A system and a method of testing a semiconductor die is provided. An embodiment includes a printed circuit board connected to a space transformation layer, which is connected to a substrate. The substrate uses through silicon vias and a redistribution layer to reduce the pitch of the connections beyond the historical limitations. A probe head using Cobra-style probe pins is connected to the redistribution layer through C4 bumps.

In the manufacturing of integrated circuits and other semiconductor devices, the circuits and devices must be tested in order to ensure that a functional device has been manufactured. These tests are usually performed by contacting a test probe card to the relevant areas of the semiconductor device, sending current to the semiconductor device and performing one or more functional tests. Two main types of probe cards are currently used to make these connections.
The first main type of probe card uses a series of cantilever connectors that radiate inward from the edges of the probe card. When the probe card is lowered onto the semiconductor device to be tested, the cantilevered connectors connect to corresponding contact pads on the semiconductor device to complete the electrical connections for the test. Unfortunately, this type of probe card is limited due to the fact that the contact pads are limited to the peripheral of the semiconductor device to be tested, and cannot reach contact pads located in the central areas of the devices.
The second type of probe card uses an array of electrical connections in order to connect to a semiconductor device in other areas than the periphery. In this type of probe card, the electrical connections are spaced closely together in an array and are shaped so that the electrical connections absorb some of the shock of the impact when the probe card is lowered onto the semiconductor device to be tested. However, the minimum pitch (the distance between the electrical connections) for this type of card has historically been limited by the structure and shape of the electrical connections between the printed circuit board and the tips of the probe pins. Historically, the finest pitch attainable with this type of probe card is about 175 μm.
Unfortunately, as the dimensions of semiconductor devices are reduced in the ever-present drive for smaller and smaller devices, the pitches of these types of probe cards will be unable to adequately test semiconductor devices requiring a smaller probe pitch. Accordingly, a probe card with a smaller probe pitch is needed.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A weight spacer apparatus has a carrier which is tubular in shape and a spacer tube which is also tubular in shape for insertion into the carrier. The weight spacer apparatus also has a plurality of weight bars which may be inserted into the spacer tube after the spacer tube is inserted into the carrier and which are also removable from the spacer tube. In one embodiment, a weight tray is inserted into the spacer tube for receiving the weight bars, and the weight tray may be fabricated from half-round tubing with a welded plate to cover the diametric opening. In another embodiment, a center plate is attached inside the spacer tube along the length of the spacer tube to divide the spacer tube into first and second compartments.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to perforating apparatus, and, more particularly, to orienting apparatus for use in a perforating gun string.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For purposes of enhancing production from a subterranean formation, a perforating gun typically is lowered down into a wellbore that extends through the formation. A perforating gun may, for example, comprise a plurality of radially-oriented shaped charges which are detonated to form perforations in the formation proximate the wellbore. The shaped charges may, for example, be placed at points along a helical spiral that extends around a longitudinal axis of the perforating gun.
In certain applications of perforating guns, orientation apparatus is included in the perforating gun string to orient the string correctly. Orientation apparatus is, for example, commonly used in highly deviated or horizontal wells. The purpose of the orientation apparatus is to provide torque for correct orientation of the perforating string.
An internal swiveled gun is one type of orientation apparatus that has been utilized. In each perforating gun, the two ends of its loading tube are mounted with bearings. By special arrangement of the charges loaded in the tube and gravitational force, the correct orientation of the perforating gun can be realized. The drawbacks of such a design are it is expensive, it lacks reliability and it is difficult to operate.
Weight spacer assembly (WSA) is another way to realize the oriented perforating. WSA is an independent subassembly used together with a gun string and comprises a hollow carrier, a spacer tube having a weight tray and weight bars. The tray is made from a half round tube and partitioned into a small weight storage tray. Weight bars are placed inside the weight trays and permanently fastened inside the tray. Therefore, weight bars and the tray have to be handled as a whole at all times. The weight of the weight bar and tube is substantial with a 10 foot 7.00″ WSA weight bar weighing up to 800 lbs. Handling of the weight spacer assembly thus imposes huge difficulties for manufacturing and operation (in assembling and disassembling).
For example, a crane or other lifting equipment must be used to effect the insertion of the spacer tube into the carrier. Because of the substantial weight of a loaded spacer tube, the spacer tube is subject to being bent or severely deformed during the handling. Yet another issue with this heavy loading tube arises once the spacer tube is successfully placed inside the carrier. Keys of the alignment plates in the spacer tube need to be placed in the keyways of the carrier. Because of the tight tolerances between the alignment plate, the carrier and the massive weight, it is an arduous task for the operators to complete this assembling step.


A guide for freehand writing or similar graphics comprises a writing support that eliminates the task of drawing lines and then erasing them in order to write on a straight line. The writing support forms a forgiving visual line that recedes when writing letters with descenders such as g, j, p, q, and y. In the preferred embodiment, the writing support is a plurality of loops of flexible material extending from a base.

One type of high-quality loose-leaf album comprises a pair of covers enfolding a plurality of replaceable leaves for photographs or similar memorabilia, the covers and leaves being laced together by straps which lace through hinge elements projecting from the leaves, and also through slots in holders attached to the inside of the covers. The cover holders frictionally hold the ends of the straps. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,851 (Gunasekera). Such albums are extremely popular in the craft and hobby known as scrapbooking.
One particularly popular aspect of scrapbooking is to add comments or titles to album pages, e.g. to indicate the theme of the photographs on the page. Such writing is often done in freehand (manuscript) as opposed to use of stamps, stickers, and the like.


Medium chain triglyceride oils are interesterified with long chain edible oils in order to form interesterified structured lipids. These structured lipids find special application in food service pan release cooking compositions and methods. The products have a relatively low viscosity of between about 20 and about 52 centipoise while having a smoke point which is especially suitable for cooking applications. They provide enhanced release properties, reduced darkening effects, less residue build-up, and enhanced cleaning of griddling, cooking and baking pans, containers and utensils.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to pan release compositions having low viscosity and good functional properties including one or more of less residue build-up, reduced darkening, and enhanced cleaning ease. More particularly, the invention relates to pan release compositions having low viscosity structured lipids as pan release components and which compositions are applied by spraying onto a cooking surface, have a smoke point which is suitable for cooking applications, and as combined with other components of the pan release composition reduce residue build-up and/or exhibit the other good functional properties noted herein. These compositions are especially valuable for food service uses, where large-batch food preparation is typical and where clean-up issues are more formidable than for uses on a smaller scale.
2. Description of Related Art
Vegetable-based edible oil compositions long have been used in cooking applications. Edible oil products provide taste, nutrition and anti-stick properties for any number of pan cooking, baking or similar types of uses and applications. Edible oil products of this general type include margarines, whipped spreads, tub margarines, shortenings, oils and sprayable compositions. Room temperature viscosities of these products vary depending upon the composition and the intended end use. Some such end uses require a viscosity low enough to permit propelling of the composition by an aerosol unit, a pump assembly, or other means for dispensing in a spray or mist pattern, whether for use in home kitchens, commercial kitchens, or on industrial cooking or baking lines. Products which are dispensable in these manners are referred to herein as pan release products or pan release compositions.
In the pan release art, references such as Rubin et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,661,605 teach a surface release product in the form of an aerosol composition which is dispensed onto a cooking surface intended to be heated for food cooking purposes. This so-called pan release composition contains lecithin in a water dispersion, together with an aerosol propellant and a preservative which can be a vegetable oil and a fatty acid ester in relatively low quantities. When a typical product of this type is sprayed onto a cooking surface, the objective is to have a non-stick film of hydroxylated lecithin formed on the cooking surface. While products of this type have proven to be successful, improvements have been sought in these types of products, and this invention provides means for improving pan release products.
Clapp et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,876, U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,434, U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,719 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,456 disclose food release compositions which generally require a water-in-oil emulsion including lecithin, an edible oil and an emulsifying agent. Avoiding the use of an alcohol such as grain alcohol is noted in some Clapp et al. art as being desirable. Incorporating phosphated glycerides also is noted. Standard edible oil components are taught by the Clapp et al. art.
The present invention provides a pan release composition having a novel type of pan release component or product which incorporates interesterification technology to provide pan release products that have multiple advantageous properties which are desired for pan release applications. These include a smoke point which is adequate to perform properly in various types of cooking applications. It is often difficult to obtain an adequately high smoke point in a product which must be thin enough to be sprayable. It is also important that pan release products which exhibit a lightness in color when used under heat application and which minimize residue build-up so as to not detract from the appetizing appearance of the food or the like being cooked or baked with the pan release product.
Medium chain triglyceride (MCT) edible oils are known in the art including Seiden U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,512, Bertoli et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,629, Hidaka U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,855 Takeuchi U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0001660, and Heydinger and Nakhasi, "Medium Chain Triacylglycerols, Journal of Food Lipids, 3, pages 251-257 (1996). These, and each of the publications and patents noted throughout herein, are incorporated by reference hereinto.
Publications such as these define these medium chain triglyceride or medium chain triacylglycerol (MCT) compounds as being a class of lipids of glycerol ester fatty acids. MCT's are esters of glycerol with medium chain fatty acids of 6 to 12 carbon chain lengths. Sources of these fatty acids typically are lauric oils. Coconut and palm kernel oils contain significant quantities of C8 (caprylic) and C10 (capric) chains. Often, isolated fractions of C8 and C10 acids contain small amounts of C6 and C12 acids as well. The primary components of MCT edible oils have C8:0 and C10:0 fatty acid chains.
Interesterification is a known reaction of triacylglycerol structures whereby individual positions of interesterified fatty acids are interchanged on the glycerol moiety. This is at times referred to or recognized as a randomization wherein fatty acid moieties from one glycerol component are exchanged with those of another glycerol component. The result is to prepare glycerol moieties which have interchanged fatty acid moieties which vary from glycerol structure to glycerol structure. Art in this area includes Pelloso et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,434,278, Doucet U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,655, Cherwin et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,486 and Liu et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,238,926.
The art of interesterification has developed to provide, for example, triglyceride compositions which provide certain melt profiles which can be of interest in certain applications. Generally these are recognized as "structured lipids" in order to help distinguish the interesterified products from physical blends of the same components which have not been subjected to interesterification.
Heretofore, it has not been appreciated that the combination of interesterification technology and MCT technology would be especially advantageously applied to the task of improving pan release compositions. An especially important problem in this regard, which is addressed by interesterified components according to the invention, is to provide a composition that has a water-like viscosity to enable even aerosol spraying while simultaneously having improved darkening control, as well as a smoke point high enough to provide excellent pan cooking or baking characteristics.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Low-residue, easy-cleaning and low-viscosity structured lipid pan release compositions and methods


Systems and methods provide patient position information to a user. A patient positioning device is placed on a patient in a predefined location. The patient positioning device determines a relative patient position with respect to at least one known reference axis. The patient positioning device communicates patient position information including or with reference to the at least one known reference axis. The communicated patient position information allows the user to position the patient and/or a surgical tool using the communicated patient position information.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to positioning systems and methods, and, more particularly, to patient positioning systems and methods that provide patient positioning information relative to one or more predetermined references.
In many, if not all patient related procedures, the patient and/or surgical instruments are positioned in such a way as to provide the best surgical access and outcomes, while minimizing potential risk to the patient. Most patient positions include some degree of risk, and this risk can be amplified in an anaesthetized patient who cannot make others aware of conditions related to their position. In addition, because many patients are transferred and positioned on operating tables in preparation for a variety of surgical procedures, the desired patient position must be reassessed after repositioning.
Because there is a need for accurate patient positioning information, there are systems that are currently available for aiding in patient and/or surgical instrument positioning. These systems require and/or incorporate a dedicated surgical room with dedicated positioning related equipment, which all requires a high upfront cost. These dedicated room systems generally assist a user with determining where in the dedicated room a surgical instrument or patient landmark is located relative to a known fixed point or points in the room, and often require extensive training, dedicated computers, are expensive, and are typically bulky (a whole room), to track a spatial location and/or movement of a surgical instrument or landmark in or on the patient. They frequently require implanted landmarks to operate accurately.
In a variety of orthopedic implant procedures, such as total hip replacement (THR) or arthroplasty, total knee arthroplasty (TKA), high tibial osteotomy (HTO), and total shoulder replacement (TSR), for example, the optimal orientation of the surgical implant can enhance initial function and long term operability of the implant. When dedicated positioning systems are not used, simple "eyeballing" methods or mechanical tools may be used. For example, eyeballing has been used for the alignment of a prosthetic acetabular cup or femoral broach. It has been found that eyeballing is not sufficiently accurate to reliably align and place implant components with the bones to which such components are attached.
One recent study reported on the postoperative complication risk for a THR. One factor identified was the orientation of the acetabular prosthetic cup. The report concluded that malpositioning of the acetabular cup can be linked to many unfavorable clinical outcomes, including increased rate of dislocation of the hip joint, acetabular liner fracture, increased wear, decreased joint motion, joint pain, and hastened failure of the implant. Thus, studies have demonstrated that malpositioning or sub-optimally-positioned orthopedic implants correlates to improper loading, increased implant wear, and even implant failure.
Therefore, correct positioning of the patient before and during a surgical procedure so as to accurately use surgical instruments and place implants, as used in a surgical procedure with respect to the patient's anatomy, is an important factor in achieving a successful outcome.
It would, therefore, be desirable to provide systems and methods that use a small, self-contained device to provide patient specific position information relative to a predetermined reference before and/or during surgical procedures.


A safety system for a truck doorway such as a loading dock with an elevated platform provides an alarm that warns of a falling hazard that may exist due to the dock door being open while a truck is not present at the dock. In cases where a dock's open doorway is protected by a barrier that can be opened or closed, the alarm can be de-activated by closing the barrier. In some embodiments, the safety system includes a remote body sensor that detects when someone or something is near the doorway. In response to the body sensor, a second, more pronounced alarm can warn of more imminent danger where someone on the platform may be too close to an open doorway when a truck is not present.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention generally pertains to truck loading docks and more particularly to an alarm system for such a dock.
2. Description of Related Art
Many buildings may have a doorway with a loading dock to facilitate transferring cargo between a truck and the building. A loading dock is a platform that is generally at the same elevation as the bed of the truck or its trailer. The dock may also include a dock leveler, which is a vertically movable ramp that compensates for a height differential that may exist between the platform and the truck bed. Dock levelers may also provide a bridge across which personnel and material handling equipment can travel between the platform and the truck.
For protection against weather and theft, the doorway of the building may include a manual or power operated door. Doors for loading docks usually open and close by moving vertically so as not to interfere with the rear of the truck or interfere with cargo and activity just inside the doorway; however, other types of doors can be used.
When there is no truck at the dock and the weather is mild, the door may be left open to help ventilate the building with fresh outside air. Leaving the door open, unfortunately, increases the risk of personnel or material handling or other equipment inside the building from accidentally falling off the edge of the dock's platform and through the open doorway to the driveway. In addition, the door being left open decreases building security due to entrance of unauthorized personnel or employee theft via the unsecured doorway.
To provide ventilation through the doorway while minimizing the falling hazard, some loading docks include a runoff barrier that provides an obstruction across the doorway when a truck is not present or otherwise moves to a nonblocking position as needed. Examples of such barriers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,271,183 and 5,299,386.
What is lacking with current loading dock systems, with or without an additional barrier, is a means for warning dockworkers inside the building when a falling hazard exists due to the building's door or barrier being open while there is no truck present at the dock.


Disclosed are chiral phosphoramidite auxiliary compositions for diastereoselective synthesis of stereochemically enriched oligonucleotides, and nucleoside phosphoramidite compounds comprising the same. Exemplary structures of the chiral phosphoramidite auxiliary compositions include Formulas (IA) and (IB).

Oligonucleotides including phosphorothioate phosphodiesters have two possible oligonucleotide diastereomers for each P-stereogenic phosphorothioate. Many oligonucleotide therapeutics include multiple P-stereogenic phosphorothioates and thus have 2n possible diastereomers, where n is the number of P-stereogenic phosphorothioates. For example, an oligonucleotide containing six phosphorothioate phosphodiesters has 64 possible different diastereomers, which collectively can form over 1019 different diastereomeric mixtures. Separation of oligonucleotide diastereomers is impractical, in view of the material losses in the form of other diastereomers and the complexity of method development for oligonucleotide diastereomer separation. Accordingly, synthesis of oligonucleotides including P-stereogenic phosphorothioates requires development of reagents and methods for stereoselective introduction of P-stereogenic phosphorothioates. The currently available chiral reagents typically require lengthy synthetic routes. New reagents and methods for the synthesis of oligonucleotides including stereochemically enriched P-stereogenic phosphorothioates are needed.

Chiral phosphoramidite auxiliaries and methods of their use


A holder for a compact disc. The holder includes a base approximating the size of a compact disc for nesting a compact disc. A centrally located rosette integrally cast with the base centers the CD. The rosette has engagement arms molded to and extending upwardly from the base for centering the CD, and further extending radially inwardly, creating a circular opening. It also includes a lid pivotally mounted on the base and having a centrally located retaining ring and button fastener for insertion into the circular opening of the rosette as the lid is moved from the open position to the closed position. With the lid in the closed position, the button fastener holds the CD firmly in place and additionally functions as a latch to retain the lid in the closed position.

With the growing use of compact digital media a variety of holders for shipping and storing CDs are available. One such holder has a rectangular plastic base with a centrally located hub on which the CD may be placed. The CD is frictionally retained on the hub by a plurality of radially outwardly biased and axially extending flexible segments. A lid is pivotally mounted on the base. To remove the CD from the holder, the lid is opened and the CD is held by placing the thumb and index finger on the edge of the CD and then lifting the CD from the hub by pressing the forefinger on the hub. The problem with these holders is that they are somewhat cumbersome to use and require a certain amount of force for CD removal.
Another type of holder has a base to which a rectangular top and bottom are mounted for rotation about a common axis. The CD is retained on a hub assembly mounted on the base. To remove the CD from the holder, the top is opened to a position where it engages the base. As the top is further opened, it causes the base to pivot upward from the bottom, permitting a pivoting member in the hub assembly to rotate, releasing the CD from the hub. These holders are more complex and more expensive to manufacture than the holders described above.
A third type of holder includes a base having a hub on which the CD is retained. A lid pivotally mounted on the base has an extractor with a barb, which disengages the CD and functions as a latch for the lid. To remove the CD from the holder, the lid is opened, permitting the barb of the extractor to disengage the CD from the hub. The barb of the extractor disengages the CD by drawing it upward on the hub until it is free of the hub. As it disengages the CD, the barb is in direct contact with the CD, creating a potential for scratches. An additional problem created is the potential for breakage of the protruding barb.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved holder for CDs in which the CD is automatically disengaged from the base upon the opening of the lid by the user but which is relatively simple in design and inexpensive to manufacture.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved holder for CDs in which the CD can be removed from the base without direct application of force to the CD by the user.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved holder for CDs that provides CD removal with no or low stress on the CD.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved holder for CDs in which the means to disengage the CD does not entail direct contact with the CD.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved holder for CDs in which the means to disengage the CD, which also functions as positive closure, does not have a potential breakage problem.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved CD holder which can be easily opened by a user even if he or she is unfamiliar with the device.
It is another object of this invention to provide a holder for CDs in which the lid and outer covering of the base can be constructed of cardboard, thereby reducing cost and providing a surface upon which information can be printed.


A photobioreactor (100) for use in treating polluted air and producing biomass may comprise, at least in part, a generally vertical tube or fluidic pathway (102), a generally vertical helical tube or fluidic pathway (104) having a light source (106) partially positioned within the helical fluidic pathway (104), a head cap assembly (108), and a base assembly (110). In one illustrative example, the light source (106) may be a light emitting diode (LED) or a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs). By one approach, a gas diffusion apparatus (112) is located at the base assembly (110) adjacent the generally vertical fluidic pathway (102).

Bioreactors, including photobioreactors using the principles of photosynthesis, are well known in the art. Photobioreactors use photosynthetic organisms such as algae in a liquid medium along with light energy (whether synthetic light or natural sunlight) and carbon dioxide to create chemical energy from light energy while sequestering carbon dioxide. These systems may have open channels such as ponds or closed channels such as cylindrical vessels. Some systems employ tubes of a variety of sizes.
Due to a raised awareness and interest in energy independence and the Earth's climate, there is an increased demand for renewable fuels, decreasing harmful emissions or flue gasses such as those emitted from coal fired power plants, and for achieving these goals in an efficient and effective manner. In addition to the carbon dioxide emitted from electric power plants, which are some of the biggest producers of such gases, other sources of harmful emissions include manufacturing facilities and diesel power generation plants, to note but a few. It is also desirable to remove certain nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides from flue gasses as well as carbon dioxide. For the pollutant sequestration process to be economically feasible and environmentally responsible, the process should, among other requirements, not consume more energy than it creates, be operable and effective on a substantial production scale, and should not displace crops from farmland or pastures from grassland, to note but a few.
The open channel photobioreactors, such as ponds, have faced difficulties from contamination by hostile species or external pollutants and from the inefficient use of light that illuminates only the top portion of the pond. As a more efficient photobioreactor will have an illumination surface area per unit volume (SN) ratio that is high, shallow ponds are the norm. This, however, greatly increases land space requirements for pond-based photobioreactors. In addition, when these ponds use natural sunlight the process is limited by the available hours of sunlight. Such processing limitations can be important if the photobioreactors are used to process waste gasses from polluting facilities that operate twenty-four hours a day. Further, if these ponds are not insulated from the elements such as seasonal changes in weather, the photosynthetic organisms must be remarkably hardy to withstand changes in temperature, external pollution, and attack from hostile species.
Another approach that has received considerable attention is the closed channel system such as those systems having cylindrical tubes that employ the air lift principle. In general, air lift photobioreactors have photosynthetic material such as algae suspended in a liquid medium into which air or gas is injected into the bottom of the system which then rises through the fluid medium in the cylindrical tube.
Conventional air lift photobioreactors, however, suffer from the lack of flow patterns that can be duplicated, controlled, or even easily defined. By one approach, straight, vertical, concentric tubular containers receive the gases at an inner tube, which creates an annular liquid flow upwards through the inner tube and downwards in a space between itself and another tube. Fluid flow is important to controlling the progression of the photosynthetic stages: light-dependent reactions and light-independent reactions. Difficulty controlling the mixing properties may lead to poor photomodulation, low mass transfer coefficients, and low productivity. In addition, systems having uncontrolled or poorly controlled fluid flow or mixing properties may experience algae pooling or buildup along with damage to the photosynthetic organism that results in poor algal growth.

Photobioreactor and method for processing polluted air


A method and apparatus for creating links between a representation, (e.g. text data,) and a realization, (e.g. corresponding audio data,) is provided. According to the invention the realization is structured by combining a time-stamped version of the representation generated from the realization with structural information from the representation. Thereby so called hyper links between representation and realization are created. These hyper links are used for performing search operations in realization data equivalent to those which are possible in representation data, enabling an improved access to the realization (e.g. via audio databases).

In recent years a new way of presenting information has been established. In this new multimedia approach, information is presented by combining several media, e.g. written text, audio and video. However, when using e.g. the audio data, finding and addressing specific structures (pages, chapters, etc. corresponding to the equivalent textual representation of the audio data) are either time consuming, complex, or impossible. A solution to overcome these problems is to link text and audio. The concept of linking text and audio is already used by some information providers. However, it is not widely used. One of the reasons for this is that it is a resource consuming process to build the hyper-links between the audio data and the corresponding textual representation. This either means a huge investment on the producers side, or a limited number of links, which limits the value for the user. As a result of the limiting state of the art user queries directed to databases containing multimedia material have to be in most cases quite general. For example a user asks "In which document do the words "Italian" and "inflation" occur?" A response to this query results in the complete audio document to be returned in which the requested data is enclosed.

Method and apparatus for linking representation and realization data

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention provides an improved method for extracting heavy oil or bitumen contained in a reservoir. The invention involves directing the formation of a solvent fluid chamber through the combination of directed solvent fluid injection and production at combinations of horizontal and/or vertical injection wells so as to increase the recovery of heavy oil or bitumen contained in a reservoir. The wells are preferably provided with flow control devices to achieve uniform production.

There exist throughout the world deposits or reservoirs of heavy oils and bitumen which, until recently, have been ignored as sources of petroleum products since the contents thereof were not recoverable using previously known production techniques. While those deposits that occur near the surface may be exploited by surface mining, a significant amount of heavy oil and bitumen reserves may occur in formations that are too deep for surface mining, typically referred to as "in situ" reservoirs or deposits because extraction must occur in situ or from within the reservoir or deposit. The recovery of heavy oil and/or bitumen in these in situ deposits may be hampered by the physical characteristics of the heavy oil and bitumen contained therein, particularly the viscosity of the heavy oil and/or bitumen. While there is no clear definition, heavy oil typically has a viscosity of greater than 100 mPas (100 cP), a specific gravity of 10° API to 17° API and tends to be mobile (e.g. capable of flow under gravity) under reservoir conditions, while bitumen typically has a viscosity of greater than 10,000 mPas (10,000 cP), a specific gravity of 7° API to 10° API and tends to be immobile (e.g. incapable of flow under gravity) under reservoir conditions. The above noted physical characteristics of the heavy oil and bitumen (collectively referred to as "heavy oil") typically render these components difficult to recover from in situ deposits and, as such, in situ processes and/or technologies specific to these types of deposits are needed to efficiently exploit these resources.
Several techniques have been developed to recover heavy oil from in situ deposits, such as steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), as well as variations thereof using hydrocarbon solvents (e.g. VAPEX), steam flooding, cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) and in-situ combustion. These techniques involve attempts to reduce the viscosity of the heavy oil so that the heavy oil and bitumen can be mobilized toward production wells. One such method, SAGD, provides for steam injection and oil production to be carried out through separate wells. The SAGD configuration provides for an injector well which is substantially parallel to, and situated above a producer well, which lies horizontally near the bottom of the deposit. Thermal communication between the two wells is established, and as oil is mobilized and produced from the producer or production well, a steam chamber develops. Oil at the surface of the enlarging steam chamber is constantly mobilized by contact with steam and drains under the influence of gravity.
An alternative to SAGD, known as VAPEX, provides for the use of hydrocarbon solvents rather than steam. A hydrocarbon solvent or mixture of solvents such as propane, butane, ethane and the like can be injected into the reservoir or deposit through an injector well. Solvent fluid at the solvent fluid/oil interface dissolves in the heavy oil thereby decreasing its viscosity, causing the reduced or decreased viscosity heavy oil to flow under gravity to the production well. The hydrocarbon vapour forms a solvent fluid chamber, analogous to the steam chamber of SAGD.
It has been recognized, however, that these prior means used for the recovery of heavy oil from subterranean deposits need to be optimized.

Methods of improving heavy oil production


A device comprising a flow channel having an inlet for introducing a flow of a first material, an outlet for exiting a flow of a second material; a plunger disposed and slidably movable coaxially within the flow channel; a first cooling device disposed adjacent to and substantially surrounding the flow channel comprising a housing having an internal sealable chamber for containing a first cooling fluid, an inlet having a first seal, and an outlet having a second seal, wherein the first cooling fluid is sealable within the sealable chamber; a second cooling device disposed adjacent to and substantially surrounding the first cooling device comprising a housing having an internal channel for a flow of a second cooling fluid, an inlet in fluid communication with the internal channel, an outlet in fluid communication with the channel, and a device for controlling the flow of second cooling fluid.

Hydrodynamic cavitation is widely known as a method used to obtain free disperse systems, particularly lyosols, diluted suspensions, and emulsions. Such free disperse systems are fluidic systems wherein dispersed phase particles have no contacts, participate in random beat motion, and freely move by gravity. Such dispersion and emulsification effects are accomplished within the fluid flow due to cavitation effects produced by a change in geometry of the fluid flow.
Hydrodynamic cavitation is the formation of cavities and cavitation bubbles filled with a vapor-gas mixture inside the fluid flow or at the boundary of the baffle body resulting from a local pressure drop in the fluid. If during the process of movement of the fluid the pressure at some point decreases to a magnitude under which the fluid reaches a boiling point for this pressure, then a great number of vapor-filled cavities and bubbles are formed. Insofar as the vapor-filled bubbles and cavities move together with the fluid flow, these bubbles and cavities may move into an elevated pressure zone. Where these bubbles and cavities enter a zone having increased pressure, vapor condensation takes place within the cavities and bubbles, almost instantaneously, causing the cavities and bubbles to collapse, creating very large pressure impulses. The magnitude of the pressure impulses within the collapsing cavities and bubbles may reach 150,000 pounds per square inch. The result of these high-pressure implosions is the formation of shock waves that emanate from the point of each collapsed bubble. Such high-impact loads result in the breakup of any medium found near the collapsing bubbles.
A dispersion process takes place when, during cavitation, the collapse of a cavitation bubble near the boundary of the phase separation of a solid particle suspended in a liquid results in the breakup of the suspension particle. An emulsification and homogenization process takes place when, during cavitation, the collapse of a cavitation bubble near the boundary of the phase separation of a liquid suspended or mixed with another liquid results in the breakup of drops of the disperse phase. Thus, the use of kinetic energy from collapsing cavitation bubbles and cavities, produced by hydrodynamic means, can be used for various mixing, emulsifying, homogenizing, and dispersing processes. These processes typically generate heat and require cooling systems to prevent or reduce thermal related damage to the devices, seals and other components, the reactants, and the reaction products.
Devices are known in the art which utilize the passage of a hydrodynamic flow through a cylindrical flow-through chamber internally accommodating a baffle body installed across and confronting the direction of the hydrodynamic flow to produce varied cavitations effects. The baffle element provides a local contraction of the flow as the fluid flow confronts the baffle element thus increasing the fluid flow pressure. As the fluid flow passes the baffle element, the fluid flow enters a zone of decreased pressure downstream of the baffle element thereby creating a hydrodynamic cavitation field. One such device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,654, which is totally incorporated by reference herein. Further patents of interest include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,417,956, 6,365,555, 6,589,501, 5,810,052, 5,937,906, 6,502,979, and 6,802,639, the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated by reference herein.
Various cooling devices and methods are known for cooling reactions. Such cooling devices are required to avoid or minimize heat damage to the reaction products, the reaction devices, or both. Reference, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,143,515, 4,842,055, 4,646,822, 4,601,040, 4,600,052, 4,249,595, 4,247,262, and 4,212,594, the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein.
The disclosures of each of the foregoing U.S. Patents are each totally incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. The appropriate components and process aspects of the each of the foregoing U.S. Patents may be selected for the present invention in embodiments thereof.
A known device 10 for cooling a cavitation device 12 is shown in FIG. 1 (in order to focus on the cooling method, a portion of a representative cavitation device 12 is shown; elements of the cavitation device 12 not related to the cooling system 10 are not shown in FIG. 1). The representative cavitation device 12 includes a flow-through channel 14 for passing a fluid, indicated as arrow 16, such as a mixture of reaction components, such as a liquid and dispersants, such as, for example, a charge transport layer dispersion. The flow 16 of the liquid and dispersants enters the flow-through channel 14 through an inlet (not shown) in a first end 32 of the flow-through channel 14 moving in the direction of the arrow 16 and exiting through an outlet (not shown) in a second end 36 of the flow-through channel 14. A plunger 18 slidably movable coaxially within the flow through chamber to effect the creation and control of cavitation fields is disposed at least partially within the flow-through channel 14. The plunger 18 is surrounded by a sealed solvent jacket 20 which includes a solvent housing 22 for containing a cooling solvent 24, a solvent inlet 26 and a solvent outlet 28. The solvent jacket 20 includes a regular or low pressure seal 30 at the first end 32 of the flow-through channel 14 and a high pressure seal 34 at the second opposite end 36 of the flow-through channel 14. Without cooling, the seals are heated up and eventually melt. It has been proposed to pass the solvent 24 through a solvent refrigeration loop (refrigeration device not shown) to cool the plunger seals while also employing a separate water loop to cool the solvent.
There remains a need for a cooling device and method for cavitation type devices that is less costly and less complicated than currently available devices. There is further a need for a device and method for cooling and lubricating such devices without contamination of seals, other parts, and reaction or dispersant materials due to seal damage from over heating.


A system and method for utilizing an activity monitoring device that includes, during a set of initial activity sessions, collecting the kinematic data from an activity monitoring device and generating a temporal record of at least one biomechanical signal that is calculated from the kinematic data; analyzing temporal changes in the biomechanical signals during the initial activity sessions and characterizing a fatigue model; and, during a subsequent activity session collecting current kinematic data of a participant and generating at least one current biomechanical signal from the current kinematic data, monitoring the fatigue state through processing the at least one current biomechanical signal according to the fatigue model, and triggering feedback in a user interface based on the fatigue state.

It is currently very complicated to analyze the state of fatigue in an athlete such as a runner. The lactate concentration in blood is one signal that can be used to identify when a participant enters a state of fatigue. The lactate threshold can be a useful measure for defining exercise intensity for training and racing in endurance sports. However, the lactate threshold is different between different individuals and can change with the fitness level of the individual. Measuring blood lactate concentrations is often performed in a testing environment and is performed by taking blood samples when exercising. Thus, such fatigue detection is prohibitive to non-test subject scenarios and even then, it is mostly limited to treadmill activities. Thus, there is a need in the activity monitoring field to create a new and useful system and method for sensing and responding to fatigue during a physical activity. This invention provides such a new and useful system and method.

System and method for sensing and responding to fatigue during a physical activity


The present invention relates to ionic silicone hydrogel polymers displaying improved thermal stability. More specifically, the present invention relates to a polymer formed from reactive components comprising at least one silicone component and at least one ionic component comprising at least one anionic group. The polymers of the present invention display good thermal stability and desirable protein uptake.

It is well known that contact lenses can be used to improve vision. Various contact lenses have been commercially produced for many years. Hydrogel contact lenses are very popular today. These lenses are formed from hydrophilic polymers and copolymers containing repeating units from hydroxyethylmethylacrylate (HEMA). Of these contact lenses formed from copolymers of HEMA and methacrylic acid, are among the most comfortable, and have the lowest rate of adverse events. Contact lenses formed from copolymers of HEMA and MAA, such ACUVUE contact lenses, display substantial amounts of lysozyme uptake (greater than 500 μg) and retain a majority of the uptaken proteins in their native state. However, hydrogel contact lenses generally have oxygen permeabilities that are less than about 30.
Contact lenses made from silicone hydrogels have been disclosed. These silicone hydrogel lenses have oxygen permeabilities greater than about 60, and many provide reduced levels of hypoxia compared to conventional hydrogel contact lenses. However, silicone hydrogel lenses have different rates for adverse events than conventional hydrogels, and it would be desirable to maintain the oxygen transmissibility of a silicone hydrogel, but achieve the low adverse event rate of the best conventional hydrogel lenses. Unfortunately, attempts to add anionic components to silicone hydrogels in the past have produced contact lenses which are not hydrolytically stable and display moduli which increase when exposed to water and heat. For example, the modulus of Purevision lenses (Bausch & Lomb) increase from 155 psi to 576 psi when heated at 95° C. for one week. It is believed that the cause of this increase in modulus is the hydrolysis of terminal siloxane groups followed by condensation reactions to form new siloxane bonds and introduce new crosslinks. Even though Purevision lenses contain about 1 weight % ionicity, they uptake relatively low lysozyme levels (less than about 50 μg), and a majority of the protein uptaken is denatured.
It has been suggested that the instability of ionic silicone hydrogels could be reduced by using silicones components having bulky alkyl or aryl groups instead of silicone monomers such as 3-methacryloxypropyltris(trimethylsiloxy)silane ("TRIS") or 2-methyl-,2-hydroxy-3-[3-[1,3,3,3-tetramethyl-1-[(trimethylsilyl)oxy]disiloxanyl]propoxy]propyl ester ("SiGMA"). However, the bulky siloxane monomers are not commercially available and may be expensive to make.

Ionic silicone hydrogels having improved hydrolytic stability


A single layer protective cover of a flexible synthetic leather-like material resistant to automotive chemicals and having a smooth cushioning non-slipping non-scratching inward or under surface of a length and width to cover an automotive fender adequately for its protection against scratches while a technician is working under the raised hood of the automobile and flexible means having terminal hooks to secure said cover.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to protective covering particularly adapted for the fender of an automotive vehicle.
2. Description of the Previous Art
Fender covers are in common use to protect the fender of an automotive vehicle while being repaired in an automotive repair shop or at any other place to have access to engine compartment with the hood of the vehicle in a raised position.
Some protective covers have no fastening means but extend over the fender sufficiently to have a portion under the hood for securing purposes. This is an obviously inconvenient arrangement.
In common use are magnets for holding purposes. However with the use of non-metallic fenders, the magnets do not hold. During the winter season with ice coating on vehicles, magnets do not provide a secure hold. Further, magnetic covers tend to attract metal debris which may damage a vehicles body finish.


A process to experience a two touch interface with single touch functionality is disclosed. Use of two fingers simultaneously presents a degree of freedom constraint on the hand. In an embodiment of the present invention, the simultaneous two touch interface is simulated using a single touch process. In a special input mode, a mechanism is used to first fix a point of reference. A second and subsequent single touch with respect to the fixed point of reference is then made. The time skewed touches enable free use of the index finger for both touches. Closed figures are easily drawn and zoom in and zoom out functions are similarly implemented by a point of reference and a line traced away from or to the object. Limitations of the dual touch are overcome, while maintaining full interface capability of the dual touch.

Touch technologies are the latest development in human interface techniques to computational and communication devices. Due to the paradigm changes imposed on the semiconductor technology by Moore's law, improvements in speed and response time of computer systems allow users to interface with computer systems using their fingers.
The keyboard was an early form of user input interface to the computer. It migrated naturally from the typewriter world. The mouse was added to the user interface as another natural and faster way of user input. Noteworthy is that the main driver for this advancement was the development of silicon technology, which allowed a graphical user interface to be supported. Fast movement of the cursor on the screen in response to mouse movement and on-screen selection rather than specification of textual input minimized typing on the keyboard. This represented another paradigm shift to the extent that most computers and notebooks started to use a mouse.
The semiconductor technology has further advanced. Whereas when the mouse was introduced, a graphical user interface became a useful user interface, the technology in screen and graphics hardware and device drivers has advanced another quantum to enable touch technologies. The functions of the keyboard and the mouse are being replaced by a more direct human interface. The keyboard interface is being simulated by touch as well, on the screen. This is attractive as it manifests tremendous power in the user's hand. The computing power for screen manipulation has improved substantially to react to multiple touches for sensing touches (detection), positioning touches (resolution), cognition of touches and responses to touches. These operations are now supportable on hand-held devices at response times conducive to user interaction.
Single touch occurs when a finger or stylus creates a touch on the surface of a touch sensor. It is subsequently detected by a touch controller. The application can determine the coordinates of the touch event. Touch technologies have been integrated into many devices. These devices typically do not have the ability to detect or resolve more than a single touch point at a time. Pens enable the same input characteristics as a finger, but with greater pointer accuracy. Active pens can provide more control and uses for the touch system such as drawing and palm rejection capabilities.
Improvements to firmware, software and hardware by many single touch technologies have increased their touch functionality. Some touch technologies can use advanced processing capabilities to "detect" or recognize that a second touch event is occurring. Unfortunately, single touch systems cannot resolve the exact location of the second touch event. Instead, they rely on processes to interpret the intended gesture event input.
The "two touch" refers to a touch system that can detect and resolve two distinct, simultaneous touch events. Drawing two parallel lines on the screen at the same time is an example of the "two touch." The multi-touch refers to a touch system's ability to simultaneously detect and resolve a minimum of three or more touch points. All three or more touches are detected and fully resolved. This results in an improved touch experience. Multi-touch is considered to become a widely-used interface. This is due to its efficiency, speed and intuitiveness of the technology. Multi-touch technology enables users to pinch, swipe, rotate, and other actions. These allow for richer and more direct interaction with digital content. For an exemplary application, photographs can be rotated, resized and moved individually and in groups.
The two finger multi touch system has some advantages. Since simultaneous use of two fingers is required, restrictions are placed on the allowable movement of the user. For example, it is very hard to draw a circle with a finger and a thumb or with two fingers. Limitations of the human palm place hard constraints on the user's ability to complete a circle in one pass. This is also true for any close ended figure, that is much easier to draw using one finger. A user's hand usage is heavily biased towards the use of the index finger or the index finger and the thumb. Therefore, improvements to two finger simultaneous touch interfaces are needed.

Single touch process to achieve dual touch user interface


A doll or animal has either an interior compartment or a back pack which contains an audio device having a recorder to record sounds and a sound player to play the sounds recorded. A tape player is also provided to permit a plurality of separate recorded tapes or the like for playing prerecorded messages, stories, or songs. A source of power such as a battery is used to provide power to the various components. A control switch is used to provide a master control over all of the components.

It is common to provide a doll or the like with some sort of a speaking mechanism that can be mechanically actuated to express a short sound or comment.
However, the existing devices do not have the capability to pick up and record a child's voice who is playing with the doll. Further, it is not possible to implement selectively in the doll a prerecorded message for the child to enjoy. Voice activated recording devices have found no useful application in this art.
It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a doll or the like with a replaceable voice actuated speaking and recording mechanism, incorporated either within the doll or on a suitable backpack thereon.
A further object of this invention is to provide a doll or the like wherein a plurality of recorded messages, stories, songs or the like can be easily selectively inserted into and removed from the doll.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a doll or the like with replaceable voice-activated speaking and recording mechanism which can be easily operated.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Doll or the like with replaceable voice-activated speaking and recording mechanism


In a ball conveying gutter system, a gutter (21), (26) for carrying pachinko balls in order to supply them to the individual pachinko machines and for storing the pachinko balls is supported by successive gutter supports mounted respectively between successive pairs of confronting posts. Each gutter support has at opposite ends a pair of hooks, and the confronting posts of each pair have a pair of holes for detachably catching the opposite hooks respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates a ball conveying gutter system, for a pachinko island composed of a plurality of pachinko machines arranged in array, including a gutter extending in and through the pachinko island for carrying pachinko balls in order to supply them to the individual pachinko machines and for storing the pachinko balls.
2. Description of the Related Art:
This type of conventional ball conveying gutter system, for a pachinko island, is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 of the accompanying drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a plurality of successive pairs of confronting posts 1, 1 are mounted on the floor of a pachinko island 1a, and a gutter 2 extends through the successive pairs of confronting posts 1, 1, sloping longitudinally in and along the island 1a. The gutter 2 conveys pachinko balls from a ball tank 1b to the individual pachinko machines.
Between each pair of confronting posts 1, 1, a gutter support 3 is mounted for supporting the gutter 2. The gutter support 3 is secured to the confronting posts 1, 1 by means of screws 4, 4. In the pachinko island 1a, a bottom plate 2a of the gutter 2 has a flat upper surface or an inverted V-shape cross section.
However, in this conventional gutter system, since the gutter 2 only carries pachinko balls flowing there along and has a limited capacity which is not enough to enable the storing of the pachinko balls therein, the ball tank 1b is needed at the upper portion of the island 1a, which is expensive, and has the additional problem that it is difficult to secure an adequately large space for installation of such a ball tank.
Further, if a large quantity of pachinko balls flow into the gutter 2 at once, the gutter support 3 which has to bear the total weight of the gutter 2 and the pachinko balls flowing therein is relatively unstable structurally as it is only attached to the confronting posts 1, 1 by the screws 4, 4. To adjust the height of the gutter 2, the screws 4, 4 are removed and then the gutter support 3 is moved to a desired position, whereupon the gutter support 3 is secured again to the confronting posts 1, 1 by the screws 4, 4, which is laborious and time-consuming.
Furthermore, assuming that a lot of pachinko balls flow in the gutter 2, since the bottom plate 2a of the gutter 2 has a flat upper surface, the pachinko balls are apt to gather at one side rather than across the whole width so that the pachinko balls cannot be supplied uniformly to the pachinko machines on both sides of the gutter 2 and so that the overall flow of pachinko balls will possibly be retarded, thus resulting in inefficient conveying of pachinko balls. Consequently it was difficult to convey a large quantity of pachinko balls even if the gutter has a large capacity.

Ball conveying gutter system of pachinko island


A method and apparatus is provided for generating various binary addresses for use in decoding MPEG video data. One or more n-bit counters and mutiplexers are used to generate such binary addresses. Different binary addresses can be generated by the same n-bit counter by swapping the bits of the n-bit counter. The number of different binary addresses that an n-bit counter can generate is n factorial.

In MPEG technology, the compressed digital system signal, or bitstream, which includes a video portion, an audio portion, and other informational portions, is transmitted to a receiver. Transmission may be over existing television channels, cable television channels, satellite communication channels, and the like.
A decoder is provided at the receiver to de-multiplex, decompress and decode the received system signal in accordance with a given compression algorithm. The decoded video and audio information is then output to a display device such as a television monitor for presentation to the user.
Video and audio compression and encoding is performed by suitable encoders which implement a selected data compression algorithm that conforms to a recognized standard or specification agreed to among the senders and receivers of digital video signals. Highly efficient compression standards have been developed by the Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG), including MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. The MPEG standards enable several VCR-like viewing options such as Normal Forward, Play, Slow Forward, Fast Forward, Fast Reverse, and Freeze.
The MPEG specification defines a hierarchical data structure in the video portion of the bitstream. A video sequence includes a sequence header, one or more groups of pictures, and an end-of-sequence code. A group of pictures is a series of one or more pictures intended to allow random access into the sequence.
A picture is the primary coding unit of a video sequence. A picture consists of three rectangular matrices representing luminance (Y) and two chrominance (Cb, Cr) values. The Y matrix has an even number of rows and columns. The Cb and Cr matrices are one-half the size of the Y matrix in each direction (horizontal and vertical). Thus, for every four luminance values, there are two associated chrominance values (one Cb value and one Cr value).
A slice is one or more contiguous macroblocks. Slices are important in the handling of errors. If the bitstream contains an error, the decoder can skip to the start of the next slice.
A macroblock is a 16×16 line section of luminance components and the corresponding chrominance components. A block is an 8×8 set of values of a luminance or chrominance component.
The MPEG standard defines three main types of video pictures:    1. Intracoded pictures (I-pictures) which are coded without reference to any other pictures.    2. Predictive-coded pictures (P-pictures) which are coded using motion-compensated forward prediction from a previous I or P reference picture.    3. Bidirectional predictive-coded pictures (B-pictures) which are coded using interpolated motion compensation from a previous and a future I or P picture.
I pictures are coded using only the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) which converts time and space domain into frequency and amplitude domain for the purpose of achieving data compression.
The macroblock is the basic motion compensation unit for P and B pictures. Each macroblock is coded by computing a motion compensation vector which defines the displacement between the macroblock, and the corresponding macroblock in the reference I or P picture(s) from which it is being predicted. If there is little or no motion, the motion compensation vector will not be transmitted.
A comparison macroblock is then generated by displacing the reference macroblock by the amount indicated by the motion compensation vector, which is then subtracted from the macroblock of the P or B picture that is being coded to produce an error signal which corresponds to the difference therebetween. The error signal is then coded using DCT (similar to an intracoded picture) and transmitted with the motion vector. If, however, the error signal is small or zero, no error component is transmitted.
Thus, a predictive coded macroblock (P or B) can consist of only a motion compensation component, only a transform (DCT) coded component, or both.
After motion compensation and DCT coding are performed, the macroblock is quantized, and Variable Length Coded (VLC) to further compress the data bitstream. The macroblocks are then assembled into slices, pictures, groups of pictures and video sequences, multiplexed with associated audio data, and transmitted to a user for decoding and presentation.
The basic idea behind MPEG video compression is to remove spatial redundancy within a video frame and temporal redundancy between video frames. As in JPEG, the standard for still image compression, DCT-based (Discrete Cosine Transform) compression is used to reduce spatial redundancy. Motion- compensation is used to exploit temporal redundancy. The images in a video stream usually do not change much within small time intervals. The idea of motion-compensation is to encode a video frame based on other video frames temporally close to it.
A video stream is a sequence of video frames. Each frame is a still image. A video player displays one frame after another, usually at a rate close to 30 frames per second (23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, 30).
Frames are digitized in a standard RGB format, 24 bits per pixel (8 bits each for Red, Green, and Blue). MPEG-1 is designed to produce bit rates of 1.5 Mb/s or less, and is intended to be used with images of size 352×288 at 24–30 frames per second. This results in data rates of 55.7–69.6 Mb/s.
Frames are divided into 16×16 pixel macroblocks. Each macroblock consists of four 8×8 luminance blocks and two 8×8 chrominance blocks(1 U and 1 V). Macroblocks are the units for motion-compensated compression. Blocks are used for DCT compression. Frames can be encoded in three types: intra-frames (I-frames), forward predicted frames (P-frames), and bi-directional predicted frames (B-frames).
An MPEG-1 video sequence is an ordered stream of bits, with a special bit pattern sequences marking the beginning and ending of a logical section.
Typically, in real-time MPEG video decoders, which are used in today's set-top boxes or DVD players, a decoding algorithm in application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC's) is implemented. In such cases, key functional operations such as Variable Length Decoding (VLD), Inverse Zig-Zag Scan (IZZ), Inverse Quantization (IQ), Inverse Discrete Cosine Transform (IDCT), Motion Compensation (MC) and Merge and Store (MS) are mapped to dedicated hardware, herein referred to as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) In one approach, the MPEG bitstream that is to be decoded is stored in a DRAM buffer in a decoder system. The MPEG bitstream that is to be decoded is herein referred to as "bitstream".
FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram that illustrates some components of a typical MPEG-2 video bitstream decoder core. In FIG. 1, reconstructed data 102 is the bitstream that is to be decoded and is shown as an input into the dynamic random access memory (DRAM) interface 104. DRAM interface 104 is communicatively coupled to DRAM buffer 106, MC module 108, VLD/IZZ/Q module 114 and MS module 112. In addition, MC module 108 is communicatively coupled to MC buffer 110, which in turn is communicatively coupled to MS module 112. VLD/IZZ/IQ module 114 is communicatively coupled to IDCT module 116, which in turn is communicatively coupled to IDCT buffer 118.
The data and data paths referred to herein are associated with reconstructed data 102. There are two main data paths for decoding reconstructed data 102: 1) one data path is for spatial data reconstruction, and 2) one data path is for temporal data reconstruction. The spatial data path goes through the VLD/IZZ/IQ module 114 and IDCT module 116, and the resulting data is written into IDCT buffer 118. The temporal data path, which comprises MC module 108, gets reference data from previously reconstructed data stored in memory. The resulting data coming out of MC module 108 is written to MC buffer 110.
In the final steps of data reconstruction, MS module 112 performs the following: 1) reads in spatial data from the IDCT buffer and reads in temporal data from the MC buffer, 2) adds the data that is read from the MC buffer to the data that is read from the IDCT buffer to produce a combined data set of reconstructed data, and 3) writes the combined data set to DRAM buffer 106 where the reconstructed data is stored
All the above operations involve data fetch and store in different addressing schemes. The spatial data path is block based or 8×8 based, while the temporal data path is macroblock based or 16×16 based or 16×8 based. Thus, the MS module handles both block based and macroblock based addressing schemes when adding spatial and temporal data together. In addition, there are many flags in the bitstream which make the IDCT/MC buffer accessing mechanism quite complicated.
In one approach, the ASIC implementation of MPEG video decoding, such as the decoding performed by VLD/IZZ/IQ, IDCT, MC and MS modules, is designed using a pipeline architecture. In a pipeline architecture, the IDCT buffer and the MC buffer require different read/write address pattern sequences. Traditionally, each buffer has its own associated address generator in order to simultaneously facilitate data access. The drawback of pipeline architecture is more hardware consumption, which in turn consumes more power.
Therefore, in past approaches, decoders require a large amount of hardware in terms of gate count and power consumption. Because of the higher level of logic complexity, the effort required to test and debug a decoder is also large. Also, the different addressing schemes of each data path in the decoding process require different types address generators.
Based on the foregoing, there is a need for a method or mechanism for unifying addressing schemes used in MPEG decoding.

Unified memory address generation system and method for fetching and storing MPEG video data


The present disclosure relates to a novel promoter and a method for producing L-amino acids using the promoter, and more specifically, to a novel polynucleotide having promoter activity, a vector and a microorganism of the genus Corynebacterium comprising the polynucleotide, a method for producing L-amino acids and a fermented composition using the microorganism, and a fermented composition.

L-Amino acids are the basic building blocks of proteins and are used as important materials such as pharmaceutical raw materials, food additives, animal feeds, nutritional supplements, pesticides, bactericides, etc. Among these, L-glutamic acid is a representative amino acid produced by fermentation and has a unique, distinctive taste (umami taste), and thus is an important amino acid widely used in the food field as well as in the medical field and other animal feed fields. Further, glycine is mainly used as a flavor enhancer in the food industry because of its sweet taste, and is used with natural flavor enhancers to enhance taste. Furthermore, glycine is also used for its antioxidant activity, buffering action, etc., and in terms of medicine, it is used in infusion solutions, antacids, multi-amino acid preparations, and nutritional supplements.
A typical method for producing amino acids includes a fermentation method using a microorganism of the genus Brevibacterium or Corynebacterium (Amino Acid Fermentation, Gakkai Shuppan Center: 195-215, 1986) or using Escherichia coli or microorganisms of the genera Bacillus, Streptomyces, Penicillum, Klebsiella, Erwinia, Pantoea, etc. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,220,929 and 6,682,912). In addition, such amino acids are also produced by an industrial method using a synthetic process such as the monochloroacetic acid method, the Strecker method, or the like.
Additionally, various studies have been conducted for efficiently producing amino acids; for example, efforts have been made to develop microorganisms or fermentation process technologies for producing amino acids with high efficiency. Particularly, approaching methods for specific to target materials have been developed, such as enhancement of expression of genes encoding enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of the amino acids in the strain of the genus Corynebacterium or deletion of genes unnecessary for the biosynthesis of amino acids (Korean Patent Nos. 10-0924065 and 1208480). In addition to these methods, a method for removing genes that are not involved in the production of amino acids and a method for removing genes whose functions for producing amino acids are not specifically known have also been utilized. However, there is still a growing need to study methods for efficiently producing amino acids with high yield.

Promoter and a method for producing L-amino acid using the same


A method of producing a synthetic polymer blend comprising steps of (i) blending a styrene-butadiene-styrene thermoplastic elastomer (SBS) with a compatibilizer selected from the group consisting of polybutadiene grafted polystyrene resin (HIPS), styrene-hydrogenated-butadiene-styrene (SEBS) and poly-dimethyl-phenylene-oxide (PPO), and dispersing particles of said SBS to a mean particle size of substantially 3 microns or less in diameter, to form an intermediary ingredient, wherein

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to plastic polymer blend compounds, products made therefrom, intermediary ingredients for making such compounds and methods of producing such intermediary ingredients and such compounds.
2. Description of Prior Art
Plastics are used as materials for making a large variety of products nowadays. For examples, different types of plastic materials are widely used in making toys, various parts of electrical appliances and electronic products, household implements, decorative products, etc. When used in different contexts, the choice of plastic materials differs accordingly. Among other requirements, five requirements in particular are usually important in determining the choice of plastic materials, namely, (i) the mechanical properties (e.g. tensile strength, surface hardness, etc.), (ii) material properties (e.g. homogeneous material construction), (iii) compatibility between ingredients in compounded plastic materials, (iv) cosmetic characteristics such as coloring property and outward appearance (e.g. surface gloss, etc.) and (v) cost of production. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,063 discloses a type of plastic polymer blend and a method of making same. It is to be noted that the composition (or constituents) of a plastic material only partly contributes to its mechanical and material properties. There are other factors affecting the properties as well.
The present invention provides polymer blend compounds possessing novel characteristics addressing one or more of the above five requirements, and methods of making same. The polymer blend compounds and the methods can mitigate the drawbacks of the prior art, or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.

Synthetic plastic material and a method of making thereof

Abstract: weight                          of                          the                          SBS        weight                          of                          the                          compatibilizer  is substantially

Abstract: 1  4to 4; and (ii) blending the intermediary ingredient in the step b) with further ingredient(s) including at least general purpose polystyrene (GPPS), and further dispersing the SBS particles, to form the synthetic polymer blend, wherein

Abstract: weight                          of                          the                          intermediary                          ingredient        weight                          of                          the                          GPPS  is substantially

Abstract: 1    19                to                        5      6        .


The invention relates to a radiation curable composition for additive-manufacturing processes, the composition comprising (meth)acrylate component(s) not comprising an urethane moiety having a molecular weight Mw of at least 1,000 as Component A1, photo initiator as Component B, red, yellow or orange dye or combination thereof as Component C, blue dye having a light absorption band in the range of 350 to 420 nm as Component D, and optionally stabilizer as Component E. The invention further relates to a process of producing an elastomeric 3-dim article from the radiation curable composition in an additive-manufacturing process and the obtained elastomeric 3-dim article.

In orthodontic treatments brackets have to be placed exactly onto patients' teeth. A so-called positioning tray can be a helpful tool for this purpose.
Such a positioning tray or transfer tray basically consists of an impression of the patient's jaw with molds at those positions where the brackets are located. So, the brackets can be put into these molds and thus be transferred into the patient's mouth.
When such a tray including the brackets is seated in a patient's mouth, the brackets are automatically exactly positioned on the teeth.
This procedure is described e.g. in the background art section of US2015/0313687A1 (Blees et al.).
These trays are typically manufactured in time consuming procedures starting from models of a patient's mouth onto which the brackets are placed.
It starts with the manufacturing of a model of a patient's jaw and the positioning of brackets on the lingual side of the teeth model.
Then an outer shell is manufactured by applying a spacer over the model and vacuum forming a deep drawing foil over it.
Then the spacer is removed and the outer shell is filled with a transparent heat curable silicone so that the outer shell acts like an impression tray.
Then the outer shell with the mixed silicone paste is seated back onto the model and heat cured.
This results in the setting of the silicone which forms an inner shell which is transparent and elastomeric so that it can be processed to take up the brackets. A picture of such a clear positioning tray is shown in FIG. 1.
During use, the clear positioning tray contains all the brackets for a patient's mouth on the lingual sides of the teeth.
In a next step, the clear positioning tray can be used by the orthodontist to seat all the brackets in a patient's jaw at one time which saves time and allows an accurate seating of the brackets.
The brackets typically contain an adhesive or a layer of cement on its surface which can be light cured by the orthodontist.
This means that after seating the clear positioning tray with the brackets in the patient's mouth the practitioner cures the adhesive located on the brackets through the material of the clear positioning tray by using a conventional dental curing light.
The light is applied such that the light shines through the outer and inner shell until the brackets are fixed onto the lingual surfaces of the teeth.
It becomes clear that despite the positive results which can be obtained by following this process, there is a desire for a simplified process.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,855,748 (Hatton) describes UV-curable compositions containing oxetane- and epoxy-compounds in combination with multifunctional hydroxyl-compounds which can contain additional (meth)acrylates and which can be used for laser initiated stereolithographic procedures.
US 2014/0035202 A1 (Southwell et al.) describes radiation curable resin compositions and rapid 3D imaging processes using them. The resins are based on cycloaliphatic epoxides in combination with oxetanes and (meth-)acrylates and cationic and free radical photoinitiators.
One class of suitable free radical photoinitiators comprises the ionic dye-counter ion compounds, which are capable of absorbing actinic rays and producing free radicals.
WO 2014/078537 A1 (Dentsply) describes 3D fabricating material systems for producing dental products like artificial teeth, dentures, splints, veneers, inlays, onlays, copings, frame patterns, crowns, bridges, and the like. DLP procedures are used.
The materials are (meth-)acrylate based and can contain pigments.
WO 2015/073301 A1 (Chang) relates to 3D color printing e.g. by SLA to manufacture 3D-printed pigmented multicolored parts but does not deal with dyes to avoid overcuring.
US 2007/0205528 A1 (Patel et al.) and US 2007/0256781A1 (Johnson et al.) describe photocurable compositions for rapid prototyping techniques which can contain dyes but they are not dealing with the issue of detail resolution.
WO 2014/078537 A1 (Sun et al.) describes a three-dimensional fabrication material system for producing dental products. The composition for making a three-dimensional dental prosthesis comprises a mixture of (meth)acrylate, an inorganic filler, an organic filler, a silicone-acrylic-based rubber impact modifier, pigments and light initiators.
WO 2013/153183 A2 (Wachter et al.) describes a composite resin composition and method for producing dental components by means of stereo-lithography. The composite resin composition contains a) at least one poly-reactive binder, b) a first photo-polymerization initiator with an absorption maximum at a wavelength of less than 400 nm, c) a second photo polymerization initiator with an absorption maximum of at least 400 nm, and d) an absorber with an absorption maximum at a wavelength of less than 400 nm for the SLA production of a dental formed component on the basis of a composite resin.
US 2008/0287564 A1 (Klare et al.) describes a biocompatible, low-viscosity radiation-curable formulation for producing medical products, in particular adaptive ear pieces, otoplastic parts, shells or ear parts, by means of PNP methods or stereolithographic methods, wherein the critical energy to penetration depth is adjusted by adding small quantities of anaerobic inhibitors such as phenothiazine or DPPH.
US 2014/0072712 A1 (Xu) describes opaque inks for use with a three-dimensional printing system comprising 10-95 wt. % polymerizable component and 3-25 wt. % non-reactive wax component.
US 2010/0056661 A1 (Xu) relates to a radiation-curable composition useful for the production of 3-dim solid articles. The composition comprises a hyperbranched poly(meth)acylate compound, a light sensitizer and an initiator. UV light sensitizers containing a thioxanthone moiety are said to be preferred. The composition may also contain pigments as additives.
US 2004/0170923 A1 (Steinmann et al.) describes a liquid colored radiation-curable composition comprising a cationically polymerizing organic substance, a free-radical polymerizing organic substance, a cationic polymerization initiator, a free-radical polymerization initiator and an effective color-imparting amount of a soluble dye selected from diarylmethane and triarylmethane dyes, rhodamine dyes, azo dyes, thiazole dyes, anthrachinone dyes and safranine dyes. The resin composition is said to be particularly useful in the jewelry industry which require good color contrast in thin layers.

Radiation curable composition for additive manufacturing processes


Semiconductor devices having a capacitor and methods of manufacturing the same are disclosed. A disclosed semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate; a lower interconnection line on the substrate; an upper interconnection line electrically connected to a first portion of the lower interconnection line; a first metal layer electrically connected to a second portion of the lower interconnection line; a capacitor insulating layer on the first metal layer; and a second metal layer on the capacitor insulating layer, wherein the first metal layer, the capacitor insulating layer and the second metal layer form a capacitor

Generally, semiconductor integrated circuits may be classified as digital or analog depending on the signal processing methods they employ. In digital circuits, input and output signals are binary (e.g., ON or OFF). In analog circuits, input and output signals may vary linearly.
In both digital and analog integrated circuits, information is stored as electronic charges in a capacitor. As a result, the capacitance of the capacitor must be constantly maintained, even in the presence of variations of voltage or temperature, to ensure the integrated circuits exhibit normal driving properties.
Against this background, a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor has been frequently used to store charges, because it has excellent capacitance properties in the face of variations of voltage and temperature. The MIM capacitor may be simultaneously formed by a dual damascene process when forming interconnection lines, as described in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0424183, U.S. Pat. 6,767,788, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,680,542.
However, the capacitor insulating layer of the conventional MIM capacitor described in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0424183 exhibits a high disconnection probability, thereby increasing leakage current. This high disconnection probability is due to the vertical profile of a trench formed by the dual damascene process.
Furthermore, the fabrication process of the conventional MIM capacitor described in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0424183 is complicated, because an additional pad must be formed in the MIM capacitor for applying a bias to the MIM capacitor.


Empty drum detecting apparatus comprises an upright manifold chamber connected at its intermediate portion to a supply line extended to a supply drum of liquid chemical, and a pump for directing pumped liquid to process equipment utilizing the liquid chemical and having an inlet line. An outlet line is connected to the bottom portion of the upright manifold chamber and connected to the inlet line of the pump; and a shunt line with a flow restriction therein is connected between the upper portion of the manifold chamber and the outlet line for delivering collected gases and liquid to the inlet line and pump. An alternate flow restricting valve may be placed in the outlet line to restrict liquid flow from the lower portion of the manifold chamber. A capacitance proximity sensor is mounted above the inlet of the manifold chamber and senses the liquid level in the manifold chamber to produce an indication of the liquid level.

Certain process equipment in industrial installations, such as for the purpose of processing semiconductor wafers in the manufacture of circuit chips, requires the substantially uninterrupted flow of liquid chemicals to be drawn on at the proper time for performing specific functions in the processing equipment. For instance, certain stages of semiconductor wafer processing requires a supply of acid, such as hydrofluoric acid, for the purpose of etching oxides from the surfaces of the semiconductor wafers. The supply drums for such liquid chemicals are usually located in a protected room or building remote from the processing station, and arrangements are made in the facilities housing the supply drums for changing the drums when the chemical in a supply drum is depleted so that a new drum may be substituted for the empty one.
An important consideration in the supplying of liquid chemicals from such drums is to be sure that a continuous supply of the liquid chemical is available to the processing equipment. Accordingly, temporary storage facilities for the liquid chemical are provided between the supply drums and the processing equipment, but of course, the temporary storage facilities must be adequately supplied with the liquid chemical so that the supply to the processing equipment will be continuous.
Another important consideration in the supplying of liquid chemical from the source or supply drums, is the disposal of gas that may be drawn into the delivery system, particularly when the supply of liquid chemical in the supply drums is exhausted and air or gas is drawn into the delivery system. Gas may also be drawn into the delivery system by leakage. Usually a mechanical coupling is provided between supply tubes in such a supply drum, and flow lines which deliver liquid chemical to the processing facility. A representative coupling is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,015. Although such couplings make tight joints for liquid flow, gas leakage into the flowing liquid is not uncommon and must be accommodated.
Prior devices for generally the same purpose are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,787,829 and 4,601,409. The apparatus in both of these prior devices are subject to giving false readings of an empty drum when the supply drum may not actually be empty. In the '829 patent, false readings to indicate an empty drum may occur in the event leakage gases become entrained in the liquid chemical, and such gases collect in the float chamber. A substantial amount of temporary storage downstream of the pump in the '829 patent is required during recovery after an empty tank has been detected and a new supply drum has been substituted.
The '409 patent requires the use of a separate aspirator during recovery after an empty supply tank has been detected and a change to a different tank is effected. The '409 patent may also give false readings of an empty condition in the supply tank by virtue of gas leakage that may become entrained in the liquid being supplied and collection of such gas in the reservoir.


Described is an apparatus for the purpose of drying or solid phase polymerization of Polymer particles by batchwise heating the same in an atmosphere of inert gas or under reduced pressure. More particularly, described is batchwise heating apparatus which is capable of efficient production by preventing an objective product from being contaminated with foreign matters accompanying wear of a sealing packing. The batchwise heating apparatus, which heats Polymer particles in a rotating hermetically sealed vessel in an atmosphere of inert gas or under reduced pressure, comprises a vessel equipped with a temperature detection portion capable of measuring temperature even during rotating and a suction/exhaust port inside the vessel capable of reducing pressure and/or replacing with inert gas even during rotating; and a suction/exhaust pipe that is inserted into the vessel so as to communicate with the suction/exhaust port, wherein the rotational sealing portion of the suction/exhaust pipe is installed on the outside of the vessel.

In the case of carrying out drying or solid phase polymerization of Polymer particles by a batchwise system, there is widely adopted a tumbler type apparatus in which liquid phase polymerization polymer as the raw material is charged in a hermetically sealed vessel, and is heated while being rotated together with the vessel in an atmosphere of inert gas or under reduced pressure. The above-mentioned apparatus is generally of such structure that a suction/exhaust port for inert gas introduction or vacuum and a thermometer for measuring pellet temperature are fixed for the sake of convenience of each piping and wiring, whereby only the vessel rotates, and that rotational sealing portions are sealed with a packing for the purpose of preventing moisture or oxygen leaking on the inside of the vessel.
However, the sealing packing is worn by the contact between surrounding structures and Polymer particles owing to repeated drying or solid phase polymerization, and fragments thereof as foreign matters contaminate the objective product, thereby raising a problem of quality deterioration. As a method for preventing the contamination, periodical inspection and replacement of the packing are taken into consideration, but the packing-fitted portion is on the inside of the vessel. Thus it is accompanied with a definite time of shutdown of the apparatus to confirm the progress of packing wear or carry out replacement work, whereby frequent replacement thereof becomes problematic in production cost.
As a method for removing contaminated packing from the product, sorting and removal by means of a color sorting machine or the like are taken into consideration, but raise a problem of the increase in cost such as fixed cost and maintenance cost accompanying the introduction of the sorting machine.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 136965/1997 (Heisei 9) discloses a batchwise solid phase polymerization apparatus which controls the reactional conditions by detecting the degree of vacuum inside a hermetically sealed reaction vessel using communication signals from a pressure receiver equipped on the inside of the vessel. Nevertheless nothing is mentioned in the above-mentioned literature in regard to temperature measurement in the vessel nor trouble of foreign matter generation.
As mentioned above, no literature is found regarding a method for solving the trouble of contamination by foreign matters for which the wear of sealing packing is primarily responsible in relation to batchwise drying and solid phase polymerization apparatus. Under such circumstances, it has been eagerly desired to develop a method for solving such trouble.
In such circumstances, the present invention is concerned with an apparatus for the purpose of drying or solid phase polymerization of Polymer particles by batchwise heating the same in an atmosphere of inert gas or under reduced pressure, and an object thereof is to provide a batchwise heating apparatus which is capable of efficient production by preventing objective product from being contaminated by foreign matters accompanying the wear of a sealing packing.

Batchwise heating apparatus and method of drying a polyamide


A data storage system, and a method of operation thereof, includes: an interface module for creating a login credential for storing on a removable storage device; a backup module, coupled to the interface module, for transferring data for an automatic backup of the removable storage device to a remote backup system based on the login credential and a status of the removable storage device; and a close module, coupled to the backup module, for disconnecting an application from a cloud backup service for closing a connection between a computing device and the remote backup system with the data from the automatic backup.

Advances in computing have rendered significant changes to how people consume and interact with media. Paper documents have been replaced by digital documents. Music compact discs (CDs) and movie digital video discs (DVDs) have been replaced by streaming and downloadable content. Printed photos have been replaced by digital photos.
As most user content has become digital over the years, even schools are encouraging students to work with digital files in order to make the process more efficient and have a lower impact on the environmental resources, e.g., saving paper to print homework.
However, digital content is prone to corruption and virus attacks. Computing devices can have physical damage due to fire and flood. The computing devices can also be stolen. This necessitates that user data be backed up where it can be safe from hazardous situations.
One option is to save digital data files locally to home computers or laptops, and then, these computing devices can be backed up to external data backup devices like portable hard drives. Since the primary locations where the computers and external data backup devices are used can be prone to damaged or theft, the user data is not considered safe by virtue of being in a location that can be susceptible to fire, flooding, or theft.
Thus, a safer option is to backup user data to remote data storage facilities offered by companies that provide online data storage facilities in fireproof and flooding proof sites. This has spawned a new industry of online data backup services, where the service allows a user to save the data files from a personal computer or a laptop to a remote computing device, e.g., an online server.
Thus, instead of or in addition to making copies of data locally, a user can opt to have the data stored on a remote server using the Internet for file transfer. Typically, the user is required to sign up with a service provider and pay a monthly or yearly fee for storage of the data. Online backup service provider's software installation and high-speed Internet connectivity can facilitate rapid transfer of files.
Backing up data to the online data backup services from multiple computers has problems because it is still a complicated task especially when some of the computing devices can be untrusted by virtue of being located in publically available spaces, e.g., a computing device in a library or an Internet cafe. Since a personal computer or a laptop offers limited mobility and users have to work with multiple computing devices including untrusted ones, the users end up utilizing removable media including Universal Serial Bus (USB) drives to transport data from one computing device to another.
As noted, most people work with more than one computing device, and data backup processes are complicated. Additionally, an ordinary user is not technically savvy to use the complicated prior art data backup solutions. Thus, the market is ripe for an automated, easy to use, highly portable, and affordable backup solution.
Thus, a need still remains for a data storage system to be developed to resolve the data backup problems. In view of the ever-increasing commercial competitive pressures, along with growing consumer expectations, it is critical that answers be found for these problems. Additionally, the need to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and performance, and meet competitive pressures adds an even greater urgency to the critical necessity for finding answers to these problems.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.

Data storage system with removable device and method of operation thereof