids are produced from the oil or gas field.
More specifically, the production phase involves producing fluids from a reservoir. A wellbore is created by a drilling operation, and the wellbore perforates the reservoir. Once the drilling operation is complete and the wellbore is formed, completion equipment is installed in the wellbore, which is reinforced with a casing for purposes of production. The casing is perforated at a depth corresponding with the reservoir, and the fluids in the reservoir are allowed to flow from the reservoir to surface production facilities. At the end of the drilling operation, an analysis is conducted to determine the potential to produce hydrocarbons from the reservoir. One factor in determining the potential to produce hydrocarbons from a reservoir is permeability.
In various parts of the world, the swabbing test is the conventional technique used by companies to induce fluid to flow from the reservoir into the wellbore in reservoirs in which this does not naturally occur. When swabbing tests are used in a wellbore, conventional methods for analyzing pressure measurements taken in the wellbore, including but not limited to semilog slope, log-log horizontal line, convolution algorithms, and conventional transient pressure analysis, may not be used because the fluid flow rate over the duration of the swabbing test is not constant.

Method and system for interpreting swabbing tests using nonlinear regression