A method for generating visible light and a deceptive signature pattern for an emissions producing asset is disclosed. The method comprises illuminating at least one lighting assembly of the asset in a pattern. The pattern produces visible light synchronous with a signature of a wavelength in a substantially similar range as normal emissions of the asset. The method also comprises modulating a radiant intensity of the signature of the at least one lighting assembly between a minimum radiant intensity and a maximum radiant intensity in a repetitive cycle and operating a controller to regulate the pattern.

An increasing threat to commercial aircraft is the availability of portable surface to air missiles. It is estimated that there are more than 200,000 unfired SA-7 Missiles in the world today. There are more than several hundred unfired U.S.-made Stingers remaining from the Soviet-Afghan war, which are more accurate than the SA-7s. The SA-7 and Stinger missiles are shoulder launched and are effective up to an altitude of 20,000 feet. They can be fired from the ground, from rooftops, boats, and vehicles anywhere in the landing or takeoff pattern of an aircraft.
The SA-7 and Stingers incorporate an infrared (IR) radiation guidance system that "sees" (or senses) the IR radiation signature (or pattern) of the target aircraft. The hot metal surfaces on a jet engine (or turbo-prop engine), and associated hot gas plume, are typically the major contributors of the radiation signature. Once a radiation signature is placed within its field of view and the missile guidance system is initiated, it locks onto the radiation signature and communicates guidance instructions to the missile flight control system. Well-developed algorithms in the guidance systems provide a continuously updated lead angle for the missile trajectory based on sensed changes in direction and rate of the changes in the relative position of the target aircraft, or more precisely, its radiation signature.
IR radiation countermeasure systems for aircraft have been developed to thwart these types of seeker missiles and other types of threat vehicles. Generally, an IR countermeasure system works by first detecting a missile launch, then initiating a spurious radiation signature substantially more intense than that produced by the aircraft's engines, from a location displaced from the aircraft. The source of the spurious radiation is typically ejected (or otherwise physically removed or displaced) from the immediate vicinity of the host aircraft (e.g., firing flares or towing a decoy). Thus, the IR guided missile is attracted towards the source of the spurious radiation signature, away from the target aircraft.
Flares used in such systems typically have as much as twenty (or more) times higher intensity than the emissions that are being masked (i.e., the IR signature from the aircraft). Unfortunately, some missiles (or other threat vehicles) are programmed to detect and reject a radiation signature having a large difference in intensity.
One available countermeasure system uses a missile launch detector, detecting the missile exhaust plume, and directional IR sources (or lasers). This type of countermeasure system is very expensive (i.e., between two and three million dollars). Another countermeasure system employs an onboard transmitter in conjunction with the threat detection and identification system to send a command signal directly to the incoming missile to redirect it. This "electric brick" or "hot brick" type system modulates an electrical (or fuel heated) IR source to spoil the aim of the IR missile.
Another countermeasure system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,920 (hereinafter "the '920 patent") to Royden C. Sanders, Jr. The '920 patent disclosed a missile detection system and a RF transponder onboard an aircraft and a towed decoy to separate the transponder. The system has been used with a decoy towed at 300 feet behind the aircraft. The system has induced missile misses of 150-feet behind the towed decoy, protecting both the host aircraft and the towed decoy.
Another countermeasure system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,825,791 (hereafter "the '791 patent") to Sanders et al. The '791 patent discloses a deceptive signature broadcast system for an aircraft (or other emissions generating asset). The system generates an emissions pattern that masks the normal emissions signature of the aircraft or asset. The system protects it from emissions tracking intercept vehicles, such as IR tracking missiles. The system includes at least two beacons mounted in a spaced apart arrangement orthogonal to the desired zone of protection, and bracketing the asset, such as on opposite wingtips of the aircraft for fore and aft protection. The beacon set is modulated from one end to the other with a sweeping pattern of emission intensity, deceptively indicating to the intercepting vehicle a lateral component of motion of the aircraft away from its true relative position within the intercept vehicle's field of view, thereby inducing the intercept vehicle to adopt an erroneous and exaggerated lead angle and course correction that results in a missed intercept trajectory. Unfortunately, the '791 patent requires many expensive additional components for providing the synchronized, multi-source radiation broadcast system.
Visual detection and recognition of an approaching hazard by means of warning signals, such as external alerting lights, play a major role in avoiding collisions between transportation vehicles. The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) requires two lighting systems for certain mass transportation vehicles; an "aid to navigation" lighting system and an "anti-collision" lighting system. "Aid to navigation" lighting systems consist of steady burn lights and landing lights, including red, green, and white position lights See 14 CFR Part 25, subparts 25.1383-1395 for specific requirements. "Anti-collision" lighting systems consist of flashing lights to illuminate the vital areas around the airplane. The system of flashing lights must give an effective flash frequency of not less than 40 cycles per minute (cpm) and nor more than 100 cpm. See 14 CFR Part 25, Subpart 25.1401.
The FAA procedures require that an "anti-collision" lighting system be operated during take off and landing to make the aircraft visible to other aircraft and to those on the ground. The existing lighting systems on aircraft emit visible light to meet the requirements of the FAA. Current sources utilized in countermeasure systems allow only for IR to be emitted. As is well understood in the art, jet engine IR signatures of the engine metal at the inlet, or outlet, fall generally in the region of Band 1 (i.e., about 1.8 microns to about 2.8 microns), which is the reason that threat missile guidance systems operate in this region. However, the jet engine plume is of greatest intensity in the region of Band 4 (i.e., about 3.8 microns to about 5 microns), and some guidance systems utilize a Band 4 or a dual-band sensor system to provide for greater reliability of the tracking system. Unfortunately, current countermeasure system sources do not pass a significant percentage of the Band 4 spectra.
Existing countermeasure systems require the deceptive (or jammer) emissions from a countermeasure system to have greater power than the host asset's inherent emission signature. These deceptive emissions require a large amount of power in order to draw the missile away from the host asset. This requirement often renders the prior art countermeasure systems impractical and expensive.
What is needed in the art is a low-cost, low-power solution that utilizes existing components of an aircraft (or asset) with a specialized lighting assembly, which emits both visible light and IR in the appropriate ranges, so as to integrate a missile countermeasure system based on a synchronized, multi-source radiation broadcast system with visible lighting procedures.

Tactical integrated illumination countermeasure system


An article of footwear includes a sole with a midsole. A midsole plate includes a lateral fork member and a medial fork member configured to provide flexibility to the phalanges bones during ground engaging actions. The midsole plate includes a plurality of perforations configured for air communication within an upper of an article of footwear. A midsole plate may include a phalanx portion, a metatarsal portion and a midfoot portion corresponding to a foot of a wearer. The phalanx portion, the metatarsal portion, and the midfoot portion each have a different stiffness with respect to each other.

Numerous consumers and athletes purchase footwear for use in athletic activities such as running, cycling, cross training, soccer, football, baseball, tennis, walking, and the like. The shoes worn by the athlete can effect the performance and contribute to their overall success in an athlete event.
A shoe that is configured for one athletic activity, such as long-distance running, may not be suitable for use during another athletic activity, such as cycling. Likewise, a conventional shoe for cycling is undesirable of running activities. Conventional athletic footwear has certain drawbacks in design and function. A dilemma related to cycling footwear is the difficulty in finding an ideal balance of various factors for performance purposes to support other sporting events. In one balancing factor, the shoe should perform well under the high impact loading to withstand stress and strain on various portions of the shoe. Another factor to balance includes providing a shoe that is rigid for support, while being lightweight and somewhat flexible for performance purposes, such as running activities. Another drawback of conventional cycling shoes involves an outsole plate, which severally limits running performance. In particular, conventional cycling shoes, when used for walking or running activities, inhibits the musculo-skeletal motion with respect to the flexibility movement of the phalanges bones and the metatarsal bones of a wearer's foot. This interference can cause discomfort, fatigue, and injury. It is desirable to eliminate interference with the biomechanical running sequence, but to enhance performance by providing a shoe with that can be used for running activities as well as cycling.
Spinning is fast becoming a popular cycling training activities in the health and fitness industry. Participants exercise on a stationary bicycle through a series of intensive aerobic action. The problems of conventional shoes are magnified during activities performed in a gym, such as spinning, aerobic exercise, or treadmill work. If a wearer is using a conventional cycling shoe for performing spinning activities, the wearer must switch to different footwear for aerobic exercise or treadmill work, and as a result waste time. Otherwise, if the wearer keeps on the cycling shoe, the wearer has a difficult time and can be vexed with using the cycling shoe for the noted types of athletic activities. The conventional cycling shoe does not support these activities.
In view of the foregoing, there is also a need for an article of footwear that overcomes deficiencies of certain athletic shoes, including, but not limited to deficiencies found in conventional shoes intended for the sport of indoor or outdoor cycling and running.

Article of footwear having an embedded plate structure


A method includes the steps of providing a carrier comprising a plurality of cavities; placing at least one semiconductor element into each of the cavities; filling the plurality of cavities with a packaging material; and removing the carrier.

Packaging, e.g. integrated circuit packaging, is the final stage of semiconductor device fabrication. The packaging may also provide an interconnection from a circuit, e.g. an IC (IC=Integrated Circuit) or semiconductor element, to a support, e.g. a substrate or a printed circuit board (PCB). Further, packaging provides for a desired mechanical protection and a protection from the environment to ensure reliability and performance of the device.

Method and apparatus for fabricating a plurality of semiconductor devices


A method and apparatus for transmitting frames, the method comprising: determining a maximal frame size, maximal frame size violation threshold larger than the maximal frame size, maximal bitrate and maximal transmission time; receiving a frame to be transmitted, the frame having a size; responsive to the size not exceeding the maximal frame size: transmitting the frame during a time period not exceeding the maximal transmission time; responsive to the size exceeding the maximal frame size but not exceeding the maximal frame size violation threshold: transmitting the frame at a bitrate substantially equal to the maximal bitrate; and transmitting at least one subsequent frame during a time period shorter than the maximal transmission time; and responsive to the size exceeding the maximal frame size violation threshold: transmitting the frame; and skipping one or more subsequent frames.

Streaming media relates to constant delivery of media by a provider, to be received by and presented to an end-user.
Streaming may be used for any type of information such as data, audio or video, and content such as music, movies, games, closed captioning, stock ticker, real-time text, or any other data to be streamed or broadcast. When receiving streamed media, a client media player can start playing or otherwise utilizing the data once a predetermined buffer is filled with received contents and does not need to wait for the full data. This is particularly true when not all the data is a-priori available, such as in gaming applications.
Common environments or applications of streaming media include but are not limited to interactive television information systems such as video on-demand (VoD) providing pre-ready contents or games, and internet television.
Streaming media has become more and more popular due to a number of reasons, including the increased network bandwidth, especially in the last mile, increased access to and commercialization of networks, especially the Internet, and the use of standard protocols and formats, such as TCP/IP, HTTP, and HTML.
A media stream can be streamed either live or on-demand. Live streams are generally provided by a means called "true streaming", which sends the information without saving the file to a hard disk. On-demand streaming may be provided by a means called progressive streaming or progressive download, which saves the file to a hard disk and then plays it from that location. On-demand streams may be saved to hard disks and servers for extended amounts of time, while the live streams are only generated and available at one time e.g., during an interactive game, a broadcast game or others.
An architecture for live or on-demand services in systems such as but not limited to cable television (CATV) systems may include a plurality of sources, such as files, game servers or others which retrieve or render a sequence of frames; optionally one or more encryption engines, for encrypting the streamed frames; and one or more edge devices, each of which packetizes sub-sets of input streams into a multi program/service transport stream (MPTS) format, modulates each MPTS through a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), and transmits the radio frequency (RF) modulated signal to the set top box at the client's premises.
In order to save transmission time, the data may be compressed prior to sending, and decompressed by the client device. The selected type of compression and streaming may be based on the types of the data, the clients and the communication channels.
For example, audio streams may be compressed using an audio codec such as MP3, Vorbis or AAC, while video streams may be compressed using a video codec such as H.264/MPEG-4 or VP8. The stream may be delivered from a streaming server to a streaming client using a transport protocol, such as MMS or RTP. The streaming client may interact with the streaming server using a control protocol, such as MMS or RTSP.
In some applications, in particular fast-paced gaming applications, the streaming rate and quality is of particular importance. Freezing the frame for over a predetermined period of time, or degrading the quality of frames may be unacceptable to users. It is thus required to transmit frames in sufficient rate and streaming quality.

Maintaining continuity in media streaming


The present invention provides the ability to use existing cable TV wires for home networking.

Home networking is a key technology for the evolving home infotainment market, and it is expected to become a very large market by itself within the next decade. Home networks will connect between computing devices (personal computers, palm computers, network computers, etc.), entertainment devices (TV, VCR, DVD player, video camera, audio systems, etc.), I/O devices (printer, scanner, head- sets, keyboards, remote controls, mouse, loud-speakers, etc.), home appliances, and modems (such as cable modems, DSL modems, and PSTN modems) that connect the home outside. The home network will enable a wide range of application such as internet sharing, peripheral sharing, file and application sharing, and home automation. The home network will distribute the computation power of the computer from the study room to the living rooms.
There are several home networking solutions that have already been proposed, including networking over the existing telephone wiring (e.g. HomePNA), networking over the existing power lines, short range wireless networks (Bluetooth), medium range wireless networks (e.g. HomeRF, IEEE802.11), and solutions that require new wiring, such as IEEE1394 (I.LINK) or CAT 5 Ethernet wiring.
Existing Telephone wiring (HomePNA) generally allows ordinary voice telephone calls to be carried over the wire, while at the same time providing up to several megabits of data throughput.
It is also possible to use the normal AC electrical wiring in the home for data transmission. Electrical wiring has been used in the past for low bit-rate data applications (e.g. home automation). Technologies for achieving multi megabit throughput on existing residential electrical wiring are under investigation in the industry.
Wireless technologies (Short-range wireless; Bluetooth; HomeRF; IEEE 802.11) provide several megabits of throughput; however, their effectiveness can vary, depending on the size of the house, the proximity of other wireless networks, and other sources of noise.
The IEEE 1394 (i.LINK) standard defines a serial interface between digital devices. This inexpensive, easy-to-use and high-speed bus handles multimedia bandwidth requirements and provides a universal interface for a variety of devices. By allowing seamless data exchange between devices such as workstations, personal computers and digital televisions, VCRs, camcorders and set-top boxes, it enables a. new generation of computers and consumer electronic devices to operate in a common environment.
Originally developed as an interface to replace SCSI, IEEE 1394 offers bi-directionality, high data transfer rates and isochronous data transfers. This fire-wire technology required special wires.
For new homes, it is anticipated that standard Category 5 wiring can supplement twisted-pair telephone wiring. The added cost of including this extra wiring is low and the benefits reaped can be great, because 100BaseT and other high-speed network types work well over this cable.
TV wiring that consist of coaxial cables are used to connect the antenna/cable TV output, typically via passive splitters, to the cable outlets at specific points in the home. Typical home TV wiring scenarios are depicted in FIG. 1.
The signals transmitted over the in-home coaxial TV wiring may include regular video channels, data channels for fast Internet access (using e.g., DOCSIS cable modem), voice channels for telephony over cable, pay-per-view, control signals and more.
Technically, to use the in-home TV wiring for home networking applications, one may connect standard cable modems through the cable TV (CATV) system. Data from one cable modem can be transmitted to the other cable modem via the CATV head-end.
Such a configuration has several drawbacks: (1) it loads the system, possibly above the typical headend system capacity; and (2) it introduces large delays that cannot be tolerated by at least some of the applications. Therefore, it is unlikely that cable operators will adopt such configuration.
It should be noted that a cable modem could be used to connect any type of home networking system to external (out of the home) networks, such as the Internet.
A home networking solution may also be built at a home that does not connect to the cable infrastructure (i.e. a home that is connected to a standard home antenna, a satellite dish, another access network (xDSL), or a wireless local loop).

System and methods for home network communications


A pressure sensor port apparatus and method comprising a pressure port that includes a hexagonal area preferably comprising a plastic material (e.g., thermoplastic). Additionally, one or more electronic interconnections can be associated with the pressure sensor port, such that the electronic interconnections are isolated from sensed media while providing a pressure sensor port apparatus based on a cost effective injection molding process rather than a machining processes required for a metal.

Many processes and devices have been used for pressure sensing. Pressure sensors or pressure transducers are used in a wide range of applications. In many cases, it is desirable to measure the pressure of fluid media which may be harmful or corrosive to the transducer material, such as water, fuel, oil, acids, bases, solvents, other chemicals, and corrosive gases. There are numerous high-volume applications where a media compatible pressure transducer is highly desired but not available in any currently available technology with satisfactory durability, performance, or price characteristics. There is a need for media compatible pressure sensor packages which have substantial performance and cost advantages over existing technologies and provide new capabilities not previously realized.
Pressure is one of the most commonly measured physical variables. While pressure measuring instruments have been available for many decades, the proliferation of inexpensive solid-state silicon pressure transducers has resulted in tremendous growth in the number and different types of applications of pressure transducers. The most common pressure transducers are solid-state silicon pressure transducers employing a thin silicon diaphragm which is stressed in response to an applied pressure. The stress is measured by piezoresistive elements formed in the diaphragm.
Pressure transducers can also be formed similarly using metal foil diaphragms and thin film stress sensing elements. In some cases, one or two pressure sensing diaphragms are part of a parallel plate capacitor, in which the applied pressure is detected by the change in capacitance associated with the deflection of the loaded plate or plates. Other pressure measurement techniques include spring-loaded members which move in response to an applied pressure. For vacuum pressures there are a wide variety of other pressure measurement techniques.
Pressure transducers can be used to measure pressures in a wide variety of fluid media, including but not limited to: air, nitrogen, industrial process gases, water, automotive fluids, pneumatic fluids, coolants, and industrial chemicals. In many important applications, the media which the pressure transducer must measure is corrosive or damaging to the transducer itself. In these cases, the pressure transducer must either be constructed in such a way that it is resistant to the media of interest, or the transducer must somehow measure the pressure while being physically isolated from the media of interest. To date, pressure sensors are either inadequately protected for media compatibility or are prohibitively expensive for many applications.
Many different types of pressure sensors have been devised. The overwhelming majority of pressure transducers for media compatibility are protected by stainless steel housing, with a single stainless steel diaphragm providing a barrier between the pressure sensing element and the media. The empty volume between the steel diaphragm and the pressure sensing element is filled with a fluid, such as silicone oil. When the steel diaphragm deflects due to an externally applied pressure, the essentially incompressible fluid transmits that pressure to the internal pressure sensing element, which produces a voltage or current signal proportional to the pressure. While these stainless steel packaged pressure transducers are widely used, they have several shortcomings, including relative complexity and high cost.
In some industrial applications the rugged steel housing may be preferred regardless of price, there are numerous high-volume applications for media compatible pressure sensors in which the cost of the steel packages are prohibitively expensive. Also, the steel diaphragms, while thin, are inherently stiff due to the high modulus of steel. This results in a loss of sensitivity to applied pressure which is undesirable for transducer performance, especially at lower applied pressures.
These types of sensors are also inherently sensitive to temperature. A temperature rise causes the internal fluid to expand. Constrained by the steel diaphragm, the pressure of the fluid rises, producing a false pressure reading. This temperature sensitivity is typically corrected with external passive or active electronic components which add to the cost of the transducer. Fourth, the stainless steel material is not satisfactory for many media applications. Stainless steel will eventually corrode in certain environments with harsh acids and bases present. In some applications, such as in the semiconductor industry and biomedical applications, even if the steel is resistant to the chemical substance in question, minute trace amounts of steel or corrosion products released into the media cannot be tolerated. Also, steel housings add substantially to the weight and size of the transducers.
Examples of media isolated pressure transducers are known. One example involves a media compatible device for sensing pressure in which the media compatible pressure sensor utilizes self-aligned components which fit together without the need for adhesives is described. Other examples include relatively small-scale pressure sensing devices which are designed to be placed in close proximity to various substances from which pressure can be measured. In such devices the media compatible packages for pressure sensing devices can include molded polymeric housings and diaphragms which mount and isolate pressure sensing devices in operative contact with any type of corrosive or non-corrosive media for pressure measurement. The various pressure sensor package housings in such devices include a main cavity in which a pressure sensor is mounted, a polymeric diaphragm bonded to the housing within the main cavity, one or more media ports that leads to a pressure port on one side of the diaphragm, and a pressure transfer cavity on an opposite side of the diaphragm in which a pressure sensor is located.
Another example involves a media compatible package for a pressure sensing device is made from a non-corrosive, highly chemical resistant material. Such a package can include a base which holds a printed circuit board having a pressure sensor mounted thereon. A sealing member can be placed on the circuit board encircling the pressure sensor and a diaphragm can be disposed on the sealing member. In this example a fluid port can be attached to the base and compressingly engages the diaphragm creating a sealed chamber around the pressure sensor. The sealed chamber can be filled with a pressure transmissive fluid such as oil through a fill hole provided in the printed circuit board. This configuration allows the sensor package to be easily assembled with ordinary components and provides a design where all exposed surfaces of the package can be made from a highly corrosion resistive material.
Another media isolated pressure transducer involves deflecting a diaphragm differential pressure sensor is formed so all electrical elements and connections from external circuitry to the sensor are isolated from the pressure media. The deflecting, pressure sensing diaphragm is made of a semi-conductor material, having piezoresistors disposed on a surface thereof to form strain gages to sense deflection of the diaphragm. The strain gage resistors are media isolated by a layer that overlies the strain gage resistors.
Based on the foregoing, it can be appreciated that such prior art pressure sensor and transducer devices are plagued with a number of limitations. It is believed that a need exists for a low cost high accuracy media isolated pressure transducer that can be used in high temperature applications.

Metal/thermo plastic port design for media isolated pressure transducers


Provided are an electrode, an electrolysis cell, and an electrochemical analyzer that improve the long-term stability of analysis data. A working electrode, a counter electrode, and reference electrode are disposed in an electrolysis cell. The working electrode is obtained by forming a lead wire in a composite material having platinum or a platinum alloy as a base material, in which a metal oxide is dispersed, or in a laminated material obtained by laminating a valve metal and platinum such that the cross sectional crystal texture in the thickness direction of the platinum is formed in layers and the thickness of each layer of the platinum is 5 micrometers or less. The metal oxide is selected from among zirconium oxide, tantalum oxide, and niobium oxide, and the metal oxide content of the platinum or the platinum alloy is 0.005 to 1 wt % in terms of the zirconium, tantalum, or niobium metal.

Electrochemical measurement is capable of performing high-sensitivity measurement with use of relatively simple apparatus configurations and is frequently used in the field of analytical chemistry. Available electrochemical measurement schemes include potentiometry, amperometry, voltammetry, and impedance measurement, and further include other detection methods such as methods for detecting photons by combinatorial use of these with an optical element or the like, for example.
Generally, an electrode used for electrochemical measurement is frequently made of a platinum group metal—especially, platinum—in the light of its excellent chemical stability characteristics. In recent years, also in the analysis of chemical components contained in liquid samples such as blood and urine, platinum is used as the electrode to be built in a flow cell.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses that in the case of continuous measurement of a chemical component in blood or urine repetitive measurement is enabled through a process of applying a plurality of electrical potentials between a working electrode and a counter electrode on a per-analysis basis, in addition to cleaning and main measurement.
An example using a mixture material of platinum and metal oxide as the electrode is found in Patent Literature 2, which discloses therein an electrode comprising a surface layer formed on the surface of a metallic base substance by solid solution of tin oxide and antimony oxide and a mixture layer of a platinum-group metal or its oxide and an oxide of IV- or V-group metal as an intermediate layer between the metal base substance and the surface layer. Additionally, Patent Literature 3 discloses an electrode for electrolysis having an outer layer above a surface of a titanium or a titanium alloy body with an intermediate layer being laid therebetween, wherein the outer layer is made of a mixed metal oxide comprising iridium oxide, platinum, and at least one kind of metal oxide selected from the group consisting of niobium oxide, tantalum oxide, and zirconium oxide.
Patent Literature 4 discloses therein an oxygen sensor's electrode comprising either an oxide semiconductor or a solid electrolyte, the surface of which is coated with an electrode material containing an oxide of aforementioned the aforementioned constituent metal and platinum.
Concerning the electrode material containing a platinum-group metal, Patent Literature 5 describes therein use of a platinum-group metal for the counter electrode and the working electrode. Additionally, Patent Literature 6 discloses an electrode for electrochemical reaction which is composed with a valve metal such as titanium, tantalum, or zirconium and platinum by thermal pressing, and also discloses a manufacturing method of the electrode.
Furthermore, Patent Literature 7 discloses an electrode with sequential formation of a platinum alloy coat layer and a coat layer made of iridium oxide and/or platinum oxide on a titanium, niobium, or tantalum base material, as an electrode for electrolyzing a salt solution to produce strongly acidic water having bactericidal action and an insoluble electrode used for certain applications such as electrolytic cleaning treatment of waste water containing organic substances.

Electrode for electrochemical measurement, electrolysis cell for electrochemical measurement, analyzer for electrochemical measurement, and methods for producing same


A dog harness having a collar mounted on a dog's neck, a girth passing around the dog's body, the girth having a first end fastened to the metal ring at the collar and a second end passing around the dog's body and then inserted through the metal ring at the collar, a retainer moved on the girth between the second end of the girth and the metal ring at the collar and secured at the desired location, a drag rope connected to the second end of the girth, and a belt connected between the collar and the girth and retained between the two front legs of the dog.

The present invention relates to a dog harness, and more particularly to such a dog harness which is helpful to walk the dog.
When growing a dog, one may have to spend a certain length of time in walking the dog daily. Before walking the dog, a collar must be mounted on the dog's neck so that a drag rope can be fastened to the dog for controlling the walking of the dog. Various collars have been disclosed for this purpose. FIG. 1 shows a collar 5 which is equipped with a quick-release hook 52 and a length adjustment frame 51. FIG. 2 shows another structure of collar 6 which is equipped with a buckle comprised of a frame 61 and a prong 62. FIG. 3 shows still another structure of collar 7 which is made from an elastic band. However, simply using a drag rope and a collar cannot positively control the movement of the dog in all directions. Further, when pulling the drag rope, the collar is forced to squeeze the dog's throat, causing the collar to pain the dog.

Chungkou Tsun Huatang Hsiang Changhua Hsien


The low-operating-force connector consists of a pair of female and male housings. The male housing has on the opposite sides driven pins, while the female housing has pin guide grooves for the driven pins. A cam member is rotatably mounted on the female housing, which consists of levers each including a cam groove and a lever handle connecting the levers. The housings are fitted with or separated from each other through rotation of the cam member. A pair of resilient locking pieces are provided on the outer periphery of the male housing, the locking pieces each including an engagement projection, while a corresponding pair of engagement portions are provided on the lever handle. Springs are so provided between the levers of the cam member and the female housing as to urge the cam member into an upright opened position. On completion of the coupling of the female and male housings, the cam member is locked by the engagement between the engagement projections and portions. When the engagement projections and portions are disengaged, the cam member is opened by the resilient action of the springs up to a starting position for separating the housings.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement in low-operating-force connectors in which a pair of female and corresponding male housings are fitted with and separated from each other through rotation of a cam member provided with levers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An example of such a connector is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Preliminary Publication No. Showa 52-133993, in which, with a view to providing a structure whereby a pair of receptacle-side and plug-side connectors with multiple and complementary terminals therein are coupled and separated with a low operating force, an engaging projection and an engaging lever are respectively formed on one and the other of the connectors such that they are brought into and out of engagement with each other through rotation of the lever.
Shown in FIG. 7 is a lever-including connector according to the prior art as mentioned above, in which a represents a female connector directly fixed to a wall p of an electric instrument such as an electric junction box (or a panel) and b a male connector. Projections c are provided on the opposite lateral walls of the female connector a and levers d each with a cam groove e are rotatably provided on the opposite lateral walls of the male connector b such that they cooperate with each other to couple and decouple the connectors through rotation of the levers d. In the figure, denoted f is a stopper for the lever d and g a locking spring which engages with the lever d to lock the same from accidental movement to prevent separation of the female and male connectors a and b.
With the connector of FIG. 7, however, the lever d can be operated with one hand to cause unlocking only when one of the connectors, female a is fixed to a firm member such as a panel or wall p of an electric instrument as in FIG. 7. When the structure is applied, e.g., to a female and a male connectors for interconnecting wiring harnesses, since neither of the connectors is fixed in position, both hands must necessarily be used to unlock the connectors, causing inconvenience and inefficiency in operations in a confined space such as in an automobile. In addition, since locking means (locking spring 2) is provided on the male connector b, which is capable of locking the lever d prior to and independently of the coupling of the connectors, the locking of the lever d by the locking means may result in misunderstanding that the coupling of the connectors has been completed. Further, where the levers d are in a locked position prior to the fitting of the connectors, it is first necessary to release the levers d from the locking means and, prior to rotating the levers 4, to move the levers d so as to align their cam grooves d with the associated projections c, which is very troublesome.


A bicycle head tube packing arrangement includes a head tube, a hexagon head sleeve fixed to the inside of the head tube, a tubular shaft inserted through the hexagon head sleeve with both ends respectively fastened to a handlebar stem and a front fork, a nut threaded onto an outer thread on the tubular shaft to hold a first axle bearing around the tubular shaft below a lower collar on the tubular shaft, a screw cap threaded onto an inner thread at the top of the head tube to hold a second axle bearing around the tubular shaft above an upper collar on the tubular shaft.

The present invention relates to a bicycle head tube packing arrangement, and more particularly to such a bicycle head tube packing arrangement which is simple in structure, and can be conveniently installed without causing the hands to be covered with dirt.
FIG. 1 shows a bicycle head tube packing arrangement in which two packing devices are respectively mounted on top and bottom ends of the head tube to hold a respective axle bearing, enabling a shaft to be supported on the axle bearings and connected between a front fork and a handlebar stem. Because the packing devices are respectively comprised of a number of parts, the installation procedure of the packing devices is complicated. Furthermore, the hands tend to be covered with dirt during the installation of the packing devices.
It is one object of the present invention to provide a bicycle head tube packing arrangement which has a simple structure. It is another object of the present invention to provide a bicycle head tube packing arrangement which can be conveniently installed without causing the hands to be covered with dirt. To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, there is provided a bicycle head tube packing arrangement which comprises a head tube, a hexagon head sleeve fixed to the inside of the head tube, a tubular shaft inserted through the hexagon head sleeve with both ends respectively fastened to a handlebar stem and a front fork, a nut threaded onto an outer thread on the tubular shaft to hold a first axle bearing around the tubular shaft below a lower collar on the tubular shaft, a screw cap threaded onto an inner thread at the top of the head tube to hold a second axle bearing around the tubular shaft above an upper collar on the tubular shaft.

No. 816, Chan Shen Rd., Tian Shan Chun, Wei Pu Hsiang


A method is disclosed for limiting coolant temperature at a coolant flow exit port for a hydrokinetic torque converter in a powertrain for a vehicle having an engine and a power transmission mechanism, wherein the transmission and the torque converter are disposed in a common coolant flow circuit whereby a coolant flow line from the torque converter to a cooler is protected from failure due to excessive coolant temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention comprises a method for inferring transmission fluid temperature in an automatic transmission with a hydrokinetic torque converter, particularly the temperature of the transmission fluid at the flow inlet side of a transmission oil cooler.
2. Background Art
A power transmission mechanism commonly used in powertrains for automotive vehicles typically includes an internal combustion engine and a multiple ratio geared transmission with an input shaft connected to an engine crankshaft and an output shaft drivably connected to vehicle traction wheels through a differential and axle mechanism. Typically, the automatic transmission comprises a hydrokinetic torque converter, usually a three-element torque converter, located between the crankshaft of the engine and torque input gearing for the transmission.
A transmission fluid sump, sometimes referred to as an oil sump, is defined by a transmission case that envelops torque-transmitting gearing. A transmission fluid pump is drivably connected to a torque input shaft for the transmission. The pump has a fluid input port that is in fluid communication with the fluid sump. For purposes of lubrication and cooling, the pump establishes flow throughout the transmission and to the torque converter elements, including an engine-driven impeller, a turbine connected drivably to transmission gearing, and a stator located between the hydrokinetic torque converter fluid flow inlet for the impeller and the hydrokinetic fluid flow exit for the turbine. The fluid circulating through the elements of the torque converter is common to the fluid in the fluid sump for the transmission.
A transmission fluid flow outlet port (case-out port) in the torque converter communicates with a fluid cooler, typically an air-to-liquid cooler. Fluid then is returned from the cooler through a cooler return flow circuit to the torque converter and the transmission. The fluid ultimately is received by the transmission oil sump and then recirculated by the transmission pump. It is known design practice to provide a transmission fluid temperature sensor in the transmission sump for measuring fluid temperature in the sump.
As the transmission fluid circulates from the sump through the torque converter, a substantial temperature rise will occur in the toroidal flow circuit of the torque converter before the fluid is distributed from the torque converter fluid outlet to the cooler. There can be a substantial temperature difference, therefore, between the measured temperature at the transmission fluid sump and the actual fluid temperature at the fluid flow outlet port of the torque converter. The temperature rise in the transmission fluid within the torque converter can be substantial when the torque converter operates at low speed ratios as mechanical energy from the engine-driven impeller is transformed into thermal energy.
At high speed ratios for the torque converter, the transformation of kinetic energy developed by the torque converter to thermal energy is reduced. At a precalibrated engine speed for any given engine torque, a torque converter lock-up clutch will be engaged, thereby substantially eliminating a thermal energy build-up in the torque converter as fluid circulates from the fluid sump to the cooler.
It is known design practice to use a metallic transmission fluid line connecting the torque converter flow outlet port to the cooler. In installations that do not accommodate a metallic coolant flow line from the torque converter to the cooler, attempts have been made to use plastic cooler lines. A plastic material known in the automotive industry that can be used for this purpose is known as PA-12 plastic, which is a semi-flexible thermoplastic polymer. Under certain operating conditions, the fluid temperature can be high enough (e.g., about 300° F.) to cause the plastic cooler line upstream of the cooler to fail.
Typically, fluid temperatures may increase during operation of the powertrain in a stalled mode with the brakes applied at zero vehicle speeds, or when the vehicle is towing a trailer at low vehicle speed with the torque converter clutch in an open state, or during sustained high vehicle speed operation with the converter clutch in an open state. A converter clutch open state may be encountered when the converter lock-up clutch controls malfunction, whereby the converter clutch will not respond to a command by a vehicle powertrain controller to engage at a calibrated vehicle speed for a given engine throttle setting. Steps can be taken to mitigate the undesirable effects of a high temperature build-up of temperature in the oil cooler lines by truncating engine torque until the transmission fluid temperature falls below a desired temperature threshold.

Method and system for inferring and controlling transmission fluid temperature


The invention provides a bidirectional hCMV-rhCMV promoter and recombinant vectors and recombinant virus comprising the bidirectional hCMV-rhCMV promoter operably linked to a first transgene in one direction and to a second transgene in the opposite direction. The invention also provides methods of making and using such recombinant vectors and recombinant virus.

Recombinant vectors are used extensively in a variety of molecular biology applications for the expression of heterologous proteins, including, for example, their application in gene therapy and vaccination. For these gene therapy and vaccination applications, vectors, including viral vectors, are used as carriers for a gene or genes of interest to be introduced into host cells. For example, viral vectors can be used to express a gene or part thereof encoding a desired antigen to elicit an immune response.
The earliest viral vectors typically only included one transgene and many strategies are published for the early generation vectors. For example, published strategies report the use of a variety of different adenovirus (rAd) vectors and show that the transgene expression cassette can be placed in different regions of the rAd, e.g., in the E1 region, the E3 region, or between E4 and the right ITR. For vaccine purposes, however, more than one antigen or the same antigen from several different strains is often required to achieve protection and broad coverage. Therefore, in certain cases, it's desirable to express at least two antigens from one vector. Different approaches to encode two antigens in one viral vector have been described.
In a first two antigen approach with rAd, one antigen expression cassette was placed in the E1 region and a second one was placed in the E3 region (e.g. (Vogels et al., 2007)). In a different two antigen approach with rAd, one antigen expression cassette was placed in E1 and a second one between E4 and the right ITR (e.g. (Holman et al., 2007; Pham et al., 2009; Schepp-Berglind et al., 2007)). Another two antigen approach with rAd, is to use two antigen expression cassettes placed in the E1 region in a head-to-tail fashion using two different promoter sequences in an attempt to prevent genetic instability by recombination (e.g. (Belousova et al., 2006; C. D. Harro et al., 2009)).
Another example of a two antigen approach is to use an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) of positive-stranded RNA-viruses, e.g., derived from encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) to produce a single transcript that is translated into two proteins (e.g. (Amendola, Venneri, Biffi, Vigna, & Naldini, 2005; Na & Fan, 2010)). Other examples include utilizing the host cell splicing machinery or use of "cleavage" peptides derived from positive-stranded RNA viruses such as the foot-and-mouth-disease 2A sequence or equivalents from other viruses to produce a polyprotein that is cleaved into two proteins. According to published reports, all of these strategies can be equally useful and successful.
Alternatively, use of bidirectional promoters is another approach for expressing two antigens with viral vectors. For example, different bidirectional promoters have been described for lentiviral vectors (Heilbronn & Weger, 2010) and adenoviral vectors (Na & Fan, 2010; Post & Van Meir, 2001; Robbins & Ghivizzani, 1998; Walther & Stein, 2000).
In general, two different types of bidirectional promoters are known for use, naturally occurring sequences with bidirectional properties and synthetically designed bidirectional promoters. The naturally occurring sequences with bidirectional properties can be found in viruses, plants or mammalian genomes (Andrianaki, Siapati, Hirata, Russell, & Vassilopoulos, 2010; Barski, Siller-Lopez, Bohren, Gabbay, & Aguilar-Cordova, 2004). For example, it has been reported that many promoters in the human genome have some bidirectional properties. The human promoters with bidirectional properties are marked by an overrepresentation of GABP sites (Collins, Kobayashi, Nguyen, Trinklein, & Myers, 2007).
In contrast to the naturally occurring sequences, synthetic bidirectional promoters can be designed to take advantage of the desirable properties of different unidirectional promoters. For example, Amendola et al. created two different synthetic bidirectional promoters for use in lentiviral vectors by combining a minimal promoter derived from the human cytomegalovirus (minCMV) with the human phosphoglycerate kinase promoter (PGK) or the human ubiquitin C promoter (UBI C) (Amendola et al., 2005). To construct the bidirectional promoters, the unidirectional promoters were configured in an opposite orientation (head to head), making use of only one enhancer. According to Amendola et al., when the strong minimal promoter was combined with a full mammalian promoter in this configuration the result was coordinate expression from both sides. Important features for newly created multivalent vectors include, for example, genetic stability during upscaling, productivity of the vector at large scale, potent expression of both antigens, balanced expression of both antigens, and size constraints of antigens expressed from the inserted expression cassettes.
A recently described strategy that yielded particularly good results compared to previously disclosed methods, used a bidirectional mouse Cytomegalovirus (mCMV) promoter to express two transgenes (WO 2016/166088). Therein, a first transgene was operably linked to the bidirectional mCMV promoter in one direction and a second transgene was operably linked to the bidirectional mCMV promoter in the other direction. The rAd with the bidirectional mCMV promoter were determined to be genetically stable, providing genetic stability that was comparable to rAd with only a single transgene. Furthermore, it was determined that both transgenes were sufficiently expressed to generate immunogenic responses to both antigens based on ELISPOT and ELISA analysis of the immunogenicity of the expressed antigens with regard to T-cell and B-cell responses. The mCMV bidirectional promoter was thus described to be superior to several other previously described strategies. However, it was determined that the balance of the expression levels between both sides of the mCMV promoter could be further improved. There was approximately a 10-times higher expression of an antigen positioned at the right side (3′end) of the bidirectional mCMV promoter compared to the antigen positioned at the left side (5′end) of the promoter. The imbalance in expression of the two encoded antigens leads to a stronger immune response directed against the highly expressed antigen compared to the lower expressed antigen. This kind of differential expression could be useful for certain applications, but for other applications it is also desirable to have a strategy that combines several advantages of the mCMV promoter with a more balanced expression, i.e. a bidirectional promoter that is both potent and more balanced than the bidirectional mCMV promoter and other bidirectional promoters that have been described in the literature.
Thus, a need remains to identify bidirectional promoters that are potent, relatively short, have no or limited lengthy internal stretches of identical sequences, and have an improved balance in expression from both sides compared to the mCMV bidirectional promoter, and to provide recombinant viruses that are genetically stable with potent and balanced expression of two transgenes.

Potent and balanced bidirectional promoter


To develop a flow control system for use in a well, a multi-level approach is used, where the multi-level approach includes setting goals for the flow control system. According to the goals set, an overall design of the flow control system is specified, and based on the specified overall design for the flow control system, operation of the flow control system is simulated.

A well (e.g., a vertical well, near-vertical well, deviated well, horizontal well, or multi-lateral well) can pass through various hydrocarbon bearing reservoirs or may extend through a single reservoir for a long distance. A technique to increase the production of the well is to perforate the well in a number of different zones, either in the same hydrocarbon bearing reservoir or in different hydrocarbon bearing reservoirs.
An issue associated with producing from a well in multiple zones relates to the control of the inflow of fluids into the well. In a well producing from a number of separate zones, in which one zone has a higher pressure than another zone, the higher pressure zone may produce into the lower pressure zone rather than to the earth surface. Similarly, in a horizontal well that extends through a single reservoir, zones near the "heel" of the well (the zones nearer the earth surface) may begin to produce unwanted water or gas (an effect referred to as water or gas coning) before those zones near the "toe" of the well (zones further away from the earth surface). Production of unwanted water or gas in any one of these zones may require special interventions to be performed to stop production of the water or gas.
To address water coning or gas coning effects, inflow control devices are used to control pressure drop and flow rates in the various zones of the well. However, the overall design of a completion system that includes such inflow control devices can be complex and can be affected by various characteristics and parameters. Conventional techniques of designing a completion system having inflow control devices suffer from various drawbacks.

Developing a flow control system for a well


In order to check the authenticity of a banknote or other such document it is printed with two patches of magnetisable ink, and each patch is magnetised to present a multipole sequence of alternating polarity. If the document is folded to bring the two patches together and then rubbed to and fro in the direction of the pole sequences, they will be subject to alternating forces of attraction and repulsion which can be sensed through the fingertips and gives the impression of a physically rippled texture notwithstanding that the patches actually have a smooth surface. The presence or absence of this effect can therefore be used to distinguish between a genuine document bearing such magnetised patches and a counterfeit which may be visually identical but lacks the correct magnetisation. In a variant only one of the patches is printed on the document itself and the other is on a separate “key” device which is rubbed over it to test for the presence of the correct magnetisation.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of checking the authenticity of a document and to documents adapted for use in such method. More particularly the invention is concerned with a method of document authentication based on the use of magnetic ink and which can be accomplished by simple manipulation, using the human sense of touch as the discriminator. The invention may in principle be applied to the authentication of any kind of document upon which a region of magnetisable ink can be deposited or otherwise attached including, without limitation, banknotes, cheques, credit cards, passports, drivers licences, goods labels, tickets, vouchers, stamps, bonds, stock and share certificates, legal communications and any other such documents of intrinsic or extrinsic value which require protection from the risk of counterfeiting.
(2) Description of the Art
Many machine-readable anti-counterfeiting measures utilising a range of different technologies already exist for the protection of various documents, requiring the use of special external equipment to verify authenticity. Other measures, such as watermarks and holograms, can readily be perceived by the human sense of sight and their level of security depends on the degree of difficulty and/or cost to the potential counterfeiter of reproducing the identical features. One aim of the present invention is to provide an alternative form of anti-counterfeiting measure to be used as an adjunct to existing forms or in appropriate cases as a standalone measure which in a preferred embodiment requires no external equipment to verify authenticity (or in other embodiments requires the use of only a simple external device) so that authentication can be performed by any user aware of the existence of the technique, but whose presence need not be visually apparent to the uninformed, and the reproduction of which would present a technological barrier to the potential counterfeiter.


A pretreatment cup that encourages the customer to pretreat stained fabrics with a liquid laundry detergent composition, the pretreatment cup having a pretreatment region that is differentiated from other parts of the cup by a difference in material, color, translucency, surface texture, a line, and mixtures thereof.

Many of today's liquid laundry detergent compositions are formulated to deliver superior removal of grease, soils, and other stains. However, many customers still prefer to use specialist pretreat compositions, even though liquid laundry detergent compositions are often formulated for pretreating stains.
A big cause for this customer behaviour is that dosing devices, typically sold with liquid laundry detergent compositions, are less than satisfactory for use in pretreating, except for on light and non-greasy stains. They are often also not intuitive to use, with many customers not even being aware that they can be used for effectively pretreating stains.
As a result, customers often either do not pretreat, or prefer to buy specialist pretreaters for removing stains, particularly for tough stains such as grease, ink, lipstick, and the like. This is regardless of the fact that many current liquid laundry detergent compositions contain surfactants, enzymes, soil release polymers and other stain removing actives. In addition, such liquid laundry detergent compositions are more effective in removing stains when applied neat, since the concentration of actives on the stain is much greater. Therefore, encouraging customers to pretreat results in better stain removal, and hence in customers being more satisfied with their liquid laundry detergent composition.
Therefore, a need remains for a pretreating device, wherein the customer is intuitively guided to use the pretreatment device for pretreating stains with a liquid laundry detergent composition. U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,209 discloses a closure for a liquid laundry detergent container having an integrated brush, U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,298 discloses a dispenser with an integrated scrubbing surface and pretreat nozzle, U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,034 discloses a cap to a spray bottle having an integrated scrubber. U.S. Pat. No. 6,874,190 discloses a hand-held container for washing laundry. U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,630 discloses a cap having a pouring spout. GB 2 168 931 discloses a cap having an applicator.


A protectively coated sliding member comprises a sliding member body, an anchor layer formed thereon and which consists of (a) a hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon-based plasma polymer film, (b) a diamond-like film, or (c) an ion-plating film of a metal or metallic compound, and a protective coating formed on the anchor layer and which consists of a hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon-based plasma polymer film in case where the anchor layer consists of (a), a diamond or diamond-like film in case of (b), or an ion-plating film of a metallic compound in case of (c). The protective coating is of greater hardness than the anchor layer.

This invention relates to improvements in sliding members. More particularly, it concerns a technique of improving the adhesion of a wear-resistant protective coating for sliding members to the substrates.
Magnetic tape cassettes, such as for audio and video tapes, are provided with guide pins and other guide members that come in sliding contact with the magnetic tapes to guide the running tape properly and ensure its stability during running. Those guides for video tape cassettes are made of stainless steel (of grade SUS 304 or the like), brass, or aluminum, with plating, or of a hard resin such as polyacetal. For audio cassettes, guides of stainless steel or plastics such as polystyrene are used. Stainless steel members in video tape cassettes can be abraded by inorganic particles added to the back coating of the magnetic tapes. The abrasion, in turn, can cause dropout. For guides in audio cassettes, stainless steel is an ideal material but adds greatly to the cost. Plated brass or aluminum is again costly, and reduced surface roughness increases the coefficient of friction, giving adverse effects upon the running of tape. Polyacetal and other similar resins are easily scraped, and dusting results in deposition of minute particles on the surface of the recording medium, leading to dropout. In addition, a high friction coefficient is likely to hamper smooth running of the tape.
Optical and magnetic discs comprise recording media each built as a circular plate with a metallic rotating hub fitted securely in a central opening of the plate so as to support and drive it. The rotating hub has a center hole in which to receive a spindle pin and an off-center hole to receive an eccentric drive pin from a driving device. When the disc is set in a recording-reproducing device, the drive pin automatically comes in sliding contact with the surface of the hub to fit in the off-center hole. This can cause abrasion, scratching, and dusting of the hub surface.
FIG. 1 generally illustrates, in an exploded view, a magnetic disc as comprising an upper half housing section 11, a lower half housing section 12, and a magnetic disc 14 with a rotating hub 13 fitted securely in the center opening and contained, together with liner sheets 15, 16 on both sides, in the housing as the two half sections are put together. The rotating hub 13 has a square center hole 17 to receive a center spindle pin (not shown) of a reproducing device and an off-center square hole 18 to receive a drive pin (not shown) in an eccentric position. Inserting the complete disc into a record-playback device automatically causes the latter's spindle pin and drive pin to gain entrance into the corresponding holes of the disc. Because the pins are not always properly aligned to the holes 17, 18, the drive pin turns in sliding contact with the surface of the hub 13 until it finds out and fits into the hole 18. The rotating hub 13 usually used is made of stainless steel (SUS 430) with or without plating (e.g., hard chromium plating). Nevertheless, the hub portions that come in repeated contact with the metallic drive and spindle pins are gradually worn with dusting. The resulting particles tend to deposit on the disc surface, and such deposits can cause false recording or dropout, leading to malfunction in recording and reading of information. Other associated parts including the shutter that come in sliding contact whenever used can also present the above troubles unless they have adequate wear resistance.
Similar problems arise from the abrasion and dusting of magnetic heads in rubbing contact with magnetic tapes. Generally, sliding members of magnetic and optical-disc recording-reproducing devices located close to recording media have the possibilities of causing errors in recording and reproduction of information due to dusting with wear. The sliding members therefore are required to be as wear-resistant as possible. Although members of considerably better wear life have been introduced through improvements in materials, there is still demand for simpler methods of manufacture for cost reason.
Attempts have been made to form a wear-resistant protective coat, e.g., of SiC, TiN, TiC, or Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, on the surface of such sliding members. However, the coatings do not necessarily have adequate adhesion or bonding properties with respect to the substrates. Dusting due to separation can still occur, resulting in dropout from the recording media.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to improve the binding force of a wear-resistant protective coating with respect to the substrate of sliding members.
Another object of the invention is to provide an efficient, low-cost process for forming such a wear-resistant protective coating.

Protective film on sliding members and method of forming same


A method, apparatus and system for transmitting moving image data, in which various moving image data of existent media files are efficiently delivered to existent TV cellular phones in reproducible format. A media file storage stores media files created in arbitrary format for filing moving images. A storage stores codec information on voice/image data and the media files as intermediate formatted data. A media file controller multiplexes the intermediate formatted data to generate a bit stream of voice/image data based on the codec information on the voice/image data. The interface converter transmits the bit stream of voice/image data to a TV cellular phone.

Techniques for transmitting moving image data are susceptible of broad application. For example, the techniques have been applied in next-generation cellular phones, and it is possible to send/receive moving images among TV cellular phones while producing moving image data during communications.
In the conventional techniques, however, there has been a problem that media data for moving images created by other devices cannot be reproduced by the function of TV cellular phones realized by H.324 protocol. Consequently, it is necessary to implement a memory in the cellular phone for editing software and media files to reproduce the media data.
Besides, as a technique similar in field to the present invention, there is found "intercommunication system between different TV phones" in Japanese Patent Applications laid open No. HEI8-46723. The system was proposed for the purpose of enabling intercommunication among different types of TV phones, which had not been achievable because of diversity in protocols. In the intercommunication system, n(n−1) pieces of protocol converters are prepared for n types of TV phones, and the converters are selectively used according to DTMF (Dial Tone Multi Frequency) instructions to set up connection.
In the system, however, it is necessary to provide n(n−1) pieces of protocol converters for n types of TV phones. In other words, numbers of protocol converters are required depending on the number of TV phone types. In addition, the system does not respond flexibly to a switch in converters.

Method, apparatus, and system for transmitting moving image data


Temperature-sensitive films that undergo an irreversible change in appearance when the films are heated to a threshold temperature are provided. Also provided are methods for indicating that an object in thermal contact with a temperature-sensitive film has reached a threshold temperature.

Thermochromic technologies are commonly employed to monitor temperature changes because of their easy visual detection. Thermochromic technologies generally fall into two categories: reversible and irreversible. Reversible thermochromic technologies include encapsulated thermochromic dye-based systems. Thermochromic dyes are robust temperature indicating systems that are used in many applications. These dyes can be contained in printing inks and extruded plastic parts. Most thermochromic dye-based systems include microencapsulated mixtures of chemicals that are highly colored in the cool state. When the chemical are heated, a reversible reaction occurs that bleaches the system, rendering it colorless. The color returns when the system is cooled. Another reversible thermochromic technology is based on liquid crystals (LC). A LC has strong light reflection at a temperature between a low (crystalline) and a high (isotropic) temperature state. As the temperature of the LC is raised from the low temperature to the high temperature, the color of the liquid crystal goes from the background black, through the spectral colors, and back to black. Upon cooling, this color sequence is reversed.
In many applications, it is highly desirable to have a permanent record when the temperature of an object exceeds a threshold temperature. For example, it may be useful to know if a system has overheated, particularly if the overheating was temporary. During the operation of electrical equipment, overheating caused by loose connections or spikes of current/voltage is a common cause of failure. Equipment which can experience overheating includes cable trays, switchboards, and motor control centers. If overheating is caught early, serious damage (fire, explosion, machine shut down, etc.) to equipment and personal injury can be avoided. However, without continuous monitoring, reversible temperature indicating technology can fail to alert personnel to a temporary overheating. Therefore, an irreversible temperature-indicating method is desirable.
Some irreversible temperature indicating methods use an indicator substrate below a solid substance. In these methods, the indicator substrate becomes visible when the solid substance becomes transparent upon melting.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,611 describes an article coated with an opaque composition composed of an organic polymer and a bonding agent. When the melting point of the composition is reached, the material melts and becomes transparent or translucent and the color of the article shows through.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,137 describes a temperature sensor that includes a substrate having a colored patch obscured by a thermochromic material. When the material is exposed to a predetermined temperature, it changes to a relatively transparent color whereby the colored patch on the substrate is rendered visible through the thermochormic material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,364 describes a temperature indicator that utilizes waxes, low-temperature melt metals or polymers attached to a support member that will melt to reveal a visible indicia on the support surface, thereby serving as an indicator that the product to which the indicator has been attached has been heated beyond a predetermined temperature.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,063,041 describes a temperature sensitive label having a waxed layer that comprises a powdered petroleum wax formed on the face of a colored paper and covered with a transparent film. When the temperature of an apparatus to which the label is affixed reaches a preset temperature the wax melts and the wax layer becomes translucent.
Unfortunately, achieving a dramatic contrast between the opacity of the solid substances and the transparency of the melted substances in existing temperature indicating films has proven challenging. In addition, known temperature indicating films may not be sufficiently flexible or elastic to be stretched and applied to irregular surfaces.


Methods, devices and device components are presented for blood processing. Particularly, methods, devices and device components are presented for separating blood into blood components and collecting one or more separated blood components, which reduce the incidence of blood vessel infiltration and enhance donor comfort. In one aspect, the invention provides blood processing methods having a return flow rate which decreases systematically during a return time. In another aspect, the invention provides blood processing methods having a removal flow rate, return flow rate or both which are derived from a subject's total blood volume. In another aspect, the present invention provides blood processing methods wherein the fraction by volume of removed blood corresponding to collected components is selected to optimize blood processing efficiency and enhance the purities of collected blood components.

Collection, processing and purification of biological samples are important processes in a range of medical therapies and procedures. Important biological samples used as therapeutic agents include whole blood and its various purified blood components, such as red blood cells, white blood cells and plasma. In the field of transfusion medicine, one or more whole blood components are directly introduced into a patient's blood stream to replace a depleted or deficient component. Infusion of plasma-derived materials, such as blood proteins, also plays a critical role in a number of therapeutic applications. For example, plasma-derived immunoglobulin is commonly provided to supplement a patient's compromised immune system. Due to increases in the demand for purified biological samples for transfusion, infusion and transplantation therapies, substantial research efforts have been directed at improving the availability, safety and purity of biological samples used as therapeutic agents.
In conventional large scale blood collection, blood is removed from a donor or patient, separated into its various blood components via centrifugation, filtration and/or elutriation and stored in sterile containers for future infusion into a patient for therapeutic use. The separated blood components typically include fractions corresponding to red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma. Separation of blood into its components may be performed continuously during collection or may be performed subsequent to collection in batches, particularly with respect to the processing of whole blood samples. Separation of blood into its various components under highly sterile conditions is crucial for a wide variety of therapeutic applications.
Recently, apheresis blood collection techniques have been widely adopted in large scale blood collection centers wherein a selected component of blood or plurality of blood components are collected and the balance of the blood is returned to the donor during collection. In apheresis, blood is removed from a donor and immediately separated into its components by on-line blood processing methods. Typically, such on-line blood processing is provided by density centrifugation, filtration and diffusion-based separation techniques. One or more of the separated blood components are collected and stored in sterile containers, while the remaining blood components are directly recirculated to the donor. An advantage of this method is that it allows more frequent donation from an individual donor because only a selected blood component is collected and purified. For example, a donor undergoing plateletpheresis, whereby platelets are collected and the non-platelet blood components are returned to the donor, may donate blood as often as once per week.
Apheresis blood processing also plays an important role in a large number of therapeutic procedures. In these methods, blood is withdrawn from a patient undergoing therapy, separated, and a selected fraction is collected while the remainder is returned to the patient. For example, a patient may undergo leukapheresis prior to radiation therapy, whereby the white blood cell component of his blood is separated, collected and stored to avoid exposure to radiation. Alternatively, apheresis techniques may be used to perform red blood cell exchange for patients with hematological disorders such as sickle cell anemia and thalassemia, whereby the patient's red blood cell component is removed and donated packed red blood cells are provided to the patient along with his remaining blood components. Further, apheresis may be used to perform therapeutic platelet depletion for patients having thrombocytosis and therapeutic plasma exchange for patients with autoimmune diseases.
Both conventional blood collection and apheresis systems typically employ differential centrifugation methods for separating blood into its various blood components. In differential centrifugation, blood is circulated through a sterile separation chamber which is rotated at high rotational speeds about a central rotation axis. Rotation of the separation chamber creates a centrifugal force directed along rotating axes of separation oriented perpendicular to the central rotation axis of the centrifuge. The centrifugal field generated upon rotation separates particles suspended in the blood sample into discrete fractions accordingly to density. Specifically, a blood sample separates into discrete phases corresponding to a higher density fraction comprising red blood cells and a lower density fraction comprising plasma. In addition, an intermediate density fraction comprising platelets and leukocytes forms an interface layer between the red blood cells and the plasma. Descriptions of blood centrifugation devices are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,887, which is hereby incorporated in its entireties by reference to the extent it is not inconsistent with the present application.
Despite the demonstrated effectiveness of apheresis blood processing in automated blood donation and in a large number of therapies, several practical limitations remain affecting the practice of these methods. In particular, the occurrence of blood vessel infiltration caused by rapid changes in access blood vessel pressure is a common problem experienced by virtually all apheresis methods known in the art. Although the incidence of blood vessel infiltration is dependent on the particular physiology and anatomy of the subject undergoing a selected blood processing procedure, conventional apheresis systems exhibit on average an incidence of blood vessel infiltration typically greater than or equal to about 4.5%. This correspond to a very significant occurrence of infiltration; about 1 out of every 20 apheresis procedures.
During infiltration, the pressure exerted on the walls of an access blood vessel, such as an access vein, increases or decreases due to the flow of blood or blood components into or out of the subject of a blood processing procedure. To reduce the pressure, the access blood vessel may expand or contract at a rate depending on the size and elasticity of the vessel. In some instances, however, the change in pressure is too great or delivered over a very short time interval and, thus, the access blood vessel cannot accommodate the change in pressure and the change in pressure may result in blood vessel infiltration. For example, a sharp increase in blood vessel pressure over a short time may cause a perforation in the wall of the blood vessel, commonly referred to as vein "blow out." Also, a sharp decrease in blood vessel pressure over a short time may cause the walls of the blood vessel to collapse. Finally, rapid changes in the direction of change in blood vessel pressure may also result in damage to the walls of an access blood vessel.
Blood vessel infiltration has a number of significant deleterious affects on extracorporeal blood processing. First, infiltration may cause injury to the patient or subject undergoing a blood processing procedure. For example, infiltration may result in a hematoma or a change in blood pressure. In addition, infiltration may trigger a cascade of more serious health problems, such as cardiac arrest or embolism. Second, infiltration causes serious pain for the donor or patient undergoing a blood processing procedure. This negatively impacts patient or donor satisfaction with a given blood processing procedure and may affect a donor's decision to donate blood or blood components on a regular basis. Third, infiltration results in a substantial decrease in the flow rate of blood or blood components into or out of a patient or donor. This reduction in flow results in blood processing delay or may result in termination of a selected blood processing procedure. Finally, the risk of infiltration associated with these procedures increases the need for operator or physician intervention and, thus, reduces efficiency and substantially adds to the costs of blood donation or apheresis therapies.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that a clear need exists for methods and devices for processing blood and blood components having a reduced risk of infiltration. Specifically, apheresis methods and devices are needed which enhance patient or donor comfort and reduce the change in vein pressure experienced during removal and return of blood and blood components during extracorporeal blood processing. Finally, automated methods and devices of apheresis blood processing are needed which require less operator or physician intervention.

Methods and devices for processing blood


A reagent for measurement of leukocytes and hemoglobin concentration in the blood includes a cationic surfactant in an amount sufficient to lyse erythrocytes and denature hemoglobin, at least one of the following hemoglobin stabilizers:. (a) sulfosalicylic acid, or its salt, in an amount effective for promoting the conversion of hemoglobin into methemoglobin, PA1 (b) 0.2 to 10.0 g/L of a water-soluble chelating agent having a nitrogen atom and a carboxyl group, and PA1 (c) piperazine, or its salt, in an amount effective for promoting the conversion of hemoglobin into methemoglobin, and. a buffer for maintaining pH at 4 to 6.

This invention relates to a reagent for measurement of leukocytes and hemoglobin concentration in a blood sample.
Measuring the leukocyte count and hemoglobin concentration in the blood is very important for the clinical diagnosis of leukemia, anemia, etc. or for monitoring the clinical course in patients.
Currently, the leukocyte count and hemoglobin concentration can be measured in a short time by an automatic blood analyzer, and such an analyzer is in widespread use.
Automatic blood analyzers can be roughly classified into an optical detection system for detecting light scattering or fluorescence, and an electric resistance detection system for detecting a change in impedance occurring when particles pass through an aperture. The latter system is superior in terms of ease of use. According to the electric resistance detection system, the measurement of the leukocyte count is performed by adding a hemolytic agent to a blood sample to lyse erythrocytes and prepare a sample for leukocyte measurement with only leukocytes left, and then flowing this sample through a detector to detect a signal issued.
Normally, leukocytes in the peripheral blood include five types of cells, lymphocyte, monocyte, neutrophil, eosinophil and basophil. By formulating the hemolytic agent in a preferred manner, it becomes possible to classify the leukocytes into 2 or 3 populations, or detect only leukocytes of a particular type. Thus, leukocyte classification that has necessarily relied on microscopic observation can be performed automatically in a short time. This has reduced the burden on laboratory technicians, and has obviated the need for special technique for laboratory examination.
To measure hemoglobin concentrations, on the other hand, it has been adopted as the international standard method to convert hemoglobin into cyanmethemoglobin by the use of Van Kampen reagent containing a cyanogen compound, and measuring its absorbance at about 541 nm. For an automatic blood cell analyzer, a method is known which fragments erythrocytes, and denatures hemoglobin, with a quaternary ammonium salt having surface activity, obtains a cyanmethemoglobin-like absorption curve with the use of an alkali cyanide, and determines hemoglobin as well as leukocytes. However, harmful cyanogen compounds are contained in the reagents. These reagents or the samples after measurement need to be subsequently made atoxic before being discarded.
There is a known reagent which permits leukocyte counting without using a cyanogen compound for the determination of the hemoglobin concentration (U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,964). This reagent contains a water-soluble quaternary ammonium salt having surface activity, and a small amount of a polycarboxylic acid having up to about 8 carbon atoms in an amount sufficient to inhibit the lysis of leukocytes. Hemolytic agents which enable leukocytes to be classified into three populations are also known. These hemolytic agents contain quaternary ammonium salts and specific hemoglobin stabilizers (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 3-137566, 3-252557 and 4-13969).
The above hemolytic agents can denature hemoglobin rapidly, but have the drawback that the hemoglobin concentration markedly varies with the liquid temperature of the blood sample. Particularly in U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,964, the variations are great, since no stabilizer is used. In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 3-137566, 3-252557 and 4-13969, specific hemoglobin stabilizers are incorporated, so that the variations are reduced. However, when the liquid temperature fluctuates, the hemoglobin concentration also fluctuates. The stabilizing effect of these stabilizers is insufficient in this case. To obtain stable measurements, therefore, a unit for keeping the liquid temperature constant is required. This is one of the factors leading to an increase in the cost of the apparatus.

Reagent for measurement of leukocytes and hemoglobin concentration in blood


A method of detecting a control channel is disclosed. The method comprises determining a number of a plurality of resource units assigned for the control channel according to a size indicator; determining the plurality of resource units according to a combinatorial index, wherein the combinatorial index is determined according to the number of the plurality of resource units and a number of total resource units; and detecting the control channel according to the plurality of resource units.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method used in a wireless communication system and related communication device, and more particularly, to a method of handling a control channel and related communication device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A long-term evolution (LTE) system supporting the 3GPP Rel-8 standard and/or the 3GPP Rel-9 standard are developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as a successor of a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), for further enhancing performance of the UMTS to satisfy increasing needs of users. The LTE system includes a new radio interface and a new radio network architecture that provides a high data rate, low latency, packet optimization, and improved system capacity and coverage. In the LTE system, a radio access network known as an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) includes multiple evolved Node-Bs (eNBs) for communicating with multiple UEs, and communicating with a core network including a mobility management entity (MME), a serving gateway, etc., for Non-Access Stratum (NAS) control.
A LTE-advanced (LTE-A) system, as its name implies, is an evolution of the LTE system. The LTE-A system targets faster switching between power states, improves performance at the coverage edge of an eNB, and includes advanced techniques, such as carrier aggregation (CA), coordinated multipoint transmission/reception (CoMP), UL multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), etc. For a UE and an eNB to communicate with each other in the LTE-A system, the UE and the eNB must support standards developed for the LTE-A system, such as the 3GPP Rel-10 standard or later versions.
Thus, a large amount of control information is needed to realize the abovementioned systems. Accordingly, advanced control channels are introduced for transmitting the control information, e.g., enhanced physical control format indicator channel (EPCFICH), enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH). Different from a legacy physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) which can only be transmitted in first few orthogonal frequency domain multiplexing (OFDM) symbols of a subframe, the advanced control channels can be transmitted in more symbols to achieve flexibility and robustness. As a result, the eNB needs to indicate (i.e., configure) the advanced control channels to the UE by using a larger amount of signaling. Thus, how to indicate the advanced control channels efficiently is an important topic to be discussed. That is, the eNB indicate the EPDCCH to the UE by using a signaling with low overhead, while the UE can still detect (e.g., locate, detect) and recover the EPDCCH correctly according to the signaling.

Method of handling control channel and related communication device


A semiconductor device protects against concentration of electric current at a front end portion of one of the electrodes thereof. The semiconductor device includes a substrate, a compound semiconductor layer formed on the substrate and having a channel layer based on a hetero junction, a first main electrode formed on the compound semiconductor layer, a second main electrode formed on the compound semiconductor surrounding the first main electrode and having a linear region and an arc-shaped region, a control electrode formed on the compound semiconductor layer and disposed opposite to the first main electrode and the second main electrode, an electric current being made to flow between the first main electrode and the second main electrode, and an electric current limiting section formed between the first main electrode and the arc-shaped region of the second main electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a semiconductor device equipped with an electrode having an arc-shaped part.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nitride-based compound semiconductors such as gallium nitride-based ones are expected to find applications in the field of low loss and high power devices with high breakdown voltage because they have a high breakdown electric field. Nitride-based compound semiconductor devices having a finger type electrode structure have been disclosed in recent years (See, for example, Patent Document 1).


Displaying requested data from a database includes providing a display containing a scroll bar with a scroll tab therein, determining a total amount of the requested data, sizing the scroll tab in the scroll bar according to the total amount of the requested data and according to an amount of data displayable in the display, and fetching a predetermined amount of data from a first portion of the database. The predetermined amount may be independent of the size of the display. The predetermined amount may be less than the total amount of the requested data. Sizing the scroll tab may include choosing a size that indicates to a user that all of the requested data is being fetched from the database and/or may include choosing a size that is inversely proportional to the total amount of the request data in response to the total amount of the requested data being less than a predetermined value. Choosing a size may include choosing a predetermined size in response to the total amount of the requested data being greater than the predetermined value.

1. Technical Field
This application relates to the field of computer storage devices, and more particularly to the field displaying information related to a plurality of storage devices coupled to a plurality of hosts in a storage area network.
2. Description of Related Art
Host processor systems may store and retrieve data using a storage device containing a plurality of host interface units (host adapters), disk drives, and disk interface units (disk adapters). Such storage devices are provided, for example, by EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass. and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,939 to Yanai et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,394 to Galtzur et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,147 to Vishlitzky et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,208 to Ofek. The host systems access the storage device through a plurality of channels provided therewith. Host systems provide data and access control information through the channels to the storage device and the storage device provides data to the host systems also through the channels. The host systems do not address the disk drives of the storage device directly, but rather, access what appears to the host systems as a plurality of logical disk units. The logical disk units may or may nor correspond to the actual disk drives. Allowing multiple host systems to access the single storage device unit allows the host systems to share data stored therein.
A large system may consist of a plurality of hosts, a plurality of storage devices, and a plurality of switches that direct data between the hosts and the storage devices. Such a system, called a storage area network (SAN), provides for certain efficiencies and optimizations when the storage devices and hosts are used together. However, it may be difficult to monitor and control the objects of the SAN. One solution to this is to use special software provided by EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass. for monitoring and controlling the objects. The EMC software runs on one or more hosts to monitor the SAN. The software also includes agents, which are separate programs that collect data from each of the objects of the SAN and report back to the EMC software running on the one or more hosts. The agents gather SAN information that is stored as records in a database.
In some instances, the total amount of data corresponding to a particular system parameter may constitute thousands of records. When a user requests the data, the system fetches all of the records, even if the user is interested in viewing only a small percentage of the records. Systems exist which allow a user to fetch a percentage of records of a database. However, those systems also provide additional commands/functionality to allow a user to indicate which portion of the database is of interest. Accordingly, it would be useful to be able to obtain only those records in which a user is interested without having to add additional complexity to the system.

Streaming algorithm that populates user information from database based on scrolling activity