A spine stabilization device is provided including an elongate member coupled to a spinous process. One aspect includes a dynamic stabilizer in a stabilization device.

Certain spine conditions, defects, deformities (e.g., scoliosis) as well as injuries may lead to structural instabilities, nerve or spinal cord damage, pain or other manifestations. Back pain (e.g., pain associated with the spinal column or mechanical back pain) may be caused by structural defects, by injuries or over the course of time from the aging process. For example, back pain is frequently caused by repetitive and/or high stress loads on or increased motion around certain boney or soft tissue structures. The natural course of aging leads to degeneration of the disc, loss of disc height, and instability of the spine among other structural manifestations at or around the spine. With disc degeneration, the posterior elements of the spine bear increased loads with disc height loss, and subsequently attempt to compensate with the formation of osteophytes and thickening of various stabilizing spinal ligaments. The facet joints may develop pain due to arthritic changes caused by increased loads. Furthermore, osteophytes in the neural foramina and thickening of spinal ligaments can lead to spinal stenosis, or impingement of nerve roots in the spinal canal or neural foramina. Scoliosis may also create disproportionate loading on various elements of the spine and may require correction, stabilization or fusion.
Pain caused by abnormal motion of the spine has long been treated by fixation of the motion segment. Spinal fusion is one way of stabilizing the spine to reduce pain. In general, it is believed that anterior interbody or posterior fusion prevents movement between one or more joints where pain is occurring from irritating motion. Fusion typically involves removal of the native disc, packing bone graft material into the resulting intervertebral space, and anterior stabilization, e.g., with intervertebral fusion cages or posterior stabilization, e.g., supporting the spinal column with internal fixation devices such as rods and screws. Internal fixation is typically an adjunct to attain intervertebral fusion. Many types of spine implants are available for performing spinal fixation, including the Harrington hook and rod, pedicle screws and rods, interbody fusion cages, and sublaminar wires.
Spinal stenosis pain or from impingement of nerve roots in the neural foramina has been treated by laminectomy and foraminotomy, and sometimes reinforced with rod and screw fixation of the posterior spine. More recently, surgeons have attempted to relieve spinal stenosis by distracting adjacent spinous processes with a wedge implant. Pain due to instability of the spine has also been treated with dynamic stabilization of the posterior spine, using elastic bands that connect pedicles of adjacent vertebrae.
The typical techniques for fusion, distraction, decompression, and dynamic stabilization require open surgical procedures with removal of stabilizing muscles from the spinal column, leading to pain, blood loss, and prolonged recovery periods after surgery due in part to the disruption of associated body structures or tissue during the procedures.
To reduce the invasiveness of fusion procedures, some methods of fusion have been proposed that do not require the extensive stripping of muscles away from the spinal column of earlier approaches. These involve posteriorly or laterally accessing the spine and creating spaces adjacent the spine for posterior stabilization. Some of these procedures include fusion via small working channels, created with dilator type devices or an external guide to create a trajectory channel between two ipsilateral neighboring pedicle screws. Also, placing support structures between adjacent pedicle screws and across a joint requires accessing and working in an area from a difficult angle (the support structure is typically oriented somewhat perpendicular to an angle of access and through muscle and connective tissue). Furthermore, these stabilization devices typically involve the use of 4 pedicle screws (each having a risk associated with it when placed in the spine), two on each side of a motion segment, and are not ideally suited for percutaneous stabilization required across more than one or two segments. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a less invasive or less disruptive segmental spine stabilization procedure and implant that has a reduced risk of damage or injury to associated tissue. It would also be desirable to provide an implanted posterior spine system that may be used to stabilize more than two motion segments in a less disruptive or less invasive manner.
One method of fusing a vertebra has been proposed using bilateral screws through the lamina using a posterior approach. However, geometric placement of the device is difficult and the procedure is considered dangerous because the laminar screws could enter through anteriorly into the spinal canal and cause nerve damage.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a device that reduces the difficulties risks of the current procedures. It would also be desirable to provide a device that can be placed in a less disruptive or less invasive manner than commonly used procedures.
Unintended consequences of fixation include stress shielding of bone, as well as transfer of load to adjacent, still dynamic motion segments, and eventual degeneration of adjacent motion segments. Flexible stabilization of motion segments with plastic, rubber, super-elastic metals, fabric, and other elastic materials has been proposed to provide a degree of dynamic stabilization of some joints. Many of these constructs are not load bearing. Dynamic stabilization from pedicle screw to pedicle screw along the length of the spine has been proposed. However, this device has the disadvantage of requiring placement of 4 pedicle screws and associated tissue disruption.
Due to the risks, inconvenience, and recovery time required for surgical implantation of spinal devices, some patients may continue to prefer rigid fixation of a painful or degenerative motion segment over dynamic stabilization of the joint. In addition, doctors may be reluctant to recommend dynamic stabilization for patients with back pain, because it may not alleviate pain to a patient's satisfaction.
Furthermore, even in patients who experience good relief of pain with dynamic stabilizers, it is anticipated that while the onset of arthritic changes may be deferred, many patients will still eventually proceed to develop degeneration, and require fixation of the motion segment to obtain pain relief. Repeat spine procedures to remove one implant and replace it with another are associated with complications related to bleeding, surgical adhesions, destruction of bone, and other generic risks associated with surgical procedures. Accordingly, improved devices that address these issues would be desirable.
A number of spinal deformities exist where the spine is abnormally twisted and or curved. Scoliosis is typically considered an abnormal lateral curvature of the vertebral column.
Correction of scoliosis has been attempted a number of ways. Typically correction is followed by fusion. A Harrington rod has been used where a compressing or distracting rod is attached above and below a curved arch of the deformity. The spine is stretched longitudinally to straighten the spine as the rod is lengthened. The spine is then fused. The correction force in this device and in similar devices is a distraction force that may have several drawbacks including possible spinal cord damage, as well as the high loading on the upper and lower attachment sites. Nowadays, segmental hook and screw fixation exists for distraction and derotation corrective forces.
A Luque device has been used where the spine is wired to a rod at multiple fixation points along the rod and pulls the spine to the rod. The spine is pulled to the rod with a wire and the spine is then fused. This does not provide significant adjustment over time and requires fusion. Once completed this does not provide an opportunity for delayed adjustment over time. Anterior procedures also exist in the form of fusion and newer technology involving staples across the disc space that obviate the need for fusion but still correct the deformity. The corrective force is derotation with or without compression.
Accordingly it would be desirable to provide an improved corrective device for treating scoliosis or other deformities. It would also be desirable to provide a device that may be used without fusion.
Spine surgeons commonly use metallic or polymeric implants to effect or augment the biomechanics of the spine. The implants frequently are attached or anchored to bone of the spine. Sites typically considered appropriate for boney attachment have high density or surface area, such as, for example, the pedicle bone, the vertebral body or the cortical bone of the lamina. The spinous process contains thin walls of cortical bone, and thus, has been considered as not ideal for anchoring spinal implants as they may not support the implants under physiologic loads, or the intermittent high loads seen in traumatic situations. Fixation has been attempted from spinous process to spinous process with poor results.
A translaminar facet screw as used by some surgeons goes through the base of spinous process to access the cancellous bone of the lamina. A disadvantage of this device is that it is not suitable for attaching to a pedicle screw and the depth and angle during deployment can be very difficult to track or visualize, thus increasing the possibility that the screw would extend into the spinal canal. A facet screw is screwed between opposing facets of a zygapophyseal joint.


A self-biased electrecret microphone amplifier with phantom biasing is using only standard devices implemented in a digital Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) process. The stable gain is provided open loop with a self-biased linear transconductance amplifier device that does not require large external components for filtering.

Generally, an electrecret microphone has a permanently charged dielectric (electrecret) between two parallel metal plates, which constitute the electrodes, one of the electrodes (i.e., the diaphragm electrode) being attached to a mobile diaphragm that can move in response to pressure variations of sound waves. The other electrode (i.e., the backplate) does not move. This diaphragm movement changes the distance, and therefore, the capacitance, between the diaphragm electrode and the backplate. Since the amount of charge in the electrecret remains constant, the voltage between the diaphragm electrode and the backplate changes in a manner which is inversely proportional to the change in capacitance, in accordance with Equation 1 shown below.Q=C·V  Equation 1
Usually this voltage is small (e.g., tens of miliVolt (mV)) and it is generated on a very high impedance, basically equal to the membrane capacitance. Therefore, there is a need to buffer and amplify this signal with a very high input impedance amplifier. Moreover, for economical reasons and compatibility with other microphone types, this amplifier has to be phantom powered, such that the direct current (DC) bias and the alternating current (AC) output signal share the same two physical wires. This characteristic is accomplished mainly by connecting the positive power supply line Vdd to the buffer amplifier through a load resistor RL and decoupling the output signal through a coupling capacitor CC, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Several implementations for such a buffer amplifier are widely known in the industry, as discussed below.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a conventional buffer amplifier circuit using a junction gate filed-effect transistor (JFET) device. Referring to FIG. 2, the amplification is provided by a JFET (as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,224).
A major disadvantage of such an approach appears to be the large variability of the gain due to the electrical characteristics of industrial JFETs used in the circuit and the fact that the JFET is not a standard component in a digital metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) process.
Several other circuits have been developed to use feedback techniques in order to stabilize the gain versus process and temperature variations and to provide correct biasing, as illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, as well as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,579, U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,011, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,129.
Another implementation is further described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,160,450, and is illustrated in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a buffer amplifier circuit that requires very small and controllable input offset and a low value internal series resistor. One of the drawbacks of this circuit appears to be that it requires a very well controlled offset voltage at the input pair to set the general bias, as well as the fact that overall gain is determined by a direct ratio between the external load resistor R501 and an internal resistor R502, according to Equation 2.
                    gain        =                              R            501                                R            502                                              Equation                                                  2
Since the DC power of the amplifier/buffer is supplied through the load resistor R501 shown in FIG. 5, the value of this resistor cannot be made very large, otherwise a large DC drop will develop across it, requiring a very large DC voltage supply. Hence, in order to get reasonable gains according to Equation 2, the internal resistor R502 needs to be very small, in some cases well under 100 ohms, for example. The value of the resistor R502 and hence the gain is harder to control at low resistance values due to layout routing.
It would be advantageous, therefore, to provide a self-biased, phantom powered buffer amplifier device for an electrecret microphone without the aforementioned drawbacks.

Self-biased amplifier device for an electrecret microphone


A device for covering food (306) during microwave heating includes a microwavable flexible sheet (100) having a substantially smooth, food-facing surface (102) that is free of openings. The sheet (100) has a configuration including size, shape, and weight distribution for flexibly draping the sheet (100) over the food (306) on a rigid structure (304) such that the flexibly draped sheet (100) overhangs and folds loosely over an outer perimeter of the rigid structure thereby forming at least a partial enclosure around the food (306) when the sheet contacts at least a portion of an outer perimeter of the food-containing rigid structure (304). During microwave heating, the at least a partial enclosure around the food (306) substantially contains food-splattering (308) inside while allowing steam (312) to escape through an opening (310) formed between the flexibly draped sheet (100) and the outer perimeter of the rigid structure (304).

When food is heated in a microwave, water molecules within the food become excited resulting in a build up of pressure. This pressure escapes from the food in the form of steam. Frequently, the release of steam is sudden, like an eruption, which causes food to splatter. Therefore, whenever food is heated in a microwave, it should be covered with a microwave transparent material to prevent splattering food particles from soiling the interior of the microwave.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,773 to Hanlon discloses a protective cover for a dish being heated in a microwave oven. The cover is formed of moisture-absorbent, microwave transparent material forming a top member and an encircling wall member depending downwardly form the periphery of the top member to completely cover the dish to protect the interior of the oven from any possible spattering of food particles during the heating. The cover is formed of absorbent material so that any escaping fluids and food particles may be captured or absorbed by the cover. The wall member is fluted to give the cover self-supporting rigidity, and an upper edge of each fluted portion coincides with a scalloped portion of the top member. The cover may be treated with a microwave safe resin to increase the rigidity of the cover.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20030205575 discloses a device for preventing food splatter during microwave cooking which includes a sheet of material capable of maintaining a crease, and which has at least one crease that extends across the sheet. The device is positioned over food disposed on an open dish with the crease extending across the dish and with the crease being at an apex of the sheet while the food is heated in a microwave oven. The invention provides a convenient, easy to use and inexpensive device and method for preventing food splatter during microwave cooking of food in an open container such as a plate or bowl.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,520 to Nottingham et al discloses a shielded cover for a microwave container having upper and lower layers and a diamond-shaped metallic ring therebetween. The ring surrounds an upwardly extending multi-step truncated pyramid formed out of the center section of the upper and lower layers of the cover. The top surface of the truncated pyramid includes a series of openings to vent steam produced within the container. Microwave radiation produced by the microwave oven is reflected by the metallic ring and therefore only penetrates the cover to enter or exit the container at the corners and the center section of the cover. Microwaves are concentrated at the center section of the container and retained within the container, heating the center of the food therein proportionally more than the outer portion of the food, resulting in food having a uniform and consistent temperature throughout.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,303 to Drews discloses a microwave toaster including a rectangular block of microwave transparent material having a plurality of parallel and aligned slots therein for receiving cards of material which absorb microwave energy and subsequently dissipates heat therefrom. A piece of bread is positioned next to the material to absorb the heat dissipated therefrom for subsequently turning into browned toast.
Finally, WO 00/69222 to Davis discloses a fabric composite for microwave cooking. A composite of textile materials enhances both insulation and ventilation when formed as an enclosure or a cover for articles, and has particular utility for microwave cooking. The fabric composite includes multiple layers. One layer is a top insulative layer which has a multiplicity of pores therein, which may be voids which are present in a woven textile material. A mesh layer is attached to the insulative layer. The mesh layer has a multiplicity of pores which are formed therein. The mesh layer is formed of a non-porous fiber. One layer provides insulation to hold heat within the container or another article, while the mesh layer retards splattering. The composite allows steam ventilation from the container without the requirement of lifting a corner of the cover or enclosure from the container, or otherwise taking steps to provide ventilation. The fabric composite is machine washable.
Existing food covers do not provide consumers or users with a sanitary, easy-to-use product for microwave cooking. Many existing covers have a porous, mesh, or non-smooth surface facing the food which becomes contaminated with splattered food. If not properly and thoroughly cleaned, these non-smooth surfaces become havens for bacteria and germs. Also, many existing covers absorb liquid or moisture from steam which also creates an unsanitary condition as well as making the cover messy to handle. Furthermore, some existing covers are rigid and bulky making them difficult to wash in a dishwasher and inconvenient for storage.
Accordingly, there exists a need for overcoming the disadvantages of the prior art as discussed above.

Microwavable flexible sheets for draping over food during microwave heating


An image forming apparatus includes an exposure unit forming a latent image using a light from a light source, a developing unit forming a toner image by visualizing the latent image using a toner, a detector outputting a detection signal by optically detecting an amount of toner of the toner image, a memory storing an optimum value of the detection signal output from the detector with respect to a light emission time of the light source, with respect to a plurality of light emission times of the light source to thereby store a plurality optimum values, and a control unit controlling the light emission time of the light source by calculating a light emission time corresponding to a value of the detection signal output from the detector based on the plurality of light emission times stored in the memory.

The present invention generally relates to image forming apparatuses, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus capable of adjusting a tone of an image formed on a surface of a recording medium.
Recently, due to improved performances of information processing apparatuses, there are demands to improve the performance of image forming apparatuses such as printers. An image forming apparatus capable of forming an image having a gradation representation on a recording medium such as paper has been developed to satisfy such demands.
Conventionally, image forming apparatuses capable of forming monochrome or color images having the gradation representation on the recording medium have been proposed. Particularly in the case of a color image, if the tone of each color is different from a corresponding designed value, the quality of the image formed on the recording medium greatly deteriorates. Hence, a method has been proposed to control a density of a toner image by detecting the density of the toner image and feeding back the detected density to an image forming part. According to this proposed method, an optimum value of the density of the toner image with respect to a certain image tone data is set in advance, and an amount of error of the density of the toner image which is actually formed from the optimum value is obtained based on this certain image tone data. When forming the image thereafter, the amount of error is added to the image tone data as an offset value, so as to correct inconsistencies in image forming characteristic of each of the individual image forming parts.
However, the amount of error of the density of the toner image which is actually formed from the optimum value is not constant and differs depending on the tone. For this reason, according to the proposed method which adds a constant offset value to the image tone data, there was a problem in that it is impossible to accurately reproduce all tones.
In the case of a monochrome image, even if the density of the toner image is slightly deviated from the designed value, this deviation is not conspicuous in the image which is formed on the recording medium. But in the case of the color image, even if the density of the toner image of one color deviates from the designed value, the color in the image which is formed on the recording medium becomes unnatural, thereby greatly deteriorating the quality of the image.

Image forming apparatus with image tone adjusting function


A tuner 1 receives a TV-broadcast signal from an antenna 6. The TV-broadcast signal is supplied to a demodulator 2. The demodulator 2 demodulates the audio signal and video signal, both contained in the TV-broadcast signal. A CM-detecting section 4 is provided. In the section 4, characteristic patterns are generated at intervals of 15 seconds, 30 seconds and 60 seconds, from the audio and video signals. Then, CM candidates are detected in accordance with the characteristic patterns. Characteristic data representing the characteristics of a CM is extracted from each CM candidate or the audio and video signals preceding and following the CM candidate. The section 4 detects a CM from the characteristic data thus extracted.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for processing signals. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus and method for processing signals, which can automatically detect or retrieve commercial messages added to TV-broadcast programs.
Generally, each of sponsored TV-broadcast programs consists of a program proper and sponsor's commercial messages inserted in the program proper. (Hereinafter, the commercial messages will be referred to as "CMs," for the sake of brevity.)
Television viewers are interested mainly in the program proper. Most of them wish not to see the CMs inserted in the program proper.
On the other hand, some viewers may sometimes want to see CMs, particularly those which tell stories and those in which famous actors and/actresses make appearances.
A sponsored TV-broadcast program may be recorded on a recording medium such as a magnetic tape or a magnetic disc. If the program proper and CM constituting the recorded program can be independently reproduced from the recording medium, it will satisfy not only people who wish to enjoy seeing the program proper only, but also people who want to see the CM only.
As a technique of reproducing the TV program proper only, skipping the CM, is known. This technique, called "CM-skipping function (CM-skipping function in broad sense)," is incorporated many types of home-use video tape recorders.
Four types of CM-skipping functions (CM-skipping functions in broad sense) are available. They are: CM fast-forward function, CM cutting fiction, CM-skipping fiction based on the broadcast mode, and CM-skipping function not based on the broadcast mode. Of these four types, the CM fast-forward fiction is implemented by utilizing the fact that CMs are produced in Japan, usually in units of 15 seconds. While seeing the recorded TV program, the viewer may push one time the CM-skip button on the remote controller, fast running that 15-second CM part of the tape and thus skipping the CM. If he pushed the button twice, then CM part (30 seconds) of the tape is fed fast forward and thus skipped. This technique of fast feeding the tape forwards is disclosed in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. Laid-Open Publication No. 10-269651. Further, Jpn. Pat. Appln. Laid-Open Publication No. 9-307841 discloses the technique of determining the end of fast feeding of tape upon detecting a black frame of the video signal and the no-sound part of the audio signal are both longer than a predetermined length, not upon lapse of the predetermined time as in the technique of fast feeding the tape forwards.
The CM cutting function is achieved by using the fact that CMs are broadcast often with stereophonic sound in Japan and a pilot signal is multiplexed on the TV-broadcast signal, indicating that the audio signal is in monaural mode, stereophonic mode or sound-multiplex mode. To record a TV-broadcast program proper with sound of, for example, the monaural mode or sound-multiplex mode, the recording is interrupted for any stereophonic part (CM-recorded part) of the tape. Thus, the CM-recorded part of the tape is, so to speak, cut. The technique of cutting the CM part is disclosed in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. Laid-Open Publication No. 3-158086 and Jpn. Pat. Appln Laid-Open Publication No. 3-2622872.
Like the CM cutting function, the CM-skipping function based on the broadcast mode (CM-skipping function in narrow sense) is implemented since the CM is different from the program proper in terms of broadcast mode. In the CM cutting function, the CM is cut while the program is being recorded as described above. In the CM-skipping function based on the broadcast mode, the broadcast mode is recorded on the tape, as well as all images and sound, and any stereophonic part (CM-recorded part) of the tape is fed fast forward in the course of reproducing the entire program recorded on the tape. The technique of skipping a CM based on the broadcast mode is disclosed in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. Laid-Open Publication No. 5-250762.
The CM-skipping fruition not based on the broadcast mode (CM-skipping function in narrow sense) is effected in accordance with the period in which a no-sound part exists in the audio signal, in which an image-changing part (where the image changes to another) exists in the video signal, or in which black level and white level appear in the broadcast signal. Any part of the tape, where the period is a multiple of 15 seconds is regarded as a CM-recorded part and is fed fast forward. The CM-skipping function not based on the broadcast mode is disclosed in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. Laid-Open Publication No. 8-317342 and "A Study on the System for Detecting CMs in TV Broadcast Programs" (a technical report of Video Information Media Association, VIR97-22, 19/23, 1997).
The CM-skipping functions described above are performed by the TV viewers who operate home-use video tape recorders to record and playback TV-broadcast programs. The TV viewers need to determine whether this or that particular part of a program is a CM or not. The CM-skipping functions cannot automatically detect CM parts of the TV-broadcast program.
In the CM-skipping fiction based on the broadcast mode or the CM-skipping function (in the narrow sense), CMs are detected from the mode in which they are broadcast, e.g., the stereophonic mode. This function does not work in the case where the program proper is broadcast in the stereophonic mode. Nor does it work in the case where the CM is broadcast in the monaural mode or sound-multiplex mode. (Namely, the CM cannot be cut or skipped at all.)
In the CM-skipping function not based on the broadcast mode or the CM-skipping function (in the narrow sense), CMs can be detected without bothering the TV viewer or determining the broadcasting mode of the CMs. This function detects a CM by determining whether a period in which a no-sound part exists in the audio signal or an image-changing part (where the image changes to another) exists in the video signal coincides with a preset value or not. In the TV programs actually broadcast, however, the no-sound part may be shortened to adjust the time of the TV program or by switching operation. Hence, the no-sound part thus shortened may coincide with the preset value. In addition, the program proper may include a no-sound part or an image-changing part that coincides with the preset value. Thus, any CM having a no-sound part shorter than the preset value cannot be detected at all, and any no-sound part or any image-changing part in the program proper, which coincides with the preset value, may be detected as a CM.
A plurality of CMs may be broadcast continuously in a TV program. In this case , the four functions described above can detect the period in which the CMs are so broadcast, but cannot detect the period of each CM cannot. It is therefore impossible for the TV viewer to extract and enjoy any one of such CMs.
It is therefore desired that CMs be detected and retrieved with high reliability, from the TV broadcast signals.

Apparatus and method for processing signals


A deployable heat and smoke obstacle is disclosed. A screen is wound around a shaft over a passageway in a building or a vehicle. The shaft can rotate in response to an alarm signal to deploy the screen over the passageway to prevent smoke and heat from passing through the passageway. The screen includes magnetic sheets that engage a corresponding magnetic surface near the passageway to hold the screen in place over the passageway. The screen also includes heat-sensitive fasteners that deform when heated to engage corresponding holes in the passageway to hold the screen in place over the passageway.

A device that shuts out smoke and harmful gases during fire by opening and closing a screen that is on the front side of an opening for an elevator has been known, such as referred to in the below stated Patent Literature 1 and 2. Here, the invention mentioned in Patent Literature 1 (Tokuhyo Hei 10-506158 Official Gazette) is directed to rolling down a reinforced curtain on the front side of an elevator opening when necessary.
In this invention, ferromagnetic side rails are located on both sides of the elevator opening and flexible magnetic strips are placed at both ends of both sides of the screen. Also, the reinforced curtain that makes up the screen has a structure that makes it possible for the screen to be rolled up or down by a pair of pulleys located at both ends of the space bar, situated at the ends of the curtain as a space bar to roll such curtain up.
Also, there is a motor-driven drive method that freely rotates forward and backward above the above stated opening; the shaft of this drive method is connected to Pulley #1 and by rolling in and rolling back the connection cord rolled up by the pair of pulleys on both sides of the above stated space bar, it is possible to move the above stated screen to these opening and closing positions. In this case, when rolling the screen down, it is possible to use the dead weight of the curtain rolled into the space bar to lower it.
Also, Patent Literature 2 (Tokukai 2005-113509 Official Gazette) mentions an invention as summarized below, which improves on the above stated Patent Literature 1 invention. This invention of Patent Literature 2 deals with a screen device that closes at least part of an opening with a flexible screen material whose top end is anchored at the top end of the opening, and is characterized by making it possible for the previously stated opening to open by placing a flexible adhesion method on both ends of the previously stated screen material, and rolling up the strip or line form flexible material attached to the screen material along with adhering in an attachable and removable manner both ends of the screen through such adhesion method.
In addition, those with a manual or electronic rotating drive winding shaft located on the upper part of the above stated opening, move the above stated screen material vertically by rolling up or back the above stated flexible material through such winding shaft, and also utilize silica cloth or glass cloth that is high in fire-resistance for the above stated screen material are mentioned as well.                Patent Literature 1—Tokuhyo Hei 10-506158 Official Gazette        Patent Literature 2—Tokukai 2005-113509 Official Gazette
When setting a smoke-suppressant device with the above mentioned widely known screen material on the opening of an elevator, for example, it is structured in such a way that such screen material is adhered and anchored utilizing flexible magnetic strips to the ferromagnetic frame form on both sides of the opening or side rails. Due to this structure, there was a fault in that the flexible magnetic strips used for adhesion anchoring themselves would lose magnetism due to flames or high temperature and the screen material would separate from the opening, even if highly fire-resistant material was used for the screen material. In other words, the fault was that regular flexible magnetic strips can not be used as a smoke-suppressant device requiring fire-resistant capabilities, as there were problems with loss of magnetism at temperatures of over approximately 600° C.


Serine hydrolases are implicated in malconditions such as cancer, central nervous system disorders, cardiovascular disorders, obesity, and metabolic disorders. Many serine hydrolases expressed in proteomic libraries are of unknown function in vivo. Compounds identified through library versus library screening can be used for treatment of malconditions associated with the specific serine hydrolase KIAA1363 (also known as AADACL1). A library of inhibitors of KIAA1363 was prepared and candidate compounds were identified as a potent inhibitors having submicromolar IC50 values. An exemplary compound of the invention was shown to be an effective inhibitor of prostate cancer pathogenesis. Other inhibitory compounds of the invention comprising fluorophore groups are shown to be effective in spatial and temporal localization of the serine hydrolase in cells and tissues.

A major challenge facing biological researchers in the 21st century is the functional characterization of the large number of unannotated gene products identified by genome sequencing efforts. Many proteins partly or completely uncharacterized with respect to their biochemical activities belong to expansive, sequence-related families. Although such membership can inform on the general mechanistic class to which a protein belongs (e.g., enzyme, receptor, channel), it is insufficient to predict specific biochemical and physiological functions, which requires knowledge of substrates, ligands, and interacting biomolecules. On the contrary, membership within a large protein family can even present a barrier to achieving these goals by frustrating the implementation of standard genetic and pharmacological methods to probe protein function. For example, targeted gene disruption of one member of a protein superfamily may result in cellular compensation from other family members.
Problems are also encountered when attempting to develop specific inhibitors and/or ligands for uncharacterized members of large protein families, where at least two major experimental issues must be addressed. First, there is an intrinsic difficulty facing ligand discovery for uncharacterized proteins, which often lack the functional information required to develop high quality assays for compound screening. Second, even with a general screening assay in hand, achieving ligand selectivity for one member of a large protein family presents a major challenge.
Serine hydrolases (SHs) are one of the largest and most diverse enzyme classes in mammals. They play fundamental roles in virtually all physiological processes and are targeted by drugs to treat diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and neurodegenerative disorders. Despite this, we lack biological understanding for most of the 110+ predicted mammalian metabolic SHs, due in large part to a dearth of assays to assess their biochemical activities and a lack of selective inhibitors to probe their function in living systems.
As disclosed in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/407,732, filed Oct. 28, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, certain of the inventors herein have developed library versus library screening techniques based on activity-based probes that allow identification of candidate inhibitors of serine hydrolases for which detailed functions can be largely unknown. As described therein, libraries of carbamates were evaluated versus libraries of serine hydrolases, and specific inhibitors of certain of the serine hydrolases were identified. Investigation of promising inhibitors of physiologically significant serine hydrolases has continued.
For more than 40 years, it has been known that tumor cells show dramatic elevations in their neutral ether lipid (NEL) content. Snyder and colleagues in the 1960s first reported that rodent and human tumors possess significantly higher levels of NELs relative to normal tissue (Snyder and Wood, 1969; Wood and Snyder, 1967). This finding has been confirmed for a wide range of cancer cells and primary tumors from several tissues of origin (Albert and Anderson, 1977; Lin et al., 1978; Roos and Choppin, 1984). Evidence has also emerged to suggest a pro-tumorigenic function for NELs, including a study where the levels of these lipids were found to correlate closely with tumorigenicity across a panel of mouse fibroblast cell lines (Roos and Choppin, 1984). However, the enzymes responsible for regulating NEL metabolism in cancer cells are, for the most part, poorly understood.
We have recently determined that the previously uncharacterized transmembrane enzyme KIAA1363 (also called AADACL1) controls the production of the monoalkylglycerol ether (MAGE) class of NELs in cancer cells (Chiang et al., 2006). Serine hydrolase KIAA1363 acts as a 2-acetyl MAGE hydrolase (Chiang et al., 2006) and is likely the principal source for this activity in tumor cells, which was originally detected by Snyder's group in the early 1990s (Blank et al., 1990). MAGEs can be further converted by cancer cells into the bioactive lysophospholipids alkyl-lysophosphatidyl choline (alkyl-LPC) and alkyl-lysophosphatidic acid (alkyl-LPA) (Chiang et al., 2006). Stable knockdown of KIAA1363 expression impaired tumor cell migration and tumor growth in vivo, suggesting a potentially key role for this enzyme in promoting cancer pathogenesis. It has also been found that KIAA1363 is highly elevated in aggressive breast, melanoma, ovarian (Chiang et al., 2006; Jessani et al., 2002), and pancreatic (Iacobuzio-Donahue et al., 2002) cancer cells, as well as primary breast (Ferguson et al., 2005; Jessani et al., 2005) and ovarian (Haverty et al., 2009) tumors.

Anti-cancer serine hydrolase inhibitory carbamates


A system and method for updating a settop box (STB) architecture that can be used to immediately update a device without requiring the device to be reset/restarted. The device may be any type of device that simultaneously supports multiple applications. The architecture may be used to update one of the applications with new functionality in a seamless manner that allows the applications including the one application to continue to operate without interruption.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for updating devices coupled to a telecommunications network, such as, but not limited to, set top boxes (STBs) and other devices used to provide services to subscribers. The systems and methods allow the devices to be updated without disrupting services and applications being provided to the subscribers.
2. Background Art
When new functionality, fixes to old functionality, or removal of temporary functionality, all considered functionality updates, are performed on an STB, functionality is directly modified. Currently, upon completion of the functionality modification, a reset command is required to update the STB and implement the new functionality and continue STB service to the customer. This reset causes an interruption in service and, as such, careful consideration is necessary when planning and executing functionality updates to the STB.


A ribbon cassette which allows a precise recording operation to be achieved as a result of stably running an ink ribbon by preventing tilting or rattling of cores caused by tension produced in the ink ribbon during ink ribbon winding in order to stably rotate the cores; and a pancake which allows stable supply of ink ribbon by rotation of the cores. In the pancake, the cores have shaft-inserting holes, for inserting therein the supporting shafts which protrude beyond the carriage, formed in the central portion thereof, and annular grooves for fitting thereto driving power transmitting portions for transmitting rotational driving power of a take-up mechanism. The driving power transmitting portions are formed so as to protrude at the outer peripheral side of the corresponding supporting shafts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ribbon cassette used in a recording apparatus, such as a thermal transfer printer, and a pancake accommodated in such a ribbon cassette. More particularly, the present invention relates to a ribbon cassette which allows precise recording as a result of stably running an ink ribbon while reducing rattling and rocking of cores, and a pancake accommodated in such a ribbon cassette.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional thermal transfer printers, recording operations are performed by transferring ink from an ink ribbon onto a recording sheet as a result of heating a thermal head. The ends of the ink ribbon are mounted to a take-up core and a supply core of a rotatably supported ribbon cassette. The ink ribbon, itself, is wound upon the take-up core and the supply core of the ribbon cassette. Rotation of the cores causes the ink ribbon to be conveyed to a recording sheet, and heating of the thermal head, disposed at the carriage, causes a desired recording operation to be performed on the recording sheet.
FIG. 5 illustrates such a ribbon cassette 4 which is placed at a top surface 2 of a carriage 1. A recording operation is performed, while the ink ribbon 3 in the ribbon cassette 4 is being wound up by driving the carriage 1. The ribbon cassette 4 includes a pair of cores 6A and 6B, a pair of pinch rollers 7A and 7B, and a plurality of guide 3 rollers 8. The pair of cores 6A and 6B are rotatably supported at a top case portion (not shown) and a bottom case portion 5A of a planar and substantially rectangular cassette case 5. The pair of pinch rollers 7A and 7B are rotatably supported for peeling the ink ribbon 3. The plurality of rollers 8 are provided for preserving the path of winding of the ink ribbon 3.
The pair of cores 6A and 6B are substantially cylindrical in shape. The ink ribbon 3, being either a thermally sublimating or a thermally melting type ink ribbon, is wound from both ends thereof upon the outer peripheral surface of each of the cores 6A and 6B, whereby a pancake is formed. When the ribbon cassette 4 is carried by the carriage 1 of the printer being used, the core 6A engages a take-up bobbin 9, serving as take-up mechanism shown in FIG. 6, and winds up the portion of the ink ribbon 3 that has been subjected to a recording operation. On the other hand, the core 6B engages a supply bobbin (having the same form as the take-up bobbin 9) disposed at the carriage 1, and supplies the ink ribbon 3 for performing a recording operation onto a recording sheet.
Bobbin fitting holes 10A and 10B are formed in the inner peripheral surfaces of the cores 6A and 6B, respectively. They are formed for fitting therein the take-up bobbin 9 and the supply bobbin (having the same shape as the take-up bobbin 9), respectively. A plurality of engaging protrusions 11, which are spaced in a peripheral direction, are formed at the bobbin fitting holes 10A and 10B. When the ribbon cassette 4 is being carried by the carriage 1, the engaging protrusions 11 mesh with a plurality of engaging protrusions 12 that are spaced in a peripheral direction along the outer peripheral surfaces of the take-up bobbin 9 and the supply bobbin.
The take-up core 6A, through the portions where the engaging protrusions 11 and 12 mesh, obtains rotational driving power from the take-up bobbin 9, serving as take-up mechanism. After an unused portion of the ink ribbon 3, wound upon the supply core 6B, has been subjected to a recording operation by the heat generated by a thermal head (not shown), the portion of the ink ribbon 3, which has been subjected to the recording operation, is wound upon the outer peripheral surface of the take-up core 6A. When the carriage 1 moves forward while the thermal head is in press-contact with the platen through the ink ribbon 3 and the recording sheet that are disposed between the thermal head and the platen, the supply core 6B is driven by the tension produced in the ink ribbon 3 that is wound upon the outer periphery of the supply core 6B. While the supply core 6B is being driven, the ink ribbon 3 is supplied to the recording sheet.
However, the above-described conventional cassette 4 has the following problem. The take-up bobbin 9 and the supply bobbin (having the same form as the take-up bobbin 9) that are fitted, respectively, to the cores 6A and 6B of the ribbon cassette 4 rotate by rotationally driving take-up shafts 9A of FIG. 6. During rotation, the take-up bobbin 9 and the supply bobbin are supported by supporting shafts 13 that are fixed to a base portion (not shown) of the carriage. The supporting shafts 13, however, are thin, being only about 1.6 mm thick. Therefore, when, during winding of the ink ribbon 3, the supporting shafts 13, which cannot withstand the tension in the ink ribbon, tilt, the rotational centers of the cores 6A and 6B, which engage the take-up bobbin 9 and the supply bobbin, respectively, move, causing the cores 6A and 6B to rock. Consequently, the ink ribbon 3 cannot be stably wound, thereby preventing precise recording operations.
Between the supporting shafts 13 and the take-up shafts 9A are provided gaps for making them rotatable. Between the take-up shafts 9A and the cores 6A and 6B are provided gaps for allowing insertion of the take-up shafts 9A into the cores 6A and 6B and allowing engagement of the take-up shafts 9A and the cores 6A and 6B. This results in great rattling of the cores 6A and 6B, causing the ink ribbon 3 to run unstably during recording operations.
In order to increase recording quality, the ink ribbon 3 must be run stably and the winding load must be kept constant. It has been found out that these can be achieved by reducing tilting and rattling of the cores 6A and 6B.

Ribbon cassette and pancake accommodated in the ribbon cassette


The scent delivery device employs a housing and scent generator which selectively releases scent. The housing is mounted on a counter and allows a user to selectively sample a variety of scent. The scent travels to the user's nose by diffusion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to scent and, more particularly, to a scent delivery device which allows for sampling of scent. The device allows a user to breathe a variety of scents by means of diffusion through the open air.
2. Art Related to the Invention
A scent delivery device is disclosed in International Patent Application Publication No. WO 99/01793 published Jan. 14, 1999. Such a device employs a case which houses scent containers, a conduit which connects the case to the nose of the user and a fan which moves scented air from the case through the conduit and to the nose. Such a device constitutes a closed air system.
The device of the '793 Publication relies on convection or flow of scented air through a closed conduit system to move the scented air to the user's nose. Other prior art systems have also relied on fluid flow to move scent to a user's nose. A number of these prior art systems are open air systems which move the scent through the open air by means of a fan or pump. However, such systems tend to be bulky and not adaptable to miniaturization.
There is a need for a miniaturized stationary scent delivery device that can be easily allowing a user to sample a scent by diffusion.


A device and method for mixing medical fluids is disclosed. The device has an inlet port, an injection port, an outlet port, a first duct between the injection port and the inlet port, and a second duct between the inlet port and the outlet port. The injection port is sealed by a fluid-proof membrane which can be penetrated by an injection needle. The device further includes at least a first portion made of a first material and a second portion made of a second, substantially more resilient material, wherein the inlet port and the injection port are included in the first portion and the outlet port is included in the second portion, and the first and second portions are attached to each other by means of a combined friction coupling and snap connection.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a device for mixing medical fluids, wherein the mixing device has an inlet port for receiving at least a first medical fluid, an injection port for injection of a second medical fluid, an outlet port for exit of a mixed flow of the first and second medical fluids, a first duct extending between the injection port and the inlet port, and a second duct extending between the inlet port and the outlet port, where the injection port is sealed by a fluid-proof membrane that can be penetrated by an injection needle when injecting the second medical fluid. The invention further relates to a method for enabling mixing of medical fluids by means of the device.
2. Background Information
A serious problem in connection with drug preparation, drug administration, and other similar handling is the risk that medical and pharmacological staff are exposed to drugs or solvents which might escape into the ambient air. This problem is particularly serious where the preparation of cytotoxins, antiviral drugs, antibiotics and radiopharmaceuticals are concerned. For this reason, there has been a need for safer systems for handling and administrating drugs and other medical substances.
Accordingly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,054 to Gustavsson ("the '054 patent") discloses a fluid transfer device for transferring a substance from one vessel to another vessel while avoiding leakage of liquid and gas contaminants. The disclosed device includes a first member designed as a hollow sleeve and having a piercing member provided with a passageway. The piercing member is attached to the first member, which has a first barrier member at one end just opposite the tip of the piercing member. As such, the piercing member can be passed and retracted through the first barrier member that seals one end of the first member.
The fluid transfer device further includes a second member which is attached to or attachable to one of the vessels or to means arranged to communicate therewith. The second member has a second barrier member and mating connector or connection means arranged on the first and second members for providing a releasable locking of the members with respect to each other. The barrier members are liquid and gas-proof sealing members which seal tightly after penetration and retraction of the piercing member, and prevent leakage of liquid as well as gas contaminants. In the connected position of the first and second members, the barrier members are located so that the piercing member can pass there through.
According to the '054 patent, the above-mentioned piercing member is a needle arranged for puncturing the first and the second barrier members, wherein the end opposite the one end of the first member has means for sealingly receiving or being permanently attached to an injection syringe or the like for withdrawing and/or adding substance to the vessel attached to the second member. When attached to the first member, the injection syringe or the like communicates with the passageway of the needle so that, in the retracted position, the needle is hermetically enclosed in the first member having the injection syringe or the like connected thereto.
Furthermore, International Patent Publication No. WO 99/27886 to Fowles et al. ("the '886 publication") discloses a connector device intended for establishing fluid communication between a first container and a second container. The connector device has a first sleeve member having a first and a second end. The first sleeve member has a first attaching member at the first end which is adapted to attach to the first container. The connector device further includes a second sleeve member that has a first end and a second end. The second sleeve member is associated to the first sleeve member and movable with respect thereto from an inactivated position to an activated position. The second sleeve member has a second attaching member at the second end adapted to attach the second sleeve member to the second container. According to the '886 publication, the connector device also includes a first and second piercing member projecting from one of the first and second sleeve members for providing a fluid flow path from the first container to the second container, and means for independently hermetically sealing the first and second members.
The administration of medical fluids to a patient can be accomplished by inserting a catheter into a patient's vein, and then coupling a source of medical fluid thereto using an administration set that may include flexible tubing and one or more injection sites. A typical gravity feeding system for infusion therapy includes a container, e.g., a plastic bag, for the parental solution, a tube extending from the bag and connected to a Y-injection site, and a tube from the Y-Injection site to a needle or catheter which is inserted into a vein of the patient.
Typically, the infusion fluid line is connected to the infusion bag by a spike device. In this well known system, a rigid spike member penetrates a septum sealing a fluid transfer port of the infusion bag, thereby establishing fluid communication between the infusion bag and the infusion line on which one or several injection sites or ports can be provided. Thereby, the injection of a drug into the infusion fluid is normally accomplished by penetrating a septum that seals the injection port using a conventional hypodermic needle. However, this solution has not been satisfactory from a safety point of view, since it involves a substantial risk of health-hazardous substances escaping into the environment.
For this reason, there is a need for safer devices for introducing a drug or another medical substance into an infusion fluid of an infusion system.
A number of alternative solutions for introducing a medical substance into an infusion system have been proposed, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,245,056 to Walker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,068 to Ryan, U.S. Pat. No. 6,221,065 to Davis, U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,362 to Turnbull et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,897 to Katzin.
Furthermore, International Patent Publication WO 98/19724 to Wessman discloses an improved device for administrating a toxic fluid. The device includes an infusion device for connection to an infusion bag, and is provided with an insertion portion for connecting the bag, and an infusion chamber for dosing a fluid flow via a flow duct in the insertion portion from the bag to an outlet arranged on the chamber. The insertion portion also includes a ventilating duct that extends between the bag and the outside of the infusion device, ending in a connection arranged on the side of the infusion device for supplying the fluid to be administrated, wherein the connection is provided with at least one membrane which is air tight and penetrable by an injection needle.
Several of the solutions disclosed in the above-mentioned documents allow the safe introduction of a potentially health-hazardous medical substance into an infusion system. However, the previously proposed solutions utilize devices assembled from a large number of components, and therefore are also expensive to manufacture.
Another drawback of those devices is the use of glue or adhesive connections between the different components in order to establish a fluid communication between an infusion fluid container and an infusion line connected to a patient. The extensive use of glue or adhesive for these connections is a disadvantage, since it creates problems with the working environment in the manufacturing plant and also increases the manufacturing cost.

Device and method for mixing medical fluids


A system is provided for obtaining parameters about the position and orientation of a camera, where the camera has a fixed position and orientation, by using the image coordinates and world coordinates of markers included in an image photographed by the camera. This system uses a live-image display mode for successively obtaining images input to the camera and a still-image display mode for obtaining an image input to the camera at predetermined time. The markers can be extracted by using the image obtained in either mode. The system can select either automatic-extraction mode or manual-extraction mode for extracting the marker in live images, so that the markers can be extracted with a high degree of accuracy under all conditions to obtain the position and orientation parameters of the camera.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing method and an apparatus therefore for performing calibration of the position and orientation of an image pickup device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional methods for calibrating the position and orientation of a camera that is fixed in a predetermined space are well known. According to one method, a plurality of markers with known coordinates in a three dimensional space (hereinafter referred to as "world coordinates") are photographed by the camera and the position and orientation of the camera is calculated. The position and orientation satisfies the relationship between the world coordinates of the markers and the coordinates of the markers in the photographed image. That is, this calculation solves the perspective n-point (PnP) problem.
In this method, the markers are extracted from the photographed image and are identified using a marker extraction process. This marker extraction process can be performed either automatically, manually or by a combination of both.
Where the marker extraction process is performed manually by the operator, the photographed image is displayed as a still image on a display. Then, the operator clicks the mouse button on the positions of the markers on the displayed image to input image coordinates of the markers.
Where the marker extraction process is performed automatically, image processing is performed for the still image, which is photographed by the camera, by setting and adjusting marker extraction parameters for determining the threshold values of colors for extraction and the sizes of the markers.
However, marker extraction can be impacted by image brightness. When the contrast level of the image is low in accordance with the brightness of a photographed space and a photographing direction, it becomes difficult to identify the markers on the photographed image. It should be noted that appropriate lighting can be performed during photographing. Where the marker extraction process is performed automatically, the marker extraction parameters need to be adjusted. Therefore, much trial and error is required for setting predetermined surroundings for performing good marker extraction process.
Further yet, a known method for automatically extracting markers captures a still image in order to extract the markers. If the markers cannot be properly extracted, the surrounding thereof is changed and photographed again. Then, the marker extraction is repeated. Thus, the marker extraction process needs to be performed repetitively. Where the marker extraction process is manually performed by the operator, a photographed image must be repetitively input so as to make information required for the marker extraction visible for every marker.

Image processing method and apparatus therefor


A method of authenticating a device and a user comprises receiving a user input, generating a first key from the user input, performing a physical measurement of the device, obtaining helper data for the device, computing a second key from the physical measurement and the helper data, and performing an operation using the first and second keys. In a preferred embodiment, the method comprises performing a defined function on the first and second keys to obtain a third key. Additionally security can be provided by the step of receiving a user input comprising performing a biometric measurement of the user and the step of generating a first key from the user input comprises obtaining helper data for the user and computing the first key from the biometric measurement and the user helper data.

An increasingly important trend in healthcare is one of consumer/patient involvement at all levels of healthcare. People are taking a more active role in their own health management. This trend of patient empowerment has already been widely supported. A number of solutions, (see for example, Capmed, http://www.phrforme.com/index.asp, Medkey, http://www.medkey.com/ and Webmd, http://www.webmd.com) have been introduced into the market that allow patients to collect their own health-related information and to store them on portable devices, computers, and in online services. These solutions are often referred to as Personal Health Record (PHR) services. Already a number of products in the market allow patients to enter automatically measurements and other medical data into their PHRs, see for example, Lifesensor, https://www.lifesensor.com/en/us/, and healthvault, http://search.healthvault.com/. For example a weight-scale sends its information via Bluetooth to a computer, from which the data is uploaded to a PHR. This allows patients to collect and manage their health data, but even more importantly to share the data with various healthcare professionals involved in their treatment.
Another important trend in healthcare is that the delivery of healthcare has gradually extended from acute institutional care to outpatient care and home care. Advances in information and communication technologies have enabled remote healthcare services (telehealth) including telemedicine and remote patient monitoring. A number of services in the market already deploy telehealth infrastructures where the measurement devices are connected via home hubs to remote backend servers. Health care providers use this architecture to remotely access the measurement data and help the patients. Examples are disease management services (such as Philips Motiva and PTS) or emergency response services (Philips Lifeline).
Interoperability of measurement devices, home hubs and backend services becomes very important for enabling and further growth of this market. This need is recognized by the Continua health alliance, see http://www.continuaalliance.org, for example. As shown in FIG. 1, this initiative aim to standardize protocols between measurement devices, home hub (application hosting) devices, online healthcare/wellness services (WAN) and health record devices (PHRs/EHRs). In addition to data format and exchange issues, the Continua alliance is also addressing security and safety issues.
One of the basic security and safety problems in the domain of telehealth is the problem of user and device authentication/identification. Namely, when data remotely measured by patients is used by telehealth services or in the medical professional world, the healthcare providers need to place greater trust in information that patients report. In particular, they have to be ensured that a measurement is coming from the right patient and that appropriate device was used to take the measurement. Consider a blood pressure measurement; it is crucial to know that the blood pressure of a registered user is measured (not of his friends/children), and that the measurement was taken by a certified device and not a cheap fake device. This is very important, because otherwise there can result critical health care decisions based on wrong data.
In current practice, a device identifier (device ID) is either used as a user identifier (user ID) or as a means to derive a user ID (if multiple users are using the same device). For example, in the Continua system, as described in "Continua Health Alliance, Recommendations for Proper User Identification in Continua Version 1—PAN and xHR interfaces (Draft v.01)", December 2007, at the PAN interface, as shown in FIG. 1, each Continua device is required to send its own unique device ID. The user ID is optional (and can be just simple as 1, 2, A, B). The valid user ID is obtained at the hub device (application hosting device), which can provide mapping between a simple user ID associated with a device ID to a valid user ID. There might be also measurement devices that can send a valid user ID next to the device ID. Then the mapping is not needed.
There are several problems with the current approach. For example, the current approach does not support authentication of users/devices, it only appends the user ID to the measurement. Data provenance is not established, as a healthcare provider later in the process cannot securely find which device was used to create the measurement. Next to that, the current mapping approach does not quickly lock the user and device ID together, but it introduces room for mistakes. Either a user makes an unintended mistake (if manual mapping is required—the user has to select his ID (1 or A) at application hosting device or measurement device for each measurement) or the system can mix the users (the application designer should take special care to provide data management in a way to reduce the potential for associating measurements to the wrong user). In this type of arrangement, it is possible for a malicious user to introduce wrong measurements by impersonating the real user. Similarly, the device ID can be copied to forged devices, which can be easily introduced in the eco system. Then a user can use these devices to produce data that will look reliable but in fact will be unreliable.
It is therefore an object of the invention to improve upon the known art.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of authenticating a device and a user comprising receiving a user input, generating a first key from the user input, performing a physical measurement of the device, obtaining helper data for the device, computing a second key from the physical measurement and the helper data, and performing an operation using the first and second keys.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for authenticating a device and a user comprising a user interface arranged to receive a user input, a query component arranged to perform a physical measurement of the device, and a processing component connected to the user interface and the query component, and arranged to generate a first key from the user input, to obtain helper data for the device, to compute a second key from the physical measurement and the helper data, and to perform an operation using the first and second keys.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of registering a device and a user comprising receiving a user input, generating a first key from the user input, performing a physical measurement of the device, generating a second key and helper data for the device from the physical measurement, performing an operation using the first and second keys, and transmitting an output of the operation to a remote data store.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for registering a device and a user comprising a user interface arranged to receive a user input, a query component arranged to perform a physical measurement of the device, and a processing component arranged to generate a first key from the user input, to generate a second key and helper data for the device from the physical measurement, to perform an operation using the first and second keys, and to transmit an output of the operation to a remote data store.
Owing to the invention, it is possible to bind the identity of a user and a device so as to certify that data originating from the device originates from the particular device and the particular user. This supports data quality assurance and reliability in personal healthcare applications. In this system, there is delivered a method to bind the identity of a user and a device identifier as early as possible, so as to certify that data originating from the device originates from the particular device and the particular user. To ensure proper device and user authentication/identification it is possible to use a Physically Uncloneable Function (PUF, described in detail below) in combination with a user input.
As a result there is covered the three problems from the prior art by providing respectively, close coupling of the user ID and the identification of the device used to take the measurement (the use of unregistered device/user is immediately detected), strong user authentication and anti-counterfeiting and strong device authentication. This has the following benefits, patient safety (diagnosis and health decisions are based on reliable data), reduction of costs (reuse of patient provided data in the consumer health and the professional healthcare domain) and convenience for the patient (they can take healthcare measurements at home).
In a preferred embodiment, the step of receiving a user input comprises performing a biometric measurement of the user and the step of generating a first key from the user input comprises obtaining helper data for the user and computing the first key from the biometric measurement and the user helper data. The user of a biometric measurement, such as a fingerprint, increases the security of the system and ensures that any data taken from an individual is authenticated as being from that specific individual, when the data is analyzed by a remote health system.
Advantageously, the method comprises performing a defined function on the first and second keys to obtain a third key. The security of the system can be increased if the two keys, one from the device and one from the user are combined together to create a third key, prior to any transmittal to a remote location. The combination can be performed according to a function of both inputs. Such function can be for example: (i) the concatenation of both strings, the XORing of both strings, the concatenation of both strings and subsequent hashing of the resulting string, the XORing of both strings and then hashing the resulting string, the encryption of one string according to an encryption algorithm (e.g. the Advanced Encryption Standard) using as key one of the strings and as plaintext the second string, etc.
In a further embodiment, the step of receiving a user input comprises receiving a password and the step of generating a first key from the user input comprises computing the first key from the password. Rather than using biometric data, a simple password can be used to authenticate the user. Although this does not have the highest level of security associated with using the biometric data, this still provides a system that is an improvement over current known systems.
Ideally, the step of obtaining helper data for the device comprises computing the helper data from the first key and a stored component. The key for the device (the second key) is created from the physical measurement performed on the device and the helper data. If the helper data is reconstructed from the first key (from the user) and some stored component, then the security of the system of authenticating the device and user is increased, because the helper data is never stored in the clear.
Advantageously, the method further comprises obtaining a user share, obtaining a device share, and performing a defined function on the user share, device share, first and second keys to obtain a third key. The use of a user share and device share allows more than one device to be authenticated to a specific user, which increases the efficiency of the registration and authentication system.


The present invention relates to an electrical relay in which a solid slug is moved within a channel and used to make or break an electrical connection. The solid slug is moved by electromagnets. In the preferred embodiment, the slug is wetted by a conducting liquid, such as liquid metal, that also adheres to wettable contact pads within the channel to provide a latching mechanism. The relay is amenable to manufacture by micro-machiningtechniques.

Latching relays are used widely in applications such as aerospace, RF communications and portable electronics. Conventional electromechanical relays operate by energizing an electromagnet that actuates a magnetic armature to make or break a contact. When the magnet is deenergized, a spring restores the armature to its original position. Similar techniques have been applied to microelectromechanical (MEMS) relays using microelectronic fabrication methods. Latching in MEMS switches is difficult to achieve. One approach uses a cantilever beam in the magnetic field of a permanent magnet. The beam is bistable; the end closer to the magnet is attracted to the magnet.
Liquid metal is also used in electrical relays. A liquid metal droplet can be moved by a variety of techniques, including electrostatic forces, variable geometry due to thermal expansion/contraction, and pressure gradients. When the dimension of interest shrinks, the surface tension of the liquid metal becomes dominant force over other forces, such as body forces (inertia). Consequently, some micro-electromechanical (MEM) systems utilize liquid metal switching.

Method of manufacturing an electromagnetic relay


A system for generating market pricing information for a non-fungible target item includes one or more databases containing historical pricing information for at least one reference item, historical pricing information for at least the target item, and market pricing information for at least the reference item. A pricing engine determines a pricing differential between the target item and the reference item that reflects historical pricing information for the target and reference items. The pricing engine applies the pricing differential to the market pricing information for the reference item to generate market pricing information for the target item. The market pricing information for the reference item may include a substantially real-time current market price for the reference item, and the market pricing information for the target item may be generated in the form of a substantially real-time current market price quote for the target item for communication to a market participant.

In general, commodity items are fungible in that market participants will freely exchange one such item for another such item, since any differences between the two items are immaterial. As just an example, shares of a particular stock are fungible, since participants will (transactions costs, tax consequences, and other ancillary issues aside) sell and later repurchase a number of shares without regard to the identity of the actual shares being traded. In contrast, non-commodity items are non-fungible in that market participants will not freely exchange one such item for another, since the differences between the two items are material. For example, houses are non-fungible. Even two houses with identical structures, appearances, and lot sizes generally cannot be entirely equivalent, since they must necessarily have different locations.
Where considerations external to the actual identity of items make otherwise fungible items non-fungible, the considerations may be normalized to make such items essentially fungible as quasi-commodities. As an example, although sugar is inherently fungible as an item, two shipments of sugar delivered on different days and at different locations will generally not be treated identically in the marketplace. By normalizing according to the delivery date and location, however, the sugar may be made fungible since shipments of sugar delivered on the same day and at the same location will be treated identically in the marketplace.
A difficulty in marketplaces in which non-fungible items are traded is lack of liquidity with respect to these non-fungible items. For example, in a marketplace for component parts used in manufacturing, there may be a large number of parts available for purchase but a very low trading volume for at least some of the parts (typically the parts that are non-fungible). If the last trade involving a particular part occurred three months ago, and market conditions have changed appreciably in the interim, how are market participants to determine a current fair market price for the part? Inability to readily determine fair market pricing information for non-fungible items may prevent sellers of such items from providing meaningful and substantially real-time quotes to buyers, erode confidence of buyers in the market for such items, and otherwise inhibit trading with respect to such items. As a result of any of these or other disadvantages, prior pricing techniques for non-fungible items have been inadequate in many electronic marketplace and other electronic commerce environments.

System and method for generating market pricing information for non-fungible items


A method of image processing based on a plurality of frames of images, an electronic device, and a storage medium are provided. The method includes: capturing a plurality of frames of original images; obtaining a high dynamic range (HDR) image by performing image synthesis on the plurality of frames of original images; performing artificial intelligent-based denoising on the HDR image to obtain a target denoised image.

As technologies of intelligent terminals develop, usage of a mobile terminal (such as a smart phone, a tablet computer, and the like) is becoming more and more popular. Majority of mobile terminals may be incorporated with cameras. As processing capability of the mobile terminal is increased, and technologies of the camera develop, performance of an incorporated camera may be improved dramatically, and quality of a captured image may be improved. For now, the mobile terminal may be portable and easily operated, and an increased number of users are using smart phones, tablet computers, and other mobile terminals to photograph.
Besides the mobile terminal brings convenient for people's daily lives, people desire higher quality for captured images, especially when photographing at a night scene, the quality of the image captured at the night scene may be relatively poor.
Currently in the art, a plurality of frames of original images may be captured, and high dynamic image synthesis may be performed. However, during capturing the plurality of frames of original images, noise may be introduced resulting in a synthesized image having poor definition. Therefore, how to perform denoising on an image and maintain details of the original images as much as possible may be a technical problem to be solved.

Method of image processing based on plurality of frames of images, electronic device, and storage medium

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


A redundant path configuration method and a control method are disclosed. An intercommunication path for mutually transmitting and receiving a signal is provided among the BHEs each of which is a top of a tree. When failures occur in an active system path in certain AE, a standby system path (BHE) relays communication between the AE and the (active system) BHE so as to secure continuity of communication. The intercommunication path through which a data signal does not flow in a normal operation is used as a traffic accommodation path in an emergency among the BHEs. By setting a bypass between the tops of the trees, when a failure occurs in one tree, a signal is transferred from the active system BHE to the standby system path in which another BHE is a top to build a sub-tree bypassing the failure point and to secure a communication path.

With the increase in demands for communication using broadband, a user-oriented access line has been shifted to a large capacity access line using an optical fiber instead of an access technique which is based on a telephone line such as a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL). Currently, a Passive Optical Network (PON) system (hereinafter, referred to as a PON simply, an optical passive network system, or a passive optical network system in some cases) is frequently used for an access line service in terms of line construction costs and maintenance and management costs. For example, standardization in International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is a representative example. The Western countries have started to introduce Gigabit PON (GPON) since around 2006.
With the increase in opportunities for home users (communication service subscribers) to access the Internet and collect information or use information services required for social lives, there have been requests for preparation for communication networks, particularly, completion of access network providing services which connect subscribers to communication networks. That is, carriers, which provide the communication networks, are required to increase capital for increasing the number of users accommodated in each station along with an increase in the number of users of access lines. In order to increase the number of users, a method of additionally introducing the PON or of increasing the number of users accommodated in each PON system has been examined. In relation thereto, next generation PON techniques called 10 Gigabit PON (10GPON) and 10 Gigabit Ethernet (registered trademark) PON (10GEPON) have been examined as means for performing transmission at a higher bit rate than in the related art in ITU-T and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
The above-described subscriber accommodation equipment is installed in a building of a communication carrier. In order to relay a connection between a subscriber and an opposite device (another user, a web server, or the like), typically, there is a network configuration in which a signal from a subscriber is input to a relay transmission network (hereinafter, referred to as a relay network in some cases) from the subscriber accommodate equipment, and, simultaneously, a signal is transferred in an opposite direction to the signal, and thereby the user can obtain information. The relay network is connected to provider networks or core networks, and plays a role of distributing a user signal to one or more provider networks or core networks and transferring a signal from the provider networks or the core networks to the user in a reverse direction. This relay network is called an access network or a backhaul.
Although a dedicated line service using an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), frame relay, SONET/SDH, or the like is frequently used for a user network in the related art, recently, a low-priced packet communication network exemplified by Ethernet (registered trademark) has been frequently used with an increasing request for cost reduction and the progress of a communication technique and a device manufacturing technique which can handle expanded transmission capacity. On the other hand, SONET/SDH is the mainstream as a communication technique inside a core network, and forms a large capacity and high reliability network in order to transmit data which is collected via a plurality of access networks.
In recent years, along with becoming widespread of the Internet, a packet (or also referred to as a frame) communication technique exemplified by Ethernet (registered trademark) and Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) has progressed and attracted attention as a base technique for forming a communication network. Features of the packet network lie in ease of handling or reduction in development (introduction) costs. In addition thereto, circumstances in which a standard technique which targets a packet communication technique and is related to maintenance and management is being established are main causes for the communication carriers to introduce and expand the packet communication technique. Definition or the like of the above-described maintenance and management function or a function of the packet communication network has been discussed in the standardization groups such as ITU-T, IEEE, and The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

Communication network system and communication network configuration method


The present invention relates to a method and device of evaluating a traffic shaper used for shaping at least two traffic flows of a mobile terminal operating according to a particular DRX setting in a mobile communications network. The method comprises the steps of acquiring an estimated lower bound of battery savings as a function of transmission rate of each traffic flow (f1, f2) of the at least two traffic flows for the mobile terminal according to the particular DRX setting. Further, the method comprises acquiring an estimated battery savings measure for said each traffic flow (f1, f2) before shaping, and acquiring an estimated battery savings measure for said each traffic flow (f1, f2) after shaping. Moreover, the method comprises calculating normalized traffic shaper gain as a relation between the estimated battery savings measure for the shaped traffic flow and the estimated battery savings measure for the unshaped traffic flow for said each traffic flow (f1, f2), said relation further being normalized with the respective estimated lower bound of battery savings, and determining whether to use the traffic shaper (S1) for said at least two traffic flows (f1, f2) on the basis of the calculated normalized traffic shaper gain.

Discontinuous Reception (DRX) is a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard in Long Term Evolution (LTE) to save battery in a user equipment (UE) such as a mobile phone, tablet, media player, laptop, etc., or any other appropriate mobile terminal with communication capability. DRX is a parameterized functionality that effects how the UE switches between ON and OFF reception states. DRX parameters are known to both the UE and the Radio Access Network (RAN), e.g., the eNodeB, the NodeB, or the Radio network Controller (RNC), with which the UE communicates. During the ON period, the UE is able to receive data packets. If no packet is received during the ON period, the UE switches to OFF after an inactivity timer has expired. During the OFF period, it is not possible to send data packets to the UE and packets have to be buffered in the eNodeB until the next ON period commences. When sending packets, the UE always transitions to the ON state. Numerous DRX settings are possible for best handling different types of data packet flows. Important performance characteristics for selecting DRX parameters are delay due to buffering in the eNodeB and battery saving in the UE.
Traffic shaping is a technique which delays some or all of the packets in a packet switched network, such as an Internet Protocol (IP) network, for the purpose of bringing the packets in compliance with a traffic profile. For example, if packets arrive with approximately fixed inter-arrival times, a traffic shaper could delay a group of packets and after some period of time send these as a burst of packets with virtually zero inter-arrival time. For resource utilization purposes, this strategy may be more efficient, for example for saving battery in the UE.
A problem in the art is how to evaluate the performance of a traffic shaper in terms of quality or "goodness" according to reasonably objective standards, for the purpose of finding an optimal or near optimal shaper under given traffic conditions. The quality of a particular traffic shaper may be quantified in a number of ways, where the most intuitive and straightforward measure is to quantify how much resource gain is achieved with the shaper without sacrificing quality of experience of the user. If the resource gain is higher with the shaper than without, it can be concluded that the particular shaper brings and added value. Although it can be determined whether the utilization of a particular shaper is better than not using a shaper at all for a certain traffic flow, it would also be desirable to be able to compare different shapers for finding the best one for the certain traffic flow.

Method and device for evaluating a traffic shaper


A method, system, and/or computer program product manages code instrumentation in a production computer program. Performance data from instrumentation code associated with a portion of code of a production computer program is received. One or more processors compare the performance data to a predetermined performance threshold. In response to the performance data meeting the predetermined performance threshold, one or more processors remove the instrumentation code for the portion of code.

The present invention relates to managing code instrumentation in a production computer program.
During the production of software, code coverage tools are commonly employed which make use of instrumented code to calculate the quality of testing in terms of the lines, branches or method coverage in the software that occurs when tests are run on the development software. The instrumentation of the code however comes with the added cost of extra computational cycles, and therefore has a performance reduction compared to non-instrumented code. Therefore production code released to a customer does not typically have this instrumentation code in place. However, when production software is released, the supplier may not have fully tested all of the source code. In other words production software may be released without full test coverage.

Managing code instrumentation in a production computer program

International Business Machines Corporation