In embodiments herein a latch apparatus comprises a striker plate and a latch. The latch comprises a pin that is positioned to contact the inclined surface of the striker plate as the latch moves over the striker plate. The latch also comprises a roller that is positioned to roll over a lip of the striker plate as the latch moves over the striker plate. In addition, an arm is operatively connected to the roller. The arm pivots when the roller moves. The pin locks the arm and prevents the roller from moving when the pin is in the lowered position and the pin allows the arm to pivot and allows the roller to move when the pin is in the raised position.

It is common for mechanical devices to utilize doors and/or drawers that can be opened by the user. Such doors/drawers need to utilize latches to remain closed after the user has performed the desired operation and closed the door/drawer. One issue is that the latches may not maintain a consistent position of the door/drawer. In addition, the mechanical pieces that hold the latch in position often experience high frictional contact surfaces between the various components. For example, in FIG. 3 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,004 (the complete disclosure of which is fully incorporated herein by reference) a catch rests against a latch to lock the latch mechanism. However, a large amount of friction exists between the catch and the latch. These high frictional surfaces require a large amount of force (or a highly powered actuator) in order to allow the latch mechanism to release. However, it is desirable to provide a latch that opens with very little force and that maintains an accurate closed position within a very small movement tolerance.


Provided is a general-purpose technique capable of measuring the HbA1c content, which is comparable to the IFCC reference method. An antibody which reacts with a peptide or a protein having an amino acid sequence of VHLTPE (SEQ ID NO: 1) at the N-terminus in which the N-terminal valine is not modified, but does not react with a peptide or a protein in which the N-terminal valine of the relevant polypeptide or protein is modified.

Among glycated hemoglobins in which sugar is bound to hemoglobin (hereinafter, referred to as "Hb") in blood, hemoglobin A1c (hereinafter, referred to as "HbA1c") in which the N-terminal valine residue of the hemoglobin β-chain is glycated with glucose, clinically reflects the average blood glucose level of the past one to two months. Therefore, HbA1c is widely used as a marker appropriate for the diagnosis of diabetes or a progress observation of diabetes.
As the method for measuring HbA1c, HPLC methods and immunological assay methods have been used, but because the measurement objects subtly varies with the type of the HPLC column or among the reagent manufacturers, the standardization of the assay is requested. From such a viewpoint, the working group for HbA1c standardization of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) determined a standard assay method (hereinafter, referred to as "IFCC reference method") (Non-Patent Document 1). The method involves digesting a red blood cell lysate with a protease, thereby extracting the N-terminal hexapeptide of the hemoglobin β-chain (VHLTPE) (SEQ ID NO: 1), determining the amounts of the glycated N-terminal hexapeptide (f-VHLTPE) (SEQ ID NO: 11) of the HbA1c β-chain and the unmodified N-terminal hexapeptide (VHLTPE) (SEQ ID NO: 1) of the β-chain of hemoglobin AO (hereinafter, referred to as "HbA0") in the extract, and calculating the HbA1c content (%) by the formula shown below:HbA1c content (%)=(Amount of f-VHLTPE (SEQ ID NO: 11)/(amount of f-VHLTPE (SEQ ID NO: 11)+amount of VHLTPE (SEQ ID NO: 1)))×100=(Amount of HbA1c/(amount of HbA1c+amount of HbA0))×100
However, since the method for measuring the glycated hexapeptide content according to this method makes use of HPLC-MS or HPLC-capillary electrophoresis, the method requires expensive apparatuses, and the measurement can be made only in particular facilities. Furthermore, there is a problem that the measurement values obtained by this method are different greatly from the HbA1c values obtained by conventional methods (Non-Patent Document 2).

Antibody to N-terminal region of hemoglobin β-chain


A louvered window covering, such as a vertical or horizontal venetian blind, is provided with a thermal actuator to automatically rotate slats forming the louvered window covering between open and closed positions. The actuator includes at least one memory alloy spring that, when heated above a predetermined temperature, extends to engage and move a rack that drives a pinion gear. The pinion gear rotates, through a coupling mechanism, a rod extending the length of the blind. A second memory alloy spring may be installed to rotate the rod in the opposite direction. The rod intercouples the slats in a rewiner such that the rotation of the rod rotates the slats in unison between closed and open positions. The memory alloy spring may be heated with a current supplied to a controller in response to a predetermined environmental condition.

Louvered window coverings, such as venetian blinds, vertical blinds, shutters and other types of movable shades (generally referred to as "blinds"), are generally thought of as primarily providing privacy. However, significant heat is generated in enclosures by incident sunlight coming through windows. Because they regulate the amount of incident light within an enclosure, blinds thus play an important role in controlling the ambient temperature in the enclosure, and in conservation and efficient utilization of energy.
Most people prefer that the interior temperature of their homes remain at approximately 72 degrees Fahrenheit for optimal comfort. During the summer, for example, blinds may be closed to reduce heat and to save energy required for air conditioning to cool the air heated by light coming through the windows. During the winter, to take advantage of the heat generated by the light blinds may be opened during the day and closed at night to slow the loss of heat through the windows, thereby saving energy. As a significant amount of energy is consumed in heating and cooling enclosures, proper operation of blinds during the course of the seasons can materially contribute to energy conservation by its efficient utilization.
Blinds enhance security as well. When used on business premises, for example, blinds should be left open at night so that security personnel can peer through the windows. At home, however, the blinds should be closed.
Commercially available louvered window coverings are, with few exceptions, manually operated. Designers and manufactures know that successful blinds and shades should be of simple design for low cost, reliable operation and convenience of use, and simple designs are manually operated. To take full advantage of the benefits of movable or adjustable louvered window coverings, therefore, requires a vigilant person to operate the blinds, one who understands these benefits. As such circumstances are rare, so too are blinds rarely used to their fullest benefit and advantage. Blinds which automatically open and close are therefore desirable.
Despite the needs and desires for automatic systems, the industry still strongly favors the simple design of manual blinds. There have been attempts to automate operation of blinds, primarily for convenience of remote operation, though also to respond to changes in the environment, particularly the amount of light incident on the blinds. Previous attempts at automation have generally been, however, too costly and failed in terms of cost, reliability and adaptability to the wide variety of blind mechanisms.
The automation of blinds in the prior art has involved coupling the blind's positioning mechanism, typically a rod running the length of the blind that intercouples the slats of the blind for rotation in unison, to direct current (DC) motors or solenoids that generate the work necessary for opening and closing the blinds. They are also very noisy, making them less appealable. The motors hum, the solenoid actuator clicks, and the gears grind. Furthermore, DC motors and solenoids are relatively large and cumbersome. They often are not adaptable to some types of blind mechanisms. They also sometimes cannot be incorporated into the blind mechanism, but must be mounted either on a wall to pull a draw string, or to the outside of the housing for the blind mechanism. The latter case requires quite complex mechanical interfaces with the blind mechanisms, necessitating substantial and numerous types of modifications to the various types of preexisting blinds for retrofit, or special manufacture of blinds with the motors. Either way, simplicity is sacrificed and cost substantially increased.
The fact that DC motors and solenoids require a source of power for operation further increases cost and complexity. Each blind must be equipped with an AC to DC converter if power is taken from a wall socket. Otherwise, batteries must be used. Typically, they are expensive varieties, such as NiCad batteries, so that they do not have to be frequently replaced and may be recharged by expensive solar, photoelectric cells or circuitry to provide a constant trickle charge of current.
Moreover, to control the DC motors and solenoids during operation of the blind mechanism, relatively complex and expensive circuits must be used. These circuits are further complicated where the same circuit centrally controls several different types of blind mechanisms, as each mechanism potentially requires specialized operation of the DC motor or solenoids.

Environmentally interactive automatic closing system for blinds and other louvered window coverings


A diversity combining method applied by a receiver in a wireless communication system is provided, including: acquiring baseband signals of receiving channels corresponding to multiple receiving antennas, and combining multiple acquired baseband signals according to a Maximal-Ratio Combining (MRC) principle at an intermediate frequency and/or within an equalizer and/or after the equalizer. Further a receiver in a wireless communication system is provided. By means of the technical solutions of the disclosure, it is possible to improve a demodulation threshold and the demodulation sensitivity of a microwave system.

There is multipath fading in a wireless communication system, and fading experienced by different paths is generally uncorrelated; generally, it is possible to improve equalized demodulation performance of a system using diversity combining techniques.
In an existing microwave system, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, it involves only Single Input Single Output (SISO) and the application of Cross-Polarisation Interference Counteracter (XPIC), but does not involve diversity combining techniques and related applications.

Receiver in wireless communication system and diversity combining method thereof


A media member, such as a DVD disc, which includes thereon a combination of visually presented text material, such as a conventional book, an audio narration of the text material which is synchronized with the text material, and a plurality of successively presented visual images which portray various selected scenes described in the text material.

Conventional commercially published book manuscripts, for example, between 50,000 and 100,000 words (they can be shorter or larger), in the form of text only, have historically been a successful source of entertainment for many adults and older children. Typically, these books include both fiction of various genres and non-fiction works. However, a significant portion of the population, for various reasons, does not enjoy reading such conventional books for entertainment.
Also, some books, primarily children's books and comic books, including the new action/adventure comics, combine illustrations which correspond to and enhance the text. However, such works tend to be relatively short and in many cases unsophisticated. While in some cases they are engrossing, they do not have the substantial plot and/or character development found in traditional longer works. A large portion of the adult population will not purchase such books for their own use.
Audio books are also known, referred to generally as books on tape, in which the actual text of a book is read by an experienced, skilled reader. Books on tape include many well known commercial books. Books on tape appeal to a rather small portion of the population, and do not involve any illustrations, thus being similar to plain text in that regard. Further, the selection of available books in audio form is quite limited.
In the present invention, several different media are brought together to form a new combined media product, which retains the length and richness of a traditional book. The invention can, however, be used for shorter books as well, including instructional books and similar materials.

Multi-feature media article and method for manufacture of same


A digital radiographic image of a subject is captured using a reduced exposure level of an x-ray source. One or more exposure control regions in the image is mapped and associated with a predetermined exposure level. A difference between the predetermined exposure level setting and the reduced exposure level is used to set a diagnostic exposure level perhaps about twice as high as the reduced exposure level to capture a diagnostic image of the subject.

The disclosure relates generally to the field of radiographic imaging, and in particular to exposure control. More specifically, the disclosure relates to apparatus and methods for automatically designating suitable areas of a digital radiography (DR) detector for exposure measurement.
Automatic Exposure Control (AEC) apparatus have been widely used in conventional diagnostic X-ray equipment to control X-ray exposure levels received by a patient. An AEC device, positioned at a suitable location in the exposure path, tracks how much radiation has been received for an image. At a predetermined threshold value, the AEC apparatus generates an output signal which is then used to disable power to the X-ray emission components, thereby terminating the generation of ionizing radiation for that image.
With the advent of Digital Radiography (DR) imaging, approaches have been proposed for integrating AEC functions within the DR imaging panel, such as employing portions of the pixel array for exposure control. This would appear to have appreciable benefits if it could be achieved. However, practical limitations including spacing and panel size, component complexity, and cost as well as the need to adapt the AEC configuration suitably for patients of different size and condition, greatly complicate this task.
It can be appreciated that there would be benefits to providing a measure of exposure control using the DR imaging panel without requiring modification to DR panel components and without perceptible delay in the imaging workflow, particularly where such a solution can provide a measure of adaptability with reduced risk of operator error.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Automatic radiography exposure control using rapid probe exposure and learned scene analysis


Inhomogeneous tissue structures cause spatial-varying water molecule diffusion that is characterized by the spatial derivative of diffusivity, i.e., diffusion gradient. In a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the effects of diffusion and diffusion gradient are simultaneously encoded in an echo signal using diffusion-encoding magnetic field gradient pulses. A method for imaging the diffusion gradient of water molecules in tissues and for delineating the interface between two tissues having different diffusion properties is disclosed. The method also describes imaging diffusion anisotropy and diffusion gradient simultaneously without any additional scans in comparison with diffusion tensor MRI.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods, image display, and image processing for delineation of tissue structures and interfaces of the structures. More particularly, the invention relates to a method for measuring (a) diffusion gradient in tissues and (b) diffusion anisotropy and diffusion gradient simultaneously in tissues.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Any nucleus with a non-zero magnetic moment such as proton in water molecule tends to align itself with the direction of a magnetic field when placed in the field. The nucleus precesses around the field direction at a characteristic angular frequency (Larmor frequency ω) which is dependent on the strength of the magnetic field (B0) and on the properties of the specific nuclear species (the gyromagnetic ratio γ), e.g., ω=γ B0. Nuclei exhibiting such phenomena are referred to as spins.
In the presence of a static uniform magnetic field (polarizing field B0), each individual magnetic moment of the spins in the tissue tends to align with the polarizing field, yielding a net magnetization parallel to the field (longitudinal magnetization). In the transverse plane to the field, however, the randomly oriented magnetic components of the spins cancel one another, producing no net magnetization perpendicular to the field.
By applying a transient magnetic field (excitation field B1), the longitudinal magnetization may be rotated, or tipped, away from the polarizing field and the transverse component of the tipped magnetization precesses around the polarizing field at the Larmor frequency. The degree to which the longitudinal magnetization is tipped, and hence, the magnitude of the transverse magnetization depends primarily on the length of time and magnitude of the applied excitation field B1. When the excitation field is terminated, the recovery of the longitudinal magnetization to its equilibrium value along the polarizing field is described by the spin-lattice relaxation process that is characterized by the time constant T1. This recovery process is also referred to as the longitudinal relaxation process.
Once the excitation field is removed, precession of the transverse magnetization around the polarizing field may induce a sinusoidal signal in a receiving coil, and the frequency of the signal is the Larmor frequency. The net magnetization gradually reorients itself with the polarizing field when the excitation field is removed, resulting in the amplitude of the signal decaying exponentially with time. The rate at which the signal decays depends on the homogeneity of the magnetic field and on T2, which is referred to as the "spin-spin relaxation" constant, or the "transverse relaxation" constant. The T2 constant is inversely proportional to the exponential rate at which the aligned precession of the spins would dephase after removal of the excitation field in a perfectly homogeneous field.
In order to produce a spatial image of a substance such as human tissue, magnetic field gradients are employed to obtain MRI signals from specific locations in the substance. Although the direction of the polarizing field remains the same, its strength varies along the x, y, and z axes oriented with respect to the substance. Varying the strength of the polarizing field linearly along one axis causes the Larmor frequency to vary linearly as a function of its position along the axis. Thus, by controlling the strength of these gradients during each MRI cycle, the spatial distribution of spin excitation can be controlled and the location of the MR signals can be identified. Then, the received spatial-encoded MR signals are digitized and processed to reconstruct the MR image using one of many well known reconstruction techniques.
MRI is a non-invasive modality for imaging the internal structures of the human body with no known health hazards attributed to its use. It is a routine clinical diagnostic imaging tool.
Diffusion-weighted MRI combines magnetic resonance imaging principles with the effects of molecular diffusion on MR signal in order to reveal diffusion characteristics of water molecules in tissues (Le Bihan, D. et al (1986). MR Imaging of Intravoxel Incoherent Motions: Application to Diffusion and Perfusion in Neurologic Disorders. Radiology 161:401-407; Merboldt, K. D., et al (1985). Self-diffusion NMR imaging using stimulated echoes. J. Magn. Reson. 64:479-486; and Taylor, D. G. and Bushell, M. C. (1985). The spatial mapping of translational diffusion coefficients by the NMR imaging technique. Phys. Med Biol. 30, 345-349)). Molecular diffusion refers to the random Brownian motion of molecules resulting from thermal agitation. During their random, diffusion-driven displacements molecules encounter various tissue components, i.e., macromolecules, intracellular organs, cell membranes, fibers, etc. These micrometer-sized cellular structures impede the molecular displacements. This diffusion effect of molecular displacements, due to the presence of the tissue microstructure, is encoded in the MR signal by using magnetic field gradient pulses (diffusion-encoding gradients). The observation of this displacement distribution provides unique information regarding the structure and geometric organization of tissues (Le Bihan, D. et al (1986). MR Imaging of Intravoxel Incoherent Motions: Applications to Diffusion and Perfusion in Neurologic Disorders. Radiology 161:401-407).
In diffusion-weighted MRI, the signal contrast is based on spin dephasing resulting in water molecule diffusion, and the rate of diffusion is measured by applying diffusion-encoding gradients. In comparison to free water diffusion, the diffusive motion of water molecules in tissue is influenced by the tissue microstructure. The degree of restriction that is encountered by water diffusion in a tissue is reflected in the diffusion coefficient or diffusivity, i.e., the stronger the restriction, the smaller the diffusivity. Water diffusion causes MR signal attenuation and provides a means for direct measurement of the diffusion coefficient, resulting in diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI).
Water diffusion-induced signal loss in a DWI image voxel results from the total contribution of all water molecules within the voxel. The overall effect observed in the voxel reflects, on a statistical basis, the displacement distribution of the water molecules present within this voxel. Thus, the measured diffusion coefficient is an apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). This diffusion constant is estimated from the linear relationship between the logarithm of the echo intensity and the magnitude of the diffusion-encoding gradient in which ADC appears as a constant of proportionality (Stejskal, E. O. Use of Spin Echoes in a Pulsed Magnetic-Field Gradient to Study Anisotropic, Restricted Diffusion and Flow. J. Chem. Phys. 43:3597-3603).
The level of tissue microstructure restriction on water diffusion is reflected in relative changes in the ADC. In an acute stroke, the ADC in the ischemic territory was reduced by as much as 50% within minutes after the onset of ischemia, demonstrating the value of DWI for the early detection of stroke (Moseley, M. E., et al (1990). Diffusion-weighted MR imaging of acute stroke: correlation with T2-weighted and magnetic susceptibility-enhanced MR imaging in cats. AJNR 11, 423-429). The visualization of changes in the diffusion properties of tissue water with DWI has become a routine clinical tool to characterize tissue structure and to identify and differentiate disease processes.
Molecular diffusion is a three-dimensional process. In pure liquids such as water, individual molecules are in constant motion in every possible direction and have an equal probability of moving in every direction. Therefore, diffusion in pure liquids is isotropic. Water diffusion in biologic tissue along one particular direction, however, as selected by the direction of the probing magnetic field gradient, could be different from the diffusion along another direction due to the presence of various tissue components that restrict the Brownian motion in certain directions, rendering diffusion in structured tissues anisotropy. As diffusion is encoded in the MRI signal by using diffusion-encoding gradients, only molecular displacements that occur along the direction of the diffusion-encoding gradients are visible. Thus, diffusion anisotropy in structured tissues can be examined by observing variations in the diffusion measurements when the direction of the diffusion-encoding gradients is changed.
Diffusion anisotropy in structured tissues is reflected in the measured direction-dependent ADCs. Since these ADCs depend on the direction of the diffusion-encoding gradients and are exquisitely sensitive to the choice of the laboratory frame of reference, they provide only a qualitative description to diffusion anisotropy. To overcome this deficiency, a diffusion tensor is introduced to replace the diffusion coefficient (Basser, P J, et al. (1994). Estimation of the Effective Self-Diffusion Tensor from the NMR Spin Echo. Journal of Magnetic Resonance, Series B 103, 247-254). This technique is referred to as diffusion tensor MRI (DTI). With DTI, diffusion anisotropy effects can be fully extracted, characterized, and exploited. It provides quantitative parameters to characterize intrinsic features of tissue microstructure objectively. These parameters are independent of the direction of the diffusion-encoding gradients and of the choice of the laboratory frame of reference. A direct application of the DTI technique is the development of white matter fiber tractography (Basser, P J, et al. (2000). In Vivo Fiber Tractography Using DT-MRI Data. Magn Reson Med, 44: 625-632).
In summary, both DWI and DTI investigate water molecule diffusion with MRI. DWI examines the effect of diffusion on MRI signal in the direction of diffusion-encoding magnetic field gradients. DTI studies anisotropic diffusion, i.e., spatial-direction varied diffusion. DWI is a routine clinical tool. DTI has been invented in 1993 and has been widely used in both research and clinical today.
The diffusion tensor obtained with DTI determines the spatial-direction variation of diffusion within an MR image voxel, but it provides no information about intravoxel spatial-location variation of the diffusion. Inhomogeneous tissue structures yield diffusion varying from location to location. Intravoxel spatial-location related diffusion (diffusion gradient) has not been explored yet, neither theoretical nor experimentally. Within an MRI voxel, when diffusion is faster in one location than another location, it exhibits a spatial diffusion gradient between the two locations. For example, when diffusion is slower in the left half of a voxel than that in the right half, it produces a spatial gradient from left to right within the voxel. This diffusion gradient is characterized by the spatial derivative of diffusion coefficient. Since these diffusion gradients are caused by the inhomogeneous tissue structures, a measurement of the diffusion gradients with MRI will offer a noninvasive imaging tool for investigating intravoxel inhomogeneous tissue structures. In biologic tissues including very structural ones, intravoxel diffusion gradient in most places is not expected to be large except in the boundary of two structures having markedly different diffusion properties. The large gradient on the tissue interface and small gradients within the tissues could make a sharp contrast of the interface from the tissues, providing a quantity to delineate the interface precisely. Thus, if the diffusion gradient is measurable, it provides valuable information to elucidate intravoxel spatial-location variation of tissue structures.
The patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,163,152 to Bernstein et al) presented a system and method for correcting systematic errors that occur in MR images due to magnetic gradient non-uniformity. In other words, the method improves the quality of MR images. The method has no relation with diffusion MRI though it can be applied to improve the quality of diffusion MR images. The application (U.S. application Ser. No. 2006/0001424 to Harvey et al) presented a method for MR imaging of at least a portion of a body placed in a stationary and substantially homogeneous main magnetic field. This method is related with DWI. The application (U.S. application Ser. No. 2004/0227510 to Rose et al) presented a method for eddy current compensated diffusion imaging. It corrects the eddy current artifact in DWI due to diffusion-encoding magnetic field gradient pulses. The application (U.S. application Ser. No. 2004/0113615 to Bammer et al) presented a mathematical framework for characterizing and then correcting the contribution of gradient non-uniformities to diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). In other words, the method improves the quality of DTI images. The application (U.S. application Ser. No. 2004/0140803 to Deimling) presented a specific pulse sequence (DESS) for DWI. The application (U.S. application Ser. No. 2003/0160612 to Yablonskiy et al) presented a specific method for DTI. The patents and applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Method for imaging diffusion anisotropy and diffusion gradient simultaneously

Board of Trustees of Michigan State University


In one aspect, a steam humidifier is disclosed. The steam humidifier includes a tank for containing water to be heated to generate steam and a water connection manifold that has a manifold chamber in fluid communication with a water supply passage and a water drain passage. The steam humidifier further includes a rotary valve that is configured to control a fluid passage between the tank and the manifold chamber and that is further configured to control the position of one or more locking features. The rotary valve is rotatable between a first locked position and a second unlocked position. In the first locked position, the fluid passage between the tank and the manifold chamber is open and the one or more locking features are engaged with a structure of the steam humidifier. In the second unlocked position, the fluid passage between the tank and the manifold chamber is closed and the one or more locking features are disengaged from the structure of the steam humidifier. Other aspects are disclosed.

The interior spaces of buildings are often at a lower than desired level of humidity. This situation occurs commonly in arid climates and during the heating season in cold climates. There are also instances in which special requirements exist for the humidity of interior spaces, such as in an art gallery or where other delicate items are stored, where it is desired that the interior humidity levels be increased above naturally occurring levels. Therefore, humidifier systems are often installed in buildings to increase the humidity of an interior space.
Humidification systems may take the form of free-standing units located within individual rooms of a building. More preferably, humidification systems are used with building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to increase the humidity of air within ducts that is being supplied to interior building spaces. In this way, humidity can be added to the air stream at a centralized location, as opposed to having multiple devices that increase humidity at multiple points within the building interior. Additionally, because the air within ducts may be warmer than the interior space air during a heating cycle, the additional air temperature can help prevent water vapor from condensing in the vicinity of the humidifier, such as on the inside of the duct.
An issue associated with humidification system is that they should only discharge water vapor into a duct and not liquid water. Liquid water within a duct can create a number of serious problems. For example, liquid water that remains stagnant within a duct can promote the growth of mold or organisms that can release harmful substances into the air flow, potentially causing unhealthy conditions in the building. Liquid water can also cause rusting of a duct which can lead to duct failure, and can create leaks from the duct to the building interior spaces which are unsightly, can cause a slipping hazard, and can lead to water damage to the structure.
One known humidification method involves direct steam injection into an air duct of a building. This approach is most commonly used in commercial buildings where a steam boiler is present to provide a ready supply of pressurized steam. Steam humidification has the advantage of having a relatively low risk of liquid moisture entering a duct or other building space. However, pressurized steam injection systems are associated with a risk of explosion of the steam pressure vessels, as well as a risk of possibly burning nearby people, both of which are very serious safety concerns. In residential applications, there are usually no readily available sources of pressurized steam. An open bath humidifier system may be used, however these are difficult to install because they require a large hole in the duct and can only be used with horizontal or upflow ducts. Alternatively, a residential application may use direct steam injection from a separate unit to generate pressurized steam, but this separate unit is costly. Moreover, the system would suffer from the same disadvantages as are present in commercial direct steam injection systems.
One type of humidifier that is commonly used in residential applications that has the advantages of steam humidification without the need for a separate source of pressurized steam is a tank heater type humidifier. In this type of humidifier, heat is generated within a tank of water, causing the water to boil and steam to be generated. The heat input may be any of a number of different sources, however, commonly an electrical heating element is used. One problem associated with this type of humidifier is that as water is boiled off as steam, the impurities in the water remain in the tank. These impurities generally include minerals that are naturally occurring in most sources of water. Over time, the concentration of these impurities will tend to increase in the tank, leading to greater amounts of impurities that solidify and deposit on the surfaces inside the tank. These deposits can accumulate to the point of creating numerous problems. For example, deposits on a heating coil reduce the heat transfer rate to the water, resulting in lower steam production and possibly causing overheating and failure of the coil. Deposits in the tank can clog passages where water or steam flows in or out, resulting in the failure of the humidifier. It is therefore necessary for a user of a humidifier to occasionally remove the tank of the humidifier and manually clean the tank and associated components to remove the deposits and accumulations.
Improved constructions for humidification systems are desired. In particular, improved constructions for water tanks of steam humidifiers are needed, and specifically, constructions that permit the tank to be readily removed for cleaning. For example, improved techniques and constructions are desirable to allow a water supply line and/or a water drain line to be readily removed from a tank.

Steam humidifier quick liquid connection


An extremely thin copper foil is provided that enables formation of highly fine different wiring patterns with a line/space (L/S) of 10 μm or less/10 μm or less on two sides of the copper foil and is thus usable as an inexpensive and readily processable substitution for silicon and glass interposers. The extremely thin copper foil includes, in sequence, a first extremely thin copper layer, an etching stopper layer, and the second extremely thin copper layer. Two sides of the extremely thin copper foil each have an arithmetic average roughness Ra of 20 nm or less.

Printed circuit boards with finer wiring patterns (finer pitches) have been required as electronic devices, such as mobile electronic devices, are compact and advanced. In order to meet such a request, preferred are copper foils for manufacture of printed circuit boards that have smaller thicknesses and lower surface roughnesses. For example, Patent Literature 1 (JP2005-76091A) discloses a method of manufacturing an extremely thin copper foil with a carrier, including laminating a release layer and an extremely thin copper foil in sequence on a smooth surface of a carrier copper foil, where the average surface roughness Rz of the carrier copper foil is reduced to 0.01 to 2.0 μm. Patent Literature 1 also discloses subjecting the extremely thin copper foil with a carrier to a process for formation of a highly dense ultrafine trace (a fine pattern) to produce a multi-layered printed circuit board.
In order to achieve further reductions in thicknesses and surface roughnesses of extremely thin copper foils with carriers, formation of an extremely thin copper layer by a gas-phase process, for example, a sputtering process, has been proposed. For example, Patent Literature 2 (WO2017/150283) discloses a copper foil with a carrier, including, in sequence, a carrier, a release layer, an antireflective layer, and an extremely thin copper layer, where the release layer, the antireflective layer, and the extremely thin copper layer are formed by sputtering. Patent Literature 3 (WO2017/150284) discloses a copper foil with a carrier, including a carrier, intermediate layers (for example, an adhesive metal layer and a release assisting layer), a release layer, and an extremely thin copper layer, where the intermediate layers, the release layer, and the extremely thin copper layer are formed by sputtering. Both Patent Literatures 2 and 3 achieve a significantly low arithmetic average roughness Ra of 1.0 to 100 nm of the outer surface of the extremely thin copper layer through formation of the layers on the carrier (composed of, for example, glass) by sputtering.
It is known that an etching stopper layer is provided on a metal layer to prevent exposure of an insulating film to an etching solution during production of multi-layered circuits by etching. For example, Patent Literature 4 (JP2009-88572A) discloses a metal sheet including, in sequence, a metal layer for formation of a wiring film (for example, a cupper foil having a thickness of 12 μm), an etching stopper layer (for example, a Ni layer having a thickness of 1 μm), and another metal layer for formation of bumps (for example, a cupper foil having a thickness of 80 μm), where the etching stopper layer can prevent etching of the metal layer for formation of the wiring film during selective etching of the metal layer for formation of bumps.

Ultra-thin copper foil, ultra-thin copper foil with carrier, and method for manufacturing printed wiring board


An optical device and a multisurface reflector which can be used for this purpose, which has high uniformity of the illumination intensity on the entire surface of an area to be illuminated, and a small shape, and in which a high utilization factor of the light can be obtained is achieved according to the invention by there being a multisurface concave reflector which is composed of numerous mirror elements which combine to form a concave reflection surface of a generally oval shape. A light source lamp is arranged such that an emission part of it is positioned along the center axis of the multisurface reflector, and a lens plate is located in front of the multisurface reflector on a plane perpendicular to its center axis. The lens plate a plurality of lens elements which each correspond number to the number of mirror elements on the reflector. Furthermore, according to the invention, each mirror element of the multisurface reflector has a first focal point positioned in the emission part of the light source lamp, and another focal point is positioned in a corresponding lens element of the lens plate. The light from the emission part of the light source lamp is divided by each mirror element, and this divided light is superimposed by the respective lens element in an area to be illuminated.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an optical device which is used for an image display device or the like, and a multisurface reflector which is used for this optical device.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a liquid crystal projector device of the projection type using a liquid crystal cell is known as an image display device for displaying large images. In this image display device, an optical device is necessary which illuminates the optical images formed by the liquid crystal cell with light with high intensity. The efficiency of this optical device greatly affects the image quality of the projection images in the image display device. Therefore, there is a need for an optical device with high efficiency and color reproducibility, which exhibits uniformity of the illumination intensity of the overall surface in the area to be illuminated and also advantageous color uniformity.
FIG. 6 schematically depicts a conventional example optical device arrangement. This known optical device is composed of a parabolic reflector 71 and a light source lamp 72 which is located along a center axis L of this parabolic reflector 71. A liquid crystal cell 78 is located on area R to be illuminated by the above described optical device.
In this optical device, light which is emitted from an emission part H of the light source lamp 72 is reflected by parabolic reflector 71. In this way, a light beam is formed which is essentially parallel to the center axis L of parabolic reflector 71 and which irradiates the liquid crystal cell 78 which is located on the illumination area R.
By this optical device, the light emitted from the light source lamp 72 is, for the most part, focussed by means of parabolic reflector 71, and is emitted as parallel light beam onto illumination area R. Therefore, a high utilization factor of the light can be obtained.
However, in the above described optical device, the light beam formed by means of the parabolic reflector 71 in the vicinity of its center has a high light flux density, while it has a low light flux density on its periphery. Therefore, the total surface of the area R to be illuminated cannot be illuminated with a uniform illumination intensity.
To improve the uniformity of the illumination intensity on the overall surface of the area R to be illuminated, a means is known by which the surface of the bulb of a light source lamp is subjected to frost treatment. On the surface of the bulb subjected to frost treatment, the light is diffused from the emission part. In doing so, therefore, it is considered disadvantageous that the intensity of the light which irradiates the area to be illuminated decreases considerably.
On the other hand, as another means for improving the uniformity of the illumination intensity on the overall surface of the area to be illuminated, a means using an integrator lens is known (see, U.S. Pat. No. 2,186,123).
FIG. 7 shows, in schematic form, a conventional example of the arrangement of an optical device B using an integrator lens. In this optical device, a first lens plate 73, on which several lens elements 74 are located, is arranged in front of parabolic reflector 71 on a plane perpendicular to center axis L of the above described parabolic reflector. Between this first lens plate 73 and illumination area R, a second lens plate 75 is arranged in front of the first lens plate 73 such that it is spaced parallel to and from the first lens plate 73. On second lens plate 75, there are numerous lens elements 76, each of which corresponds to a lens element 74 on the first lens plate 73. Specifically, second lens plate 75 is arranged such that respective lens element 76 is positioned in the respective focal point of corresponding lens element 74 of first lens plate 73.
In this optical device, the light beam which is parallel to center axis L and which was formed by means of the parabolic reflector 71 is divided by respective lens element 74 of first lens plate 73 according to above described respective lens element 74 and this divided light is converged by corresponding respective lens element 76 on second lens plate 75. In this case, a real image of the emission part H of light source lamp 72 is formed on the respective lens element 76 of the second lens plate 75. The respective light which was converged by lens element 76 with second lens plate 75 is superimposed by the lens element 76 in the state in which the real image of emission part H is enlarged, in the same area R to be illuminated.
In the light divided by first lens plate 73, the light flux density in the vicinity of the center has a small difference from the light flux density on the periphery due to the above described optical device. Furthermore, by means of second lens plate 75, the respective divided light is superimposed in the same area R to be illuminated. In this way, high uniformity of the illumination intensity can be obtained on the overall surface of above described illumination area R.
In the above described optical device the following disadvantages arise:
(1) Two lens plates are needed, i.e., the first lens plate 73 and the second lens plate 75. It is also necessary that the lens plates be arranged at a distance from one another. Therefore, the optical device has a larger dimension in the direction of the optical axis (center axis L of the parabolic reflector 71). In this way, the overall device becomes large. PA1 (2) The size of the real image which is formed on respective lens element 76 of second lens plate 75 is determined by the size of emission part H and the distance between the parabolic reflector 71 and the respective lens element 76 of the second lens plate 75. This means that the larger the emission part H of light source lamp 72 and the greater the distance between parabolic reflector 71 and respective lens element 76 of second lens plate 75, the larger becomes the real image formed. PA1 (3) The equilibrium of the spectral energy for the light emitted from entire emission part H cannot be maintained since the light emitted from the peripheral area of emission part H of light source lamp 72 is not used by second lens plate 75, as was described above. Therefore, no light was obtained which has the expected spectral distribution. In particular, in the case in which an image display device which displays color images is used, an image with the expected hue cannot be projected. This is described specifically in the following:
As light source, a metal halide lamp of the short arc type is generally used for lamp 72 because it has high radiant efficiency, high uniformity of the spectral energy distribution, and good color reproduction. The emission part of this metal halide lamp, for example, has a length from 3 to 4 mm, a width of 2 to 3 mm, a roughly cylindrical shape, and is relatively large. Furthermore, the distance between the parabolic reflector 71 and the respective lens element 76 of the second lens plate 75 is rather large, because first lens plate 73 must be placed between parabolic reflector 71 and second lens plate 75.
The real image of emission part H is formed on respective lens element 76 of second lens plate 75. However, light which corresponds to a part of the real image of above described emission part H which diverges from the aperture of lens element 76, i.e., light which is emitted by the peripheral area of emission part H, cannot be used, since conventionally the aperture of lens element 76 is smaller than the real image of emission part H. Therefore, a high utilization factor of the light cannot be obtained.
On the other hand, in the case in which the second lens plate consists of lens elements which have larger openings than the formed real image of emission part H, a high light utilization factor can be obtained. However, here, the dimensions of the entire second lens plate become large. The optical device, therefore, becomes large in the direction which intersects the optical axis. Furthermore, the light which emerges from the lens elements in the peripheral area of the second lens plate has a large irradiation angle with respect to area R to be illuminated. Therefore, a projection lens is needed with a small F number. However, it is difficult to form a low cost image display device with a small shape because a projection lens with a small F number has a large effective aperture and high costs.
FIG. 8 is a schematic of an arrangement of a liquid crystal projector device of the projection type for display of color images which has the optical device B with the configuration shown in FIG. 7. In this liquid crystal projector device, the light which emerges from each lens element 76 of the second lens plate 75 in the optical device 70 of the configuration shown in FIG. 7 is reflected by total reflex mirror 80a, then passes through a UV-IR-cut filter 81 which screens out ultraviolet radiation and infrared radiation reaches mirror 82. Mirror 82 is provided with a multilayer color separation film and the infrared radiation reaching this mirror 82 is separated into a red component, a green component and a blue component.
The light with the red component is emitted via total reflex mirror 80b and condenser lens 84a onto a liquid crystal cell for red 85 which is located on an illumination area R1. On the other hand, the light with the green component and the light with the blue component are separated by means of a mirror 83 having a multilayer color separation film, the light with the green component being emitted via condenser lens 84b onto a liquid crystal cell for green 86 which is located on area illumination area R2. The light with the blue component is emitted via condenser lens 84c onto a liquid crystal cell for blue 87 which is located on an illumination area R3.
The light which emerges from respective lens element 76 of second lens plate 75 is separated in this way into the red component, the green component, and the blue component and then superimposed at liquid crystal cell for red 85, at liquid crystal cell for green 86, and liquid crystal cell for blue 87, respectively.
The light with the red component and the light with the green component are combined by mirror 88 with a multilayer color synthesis film. Furthermore, this light is combined with the light with the blue component by mirror 89 which also has a multilayer color synthesis film. This combined light is emitted via projection lens 90 onto a suitable screen which is not shown in the drawing. In this way, a color image is projected on the above described screen.
The metal halide lamp used as light source lamp 20 has high uniformity of the spectral energy distribution for light which is emitted from the entire emission part. The spectral distribution of the emitted light is, however, different according to the area of the emission part. This means that, in the center area of the emission part, the light ratio is large due to the mercury line, while in the peripheral area of the emission part, the light ratio with wavelengths that are greater than or equal to 600 nm is large due to molecular emission.
Therefore, if the light which is emitted from the peripheral area of the emission part of the metal halide lamp is lost by second lens plate 75, the red component with wavelengths of greater than or equal to 600 nm decreases in a large ratio, as was described above. The equilibrium of the spectral energy for the second lens plate 75, therefore, cannot be maintained. As a result, an image with the expected hue cannot be projected onto the screen.

Optical device and multisurface reflector


Disclosed is apparatus for mounting a cable within an electronics enclosure, such as a network interface unit, which includes a splice chamber. A recessed portion is formed in one surface of the chamber, and a tie bar is formed across the recessed portion to provide a gap. A tie wrap is threaded through the gap and tightened around the cable to secure it to the surface. A grommet can also be mounted at the opening to the chamber. The grommet is made of a compliant material which has a series of perforations defining a plurality of non-concentric circles, and a series of perforations defining radial lines. A number of circles can be removed approximating the diameter of the cable, and segments formed by the radial lines can be used as flaps to prevent dust or other undesirable material from entering the chamber.

Network interface units constitute the demarcation between the customer's equipment and a telecommunications network. In buildings including multiple subscribers, the interface unit is typically mounted in a basement and includes an array of customer bridges, each bridge being coupled to an individual subscriber's line. The bridges are coupled to the network through an RJ11 jack and plug so that the customer can plug a working phone into the jack to determine if any problem lies in the customer or network side of the telecommunications system. Network interface units also typically include a building entrance protector portion which comprises a cable splice chamber and a protector field for providing surge protection for each customer. (For an example of a network interface unit, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,440 issued to Daoud).
In the splice chamber, it is usually desirable to provide strain relief for the incoming cable to prevent damage thereto. Standard brackets for holding the cable are effective, but expensive. It is also desirable to provide a grommet at the entry point of the cable in order to prevent the entry of pests or dust into the unit and prevent fire from escaping the splice chamber. A typical grommet comprises a compliant material with a series of perforations in the shape of concentric circles which can be cut out to define an opening according to the size of the cable. (See, U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,499 issued to Faust, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,834 issued to Birch.)


The cyta gene encoding the 28 kDa polypeptide of Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis crystals was disrupted in the 72 MDa resident plasmid by in vivo recombination. The absence of the 28 kDa protein in B. thuringiensis israelensis did not affect the crystallization of the other toxic components of the parasporal body. However, the absence of the 28 kDa protein did abolish the hemolytic activity of B. thuringiensis serovar israelensis crystals. The mosquitocidal activity of the 28 kDa protein-free crystals did not differ significantly from the wild-type crystals.

This invention relates to microorganisms having mosquitocidal activity but lacking hemolytic activity. The invention further relates to recombinant DNA molecules encoding mosquitocidal polypeptides of the invention, to vectors containing the DNA molecules, and to microorganisms expressing the polypeptides.
Bacillus thuringiensis serovar israelensis produces crystalline inclusions during sporulation that are toxic to mosquito and blackfly larvae (15, 35). These inclusions are, when solubilized, cytolytic for various mammalian cells including erythrocytes (33). The crystals are composed of at least four polypeptides of 135 kDa, 125 kDa, 68 kDa, and 28 kDa. It has been shown by electron microscopic studies that these crystals are composite, and consist of three major inclusion types differentiated on the basis of electron opacity, size and shape. Purification and protein analysis of one of three types of component crystal revealed that it only contained the 68 kDa polypeptide (21). It was therefore suggested that the 28 kDa and 125-135 kDa polypeptides could be assembled separately in the two other inclusions (21).
The diversity of the polypeptides has complicated the identification of the protein(s) responsible for larvicidal activity. The major difficulty in identifying the toxic polypeptide(s) was the purification of the different polypeptides. One solution to this problem was the cloning of the different genes. It has previously been shown that the toxin genes of B. thuringiensis israelensis were located on a 72 MDa resident plasmid (16, 37). No copy of the toxin gene was found on the chromosomal DNA. Cloning experiments with the 72 MDa plasmid and analysis of the cloned products clearly indicated that the 135 kDa, 125 kDa, and 68 kDA were involved in the toxicity to mosquitoes, alone or in combination (reviewed in Federici et al. (13)).
There is still controversy concerning the activity of the 28 kDA protein. Although biochemical and cloning experiments revealed that this polypeptide is responsible for the in vitro cytolytic activity of the crystals (4, 7, 18, 20, 27, 40), its contribution to the mosquitocidal activity remains unclear. Earlier biochemical studies suggested that the 28 kDa polypeptide was not toxic to Aedes aegypti larvae (9, 18, 20, 30, 36). However, several groups found that the purified protein was toxic for this insect, although the LC.sub.50 observed was much higher than that obtained for the native, composite crystals (4, 10, 11, 22, 29). The cloning of the 28 kDa protein gene, now referred to as the cyta gene (19), on multicopy plasmids either in Escherichia coli (7, 27, 38, 40) or in Bacillus subtilis (41) did not resolve this controversy. One of the issues in the debate is the level of activity at which a polypeptide should be considered to be active. Moreover, if the 28 kDa protein acts synergistically with the 68 kDa and/or the 130 kDa polypeptides as suggested by Wu and Chang (42), Ibarra and Federici (21) and Chilcott and Ellar (10), the study of the cloned 28 kDa product alone does not reflect the involvement of this protein in the overall toxicity of the crystals.
There exists a need in the art for polypeptides having mosquitocidal activity and for recombinant vectors encoding the polypeptides and capable of expressing the polypeptides. Ideally, the microorganisms exhibiting mosquitocidal activity should be non-hemolytic.


In one embodiment of the present invention, a system for ride-through of an adjustable speed drive for voltage sags is provided. The system comprises an adjustable speed drive including a three phase electric utility, a diode rectifier, a dc-link, an inverter, and a motor. Coupled to the adjustable speed drive is a ride-through circuit which includes a controller having a first input and a second input, the first input operable to receive the voltage from each phase of the three phase electric utility and determine the magnitude and phase of the voltage sag, and the second input operable to receive the dc-link voltage to ensure that the rated dc-link voltage is not exceeded. Also included is an IGBT coupled to an output of the controller and operable to switch on and off rapidly based on the amount of voltage sag. An inductor associated with the IGBT and operable to store energy when the IGBT is switched on and to transfer energy to the dc-link when the IGBT is off is also included. This maintains the dc-link voltage to provide ride-through operation of the adjustable speed drive.

A voltage sag, or voltage dip is a reduction of the voltage at a customer position with a duration of between one cycle and a few seconds. Voltage sags are caused by motor starting, short circuits and fast re-closing of circuit breakers. Voltage sags normally do not cause equipment damage but can easily disrupt the operation of sensitive loads such as electronic adjustable speed drives (ASDs). A severe voltage sag can be defined as one that falls below 85% of rated voltage. Power quality surveys are a common practice and frequently appear in the literature. According to these surveys, voltage sags are the main cause of disturbances. For example, in one survey, 68% of the disturbances registered were voltage sags, and these sags were the only cause of production loss. This loss was caused by voltage drops of more than 13% of rated voltage and a duration of more than 8.3 ms (1/2 cycle). A recent study conducted at two industrial sites with adjustable speed drives concluded that voltage sags with a duration of 12 cycles or more and lower than 20% voltage drop will trip out the adjustable speed drive (either over-current or under-voltage trip) involved in a continuous process. Modern adjustable speed drives appear to be more sensitive than data processing equipment to voltage sags.
For example, in textile and paper mills a brief voltage sag may potentially cause an adjustable speed drive to introduce speed fluctuations that can damage the end product. Further, a brief voltage sag also causes a momentary decrease in dc-link voltage triggering an under voltage trip or result in an over current trip. Such nuisance tripping of adjustable speed drive equipment employed in continuous-process industries contributes to loss in revenue and can incur other costs.
Currently, there are boost system which are designed to maintain the dc-link voltage under voltage sags. These methods however, introduce diodes that are in the series path of power flow They also include an inductor that is bulky and is in the series path of power flow. Having the diodes and inductor in the series path of the main power flow is disadvantageous because it causes power to dissipate and can become a reliability problem if those components were to fail, since they are in series with the main power flow. Also, the inductor has to be large because it carries power at all times. Additionally, the inductor in this design carries high frequency current during the boost mode when voltage sags occur.
Other methods to provide ride-through including adding motor generator sets, adding flywheel energy storage and using super conductor magnetic energy storage (SMES). These methods are prohibitively expensive.

Method and system for ride-through of an adjustable speed drive for voltage sags and short-term power interruption


The camera module according to the present invention includes a first diode for interrupting overcurrent generated by electrostatic discharge and flowing from an image sensor unit to a serial clock line, a second diode for interrupting the overcurrent generated by the electrostatic discharge and flowing from the image sensor unit to a serial data line, a first switch for cutting off the connection between the image sensor unit and the serial clock line when electric power is not supplied through power line, and a second switch for cutting off the connection between the image sensor unit and the serial data line when the electric power is not supplied through the power line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera module employed in a mobile communication terminal, and more particularly, to a camera module for communicating through I2C method, in which a leakage current is prevented from being generated due to a diode provided in the camera module for interrupting overcurrent generated by the static electricity so that electric power consumption can be reduced.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, I2C is a two-lined bidirectional serial bus for providing communication links between integrated circuits for products manufactured in commercial quantities such as TVs, VCRs, audio equipment, and the like, and was originally proposed by Phillips Electronic Co. at first. Today, the I2C is a standard solution for embedded applications.
The I2C bus includes a serial clock line SCL for transmitting a clock and a serial data line SDA for transmitting data in serial, wherein the data is transmitted and received according to the clock. Devices connected to the I2C bus communicate as a slave with a master. The I2C is a serial bus protocol capable of communicating with a plurality of slave devices and is connected to the plurality of slave devices through a power line and the two lines SCL and SDA to transmit and receive data.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a conventional I2C bus.
Referring to FIG. 1, an I2C master device 1 is connected to a plurality of I2C slave devices 2-1 and 2-2 through the two lines of the serial clock line SCL and the serial data line SDA. The I2C master device 1, in order to control the I2C slave devices 2-1 and 2-2 for supporting the I2C, simply writes data or reads data from the I2C slaves 2-1 and 2-2 using an I2C bus controller (not shown). Moreover, the I2C master device 1 serves as a device for starting the transmission of data by generating a clock pulse and finishing the transmission, and the I2C slave devices 2-1 and 2-2 are devices addressed by the I2C master device 1. When I2C master device 1 generates a starting state, the I2C slave devices 2-1 and 2-2 connected to the I2C bus await for next data. When the I2C master device 1 transmits a slave address, the respective I2C slave devices 2-1 and 2-2 compare the transmitted slave address with their own respective addresses and an I2C slave device having its own address corresponding to the transmitted address transmits a response with respect to a continued ACK signal region. Then, the I2C master device 1 receives and transmits data from and to a corresponding I2C slave device. When the receipt and transmission of data is finished, the I2C master device 1 generates a stopping state and releases the bus. For the operation of the I2C bus, pull-up power Vdd (here, pull-up voltage) is applied to the two lines of the serial clock line SCL and the serial data line SDA through respective pull-up resistors.
In a mobile communication terminal having a camera module, the communication between a main digital signal processor DSP of the mobile communication terminal and the camera module is carried out through the I2C bus. In this case, the main DSP serves to as a master device of the I2C bus, and an image sensor (or an image signal processor: ISP) of the camera module serves to as a slave device of the I2C bus.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a mobile communication terminal having a conventional camera module for performing communication using the I2C communication method.
As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional camera 11 for performing communication using the I2C communication method is mainly employed in a mobile communication terminal having a camera function, and in this case, the conventional camera 11 communicates with the main DSP of the mobile communication terminal through the I2C bus. Generally, a semiconductor device has diodes, provided at input and output terminals of the semiconductor device, for preventing the semiconductor device from being damaged by overcurrent due to electrostatic discharge ESD. In the camera module 11 and the image sensor unit 112 (or ISP, in this patent application, it is assumed that the image sensor unit 112 includes the ISP) in FIG. 1, diodes 113a and 113b for interrupting the overcurrent are connected between the serial clock line SCL and the serial data line SDA and the image sensor unit 112. These diodes 113a and 113b may be included in the image sensor unit 112.
As described above, when the camera function is not used, a source voltage Vcm is 0V by a power down signal provided from a main circuit 12 of the mobile communication terminal and the camera module 11 connected to the I2C bus stops the operation of the image sensor unit 112. At that time, due to characteristics of the diodes 113a and 113b that are connected to the serial clock line SCL and the serial data line SDA of the I2C bus for the purpose of preventing the overcurrent from being transmitted to the I2C bus, leakage currents Il1 and Il2 are supplied from an I2C pull-up power source Vdd to the image sensor.
Thus, the conventional camera module 11 for performing the communication using the I2C communication method generates the leakage currents through the serial clock line SCL and the serial data line SDA of the I2C bus at the stopped state when the power source is interrupted to stop the operation of the camera module.
Moreover, there is another method of stopping the operation of the camera module using a power down (PWRDN) input signal supported by the image sensor when the electric power is supplied to the camera module. This method may also generate current consumption of several tens to several hundreds of μA and consumes undesired current in comparison with the method of interrupting the power supplied to the camera module.

Camera module for communicating through I2C method


The present invention provides a damper comprising a compressible and resilient shaft and at least one constrained layer damping section attached to the exterior of the shaft via an adhesive. The damper can be compressed and inserted into a cavity or hollow in an article to be damped whereupon it can expand and provide vibration damping properties as well as optional acoustic absorbing properties. The present invention also provides the damped article and a method of damping the article.

Articles such as pipes and tennis rackets, have been damped in the past by a variety of dampers. Examples of such dampers include the following.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,057 to Lai et al. describes the use of constrained layer dampers on a tennis racket frame to reduce the level of vibration transmitted from the frame to the player's hand. Two separate constrained layer dampers are applied either on the outer surface or on the inner surface of the frame and have shown improvement in reducing vibration level.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,119 to Vincent et al. describes particular applications of constrained layer dampers on a golf shaft. The first damper embodiment is a constrained layer damper which encircles the outside surface of a golf shaft. The second embodiment includes several constraining layers attached to the outer surface of the golf shaft by a continuous damping layer. In other words, the ring-shaped damping layer in one embodiment is used to attach the constraining layer to the golf shaft surface. The damping layer referred to in this patent is exposed to the environment on the outside of the shaft.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,491 to Barrett discloses a damped tube. The damped tube is essentially a three-layer structure with a damping layer between two layers of advanced fiber reinforced composite materials. The stiffness of the tube is controlled by the two composite layers. The total damping is optimized by tuning the anisotropic properties of fibers in such a way to transfer the strain into the damping layer for the purpose of generating shear strain.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,490 to Bronowicki et al. describes the use of ring-shaped dampers on both the inner and outer surface of a tube. The dampers are segmentedly placed along the axis of a tube. This placement of segmented dampers along tube axis could be effective when the vibration occurs along the tube axis.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,477 to Manning et al. discloses a tubular composite structure having multiple viscoelastic damping layers and stiff segmented constraining layers formed on the outside of a tubular layer of soft elastic material. This multilayer damping treatment is said to provide a way to improve structural damping over a wider range of temperature.
Patents for noise attenuation using acoustical absorbing materials include U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,877 to Berfield which discloses a noise muffler for a vacuum cleaner constructed of flexible open cell foam inserts and U.S. Pat. No. 5,418,339 to Bowen et al. which discloses a sound muffler for a pneumatic tool constructed of a nonwoven web of fibers coated with a binder resin.
Pieces of foam have been inserted in golf club shafts and have demonstrated improvement in structural borne sound. This demonstration occurred at the DISCON Conference in San Jose, Calif., in September of 1995.

Dampers for internal applications and articles damped therewith

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


A cooler having multiple compartments, each of which affording individual access to only a specific portion of the cooler at any one time whereat only the contents of that specific compartment are subjected to being open to the air, while at the same time being compact, lightweight and portable. The cooler is composed generally of a body having a top end and a bottom end, and a lid rotatably mounted to the top end of the body. The body is provided with a plurality of compartments, wherein each compartment is in the form of blind cavities having an opening at the top end of the body. Each compartment is separated from each other compartment by a predetermined body thickness. The lid is provided with an access port having a cross-section substantially equal to the cross-section of the compartments. A dead-space having a cross-section at least as large as the cross-section of the access port is provided between a selected two adjacent compartments. The compartments, access port and dead-space are located equidistant from a line passing through the axial center of the body. Preferably, a handle is connected to the side of the body for providing a carrying structure.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to coolers and more particularly to a cooler having a body equipped with multiple compartments, any one of which being individually accessible via selective alignment therewith by an access port located in a lid rotatably mounted to the body.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Coolers are well known in the art to provide a portable structure having insulative properties for keeping foods and beverages cold or hot. Usually, coolers are constructed of four side walls of more-or-less rectangular shape joined by a bottom wall and a lid hingedly mounted to one of the side walls. While other shapes may also be used for coolers, there is the problem that opening the lid results in all the contents of the cooler being open to the air, thereby adversely affecting the insulatory performance of the cooler for any of the contents not being sought when the lid was opened.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a cooler which affords individual access to only a specific portion of the cooler at any one time whereat only the contents sought are subjected to being open to the air, while at the same time being compact, lightweight and portable.


The present invention, in various embodiments, provides techniques for managing memory in computer systems. One embodiment uses a memory table having entries to locate data residing in different types of storage areas, such as physical memory, hard disc, file servers, storage devices, etc. Upon a program accessing memory for a particular piece of data, the memory table translates the data's physical address to an address used to find the table entry pointing to the requested data. In one embodiment, if the data is in physical memory, then the requested data is returned to the program. However, if the data is not in physical memory and it is determined that the data will be used frequently, then the data, in addition to being returned, is also brought to the physical memory for later use. This is because accessing the data from physical memory usually takes less time than accessing the data from other storage devices.

Virtual memory, which is an imaginary memory area supported by the operating system of a computer, increases the set of addresses a program can use. Usually, this set of addresses is referred to as the address space and is divided into units or pages. While virtual addresses are used to access virtual memory, physical addresses are used to locate data stored in physical locations or physical memory corresponding to the virtual addresses. Contemporary computers commonly use translation look-aside buffers or tables to cache virtual to physical page address translations. As program applications grow in size and their data requirements increase, the number of pages required by the applications and hence the number of translations that need to be cached in the translation look-aside buffer increases. Unfortunately, the translation look-aside buffer is often the cycle-time limiter in processors and increasing its size exacerbates the problem.
To limit the number of entries needed in a translation look-aside buffer and thereby reducing its cycle time, designers usually increase the size of memory pages, which decreases the number of entries the translation look-aside buffer needs to contain. This is because a given amount of memory can be represented by fewer pages. However, this approach also increases the time needed for moving a memory page and the number of page faults, which occur when a memory page is accessed but the page is not in memory. In addition, larger pages in memory, especially those of gigabyte sizes, result in more chance that large fractions of the page are not used by the portion of the applications currently executing. This leads to inefficient use of memory.
Some approaches have balanced the disparate needs of large page sizes, small number of translation look-aside buffer entries, and penalties due to moving or copying large pages. However, in these approaches, translation look-aside buffers are still cycle time limiters. "Super pages" have been investigated to combine multiple smaller pages to create one larger page, which combines several translation look-aside buffer entries into one and allows each individual page creating the super page to be stored in noncontiguous memory locations. Nevertheless, all pages are usually stored in system memory or swap memory, which refers to storage areas for data that is not in system memory. Normally, the operating system, during execution of a program, keeps as much data in the system memory as possible, and leaves the rest of the data somewhere else, e.g., in a hard disc. When the system needs the data, it swaps some of the data in system memory with some of the data in the disc.
Current approaches using the operating system to manage memory result in very complex systems and inefficient management of memory. The operating system has to deal with the discussed-above problems in trade-offs between page size and translation look-aside buffer misses. The operating system usually does not know the latency and/or bottleneck at the hardware level several layers away from the operating system, and it is yet responsible for managing the memory, especially memory swapping, which occurs at the hardware level. In many situations, memory swapping requires many complicated steps, but the processor has to wait for all the steps, and thus the swap, to complete before the processor can access the data in swap memory. The operating system commonly treats physical memory as a black box, and therefore in many situations cannot make informed decisions in managing the memory, including page placement. This also increases the complexity of the operating system. Based on the foregoing, it is clearly desirable that mechanisms be provided to solve the above deficiencies and related problems.

Memory table and memory manager for use in managing memory

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A wall-mounted infant changing apparatus configured to provide a relatively uniform surface in an open position for cleaning of the apparatus. The infant changing apparatus includes a support frame, a bed, a hinge means and a drive cylinder. The bed is pivotably attached to the support frame by the hinge means. The drive cylinder is also attached to the support frame and the bed to provide controlled movement of the bed from a closed position to the open position. A retaining end of the support frame and a pivot end of the bed are configured for mating interaction such that in the open position, the hinge means and the drive cylinder are shielded from waste material.

The present invention relates to an infant changing station. More particularly, it relates to a wall-mounted infant changing apparatus having a bed pivotably attached to a frame such that in an open position, a uniform surface is presented for easy cleaning.
Parents of babies and infants not yet toilet trained often face a dilemma when visiting a public establishment, such as a restaurant, retail store, health club, etc. Namely, the child will soil his or her diaper, and require changing. Unfortunately, many rest rooms are not designed to facilitate easy changing of the infant's diaper. Changing of a diaper normally requires a flat surface on which to lay the baby or infant, removing the diaper, cleaning the child and placing a new diaper on the child. In a standard public rest room which does not include a stand alone changing table, the parent is forced to hold the baby upright with one hand while changing with the remaining hand. When designing a new rest rooms this problem can be addressed by including a permanent changing table in the rest rooms. However, for an existing rest room, constructing a stand-alone changing table likely is cost prohibitive. Further, space restrictions may render a permanent changing station impossible.
The above problem has been addressed with the advent of wall-mounted infant changing stations. As suggested by its titles the wall-mounted changing station is attached to a wall in the facility's rest room. To this end, a standard wall-mounted infant changing station includes a frame to which a bed is pivotably attached. More particularly, the standard wall-mounted changing station further includes a hinge means attaching the bed to the frame in conjunction with a support system. When not in use, the bed folds tightly against the frames thereby limiting space requirements. To use the station, the user simply pivots the bed away from the frame, providing a flat table for changing diapers. The support system supports and maintains the bed relative to the frame in the open position.
Wall-mounted infant changing stations have gained rapid acceptance over the past several years. As the demand for the stations has increased, various improvements to the standard design have been made. For example, a safety strap can be added to the bed to assist in holding the baby during the changing process Additionally, a pneumatic cylinders be incorporated to control the pivoting action of the bed away from the support frame. Finally, other accessories, such as diaper dispensers, towel dispensers, etc., have also been utilized.
While the above "improvements" have undoubtedly increased the wall-mounted changing station's marketability, other problems still remain. Cleanliness of the infant changing station is of obvious importance. Parents are unwilling to place their baby or infant on the changing table or bed if the bed is in any way unsanitary. As the changing station is specifically intended for changing soiled diapers, the opportunity for unintentional contamination or dirtying of the changing station is quite prevalent. Because the waste material placed on the infant changing station has a distinct odor and unhygienic appearance, it is extremely important that the infant changing station be thoroughly cleansed after each use. While a restroom operator can periodically clean the infant changing station, users of the station must also attempt to wipe the station after use in order to maintain a sanitary environment.
Paper towels or other cleaning supplies can be positioned near the wall-mounted infant changing station to encourage wiping the bed and frame after a use. However, the design of the standard wall-mounted infant changing station inherently prevents thorough cleaning. Namely, the means for pivotably attaching and supporting the bed to the frame is such that when in the open position, numerous slots and other recesses are exposed. As previously described, the standard wall-mounted infant changing station includes a bed hinged to a support frame. Further, the bed must be supported against the support frame in the open position. To accomplish this required relationship, the standard design includes a number of large openings at the point of attachment between the bed and the support frame. Because these openings are exposed in the open position, waste material is easily deposited in these openings. Even furthers designs incorporating a pneumatic cylinder normally expose at least a portion of the cylinder to wast material when the station is in an open position. It is extremely difficult to clean the waste material from these recesses. The user/parent who makes an effort to quickly clean the infant changing station after use is highly unlikely to take the necessary efforts to completely scrub the many recesses. Over time, as waste material continues to build within the recesses, a highly unsanitary environment is created. Therefore, the standard wall-mounted infant changing station design greatly impedes adequate cleaning of the station.
While numerous accessories and other "improvements" to the standard wall-mounted infant changing station have been devised, the above-described cleansing problem has not been addressed. Therefore, a need exists for a wall-mounted infant changing station design to present a uniform surface for simple and effective cleaning.


Photographic materials having incorporated sulphonyhdrazide color developing agents. Such photographic materials have at least two color-forming units, each of which has a silver halide emulsion layer and a photographic coupler. A ballasted heterocyclic sulphonhydrazide color developing agent is present in the material in droplets of a high boiling point solvent. A method of forming a photographic color image using such materials is also provided.

Existing commercial photographic silver halide color materials form dye images by the reaction of oxidized p-phenylenediamine color developers with a color coupler. The color developing solutions employed contain the color developing agent and used developer solutions need to be disposed of safely. Attempts have been made to incorporate p-phenylenediamine color developing agents into silver halide photographic materials but these have had little success largely due to the pronounced staining produced.
The use of aryl sulphonhydrazides as color developers in aqueous color developer solutions which form an azo dye on coupling with a color coupler are described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,424,256. The hues of such dyes are not suitable for full color reproduction.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,268 describes the use of certain aryl- and heterocyclic-sulphonhydrazides to produce metallizable azo or azomethine dyes which are subsequently metallized to form very light-stable dye images. While the specification does indicate that such sulphonhydrazides can be incorporated in the photographic material, no further information or examples are given. The hue of the dye is, of course, altered by the metallization process.

Photographic silver halide color material having incorporated therein a ballasted heterocyclic-sulphonhydrazide color developing agent


Systems and methods are presented for a user-initiated process by which a voice mail retrieval number and/or voice mail deposit number can be reset without requiring the assistance of network customer support staff. In an exemplary embodiment, a voice mail retrieval number reset request can be in the form of a MAP-USSD message which, when received by a voice mail reset system results in the storage of the voice mail retrieval number at the communication device by over-the-air programming techniques. Likewise, a voice mail deposit number reset request can be in the form of a MAP-USSD message. The voice mail deposit number can be reset at an HLR by an ATM operation or a MAP-USSD message. In a further embodiment, the VMDN can be reset by sending an FSM message to the communication device.

Voice mail systems are well known in the art, as most telecommunication networks provide some array of voice mail services to their subscribers. Essentially, a voice mail system employs a centralized server to manage telephone messages for a large group of users. In addition to allowing a caller to leave a voice message in a subscriber's voice mailbox, services may include the ability to forward a message to one or more other voice mailboxes, store messages for future delivery, and notify a user when a message has been received.
Voice mail system operations can vary according to the particular network in which they are employed. Networks can vary the nomenclature associated with the components of a voice mail system and the methods used to implement the system, but the general principles of providing call forwarding conditions, and assigning numbers for voice mail deposit and retrieval can be used across network genres and proprietors. A typical mobile communications network includes a Home Location Registrar (HLR) in which subscriber customer information, including call forwarding information, is stored. The call forwarding information can include the conditions under which a call is forwarded to a voice mailbox so that a caller has the option of leaving a message for the subscriber. For example, a call can be forwarded to a designated voice mailbox if it is unanswered after three rings. The call forwarding information can also include a voice mail deposit number (VMDN), which is a number used by the network to forward a caller to the voice mailbox of the subscriber being called, and a voice mail retrieval number (VMRN), which is the number that a subscriber can call in order to hear voice mail messages that have been left in his or her voice mailbox. In many cases, the VMRN is stored in the 1 key of the subscriber's mobile telephone keypad, allowing the user to quickly and easily retrieve voice mail messages by simply pressing a single key. The VMRN can be stored in the 1-key manually, or more typically, by Over-The-Air (OTA) programming.
A typical network can operate numerous voice mail systems which are supported by a plurality of voice mail servers. In an effort to efficiently manage network resources, a network operator can reassign a subscriber's voice mailbox from one voice mail server to another, often referred to as performing a rehome operation, in which case a user's VMRN must be updated accordingly so that the user can continue to access his voice mail. After a rehome operation, the VMRN is typically updated via OTA programming protocols.
A problem can arise when OTA programming fails to successfully store the VMRN number. In many 2G networks in operation today, OTA failures can go undetected by the network, so that a second attempt is not performed. Consequently, a user can be left without a functional VMRN, as the newly assigned VMRN is not updated at the user's device. A problem can also arise when a user intentionally or inadvertently overwrites the VMRN stored in the 1-key. If the user has stored the VMRN in a different key on the keypad, or has otherwise stored or recorded the VMRN, then the user can still use the VMRN to access his voice mail messages. However, if the user failed to record the VMRN, and it is not stored on the user's telephone, the user will be unable to retrieve any voice mail messages. This situation compels a user to contact a customer service operator and explain the problem. Customer service personnel can address the problem by walking the user through a manual process by which the user can store the VMRN on his phone, or by making a further attempt to store the program via OTA programming. Either way, the customer is forced to engage in a call to customer service, which can result in costly phone service charges to the subscriber; and the network operator must pay customer service staff to manage voice mail retrieval problems.
Unlike the VMRN, a VMDN is not typically stored on a subscriber's phone. Generally, a VMDN is stored at an HLR along with other conditional call forwarding parameters used to direct a caller to the voice mailbox of a subscriber. However, even though it is stored at a carrier network location rather than at a user's phone, a user can still inadvertently clear the VMDN and prevent the voice mail system from operating properly. For instance, a user can cancel all call forwarding, in which case the VMDN, which is essentially a forwarding number, can be removed from the HLR. Without a forwarding number, a caller cannot be directed to a voice mailbox and given the opportunity to leave a message. Consequently, a user will often call customer service in frustration, complaining that his voice mail system is not functional. Again, human operator intervention is then required in order to reset the VMDN at the HLR so that unanswered calls can be directed to a subscriber's voice mailbox. Some networks protect a user from inadvertently losing call forwarding functions by performing a default process that automatically repopulates the VMDN at the HLR when a subscriber clears it. However, 3G networks may introduce innovative services which may not be compatible with the current default protection process. Consequently, when 3G services come online, a subscriber that clears his voice mail deposit number may be forced to speak with customer service to remedy the problem.
Often a carrier network will provide an automated customer support system that allows a user to access information without having to directly contact a customer service representative. However, voice mail reset operations have not been automated as they can require a more complex process to be performed, namely resetting a number at a user's phone or at an HLR.
There is a need for a system and method by which a user can reset a VMRN at a communication device without having to incur the time, costs, and inconvenience associated with directly contacting a customer service representative. There is a further need for VMRN reset methods that include a fail-safe alternative in case the primary reset procedure is not successful. There is further a need for systems and methods that allow a user to reset a VMDN without having to contact a customer service representative. There is also a need for methods by which a network can address user voice mail number reset problems without having to incur the costs of human operator time.


A method for controlling a rod pumped well to limit the amount of time the pumping system is subject to fluid pound. The method monitors various pumping system parameters and shuts the pumping system down just before pump-off occurs.

The present invention relates to a method for controlling a rod-pumped well to minimize the damage to the pumping unit that results from operation of the unit after the well has pumped-off. The term `pumped-off` is used to describe the condition wherein the downhole pump barrel does not completely fill with fluid on the upstroke of the pumping unit. When this condition occurs, the rod string which is used to reciprocate the plunger in the downhole pump unit, moves down on the succeeding downstroke until the plunger contacts fluid. When the plunger contacts the fluid, vibrations and other stresses are induced in the rod string and the remainder of the pumping unit that may cause severe damage. This condition is commonly referred to as "fluid pound".


An RF connector comprising a coaxial transmission structure that transmits RF power at RF and microwave frequencies through a dielectric seal. Portions of the connector on either side of the seal do not make metal to metal contact. The connector has input and output connector portions having outer conductors coaxially disposed around inner conductors with dielectric material disposed therebetween. Impedance matching transition portions abut each side of the dielectric seal that have a relatively large diameter adjacent the dielectric seal that transitions to a relatively small diameter distal from the dielectric seal. Tapered and stepped impedance matching transition portions may be employed. A shunt capacitance is disposed approximately one quarter wavelength from each side of the dielectric seal in the stepped transition version. RF energy transmitted by way of the input connector portion is capacitively coupled through the dielectric seal to the output connector portion.

The present invention relates generally to noncontact RF connectors, and more particularly, to a noncontact RF connector that transmits RF power through a dielectric seal without a metal to metal contact.
Noncontact connectors are used in applications where metallic corrosion or marine growth is a critical problem. This type of situation is experienced in a harsh environment such as salt water, for example, and particularly in applications involving submarines, and the like. For low frequency applications, such as at frequencies below 100 MHz, noncontact connectors using inductive and capacitive coupling have heretofore been used. However, at higher RF and microwave frequencies, the performance of conventional inductive and capacitive noncontact connectors is not acceptable, manifested by high reflections and leakage.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide for an improved noncontact RF connector that transmits RF power at RF and microwave frequencies through a dielectric seal without requiring metal to metal contact. It is a further objective of the present invention to provide for a noncontact RF connector whose design is based on a TEM radial field distribution in the connector.