Disclosed herein is a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material having at least one silver halide emulsion layer formed on a support. Said light-sensitive material having at least one layer contains a regular silver halide emulsion, a tabular silver halide emulsion containing tabular silver halide grains having an average diameter/average thickness ratio of 2 or more, which occupy 50% or more of the total projected area of all silver halide grains, and a silver halide emulsion containing internal latent-image silver halide grains each chemically sensitized to the depth of less than 0.02 .mu.m from the surface of the grain. Each of these emulsions contains at least one methine compound represented by the following formula (I): ##STR1## where R.sup.1 is --(CH.sub.2).sub.r --CONHSO.sub.2 --R.sub.3 or --(CH.sub.2).sub.s --SO.sub.2 NHCO--R.sub.4, where R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 are an alkyl group, r and s are an integer ranging from 1 to 5; R.sup.2 is a sulfoalkyl group; Z.sup.1 and Z.sup.2 are non-metal atom groups required for forming a 5- or 6-membered heterocyclic group; p and q are 0 or 1; L.sub.1, L.sub.2 and L.sub.3 are methine groups; and m is 0, 1 or 2, wherein said at least one methine compound has been added at 50.degree. C. or more in any step from a step of preparing of the emultion to a step of coating of the emulsion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material which excels in sensitivity/graininess ratio and storage stability, which has less color-remaining after having been developed, and which contains methine compounds.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, it has been increasingly demanded that photographic light-sensitive materials provide higher-quality images and have high sensitivity.
To meet the demand, various attempts have been made to increase the sensitivity/graininess ratio of a silver halide emulsion.
(1) JP-B-47-11386, for example, discloses a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material of which the graininess has been improved by the use of mono-dispersed grains. ("JP-B" means Published Examined Japanese Patent Application.)
To increase sensitivity or the like, a sensitizing dye should be absorbed in as great an amount as possible. In the spectral sensitization of a mono-dispersed regular silver halide emulsion, a sensitizing dye, even if suitable for enhancing sensitivity, fails to be dissolved completely out of the silver halide light-sensitive material if added in an increased amount. This results in the problem known as "color-remaining" i.e., coloring of the silver halide photographic light-sensitive material due to the sensitizing dye remaining in the material. Hence, in many cases, a sensitizing dye cannot be added in an amount great enough to make the material exhibit satisfactory properties.
JP-A-64-77047 (corresponding to DE 3819241A), for example, discloses the technique of adding a large amount of a sensitizing dye, thus controlling chemical sensitization, thereby to increase sensitivity. ("JP-A" means Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application.) Like the technique described above, this technique causes color-remaining, and can hardly be applied to regular silver halide emulsions.
(2) Also, in recent years, many techniques have been disclosed which relate to methods of manufacturing and using tabular silver halide grains. This is because tabular silver halide grains are advantageous in that they may promote color sensitization, improve sensitivity and graininess, and increase sharpness. Among the publications disclosing these techniques are: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,434,226, 4,439,520, 4,414,310, 4,433,048, 4,414,306, and 4,459,353.
In particular, tabular silver halide grains can have a large amount of a sensitizing dye absorbed to them since each grain has a great surface/grain size ratio (i.e., surface ratio). Hence, they can absorb a great amount of light, possibly increasing sensitivity. If the sensitizing dye is added in a large amount, however, it fails to be dissolved completely out of the silver halide light-sensitive material if added in an increased amount. This results in color-remaining, i.e., coloring of the light-sensitive material due to the sensitizing dye remaining in the material. In consequence, the sensitizing dye cannot be added in a sufficient amount, though it can be absorbed to the tabular silver halide grains.
(3) Further, a number of attempts have been made to enhance the sensitivity of a photographic light-sensitive material, without increasing the grain size of silver halide photographic emulsion. One of them is concerned with a light-sensitive material using an internal latent-image emulsion containing grains internally chemical-sensitized so that an latent image may be formed within each grain as the material is exposed to light. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,696,436, 3,206,313, 3,917,485, 3,979,213 and 4,623,612, JP-B-43-29405, JP-B-45-13259 describe silver halide photographic emulsions or silver halide photographic light-sensitive materials, which have good photographic properties. These emulsions and these materials have high internal sensitivities since they have been prepared by immersing samples, coated with silver halide emulsions, in an AgNO.sub.3 solution or a silver-halide solvent, or by performing Ostwald ripening or adding an AgNO.sub.3 aqueous solution and a soluble halogen-salt aqueous solution after the chemical sensitization carried out during the preparation of the silver halide emulsions. Although most of these emulsions and materials exhibit high photographic sensitivities if developed with specific internal development solutions, they cannot exhibit sufficient photographic sensitivities if developed with ordinary developing solutions which does not contain, on design, a large amount of a silver halide solvent such as KI or sodium thiosulfate.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 3,966,476 discloses a silver halide emulsion which forms latent images in the voids opening to the surface of the grain, and can be developed by a surface developer. This emulsion, however, cannot be considered an internal latent-image emulsion; it cannot have excellent photographic properties inherent in an internal latent-image emulsion.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,839,268 and JP-A-63-264740 disclose techniques relating to an internal latent-image emulsion which can exhibit a high sensitivity if developed with any of various developing solutions, and also relating to a photographic light-sensitive material using this specific emulsion. In these publications it is described that, if an emulsion is to exhibit a sufficient sensitivity when developed with an ordinary photographic developing solution, two conditions must be satisfied. First, the latent image formed due to exposure must be positioned within a specific distance from the surface of each grain and be formed. Second, a latent image must be formed, to some extent, also on the surface of each grain.
It is known that these internal latent-image emulsions can acquire an optimal minus blue-sensitivity when a relatively great amount of a sensitizing dye is added to it, since its blue sensitivity decreases due to the adsorption of the sensitizing dye, but less than that of a surface latent-image emulsion. When a large amount of a sensitizing dye is added to the internal latent-image emulsion, the sensitizing dye fails to be dissolved completely out of the light-sensitive material, consequently, color-remaining will occur, that is, the light-sensitive material will be colored with the residual sensitizing dye. The greater the amount of the sensitizing dye added, the more prominent the color-stain is. In consequence, the sensitizing dye cannot be added in a sufficient amount, though the addition of a large amount of the sensitizing dye can provide a high sensitivity.
(4) Further, for the purpose of increasing sensitivity, it is desirable that a sensitizing dye be adsorbed in as great an amount as is possible for more intensifying of its adsorption. As is known, the higher the temperature, the more readily a sensitizing dye can be adsorbed to silver halide grains. Some methods have been disclosed, in which a sensitizing dye is added during chemical ripening or during the forming of grains, so that the adsorption of the sensitizing dye is intensified. More specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,426 disclose methods wherein a sensitizing dye is added before the chemical sensitization or during the chemical sensitization, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,225,666, JP-A-61-103149, JP-A-61-133941, and JP-A-61-165751, for example, disclose methods wherein a sensitizing dye is added during the growth of grains, achieving intensified adsorption of the sensitizing dye.
The inventors hereof have been studying the above-described techniques in their effort to enhance the sensitivity/graininess ratio of a silver halide emulsion. They could not, however, achieve their objective since color-remaining occurs by the sensitizing dye which remains in the light-sensitive material after the processing of development because of the intensified adsorption of the sensitizing dye. To solve this problem, it has been proposed that use be made of a sensitizing dye which has hydrophilic substituent groups such as a sulfamoyl group and a carbamoyl group, e.g., the sensitizing dyes disclosed in JP-A-1-147451, JP-A-61-294429, JP-B-45-32749, and JP-A-61-77843. Generally, however, a sensitizing dye will be less readily adsorbed if rendered more hydrophilic. Hence, if the sensitizing dye is made more hydrophilic and thus less liable to remain in the light-sensitive material, it will desorbed from the grains while the light-sensitive material is stored at high temperature and high humidity, inevitably causing desensitization of the sensitizing dye. Although the sensitizing dye disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,282,933 is less liable to cause color-stain, its spectral sensitization power is small, and cannot be achieve both effective spectral sensitization and sufficient control of color-remaining.

Silver halide photographic light-sensitive material


An impersonation detection system for a wireless node of a wireless communication network is described. The system comprises an intrusion detection module for correlating the original data frames transmitted by the wireless node with incoming data frames received over the air interface. The wireless node is connected to the intrusion detection module over a secure link, for receiving a copy of the original data frames. A method for detecting impersonation based attacks at a wireless node is also disclosed.

Wireless Networks have become more and more prevalent over the past few years as they appeal to the end users for the convenience they provide.
Security is an issue in this kind of network as the communication media used is shared. As a result, wireless networks are particularly vulnerable to attacks at the lowest levels of the communication protocols (first and second layer of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model). It is indeed very easy to tap or inject traffic into such a network.
Such attacks could be used to impersonate a wireless node in order to gain a fraudulent access to the network or, even more dangerous, to arbitrary create denial of services, or 'man in the middle' attacks by impersonating nodes that assume a special function in the network (i.e. an access point in an 802.11 network).
Traditional security systems and technologies such are firewall or IP Security (IPSec) tunnel fail to fully address those threats since they are not designed to address security threats at lower levels of the OSI model. Other mechanisms, such as address filtering performed by the wireless equipment, are useless in this environment where impersonating a valid address is so easy to do.
It is now well understood by the industry that solutions that monitor the wireless traffic to detect the above mentioned attacks bring security benefits. This explains the increasing appearance of Intrusion Detection System (IDS) in the wireless product space.
An IDS is an entity on a network that monitors a variety of system and network resources for anomalies to detect attempts to compromise the network. An IDS generally assesses if the monitored data satisfies the network rules and heuristics, mismatches indicating an attack in progress. The IDS will then advise the network user of the attack; more sophisticated IDS may launch automatic network defense counter-measures. Monitoring can take many forms and spans from low-level inspection of the data source and destination, to inspection of data packets content and monitoring the activity on a specific host.
These security services are especially important for wireless communication, due to the ease of tapping into wireless networks. In addition, since firewalls are employed on the user side of a wireless link, a message rejected by the firewall has already consumed the wireless resources required to transmit. The wireless links are supported by Radio Frequency (RF) channels, which are a scarce resource. Accordingly, messages rejected by the firewall tend to waste bandwidth which could be allocated to other connections, can drive up user cost by increasing message transmissions, and tend to slow overall throughput because of the resources required to transmit them over the wireless link.
A specificity of wireless networks is that they require IDS-like systems specific to the lower Media Access Control (MAC) layer management element (as defined by the seven-layer OSI model) while traditional IDS systems mainly focus on the third and higher layers of the OSI model.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2003/0135762 (Macaulay) entitled "Wireless Network Security System" and published Jul. 17, 2003, discloses an 802.11 security system for monitoring wireless networks for detecting and locating unauthorized or threatening IEEE 802.11 devices entering a user's wireless network environment or a facility not intended to support wireless networks. The security system comprises a network appliance subsystem, a portable computing subsystem and an interface between these two subsystems. The portable computing subsystem is a manually operated device, which searches for specific devices using a directional antenna and indicates when targeted (intruder) radio signals are found, and the signal strength. The network appliance subsystem is equipped with an analyzing module that looks for IEEE 802.11-specific attack patterns using real-time analysis, and contains configurations related to alert levels and security policy configurations. However, this solution relies on traffic monitoring to detect intrusion and requires duplication of all wireless interfaces used by a respective node.
In addition, existing wireless IDSs, such as the Guard product by AirDefense™, rely on a set of network probes and a specific server appliance. However, there is no correlation or consolidation between the wireless node and the IDS system.
Joshua Wight, in an article entitled "Detecting Wireless LAN MAC Address Spoofing", provides an in-depth analysis of the anomalies generated by tools that spoof MAC addresses. While knowledge of these anomalies enables an easier detection of the spoofed traffic generated by these tools, the analysis has some limitations. For example, it is based on anomalies generated by specific attack tools, which should not be considered as invariants. As well, most of the anomalies are present when random MAC addresses are used for attacks, which is not always the case.
In general, the prior art solutions rely only on wireless traffic monitoring in order to detect intrusions. Using such techniques, it is not possible to differentiate in a reliable way the legitimate traffic sent by a node (for instance the management or control frames) from the malicious traffic generated by an attacker node masquerading as the real node.
This inability to detect in a reliable way the occurrence of malicious traffic leaves wireless nodes susceptible to various types of attacks such as de-authentication, some Man in the Middle, denial of service, etc.

Mechanism for detection of attacks based on impersonation in a wireless network


The present invention relates to methods and devices for retrofitting fire hydrants with additional structure for reducing the potential that those with ill intent can foul municipal water supplies by introducing toxins or other materials into fire hydrants. Various embodiments include a seat and elongated member for efficient and cost effective installation and cooperation with valves, which close off portions of the hydrant otherwise available for receipt of toxic or other materials when the fire hydrant nozzle cap is unscrewed and open.

Conventional fire hydrants offer access to a municipal water supply in a manner in which operatives with ill intent may appreciate. Briefly, conventional fire hydrants include at least one nozzle for coupling to a fire hose. A threaded cap closes off the nozzle when the hydrant is not in use. The hydrant also includes a hydrant valve which controls flow of water from the water supply to and through the hydrant, through the nozzle, and into the fire hose.
Conventionally, the barrel of the hydrant between the nozzle and the hydrant valve, which is in the lower portion of the hydrant, accommodates several gallons of fluid. Accordingly, it is possible to unscrew a nozzle cap, introduce gallons of toxin, reattach the nozzle cap and open the hydrant valve to allow the toxins to communicate with and flow by gravity and perhaps at least to some extent by Bernoulli's principle, into the municipal water supply, since when the nozzle cap is attached, water pressure from the water supply would not force the toxins back out of the hydrant.
Accordingly, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/265,051, entitled "Fire Hydrant With Second Valve," which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/309,646, entitled "Fire Hydrant With Second Valve," the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by this reference, a seat is affixed to the interior cavity of the fire hydrant using an adhesive or mechanical means, a valve structure is introduced between the nozzle and the hydrant valve and cooperates with the seat to make it more difficult or impossible to introduce toxins to a water supply through a fire hydrant. The valve structure prevents or substantially prevents the flow of water through the valve and thus closes off portions of the hydrant barrel when a nozzle is open but the hydrant valve is closed. Generally, the valve structure comprises a secondary valve, a seat, and biasing structure.
Retrofitting fire hydrants with a secondary valves may be accomplished by removing the hydrant barrel, inserting the secondary valve and affixing the seat to the hydrant body with an adhesive or mechanical means, such as a screw. While this is an effective method for installing the secondary valve, another less expensive and more efficient method is needed to retrofit a fire hydrant with the secondary valve.

Retrofitting a fire hydrant with secondary valve


A buckle set, which fits onto a strap for adjusting the strap to a desired length, generally fits onto the strap attached to goggles of almost any application, such as swimming goggles, scuba mask, or dust and wind goggles. Specifically, a buckle set allows a strap to easily and quickly be adjusted to a desired length from its two ends.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a buckle set, in which a strap is inserted for length adjustment, and specifically to a buckle set that allows the strap to be adjusted to a desired length from its two ends.
II. Description of the Prior Art
The buckle that fits onto a strap is commonly used to adjust the strap to a desired length. Among various buckles, tri-glide or vertical flip are the most popular. With reference to FIG. 1, which shows a tri-glide buckle of the prior art, the tri-glide buckle 102 fits onto a strap 103 attached to a pair of swimming goggles 101. As shown in FIG. 1, the strap is inserted into two slots respectively formed on two sides of the sealing frame of swimming goggles 10, and two ends of the strap 103 are inserted into the holes 1021 formed on the tri-glide buckle 102 so that the strap can be adjusted to a desired length.
Accordingly, the tri-glide buckle 102 can be positioned on a strap so as to set the strap to a desired length, the strap easily comes off the tri-glide buckle 102 though. The strap 103 is made of rubber and has its two ends inserted in the tri-glide buckle 102. When its two ends are pulled for length adjustment, the strap rebounds because of the rebound property resulting from its elasticity and would consequently come off the tri-glide buckle 102


A gas detector comprising a sensor (100) configured to detect the oxygen content in the ambient air around the gas detector; a housing configured to seal around a portion of the sensor, creating a hermetically sealed interior of the housing while exposing at least a portion of the sensor on the exterior of the housing; and a pressure equalizing element (112, 114) located between the exposed portion of the sensor and the hermetically sealed interior of the housing, configured to allow pressure equalization of the sealed interior of the housing.

Electrochemical gas sensors generally comprise electrodes in contact with an electrolyte for detecting a gas concentration. The electrodes are electrically coupled to an external circuit though lead wires that are coupled to connector pins. When a gas contacts the electrolyte and the electrodes, a reaction can occur that can create a potential difference between the electrodes or cause a current to flow between the electrodes. The resulting signal can be correlated with a gas concentration in the environment.
In some instances, the sensors can be used to detect a concentration of oxygen in an environment adjacent to the sensor over a range of environmental conditions. Electrochemical sensors such as oxygen sensors can experience a number of issues during operation, due to changes in pressure, temperature, gas content within the sensor.


A method and apparatus for decoding a coded data stream of bits using an inner decoder, deinterleaver and an outer decoder. The outer decoder first decodes by error correction decoding for r errors per word. The decoding is terminated and a decoded word is outputted if the syndromes of the corrected word of the first decoding are all zeros. If the syndromes of the corrected word of the first decoding are not all zeros, a second decoding is performed by error decoding and erasure for the number of errors reduced by one and the number of erasures increased to two. The decoding is terminated and a decoded word is outputted if the syndromes of the corrected word of the second decoding are all zeros. If the syndromes of the corrected word of the second decoding are not all zeros, the second decoding by correcting and erasure decoding is repeated for the number of errors reduced by one and the number of erasures increased by two for each iteration of the second decoding.

The present disclosure relates generally to polynomial-generated error-correcting encoding and decoding and, more specifically, to Reed-Solomon (RS) error detection and correction techniques for example concatenated convolutional RS decoding.
Reed-Solomon coding and decoding schemes are used in many communication systems, such as satellites, modems, audio compact discs and wireless telephones. Each communication system has a different set of values for the parameters which define the Reed-Solomon code. Reed-Solomon encoders/decoders use Galois Field (GF) arithmetic to map blocks of communication into larger blocks.
As implemented in hardware, the Reed-Solomon encoder/decoder requires a substantial number of logic gates and other hardware. Many efforts have been directed to reducing the amount of hardware by, for example, parallel processing and reducing the arithmetic representation of the processes. Reed-Solomon decoders, specific to various communication systems, have been implemented in dedicated hardware blocks because of the computational complexity and low power requirements. See, for example, R. E. Blahut's "Theory and practice of error control codes," Addison-Wesley, 1984; and S. B. Wicker's "Error control systems for digital communication and storage," Prentice Hall, Inc., 1995.
One example of an error correction device for a communications system using the Reed-Solomon code is U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,149. The error correction device is provided with an internal code decoder which outputs a series of decoded data and reliability information of the decoded data, a CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) decoder, a de-interleaver, an erasure position detector, and an external code decoder for decoding an external code by soft judgment. When the external code is decoded by the soft judgment, not only the series of decoded data of the internal code and their reliability information, but also the frame error information based on CRC are used as input signals. In example described in the patent, one symbol in the Reed-Solomon code is constituted by 8-bits and therefore the Galois field is 256. After CRC decoding, the erasure position detector determines if 8-bits have been erased in 40 symbols. If so, it controls the external code decoder so as to correct the erasure of the 8 symbols. If no frame error is detected by the CRC decoder, the erasure position detector controls the external decoder to perform 4 symbol error correction. Thus, the system either performs corrections of the erasures for 8 symbols or performs 4 symbol error correction based on the results of the CRC decoder.
A similar system for coding and decoding symbols using CRC check bit of a Reed-Solomon code is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,919. The decoding apparatus includes error detection using the CRC check bits performed after decoding of the inner decode. After symbol deinterleaving is performed, decoding of the outer code by erasure decoding or error detection is performed depending upon the number of symbols included in a frame in which an error has been detected. If the number of symbols in a frame after deinterleaving in which errors have been detected is not larger than the number of symbols which can be corrected by the erasure decoding, the decoding of the outer code is done by erasure decoding. If the number of symbols in the frame after deinterleaving which have detected errors is larger than the number of symbols which can be corrected by the erasure decoding, than the outer code is decoded by error correction. As in the previous patent, this is a system that performs either erasure decoding or error correction decoding.
The present system is a method and apparatus for decoding an encoded data stream of bits using an inner decoder, deinterleaver and an outer decoder. The outer decoder first decodes by error correction decoding for r errors per word. The decoding is terminated and a decoded word is outputted if the syndromes of the corrected word of the first decoding are all zeros. If the syndromes of the corrected word of the first decoding are not all zeros, a second decoding is performed by error correcting and erasure decoding for the number of errors r reduced by one and the number of erasures increased by two. The decoding is terminated and a decoded word is outputted if the syndromes of the corrected word of the second decoding are all zeros. If the syndromes of the corrected word of the second decoding are not all zeros, the second decoding by error correcting and erasure decoding is repeated for the number of errors reduced by one and the number of erasures increased by two for each iteration of the second decoding.
Also, a method and apparatus of decoding includes an inner coder, a deinterleaver and an outer decoder wherein the outer decoder first decodes by error correction for r error per word. The decoding is terminated and a decoded word is outputted if the syndromes of the corrected word of the first decoding are all zeros. If the syndromes of the corrected word of the first decoding are not all zeros, the error r is reduced by one and the number of erasures is increased by two. An error locator polynomial is derived and the degree of the error located polynomial is compared to the decreased number of errors if the syndromes of the corrected word of the first decoding are not all zeros. If the degree of the error locator is greater than the decreased number of errors, the number of errors are decreased by one and the number of erasures are increased by two and the deriving and comparing steps are repeated. If the degree of the error locator is equal to or less than the decreased number of errors, the second decoding by error correcting and erasure decoding is performed.
These and other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of the disclosure, when considered in conjunction with accompanying drawings.

Iterative concatenated convolutional Reed-Solomon decoding method


Provided is a leak testing method of a workpiece including spaces which are three partitioned void portions, the leak testing method being capable of separately learning an amount of leakage from each of the spaces, and precisely determining whether the workpiece is normal or defective. The leak testing method includes steps of obtaining total leakage amounts, and a step of calculating, based on the obtained total leakage amounts, a first leakage amount, a second leakage amount, a third leakage amount, a fourth leakage amount, a fifth leakage amount and a sixth leakage amount which are amounts of leakage from respective routes when gas is injected to a workpiece at a predetermined pressure.

For example, a cylinder block constituting an engine has a space (hereinafter referred to as "a first space") consisting of a crankcase in which a crankshaft is stored, cylinder bores and the like, a space (hereinafter referred to as "a second space") through which cooling water flows, and a space (hereinafter referred to as "a third space") through which engine oil flows.
In order to secure an engine function, a fluid flowing through each of these spaces formed in the cylinder block should not leak (causes leakage) to the other spaces.
However, if a cylinder block has a defect such as a blow hole, the blow hole forms a route which connects the spaces and therefore leakage may occur between the spaces and the outside.
Conventionally, a workpiece such as, typically, a cylinder block or a cylinder head including three partitioned void portions is inspected whether or not leakage occurs in the first to third spaces (i.e., a leak test is conducted), and then is supplied to a next process.
Moreover, various techniques of precisely conducting such a leak test are studied. For example, such a technique is disclosed in JP 2000-121485 A, and is publicly known.
The conventional technique disclosed in JP 2000-121485 A is configured to conduct a leak test of a workpiece including spaces of a plurality of systems (e.g., three systems), the leak test including calculating an alternative characteristic value of a flow path resistance based on a change in a flow rate and a change in a pressure in charging pressure, and evaluating this alternative characteristic value to determine whether leakage occurs or not.


An embroidery machine includes a base and an arm connected to an upright column post on the base. A needle bar is movably connected to the arm and a needle frame is connected to a distal end of the needle bar. A needle unit is connected to the needle frame and removably extends through the holes in a needle plate on a top of the base. An alignment device is connected between the needle bar and the needle frame so that the needle frame can be connected to the needle bar by a guidance of the alignment device.

A conventional way to make an embroidery badge employs a sewing machine to embroider a pattern on a base fabric and this is a time consuming task. Some manufacturers develop another convenient way to attach small pieces of fabrics with different colors on the base fabric. However, it needs chemical adherents to glue the small pieces of fabrics to the base fabric and takes time to dry the adherents. The small pieces of fabrics could be peeled off from the base fabric after a period of time.
The present invention intends to provide a needle assembly for an embroidery machine wherein the needle unit can be quickly and easily installed to the needle bar. A protection device is located beneath the needle plate to prevent users' fingers from entering the space beneath the needle plate.


Improved oral dosage formulations for acid-labile dideoxy purine nucleoside derivatives such as ddA, ddI, and ddG, have been developed by incorporating selected water-insoluble buffering systems in the formulation. These novel formulations provide reduced mass dosage units in the form of convenient, palatable chewable/dispersible tablets or a dry powder sachet. The reduced mass requirement, necessary to allow tablets of reasonable size, was achieved in part by an unexpected 20 to 25% increase in drug bioavailability resulting from use of the selected buffering systems comprised of an insoluble magnesium antacid agent and either dihydroxyaluminum sodium carbonate or calcium carbonate.

This invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions which provide convenient, palatable oral dosage formulations for the acid-labile dideoxy purine nucleosides such as 2',3'-dideoxyadinosine, 2'3'-dideoxyinosine, and 2',3'-dideoxyguanosine. More specifically, it relates to inclusion of specific antacid buffers which confer special advantages such as increased bioavailability, lower variability in bioavailability between patients, greater convenience, lessened potential for gastrointestinal distress, and higher patient acceptability.
Compositions containing 2',3'-dideoxyadenosine (ddA), 2'3'-dideoxyinosine (ddI), and 2'3'-dideoxyguanosine (ddG), and their triphosphates for treating retroviral infections have been disclosed. Mitsuya, et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,759 disclose the oral administration of these dideoxy purine nucleosides in the form of liquids or tablets containing antacid buffering agents so that the pH of the resultant composition is in the neutral (pH 6-pH 8) range. Specifically exemplified and claimed is an oral gavage formulation containing 0.1N acetate buffer with a pH of 6.8 to 7.2. Enteric coating of the tablets is also disclosed as an option.
The acid lability of the 2',3'-dideoxypurine nucleosides is well-known in the art and for that reason their oral administration typically requires administration on an empty stomach after ingestion of antacids. Prevention of acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of parent drug is important for these agents because their potent antiviral activity is lost in their hydrolysis by-products. Approaches to improving the acid stability of these acid-labile nucleoside derivatives have involved enteric-coated formulations, inclusion of a buffer in the pharmaceutical dosage form, and neutralization of the gastrointestinal tract just before drug ingestion by pretreatment with commercial antacids such as Maalox.RTM. or Mylanta.RTM.. Studies reported by McGowan, et al. in Reviews of Infectious Diseases, Vol. 12, Supp. 5, 5513-521 (1990) indicated that for ddI a superior approach for oral administration involves formulation of the drug at selected dose levels in combination with a fixed amount of citrate-phosphate buffer as a powder mixture. This dry mixture is enclosed in foil to provide a sachet (the "CP sachet") that must be mixed and diluted with liquid before oral ingestion.
Formulation approaches involving enteric coatings were not promising. Enteric coatings tended to reduce the nucleoside drug's bioavailability and depress peak plasma levels. High peak plasma levels of active drug are an important requirement for its clinical antiviral activity. Enteric coated formulations also were especially susceptible to a meal effect, further reducing bioavailability.
The citrate-phosphate buffered ddI formulations, which allow oral dosing, were preferred clinically for long-term therapy over the earlier available lyophilized dosage form of the drug which requires reconstitution prior to intravenous administration. These oral powder formulations for reconstitution consist of varying ddI levels combined with the same amount of buffering ingredients (about 10 g per day) regardless of final drug dose strength. All dose strength formulations thus have the same acid neutralization capacity. However, the powder blend sachets are bulky (about 20 g/dose) and inconvenient - their use causes some patient inconvenience. Reconstitution is always required prior to administration and results in a large volume of constituted solution (due to 20 g of solute) to be ingested. This salty solution can cause diarrhea and the required ingestion of about 10 g per day of soluble antacid buffers may result in systemic alkalosis when administered on a long-term basis as required, for example, in treating HIV infections.
A comparison of available oral formulations of ddI was recently reported (Hartman, et al., "Pharmacokinetics of 2',3'-dideoxyinosine in patients with severe human immunodeficiency infection. II. The effects of different oral formulations and the presence of other medications," Cli. Pharmacol. Ther., 1991; 50:278-85). With the maximum bioavailability of any buffered preparation being reported as.ltoreq.40%, the reference concludes that "an optimal preparation remains to be found." Of existing formulations, the "CP sachet" appeared to be the best oral preparation although its use caused reported diarrhea and/or hypokalemia in some patients.
It was an object of the present invention to provide pharmaceutical compositions for these acid-labile nucleoside derivatives which would allow convenient oral administration of reduced mass dosage formulations such as tablets which could be chewed and swallowed or readily dispersed in liquid for ingestion. Such a composition would also allow formulation of reduced mass sachet dosage forms.
Another objective was to find a combination of antacid buffers effective in preventing acid hydrolysis of the nucleosidic agent but whose effect on diarrhea and/or electrolyte and pH imbalances would be minimized.
A further object of the invention was to provide a pleasant tasting composition with high levels of patient acceptance and tolerability. A key to realization of these objects was in providing in a reduced mass form the same amount of bioavailable drug delivered by the bulky dry powder blend provided in the citrate-phosphate buffer sachets. Surprisingly, improved buffer systems comprising certain water-insoluble aluminum or calcium carbonates in combination with water-insoluble magnesium antacids were found to increase drug bioavailability by about 20 to 25%. Addition of reduced amounts of compatible sweetening and flavoring agents for incorporation into the improved drug-buffer composition also contributed to achieving the objects of the invention.

Oral dosing formulations of dideoxy purine nucleosides


A universal multi-orientation bracket design for attaching solenoids to a housing of a hydraulically actuated variable valve system. The bracket having at least two sidewalls, an upper cross member, a cupped lower surface and at least one mounting flange. The cupped lower surface is shaped to insert a solenoid main body and gaps included in the side walls for a protruding solenoid connector.

Variable valve hydraulically actuated valve systems are known in the art. An example system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,400, wherein a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine has two intake valves for each cylinder which can be uncoupled from the respective tappets by drawing fluid under pressure out of a chamber interposed between each tappet and the respective valve. The system is a fully variable hydraulic valve control module utilizing individual solenoid valves. U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,400 is incorporated by reference as though fully set forth herein.
In hydraulically actuated valve systems, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,136, the solenoid valves are assembled to the external surface of the housing of the system using a cold forming attachment process, such as swaging or clinching. As such cold forming attachment is used, restrictions on type of material that would accommodate for cold forming are needed. Orientation of the solenoid oil galleries within the actuator housing are essential to the proper functioning of the system, as such, precise positioning of the solenoid valves is required during the attachment process. Once installed, the solenoid valves are not removable or replaceable, therefore, in the event of a solenoid failure during assembly or in operation, the entire actuator would need to be replaced.


A method and device for processing a transaction based on user interaction is disclosed. The method includes providing a plurality of article icons associated with a plurality of articles. At least one icon attribute of the plurality of article icons is indicative of real-time quantity associated with the plurality of articles. The method further includes receiving a first user interaction with an article icon and, in response, displaying at least one order icon representing at least one supplier for the article. The method includes receiving a second user interaction with an order icon and, in response, establishing a communication channel between the user and a supplier associated with the order icon in response to the second user interaction with the order icon. The communication channel enables at least one of the user and the supplier to dynamically modify at least one article attribute related to the article.

Most small stores, such as mom and pop stores, stock small quantities of multiple products that are of different brands and package sizes. These stores order products from multiple suppliers or distributors, who may be located at varying distances from these stores and may offer competing product offers or promotions. Owing to small customer base that is limited to nearby locales, these small stores do not stock products in abundance in order to avoid damage or expiry of products because of insufficient and archaic storage means. At the same time, lack of availability of one or more products at these stores has an adverse impact on retention of loyal customer base.
Conventionally, these stores are heavily dependent on sales person of these suppliers or distributors to replenish their inventory and to inform these stores about promotional offers provided by the suppliers or distributors. However, due to inadvertent human error, the sales person may at times forget to inform these store owners regarding the promotional offers or the store owners themselves may forget to avail such offers in time.
There is therefore a need for a method and device to efficiently manage product inventory for such small stores.

Method and device for processing user interaction based transactions


A method and apparatus for correlating outputs of a plurality of environmental sensor signals to determine a situation. The method includes the steps of dividing a coherent light beam across a diameter of the light beam into a plurality of information transmission zones and modulating a portion of the light beam within at least some of the information transmission zones with a corresponding number of signals of the plurality of environmental sensor signals. The method further includes the steps of deflecting the modulated light beams of the at least some information transmission zones within a holographic memory to provide at least some correlated outputs among the plurality of environmental sensor signals and determining the situation based upon the at least some correlated outputs of the holographic memory.

Global position systems, such as the American GPS and Russian GLONASS, are known. The NAVSTAR GPS developed by the U.S. Defense Department is a satellite-based radio navigation system which transmits information from which extremely accurate navigational calculations can be made in three-dimensional space anywhere on or near the Earth. Three-dimensional velocity can be determined with equal precision. The GPS uses 24 satellites dispersed in six, inclined, 12 hour circular orbits chosen to insure continuous 24 hour coverage world-wide. Each satellite uses extremely accurate cesium and rubidium vapor atomic clocks for generating a time base. Each satellite is provided with clock correction and orbit information by Earth-based monitoring stations.
Each satellite transmits a pair of L-band signals. The pair of signals includes an L1 signal at a frequency of 1575.42 MHZ and an L2 signal at a frequency of 1227.6 MHZ. The L1 and L2 signals are bi-phase modulated by pseudo-random noise (PRN) codes and an information signal (i.e., navigation data) encoded at 50 Hz. The PRN codes facilitate multiple access through the use of a different PRN code by each satellite.
Upon detecting and synchronizing with a PRN code, a receiver decodes the PRN signal to recover the navigation data, including ephemeris data. The ephemeris data is used with a set of Kepler to precisely determine the location of each satellite.
The receiver measures a phase difference of time of arrival of signals from at least four satellites. The phase differences are used to solve a matrix of four equations. The result is a precise determination of location of the receiver in three-dimensional space.
Velocity of the receiver may be determined by a precise measurement of the L1 and L2 frequencies. The measured differences are used to solve another set of equations to determine velocity based upon the Doppler phase shift of the received signal.
While the GPS performs relatively well, there are still situations where receivers cannot adequately detect satellite signals. For instance, where a receiver is located in deep valleys, between buildings in a city or in the presence of interference, a receiver cannot detect a sufficient number of satellite signals to accurately determine position. Further, during severe weather (e.g., during electrical or heavy rain storms), GPS signals may be so severely attenuated as to be undetectable. Accordingly, a need exists for a means for integrating GPS positioning with other, more conventional, positioning techniques and for means for selecting a reliable position solution from among those techniques.

Navigation system using hybrid sensor correlation system


The present invention provides a protein having a β1,3-galactosyltransferase activity derived from a microorganism; a DNA encoding the protein; a recombinant DNA containing the DNA and a vector; a transformant obtained by introducing the recombinant DNA into a host cell; a method for producing a protein having a β1,3-galactosyltransferase activity using the transformant; and a method for producing a galactose-containing carbohydrate using the transformant.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protein having a β1,3-galactosyltransferase activity, a DNA encoding the protein, a recombinant DNA containing the DNA, a transformant containing the recombinant DNA, a method for producing a protein having a β1,3-galactosyltransferase activity using the transformant, and a method for producing a galactose-containing carbohydrate using the transformant.
2. Background Art
Regarding β1,3-galactosyltransferase genes, the genes derived from higher animal (J. Biol. Chem., 273: 58 (1998), J. Biol. Chem., 273: 12770 (1998), J. Biol. Chem., 274: 12499 (1999)) have been obtained. However, since it is generally difficult to express the genes derived from higher-animal as active proteins in microorganisms, a β1,3-galactosyltransferase gene derived from higher-animal has not been expressed as an active protein in a microorganism such as Escherichia coli or the like.
On the other hand, in microorganisms, there is a report stating that a β1,3-galadtosyltransferase gene was obtained from Campylobacter jejuni and the gene was expressed in Escherichia Coli. However, although this enzyme has an activity of transferring galactose to N-acetylgalactosamine, there is no report about the activity of transferring galactose to N-acetylglucosamine (J. Biol. Chem., 275: 3896 (2000)).
Human milk abundantly contains galactose-containing carbohydrates, lacto-N-tetraose being one of the main components (Acta Paediatr., 82: 903 (1993), J. Pediatr. Gastroenterol. Nutr., 30: 181 (2000)). Since it is known that lacto-N-tetraose and lacto-N-neotetraose, which are the galactose-containing carbohydrates, are recognized by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Infect. Immun., 59: 700 (1991)), the galactose-containing carbohydrates are considered to be strong candidates for safe antiinfection drugs which can prevent human body from infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Regarding production of a galactose-containing carbohydrate such as lacto-N-tetraose or the like, both the methods of extraction from human milk and chemical synthesis are known but such methods have problems in terms of cost and productivity, so that its industrial production method has not yet been established.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

β1,3-galactosyltransferase and DNA encoding the same


An example dielectric information apparatus is provided with a plurality of electrodes for recording information in a small area of a dielectric substance and an earthed electrode. The electrodes are placed such that the dielectric substance is sandwiched therebetween. The dielectric information apparatus reads out the information recorded in the small area of a dielectric thin film by applying alternating current signals to the first electrodes. The polarization direction of the small area and the direction of an applied electric field decide the dielectric constant of the small area, and the oscillation frequency of an oscillator is determined by a capacitance Cs corresponding to the dielectric constant. An oscillation signal of the oscillator is demodulated at an FM demodulator, and the information is detected from the demodulated signal at a signal detector. When recording, record signals are applied to the first electrodes, and the polarization direction is set to correspond to the record signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dielectric information apparatus such as a recording apparatus for recording information in a small area of a dielectric substance, a reproducing apparatus for reproducing information recorded in a small area of a dielectric substance, and a recording/reproducing apparatus for recording information in and reproducing it from a small area of a dielectric substance.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, many kinds of ferroelectric materials and piezoelectric materials have been developed and used for a supersonic, an optical device and a memory and the like. In association with it, a development of methods of measuring a residual polarization distribution of the ferroelectric material and a local anisotropy of the piezoelectric material has been advanced. With regard to the development in this field, the inventors of this application have developed a scanning nonlinear dielectric microscopy (SNDM) as a technique for a purely electrical detection of a polarization distribution of a material and a local anisotropy without any disturbance of a shield effect caused by free charges disposed on a surface.
The SNDM is the technique for detecting the condition of the polarization and the local anisotropy from a distribution measurement of a nonlinear dielectric constant of a material. As the technique of the SNDM, the development has been successively advanced such as a distribution constant type probe using a coaxial resonator and a small concentrated constant type probe using an LC resonator. The resolution of detection reaches a nano-meter order and further reaches a sub-nano-meter order. Moreover, quantitative measurement of linear/non-linear dielectric constant distributions has been able to be realized.
In this way, according to the SNDM, nondestructive measurement can be performed on the polarization distribution of a dielectric substance in an extremely small area. On the other hand, according to the SNDM, the polarization can be controlled by applying a predetermined electric field. Thus, the SNDM is an advantageous technique to attain the super high density dielectric recording/reproducing operation.
In order to attain the super high density dielectric recording/reproducing operation, SNDM is developed which is further small and suitable for the usage as the recording/reproducing apparatus. In this SNDM, a first electrode is formed on the rear surface of a dielectric record medium side, a second electrode serving as a probe is formed so as to be brought into contact with the small area of the dielectric substance (or brought into contact through small gap), and the plus or minus of a polarization of a small area recorded on a medium is read out by applying a low frequency alternating electric field for measurement between the first electrode and the second electrode from the first electrode. At this time, the second electrode is configured to be connected to a ground.
On the other hand, in order to attain the operation for recording/reproducing information at a high speed by using the SNDM, it is effective to use a plurality of probes and carry out the recording or reproducing by using them at the same time. However, in the conventional configuration, a plurality of resonators are required correspondingly to the number of the probes. As each resonator is relatively large in size, It is difficult to miniaturize the apparatus while integrating the plurality of large resonators. This is the factor that causes the miniaturization of the apparatus to be disturbed.

Dielectric information apparatus, tape-like medium recording/reproducing apparatus and disc-like medium recording/reproducing apparatus


Methods and apparatuses for controlling synchronous start-up of power converters arranged in parallel in droop load share switched-mode power supplies are described. In one embodiment, a method may be performed by circuitry in a DC-DC power converter. The DC-DC power converter includes an inverting switch that converts input DC power to intermediate AC power, a transformer coupled to the inverting switch to receive the intermediate AC power and provide stepped-down AC power, and a synchronous rectifier coupled to the transformer to convert the stepped-down AC power to output DC power. The method comprises detecting that the inverting switch is not switching during start-up of the DC-DC power converter, and increasing a reference voltage set point of the DC-DC power converter in response to detecting that the inverting switch is not switching to force the inverting switch to start switching.

Switched-mode power supplies (SMPSs) are used in a variety applications to supply power and power conversion, (e.g., AC to DC conversion or DC to DC conversion) and have various advantages over other types of power supplies. For example, SMPSs are generally smaller, lighter, more efficient, and have more flexibility than linear regulated power supplies, all else being equal. In certain applications a high output current is needed and a plurality of SMPSs, or more accurately a plurality of the DC-DC power converter portions of a plurality of SMPSs, are arranged in parallel to share the high current load. Such an arrangement is referred to as a paralleled droop load share SMPS unit, or simply a droop load share SMPS.
The power converter of a typical SMPS includes an inverting switch that receives high DC input power and converts the high DC input power to intermediate AC power, a transformer that steps the high AC power down to a low (i.e., stepped-down) AC power, and a synchronous rectifier that converts the stepped-down AC power to low DC output power. The high DC input power may be produced by any DC voltage source, e.g., a rectifier that receives AC power from a mains electricity power supply or a DC voltage battery.
When starting up the power converter of an SMPS, switching of the synchronous rectifier is often started as early as possible. However, in some applications a start-up sequence of cycle includes two phases or modes—a ramp-up mode (i.e., diode mode) in which the synchronous rectifier's switches are off, followed by a ramp-in mode in which the synchronous rectifier is active and switching. The ramp-in mode is entered after the output voltage of the power converter has reached a nominal threshold value.
Typically the paralleled power converters in a droop load share SMPS are started up in the same way as when the power converters are not intended to be connected in parallel, i.e., as described above. However, not all power converters have the same start-up time. A power converter that starts slowly can experience current flowing into its output terminal, i.e., reverse currents, when arranged in parallel with an SMPS that starts more quickly. The reverse currents can result in body diode conduction in MOSFETs used in the inverting switch, avalanche breakdown in MOSFETs used in the synchronous rectifier, as well as overuse of snubbers. Eventually such stress on the components can result in failure of the power converter or, alternatively, a higher cost for the power converter due to the use of more expensive components with better performance that can withstand such stresses. Moreover, during the ramp-up mode of the start-up cycle (i.e., when the synchronous rectifier is in diode mode), the difference in start-up times between power converters can result in that only one of the paralleled power converters starts up and the others do not start until the load on the output has increased. In effect, a high output voltage of a quick-starting power converter causes the control circuitry of the slow-starting power converter to misread the slow-starting power converter's output voltage as being higher than it actually is and therefore the control circuitry may prematurely pause the slow-starting power converter's start-up cycle. This situation can result in interruptions or dips in the output voltage of the paralleled power converters when the load changes fast. Also it can result in high reverse currents for longer amounts of time during the ramp-in mode of the synchronous rectification with the attendant stress on the power converter components.

Synchronous start-up of parallel power converters in a switched-mode power supply


Mice homozygous for the lack of inward-rectifying potassium channel Kir6.1 gene are disclosed. The mice causes a high incidence of sudden death associated with arrhythmia (atrioventricular block) caused by spontaneous cardiac ischemia, a condition similar to Prinzmetal angina (variant angina) in human, representing an animal model of Prinzmetal angina. Mice heterozygous for the lack of inward-rectifying potassium channel Kir6.1 gene are also disclosed, which are used as parent mice for reproduction of the homozygous mice.

Inward-rectifying potassium channels (Kir) are playing a number of physiologically important roles (1). Based on their mutual sequence similarity, the Kir family is currently divided into seven subfamilies, Kir1.x–Kir7.x (1–3, 27). Unlike the other members of the Kir family, the members of Kir6.x subfamily, including Kir6.1 and Kir6.2, are unique in that they cannot form functional K+ channels by themselves on the surface of cell membranes and that they require a regulatory SUR subunit) (4–6), which is the receptor for sulfonylurea compounds widely used for the treatment of Type II diabetes mellitus (noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus). The sulfonylurea receptor has two isoforms, SUR1 and SUR2 (7), derived from two different genes (7). In addition, there are several splicing variants of SUR2, among which major ones are SUR2A (7) and SUR2B (8). Co-expression of Kir6.2 subunit with SUR1, SUR2A or SUR2B or one of other SUR2 variant subunits produces KATP channel currents with distinct nucleotide and pharmacological sensitivities in heterologous expression systems (4–6). The Kir6.2 subunit and the SUR1 subunit constitute the KATP channel in pancreatic β-cells (9) and in the glucose-responsive neurons (GRNs) in ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) (10). The Kir6.2 subunit and the SUR2A subunit constitute KATP channels in cardiomyocytes and probably also in skeletal muscle cells (7). The Kir6.1 subunit and the SUR2B subunit constitute KATP channels in non-vascular smooth muscles (8). Studies of Kir6.2 knockout mice have clarified a variety of physiological roles of Kir6.2-containing KATP channels. For example, the Kir6.2/SUR1 channels in pancreatic β-cells are critical in both glucose-induced and sulfonylurea insulin secretion (11), while in VMH, Kir 6.2/SUR1 channels are involved in glucagon secretion during hypoglycemia (10) through autonomic neurons. Studies of SUR1 knockout mice confirm the importance of Kir6.2/SUR1 channels in insulin secretion (12). Kir6.2/SUR2A channels mediate the depression of cardiac excitability and contractility induced by K+ channel openers (KCOs) (13), and contribute in part to ischemic preconditioning (14). In addition, in studies of SUR2 knockout mice, Kir6.2-containing KATP channels in skeletal muscle have been shown to be involved in glucose uptake (15). While Kir6.1 subunits and SUR1 (16, 17), SUR2A (18), or SUR2B (19–21) subunits have been shown to generate K+-channel currents with different electrophysiological and pharmacological properties, the actual combinations of Kir6.1 and SUR subunits naturally occurring in tissues, as well as their physiological roles, have not been determined.
Kir6.1 (its amino acid sequence is set forth as SEQ ID NO:1) shares 63.7% amino acid identity with its isoform Kir6.2. In addition, while inward-rectifier K+ channels generally have the Gly-Tyr-Gly motif in their ion permeable region (H5), both Kir6.1 and Kir6.2 have the Gly-Phe-Gly motif in the region (6). Thus, Kir6.1 and Kir6.2 are structurally very similar. While the electrophysiological and pharmacological properties of Kir6.2-containing K+ channels have been well characterized in reconstituted systems (7–9) and native cells (10, 11, 13), those of Kir6.1-containing K+ channels are not fully understood. Co-expression of Kir6.1 and SUR1 in HEK293 cells produces tolbutamide-sensitive K+ channel currents (16), and co-expression of Kir6.1 and SUR2A in COS7 cells produces currents that are responsive to very high concentrations of UDP (18). Their physiological significance, however, is not known. Co-expression of Kir6.1 and SUR2B, which is a splice variant of SUR2A in HEK293T cells, produces a K+ current which is insensitive to ATP, activated by nucleoside diphosphates such as UDP, and inhibited by sulfonylurea glibenclamide (19). These properties are similar with those of KNDP channels in native vascular smooth muscle (28). The KNDP channel in vascular smooth muscle was originally called the smooth muscle KATP channel as it is closed by glibenclamide (29), a KATP channel blocker, but it has become designated as KNDP channel because of its insensitivity to ATP (28). Since the KNDP channels are opened by K+ channel openers having vasodilating effects, such as cromakalim and pinacidil, the channels are thought to be involved in the vasodilatation response of vascular smooth muscles. However, it is unknown whether Kir6.1 is a component of the KNDP channels in native vascular smooth muscle.
On the other hand, there is a type of human angina pectoris called Prinzmetal angina (also called variant angina or vasospastic angina), which is accompanied by a reversible, tentative of ST elevation during angina attacks in the resting state. Attacks of Prinzmetal angina occurs in the resting state, especially from the night to early morning while one is sleeping. It is characterized by ST segment elevation on electrocardiogram upon attack with a lead which generally should record lowered ST segment in a typical angina pectoris, and it often shows arrhythmia such as ventricular extrasystole, atrioventricular block, ventricular fibrillation, etc. The attack is considered to be caused by sharp decrease of the coronary blood flow due to a spasm of a thick coronary artery.

Mice lacking inward-rectifying potassium channel Kir6.1


An acoustic transducer is formed by a rigid substrate and a strip of a laminated sheet material including an intermediate layer of a ferroelectrical material sandwiched between inner and outer layers of a conductive material. Two lines of conductive epoxy supply an AC signal across the full height of the inner and outer layers. The ferroelectric layer is preferably a piezoelectric plastic such as PVDF with a preferred direction of displacement oriented laterally across the strip. The strip is preferably secured in a groove in the substrate by a cement having acoustical properties closely matching those of the strip and the substrate. The strip is curved in a parabola by its own tension. The strip is sufficiently stiff to be self supporting without the use of a foam or rubber backing layer. The conductive layers are preferably each a layer of copper overlayed with a layer of nickel. The substrate preferably includes a sound chamber mounted on its back side opposite the strip and has a set of holes to transfer sound energy to the chamber. The material forming the substrates has a speed of sound closely matching that of the strip, but preferably slightly less. The substrate material is also lossy to dampen the acoustical energy.

This invention relates in general to acoustic transducers and more specifically to a high quality speaker where the diaphragm is its own driver.
Conventional speakers for radios, televisions, musical performances, and home hi-fidelity sound systems typically use a cone diaphragm of a flexible sheet material driven at its apex by an electromagnetic coil or a crystal. By selecting the size, shape, material, and mounting of the diaphragm it is possible to tailor the performance of the speaker within wide ranges of performance standards and costs. However, to obtain high quality acoustical performance it is necessary to use materials and techniques that are associated with a high cost. High quality speakers are usually characterized by a low input impedance, large driving currents, and sensitivity to temperature and humidity variations. For example, very light diaphragms are best for high frequency response, but they are difficult to mount and they are sensitive to atmospherics. At the lower performance end, such as conventional automobile and household radio speakers, reduced cost and ruggedness of design are emphasized at the expense of acoustical performance.
Recognizing the limitations of the diaphragm and magnetic drive approach, attempts have been made to drive a diaphragm with piezoelectric crystals. The Motorola company, for example, manufactures a ceramic tweeter formed of barium titinate. Such crystals are also used in microphones and ultrasonic humidifiers.
It is also known to use sheets of a ferroelectric material as a transducer where an applied electrical signal produces a displacement of the ferroelectric material that in turn produces sound waves in the surrounding air, or vice versa. Polyvinyledieneflouride (PVDF) is a dense plastic that exhibits a piezoelectric effect. It is also known to metallize sheets of such a material that have been stretched (in one or more directions), charged (e.g. at 5 KV), and then cooled. The materials, when cooled and shrunk, retains a charge. It expands in the stretched direction in response to an applied positive voltage and contracts in response to an applied negative voltage, also in the stretched direction. Metalized sheets of such ferroelectric materials have been used by Syrix Innovation of Straham, England in contact microphones. Small, dime sized pieces of such a material have been used in ultrasonic humidifiers. Sheets of the material have been used on the hulls of boats to vibrate off material clinging to the hull.
In speaker applications, there have been attempts to use ferroelectric sheets. Heretofore, when the ferroelectric material is used, a foam or resilient backing has been employed to provide structural rigidity. It may also be edge-mounted in a plastic frame. While the frame supports the sheet, it also impedes its movement in response to the applied signal. Also herefore the sheet material has been used with a cylindrical curvature.
Some specific examples of prior attempts to use ferroelectrics include a cylindrical speaker manufactured by Pioneer Electronics. It uses a layer of PVDF laminated on a metal plate. The speaker of this design burned out. With a foam backing it was possible to reach the top two octaves, but the construction would rattle at a low resonant frequency. A novelty item was produced by Pennwalt, a "talking balloon" formed by bonding a metalized PVDF composite onto a rubber backing in the form of a balloon. This construction, however, is not capable of sound reproduction of a quality suitable for ordinary radios, let alone high quality sound systems.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a ferroelectric acoustic transducer which uses no magnetic or ceramic driver, exhibits excellent sound quality and is easily driven with no danger of burn out.
Another principal object of this invention is to provide a transducer with the foregoing advantages which has a low cost of manufacture.
A further object of this invention is to provide a transducer with the foregoing advantages which has a low input impedence and low power requirements.
A still further object is to provide a speaker with the foregoing advantages that exhibits a substantially flat response over a broad frequency band normally associated with high quality acoustical speakers.
Yet another object is to provide a transducer with the foregoing advantages that is stable, particularly in response to variations in atmospherics such as temperature and humidity.
Another object of the present invention is to produce a cylindrical sound wave output using essentially a line source.
Still another significant object of the invention is to provide all of the foregoing advantages with a high degree of safety and with a high level of ruggedness.
A further object is to provide a loudspeaker with all of the foregoing advantages that is physically compact and lightweight.

Ferroelectric composite film acoustic transducer


The invention concerns a system (100) and method (300) for charging a battery. The method includes the steps of supplying (312) a charging current to a battery (110), sensing (314) the charging current to the battery and selectively signaling (316) an electronic device (118) from the battery to indicate at least one parameter of the battery as the battery is receiving the charging current. As an example, the charging current can be from a wireless charger (116). In addition, the parameter can be, for example, a charging state of the battery or a predetermined current threshold of the charging current.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to portable electronic devices and more particularly to methods for wirelessly charging such devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
In today's marketplace, there is a plethora of portable electronic devices, many of which are powered by rechargeable batteries. Some manufacturers have begun producing chargers that can wirelessly charge these batteries. In such an arrangement, the charger can include a primary coil, and the rechargeable battery can include a secondary coil. When a time-varying current is applied to the first coil in the charger, a charging current can be generated in the secondary coil. Wireless charging is convenient in that it is unnecessary to couple any wires to the portable electronic device that houses the battery.
Many of the devices that are capable of being wirelessly charged, however, also have receptacles for receiving a charging wire from a conventional charger. In addition, the portable electronic device currently has no way to monitor the charging current from a wireless charger. Thus, the possibility exists that an end user will couple a standard charger to the portable device as it is being wirelessly charged, which may double the charging current. Consequently, the charging indicator, which informs the user of the amount of charge on the battery, may be inaccurate, and even worse, this excess current may damage the components of the portable device.
Even if the user avoids this scenario, the charging indicator may still provide erroneous readings. This disadvantage exists because many portable electronic devices rely on current thresholds to produce the readings of the charging indicator, particularly when the battery reaches its maximum charge voltage but is not yet fully charged. As noted earlier, there is no current way for the portable electronic device to monitor the charging current from a wireless charger.


A tuner circuit includes a first IF signal generating a first oscillation signal, a local oscillator circuit outputting a local oscillator signal, a mixing circuit mixing the first IF signal and the oscillation signal to generate a second IF signal, and a first substrate on which at least the local oscillator signal is formed. The local oscillator circuit includes an oscillation circuit and a coaxial resonator connected to the oscillation circuit for correcting the influence of change in oscillation frequency owing to moisture and secular change. The coaxial resonator includes an impedance variable trimmer portion for adjusting the oscillation frequency, a central conductor provided at a fixed position with respect to the first substrate, and an insulator for providing insulation between the impedance variable trimmer and the central conductor. The impedance variable trimmer portion and the central conductor are adhered to one another via the insulator after adjusting is completed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tuner circuit employed in a high-frequency circuit device in a television receiver or a video tape recorder, and particularly to a tuner circuit having a local oscillator circuit including a coaxial resonator.
2. Description of the Background Art
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, description will be given for a conventional double-conversion tuner. Referring to FIG. 1, the double-conversion tuner includes an input terminal 100 for inputting an RF (Radio Frequency) signal, an RF bandpass filter 101 for extracting the required frequency component for the RF signal, a broadband amplifier 102 for amplifying the RF signal, a clock signal input terminal 106 for inputting a clock signal, a data signal input terminal 107 for inputting a data signal, a PLL (Phase Locked Loop) circuit 105 for accurately obtaining a first local oscillator signal L01 described below, a first local oscillator circuit 104 connected to PLL circuit 105 for generating the first local oscillator signal L01, a first mixer 103 for mixing the RF signal output from broadband amplifier 102 with first local oscillator signal L01 output from first local oscillator circuit 104 to generate a first IF (Intermediate Frequency) signal, a bandpass filter 108 for extracting required frequency component of the first IF signal, an AFT terminal 114 to which an output voltage of an AFT (Automatic Fine Tuning) detection circuit described below is applied, a second local oscillator circuit 110 connected to AFT terminal 114 for generating a second local oscillator signal L02, a second mixer 109 for mixing the first IF signal output from bandpass filter 108 and second local oscillator signal L02 output from the second local oscillator circuit for generating a second IF signal, a bandpass filter 111 for extracting the required frequency component of the second IF signal, a first IF amplifier 112 for amplifying the second IF signal, and an output terminal 113 for outputting the second IF signal.
The RF signals input from input terminal 100 are input to first mixer 103 via RF bandpass filter 101 and broadband amplifier 102. RF signals are mixed further with first local oscillator signals L01 corresponding to a selected channel from first local oscillator circuit 104 and are converted by frequency into the fist IF signals. Unwanted signals other than those at the selected channel are eliminated from the first IF signals by bandpass filter 108 and are input to second mixer 109. The first IF signals are mixed with second local oscillator signals L02 and are converted by frequency into the second IF signals. The second IF signals are output from output terminal 113 via bandpass filter 111 and IF amplifier 112.
The second IF signal has its phase detected by an AFT detection circuit not shown which is connected to the following stage. This voltage is applied to an AFT terminal 114 so as to correct the oscillation frequency of second local oscillator signal L102 such that the second IF signal would be at a normal frequency. Accordingly, the influence of change in the oscillation frequency owing to temperature and secular change, and the influence of offset in the sent RF signals are corrected.
Referring FIG. 2, the second local oscillator circuit 110 includes a coaxial resonator 115, a transistor Tr for oscillation, bias resistors R3, R4 and R5, a junction capacitor C1, feedback capacitors C5 and C6, a coupling capacitor C7, and a ground condenser C8, a bias resistor R2, a bias resistor R1, and a power supply terminal B.
Coaxial resonator 115 includes a Z0 trimmer 201 for adjusting oscillation frequency, a central conductor 200, a variable capacitance diode D, tuning capacitors C2, C3 and C4.
Specifically, second local oscillator circuit 110 is formed of a modified Colpitts oscillation circuit in which transistor Tr for oscillation has its base in junction with central conductor 200, tuning capacitors C2, C3, C4 and variable capacitance diode D, employing a reduced .lambda./2 coaxial resonator. The cathode of variable capacitance diode D is connected to power supply terminal B via bias resistor R1. Meanwhile, the anode of variable capacitance diode D is connected to AFT terminal via bias resistor R2.
Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, central conductor 200 and Z0 trimmer 201 are respectively formed by punching a metal plate in U-shape, as shown in FIG. 3A. They are inserted into a printed board which is to be the main substrate of the tuner, and are fixed by soldering. As shown in FIG. 3B, adjustment of oscillation frequency for correcting offset thereof owing to variation of the components forming the oscillation circuit had been effected by tilting Z0 trimmer 201 toward or away from central conductor 201.
In a tuner circuit formed as described above, central conductor 200 and Z0 trimmer 201 respectively have different shapes and masses, and are mounted onto printed board 202 independently. Accordingly, when the entire tuner is subjected to oscillation, central conductor 200 and Z0 trimmer 201 respectively oscillate in different modes. Thus, howling occurs, causing failures in reception such as disturbance in video information and generation of noise.
In order to prevent this occurrence of howling, central conductor 200 and Z0 trimmer 201 are respectively fixed by paraffin or silicon adhesive. When this is done, however, influence of shrinkage of the adhesive due to its curing and the like may cause offset in the oscillation frequency to degrade its accuracy. To deal with this problem, adjustments were carried on by estimations, estimating the degree of change such as in shrinkage and the like in advance, but accuracy of such adjustments were limited.
Based on the foregoing, since application of adhesive is required, and since it is necessary to adjust the oscillation frequency considering the influence of the adhesive, difficulties of the process is increased, and moreover, decrease is caused in the yield, thus substantially raising the cost of the product.


An image capturing apparatus comprises an image sensor configured to photoelectrically convert incident light into an image signal and to output the image signal; an exposure time control unit configured to control exposure time when an image is sensed by the image sensor; a gain control unit configured to control a gain to be applied to the image signal; a temperature detection unit; and a color suppression unit configured to determine, from at least one of the exposure time and the temperature, a noise level that changes with the exposure time and the temperature and to suppress, on the basis of a level of color deviation that corresponds to the determined noise level and of the gain, a color component of the image signal so that the color deviation is reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus and a method for controlling the image capturing apparatus, and in particular to an image capturing apparatus that suppresses color deviation resulting from noise due to temperature and exposure time, and a method for controlling the image capturing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional image capturing apparatuses, suppression of noise due to gain, temperature and exposure time, and white balance (WB) correction are controlled.
Such suppression control of noise due to gain is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-91402, in which, when video signals obtained by an image sensing element are displayed, noise components of a color signal of the video signals are suppressed on the basis of information on the gain determined based on a photometric value.
Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-273319 discloses that a captured image is divided into sub-regions, and for each sub-region and each color component, a standard deviation of image signals in each pixel is calculated, and a region in the captured image which is subjected to the calculation of a WB gain is extracted on the basis of a comparison result between the calculated standard deviation and a noise model.
Although there are cases where noise causes color deviation depending on temperature and exposure time, and an image with colors different from those of the actual object results, the conventional techniques such as Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 5-91402 and 2010-273319 have not corrected the color deviation caused by noise.

Image capturing apparatus that suppresses color deviation resulting from noise due to temperature and exposure time


In this invention, the smelting reduction operation can be carried out in a high efficiency by charging a carbonaceous material in such an amount that total surface area is not less than 60 m.sup.2 per 1 ton of slag weight. Carbon substance finely particulating through thermal crumbling under a high-temperature atmosphere inside the vessel is used as the carbonaceous material, whereby it is possible to stably conduct the smelting reduction while controlling the scattering of the carbonaceous material, and also the erosion, particularly locally erosion of refractory in the smelting reduction furnace, which was a serious problem in the conventional technique, can considerably be decreased to largely prolong the service life of refractory.

Heretofore, the production of stainless steel has been carried out by using ferrochromium obtained through carbon reduction of chromium ore or the like in an electric furnace. However, the production of the ferrochromium was necessary to take a greater amount of electric power and the production cost thereof became high and hence the production cost of the stainless steel became also high.
As a countermeasure for solving the above problem, there has been developed so-called smelting reduction process in which chromium ore or unreduced or semi-reduced pellets of the chromium ore subjected to a preliminary treatment are subjected to carbon reduction in a metallurgical reaction vessel such as a convertor or the like without using electric power to prepare a chromium-containing molten metal (for example, JP-A-58-9959 and JP-A-55-91913).
However, the aforementioned smelting reduction process of chromium ore has still the following problems.
1) The chromium ore contains a great amount of gangue ingredient (MgO, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 and so on), while the gangue ingredient is included in fuel and a carbonaceous material as a reducing agent, so that a greater amount of slag is created during the smelting reduction. PA0 2) In addition to the great amount of the slag, if the reduction reaction efficiency is low, the refractory is considerably lost by a metal oxide ingredient (Cr.sub.2 O.sub.3, FeO) having a high oxidizing property and also the smelting time becomes longer. PA0 3) When the carbonaceous material is charged in only a necessary amount calculated from carbon balance and heat balance, slag foaming and slopping are caused and hence the operation becomes unstable. PA0 4) Therefore, an excessive amount of the carbonaceous material is charged in the smelting reduction. PA0 1. A smelting reduction process of chromium ore by charging a carbonaceous material and a chromium ore into hot metal admitted in a metallurgical reaction vessel such as a converter or the like, feeding an oxygen gas to burn the carbonaceous material and conducting fusion and reduction of the chromium ore through heat of combustion to produce a chromium-containing molten metal, characterized in that a carbon substance having a Hardgrove grindability index (HGI) of not more than 45 and a volatile matter (VM) of not more than 10% is used as the carbonaceous material. PA0 2. A smelting reduction process according to the item 1, wherein the carbonaceous material charged in the metallurgical reaction vessel has such a particle size formation that a ratio of particle size larger than a given particle size (dp) calculated from the following equation (1) is not less than 80%: EQU dp=0.074.multidot.((Q+0.04.multidot.VM.multidot.W)/D.sup.2).sup.2/3 (mm) (1 ) PA0 3. A smelting reduction process according to the item 1 or 2, wherein the carbonaceous material is charged into the metallurgical reaction vessel in an amount that a total surface area of the carbonaceous material charged is not less than 60 m.sup.2 per 1 ton of slag existing in the vessel. PA0 4. A smelting reduction process according to the item 1, 2 or 3, wherein a portion of the carbonaceous material having a particle size smaller than the particle size calculated by the equation (1) is agglomerated. PA0 5. A smelting reduction process according to the item 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein the reaction vessel is a converter using MgO-C bricks having a C content of 8-25% in at least a part of a portion of the vessel contacting with the slag. PA0 6. A smelting reduction process according to the item 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, wherein a post combustion ratio inside the reaction vessel is not more than 30%.
However, when the carbonaceous material is excessively used, the amount of carbon remaining in the slag becomes large after the completion of blowing, which brings about the lowering of the utilization of the carbonaceous material and also badly exerts on the effective use of the slag.

Process for smelting reduction of chromium ore


A process for separating water from pyrolysis gasoline obtained from a steam cracking step uses a coalescer for the water separation. And a device comprises a coalescer for water separation from pyrolysis gasoline.

The present invention relates to a process wherein water is separated from pyrolysis gasoline obtained from a steam cracking step using a coalescer for the water separation. The present invention further relates to a device comprising a coalescer for the water separation from pyrolysis gasoline.
A coalescer is a technological device performing coalescence. Coalescers are primarily used to separate two liquid phase systems like dispersions or preferably emulsions into their components via various processes. Coalescers are operated reverse to an emulsifier. Besides commonly used electronic coalescers, one main group of coalescers are mechanical coalescers. Mechanical coalescers use surfaces on which droplets coalesce. Apparatuses typically used are filter cartridges, mesh materials or vessels with different fillings. The use of mechanical coalescers is e.g. described in "Siemens Miltronics Process Instruments Inc., Case Study, 2006" and "Chem.-Ing.-Tech., 1976, No 3, pages 177 to 189".
Steam cracking is a petrochemical process in which saturated hydrocarbons are broken down into smaller, mostly unsaturated hydrocarbons. Steam cracking is the principal industrial method for producing lighter olefins like ethylene and propylene as disclosed for example in EP-A 1 302 525. Pyrolysis gasoline is a typical product which can be obtained from a steam cracking process. However, pyrolysis gasoline may also be considered as an intermediate, since it is usually subjected to further processing steps such as hydrogenation and/or separation into its components.
The article of H.-M. Allmann et al. provided at the DGMK-conference "Selective hydrogenation and dehydrogenation" on Nov. 11/12, 1993, Kassel/Germany (total of 29 pages) provides an overview on selective hydrogenations and purifications in the steam cracker downstream treatment. However, said article is silent on the presence of water during the steam cracking process or the following purification and hydrogenation steps.
In case of (free) water is present in the organic pyrolysis gasoline stream the hydrogenation catalyst may be partially or completely deactivated. Generally, the activity and life time of a fixed bed catalyst for pyrolysis gasoline hydrogenation depends on the amount of water contacting the catalyst surface. Thus, the presence of water in the pyrolysis gasoline stream has the consequence that the turnover number connected with the activity of the hydrogenation catalyst drops down and the hydrogenation catalyst needs to be regenerated more often. This means an economical and environmental disadvantage. Besides, this small water amount cannot be separated by usual methods—like phase separation by gravity—since this water amount is dispensed into small water drops in the pyrolysis gasoline stream. Also methods like e.g. distillations are ineffective for reducing the amount of water in pyrolysis gasoline obtained from a steam cracking step.
The article of Lee Siang Hua ("Titan's Experience in Physical Separation Devices"; prepared for the 15th Symposium of Chemical Engineers, Hyatt Hotel, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, Sep. 12, 2001; total of 7 pages) provides an overview on separation devices to be employed for removing, for example, water from organic compound streams obtained from a steam cracking process. Four different types of physical separation devices are discussed. In order to perform liquid-liquid separations, the operation may either be based on gravity separation or on coalescing separation in the oil-water coalescer to separate dissolved hydrocarbon in quench water or to remove water from raw pyrolysis gasoline. The coalescing separation may be employed, where small particles of one liquid phase must be separated or removed from a large quantity of another liquid phase. The disclosed coalescers are wire mesh coalescers contained in a horizontal vessel.
The article of Pall Corporation ("Liquid/Liquid coalescer applications: Ethylene processing-dilution steam system"; edited in 1997 by Pall Corporation; total of 2 pages) discloses a process for obtaining ethylene from pyrolysis gasoline. A total of four coalescers are employed at different positions and for different purposes within said ethylene process. One coalescer is, for example, employed to remove gasoline from water out of a first stream obtained from an oil/water separator. Another coalescer is employed to remove water from gasoline out of a second stream obtained from said oil/water separator. However, said article of Pall Corporation is silent on the material of said coalescers.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for the efficient separation of water from pyrolysis gasoline obtained from a steam cracking step, especially for removing the remaining water left over after a conventional phase separation step.
The problem of the present invention is solved by providing a process for reducing the water content in pyrolysis gasoline obtained from a steam cracking step, characterized in that water is separated from pyrolysis gasoline via at least one coalescer, which is made of metal, fibre glass or as a combination of metal and fibre glass.
The advantage in using a coalescer made of metal and/or fibre glass for the water separation from pyrolysis gasoline obtained from a steam cracking step is that water can be removed very efficiently. The total water content within a pyrolysis gasoline stream is the sum of the dissolved water and the entrained water. Only the entrained water can be removed from the pyrolysis gasoline by coalescence. This advantage is more significant when employing the coalescer after a conventional phase separation step for removing the main amount of water.
Furthermore, when the coalescer is used before the hydrogenation step, this hydrogenation step has a higher conversion. Therefore, the hydrogenation catalyst has a longer lifetime, since it needs to be regenerated less often. In addition, the chemical structure of the catalyst is changed by entrained water, which is avoided by water separation before hydrogenation.
It is often the case that additional streams like purchased partially hydrogenated pyrolysis gasoline or streams from reformers are mixed into the pyrolysis gasoline before the second hydrogenation step. In these cases, water separation before the hydrogenation step provides advantages to protect the catalysts similar to a separation before first hydrogenation step.

Process for separation of water from pyrolysis gasoline


A pill crusher device and method including a base and a lid movable between open and closed positions with respect to the base. The base includes a pill cup holder for holding a cup with one or more pills therein. The cup may include a flange that is keyed to the cup holder to prevent the cup from rotating with the cup holder. A head protrudes from the inside surface of the lid and is shaped to nest within the cup either directly against the pills, or against a second cup placed in the first cup with the pills located between the two cups.

The present invention relates to pill crushing devices and methods.
Pills that are taken orally are typically offered in tablet form (usually round, oblong, rectangular or triangular in shape) with directions to swallow the pill whole with water. Some pills are also offered in chewable form. Pills pose a problem for people who are unable to chew or swallow a pill whole (e.g., the elderly and infirm). For these people, it is necessary to crush the pill into a powdered form that may then be mixed with an easily swallowed food or liquid such as pudding or juice, for example. Many different types of pill crushers have been proposed but there still remains a need for a pill crusher device and method that successfully integrates the following features:                1. quick, easy to use and compact size for easy transportability, particularly in a nursing home setting.        2. prevents cross-contamination between crushing of different pills.        3. interrogation of the pill holder to ensure proper holder placement in the device and prevent accidental contamination from unauthorized pill holders.

Pill crusher with pill holder verification and safety features


The present disclosure discloses a display panel and a display device. At least one load compensation unit is arranged in a non-display area, and the at least one load compensation unit can be configured to adjust the charging time of pixels by controlling gate lines, thereby making brightness of each area of the display screen uniform.

An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) has advantages of being self-luminous, wide in color gamut, high contrast, thin and light, and has been widely used in display devices. As shown in FIG. 1, an OLED display panel may include: a display area AA, pixel units PX located in the display area AA, a high-level voltage supply wire 110 electrically connected to a pixel circuit in each pixel unit PX, and a high-level voltage supply terminal 120 electrically connected to the high-level voltage supply wire 110. The high-level voltage supply terminal 120 is configured to electrically connect to an external power management chip, to input a power supply signal ELVDD into the display area AA. Since the high-level voltage supply wire 110 has a resistance so that in the direction of the high-level voltage supply terminal 120 pointed to the high-level voltage supply wire 110, the voltage of the power supply signal ELVDD is sequentially decreased, that is, the IR Drop phenomenon. Thus, the brightness of the display area AA gradually decreases in the direction of the high-level voltage supply terminal 120 to the high-level voltage supply wire 110, resulting in deterioration of brightness uniformity, thereby affecting the display effect.

Chengdu BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.