A plurality of imaging modules, each including a solid-state imager mounted on an individual printed circuit board (PCB), is mounted in a reader, such as a bi-optical, dual window, point-of-transaction workstation, for capturing images along different fields of view of diverse targets useful for customer identification, customer payment validation, operator surveillance, and coded indicia. The imaging modules are individually mounted on a motherboard for individual installation at, and individual removal from, the reader.

Flat bed laser readers, also known as horizontal slot scanners, have been used to electro-optically read one-dimensional bar code symbols, particularly of the Universal Product Code (UPC) type, at a point-of-transaction workstation in supermarkets, warehouse clubs, department stores, and other kinds of retailers for many years. As exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,779; U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,539 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,599, a single, horizontal window is set flush with, and built into, a horizontal countertop of the workstation. Products to be purchased bear an identifying symbol and are typically slid across the horizontal window through which a multitude of scan lines is projected in a generally upwards direction. When at least one of the scan lines sweeps over a symbol associated with a product, the symbol is processed and read.
The multitude of scan lines is generated by a scan pattern generator which includes a laser for emitting a laser beam at a mirrored component mounted on a shaft for rotation by a motor about an axis. A plurality of stationary mirrors is arranged about the axis. As the mirrored component turns, the laser beam is successively reflected onto the stationary mirrors for reflection therefrom through the horizontal window as a scan pattern of the scan lines.
It is also known to provide a point-of-transaction workstation not only with a generally horizontal window, but also with a generally vertical or upright window that faces an operator at the workstation. The upright window is oriented generally perpendicularly to the horizontal window, or is slightly rearwardly or forwardly inclined. The laser scan pattern generator within this dual window or bi-optical workstation also projects the multitude of scan lines in a generally outward direction through the upright window toward the operator. The generator for the upright window can be the same as, or different from, the generator for the horizontal window. The operator slides the products past either window from right to left, or from left to right, in a "swipe" mode. Alternatively, the operator merely presents the symbol on the product to a central region of either window in a "presentation" mode. The choice depends on operator preference or on the layout of the workstation.
Sometimes, the upright window is not built into the workstation as a permanent installation. Instead, a vertical slot scanner is configured as a portable reader that is placed on the countertop of an existing horizontal slot scanner in a hands-free mode of operation. In the frequent event that large, heavy, or bulky products, that cannot easily be brought to the reader, have symbols that are required to be read, then the operator may also manually grasp the portable reader and lift it off, and remove it from, the countertop for reading the symbols in a handheld mode of operation.
Each product must be oriented by the operator with the symbol facing away from the operator and generally towards either window of the bi-optical workstation. Hence, the operator cannot see exactly where the symbol is during scanning. In typical "blind-aiming" usage, it is not uncommon for the operator to repeatedly swipe or present a single symbol several times before the symbol is successfully read, thereby slowing down transaction processing and reducing productivity.
The blind-aiming of the symbol is made more difficult because the position and orientation of the symbol are variable. The symbol may be located low or high, or right to left, on the product, or anywhere in between, or on any of six sides of a box-shaped product. The symbol may be oriented in a "picket fence" orientation in which the elongated parallel bars of the one-dimensional UPC symbol are vertical, or in a "ladder" orientation in which the symbol bars are horizontal, or at any orientation angle in between.
In such an environment, it is important that the laser scan lines located at, and projected from, either window provide a full coverage scan zone which extends down as close as possible to the countertop, and as high as possible above the countertop, and as wide as possible across the width of the countertop. The scan patterns projected into space in front of the windows grow rapidly in order to cover areas on products that are positioned not on the windows, but several inches therefrom. The scan zone must include scan lines oriented to read symbols positioned in any possible way across the entire volume of the scan zone.
As advantageous as these laser-based, point-of-transaction workstations have been in processing transactions involving products associated with one-dimensional symbols each having a row of bars and spaces spaced apart along one direction, the workstations cannot process stacked symbols, such as Code 49 which introduced the concept of vertically stacking a plurality of rows of bar and space patterns in a single symbol, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,239, or PDF417 which increased the amount of data that could be represented or stored on a given amount of surface area, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,786, or two-dimensional symbols.
Both one- and two-dimensional symbols, as well as stacked symbols, can also be read by employing solid-state imagers or sensors which have a one- or two-dimensional array of cells or photosensors that correspond to image elements or pixels in a field of view of the imager. Such an imager may include a one- or two-dimensional charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) device, as well as associated circuits for producing electronic signals corresponding to the one- or two-dimensional array of pixel information over the field of view.
It is therefore known to use a solid-state imager for capturing a monochrome image of a symbol as, for example, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,703,349. It is also known to use a solid-state imager with multiple buried channels for capturing a full color image of a target as, for example, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,895. It is common to provide a two-dimensional CCD with a 640×480 resolution commonly found in VGA monitors, although other resolution sizes are possible.
It is also known to install the solid-state imager, analogous to that conventionally used in a consumer digital camera, in a bi-optical, point-of-transaction workstation, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,191,947, in which the dual use of both the solid-state imager and the laser scan pattern generator in the same workstation is disclosed. It is possible to replace all of the laser scan pattern generators with solid-state imagers in order to improve reliability and to enable the reading of two-dimensional and stacked symbols, as well as other targets.
However, it was thought that an overall imager-based reader would require about ten to twelve imagers in order to read a symbol that could be positioned anywhere on all six sides of a product. To be successful in the marketplace, as disclosed in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/823,818, filed Jun. 28, 2007, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference thereto, an all imager-based reader must eliminate the need for so many imagers to bring the cost of all the imagers, as well as the cost of each imager, down to an acceptable level, and it must also match, or at least be comparable to, the working range, processing speed, productivity and performance of a laser-based reader. In the case of a bi-optical workstation having dual windows, the all imager-based reader must use similar window sizes and must also be able to scan anywhere across the windows and over a comparable working range as that of a laser-based reader, so that operators can achieve the high scanning productivity they have come to expect without any need to learn a new scanning technique.
As also disclosed in said application, each imager includes or is associated with an illuminator for illuminating the indicia with illumination light from one or more illumination light sources, e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs). A programmed microprocessor or controller is operative for controlling each illuminator to illuminate the indicia, for controlling each imager to capture the illumination light returning from the indicia over an exposure time period to produce electrical signals indicative of the indicia being read, and for processing the electrical signals to read the indicia. The imagers, the illumination light sources and the controller are commonly assembled on a main printed circuit board (PCB) or motherboard to enable joint installation of the entire PCB assembly at, and joint removal of the entire PCB assembly from, the reader for ease of serviceability and to simplify field maintenance.
Yet, the joint installation and removal of the entire PCB assembly can be an expensive maintenance and manufacturing proposition. If only one imager malfunctions in the field, then the entire PCB assembly may have to be replaced. During manufacture, each imager typically includes a focusing lens that has to be optically adjusted to focus a target on the respective imager. It can be difficult to adjust multiple imagers, all on the same motherboard. If dust occurs on only one of the focusing lenses and/or on only one of the imagers, typically as a byproduct of such adjustment, then the entire PCB assembly may have to be removed to clean the dusty lens and/or imager, or replaced with a clean PCB assembly.

Imaging reader with plug-in imaging modules for electro-optically reading indicia


An on-board system increases a forward margin distance and a backward margin distance to expand an train occupancy range, when it is determined that position correction communications with a balise fail to be performed when a train passes through an installation position of the balise, that is, when it is determined that a detection failure has occurred. The expanded train occupancy range is restored to the train occupancy range before being expanded, when it is determined that the position correction communications have been successfully performed with a next balise, that is, when detection has been successfully performed.

Development of wireless train control systems using wireless communications for ground-on-board communications has progressed. In the wireless train control systems, a ground side is notified of a train position calculated by an on-board system, so that a cost for ground-side equipment can be reduced. The on-board system calculates the train position on the basis of a rotation detection signal, corresponding to rotation of wheels, output by a rotation detector including a tacho-generator (TG) and a pulse generator (PG) provided to an axle. Such calculation of the train position based on the rotation detection signal is plagued by an error due to wearing or slip-or-skid of the wheels, and the like. In view of this, it is common practice to provide balises for position correction along a track, and correct the train position, calculated by the on-board system, with an installation position associated with a balise when the train passes through the balise (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Application Publication No. 4-108479).
Unfortunately, the train position may fail to be corrected even when the train passes through a balise due to various factors including: a failure of the on-board system; a failure of the balise; and a simple communication failure. The train position error might lead to incidents such as a train crash, and thus is extremely dangerous.
Considering this, the train may be stopped each time the train position fails to be corrected due to a communication failure, but such a rule is too strict that it might negatively impact the train service.

On-board system and train occupancy range calculation method


A display device is disclosed. The display device includes a substrate, a display area on the substrate, the display area including a plurality of subpixels, a pad area on the substrate, the pad area including a pad electrode, a conductive adhesive layer on the pad electrode, and a driver on the conductive adhesive layer, the driver being attached to the pad electrode using the conductive adhesive layer. One surface of the conductive adhesive layer includes one surface of the driver. A vertical distance ranging from a shorter side of one surface of the driver to a shorter side of one surface of the conductive adhesive layer lies substantially in a range between 0.2 mm and 4 mm.

1. Field of the Disclosure
Exemplary embodiments relate to a display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The importance of display devices has recently increased with the growth of multimedia. Various types of display devices such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), field emission displays (FEDs), and organic light emitting devices have been put to practical use.
Among them, the organic light emitting device has come into the spotlight as a next generation display device because of the advantages of the organic light emitting device. The organic light emitting device has better visibility than a cathode-ray tube, has low average power consumption, and generates less heat. The organic light emitting device has fast response speed, for example, about 1 ms, has low average power consumption, and does not have a viewable angle problem because the organic light emitting device is a self emitting device.
Such the display device is driven based on one of a passive matrix method and an active matrix method using a thin film transistor. In the passive matrix method, anodes and cathodes are formed orthogonally, and the display device is driven by selecting predetermined lines. On the contrary, in the active matrix method, a thin film transistor is connected to each pixel electrode, and the display device is driven according to a voltage maintained by a capacitor connected to a gate electrode of the thin film transistor.
The display device includes a display area for displaying images and a driver for driving the display area. The driver includes a printed circuit board (PCB) including parts for generating various control signal and data signals. The driver also includes a driver integrated circuit (IC), which is connected to the PCB and the display panel, for applying a signal to lines of a display panel. The display device may be classified into a chip on glass (COG) type, a tape carrier package (TCP) type, and a chip on film (COF) type according to a method of packaging the driver IC into a panel.
Pad electrodes on a pad area may be electrically connected to the driver by a conductive adhesive layer.
The pad area and the driver may be formed by coating an anisotropic conductive film (ACF) on the pad area and compressing the driver on the pad area. However, the conductive adhesive layer was coated on the pad area corresponding to the size of the driver. That is, the conductive adhesive layer was coated only in consideration of the adhesive function.
The pad electrodes inside the pad area were easily eroded by moisture and oxygen thereby deteriorating the reliability of a display device.


A plastic crush countermeasure for motor vehicles that includes a plastic insert and a reinforcement structure that provides impact and/or reinforcement characteristics and an attachment interface to the vehicle in a lighter weight structure. The crush countermeasure provides a lightweight crush system that provides comparable protection to current metal crush countermeasures using, in part, a plastic material. As such, the overall weight of a vehicle is reduced without any reduction in safety to passengers.

The use of reinforcing structures in motor vehicles is known. One such example is crush countermeasures, such as roof crush countermeasures. Roof crush countermeasures are used for absorbing impact energy and protecting motor vehicle occupants in the event of a rollover event. These crush countermeasures are included within the hollow portions of a motor vehicle, such as in the roof assembly. Roof crush countermeasures, as well as other reinforcing structures, have previously been designed to provide a structure that fits within the hollow spaces to be reinforced.
In one embodiment, for hollow parts of a motor vehicle, a basic load-bearing article is used in conjunction with a foamable material. The load-bearing article serves primarily to retain the foamable material in the hollow part. Next, the hollow part is filled with foam to its full volume, and the expanded foam material provides the connection to the wall and thus the absorption of force and distribution of load. The reinforcement characteristics are based on the material properties of the foam. However, these prior art reinforcement systems require a chemical reaction that must be adapted to the production process of the vehicle, particularly in terms of the incident temperatures. The reinforcement function thus depends on accurate and constant adherence to the process parameters. Another disadvantage is that the structural parts can no longer be disconnected from one another easily, making recycling more difficult. In addition, completely filling the space with foam brings about a more or less homogeneous reinforcement effect, without the ability to take three-dimensional varying design requirements into account.
In another prior art embodiment, some crush countermeasure systems include steel stampings that are fixed to the sheet metal via thermoset adhesive. The adhesive will activate and expand as the body goes through the ovens that bake the paint. This system is not optimal. The stampings are heavy and excessive adhesive is applied to assure a solid bond from the countermeasure to the body.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide a lightweight crush countermeasure that provides comparable ability to absorb impact energy and/or protecting motor vehicle occupants as metal roof crush countermeasures. It would also be beneficial to provide a crush countermeasure that may be easily manufactured and used in a motor vehicle without the use of additional processing steps.

Plastic crush countermeasure for vehicles


A curved reflective mirror includes a flat glass structure, an intermediate adhesive layer, and a flat glass mirror. The intermediate adhesive layer is positioned between the flat glass structure and the flat glass mirror. The flat glass structure, the intermediate adhesive layer, and the flat glass mirror are curved and deformed in a mechanical manner with the support of a mold. The curved and deformed flat glass structure, intermediate adhesive layer, and flat glass mirror are solidified and bonded together in a heating and/or ultraviolet (UV) light radiation and/or room temperature solidification manner to form a composite curved structure. Also provided is a method for manufacturing a curved reflective mirror. The curved reflective mirror can be widely applied in the fields of solar thermal collection and concentration and solar thermal power generation.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of glasswork and processing, and in particular, to a curved reflective mirror applied in the field of solar energy and a manufacturing method thereof.
Related Art
At present, in many industrial apparatuses, especially in a solar energy light concentrating system, various light concentrating reflective mirrors of different shapes are often used. The light concentrating reflective mirrors are mainly classified into a trough parabolic reflective mirror, a curved parabolic reflective mirror, a curved and spherical reflective mirror, and so on.
In solar energy light concentrating applications, the requirements on optical properties of a reflective mirror are usually lower than those on a general optical lens. Therefore, a conventional mirror surface grinding method is not used in manufacturing of a solar energy reflective mirror surface, so as to reduce the manufacturing cost.
For an existing curved mirror, a manual gluing method is usually adopted to stick multiple small and thin glass lenses to a large sheet of curved glass. For this kind of curved mirror manufactured by distributing the small and thin glass pieces on a curved mirror of an adhesive structure, the mirror surface has poor light concentrating performance and low mirror surface reflection precision, and mostly air bubbles exist between the small and thin glass pieces and the glue. Therefore, weather resistance and corrosion resistance performance are also poor, which affect the service life. In addition, to manufacture a curved mirror of this structure, first, a large and thin glass mirror needs to be cut into multiple small pieces, and then the small glass pieces are stuck to a large sheet of curved glass, which involves a large number of complicated procedures, requires much labor and time, and makes manual operations heavy and cumbersome, thereby directly leading to low product output and a high manufacturing cost and making the curved mirror unsuitable for large-scale serialized production. In addition, if the glue is not uniformly applied, a surface appearance of the reflective mirror may be bad and the refection precision may become low, so that a high concentration ratio cannot be achieved and the product quality cannot be ensured.
In a general situation, a curved reflective mirror is obtained by deforming a flat mirror or flat glass. Two types of formation processes exist for the curved reflective mirror, one is a high-temperature thermal deformation manufacturing method, and the other is a mechanical cold deformation manufacturing method.
In the high-temperature thermal deformation manufacturing method, glass is first heated to a softening state and is then shaped in a mold. For a formed glass blank, a reflecting layer is coated thereon, and a protective layer is sprayed thereon. The manufacturing cost of this process is quite high.
In the mechanical cold deformation manufacturing method, a flat glass mirror is closely pressed against a curved surface mirror holder in a mechanical crushing manner, so that the glass mirror is mechanically deformed according to a curved surface shape of the mirror holder, and the mirror and the mirror holder are fixed through an adhesive or in a mechanical manner to form a curved reflective mirror. For a curved surface of a curved reflective mirror, the manufacturing cost required in this manner is lower than that required through the high-temperature deformation method, but the mirror holder and the curved reflective mirror have inconsistent temperature expansion coefficients. In addition, for the curved reflective mirror manufactured through this mechanical cold deformation manufacturing method, since an adhesive or a mechanical manner is used for fixing the mirror and the mirror holder, a protective paint on the back of the mirror is exposed to air. If this kind of reflective mirror is used outdoors for a long time, a reflecting layer may corrode, which shortens the service life of the reflective mirror.
In a Chinese Patent Application with the patent number 200810105690.1 and entitled "Curved Reflective Mirror Having High Mirror Surface Reflection and Manufacturing Method Thereof", curved glass formed by using a layer of curved glass and a layer of flat and thin glass mirror is disclosed. However, the curved glass used in the solution is still obtained by using a hot bending technology, and the cost is high.
In a Chinese Patent Application with the patent number 200910302460.9 and entitled "Method for Manufacturing Curved Reflective Mirror Used for Solar Heliostat", a method for manufacturing a curved reflective mirror is disclosed. In this patent application, each reflective mirror is formed of a flat reflective mirror and a mirror holder that are fixed through high-temperature heating. However, since the mirror holder and the curved reflective mirror have inconsistent expansion coefficients, the mirror holder and the curved reflective mirror contract inconsistently after being cooled, so that the solidification effect is weakened, and an adhesive failure phenomenon may occur in an application process of the reflective mirror. In addition, in a procedure of manufacturing the curved reflective mirror, this method involves a high vacuum pressure, so the structure of the mirror holder requires high strength; otherwise, the precision of a curved surface is affected. Since each reflective mirror demands a mirror holder of high strength and high precision, it is unfavorable for large-scale production and control of the cost.

Curved reflective mirror and manufacturing method thereof

TERASOLAR PHOTOTHERMAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


Liquid collector trays (5) are disclosed for use in vertical towers (7) in which vapor (9) moves upward and liquid (11) moves downward. The liquid collector trays (5) employ elongated plates (13) which in certain embodiments include a primary liquid collector trough (15) and a secondary liquid collector trough (17). In other embodiments, the primary liquid collector troughs (15) of adjacent plates (13) are aligned so as to form elongated, inwardly-tapering entrance channels (29) which are free of sharp corners. In further embodiments, when the liquid collector tray (5) is in its operative orientation and is viewed from above, each plate (13) includes first and second concave surfaces (31, 33), which collect liquid, and third and fourth convex surfaces (35, 37), which are adjacent to the first and second concave surfaces (31, 33) and serve to mechanically stabilize the plate (13).

Liquid collectors (also known as chimney trays and collector trays) are used in vertical vapor-liquid contact towers designed for countercurrent vapor-liquid flow where the vapor (gas) flows upward and the liquid flows downward. In these towers, various processes require the liquid to be collected and redirected to another section of the tower and/or withdrawn from the tower.
There are generally two types of liquid collector trays that have been developed in the art. The first type uses a sheet-metal floor which occupies the cross-section of the tower at an appropriate location, with round pipe risers or rectangular box risers being used for the upward passage of vapor. The liquid dripping from structures above the tray is collected on the tray's floor and then withdrawn from the side of the tower through, for example, a nozzle. Rather than being withdrawn from the tower, all or some of the liquid may be diverted to another device such as liquid distributor within the same tower immediately below the collector tray. This type of collector tray may be secured in the tower by bolting or welding to a support ring. If a bolted construction is used, an appropriate gasket is employed to make the operation leak tight.
The second type of liquid collector tray employs a series of parallel troughs and thus is known as a "trough-type liquid collector tray." Trays of this type are also known as "vane type" or "lamella type" trays. The present disclosure is concerned with trays of this type.
FIGS. 8 and 9 are cross-sectional views of a typical trough structure as currently used in the art. Liquid 11 dripping from devices above the tray enters the collector through the space between two adjacent angular lamellae 71 and is collected in the troughs 73 at the bottoms of the lamellae. Vapor 9 rises along the angular sides of the lamellae 71 and finally discharges from the top of the collector.
Compared to the riser-type collector trays, trough-type trays provide substantially greater open areas. For example, a typical collector tray with risers provides an open area equal to 10% to 30% of the cross section area of the tower at the bottom where the vapor enters. For a typical trough-type collector tray, on the other hand, this area can be as much as 60% of the tower cross section area. Therefore, trough-type trays are much more suitable for an atmospheric tower and even more desirable for a vacuum tower as these devices offer lower pressure drops.
Existing trough-type collector trays have, however, suffered from a number of drawbacks. In particular, the trays have had vapor paths, including vapor entrances and vapor exits, that include sharp corners (see FIGS. 8 and 9), which reduce vapor flow and thus lead to additional head losses (pressure drops). Also, the liquid-holding capacity of the trays has been limited by their structure. The present disclosure is directed to trough-type collector trays which address these longstanding deficits in the art.

Enhanced capacity, reduced turbulence, trough-type liquid collector trays


The present disclosure provides a driving circuit of a fan motor to shorten a start time. The driving circuit drives the fan motor with a sensor. A control logic circuit controls an inverter circuit connected to the fan motor according to a Hall signal that indicates a position of a rotor of the fan motor. When the driving circuit is given an instruction to start a rotation, if the fan motor rotates at a speed lower than a predetermined rotational speed, the drive circuit starts the fan motor by sequentially switching between a second state in which the rotor is fixed at an initial position, a third state in which the fan motor is forcibly and synchronously started, and a fourth state in which the fan motor is Hall-driven.

A fan motor used for temperature control is mounted on a laptop computer or desktop computer, an information processing apparatus such as a workstation, an entertainment program machine such as a gaming machine, a projector or a monitoring camera, a home appliance such as a microwave or a refrigerator, or a vehicle. A fan motor directly blows a heat source such as a central processing unit (CPU), draws fresh air from outside to inside of a casing, or discharges heated air.
A fan motor is a mostly brushless motor. A fan motor can be categorized into a motor with a sensor such as a Hall element, or a sensorless motor without a sensor.

Driving circuit and driving method of fan motor, cooling device and electronic apparatus using the fan motor


A process is described comprising polymerizing at least one unsaturated monomer (e.g., fluorine substituted alkene monomer) in the presence of a hypervalent iodide radical initiator and a solvent, under reaction conditions and for a time sufficient to polymerize the at least one unsaturated monomer to form a polymer. The present disclosure provides a method for living polymerization of unsaturated monomers (e.g., fluorine substituted alkene monomers), which provides a high level of macromolecular control over the polymerization process and which leads to uniform and controllable polymeric products. The present disclosure also provides a method of functionalization of organic substrates with a CF3 or perfluoro (RF) group.

1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates to a process for free radical and for living or controlled polymerization of alkene monomers (e.g., fluorine substituted alkene monomers), particularly the use of hypervalent iodide (HVI) radical initiators in the living or controlled polymerization of alkene monomers and for the functionalization of (organic) substrates with the CF3 or RF groups.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
Conventional chain polymerization of vinyl monomers usually consists of three main elemental reaction steps: initiation, propagation, and termination. Initiation stage involves creation of an active center from an initiator. Propagation involves growth of the polymer chain by sequential addition of monomer to the active center. Termination (including irreversible chain transfer) refers to termination of the growth of the polymer chain. Owing to the presence of termination and poorly controlled transfer reactions, conventional chain polymerization typically yields a poorly controlled polymer in terms of molecular weight and polydispersity which control the polymer properties. Moreover, conventional chain polymerization processes mostly result in polymers with simple architectures such as linear homopolymer and linear random copolymer.
Living polymerization is characterized by the absence of any kinds of termination or side reactions which might break propagation reactions. The most important feature of living polymerization is that one may control the polymerization process to design the molecular structural parameters of the polymer. Additional polymerization systems where the termination reactions are, while still present, negligible compared to propagation reaction are known in the art. As structural control can generally still be well achieved with such processes, they are thus often termed "living" or controlled polymerization.
In living or controlled polymerization, as only initiation and propagation mainly contribute to the formation of polymer, molecular weight can be predetermined by means of the ratio of consumed monomer to the concentration of the initiator used and will increase linearly with conversion. The ratio of weight average molecular weight to number average molecular weight, i.e., molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn), may accordingly be as low as 1.0, and the polymers have well defined chain ends. Moreover, polymers with specifically desired structures and architectures can be purposely produced. In terms of topology, such structures and architectures may include linear, star, comb, hyperbranched, dendritic, cyclic, network, and the like. In terms of sequence/composition distribution, such structures and architectures may include homopolymer, random copolymer, block copolymer, graft copolymer, gradient copolymer, tapered copolymer, periodic copolymer, alternating copolymer, and the like. In terms of functionalization, such structures and architectures may include telechlics, macromonomer, labeled polymer, and the like.
Living polymerization processes have been successfully used to produce numerous polymeric materials which have been found to be useful in many applications. However, many living polymerization processes have not found wide acceptance in industrial commercialization, mainly due to high cost to industrially implement these processes. Thus, searching for practical living polymerization processes is a challenge in the field of polymer chemistry and materials.
Additionally, as (co)polymers of main chain fluorinated monomers (e.g., vinylidene fluoride (VDF), hexafluoropropene, tetrafluoroethylene, trifluorochloroethylene, and the like) are industrially significant, the study of their controlled radical polymerization and the synthesis of complex polymer architectures thereby derived, would be desirable. However, such polymerizations are challenging on laboratory scale, as bpVDF=−83° C. Thus, telo/polymerizations are carried out at T>80-150° C. and require high-pressure metal reactors.
Kinetic studies of VDF polymerizations involve many one-data-point experiments as direct sampling is difficult. This is very time-consuming and expensive due to the typical lab unavailability of a large number of costly metal reactors, which moreover require tens of grams of monomer. The development of methods that would allow small scale (e.g., a few grams) VDF polymerizations at ambient temperature in inexpensive, low pressure glass tubes, would be highly desirable, since the methods could easily be adapted for fast screening of a wide range of polymerization and of reaction conditions, and could also take advantage of photochemistry. The development of such methods would also be useful on a large scale, for example, in an industrial setting. Conventional initiating systems such as peroxides or redox systems do not initiate the polymerization of VDF at ambient or room temperature.
Driven by the unique properties imparted by the —CF3 moiety onto chemical structures ranging anywhere from synthetic drugs to polymers and nanostructures, trifluoromethylation (TFM) has recently emerged as a very valuable technique towards improving and expanding molecular properties and functions.
As such, while the vast majority of TFM reactions involve nucleophilic ("CF3−" e.g., Me3Si—CF3), electrophilic ("CF3+" e.g. chalcogen salts [CF3—YAr2]OTf, Y═O, S, Se, Te, or cyclic iodanes such as 1-trifluoromethyl-1,2-benziodoxole, CF3—I(-Ph-OCO—) as well as organometallic (e.g., "CF3—Cu", or Pd, Ni) protocols for arene or carbonyl TFM functionalization, very recently, radical (CF3.) aryl (CF3SO2Na/tBuOOH), enantioselective carbonyl (CF3I/RuCl2(PPH3)3) as well as photomediated aryl (Ru(phen)3Cl2/CF3SO2Cl) and carbonyl (CF3—I) α-TFMs have emerged as a much more/very convenient/inexpensive/very powerful strategies for the rapid synthesis of TFM-lated libraries with wide structural diversity.
Conversely, fluorinated (co)polymers derived from radical reactions are a fundamental class of specialty materials endowed with a wide range of high-end applications which require their precise synthesis. However, while modern state-of-the-art controlled radical polymerizations (CRP) methods (atom transfer, nitroxide or reversible addition-fragmentation) have undergone remarkable developments for conventional monomers such as (meth)acrylates or styrene, they remain ineffective for the highly reactive, gaseous main chain fluorinated alkene monomers (FMs: vinylidene fluoride (VDF), hexafluoropropene (HFP), tetrafluoroethylene, etc).
Thus, due to the current lack of suitable CRP chemistry, the synthesis, characterization and fundamental understanding of the self-assembly, properties and applications of well-defined FM complex macromolecular architectures (blocks, graft, hyperbranched, stars, etc.) still lag significantly behind those associated with the corresponding materials derived from conventional alkenes (styrene, acrylates, dienes, etc.).
To date, industrial FM-CRP is still accomplished with the oldest of CRP methods, theiodine degenerative transfer (IDT: Pn.+Pm—IPn—I+Pm.), which evolved from high temperature (100-250° C.) free radical VDF telomerizations with polyhalides, and especially (per)fluorinated iodine (RF—I) chain transfer (CT) agents, including CF3—I or I—(CF2)n—I.
However, while the RF—I derived electrophilic RF. radicals add readily to nonfluorinated alkenes at room temperature (rt) under metal catalysis, and many metal complexes activate typical alkyl halide (R-X) ATRP initiators,only very low VDF oligomers are obtained, even at T>100° C. from transition metal salts and polyhalides. Moreover, although VDF polymerization can proceed at room temperature (rt), the metal mediated radical initiation of such electrophilic FMs directly from halides and thus metal-mediated FM-CRP at T<100° C., including around rt, is not available. Consequently, conventional FM-IDT always demands a free radical initiator (e.g. tbutyl peroxide).
As such, the development of FM-CRP, the synthesis of elaborate FM polymer architectures, and the mapping the resulting fluoromaterials genome remains a worthy endeavor. Conversely, such polymerizations are very challenging especially in an academic laboratory scale/setting, as all FMs are gases (bpVDF=−83° C.) and typical telo/polymerizations are carried out at T>100-200° C., in expensive, high-pressure metal reactors.
Moreover, in additional contrast with acrylates- or styrene-CRP, VDF-IDT generates two halide chain ends, Pn—CH2—CF2—I and Pm—CF2—CH2—I with vastly different reactivity, and, while acrylate or styrene kinetics can effortlessly be sampled even on a 1 g scale, FM polymerizations involve many time-consuming one-data-point reactions using at least tens of grams of monomer.
Thus, development of mild temperature protocols for low pressure, small-scale polymerizations in inexpensive glass tubes, would be very appropriate for fast catalyst and reaction condition screening and also amenable to photochemistry. As such, while VDF high power UV telomerizations exist, until recently, there were no reports on VDF polymerizations under regular visible light.
While CH3. is also available from, for example, the decomposition of TBPO, the generation of CF3. from CF3—I is expensive and impractical (bpCF3I=−22.5° C.). In fact, except for Mn2(CO)10 experiments above, very few other CF3. precursors have ever been evaluated in the initiation of FMs, where such radicals were generated either by high temperature thermolysis or under strong UV irradiation from commercially available but inconvenient and expensive CF3—Br and CF3—I, or from commercially unavailable CF3—SO2—SR, CF3—S—(C═S)—OR, explosive CF3—C(O)O—O(O)C—CF3, toxic Hg(CF3)2, Cd(CF3)2, Te(CF3)2, or from even more exotic and expensive substrates such as CF3-decorated octafluoro[2.2]paracyclophane or persistent perfluoro-3-ethyl-2,4-dimethyl-3-pentyl radicals. Thus, availability of a clean, safe, nongaseous, commercially available and inexpensive source of CF3. radicals would be highly desirable for TFM radical reactions involving either polymerizations or arene functionalization.
Interestingly, although known for over a century, hypervalent iodine(III,V) (HVI) derivatives (λ3-and λ5-iodanes) have recently undergone a resurgence in organic chemistry. Consequently, they have also become inexpensively commercially available, as illustrated especially by acyloxyiodobenzenes such as (CX3COO)2IIIIPh, (X=H, I-DAB, X=F, I—FDAB) and (CH3COO)3IV(-Ph-CO—O—) (Dess-Martin cyclic periodinane, DMP,), or to a lesser extent, by diaryliodonium salts (Ar2I+Y−, Y=PF6, OTf, etc.
While the overwhelming majority of such HVI carboxylates applications are oxidations, examples of radical processes are also emerging. Thus, alkyl radicals obtained thermally or under Hg—UV from the decarboxylation of HVIs derived in-situ by ligand exchange of IDAB and IFAB with carboxylic acids, add to alkenes or alkylate heteroaromatic bases. Alternatively, in the additional presence of I2, HVIs mediate the hypoiodite reaction of R—Y—H such as alcohols, carboxylic acids, and amines to generate transient R—Y—I, which upon UV-VIS irradiation provide the corresponding R—Y. radicals (Y═O, COO, NR).
However, while diaryliodonium salts are known cationic polymerizations photoinitiators and photoacid generators in photolithography, the potential use IDAB and IFAB as radical polymerization initiators, remains largely ignored and, to the best of our knowledge, there are no reports on the use of IDAB and IFAB as initiators for the radical polymerization of fluorinated monomers, on the use of IFAB in trifluoromethylation reactions, and on the photolysis of DMPI and its radical reactions.
It would be desirable to provide a method for living polymerization of alkene and fluoroalkene monomers which provides a high level of macromolecular control over the polymerization process and which leads to uniform and more controllable polymeric products. It would be especially desirable to provide such a living polymerization process with existing facility, and which enables the use of a wide variety of readily available starting materials. It would be further desirable to provide a method that would allow small scale (e.g., a few grams) VDF polymerizations at ambient temperature in inexpensive, low pressure glass tubes, and also large scale VDF polymerizations, for example, in industrial settings. The glass tubes as well as metal reactors could also take advantage of photochemistry.
The present disclosure also provides many additional advantages, which shall become apparent as described below.

Free radical and controlled radical polymerization processes using hypervalent iodide radical initiators


A window comparator of an A.C. input voltage, including, between two terminals of application of a voltage representative of the voltage to be measured, two first transistors of a first type, each first transistor being assembled as a current mirror on the second transistor having a first conduction terminal connected to one of the application terminals, the two second transistors having a second common conduction terminal; and two third transistors of a second type assembled as a current mirror between the common conduction terminal of the second transistors and a current source, a D.C. voltage being applied on a first terminal of the current source and an output signal being provided by a second terminal of the current source.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to comparators of an A.C. voltage with respect to a threshold and, more specifically, to window comparators which detect the presence of an A.C. voltage within a window defined by thresholds around the zero voltage.
The present invention applies, for example, to detectors of failures of an A.C. load supply switch. The present invention also applies, for example, to detectors of zero crossings for triggering switches around the zero of an A.C. supply voltage. The present invention also applies, for example, to the detection of the state of a load as to its power supply, for example, the detection of the state of a high-intensity discharge lamp, used in particular in the automobile field.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
FIG. 1 very schematically shows an example of an assembly using an A.C. comparator 1 (AC COMP) of the type to which the present invention applies. In this example, a load 2 (L) is in series with a bi-directional switch K between two terminals 3 and 4 of application of an A.C. supply voltage Vac. Comparator 1 comprises two input terminals 11 and 12 respectively connected across switch K and compares the absolute value of voltage Vin across this switch with a threshold TH. Comparator 1 is powered by a relatively low D.C. voltage Vcc (typically from a few volts to a few tens of volts) with respect to the relatively high A.C. power supply voltage and provides a two-state detection signal OUT according to whether voltage Vin exceeds or not in absolute value threshold TH.
FIG. 2 illustrates, in a timing diagram, the operation of comparator 1 of FIG. 1. A.C. voltage Vin is assumed to be identical to voltage Vac (switch K off) and output signal OUT is in this example assumed to be activated (state 1 typically corresponding to level Vcc) when voltage Vin is within the window defined by threshold TH around level 0.
FIG. 3 shows an example of application of the present invention to the detection of the zero crossing of an A.C. supply voltage Vac applied between two terminals 3 and 4 of a circuit formed of a load 2 in series with a bidirectional A.C. switch (in this example, a triac 5). Circuit 1 provides result OUT of its detection to a circuit 6 (CTRL) for controlling triac 5. Threshold TH is set by circuit 6 and typically is an amplitude of a few volts around the voltage zero so that signal OUT is sent onto an input ZVS of circuit 6 to allow it to start the conduction periods of switch 5 around the voltage zero. Circuit 6 is, like circuit 1, supplied by a low D.C. voltage Vcc.
FIG. 4 very schematically shows in the form of blocks another example of application of the present invention to the detection of malfunctions (output FAIL of circuit 1) of a discharge lamp 2′ supplied with an A.C. voltage Vac. For simplification, the control switch of lamp 2′ has not been illustrated. The function of detector 1 is to detect the state (excited or not) of lamp 2′ by comparing the absolute value of the voltage thereacross with threshold TH.
FIG. 5 shows the electric diagram of a first conventional example of a window comparator of an A.C. voltage. A comparison of voltage Vin across a triac 5 for controlling a motor M with respect to two thresholds surrounding the average level of the A.C. voltage is assumed. The comparator of FIG. 5 is based on the use of voltage-limiting diodes D1 to D4 at the input of level matching amplifiers 21 and 22 (BUFF) having their outputs combined by a logic gate 23 (XOR) performing an XOR-type function and providing signal OUT. The input of first amplifier 21 is connected to the junction point of resistors R24 and R25 connected to terminals 11 and 12 of triac 5, as well as to the junction point of two first diodes D1 and D2 between the terminals of application of D.C. voltage Vcc. In this example, the positive terminal of application of voltage Vcc is confounded with terminal 11 and with terminal 3 while ground terminal 13 has no link with the A.C. power supply. The input of second amplifier 22 is connected to the junction point of two resistors R26 and R27 between terminal 12 and ground 13 as well as to the junction point of two second diodes D3 and D4 between terminals 11 and 13. Threshold TH around the voltage zero is set (on the positive side), by the ratio of resistors R24 and R25 and, on the negative side, by the ratio of resistors R26 and R27. For example, R24=R27 and R25=R26.
A disadvantage of the circuit of FIG. 5 is its bulk. It requires four resistors, four diodes, two level matching amplifiers as well as one logic XOR gate.
Another disadvantage is the presence of negative potentials with respect to ground (voltage of a diode junction in negative halfwaves), which complicates the integration.
FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C illustrate examples of timing diagrams respectively showing voltage Vac, current I injected into low-voltage source Vcc, and signal OUT, the operation of the circuit of FIG. 5. FIG. 6B illustrates an additional disadvantage of this circuit which is, in positive halfwaves of A.C. voltage Vac, its generating an inverse current in D.C. voltage Vcc. Such a current risks damaging voltage source Vcc, especially if it reaches a voltage greater than that controlled by a voltage regulator due to the injected parasitic current.
FIG. 7 shows a second conventional embodiment of comparator 1′ of an A.C. voltage Vin with respect to a threshold around the voltage zero. To simplify the representation of FIG. 7, the elements upstream of the window comparator have not been illustrated.
The circuit of FIG. 7 uses two differential comparators 31 and 32 supplied by voltage Vcc and having their respective outputs combined by an XOR-type gate 23 also powered by voltage Vcc and providing signal OUT. First inputs (respectively non-inverting and inverting) of comparators 31 and 32 are connected to the junction point of two resistors R34 and R35 between terminals 11 and 13 (ground), this junction point being also connected to terminal 12 by a resistor R39 of high value (on the order of one Megohm) having the function of holding the voltage with respect to the downstream circuit. Second inputs (inverting and non-inverting) of comparators 31 and 32 are respectively connected to the junction points of three resistors in series R36, R37, and R38 between terminals 11 and 12. This series connection aims at setting threshold TH, resistors R36 and R38 being both of same value.
FIG. 8 is a timing diagram illustrating the operation of the circuit of FIG. 7. This drawing shows an example of the shape of signal OUT with respect to the two thresholds TH1 and TH2 of comparators 1 and 2 here assumed to have the same value.
As compared with the assembly of FIG. 5, the advantage of the circuit of FIG. 7 is that by shifting the comparison with respect to level Vcc/2, it requires no negative voltage. It however maintains the risk of an inverse current in the low D.C. voltage.
Another disadvantage of the circuit of FIG. 7 is that it remains bulky since it requires six resistors, two differential comparators, and one logic gate.


Photographic elements having at least one layer containing polymeric matte particles covalently bonded to gelatin and colloidal silica.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to silver halide photographic light-sensitive elements and more particularly to a method of forming images wherein the silver halide photographic light-sensitive element contains a matting agent in its outer most layer.
Finely divided materials with a mean particle size of from about 1 to about 10 micrometers are commonly used as matting agents to provide a rough surface to photographic elements. Modern day photographic film processing apparatus cause a problem in that contact with the film surface in these devices cause matte particles to separate from the film resulting in disadvantages to the image on the film as well as complication due to the presence of the matte particles in the processing solutions. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,856,219; 4,920,004 and 5,057,407 provide matte particles and techniques to increase the adhesion of the particles to the photographic element during processing of the element. However, in addition, improvement in adhesion is still desirable. Printer dusting is also an objectionable problem associated with inadequate matte adhesion.
Colloidal silica in conjunction with various types of matte is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,975,363; 4,914,012; and 4,232,117.


A touch panel includes a first plate, an antenna component and a decoration layer. A touch input area and a peripheral area aside to the input area are defined on the first plate. The antenna component is located at the peripheral area. The decoration layer is located at the peripheral area and hides the antenna component from view.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a panel and an electronic device, and more particularly, to a touch panel and an electronic device thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of touch input devices have been widely used in electronic products. For example, a mobile phone or a tablet PC utilizes a touch panel as an input device, and a user may easily touch on a surface of the input panel with hands to give commands, or slides on the surface of the touch panel to operate a cursor or perform handwriting input.
In general, touch panels are divided into resistive touch panels, capacitive touch panels, ultrasonic touch panels, infrared touch panels, etc. A traditional touch panel includes two plates, and sensing units, sensing wires, and an insulation layer formed on the plates. The plates are usually made of a transparent material, such as glass. The sensing units are utilized for sensing touch inputs of a user, and the sensing wires are connected with the sensing units to transfer input signals detected by the sensing units to a processing circuit. The sensing units are usually made by a transparent material. The sensing wires are located on a border of the plate and are usually made of a metal material.
The two plates are bonded in the border of each plate by utilizing a bonding material. Since the bounding material is generally a transparent material and a material of the sensing wires is a non-transparent material, the bounding material may not hide the insulation layer and the sensing wire. When the user views the touch panel from a side of the touch panel, the user may still view the insulation layer and the sensing wire. For solving the unsightly problem, the prior art is required to dispose an additional border in a cover, and when the touch panel is assembled in the cover, the border is utilized for hiding a part of the touch panel, which is not expected to be viewed (e.g. the insulation layer and the sensing wires). However, a disadvantage that the additional border on the cover of a product needs to be reserved is also caused. On the other hand, another conventional method is also provided to additionally form a non-transparent material above the insulation layer and the sensing wire to hide the insulation layer and the sensing wire, such that the insulation layer and the sensing wire are not visually exposed to an outside.
Additionally, if an electronic device assembled with the touch panel is required to provide a wireless functionality, such as wireless call or wireless data transmission, the electronic device must additionally configure components of a wireless processing circuit, and an antenna, etc. In order to have a better transceiving capability for an antenna, the antenna is usually hanged on an outside or attached in an inside of a mechanical component of the electronic device. However, with such a configuring method, the antenna may still be affected by the mechanical component to cause signal attenuation. Moreover, since the antenna is not effectively integrated in the electronic device, the electronic device provided for a general consumer to use is still having space to be further reduced in volume.
Thus, providing a touch panel and a related electronic device capable of integrating the antenna and avoiding the antenna to be visually exposed to an outside has become an important topic.

Touch panel and electronic device thereof


A toilet shield comprises a tube, a first arm, and a second arm. The first arm is coupled with a first side of an opening of the tube and comprises a first plurality of adjustment holes configured into the first arm. The second arm is coupled to a second side of the opening of the tube and comprises a second plurality of adjustment holes configured into the second arm. The tube is configured such that a lumen of the tube opens in response to the arms being extended in generally opposite in directions.

Hundreds of thousands of people experience diarrhea/loose stools every day in the United States alone. Some have a temporary problem that only happens occasionally. Some have life-long, continual, daily afflictions which may be caused by a condition or disease such as irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease, or malabsorption, to name but a few.
One of the negative consequences associated with this is that it creates an undesirable toilet cleaning problem due to splatter of the loose stool in regions of a toilet that are not easily washed away when the toilet is flushed. For example, liquified feces of the loose stool may spray with force in multiple directions and may also splash/rebound upward from the water in the bowl or from the bowl itself to foul the undersurface of the porcelain toilet rim, the underside of the toilet seat, and can end up traveling even higher on the toilet and in hard-to-reach places. In such instances, much of the sprayed and splattered feces remains in these locations after flushing the toilet.
People thusly afflicted can be embarrassed while at work or in another person's home by having to clean up after themselves which takes time and may be hard to accomplish. Moreover, much of this spraying/splattering of feces occurs in care situations where the person causing it is not the person who is involved with the cleaning of it afterward.
People who have diarrhea/loose stool issues often use a toilet more than once a day. This means that these disgusting cleaning burdens may occur many hundreds of thousands or millions of times a day in the United States alone.
Unless specifically noted, the drawings referred to in this Brief Description of Drawings should be understood as not being drawn to scale. Herein, like items are labeled with like item numbers.


Disclosed is a system and method for in-situ and instantaneous measurement of a pressure gradient by real-time localized pressure measurement with two or more pressure sensors, operating with respect to blood pressure gradient across the aortic valve, or other heart valves, and associated regurgitation of blood flow due to leakage resulting from insufficient valve closure. The system includes a multi-sensor catheter, with sensors arranged along the length of the distal segment of the catheter body, spaced apart to provide simultaneous pressure measurement on either side of the valves of the heart, in addition to one or more lumina in the core of the catheter that will provide a path for introduction of diagnostic fluids which flow out through a multitude of holes in the body of the distal segment of the catheter body.

Aortic regurgitation is one of the consequences of aortic stenosis, in which, due to a pathological condition, the aortic valve becomes calcified, with associated stenosis, and as a result the valve will not open normally. The opening and closing of the aortic three-leaflet valve coincides with the contraction of the left ventricle, pushing blood out of the ventricle during systole, followed by relaxation of the heart muscle, causing the aortic valve to close due to the pressure resulting from the blood in the vascular system on the distal side of the valve, which is subject to compliance. The aortic compliance will make the aorta swell over a certain length during filling under the systolic ejection from the left ventricle. This swelling will subside, and the aortic diameter will return to the smaller diameter once the fill pressure has been removed during the diastolic event of the heartbeat. The left ventricular outflow of blood contains oxygen rich blood, which flows through the aorta into the main body, as well as supplying the heart itself with oxygen through the coronary vessels. Due to the calcification of the leaflets of the tricuspid valve, connecting the left ventricle to the aorta, the imperfect closure of the valve will result in regurgitation of the blood-flow, reverting back into the left ventricle during diastole. The regurgitation resulting from the partial closure of the stenotic aortic valve hence causes insufficiency in oxygen rich blood to flow into the main circulation as well as diminishes the oxygen supply to the heart muscle itself.
Aortic valve stenosis is a pathological condition that may result from rheumatic fever during childhood, or age-related calcification, starting for a select group of patients in their late 40's, progressively worsening with increasing age, culminating to debilitating conditions of degenerative aortic stenosis when the age is older than 70 for the general male population. The prevalence of assorted types valve disease is influenced by gender. On average, the frequency of degenerative valve disease is relatively similar for both sexes. On the other hand, the occurrence of rheumatic mitral stenosis is relatively common in women. A small number of gender based differences in the physiopathology of degenerative aortic stenosis are recognized. Generally, the extent of calcification is greater in men than in women. Furthermore, a woman's ventricle, on average, responds to comparable reductions in valve area with an increased slope in gradient and concurrently greater contractility. Based on prognosis, the mortality associated with heart surgery is generally higher in women than for men. The latter applies to both valve surgery as well as coronary artery surgery. Pregnancy presents actual greater complications for women with valvular heart disease. Women with significant valve lesions considering pregnancy are often advised to the have the valve stenosis correct pre-emptively. When considering treatment of aortic valve disease in pregnant women with anticoagulants, specifically during the first trimester, there will be the potential for increased risks of prosthetic valve thrombosis, next to fatal embryopathy.
Valvular insufficiency describes the condition when a closed cardiovascular valve is not hermetically sealed. Under these conditions blood will flow backwards into the cardiac chamber, which is proximal from the outflow valve, constituting regurgitation.
Associated with regurgitation are turbulent flow streams, which will generate audible noise under examination by means of a stethoscope, which has a clinical diagnosis as heart murmurs.
Due to the regurgitation the diastolic pressure in the aorta will become lower than for a fully sealed closure under the condition of a healthy aortic valve.
Due to the aortic regurgitation the left ventricle will be filled from two sources, the other source being the left atrium of the heart. This combined fill process results in an increase in left ventricular volume. Based on the Frank Starling mechanism, this increase in end-diastolic volume will result in inotropic changes in the cardiac muscle contraction during the systolic events, hence elevating the aortic systolic pressure as well as increasing the left ventricular pressure, each at a different rate over the time of each heartbeat.
In some cases, genetic predisposition forms a major factor, specifically: the aortic valve can be composed of only two leaflets instead of three.
Various conditions of outflow constraints, including, but not limited to the valvular insufficiency due to for instance calcification of the valve, and associated stenosis, and the genetic fused bi-leaflet aortic valve condition result in flow impairment affecting the flow bed directly supplying the cardiac muscle, next to the main circulation. This reduction in flow has as an inherent drawback the reduction in the supply of dissolved essential constituents in the blood flow itself.
The diminished oxygen supply to the heart muscle tends to induce hypertrophy, in addition to the increased requirement in effort for forced expulsion of the blood in the vital volume, resulting in an enlargement of the heart muscle.
The hypertrophy and cardiac enlargement form a recursive mechanism, leading to a gradual weakening of the heart muscle with continuous enlargement. The compounding effects of muscle weakening and dilation result in further loss of aortic flow, with encompassing reduction in oxygen supply to the body and the heart muscle itself. Patients suffering from aortic stenosis and aortic valve calcification frequently become subject to angina, next to syncope, resulting from the deteriorated blood supply to the brain.

Dual pressure sensor aortic-valve catheter


A system and methods for rapid unloading and reorganization of hierarchical databases. Overflow and a window of blocks are progressively read into memory. Unloading proceeds as the scan cylinders window moves ahead. The reading of blocks stays about scan cylinders ahead of the unload. As a segment is unloaded, its space is converted to free IMS space and when appropriate, combined with adjacent free space already in the block. Thus about a window behind the unload point in the database, all of the segments in a block will have been converted to free space making the block one unit of free space.

Ideally, when data is stored in a database, it should be stored in physical proximity to other data to which it is related. Such proximal storage will reduce disk traffic and I/O access frequency. Over time, however, as data is deleted and added to the database, data that should be physically proximal or "clustered" becomes dispersed across the database and storage vehicles (DASD, for example) on which the database is resident.
Some database systems, such as IBM's Information Management System ("IMS DL/I" or alternatively, "IMS"), allow construction of datasets with free space distributed through the storage space. IMS provides that ability to specify that a portion of each block or control interval be reserved as free space, during the initial load or reorganization of a database. Every n-th block may also be reserved in entirety. There are two free space parameters that specify the percentage of free space for each block and the other specifies the frequency of completely free blocks.
Free space can be helpful or harmful. It will increase the amount of disk space required and may result in extra I/O's. The challenge is to allocate the right amount of free space during database design so that disk space is minimized while the likelihood of fitting additions in the optimum block is maximized. The volume of additions must be estimated as well as the distribution of those additions. Too much free space is an inefficient use of resources, and too little results in increases in seek time and increased I/O operations.
Databases express relationships between units of data. In a hierarchical database system, such as IBM's IMS, data is organized in a tree-like structure. Each unit of data is known as a segment and related segments are together known as a record. From a root segment, all other segments in the record bear a direct or indirect subordinate relationship. The root segment of a record is established by the database description or definition process ("DBD"). A segment which depends immediately from the root is a child segment and a child segment may be a parent to segments further from the root.
Over time, databases tend to enlarge unevenly so that some groups or "clusters" of related data increase in population more quickly than others. When data is inserted in an IMS database, IMS uses a documented strategy that tries to place a segment to be inserted as close as possible to segments to which it is related. IMS first tries to place the segment into the block where related segments reside. If that is not possible, IMS tries to place the segment at least in the same track as related segments. If that is not possible, placement in the present, previous or next cylinder is attempted, and so on until it has searched for room both ahead of and behind the placement area. The available placement area is defined by a "SCAN cylinders" statement specified when the database is generated during the DBD process. If still there is no available room, the segment is placed at the end of the dataset in an area known as "overflow," The overflow area is not contiguous with the root addressable area ("RAA"). If overflow becomes full, IMS will attempt to place the segment anywhere in the database that room can be found. If there is insufficient free space early in the placement process, data becomes physically dispersed from the data to which it should be proximal. As data becomes dispersed, the read disk head must travel further to access that data and wait longer to complete the random seek on a particular track. Consequently, periodic rearrangement of the no longer clustered data in the database can result in significant improvement in database performance including increased storage efficiency and improved operational speed. Such rearrangement is known in the art as "reorganization."
Basic IMS access techniques such as Hierarchical Sequential Access Method (HSAM) use sequential access to find a particular segment. The access request starts at the first root, then examines each root sequentially until the destination root is found and then searches up the tree according to certain rules until the target segment is found. Later IMS access techniques developed as part of IMS Version II introduced the hierarchical direct (HD) access methods. Hierarchical direct access methods such as the Hierarchical Indexed Direct Access Method (HIDAM), for example, allow indexed access to any root segment based upon its "key" to its offset from the beginning of the dataset to the prefix of the root segment of the target record. This requires that a segment in an HD database never move within a dataset until the database is reorganized.
Even though physical adjacency between logically related segments improves database efficiency, the functional or logical relationship between segments in an HD access IMS database is not expressed through the physical adjacency of those segments in the database. The segments within a database record in an HD IMS database are connected using four-byte Relative Byte Address pointers ("RBA"). A RBA pointer is a four-byte field in a segment that designates the starting position of the destination segment relative to the beginning of the dataset. Fixing segment location makes it feasible to use pointers from one segment to other specific segments in other databases or partitions and from secondary indexes. Pointer use in segments is also valuable within a database to connect a parent segment to the first or first and last occurrence of each segment type. Pointers can also be used to establish secondary indexes through which an alternative organizational hierarchy perspective or an entry point for the record alternative to the root can be constructed.
Logical relationships can be established to logically link two segments which exist in separate physical databases, partitions or datasets. A logical child is used to construct the logical linkage between the two segments intended to be related. Multiple logical relationships can be constructed to create a hierarchical structure consisting of segments from multiple physical databases to create an alternative logical view of related data which can be seen by an application as a hierarchical database.
In the two segments to be related, the logical child has two parents; a physical parent and a logical parent. The leftmost field in the logical child contains the concatenated key of the logical parent that gives a symbolic address for the logical parent. An optional direct RBA pointer can be contained in the segment prefix. Thus, if an access request seeks the logical parent, but knows only the location of the physical parent, the path to the logical child (which is the child of the physical parent) is taken where, upon arrival at the logical child, the address of the logical parent is found through the key or pointer in the logical child.
Thus, many useful, logically-ruled organizational structures are dependent upon pointers amongst and between data elements to maintain logical interrelationships and indexes which, although they differ from the physical relationships of the data, depend for their continuance upon the awareness of the physical siting of any data into which pointers direct the process flow. Further, pointers allow entry to a database at any level of the hierarchy or any instance of a segment type without traversal of the hierarchical path. If a data segment which had been pointed to by the relative byte pointer in another segment is physically moved, established secondary indexes and logical relationships are destroyed unless the new location of the moved target data can be determined. Consequently, two countervailing trends contend in IMS reorganization. The need for operational efficiency dictates periodic reestablishment of physical data clustering. But, because reorganization moves data to reestablish physical grouping and data movement is time consumptive, the advantages of reestablished physical order come at a concomitant database downtime price.
In conventional reorganization of an IMS database, multiple time-consuming steps are required to resolve the logical remapping required by the physical segment movement implicit in reorganization. For example, current reorganization technology does not determine new RBA's for reloaded segments until that segment is actually reloaded into the new dataset. Such RBA determination in the multi-step process of prior art reorganization results in significant subsequent time-consuming RBA resolution overhead.
Initially, in conventional reorganization, the database to be reorganized (target) is unloaded. As the data is then loaded into a new dataset to restore physical order, a record is written to a WF1 type file for example which notes the existence of this segment and its RBA in the new dataset. The work file may, in some cases, also note secondary relationships.
Databases or independent partitions which contain segments to which segments of the target database are related are scanned by another utility such as DB Scan for example, to determine the presence and position of any such logically related segments. This information is written to a work file similar to the one generated by the load process. Similar scans are run against any other databases which include segments to which segments of the reorganized database bear a logical relationship.
After all databases being reorganized have been reloaded and any other databases participating in logical relationships, but not being reorganized are scanned, the typically lengthy process of prefix resolution can begin. This is sometimes done in serially or in parallel groups of operations. All the work files from the various load and scan processes, such as the WF1 files, are input to the prefix resolution process and sorted. After sorting, logically related segments from the respective databases are matched and yet another work file is created that will be used to update the segment prefixes and pointers in a subsequent prefix update step.
Segment prefixes are updated with the new RBA of their counterparts in related databases. Items updated are logical parent counters and, if virtual pairing is used, "logical child first and last pointers," logical child's logical parent pointers and when virtual pairing is used, the logical twin forward and backward pointers. This process is run for each database in the relationship.
When a database is reorganized, the area being reorganized becomes unavailable and, therefore, the data resident in the area under reorganization becomes unavailable. As the multiple steps conventionally required for reorganization are executed, the area under reorganization can be unavailable for lengthy periods which can, on occasion, last for days. Consequently, techniques for rapid reorganization of databases have significant practical and financial value. Therefore, what is needed is a system and method for more rapid database reorganization.


A method and system for providing information for correct placement of one or more brackets on one or more corresponding teeth according to a predetermined treatment scheme. A virtual representation of a three-dimensional teeth arrangement of one or both jaws of the individual with brackets placed on said teeth is obtained wherein the position and orientation of the brackets on said teeth being designed so as to achieve a desired treatment outcome. The virtual representation is processed to generate an output data, the output data driving a display, such as a computer monitor or a printed “hard-copy”, to display an image of at least one tooth with a bracket thereon, the displayed image having three-dimensional qualities indicative of said at least one tooth as viewed from a defined viewpoint. The invention can be applied to the placement of brackets onto the buccal side of the teeth as well as onto the lingual side of the teeth.

Orthodontic treatment has the object of aligning and repositioning teeth for both functional and aesthetic purposes. This is achieved by the use of a variety of orthodontic appliances including, brackets, wires (arch wires), coil springs and elastics. In combination, these appliances are fixed to teeth in such a manner that orthodontic forces and moments cause the teeth to move in the desired direction.
There are currently acceptable guidelines in orthodontics which define the optimal dental and skeletal relations which should be the goal of orthodontic treatments. A summary of these guidelines can be found in Straight Wire, the Concept and Appliances, by Laurence F. Andrews, L. A. Well, Co., San Diego, Calif., USA, 1989. These guidelines are based on both functional and aesthetic considerations.
The outcome of orthodontic treatment is dependent, among others, upon the accuracy of the positioning of the orthodontic bracket. Brackets are selected and applied to the teeth in order to achieve the results indicated by the treatment plan. However, if the bracket is not precisely placed in its designated position, this will cause the tooth to move in a direction other than the one desired, with the result that the desired outcome cannot be obtained. Thus, there is a need in the art to provide orthodontists with a tool to assist in applying an orthodontic treatment according to a treatment plan designed accordingly, and specifically, to assist in precisely placing brackets in their respective positions as designated by the plan.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,334,772 in the name of the same applicant describes a method and system for placement of orthodontic appliances on teeth. In this patent, use is made of a small video camera mounted on a device that applies the bracket onto the tooth. By monitoring the view captured by the camera against an image of an intended bracket position, the correct position may be achieved.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for assisting in applying an orthodontic treatment


A weedless jig having an improved stainless steel wire weedguard (31) which provides snag protection to a hook point (22) from the top, front, both sides, and the back. Said weedguard terminates near said hook point in a weed-shedding geometrically shaped snag deflector (28). A novel method creates an encasement (30) which provides the wire weedguard with a smooth surface.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a fishing lure, more particularly, to a jig type lure with an improved weedguard.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Fishing jigs are generally characterized by a fishhook having the end opposite the point of the hook near the eye molded into a heavy metallic material, usually lead, which is called the head or jig head. Usually a multifilamented flexible skirt or bucktail is attached to the jig, sometimes in combination with a plastic or pork rind trailer. The point of the hook is often protected from snagging on aquatic vegetation or a submerged object, such as a tree limb by a guard of some type. This guard is called the weedguard.
An effective weedguard is one that provides snag protection to the hook without interfering with the setting of the hook in a fish's mouth.
Most commercially available jigs have a weedguard consisting of a bundle of 20 or 30 nylon bristles protruding from the top of the jig head at a backward angle, and tenninating at a point slightly past the point of the hook. The bristle bundle is often trimmed and bent by the user into a desired form, usually a V shape, with the point of the hook between the V ends.
Despite its popularity the nylon bristle weedguard suffers from certain limitations. The bristle bundle is highly resistant to flexing near its origin from the jig head, and only begins to flex significantly at a point about 1/4 inch from the jig head. This lack of uniform flex can effectively reduce the bite of the hook (the distance from the hook point to the shank) by up to 50%. As a result, the percentage of fish landed to those that actually bite is reduced.
Also, when the nylon bristle bundle has been bent into a V shape by the user, minimal snag protection from the backside is an undesired by-product. This occurs when the jig is cast over a submerged limb and is moved up and down by the fisherman in an attempt to attract a fish. As the jig is allowed to fall backwards, the V shaped guard can actually direct a twig or limb underneath it into the bend of the hook, resulting in a snag. This flaw is inherent in any V shaped weedguard, regardless of composition.
Additionally, any weedguard which reaches to or past the hook point can, upon occasion, interfere with attempts by the fisherman to set the hook in the mouth of the fish, a significant disadvantage.
And finally, nylon bristle weedguards aren't nearly as weedless as their names suggests. The guard itself can collect weeds, particularly the fibrous variety.
Another material used as a weedguard is stainless steel wire, and is available commercially in several configurations.
A single strand configuration consists of a strand of wire molded into the jig head at one end, and projects rearwardly toward the hook point at the other, terminating beyond the hook. Although reasonably weedless, the single strand weedguard is prone to snags on submerged limbs because even minimal flexing to one side or the other exposes the hook point and a snag can result.
A double strand configuration consists of two wire strands molded in the jig head with both projecting rearwardly toward and past the hook point. The two wire strands are arranged into a V shape, and again reasonably weedless, but because of the inherent weakness of the V configuration, it is susceptible to snags from the back.
A third type of wire weedguard is a narrow wire loop, molded or fastened to the jig head at one end, and projecting rearwardly to the hook point. The hook point rests in the terminal end of the loop under some tension.
This guard has enjoyed good commercial success on some small jigs (less than 1/4 oz.) and on the rigged plastic worm configuration. Its primary weakness is, when sprung (when the hook point no longer rest in the wire loop) it tends to act as a single wire strand weedguard with minimal lateral protection. Again as with any weedguard which reaches to or past the point of the hook it can at times, interfere with the fisherman's attempt to set the hook in the mouth of the fish. Also, fine weed fibers can collect in the wire loop, and are difficult to remove.
Another type of weedguard is one molded as a single unit from plastic in a V configuration. It offers good protection to the hook point from the front and sides, but is highly resistant to flexing laterally, a significant disadvantage. It also suffers from lack of flex at its point of insertion in the jig head, a deficiency shared with the bristle bundle weedguard described above.
Expanding the search from weedguards for jigs to weedguards for any hook, I have found two that bear examination.
The first, U.S. Pat. No. 454,982, A. G. Mack, 1891, uses a single strand wire weedguard terminating in a triangular shape near the points of the two hooks. This weedguard was designed for spoon type lure with multiple hooks. Unfortunately, Mack fails to explain how the terminal end of the weedguard is formed, particularly how the wire end is secured back to the main shaft of the weedguard. This is a critical omission, since the need for a smooth surface on the weedguard, and how this is accomplished should be expressly emphasized.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 2,119,504, Lawrence, 1938, should be considered. Lawrence describes a live bait rig consisting of a sinker and hook with a weedguard. The weedguard is made from wire with the terminal end of the guard formed in a triangular shape near the hook point, similar to Mack above. The primary deficiencies of Lawrence's weedguard are again in the terminal end of the guard and its attachment back to the main shaft. Lawrence accomplishes this by simply twisting the wire end around the main shaft of the guard. This creates a rough area with an exposed wire end which can snag weeds in an undesirable manner.


In the production of low-molecular olefins, in particular of ethylene and propylene, an educt stream (O) containing at least one oxygenate and an educt stream (C) containing at least one C4+olefin are simultaneously converted in at least one identical reactor on an identical catalyst to obtain a product mixture (P) comprising low-molecular olefins and gasoline hydrocarbons. The ratio (V) of oxygenates in the educt stream (O) to C4+ olefins in the educt stream (C) here is 0.05 to 0.5 and is calculated according to the following formula:

Propene (C3H6), often also referred to as propylene, is one of the most important starting substances of the chemical industry. The demand for the base material propylene is increasing worldwide, wherein propylene just like ethylene mostly is produced from petroleum in a steam cracker in a ratio dependent on the process and the raw materials.
To obtain additional propylene, a number of processes exist, such as the PDH process which proceeds from propane as educt. However, since the largest part of propylene still is produced by steam cracking (about 70%), there is a tendency to convert the C4 to C8 olefins obtained in crackers or other petrochemical plants to additional propylene, in part also to ethylene.
On the one hand, this can be effected via the metathesis process, which is based on a synproportionation of ethylene and butylene. It is disadvantageous here that for this purpose the ethylene production must be increased and only C4 olefins can be converted.
Furthermore, an olefin conversion is possible, in which C4+ olefins are converted to propylene. Such cracking is effected by means of the Propylur or OCP process and above all is employed to utilize the C4+ olefins produced in a cracker plant—which are to be valued comparatively low—for the production of propylene. Due to the endothermicity of the reaction, the temperature in the reactor however decreases with increasing conversion and thus limits the achievable propylene yield.
Finally, the methanol-to-propylene process (also MTP® process) is recommendable, in which methanol/dimethyl ether or also other oxygenates are converted to propylene on a mostly zeolitic catalyst.
DE 10 2005 048 931 describes such MTP® process for the production of C2 to C4 olefins from an educt mixture containing steam and oxygenates, such as methanol and/or dimethyl ether, in which the educt mixture is converted in at least one reactor by a heterogeneously catalyzed reaction to obtain a reaction mixture comprising low-molecular olefins and gasoline hydrocarbons. In a first separating means, this reaction mixture then is separated into a mixture rich in C5− olefins, a fraction rich in C5+ gasoline hydrocarbons, and an aqueous phase. The fraction rich in C5+ gasoline hydrocarbon afterwards is supplied to a second separating means in which the aromatics are removed from the mixture. The remaining residual stream largely free of aromatics is at least partly recirculated into the reactor as recycling stream. This has the advantage that the olefin fraction for the most part can be converted to propylene, whereby the yield of propylene as a whole is increased.
WO 2008/039552 A1 teaches a process in which MTP® and cracking processes are connected in series. For this purpose, the oxygenates are converted into olefins in a reactor according to the MTP® process. From the product stream thus obtained, ethylene and propylene are separated. In this separation, remaining oxygenates and water also are removed from the stream, whereby a pure C4+ fraction is obtained, which is transferred into an olefin cracking reactor. By cracking the olefins, further ethylene and propylene can then be obtained.
US 2004/008 7824 A1 describes a combination of the two processes for converting oxygenates and for cracking olefins proceeding from the product mixture from a Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. For this purpose, the product stream which contains both oxygenates and C6+ olefins is brought in contact with an acid, olefin-cracking catalyst. Both the oxygenates and the high-molecular olefins then are converted to light olefins such as propylene, butene and pentene. The conversion is effected at temperatures between 260 and 454° C. and a pressure below 69 bar. Due to these reaction conditions, however, there is still obtained a considerable C4+ olefin fraction, whereas C4/C5 olefins are not significantly converted to lighter olefins and the valuable product ethylene can hardly be obtained.
The combination of an MTP® plant with a cracker plant is described in DE 10 2007 045 238 A1, wherein MTP® reactor and cracker are connected in parallel. The respective intermediate product streams of the steam cracker and the reactor are at least partly joined. This has the advantage that the succeeding separating means can be utilized jointly. Parts of these streams also are recirculated to the steam cracker and/or the MTP® reactor, whereby in particular in the MTP® reactor the longer-chain alkenes are cracked to lighter olefins, in particular ethylene and propylene.
With an interconnection according to DE 10 2007 045 238 A1, it is possible to produce 50,899 t.p.a. of ethylene and 440,331 t.p.a. of propylene more than in a pure cracker plant from 1,660,000 t.p.a of methanol in the combination of MTP® and cracker plants, and hence the ratio of C2 to C3 can effectively be shifted in favor of propylene from 43.06 to 1.86. However, the selectivity of the sum of the valuable products propylene and ethylene based on methanol only is about 0.68 and hence distinctly <1, from which it follows that the selectivity is only slightly larger than in a self-sufficient MTP® plant. This means that the increased yield of propylene chiefly is to be associated to the pure parallel connection of MTP® and cracker plant, and a substantial reduction of the olefins with higher C numbers present in the MTP®/cracker complex could not be effected.
From DE 10 2007 045 238 A1 it is also known that due to the presence of longer-chain olefins and as a result the occurrence of endothermal reactions, the temperature in the reactor can be lowered. However, it is not disclosed in the prior art in what ratio the streams of oxygenates and C4+ olefins must be, in order to keep the temperature in the reactor at an almost constant level. A rather uniform temperature profile, however, is important because the cracking of olefins so far is limited by the fact that the endothermal reaction makes the temperature in the reactor decrease, so that finally there will not be sufficient energy to overcome the activation energy, and therefore the reaction does not proceed completely. At the same time, the classical MTP® process is highly exothermal, so that despite an expensive cooling construction the rising temperature in the reactor reduces the selectivity with regard to propylene.
Therefore, it is the object of the invention to provide a process in which a maximization of the yield of propylene and ethylene can be achieved by a rather homogeneous temperature profile.

Process and plant for the production of lower-molecular olefins

Abstract: V  =                    ∑        j                                    k                      oxygenate            -            j                          *                  n                      oxygenate            -            j                                                        ∑          i                                              k                          olefin              -              i                                *                      n                          olefin              -              i                                          +                        ∑          j                                              k                          oxygenate              -              j                                *                      n                          oxygenate              -              j                                          with:    koxygenate-j: carbon number of the oxygenate j    noxygenate-j: molar flow rate of the oxygenate j    kolefin-i: carbon number of the olefin i    nolefin-i: molar flow rate of the olefin i.