A processor for an echo canceller generates an estimate of an actual echo on an echo path and applies the same to a subtractor circuit in the path to cancel the echo. To generate the echo estimate, the processor multiplies A-law digitally encoded samples of signals which cause the echo by A-law digitally encoded samples of impulse responses of the echo path and sums a plurality of the products. The particular manner of multiplying the A-law samples produces a product which is a precise linear representation of the product of the linear equivalents of the samples, and no errors or approximations occur in the multiplication or in generation of the echo estimate.

The present invention relates to a processor for a digital echo canceller, and in particular to such a processor which generates an echo estimate of an actual echo on an echo path.
Long distance telephone facilitates usually comprise four-wire transmission circuits between switching offices in different local exchange areas, and two-wire circuits within each area connecting individual subscribers with the switching office. A call between subscribers in different exchange areas is carried over a two-wire circuit in each of the areas and a four-wire circuit between the areas, with conversion of speech energy between the two and four-wire circuits being effected by hybrid circuits. Ideally, the hybrid circuit input ports perfectly match the impedances of the two and four-wire circuits, and its balance network impedance perfectly matches the impedance of the two-wire circuit, so that signals transmitted from one exchange area to the other will not be reflected or returned to the one area as echo. Unfortunately, due to impedance differences which inherently exist between different two and four-wire circuits, and because impedances must be matched at each frequency in the voice band, it is virtually impossible for a given hybrid circuit to perfectly match the impedances of any particular two and four-wire transmission circuit. Echo is, therefore, characteristically part of a long distance telephone system.
Although undesirable, echo is tolerable in a telephone system so long as the time delay in the echo path is relatively short, for example shorter than 40 milliseconds. However, longer echo delays can be distracting or utterly confusing to a far end speaker, and to reduce the same to a tolerable level an echo canceller may be used toward each end of the path to cancel echo which otherwise would return to the far end speaker. As is known, echo cancellers monitor the signals on the receive channel of a four-wire circuit and generate estimates of the actual echoes expected to return over the transmit channel. The echo estimates are then applied to a subtractor circuit in the transmit channel to remove or at least reduce the actual echo.
In simplest form, generation of an echo estimate comprises obtaining individual samples of the signal on the receive channel, multiplying each sample by the impulse response of the system and then subtracting, at the appropriate time, the resulting products or echo estimates from the actual echo on the transmit channel. As is known, in actual practice generation of an echo estimate is not nearly so straightforward.
Transmission circuits, except those which are purely resistive, exhibit an impulse response which reflects signal frequency and amplitude dispersive characteristics, since phase shift and amplitude attenuation vary with frequency. To this end, a suitable known technique for generating an echo estimate contemplates manipulating representations of a plurality of samples of signals which cause the echo and samples of impulse responses of the system through a convolution process to obtain an echo estimate which reasonably represents the actual echo expected on the echo path. In performing the convolution process with digital echo cancellers, to reduce the complexity and increase the speed of operation and capacity of the circuitry it has been found desirable to encode the signal and impulse response samples in digital A-law format, which is a companding function. For example, an A-law format having an 8-bit output is equivalent to a 12-bit linear code in resolution and has a dynamic encoding range of 62 dB. Such an encoding format is also particularly useful in such applications because of its compatibility with 8-bit microprocessors commonly found in digital echo cancellers.
A unique characteristic of the A-law format is its similarity to binary logarithms. Because of this characteristic, previous approaches to the multiplication of two A-law factors with non-zero exponents have contemplated a direct addition of the two pseudo-logarithmic quantities. Unfortunately, the products of the largest factors, which contribute most to the sum of the products accumulated by the convolution process, contain the largest errors, and although an error correction term is subsequently estimated and added to the result to compensate for the product approximation obtained by the addition of two pseudo-logarithmic quantities, every "multiplication" involving non-zero exponents is nevertheless imprecise. In addition, a typical digital filter or echo cancelling application accomplished by means of a convolution process may require as many as 256 accumulated products, each of which is an approximation as a result of pseudo-logarithmic addition, so that the resulting accumulation may contain as many as 256 "summing" errors prior to any truncation or round-off. In a system such as an adaptive echo canceller where the accumulated product may be used to modify one set of multiplier inputs, decreased stability as well as imprecision results. Consequently, a technique is required for accurate multiplication and accumulation of pairs of A-law factors in order to achieve an acceptable digital filtering process for such applications as echo cancelling and speech synthesizing.

Signal processor for digital echo canceller


‘NCPUR06-020’ is a purple-fleshed sweetpotato with high levels of anthocyanin pigments in its storage roots. ‘NCPUR06-020’ was developed using conventional crossing and breeding methods, and it is intended for use in the natural colorant industry. The anthocyanins present in sweetpotatoes have a number of beneficial properties and they can be used for a wide range of purposes in the food processing and functional food industries.

'NCPUR06-020' is a purple-fleshed sweetpotato with high levels of anthocyanin pigments in its storage roots. 'NCPUR06-020' was developed using conventional crossing and breeding methods. It is the first purple-fleshed variety in our industrial-type breeding populations to be released and it is intended for use in the natural colorant industry. Most colorants are synthetic and obtained from a wide variety of organic and inorganic sources. Natural and synthetic coloring additives are widely used in the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries to enhance the appearance of products. There has been a recent trend to replace the use of synthetic colorants in food products with natural food colorants that have beneficial health properties and the natural colorant sector is increasing globally. The storage roots of purple-fleshed sweetpotatoes produce several purplish red anthocyanins in large quantities. Anthocyanins are an attractive source of natural colorants because they also possess many beneficial human health properties including antioxidative radical-scavanging abilities, anti-mutagenic, anti-hypertensive, anti-hyperglycemic and hepatoprotective properties.
Using conventional breeding techniques and a diverse array of germplasm, the sweetpotato breeding program developed a population of high pigment value, purple-fleshed sweetpotatoes. These varieties are suitable for anthocyanin extraction, and they are better than the current lines available in the US as they have increased color yields and better disease resistance compared to the existing purple-fleshed sweetpotatoes in the US.
'NCPUR06-020' is the first purple-fleshed sweetpotato variety to be released by the North Carolina State University sweetpotato breeding program. Several purple-fleshed sweetpotato varieties are currently grown and subjected to extraction in Japan and China. As with many other sweetpotato products, China is the largest producer of purple-fleshed sweetpotatoes. We believe there is a significant market for a "Made in the USA" purple-fleshed sweetpotato derived colorant and expect the 'NCPUR06-020' variety to be the first in a series of new purple-fleshed sweetpotatoes to be developed and released by NC State University sweetpotato breeding program for the natural colorant and functional foods sectors.
Lineage. The Ipomoea batatas 'NCPUR06-020' variety originated from a conventional cross between Ipomoea batatas breeding lines BM85-42 (the female parent; not patented) and NC414 (the male parent; patented as 'Stokes Purple' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 17,976)). Botanical seed was harvested from this and other purple sweetpotato lines planted in our winter greenhouse-crossing block between September of 2005 and February of 2006. The breeding line BM85-42 is a white-fleshed biomass line from the USDA Vegetable Lab sweetpotato breeding program. The breeding line NC414 was a line provided to the program by a local farmer, which was subsequently patented and named 'Stokes Purple' (Sizemore et al. 2007). Botanical seed from the BM85-42×NC414 cross were planted in a greenhouse located in Raleigh, N.C. on Feb. 8, 2006. Seedlings with storage roots were cut and evaluated for flesh color with purple-fleshed selections being planted in Clinton, N.C. on May 9, 2006 to increase for multiple plant cuttings. Five plant cuttings were taken Jul. 5, 2006 and planted in Kinston, N.C. on Jul. 6, 2006. The variety 'NCPUR06-020' was selected from a five hill plot Oct. 23, 2006 because of its combination of exceptional features. 'NCPUR06-020' was increased, evaluated, and advanced as the variety 'NCPUR06-020', with "06" referring to the year in which it was selected, and "020" indicating that this was the 20th purple selection made by the breeding program in 2006. It has been propagated asexually since this time.
Asexual Reproduction. Since its selection, Ipomoea batatas 'NCPUR06-020' has been asexually reproduced at by vegetative propagation of vine cuttings and/or cuttings from root sprouts. Vegetative propagation was done in Clinton N.C. for increase and field evaluation and tissue culture micropropagation and tissue culture propagation was done in Raleigh, N.C. Successively, there have been six cycles of vegetative propagation, one cycle of tissue culture micropropagation, and multiple vegetative propagation cycles to increase the plant population.
Asexual reproduction of 'NCPUR06-020' using these methods has shown that the unique features of the new variety are stable and the plant reproduces true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.

Industrial sweetpotato plant named ‘NCPUR06-020’


A frame has a continuous upper surface with a pair of side-by-side elongate openings for receiving foot pedals. Each pedal is hingedly mounted to the frame near the heel. A motor is mounted on the frame for rotating a shaft. A cam is mounted on the shaft for supporting the pedal between the toe and the hinged frame mounting. The cams associated with the pedals extend in radially opposite directions from the shaft so as to produce counter-reciprocating motion in the pedals during shaft rotation. A resistance device, such as a spring, fluid cylinder, shaft brake or motor, provide resistance to downward movement of each pedal during manual operation. One or more switches or other control device is mounted relative to the frame or pedal that is manipulable by a user""s foot or hand for controlling operation of the motor.

Not Applicable.
The present invention relates to the field of exercising devices, and in particular to exercising devices that provide counter-reciprocating pedal movement for exercising the feet and legs.
Many lifestyles require sitting for long periods of time. These lifestyles may include working at a desk in an office, watching television, or riding in a motorized vehicle. Muscular atrophy and circulatory retardation are well known health risks faced by many individuals who sit for long periods of time. Since exercise during sitting is typically very limited, it is desirable to use an exercise device that is compact and portable, yet provides the seated person a way to gently exercise the muscles of the lower extremities.
Various devices are known which exercise the lower extremities while the user is seated. These typically involve rotary pedaling, such as is used on a bicycle. One device which provides for reciprocating motion of pedals hingedly connected to a base is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,921 issued to Chuang. This structure has two pedals that support the user""s feet. The pedals may be connected together so that they pivot in unison, or may be disconnected so that they pivot freely. This device thus provides a foot rest that may also be used to pivot the feet independently.
There remains the need for a simple exerciser that is small and portable enough to be readily used in an office environment or in confined areas while providing active extending and contracting of muscles of the lower extremities.
The present invention provides for active extending and contracting of muscles of the lower extremities by pedals coupled together in a manner producing counter-reciprocating motion of the pedals.
More specifically, the present invention provides an exerciser having a pair of elongate pedals and a coupler mounted relative to a frame for coupling the pedals in a manner producing opposite, counter-reciprocating motion. The pedals are mounted in side-by-side relationship. Each pedal has a toe end, a heel end, and an upper pedal surface extending along a pedal axis. Each pedal is mounted at a first position to the frame in a manner limiting the pedal to movement about a pivot axis. The coupler supports each of the pedals at a second position spaced from the first position and moves the second position of the pedal upwardly when the second position of the other pedal moves downwardly. The coupler preferably includes a shaft rotatable about a shaft axis transverse to the pedal axis, and a support element coupled to the shaft and providing off-axis support for each pedal during rotation of the shaft.
In one preferred embodiment the frame has a continuous upper surface with a pair of side-by-side elongate openings for receiving the pedals. The pedal is hingedly mounted to the frame near the heel. A motor is mounted on the frame for rotating the shaft. A cam or crank is mounted on the shaft for supporting each pedal between the toe and the hinged frame mounting. The cams or cranks associated with the pedals extend in radially opposite directions from the shaft so as to produce counter-reciprocating motion in the pedals during shaft rotation. A resistance device, such as a spring, fluid cylinder or ballast system or motor friction, provide resistance to downward movement of each pedal. A switch or other control is mounted relative to the frame adjacent to a pedal that is manipulable by a user""s foot for controlling operation of the motor.
A particularly advantageous feature of this invention is that it provides equal and opposite movement of the user""s two feet, thereby simulating a walking motion, balancing exercise and movement to the two feet and lower legs. In the preferred form, the invention may be used in a manual mode as a source of exercise, particularly when provided with a resistance device that requires some exertion by the user to press a pedal down. It may also be used in a passive or automatic mode in which the pedals are driven by an external source, such as a motor, hydraulic, pneumatic or other active system.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the preferred embodiment described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Exerciser with counter-reciprocating pedals


A differential refractometer is described capable of measuring the refractive index charge, dn, of a transparent fluid corresponding to a change dc of the concentration of a solute in said fluid. The fluid is restricted to a fine capillary within a transparent material such as glass. Incident upon the capillary at an angle close to the critical angle is a fine light beam incident from said transparent material. The axes of the light beam and capillary intersect at a point within the capillary defining thereby a plane within which the refraction occurs. A position sensing device is placed to measure the displacement of the beam twice refracted during its passage through the capillary, said measure being used to generate a numerical value of the ratio dn/dc.

Measurement of the refractive index of fluids, and especially the changes of said refractive indices when various substances are dissolved in said fluids at different concentrations, is an important requirement for a variety of physical determinations. For example, the determinations of molecular weights of dissolved molecules by light scattering techniques requires the measurement of dn/dc for the dissolved molecules. This differential quantity represents the change of refractive index dn of the solvent with a change of concentration dc of the solute comprised of the molecules to be measured. In the area of liquid chromatography, the concentration of dissolved molecules that have been separated by appropriate columns is determined often by means of a refractive index detector. Such an instrument responds to the changes in fluid refractive index caused by changes in concentration of the solute. These refraction index detection instruments permit thereby the monitoring of solute concentration, an important determination for many forms of liquid chromatography. Another area of application of refractive index determination relates to measurement of sugar content of various fluids. Instruments make these measurement based on a determination of the difference of left and right refractive indices of the solution whose sugar content is to be determined. For example, the Swedish company Optilab manufactures such a unit under the Tecator brand name. This technique is described in detail in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,105 by Silverbage.
A variety of other techniques for measuring refractive index differences have been developed over the years. Some significant prior art includes the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,974 by Machler et al. describes the determination of the spectral characteristics of the refractive index of a fluid using white light illumination and examination of the resulting interfering component beams of light. The patent also contains numerous references to other types of interferometric methods.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,590 by Karny et al. describes a method of creating a reference Moire pattern with respect to a cell containing a reference fluid. Upon changing the fluid, the pattern changes with said changes being used to determine the refractive index of the changed fluid.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,619,068 by Broerman describes a refractometer of particular importance for the field of liquid chromatography. It is comprised of two intersecting channels one of which carries the fluid whose refractive index is to be measured. The second channel intersects the first at an angle other than 90.degree.. At the points of intersection the two sections of the second channel are sealed with polished transparent windows. One section contains a light source, the other a light detector. The light detector arm is filled with optical rods whose faces closest to the fluid are oriented so that the light transmitted through the fluid strikes the rods at approximately the critical angle of the fluid. As the refractive index of the fluid changes, the amount of light reaching the detector will change, permitting thereby the deduction of said fluid refractive index change.


Provided is a finishing treatment method of seamless sportswear and outdoor clothing, including: welding two or more moisture-permeable waterproof fabrics with an ultrasonic welder in a state of overlapping end parts thereof each other; and finishing the end parts of the moisture-permeable waterproof fabrics with a seal sealing tape, whereby in the seamless sportswear and outdoor clothing which are finishing treated according to the embodiments of the present invention, since a sewing part such as over lock and the like is removed, a friction or compression phenomenon can be prevented from being generated from a part to which a pressure is applied, a sewing wrinkle generation phenomenon generated upon sewing and a coating face slip phenomenon of the moisture-permeable waterproof fabric due to a sewing needle can be solved, and excellent tensile strength and waterproof performance can be realized.

1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a finishing treatment method of seamless sportswear and outdoor clothing.
2. Description of the Related Arts
In general, sportswear and outdoor clothing are completed by cutting a fabric according to each part such as the front, rear, side and sleeves, and fitting the cut fabric pieces to each other. However, in fitting the fabric pieces for each part to each other, a method of sewing the fabric pieces using thread was adopted.
However, in the conventional method of sewing the fabric pieces using the thread, a thickness of sportswear or outdoor clothing is thickened due to the thread sewn in several folds, and in case of the outdoor clothing, upon the use of a knapsack, a pressure may be provided from a thick sewing part.
Furthermore, in order to improve waterproof performance of the sewing part, a seam sealing tape is attached to the existing sportswear and outdoor clothing. At this time, there is a limit that the waterproof performance of the sportswear and the outdoor clothing should depend on only the seam sealing tape.

Method for finishing seamless sportswear and outdoor clothing

Korea Institute of Industrial Technology


The present invention provides saflufenacil-tolerant plants. The present invention also provides methods for controlling the growth of weeds by applying saflufenacil to which the saflufenacil-tolerant plants of the invention are tolerant. Plants of the invention express a cytochrome P450 polypeptide, the expression of which confers, to the plants, tolerance to the saflufenacil.

P450's form a large diverse gene family with about 246 isoforms in Arabidopsis and 372 identified in rice. P450s are hemoproteins that convert a broad range of substrates to more or less bioactive products. P450s are critical in numerous metabolic pathways, including lignin and pigment biosynthesis, detoxification of harmful compounds, and are considered important in the evolution of land plants. Inhibitors of P450 activity include 1-aminobenzo-triazole, tetcyclacis, piperonyl butoxide, and tridiphane.
Saflufenacil is an herbicide active ingredient (A.I.) of the pyrimidinedione chemical class. Saflufenacil is an active ingredient that is similar to flumioxazin and sulfentrazone and is readily absorbed by foliage, root, and shoot tissue of plants. It is believed that saflufenacil inhibits the pigment biosynthesis pathway at protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO), which causes an accumulation of photodynamic, toxic compounds that rapidly damage cell membranes and results in cell death. Herbicidal compositions can be used that have saflufenacil as the sole A.I. or that are supplemented with glyphosate to manage a wide spectrum of dicot weeds. Herbicidal compositions comprising saflufenacil have been labeled for pre-plant or pre-emergence treatment in corn, sorghum, wheat, barley, oats, rye, triticale, soybean, and tree/nut/vine cropping systems. Saflufenacil-containing herbicidal compositions have good foliar and residual activity on broadleaf weeds in both no-till and tilled cropping systems. However, application of saflufenacil after emergence can result in rapid and significant crop injury.
There remains a need in the art for plants or plants parts that exhibit tolerance to herbicidal compositions comprising saflufenacil.


Improved techniques involve testing periodicity at a given period based on locations of clicks within a sampling window whose duration is a multiple of the given period. Along these lines, when a testing server receives a click stream from a client machine, the testing server assigns a timestamp to each of the clicks in the click stream. The testing server generates a list of candidate periods at which periodicity of the click stream is to be tested. For each of the candidate periods, the testing server forms a sampling window whose duration is a multiple of that candidate period and tests whether the click stream is periodic based on the locations of the clicks within the sampling window. If indeed the testing server finds that the click stream is periodic at any of the candidate periods, the testing server may send an alert to a security entity to indicate that suspect activity has been identified.

Websites that provide electronic services receive input from client machines in the form of click streams. For example, a website hosting an online banking service may receive a stream of clicks over the course of an online banking session. A "click" represents a request to access content from a web site or to process data, such as may occur when a user points to and clicks on a link. "Clicks" are not limited to pointer clicks, however, but may include any requests from a client machine to a webserver. A "click stream" or "stream of clicks" is a sequence of clicks over time.
Occasionally, a click stream may exhibit temporally periodic behavior, e.g., a click stream may exhibit a click once per second to reflect requests made once per second from a client machine. Conventional approaches to detecting periodicity in click streams involve verifying whether clicks in the click stream are evenly spaced in time.


A cable connector apparatus comprises a case, defining first (6) and second compartments (10) therein; a rotary member (1) accommodated in the first compartment (6); a stationary member (3) accommodated in the second compartment (6); a flexible cable (7) having one end connected to the rotary member (1) and the other end connected to the stationary member (3), the flexible cable (7) being wound around both the rotary member (1) and stationary member (3) plural times so as to allow the rotary member (1) to turn on its axis several times; an auxiliary rotary member (2) disposed around and radially spaced from the stationary member (3), the auxiliary rotary member (2) having an engaging mechanism establishing engagement between the auxiliary rotary member (2) and the flexible cable (7); the second compartment (10) being separated into two spaces by the auxiliary rotary member (2), thereby dividing a flexible cable accommodated in the second compartment (10) into inner and outer portions; and an elastic force assist means (5) associated with the auxiliary rotary member (2) so as to generate elastic force in response to rotation of the auxiliary rotary member (2).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector apparatus used for a flexible cable, and more particularly to a connecting apparatus used for the electric wire harness disposed between a steering wheel and a steering column of an automotive vehicle.
2.1. Prior Art
A conventional cable connector apparatus used for connecting the steering wheel and the steering column, disclosed for example in the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. HEI 4-19980/1992 and the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. HEI 5-39044/1993, has a small-diameter stationary member fixed to the steering column and a large-diameter rotary member fixed to the steering wheel. A flat cable is connected to the small-diameter stationary member at one end thereof and is connected to the large-diameter rotary member at the other end thereof.
In this kind of cable connector apparatus, an inside space of the casing is usually large enough to allow the flat cable to expand due to flexibility when this flat cable is unwound. However, the flat cable dose not always expand coaxially with an axis of the stationary member. That is, the flat cable tends to cause eccentric expansion around the stationary member in the unwound condition. If the radially outermost periphery end of the flat cable offsets too much toward one particular direction due to this eccentric expansion, the flat cable possibly causes frictional engagement or interference with the inside wall of the casing. This frictional engagement or interference is of course undesirable in properly winding the flat cable around the stationary member. Consequently, the flat cable is likely to cause unwanted permanent buckling.
2.2. Previously Proposed Art:
To solve above problem, the applicant of this application has already proposed a connector apparatus used for a steering apparatus in an automotive vehicle, recently applied for a patent to the Japanese Patent Office and is numbered as Japanese Patent Application No. HEI 5-53100/1993 which is not yet opened to the public. As shown in FIG. 10, this steering connector apparatus comprises a rotary member 35, a stationary member 36, a flat cable 37 having one end connected to the movable member 35 and the other end connected to the stationary member 36, and a casing 38 accommodating these members 35, 36, and 37 therein. The flat cable 37 is wound around both the movable member 35 and the stationary member 36 plural times.
To solve the problem encountered in the above-described conventional cable connector apparatus, the cable connector apparatus proposed by the applicant of the present application disposes the stationary member 36 at a position offset from the center 39 of the inside space of the casing 38 close to the cable passage, so that the offset direction becomes normal to the pulling-out direction of the flat cable.
However, longstanding usage of the flat cable in such a cable connector apparatus will inevitably cause permanent winding deformation of the flat cable. Therefore, the expanding direction of the flat cable 37 when unwound around the stationary member 36 and the rotary member 37 will be unexpectedly varied from the initial condition.
If the expanding direction of the flat cable 37 once varies largely due to aging effect, the flat cable 37 will be unable to avoid interference with the inside wall of the casing 38. And, therefore, the flat cable 37 will be fatally buckled. Thus, the above-described eccentric arrangement of the stationary shaft will be no longer effective against the longstanding usage of the flat cable.

Connector apparatus used for a flexible cable


A method implemented by a memory device, comprising obtaining, by a processor coupled to a memory, a wear-leveling policy from an application executable at the memory device, wherein the wear-leveling policy indicates a memory size by which to perform wear-leveling within an instance, wherein the instance comprises an address range assigned to the application in the memory of the memory device, obtaining, by a processor, a request to access the instance, and performing, by the processor, wear-leveling on a plurality of memory cells within the instance according to the wear-leveling policy.

The wear on memory cells, or physical locations, within a memory system varies depending upon how often each of the cells is programmed. If a memory cell is programmed once and then effectively never reprogrammed, the wear associated with that cell will generally be relatively low. However, if a cell is repetitively written to and erased, the wear associated with that cell will generally be relatively high. As physical addresses are used by hosts, the same physical locations or cells within the memory system are repeatedly written to and erased if a host repeatedly uses the same addresses to write and overwrite data.

Application defined multi-tiered wear-leveling for storage class memory systems


A method for forming a mark structure on a substrate comprising a plurality of lines. The lines extend parallel to each other in a first direction and are arranged with a pitch between each pair of lines that is directed in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The pitch between each pair of selected lines differs from the pitch between each other pair of selected lines.

A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In that instance, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g., comprising part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g., a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. Known lithographic apparatus include so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at one time, and so-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction (the "scanning"-direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti parallel to this direction. It is also possible to transfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate by imprinting the pattern onto the substrate.
For coarse optical alignment of a wafer in a lithographic apparatus, a mark structure (mark) is known, which comprises three parallel lines. The parallel lines are arranged in a scribe lane of the wafer and extend in the longitudinal direction of the scribe lane. Of the three lines of the mark, one pair of adjacent lines has a first pitch and the other pair of adjacent lines has a second pitch. The first and second pitch extend along the width direction of the scribe lane and the first pitch is different from the second pitch.
An optical alignment scan is performed along a scan path in this pitch direction (thus scan data is also gathered outside the scribe lane). The optical alignment scan is based on so-called self-referencing interferometry to obtain a scan data signal from the mark. The used self-referencing interferometry has been described in EP 1372040, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The position of the mark can be obtained by searching in the scan data signal for a signal portion that matches the two pitches of the mark-design, for example by a pattern recognition procedure. The location of the matching signal portion in the scan data signal relates to the position of the mark within the scan path.
It is however observed that when using the mark it is only possible to select an aligned position based on two pitches. It can happen that product structures, next to the mark and outside the scribe lane, resemble one or both of these pitches, which causes a misalignment.
Moreover, because any device structure next to the mark will cause interference with the mark itself, this will disturb the alignment performance. Therefore, the mark has an exclusion, zone which must be left empty without device structure. For that reason, scribe lanes can not have a width below a minimal value. A reduction to lower values of the scribe lane width is not possible with coarse wafer alignment.

Mark structure for coarse wafer alignment and method for manufacturing such a mark structure


A reasoning engine is disclosed. Contemplated reasoning engines acquire data relating to one or more aspects of various environments. Inference engines within the reasoning engines review the acquire data, historical or current, to generate one or more hypotheses about how the aspects of the environments might be correlated, if at all. The reasoning engine can attempt to validate the hypotheses through controlling acquisition of the environment data.

The amount of digital data made available for analysis has grown along with the growth of computing technology and communication infrastructure. Unfortunately vast mountains of data remain unused or unviewed. Great discoveries remain hidden within such datasets.
Traditional AI techniques used to analyze data merely seek to find correlations among existing data sets. Although useful in establishing possible patterns, a person is still required to reason or infer the meaning behind the patterns. Better techniques would allow a computing infrastructure to reason or infer possible relationships among aspects of a data set and then allow for automated validation of such inferences.
Others have applied varying reasoning techniques for scientific purposes as described in the paper titled "The Automation of Science", King et al., Science 3 Apr. 2009: Vol. 324 no. 5923 pp. 85-89. King's disclosed robot successfully applied reasoning techniques to make several new discoveries.
Known techniques focus on deriving facts that can be used for other purposes. For example, European patent application publication 1 672 535 to Staron et al. titled "Distributed intelligent diagnostic scheme" file Dec. 8, 2005, describes using reasoning techniques to diagnose network issues. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,406 to Pollock titled "Architecture for an Artificial Agent that Reasons Defeasibly", filed May 22, 1995, describes reasoning that can be used to control robots, assembly lines, or as an adviser for medical diagnosis. Another example includes U.S. Pat. No. 7,003,433 to Yemini et al. titled "Apparatus and Method for Event Correlation and Problem Reporting", filed Jan. 12, 2005. Yemini describes mapping symptoms to problems through matrix-based reasoning techniques.
Others have attempted to provide inference services. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,191,163 to Herrera et al. titled "System and Method for Providing Inference Services", filed Apr. 18, 2003, describes inference services with respect to specified domains. Another example includes U.S. Pat. No. 7,447,667 to Gong et al. titled "Method and Knowledge Structures for Reasoning about Concepts Relations, and Rules", filed Dec. 11, 2002. Still further, U.S. patent application publication 2006/0168195 to Maturana et la. titled "Distributed Intelligent Diagnostic Scheme", filed Dec. 15, 2006, describes using inference based on logical reasoning to diagnose or reconfigure a system. Yet another example includes U.S. patent application publication 2007/0136222 to Horvitz titled "Question and Answer Architecture for Reasoning and Clarifying Intentions, Goals, and Needs from Contextual Clues and Content", filed Dec. 9, 2005. Still another example includes U.S. patent application publication 2011/0153362 to Valin et al. titled "Method and Mechanism for Identifying Protecting, Requesting, Assisting and Managing Information", filed Dec. 17, 2009.
Unless the context dictates the contrary, all ranges set forth herein should be interpreted as being inclusive of their endpoints, and open-ended ranges should be interpreted to include commercially practical values. Similarly, all lists of values should be considered as inclusive of intermediate values unless the context indicates the contrary.
It has yet to be appreciated that inference or reasoning techniques can be applied to a general computing infrastructure where the infrastructure itself can function as a reasoning engine based on collected ambient data. Further, the known approaches fail to appreciate the value of providing multiple possible reasoning approaches in response to an inquiry or altering the environment to seek validation of a possible conclusion reached via the reasoning approaches.
Thus, there is still a need for reasoning engines.


A linear surgical stapler includes upper and lower jaws, a staple cartridge arranged at a distal end of the lower jaw, a firing piece movably arranged relative to the staple cartridge, and a cutter advancer having a cutter. The firing piece and the cutter advancer are kept relatively still. The linear surgical stapler also includes a lower safety block having a raised stopper. When the linear surgical stapler is in an initial state without loading the staple cartridge, at least a part of the raised stopper is arranged on the movement path of the firing piece. The safety mechanism of the linear surgical stapler is structurally simple, convenient to process, also safe and reliable.

Linear surgical staplers are widely used in surgical operations for wound closure, and internal tissue closure and excision. A typical linear surgical stapler as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,570 performs two functions of stapling and cutting, to remove the redundant tissue while stapling the wound. This kind of linear surgical stapler generally includes two jaws (i.e., an upper jaw and a lower jaw), a closing handle for closing the upper jaw and the lower jaw, a staple anvil and a staple cartridge arranged opposite to each other at distal ends of the upper jaw and lower jaw respectively, a firing piece and a cutter advancer with a cutter at the distal end which are arranged in the staple cartridge and are moveable synchronously relative to the staple cartridge, and an operation button for driving movement of the firing piece and the cutter advancer. Staples are arranged in the staple cartridge. The firing piece pushes a staple driver successively and pushes the staples towards the staple anvil. The cutter cuts off the tissue between the staple cartridge and the staple anvil.
In the prior art, the staple cartridge of the instrument can be used for multiple times by being replaced. In clinical application, multiple times of stapling and cutting tissues are often required, and thus the staple cartridge is required to be replaced for many times in an operation. When no staple cartridge is loaded, the operation button can be pushed forwards arbitrarily, and then the cutter may be pushed forwardly. This may cause serious consequence as arising from only cutting without stapling.

TOUCHSTONE INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL SCIENCE CO., LTD.


A ball seat is expanded and held in place within a casing using an expander. The ball seat includes one or more gripping elements and one or more sealing elements. An apparatus for expandably installing a ball seat in a casing includes a ball seat having one or more gripping elements and one or more elastomeric sealing elements disposed on an exterior of an expandable sleeve portion of the ball seat that is expanded by pulling an expander into the bore of the expandable sleeve portion of the ball seat. A mechanical fuse is predisposed to fail at a level of force sufficient to move the expander to the installed position. Failure of the fuse and further movement of a pulling mandrel positions a channel on the mandrel into alignment with a distal end of the collet, enabling the collet to collapse and pass through the expander for removal.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for expanding and installing a ball seat in a casing of a well. The installed ball seat can sealably receive a ball to isolate a portion of the casing and enable fracturing of the well. Repeated installation of the ball seat of the present invention enables the fracturing of a formation in planned stages.
Background of the Related Art
Many mineral-bearing geologic formations can be hydraulically fractured to increase production rates and recovery of hydrocarbons residing in the formation. Staged fracturing is a process by which a plurality of intervals of a formation or well can be fractured in series, resulting in optimal production and recovery.
In conventional fracturing operations, plugging device such as, for example, a bridge plug can be set in the casing. The casing is perforated and the hydraulic pressure is increased to a level sufficient to fracture the adjacent geologic zone.
Conventional plugging device present unwanted costs and difficulties. If left in the casing during production, it may present a bore restriction that limits production or obstructs subsequent well operations. If the plugged device is removed from the well prior to production, it may require a service rig or a drilling rig to run a tool into the well on a tubular string to unseat, mill and/or remove the plugging device from the well. The removal of plugging device after fracturing greatly increases the cost of the operation.

Expandable ball seat for use in fracturing geologic formations


Provided is a mobile IPv6 fast handovers method, which includes the steps of: a) if a mobile node is moved in a layer 2, receiving a modified RS message from a mobile node in the access router, b) detecting movement of the mobile node in a layer 3 in the access router, c) if the mobile node makes a movement in the layer 3, generating CoA of the mobile node in the access router; d) performing Duplicate Address Detection in the access router to inspect uniqueness of the generated CoA; and e) transmitting a modified RA message to the mobile node in the access router. The Fast Handovers method of the present research performs fast movement detection by using layer 2 information simply and efficiently for fast handover in the mobile IPv6 and generates CoA in the access router instead of the mobile node without operations of many additional messages.

Along the development of mobile communication technology and technology for manufacturing mobile terminals, e.g., a mobile computer and a personal digital assistant (PDA), the Internet is applied to the next-generation wireless technology in support of mobility. Current wired Internet connection which is adopted in offices and schools is changed into wireless communication of 802.11 or wireless communication using Bluetooth or infrared communication.
Herein, 802.11 is a collection of specifications for wireless Local Area Network (LAN) developed by an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) working group.
Generally, a wireless LAN is technology that replaces the wired environment from a hub to a subscriber end into wireless environment which is favorable for set up and mobility in the construction of a network.
The wireless LAN has an advantage that a network can be built in a short time compared to a wired LAN, because the wireless LAN uses radio frequencies from access point (AP) equipment to a mobile node (MN), instead of using cable to build the network. It also has an advantage that it is not limited to a fixed desktop environment and, it makes it possible to perform communication with a laptop computer and a personal computer (PC) card, while a user is moving.
At present, portable mobility is provided to work sites by mounting a wireless LAN card in a laptop computer, and the demand for the portable mobility is increasing. Besides, a variety of Internet Protocol (IP)-based services appear in a mobile communication system, which also increases a demand for an IP mobility service.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a network where a user accesses to the Internet by using a wireless LAN. The present invention is applied to the network of FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the network to which the present invention is applied includes the Internet 10, access routers 21 and 22, access points 31, 32, 33 and 34, and mobile nodes 40.
As shown from the arrows of FIG. 1, if the mobile node 40 moves from the current access point 32 area to another access point 33 area, the mobile node 40 determines whether there is handover from the current access router 21 and if it is determined that there is handover, a handover process is carried out by acquiring layer 3 information on the access router 22 of a new area.
Diverse data link layer technologies supporting wireless communication including 802.11 can be used for the layer 2 of a mobile node using mobile IPv6.
In the 802.11 wireless LAN environments which is used most commonly at present, a laptop computer or a PDA equipped with a wireless LAN card perform layer-2 communication with an access point that plays a role of a base station in a cellular system. In the Windows operating system or a wireless LAN card driver module of Linux, it determines re-establishment to a new access point by periodically checking the intensity of signals with the access point.
Meanwhile, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standardizes the mobile IP technology which supports mobility in addition to the existing IP technology. Herein, the IETF is a body that defines standards of Internet operating protocols such as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). The standards are presented in the form of Requests for Comments (RFC).
The design purpose of the mobile IPv6 is to provide mobility while using the functions of the IPv6. The mobile IPv6 provides the mobility more effectively than the mobile IPv4 and excellent extensibility.
That is, the mobile IPv6 can form location information of a mobile node automatically by using a neighbor discovery function and an address auto-configuration function, when the mobile node moves to a new network area. It also removes some signal messages and agents which should exist in the IPv4 by defining a new destination option to inform the location information on its movement to the new node in need of its location information. In addition, it provides a protocol for route optimization as a basic function.
However, the mobile IPv6 has as long delay time in the handover process, which is formed of a movement detection process for detecting that the mobile node is moved to a new network area, a new CoA configuration process, and a Duplicate Address Detection (DAD) process for checking the uniqueness of the newly generated address, affects a real-time service or other delay-sensitive services.
Herein, the CoA is a routable address of a mobile node having a subnet prefix of the new network, when the mobile node is moved to another network.
Therefore, the IETF has developed several handover mechanisms to reduce the time delay during handover, and one of them is mobile IPv6 fast handovers for which is dealt with in the mobile IP working group (Mobileip WG) of the IETF.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart describing the mobile IPv6 fast handovers of the IETF which is defined in the mobile IPv6 IETF fast handovers for standard documents.
First, if the mobile node 40 moves to a wireless LAN area of the new access router 22, at step 11, the mobile node 40 transmits a Router Solicitation for Proxy Advertisement (RtSolPr) message to the current access router 21 to perform handover from the current access router 21 to the new access router 22.
At step 12, the current access router 21 which receives the RtSolPr message adds a new CoA to be used in the new network to a Proxy Router Advertisement (PrRtAdv) message and transmits it to the mobile node 40. Then, at step 13, it transmits a Handover Initiate (HI) message containing the new CoA and the current CoA of the mobile node 40 to the new access router 22 which is the object of the handover.
Also, it prepares to perform packet forward or packet tunneling to send a packet taking the current CoA of the mobile node 40 as a destination address to the access router 22 which is the object of the handover.
Meanwhile, at step 14, the access router 22, which is the object of the handover and receives the HI message, checks whether the new CoA of the mobile node 40 is available and transmits a HACK message in response to the checking result. If Uflag is set up in the HI message, packets transmitted from the current access router 21 begin to be buffered.
In tunneling, the source address of external packets is the address of the current access router 21 and the destination address is the new access router 22 which is the object of the handover.
Meanwhile, at step 15, the mobile node 40 which receives the PrRtAdv message transmits F-BU message to the current access router 21 in response to the PrRtAdv message. The F-BU message is the final message transmitted from the current access router 21 area before the mobile node 40 performs layer 2 handover. The current access router 21 which receives the message begins to forward packets or perform tunneling.
At step 16, the current access router 21, which receives the HACK message, transmits an F-BACK message on whether the HACK message is to be used as a new CoA of the mobile node 40 to the mobile node 40. The message can be transmitted to the new access router.
Meanwhile, if the new CoA cannot be used in the new access router 22, the mobile node 40 receives an RA (Router Advertisement) message which is used in the new access router 22 area by using the current CoA and performs the general processes of mobile IPv6 CoA acquisition and binding.
If the mobile node 40 does not receive the F-BACK message from the current access router 21, it performs layer-2 handover into the new access router 22 area. After the mobile node 40 accesses to the access point of the new access router 22, at step 17, it transmits an F-NA message to the new access router 22 regardless of whether the F-BACK message is received, after the mobile node 40 accesses to the access point of the new router 22.
After the mobile node 40 accesses to the access point of the new router 22, layer 2 link up trigger is caused in the access point. The new access router 22 which receives the layer 2 link up trigger replaces it with F-NA. Herein, packets buffered in the new access router 22 are transmitted to the mobile terminal 40. If there is no link up trigger, the F-NA message performs the function instead.
Meanwhile, the new access router 22 which receives the F-NA message transmits an F-NA acknowledge message and inform the mobile node 40 of whether the new CoA is available or not. If the new CoA is available, the mobile node 40 performs the general mobile IPv6 binding process by using the address. Otherwise, if the new CoA is not available, the mobile node 40 receives a Router Advertisement (RA) message and performs the general process of mobile IPv6 CoA acquisition and binding based on the address.
Therefore, in order to perform the mobile IPv6 fast handovers of the IETF, messages including the Router Solicitation for Proxy Advertisement (RtSolPr), Proxy Router Advertisement (PrRtAdv), Handover Initiate (HI), Fast Binding Update (F-BU), Fast Binding Acknowledgement (F-BACK) messages should be realized additionally and the problem is that their operation processes are complicated.
Also, many mechanisms for performing fast handover researched in the IETF mobile IP working group are suggested to reduce delay in one area among three areas, which are movement detection, new CoA configuration, and binding update. The mobile IPv6 fast handovers, which is in progress as the current IETF mobile IP working group document is technology that reduces the entire handover delay time in the layer 3 by quickly detecting movement and configuring a new CoA based on handover expectation information in the layer 2.
In short, it supports real-time service by performing part of the layer 3 handover or delaying layer 3 registration by using a bidirectional tunnel based on the handover expectation information in the layer 2 to minimize the delay in handover before the layer 2 handover is completed. However, this method, too, has a problem that it is hard to obtain expectation information of the new network area by using the information of the layer 2 before the mobile node 40 moves to the new network area.

Access router based mobile IPv6 fast handover method

Electronics and Telecommunciations Research Institute


In a method of initializing a binaural hearing aid system (1) both ipse- and contra-lateral individualized adjustment data are stored in both hearing aids of the binaural hearing aid system for transmission between the hearing aids. This provides an easy backup of the data. The invention further provides a hearing aid having means adapted for performing such a method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hearing aids. The invention, more specifically, relates to a binaural hearing aid system. The invention further relates to a method of initializing a binaural hearing aid system.
In the context of the present disclosure, a hearing aid should be understood as a small, microelectronic device designed to be worn behind or in the human ear by a hearing-impaired user. Prior to use, the hearing aid is adjusted by a hearing aid fitter according to a prescription. The prescription is based on a hearing test, resulting in a so-called audiogram, of the performance of the hearing-impaired user's unaided hearing. The prescription is developed to reach a setting where the hearing aid will alleviate a hearing loss by amplifying sound at frequencies in those parts of the audible frequency range where the user suffers a hearing deficit. A hearing aid comprises one or more microphones, a battery, a microelectronic circuit comprising a signal processor, and an acoustic output transducer. The signal processor is preferably a digital signal processor. The hearing aid is enclosed in a casing suitable for fitting behind or in a human ear.
A binaural hearing aid system comprises two hearing aids and is for use by a hearing-impaired person who suffers a hearing deficit on both ears. In most cases the hearing deficit is not the same for the two ears.
2. The Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,549,633 B1 discloses a binaural digital hearing aid system characterized in that the digital signal processing means of each hearing aid unit is arranged to effect a substantially full digital signal processing including individual processing of signals from the input transducer means of the actual unit and simulated processing of signals from the input transducer means of the other unit as well as binaural signal processing of signals supplied, on one hand, internally from the input signal transducer means of the same unit and, on the other hand, via a communication link from the input signal transducer means of the other unit. Hereby each of the hearing aid units, for the left and right side ears respectively, perform in addition to digital signal processing adapted to compensate for the hearing loss of the ear served by the unit, a simulated full digital signal processing of sound signals received by the unit for the opposite ear and adapted to compensate for the specific hearing loss of that ear, as well as a common binaural signal processing taking into account both of the normally different compensation characteristics of both units.
It is well known, for a hearing aid fitter, to program each one among a pair of hearing aids with a set of individualized adjustment data adapted to the specific compensation requirements of the corresponding ear of the intended user. This data set includes e.g. filter coefficients for the filters in the signal processing path. If, in addition to the above, a second set of individualized adjustment data adapted to the specific compensation requirements of the other ear of the intended user is to be programmed into each one among the same pair of hearing aids, then the hearing aid fitting practice would need to be changed because the hearing aid fitter must take care that both sets of individualized adjustment data would be stored in both hearing aids. This would increase the time that the hearing aid fitter needs to spend on each fitting.
Sometimes one of the two hearing aids of a binaural hearing aid system fails and needs repair. In case the hearing impaired user is given a replacement for the failed hearing aid, the replacement hearing aid normally needs to be programmed by a hearing aid fitter in accordance with the specific compensation requirements of the hearing aid user.
It is therefore a feature of the present invention to overcome at least these drawbacks and provide a method for initialization of a binaural hearing aid system, and a hearing aid and a binaural hearing aid system adapted for operating according to such a method.

Method of initializing a binaural hearing aid system and a hearing aid


The Dynamic Portfolio Simulator Tool Apparatuses, Methods and Systems (“DPST”) transforms market assumptions, constraints inputs via DPST components into asset allocation record, portfolio allocation and graphic presentation outputs. The DPST includes a dynamic portfolio simulator apparatus. The DPST includes a computing processor and memory, and the memory includes the following instructions. The DPST includes instructions to obtain a user indication of portfolio simulation request including user configured market assumption parameters and retrieve a user interface template comprising a portfolio parameter configuration widget. The DPST also includes instructions to calculate a parameter range for the portfolio parameter configuration widget based on the user configured market assumption parameters and customize the portfolio parameter configuration widget with the calculated parameter range. Then the DPST may provide the customized portfolio parameter configuration widget to a user device and obtain a user input of portfolio parameter via the customized portfolio parameter configuration widget. The DPST may also provide portfolio composite outputs based on the user input of portfolio parameter and provide the calculated portfolio composite outputs via the user interface.

Computer systems allow investors and managers to trade equities. Funds in the retirement saving accounts are managed by an investment manager for the individual investor to invest in various financial vehicles, such as a pension fund.
Generally, the leading number of each citation number within the drawings indicates the figure in which that citation number is introduced and/or detailed. As such, a detailed discussion of citation number 101 would be found and/or introduced in FIG. 1. Citation number 201 is introduced in FIG. 2, etc. Any citation and/or reference numbers are not necessarily sequences but rather just example orders that may be rearranged and other orders are contemplated.

Dynamic portfolio simulator tool apparatuses, methods and systems


One embodiment of the present disclosure is a method for assessing complexity levels in data representations. Such a method can be broadly summarized by the following: obtaining a first document having information associated with a data representation being used to model a concept and at least a second document having information associated with a data representation being used to model the same concept; analyzing structural components of the first document and the second document to assess a level of complexity in the data representation associated with each of the first and the second documents; and determining which of the data representation of the first document and the data representation of the second document has a smaller level of complexity. Other methods and systems are also provided.

XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a system for defining specialized markup languages that are used to transmit formatted data. XML may be used to express mathematical equations, e-commerce transactions, object meta-data, server applications, and a variety of other types of structured information. Generally, XML and similar languages provide a flexible architecture for representing objects in a notation that defines object types and hierarchical relationships of objects. However, a particular XML file may contain a large number of objects and corresponding relationship and/or definition information associated with the objects.
There are a lot of different ways of expressing the same idea in XML. An XML file that expresses an idea or object in a simpler manner than another XML file that expresses the same idea or object is generally easier to maintain, use, and modify. Further, an XML representation might express a concept or an internal software representation that is more or less "expensive" from a computational or storage basis. Some elements of the representation may have a higher "cost" in time, space, complexity, etc. Also, a combination of elements in a hierarchy could result in different ultimate "costs" based upon the combination as a whole. Such a determination of these costs and related metrics would be beneficial but is hard to obtain.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Generating metrics on data representations


Labels (10), especially revenue stamps, are usually affixed to cuboidal cigarette packs (11). The labels have to be supplied and held ready for being received by the packs (11) in sufficient numbers. The labels (10) are successively severed length- or breadthways from a continuous web of material (17) and are then directly fed into a magazine (14), from which the labels are extracted at the lower end as required. Without any conversion, the type of labels to be processed can be changed by way of (temporarily) manually inserting labels into the magazine which is appropriately designed for this option.

The invention relates to a process for conveying (thin) blanks, especially labels, to be transferred to a (cigarette) pack, the blanks (labels) being successively severed from a continuous web of material and being conveyed into a postion ready for being received by the pack. Furthermore, the invention relates to an apparatus for conveying the blanks or labels.
In many fields of the packaging art arises the need of supplying blanks, stamps or labels, ready for being affixed to packs. In the production of cigarette packs, revenue stamps or closure labels have to be attached to the packs. In high-performance packaging machines, these labels have to be available and have to be attached to the packs in great numbers per unit of time. For taking over the labels, the packs are usually moved past a transfer means (label drum) where they receive and take along one label each.
The blanks or labels may be provided to the packaging machine in stacks as finished units. In this case, the blank stacks are manually introduced into a chute-like magazine located at the machine-side and are extracted from said magazine from below by means of extraction means (so-called transfer rollers) for being transferred to the label drum.
It is, however, also already known in the art to sever the blanks or labels from a web of material of a respective width and to feed the labels to the packs by a specific unit.

Process and apparatus for conveying labels to be transferred to a (cigarette) pack


An approach to performing graph-based computation uses one or both of an efficient startup approach and efficient control using process pools. Efficient startup of a graph-based computation involves precomputing data representing a runtime structure of a computation graph such that an instance of the computation graph is formed using the precomputed data for the required type of graph to form the runtime data structure for the instance of the computation graph. Pools of processes that are each suitable for performing computations associated with one or more vertices of the computation graphs are formed such that at runtime, members of these pools of processes are dynamically assigned to particular vertices of instances of computation graphs when inputs are available for processing at those vertices.

This invention relates to execution of graph-based computations.
Complex computations can often be expressed as a data flow through a directed graph, with components of the computation being associated with the vertices of the graph and data flows between the components corresponding to links (arcs, edges) of the graph. A system that implements such graph-based computations is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,072, EXECUTING COMPUTATIONS EXPRESSED AS GRAPHS. One approach to executing a graph-based computation is to execute a number of processes, each associated with a different vertex of the graph, and to establish communication paths between the processes according to the links of the graph. For example, the communication paths can use TCP/IP or UNIX domain sockets, or use shared memory to pass data between the processes.

Processing transactions using graph-based computations including instances of computation graphs associated with the transactions


An immobilizer arrangement for a motor vehicle includes a brake that can be electrically actuated by at least one motor. The motor is controlled by a brake control, and with an immobilizer control that serves for activating and deactivating the immobilizer of the motor vehicle. The immobilizer control is configured to receive an authorization for deactivating the immobilizer from a user identification device. With the brake serving as the immobilizer, at least one current path is provided for actuating the motor, which is coupled to the immobilizer control.

Immobilizers are devices on motor vehicles that are intended to prevent their unauthorized use. One generally distinguishes between electronic and mechanical immobilizers.
Electronic immobilizers are required by law in many countries. These electronic immobilizers include, among other things, so-called three-circuit interceptors that short-circuit the ignition, the fuel supply and the starter with the aid of a relay. Other known electronic immobilizers access the engine control unit and issue a clearance, without which the engine will not start. The communication of corresponding clearances usually takes place via a bus system of the motor vehicle and is encrypted. Immobilizers are frequently unlocked by radio transmitters that are typically integrated into keys—in the colloquial sense—of the motor vehicle and act as transponders. The communication may take place in encrypted or unencrypted form.
Mechanical immobilizers may consist, for example, of steering wheel clamps, steering wheel locks, wheel boots or the like. In addition, immobilizers may also feature a mechanical component such as, for example, a steering wheel locking system that is controlled by the immobilizer control and blocks the further use of a motor vehicle steering system. The incorporation of a mechanical immobilizer requires a certain vehicle complexity that increases the development effort, as well as the costs of the motor vehicle.

Immobilizer arrangement for a motor vehicle, motor vehicle and method for actuating an immobilizer arrangement


A method and apparatus for transmitting using beam are disclosed. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) may transmit a first physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble to a base station using a first beam at a first power level. The WTRU may receive an indication that the first PRACH preamble was received by the base station. If the indication was received, the WTRU may transmit data. If the indication was not received, the WTRU may select the first beam or a second beam to use for a second PRACH preamble. Further, the first and second beams may be different beams. If the first beam is selected, the WTRU may increase a transmission power level of the second PRACH preamble by a first power ramp step. If the second beam is selected, the WTRU may not increase the transmission power level of the second PRACH preamble by the first power ramp step.

Technologies, such as multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and transmit diversity, have been developed to enhance the data throughput on the downlink. Data transmission requirements on the downlink are normally larger than those on the uplink. Transmit diversity and MIMO are also considered for the uplink, which would provide extended coverage and enhanced data rate for the uplink such that the peak data rate imbalance between the downlink and the uplink would be reduced.
With the evolution from single antenna transmissions to dual- or multi-antenna transmissions, additional data throughput enhancement would be possible. In order to support the dual- or multi-antenna transmissions in the uplink, it would be required to design a control channel for carrying pilot and other control information on the second transmit antenna.

Method and apparatus for transmitting pilot on multiple antennas


The present invention provides a programmable structure for programmable integrated circuits, such as programmable read-only memory (PROM) which utilizes one-sided ozone spacers constructed on the digitlines as well as on the wordlines thereby providing two, one time programmable nodes at each digit/word/digit' intersection. An oxide/nitride/oxide layer (ONO) is used as an interface between underlying parallel rows of digit lines, having one-sided ozone spacers, and overlying parallel columns of word lines, also having one-sided ozone spacers, and further overlying parallel rows' of digitlines' in a programmable read only memory. With a lower level of digitlines passing under a middle level of wordlines and an upper level of digitlines' passing over the middle level of wordlines, a row/column/digit' matrix is formed thereby providing a programmable row/column/row' matrix in a memory array. Each crossing point of the digit/word lines and the word/digit' lines in the matrix will be permanently programmed to either a one or a zero by rupturing the thin ONO dielectric interface by applying the appropriate voltage potential between the associated digit/word/digit' line conductors.

A read only memory (PROM) consists of an array of semiconductor devices (diodes, bipolar or field-effect transistors) which interconnect to store an array of binary data (ones or zeros). A ROM basically consists of a memory array of programmed data and a decoder to select the data located at a desired address in the memory array.
Three basic types of ROMs are mask-programmable ROMs, erasable programmable ROMs (EPROMs) and field-programmable ROMs (PROMs). The data array is permanently stored in a mask-programmable ROM, at the time of manufacture, by selectively including or omitting the switching elements at the row-column intersections in the memory array. This requires a special mask used during fabrication of the integrated circuit which is expensive and feasible only when a large quantity of the same data array is required.
EPROMs use a special charge-storage mechanism to enable or disable the switching elements in the memory array. In this case, appropriate voltage pulses to store electrical charges at the memory array locations is provided. The data stored in this manner is generally permanent until it is erased using ultraviolet light allowing it to once again be programmed.
PROMs (being the focus of the present invention) are typically manufactured with all switching elements present in the array, with the connection at each row-column intersection being made by means of a fusible link. In order to store data in the PROM, these fusible links are selectively blown using appropriate voltage pulses supplied by a PROM programmer. Once the links are blown, the data is permanently stored in the memory array.
Copending application, Ser. No. 760,026, by Tyler A. Lowrey and Ruojia Lee, discloses a one-sided TEOS spacer constructed on digitlines that provides one time programming of the data memory array using an anti-fuse element. The one-sided TEOS spacer digitline concept, taught in application Ser. No. 760,026, is further developed in the present invention.

Double digitlines for multiple programming of prom applications and other anti-fuse circuit element applications


An antimicrobial packaging material for food stuffs containing from 0.05% to 1.5% by weight of a natural essential oil. The oil can be selected from primarily linalool and/or methylchavicol, but also from one or more of citral, geraniol, methyl cinnamate, methyl eugenol, 1,8-cineole, trans-a-bergamotene, carvacrol and thymol blended with one or more polymers selected from ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, polyacrylates, including ethyl acrylate methyl methacrylate copolymers, lonomers, nylons and other hydrophilic polymers or polymers possessing functional groups capable of partially anchoring the additives and the blender mix is coated onto the food contact face of a food grade packaging film or incorporated into a food grade packaging film. A binding agent such as polyethylene glycol is added to the blend to improve the retention of the volatile oil in the polymer during processing. This material has no regulatory limitations and, at the referred concentrations, does not form detectable off-flavors.

Control of food spoiling micro-organisms, particularly on processed food stuffs, is an ever present concern in preserving food products. Various approaches such as aseptic packaging and pre-fill and post-fill sterilization are applied as a possible control method but they often result in undesirable changes in food quality characteristics. In addition fresh and many minimally processed foods cannot be preserved by such approaches and must rely on other methods. Washing in antimicrobial solutions is one possibility but protection during storage and distribution is still necessary. Incorporating antimicrobial agents in the food is another option but requires relatively large amounts of additive that increase cost and may lead to undesirable off-flavours. Modified atmosphere packaging is a common method to extend the shelf life, particularly of fresh produce, by reducing the rate of food deterioration achieved by modification of the initial concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide inside the package. However, these modified gas concentrations change with time. Also, some microorganisms can grow in the absence of oxygen and for some foodstuffs the absence of oxygen can affect freshness and flavour perception and even encourage the growth of harmful anaerobic microorganisms. Thus an antimicrobial agent is usually required. Synthetic antimicrobial agents in or on foodstuffs are usually not acceptable by consumers, as they prefer natural foods and food components. These additives may also accumulate above safe levels and affect flavour and taste. Antimicrobial agents are often active only against a selected range of microorganisms and those that are active against Gram-positive bacteria may not be active against Gram-negative bacteria and/or yeasts and/or moulds.
Incorporation of antimicrobial agents into packaging materials, particularly packaging films has been proposed in the past. These have generally been synthetic antimicrobial compounds. Migration of these compounds from the films into the food can be unacceptable. Generally, food safety and packaging regulations prohibit the release of (active) additives that are not approved for food content or they limit the allowable migration of such active additives from the packaging material.
USA patent application 2002/0051754 discloses an antimicrobial packaging polymer which incorporates quaternary ammonium and phosphonium salts.
There are plant extracts that possess antimicrobial activity and which are approved for use with foods. Some of them, like allyl isothiocyanate (AIT), posses a repelling smell causing unacceptable off-flavours.
Japanese abstract 03145406 discloses a rodent repellant which mixes an essential oil with an organic polymer including rubber and wood.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,509 discloses a controlled release insecticide for repelling insects from food, tobacco and other consumables. The active agent is incorporated in a controlled release carrier at a content above 1%.
WO00/69277 discloses an antimictobial agent for treating swine dysentery and diseases of hoofed animals using a combination of carvacrol an essential oil from oregano and thymol an essential oil from thyme.
USA application 2004/0071757 discloses an antiviral patch made by the addition of an essential oil to a pressure sensitive adhesive in concentration levels above 1%. Basil contains essential oils that exhibit activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as against yeasts and moulds. The major active constituents of basil oil from various sources (basil varieties) are linalool, methylchavicol, citral, geraniol, methyl cinnamate, methyl eugenol, 1,8-cineole and trans-a-bergamotene. The two major components of basil, linalool and methylchavicol, possess very weak smells, not detectable at low concentrations. As the active basil oils are volatile and much of them may be lost during mixing and processing of the polymer into a packaging material, special precautions and procedures have to be followed.
It is an object of this invention to provide an antimicrobial packaging film, coating, container, or packaging component, such as labels, that uses a natural food acceptable agent in a food grade packaging material.

Technion Research and Development Foundation Ltd.


An upholstered three dimensional structure in which there is an upholstery fabric stretched over a three dimensional core, the fabric being formed by knitting and incorporating a sewn seam between the knitted fabric and a further fabric, the knitted fabric being provided with stable sewing zones which are less elastic than the majority of the remaining portions of the knitted fabric to assist in the sewing of the knitted fabric to a further fabric.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fabrics and has particular reference to knitted fabric panels. It has further particular reference to knitted fabric panels intended for use in upholstered structures.
2. Description of Related Art
Proposals have been made, see UK patent application no. 2,223,034A, to produce upholstered structures such as upholstered three-dimensional car seats by knitting the entire fabric seat in one operation. This is a radical departure from conventional processes for making upholstered fabric structures wherein the fabric is manufactured by weaving. The woven structure is then cut into shapes and the shapes are stitched together.
The manufacture of upholstered structures by the use of woven fabric requires a number of distinct stages. First of all the yarn has to be formed into a warp and then the warp is transferred to a loom for weaving the fabric. The fabric will inevitably be in rectangular shape. The fabric is then cut into pieces and the pieces are sewn together to form the upholstered fabric for the upholstered structure. At each stage in the operation there are losses in yarn yield -- the warp threads must be continuous and therefore there are losses associated with manufacturing the warp. The weaving operation involves further yarn loss and fabric is lost during the cutting operation. All told the total yield of yarn in the upholstered fabric compared to yarn in the bobbin state is no more than about 60% in the case of a vehicle seat. By knitting the upholstery fabric the yarn yields can be in the upper nineties percent. Furthermore, the knitting operation is a single operation requiring less manual input and less skill once the knitting machine has been set up.
In many cases, however, it is necessary to sew onto the knitted fabric of the upholstered structure. This is either because two knitted components have to be sewn together as it is not possible to knit the entire structure in one operation, or a knitted component has to be joined to a woven component.
British patent specification no. 1,276,185 describes the use of a thermoplastic resin filament which can be heated prior to knitting and becomes deformed during knitting. After knitting the entire structure becomes rigid once more.
British patent specification no. 1,214,939 describes a method of preventing the edge of a knitted fabric from unravelling by incorporating shrinking and adhering yarns in the edges.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,242 describes a knitted article such as a glove which incorporates a head shrunk multiple plastic yarn along the edge to prevent the edge unravelling.
Japanese Abstract No. 602755 further describes a trimmed edge fabric particularly for use in glove manufacture in which there is provided a shrinkable yarn at the free edge which is shrunk by heating.
British patent specification no. 2,223,034 describes the incorporation of a fusible yarn at the edge of a hem to prevent unravelling.
British patent specification no. 2,168,607 describes three dimensional trim cover assemblies but does not address the problems of sewing together such assemblies.
British patent specification no. 1,308,909 describes the formation of garment panels incorporating start-up courses into which are knitted elastomeric yarns shrunk on subsequent treatment. Such courses are, however, only set up courses for single jersey whole garment parts.
British patent specification no. 1,033,144 describes knitted fabrics for garments such as sweaters in which there is a stabilised free edge which is intended to be stable in the free condition.
European patent specification no. 361,854 describes the use of knitted joins in upholstery fabrics.


The present invention provides a side-edge backlight module, which includes a backplane, a light guide plate arranged inside the backplane, a backlight source arranged inside the backplane, and a photo coupler arranged between the light guide plate and the backlight source, whereby light emitting from the backlight source is subjected to light mixing by the photo coupler and then enters the light guide plate so as to improve homogeneity of light illumination of the light guide plate at a location close to a backlight source. The side-edge backlight module arranges a photo coupler between a light incidence surface of a light guide plate and LED lights of a backlight source in order to make lights emitting from the backlight source incident to the light guide plate in a uniform manner thereby providing the light guide plate with homogeneous light illumination.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of liquid crystal displaying, and in particular to a side-edge backlight module.
2. The Related Arts
Liquid crystal display (LCD) has a variety of advantages, such as thin device body, low power consumption, and being free of radiation, and is thus widely used. Most of the LCDs that are currently available in the market are backlighting LCDs, which comprise a liquid crystal display panel and a backlight module. The working principle of the liquid crystal display panel is that liquid crystal molecules are interposed between two parallel glass substrates and a plurality of vertical and horizontal fine electrical wires is arranged between the two glass substrates, whereby the liquid crystal molecules are controlled to change direction by application of electricity in order to refract light emitting from the backlight module for generating images. Since the liquid crystal display panel itself does not emit light, light must be provided by the backlight module in order to normally display images. Thus, the backlight module is one of the key components of an LCD. The backlight module can be classified as two types, namely side-edge backlight module and direct backlight module, according to the position where light gets incident. The direct backlight module arranges a light source, such as a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) or a light-emitting diode (LED) at the back side of the liquid crystal display panel to form a planar light source that directly provides lighting to the liquid crystal display panel. The side-edge backlight module arranges a backlight source of LED light bar at an edge of a back panel to be located rearward of one side of the liquid crystal display panel. The LED light bar emits light that enters a light guide plate through a light incident face of the light guide plate and is projected out through a light exit face of the light guide plate after being reflected and diffused to thereby transmit through an optic film assembly and form a planar light source the liquid crystal display panel.
The current market trend of the backlight module is bezel slimming. The attempt to use less LED lights while making a slim bezel would lead to an increasingly shortened distance between the LED lights and a light incidence surface of a light guide plate. And consequently, insufficient mixture of the lights emitting from the LED lights in the space results, making difference in illumination or color between two adjacent LED lights and generating the so-called "hot spot mura" (which means inhomogeneous brightness). For example, the slimmest bezel that is currently available in 4.9 mm and to effect homogeneous mixture of light between LED lights within such a slim range of the bezel would be a tough challenge.

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.


A tethered holder for a vehicle steering wheel lock bar having oppositely directed hooks for engaging diametrically opposite sides of a vehicle steering wheel comprises a body portion supporting a pair of hooks facing one another for engaging the oppositely directed hooks of the lock bar when the latter is disengaged from a steering wheel for storage in the vehicle. One of the hooks of the holder is displaceable relative to the other to facilitate attachment and detachment of the holder from the lock bar, and the holder is secured to the vehicle such as by a chain having a given length to limit displacement of the lock bar from its storage area in the event of sudden stopping of the vehicle.

The present invention relates to the art of vehicle security devices of the type attachable to a vehicle steering wheel to limit rotation thereof and, more particularly, to a tethered holder for limiting displacement of the security device from a storage area in the vehicle during periods of non-use of the security device.
The present invention finds particular utility in connection with storage of a vehicle steering wheel lock bar of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,127 to Johnson and, accordingly, will be discussed and described herein in detail in conjunction with such a lock bar structure. At the same time, however, it will be appreciated that the invention is applicable to vehicle steering wheel lock bars structured other than that disclosed in the aforementioned patent and to other anti-rotation devices attachable to the vehicle steering wheel to limit or preclude rotation thereof.
It is of course well known to provide vehicles with anti-theft security devices attachable to the vehicle steering wheel to limit rotation of the steering wheel when the vehicle is parked. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,127 to Johnson which is assigned to the same assignee as the present application and the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. The device disclosed in the Johnson patent is a steering wheel lock bar characterized by a pair of oppositely directed hooks engagable with diametrically opposite sides of a steering wheel. One of the hooks is on an elongated rod member adapted to move in telescopic fashion relative to a tubular body member carrying the other hook and extending outwardly beyond the periphery of the steering wheel to engage a part of the vehicle and preclude complete rotation of the steering wheel when the lock bar is mounted thereon. When the lock bar is removed from the steering wheel, the rod member is displaced to a storage position within the body member and in which the oppositely directed hooks are more closely spaced than when the lock bar is mounted on a steering wheel.
When the component parts of the lock bar are in the storage position thereof, the lock bar is suitably stored in the vehicle and, for ready access, is generally loosely stored in the driver's compartment and, for example, on the floor of the vehicle underneath or laterally adjacent the driver's or passenger's seat. Such loose storage of a steering wheel lock bar is potentially dangerous to the driver and/or passengers in the vehicle in the event of sudden stopping of the vehicle and, especially, when such sudden stopping is the result of head-on impacting of the vehicle with another vehicle or object. In this respect, such sudden stopping results in the potential for the lock bar to become a projectile within the vehicle endangering the driver and/or passengers.

Tethered holder for vehicle security device


The data-line driver circuit receives data currents from an external signal source and drives the pixel group of electro-luminescence display device. The data-line driver circuit has a first circuit group, a second circuit group and a shift register. The shift register controls the first circuit group to receive the data currents and controls the second circuit group to duplicate the data currents and then send them to the pixel group.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a data-line driver circuit. More particularly, the present invention relates to a data-line circuit for a current-programmed electro-luminescence display device,
2. Description of Related Art
Electro-luminescence (EL) device is activated through a current drove method either in passive matrix scheme or active matrix scheme. Especially in the active scheme, the charge is held on a capacitor and applied to the pixels of EL device through a transistor driver circuit. A simplest and essential driver circuit of an active-matrix electro-luminescence display device is illustrated in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, transistor 102 is called a switching thin film transistor (switching TFT) and transistor 104 modulates the current for driving a light-emission element 108 in response to a signal voltage of a storage capacitor 106, so the transistor 104 is called a driving TFT. The signal voltage stored in the storage capacitor 106 is refreshed per frame time.
Nonetheless, the method of utilizing voltages to drive directly the driving TFT 104 as in the foregoing description would generate different light intensities by the same driving voltage due to every driving TFT having different characters. Therefore, a method of utilizing currents to drive the driving TFT 104 is generally used to adjust the threshold voltage and the mobility of the driving TFT 104.
However, there is a disadvantage of an electro-luminescence display device driven by currents. Data currents are generally provided by data lines, so the quantity of current sources must be equal to the quantity of data lines. In other words, many data lines and current sources are required to satisfy the demands for large size and high resolution in modern electro-luminescence display devices. Sony Corp. therefore has provided a current latch circuit to decrease the quantity of current sources, as illustrated in FIG. 2.
In FIG. 2, the current latch circuit includes a circuit 202, a circuit 204, a circuit 206, a circuit 212, a circuit 214, a circuit 216, a shift register (SR) 208, a shift register 218, an enabling means 209, an enabling means 219 and a pixel group 220. The circuit 202 and circuit 212 are in charge of red pixels of the pixel group 220, the circuit 204 and circuit 214 are in charge of green pixels of the pixel group 220, and the circuit 206 and circuit 216 are in charge of blue pixels of the pixel group 220. The pixel group 220 includes a plurality of pixels; a scanning line switches these pixels for writing data currents. The shift register 208 and the enabling means 209 control a first circuit group 201; the first circuit group 201 includes the circuit 202, the circuit 204, and the circuit 206. The shift register 218 and the enabling means 219 control a second circuit group 211; the first circuit group 211 includes the circuit 212, the circuit 214, and the circuit 216.
The input data procedures of the current latch circuit in FIG. 2 is described as follows. The shift register 208 sequentially writes a data current Idata into the circuits of the first circuit group 201, when the data current Idata is sent to the current latch circuit. After finishing the foregoing writing procedure of the first circuit group, the shift register 218 is switched to write sequentially the subsequent data current Idata into the circuits of the second circuit group 211. Meanwhile, the enabling means 209 instructs the first circuit group 201 to send the data current Idata stored therein to corresponding pixels of the pixel group 220. Similarly, after finishing the writing procedure of the second circuit group 211, the shift register 208 is switched again to write the data current Idata into the first circuit group 201, and, at the same time, the enabling means 219 instructs the second circuit group 211 to send the data current Idata stored therein to corresponding pixels of the pixel group 220,
The first circuit group 201 and the second circuit group 211 take turns receiving and then sending the data current. While data current is being written into one, the other is in charge of sending another data current to the pixel group. And after both of them have finished these procedures, they interchange their functions, thus repeatedly receiving and sending out the data currents.
This current latch circuit can substantially decrease the quantity of current sources, but each circuit groups and each shift register thereof must be controlled by external control signal (not shown) because this current latch circuit is based on two circuit groups interchanging. Disadvantages of the conventional system include too many external control signal lines and poor quality of the display device because two individual circuit groups interfere somewhat with the data currents.

Data-line driver circuit for current-programmed electro-luminescence display device