Methods and compositions for delivering polynucleotides are provided. One embodiment provides a non-viral vector comprising a recombinant polynucleotide-binding protein comprising a protein transduction domain operably linked to a targeting signal. Methods for modifying the genome of non-nuclear organelles are also provided.

Plant cells have three gene-containing compartments: the nucleus, mitochondria and plastids. There are several types of plastid including: (1) chlorophyll-containing chloroplasts; (2) yellow, orange or red carotenoid-containing chromoplasts; (3) starch-storing amyloplasts; (4) oil-containing elaioplasts; (5) proplastids (plastid precursors found in most plant cells); and (6) etioplasts (partially developed chloroplasts that form in dark-grown seedlings). Each plastid creates multiple copies of the 75-250 kilo bases plastid genome. The number of genome copies per plastid is flexible, ranging from more than 1000 in rapidly dividing cells, which generally contain few plastids, to 100 or fewer in mature cells, where plastid divisions has given rise to a large number of plastids. The plastid genome contains about 100 genes encoding ribosomal and transfer ribonucleic acids (rRNAs and tRNAs) as well as proteins involved in photosynthesis and plastid gene transcription and translation. Most plants inherit the plastids from only one parent. Angiosperms generally inherit plastids from the mother, while many gymnosperms inherit plastids from the father. Algae also inherit plastids from only one parent. This fact allows for gene manipulation in plastids as a means of controlling inadvertent gene dispersion, a concern in genetically modified plant agriculture.
The various forms of plastid (amyloplasts, chromoplasts, etc.) have desirable properties as places to conduct reactions and to accumulate proteins or products of enzymes, and they can be exploited using the embodiments provided. Some syntheses other than photosynthesis are only carried out in plastids, probably because one or another feature of the organelle's environment does not exist elsewhere in the cell. Furthermore, the cytoplasm and chloroplast contain different proteases, and a protein might survive better in one compartment than in the other. A specific type of plastid might be a good place to accumulate certain proteins or their biosynthetic products that would be harmful if they were present in large amounts in the cytoplasm or in a plastid of a different type.
Mitochondria in plants, as in other eukaryotes, play an essential role in the cell as the major producers of ATP via oxidative phosphorylation in addition, mitochondria are involved in numerous other metabolic processes including the biosynthesis of amino acids, vitamin cofactors, fatty acids, and iron-sulphur clusters. Plant mitochondria also play crucial roles in many other aspects of plant development, performance, cell death and possess an array of unique properties which allow them to interact with the specialized features of plant cell metabolism. This includes regulation of oxidative stress during infection and pathogen attack and modulating plant responses as a means of survival during stresses such as cold temperatures, drought, and nutrient limitation. Furthermore, plant mitochondria and the accumulation of mutations in plant mitochondrial genomes, may serve as the cause of plant aging.
In comparison to plastid genomes, the size of plant mitochondrial genomes is quite variable. Furthermore, plant mitochondrial genomes can be variable even within the same plant cell, a term referred to as heteroplasmy. Owing to robust recombination rates, the plant mitochondrial genome is a highly complex structure composed of small circular and large circularly permuted DNA molecules. Plant mitochondrial genomes encode for a host of proteins and RNAs involved in various plant cell processes including oxidative phosphorylation. In the course of evolution, many organisms tackled the task of introducing macromolecules into living cells. Aside from the cell-specific, usually receptor-mediated or active uptake mechanisms, the general solution that has independently emerged in many lineages relies on peptides specifically evolved to interact with, and insert into lipid bilayer membranes. Thus, bacterial colicins, human porins, and protein transduction domains (PTDs) from diverse species share the motif of a positively charged alpha-helix, frequently with an amphipathic structure, which is capable of inserting into lipid membranes, and delivering larger cargoes intracellularly. Recent research reports confirm the successful use of PTDs fused to proteins for their delivery across biological boundaries, including the blood-brain barrier, and the placenta.
Another issue of great importance in the delivery of macromolecules in organisms is the need to protect them from proteolytic, nucleolytic and immune degradation and removal while traversing extracellular spaces. An often used approach is coating DNA with proteins capable of surviving the harsh journey to the target. Viral capsid proteins have been quite successful, yet for the purpose of DNA delivery in humans they suffer from a significant drawback—immunogenicity, the capacity to evoke a strong immune reaction greatly reducing the effectiveness of gene therapy.
Thus, there is a need for improved compositions and methods for the delivery of polynucleotides to the interior of a cell.

Nonviral vectors for delivering polynucleotides to plants


A half-bridge circuit where the transistors comprising the half-bridge are electronically interlocked--precluding cross-conduction; and high-side voltage generation and logic level translation are integral to the interlock mechanism.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of power electronics. In particular, the present invention relates to inverter circuits used universally in electronic power applications.
2. Background Art
Half and full-bridge topologies are extensively applied in power electronics. Implementing these architectures requires attention to high-side GATE voltage generation, high-side logic level signal translation, and prohibiting simultaneous transistor conduction shoot-through, or cross-conduction. Satisfying these requirements impacts circuit complexity, reliability, and switching performance.


Pressure amplifier for mounting above the drill bit at the lower end of a drill pipe for generating an increased fluid pressure in a drilling fluid flow, for example for obtaining an increased drilling effect. A reciprocating piston in a cylinder is designed with a large piston area at one end (low pressure side), a relatively small piston area at the opposite end (high pressure side), and an annular surface formed at the transition between the two ends. The pressure converter also includes a control valve, an actuator, and a drilling fluid valve to control drilling fluid flow to and from the cylinder.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved design of a pressure amplifier or converter for mounting above the drill bit at the lower end of a drill pipe for deep drilling, in particular for oil and gas, and for generating an increased fluid pressure by utilizing energy from the flow of drilling fluid downwards through the drill string and the drill pipe. This may be, inter alia, for the purpose of obtaining an enhanced drilling effect, preferably by means of one or more high pressure jets adapted to have a cutting effect in the surrounding rock.
2. Description of the Related Art
The invention can be regarded as a further development and improvement of structures described in Norwegian Patent Specification Nos. 169.088, 171.322, 171.323 and 171.325. Norwegian Patent 171.323 is particularly directed to a valve assembly for this type of pressure converter, which advantageously can be replaced by the new and improved designs described below. The new designs involve, inter alia, less wear of vital valve parts and better reliability and safety under the extreme conditions that the structures are subjected to in use.


A blade mould and a method for manufacturing a blade shell part of a wind turbine blade is disclosed. The blade mould comprises a first mould frame; a mould shell supported by the first mould frame and provided with a moulding surface that defines an outer shape of the blade shell part, wherein the mould shell has a longitudinal direction and comprises a root end mould part at a first end thereof; and a first deformation device for deforming the root end mould part of the mould shell. The method comprises arranging reinforcement material on the moulding surface of the root end mould part; deforming the root end mould part to a receiving configuration; inserting the root end insert in the root end mould part; and bringing the root end mould part to a moulding configuration.

Wind turbine blades of fibre-reinforced polymer and in particular the aerodynamic shells of wind turbine blades are usually manufactured in moulds, where the pressure side and the suction side of the blade are manufactured separately by arranging glass fibre mats and/or other fibre-reinforcement material, such as carbon fibre, in each of the two mould parts. Then, the two halves are glued together, often by means of internal flange parts. Glue is applied to the inner face of the lower blade half before the upper blade half is lowered thereon. Additionally, one or two reinforcing profiles (beams or shear webs) are often attached to the inside of the lower blade half prior to gluing to the upper blade half.
The aerodynamic shell parts are typically made by use of Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Moulding (VARTM), where a plurality of fibre mats are arranged on top of a rigid mould parts and possibly also a core material to provide parts having a sandwich structure. When the fibre mats have been stacked and overlapped so as to form the final shape of the wind turbine blade shell part, a flexible vacuum bag is arranged on top of the fibre mats and sealed against the rigid mould part, thereby forming a mould cavity containing the fibre mats. Resin inlets and vacuum outlets are connected to the mould cavity. First the mould cavity is evacuated via the vacuum outlets so as to form an underpressure in the mould cavity, after which a supply of liquid resin is supplied via the resin inlets. The resin is forced into the mould cavity due to the pressure differential and impregnates the fibre material of the fibre mats. When the fibre material has been fully impregnated, the resin is cured in order to form the final composite structure, i.e. the blade shell part.
Wind turbine blades have become increasingly longer of the years and blades having a length of more than 70 metres are now commercially available on the market. This also means that larger moulds have to be used. Due to the large size, it has become increasingly complicated to manufacture blade shell parts without errors, such as formation of wrinkles in the fibre material, which in turn can be detrimental to the mechanical strength of the composite structure and may necessitate that the manufactured wind turbine blade shell part has to be scrapped.

Blade mould for manufacturing a blade shell part of a wind turbine blade and related method


In a fluorescer solution, a plurality of types of fluorescent particles are contained in a resin liquid. Average particle sizes of these fluorescent particles decrease as densities of the types increase. In other words, average settling rates vs of the types of the fluorescent particles ascertained by

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fluorescer solution including multiple types of fluorescent particles, a light-emitting device, and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Background Art
A light-emitting device emitting light of a prescribed color generally includes an LED (Light-Emitting Diode) chip emitting light having a first wavelength and a fluorescent particle that absorbs the light and emits light having a second wavelength longer than the first wavelength. Thereby, the light having the second wavelength emitted by the fluorescent particle is emitted to the outside of the light-emitting device (for example, refer to international publication WO 2002/059982 (FIG. 1)). Also, the light having the first wavelength emitted by the LED chip may be emitted after being mixed with the light having the second wavelength emitted by the fluorescent particle.
Such a light-emitting device is manufactured by the following methods. Namely, a package having a recess formed on the upper face thereof is constructed, and an LED chip is mounted on the bottom face of the recess. Then, a fluorescer solution in which fluorescent particles are dispersed in a resin liquid is poured into the recess from a dispenser. Then, heat treatment is performed to thermoset the fluorescer solution and thereby form a resin member. Thereby, a light-emitting device is manufactured in which the resin member including the fluorescent particles is provided in the recess of the package.
In recent years, technology has been developed to provide multiple types of fluorescent particles in one light-emitting device to emit light having mutually different wavelengths. Thereby, more versatile control of the color of the emitted light is possible. In the case where such a light-emitting device is manufactured, multiple types of fluorescent particles are contained in the fluorescer solution described above.
However, in a light-emitting device in which the multiple types of fluorescent particles described above are provided, the color of the emitted light undesirably fluctuates with the timing of the manufacturing.

Fluorescer solution, light-emitting device, and method for manufacturing same

Abstract: v    s    =                    D        p        2            ×              (                              ρ            p                    -                      ρ            f                          )            ×      g              18      ×      η      are equal to each other, where Dp is an average particle size of each of the types of fluorescent particles, pp is a density of each of the types of fluorescent particles, pf is a density of the resin liquid, η is a viscosity of the resin liquid, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and vs is an average settling rate of each of the types of fluorescent particles.


The present teachings provide a fuser member. The fuser member includes a substrate layer. The substrate layer substrate layer includes a paraformaldehyde modified polyimide. An intermediate layer is disposed on the substrate layer. A release layer is disposed on the intermediate layer. A method of manufacturing the paraformaldehyde modified polyimide is disclosed.

1. Field of Use
This disclosure is generally directed to fuser members useful in electrophotographic imaging apparatuses, including digital, image on image, and the like. In addition, the fuser member described herein can also be used in a transfix apparatus in a solid ink jet printing machine.
2. Background
Polymers have many desirable properties for engineering systems including low mass density, chemical stability, and high strength-to-mass ratio. Polymeric materials typically have a low thermal conductivity near room temperature; in fact, foams of amorphous polymers are widely used for thermal insulation. In situations where heat transfer is critical, polymeric materials are at a disadvantage.
In the electrophotographic printing process, a toner image can be fixed or fused upon a support (e.g., a paper sheet) using a fuser member. Conductive fillers and fibers have been incorporated into polymeric materials to enhance conductivity of fuser members. However, incorporation of conductive fillers or fibers into polymeric material can decrease the Young's modulus of polymeric material. Incorporation of conductive fillers or fibers requires an additional processing step. It would be desirable to have a fuser belt having higher thermal conductivity, high thermal diffusivity and a high Young's modulus.


A spinning machine includes: a main shaft which includes a chuck holding a cylindrical material having a bottom and a regulation member; a mandrel which is inserted inside from an opening side end portion of the material; and a press roller which presses the opening side end portion of the material. The spinning machine molds a circumferential groove portion on the opening side end portion so that an inner diameter of the opening side end portion of the material is smaller than an inner diameter of a body of the material by pushing a press roller while rotating the material around the axial center of the main shaft, and at least a portion of the inserted mandrel is formed so that a gap is provided between the portion and an inner circumferential surface after the opening side end portion of the material is plastically deformed.

Technical Field
Certain embodiments of the invention relates to a plastic working method which performs plastic working on an opening side end portion of a cylindrical material having a bottom, and a spinning machine used in the same, and particularly, to a plastic working method capable of processing a product in which an inner diameter of the opening side end portion is smaller than an inner diameter of a material body, and a spinning machine used in the same.
Description of the Related Art
In the related art, a spinning machine is suggested, which forms a groove portion on an outer circumferential surface in an opening side end portion of a cylindrical material having a bottom and by which a product (for example, a brake piston for a disk brake) in which an inner diameter of the opening side end portion is smaller than an inner diameter of a material body can be obtained with plastic working.

Plastic working method and spinning machine used in the same


A nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus receives nuclear magnetic resonance signals from an object under test with an RF probe which is an array of coils, implements down-frequency conversion with frequency converters for the received signals in multiple channels such that the frequency bands of the converted signals do not virtually overlap, filters the converted signals with band pass filters each operating to cut off frequency bands of other channels, hybridizes the filtered signals of multiple channels to form a hybridized signal, and produces an image from the hybridized signal.

The present invention relates to a nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus which measures the nuclear magnetic resonance (will he termed "NMR" hereinafter) signals from hydrogen, phosphor, etc. in an object under test thereby to image the density distribution, relaxation time distribution, and the like of the nuclei.
Conventional NMR apparatus intended for the inspection and imaging of objects (e.g., human body) use various wrap coils specialized for the regions of interest, e.g., head and abdomen, and surface coils which are less affected by the movement of organ such as the heart. The surface coil has a higher sensitivity as compared with the head coil and abdomen coil, but it suffers from a limited view field, and therefore imaging of such a large section as the spine is carried out dividedly by shifting the position of the surface coil, resulting in a significant time consumption.
This problem is counterplotted by a method of virtually expanding the view field, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,162, in which a plurality of surface coils are arranged, with adjoining coils overlapping properly so that they do not couple, and the NMR signals received by the surface coils are hybridized. Although the arrangement of multiple surface coils overcomes the prior art deficiency of a narrow measuring view field, the advantage of the surface coil, i.e., high signal-to-noise (s/n) ratio, will be lost if the coil outputs are simply hybridized. A magnetic resonance apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,775 and another one described in publication "Magnetic Resonance in Medicine", Vol. 16, pp.192-225 published in 1990 are intended to achieve a wide view field as the whole and a high s/n ratio by rendering the quadrature phase detection and A/D conversion for the individual coil outputs before the signals are hybridized.


There is disclosed a removable device for covering a shoe sockliner that is not bonded to the sockliner. The device of the present invention thus permits the use of sockliners made from various materials, including foams, sponges or any other suitable recyclable materials. As disclosed, the present invention provides a flexible fabric cover which fits over the sockliner. The top surface of the cover, the surface on which ones foot is placed, has a fabric pile which may vary in thickness to provide comfort and fit for the wearer of the shoe. The bottom surface of the cover has an opening for inserting the shoe sockliner and is elastic for providing a secure fit for the cover over the shoe sockliner. Advantageously, the disclosed invention eliminates the waste associated with known top cloth manufacturing techniques, reduces the time and costs associated with manufacturing existing top cloths, and permits the use of sockliners made from various materials, including materials that are fully recyclable.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates in general to shoes. More specifically, but without restriction to the particular use which is shown and described, this invention relates to shoe sockliners and, in particular, covers for shoe sockliners.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known that a sockliner is the part of the shoe which provides, among other things, cushioning, arch support, comfort and fit for the wearer of the shoe. As conventional, the sockliner is placed in the upper of the shoe above the shoe midsole. The sockliner if made large enough, however, may serve as the midsole of the shoe. The shoe sockliner is removable from the shoe and typically is made from non-recyclable materials such as polyurethane or EVA.
It is also known that a top cloth or cover is attached or bonded to the top surface of the sockliner, the surface on which ones foot is placed. This top cloth or cover provides the sockliner with a soft texture for added comfort and fit for the wearer""s foot. Typically, the top cloth is attached to the sockliner through a gluing or a bonding process, more fully discussed below. The existing top cloth and the gluing and bonding processes for attaching the top cloth to the sockliner have numerous drawbacks which the present invention eliminates.
With respect to the gluing of the top cloth to the sockliner, the bottom surface of a sheet of top cloth is first glued to a sheet of polyurethane. The desired sockliner and accompanying top cloth are then cut from the polyurethane and top cloth sheets. The excess polyurethane and top cloth can not be used and are discarded resulting in a waste of materials. While manufacturing techniques such as nesting are used in an effort to minimize the amount of waste, there still remains waste of polyurethane and top cloth materials with this technique. Other disadvantages with this process include the manufacuturing expense of performing the multiple steps of gluing the top cloth to the polyurethane sheet and the cutting of the excess materials. Still other disadvantages include the use of polyurethane or similar materials which are non-recyclable.
Another similar gluing technique involves first molding the sockliner to the desired shape. The top cloth sheet is then glued to the top surface of the sockliner after which the edges of the top cloth that extend over the top surface are trimmed. This technique also results in waste of top cloth material and requires multiple manufacturing steps. Again, the sockliner is typically made from polyurethane, a non-recyclable material.
Bonding of the top cloth to the sockliner is another common technique for applying the top cloth to the sockliner. With this technique, a mold is used that receives the polyurethane in a liquid form. The top cloth, which has a polyurethane backing, is placed within the mold. As the liquid in the mold grows and cures, the polyurethane backing of the top cloth adheres to the growing polyurethane through a process called cross-linking. Once cured, the top cloth is bonded to the sockliner and the excess top cloth material extending beyond the edges of the sockliner top surface is trimmed. Known drawbacks with the bonding technique include the excess waste of top cloth material, the need for multiple manufacturing steps, significant equipment and mold costs, and the use of polyurethane, a non-recyclable material. Experience has also shown that with either the bonding or gluing techniques, after the shoe has been worn for a period of time, the top cloth peels away from the sockliner, diminishing the comfort and fit of the shoe. The present invention overcomes these known disadvantages associated with prior art shoe sockliners which have an attached top cloth.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages associated with gluing or bonding the top cloth to the shoe sockliner. Another object is to provide a top cloth for a shoe sockliner that does not result in waste of material. Still another object is to eliminate the multiple steps involved with gluing or bonding the top cloth to the sockliner. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sockliner that may be made from recyclable materials. Yet another object of the invention is to provide a top cloth that may be removed from the sockliner after use and either washed or replaced with a new top cloth.
Briefly, the present invention involves a removable device for covering a shoe sockliner that is not bonded to the sockliner. The device of the present invention thus permits the use of sockliners made from various materials, including foams, sponges or any other suitable recyclable materials. One embodiment of the present invention includes a flexible fabric cover which fits over the sockliner and defines a top surface, a bottom surface, and an inner volume. The top surface of the cover, the surface on which ones foot is placed, has a fabric pile that may vary in thickness to provide comfort and fit for the wearer of the shoe. The bottom surface of the cover has an opening for inserting the shoe sockliner. The inner volume of the fabric cover receives the sockliner into the cover and envelops substantially all of the sockliner. The bottom surface is elastic for securely fitting the inventive cover over the shoe sockliner. Significantly, the present invention eliminates the waste associated with known top cloth manufacturing techniques. The present invention further reduces the manufacturing process time and associated costs with the multiple steps of attaching the top cloth to the sockliner. In addition, the present invention permits the use of sockliners made from various materials, including materials that are fully recyclable. The full range of objects, aspects and advantages of the invention are only appreciated by a full reading of this specification and a full understanding of the invention. Therefore, to complete this specification, a detailed description of the invention and the preferred embodiments follows, after a brief description of the drawings.


An automated method and system for calculating the transit time of a pulsed signal transmitted from a first ultrasonic transducer to a second ultrasonic transducer is provided. The method includes measuring the amplitude of the pulsed signal received at the second transducer from the first transducer; measuring the amplitude of any noise proximate to the received pulsed signal; and calculating the signal to noise ratio of the received pulsed signal and the noise, respectively. If the signal to noise ratio is above a predetermined threshold, a first technique is automatically implemented for calculating the transit time of the received pulsed signal. If the signal to noise ratio is less than the predetermined threshold, a second different technique is automatically implemented for calculating the transit time of the received pulsed signal.

Ultrasonic flow meter systems are known for measuring the rate of fluid (e.g., gas or liquid) flow within a conduit such as a pipe. In one particular system, two transducers are disposed on the exterior of the conduit at an oblique angle to each other and are commonly referred to as the upstream transducer and the downstream transducer. The rate of fluid flow through the conduit is determined by first transmitting a pulse from the upstream transducer to the downstream transducer. Next, the downstream transducer transmits a pulse to the upstream transducer. The transit time of the pulse transmitted from the upstream transducer to the downstream transducer is less than that of the pulse transmitted in the reverse direction and the fluid flow rate can be determined (calculated) based on the difference in the measured transit times of the two pulses. Those skilled in the art know that the transducers can be clamped on the exterior of the conduit or can be inserted through the wall of the conduit (e.g., "wetted transducers").
Ultrasonic systems may be used to measure the flow of many different types and densities of liquid or gas and may be used with different types of conduits in varying degrees of condition. These widely varying environments can create different signal to noise ratios when one of the transducers transmits to the other transducer. For example, if the fluid flow to be measured is liquid, the signal to noise ratio will generally be high. If the fluid flow to be measured is gas, the signal to noise ratio will generally be lower. Depending on the signal to noise ratio, different techniques are employed to measure the transit time and time differential between the up and down transit times. For example, if the signal to noise ratio is high, one high resolution technique for measuring the transit time is the cross correlation technique. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,252 incorporated herein by this reference. But, if the signal to noise ratio is low, the high resolution method cross correlation technique may result in errors when the transit time is calculated resulting in an inaccurate flow rate determination. Thus, those skilled in the art may employ a different technique for measuring the transit time. One example of a technique for measuring the transit time where the signal to noise ratio is low is the integrated threshold technique disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,469 also incorporated herein by this reference. Although the integrated threshold technique doesn't provide as high resolution as the cross correlation technique, it is more robust.
Moreover, the signal to noise ratio of any particular transducer arrangement may change over time if the conduit deteriorates, for example, the signal to noise ratio may decrease. Thus, an ultrasonic flow meter system controller (electronics) may be configured at the time of installation to employ the cross correlation technique because the signal to noise ratio is high. But, later in time if the signal to noise ratio is reduced, the cross correlation technique will no longer provide an accurate flow rate determination.
In the prior art, it was often necessary to have a technician or engineer set up an ultrasonic flow meter after evaluating the flow measurement site by connecting an oscilloscope to the meter (or controller) to determine the signal to noise ratio before a particular technique for calculating the transit time of each transmitted pulse could be selected and the transit time measured. This practice is time consuming, expensive, and at times may not be accurate. Moreover, an oscilloscope is an expensive piece of equipment that takes expertise to operate.

Method and system for calculating the transit time of an ultrasonic pulse


According to the present invention, there is provided an objective lens for an optical head device which condenses two or more laser beams having wavelengths corresponding to two or more optical recording mediums having different thicknesses of transparent substrates on recording surfaces of the optical recording mediums via one optical condensing system to record information on the recording surfaces and/or reproduce the information on the recording surfaces, the objective lens comprising: a refractive surface including: a middle region which is formed in a middle portion of the refractive surface centering on an optical axis of the objective lens and which is used with respect to all of the optical recording mediums; one or more peripheral regions which are concentrically formed outside the middle region; and an aperture limiting ring band which is concentrically formed between the middle region and the peripheral region or between the peripheral regions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an objective lens for use in an optical head device for recording and reproducing data with respect to optical recording mediums such as a CD and a DVD having different thicknesses of transparent substrates, using laser light having different wavelengths. The present invention also relates to an optical head device provided with the objective lens.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical head device has heretofore been known which records and reproduces data with respect to optical recording mediums having different thicknesses of transparent substrates for protecting recording surfaces, and different recording densities, using laser light having different wavelengths. Examples of the optical recording medium include a CD, a DVD and the like. Here, in the CD, the thickness of the transparent substrate which protects the recording surface is 1.2 mm. In the DVD, the thickness of the transparent substrate is 0.6 mm, and is smaller than that of the CD, and a recording density is higher than that of the CD. Therefore, for example, the laser light having a wavelength of 790 nm is used in the recording/reproducing with respect to the CD, whereas laser light having a wavelength of 660 nm is used in the recording/reproducing with respect to the DVD. In the objective lens of the optical head device, a numerical aperture NA1 required in the recording/reproducing with respect to the CD is, for example, 0.45, and an numerical aperture NA2 required in the recording/reproducing of the DVD is, for example, 0.6.
In this type of optical head device, in order to achieve miniaturization and thickness reduction of the device, an arrangement has been proposed in which laser light having a wavelength corresponding to each optical recording medium is condensed on the recording surface of the optical recording medium using a single optical condensing system (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-55564). In the optical head device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-55564, an objective lens is used which has a refractive surface comprising a middle region centering on an optical axis and a peripheral region concentrically formed on an outer peripheral side of the middle region.
As described above, for example, since the numerical aperture NA1 required in the recording/reproducing with respect to the CD is 0.45, and a numerical aperture NA2 required in the recording/reproducing with respect to the DVD is 0.6, the laser light in the region outside the numerical aperture NA1 is a noise component which does not contribute the recording/reproducing in the recording/reproducing with respect to the CD in a case where the single optical condensing system is used. Therefore, since the vicinity of the numerical aperture NA1 required in the recording/reproducing with respect to the CD is a boundary between the middle region and the peripheral region in the refractive surface of the objective lens, this boundary portion is provided with a discontinuous surface whose spherical aberration is discontinuous is formed. In this arrangement, at a recording/reproducing time of the CD, the laser light of the region outside NA1 is prevented from being condensed on the recording surface of the CD, and noises are prevented from being generated.

Objective lens and optical head device provided with the same


Disclosed herein is a computer system including multiple worker nodes, each being equipped with an electric power generation unit and an electric power storage unit storing electric power generated by the electric power generation unit, and a master node responsible for management of tasks that are assigned to the worker nodes. Each worker node determines an operating cycle time of the worker node to execute a task assigned by the master node or communicate with any other worker node, based on information indicating a change in electric power stored in the electric power storage unit of the worker node.

With the development of semiconductor technology, computers have become able to operate with increasing lower power consumption. Under such circumstances, in the field of sensor networks, a small computer (a computer node, hereinafter referred to as a "node") that operates making use of natural energy is known (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-103726 which is hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1).
Meanwhile, in the field of distributed information processing, realizing the operation of each node making use of natural energy only is beneficial, since it can lead to a reduction in environmental load. Here, communication between nodes is a bottleneck in distributed information processing and it is desirable that a communication rate (communication bandwidth) between nodes is as large as possible. Thus, a technique for setting a suitable communication rate based on the remaining amount of power (the remaining amount of battery power) is known (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-263349 which is hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 2).

System for determining operating time of a computer to execute assigned tasks based on an amount of change per unit time of a stored electric power


In a pipe connection, in particular for plastic pipes and hoses (2, 9), having a support portion (6) disposed in the interior of the pipe to be connected, and a clamping means (4, 5, 21, 22) which is provided on the outside of the pipe and which comprises a sealing portion (4) and a pressure-applying portion (5), the sealing portion (4) is made from a yielding material, preferably plastic material, and the pressure-applying portion (5) comprises metal, the pressure-applying portion (5) externally surrounding the sealing portion (4).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a pipe connection, in particular for plastic pipes and hoses, comprising a support portion disposed in the interior of the pipe to be connected, and a clamping means which is provided on the outside of the pipe and which comprises a sealing portion and a pressure-applying portion.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known for plastic pipes, in particular comprising hard polyamide, to be connected together by screw means, insofar as a cutting ring which is carried in the screw means is impressed into the pipe material thereby providing the necessary adhesion or bond to the end portion of the pipe.
It has been found however that pipe connections of that kind no longer operate satisfactorily when subjected to substantial pressures. On the one hand, it is necessary for the screw means to be tightened with a very great amount of force in order for the cutting ring to be pressed deeply into the material, so that expensive and complicated tools are required, and often there is not sufficient space to operate therewith. On the other hand limits are imposed by virtue of the fact that, when higher pressures are applied, the cutting ring shears off the material and thus the pipe connection comes apart.
An arrangement has therefore already been proposed, comprising a support portion which is provided with support surfaces and which is disposed in the interior of the pipe to be connected, and a clamping means which has pressing surfaces which co-operate with the support surfaces of the support portion.
Pipe connections of that kind operate satisfactorily but leaks may occur when the connection is subjected to high pressures and problems related to the material involved arise when using plastic material.

Pipe connection for high pressure application


The embodiments herein relate to a method in a Policy and Charging Rules Function, PCRF, node (320), for handling User Equipment-Aggregated Maximum Bit Rate, UE-AMBR, for a wireless device (305) in a communications network (300). The PCRF node (320) comprises a direct interface (317) with a Mobility Management Entity/Serving General packet radio service Support Node, MME/SGSN (308). The PCRF node (320) receives a subscribed UE-AMBR from the MME/SGSN (308) using the direct interface (317). The subscribed UE-AMBR is associated with a wireless device subscription. When triggered, the PCRF node (320) calculates a UE-AMBR based on the subscribed UE-AMBR and based policies associated with the wireless device (305). The PCRF node (320) transmits the calculated UE-AMBR to the MME/SGSN (308) using the direct interface (317).

In a typical communications network a wireless device communicates via a Radio Access Network (RAN) to one or more Core Networks (CNs). The communications network may also be referred to as e.g. a wireless communications network, a wireless communications system, a communications network, a communications system, a network or a system.
The wireless device may be a device by which a subscriber may access services offered by an operator's network and services outside operator's network to which the operator's radio access network and core network provide access, e.g. access to the Internet. The wireless device may be any wireless device, mobile or stationary, enabled to communicate over a radio channel in the communications network, for instance but not limited to e.g. user equipment, mobile phone, smart phone, sensors, meters, vehicles, household appliances, medical appliances, media players, cameras, Machine to Machine (M2M) device or any type of consumer electronic, for instance but not limited to television, radio, lighting arrangements, tablet computer, laptop or Personal Computer (PC). The wireless device may be portable, pocket storable, hand held, computer comprised, or vehicle mounted devices, enabled to communicate voice and/or data, via the radio access network, with another entity, such as another wireless device or a server.
Wireless devices are enabled to communicate wirelessly within the communications network. The communication may be performed e.g. between two wireless devices, between a wireless device and a regular telephone and/or between the wireless device and a server via the radio access network and possibly one or more core networks and possibly the Internet.
The communications network covers a geographical area which is divided into cell areas. Each cell area is served by a base station. The base station is also referred to as a Radio Base Station (RBS), evolved Node B (eNB), eNodeB, NodeB, B node or Base Transceiver Station (BTS), depending on the technology and terminology used.
An architecture that supports Policy and Charging Control (PCC) functionality is depicted in FIG. 1. This FIG. 1 has been taken from 3GPP TS 23.203 (V.12.0.0) that specifies the PCC functionality for Evolved 3GPP Packet Switched domain, comprising both 3GPP accesses (GERAN/UTRAN/E-UTRAN) and Non-3GPP accesses. The PCC functionality is comprised by the functions of the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) node 101, the Bearer Binding and Event Reporting Function (BBERF) 103, the PCRF node 105, the Application Function (AF) 108, the Traffic Detection Function (TDF) 110, the Online Charging System (OCS) 113, the Offline Charging System (OFCS) 115 and the Subscription Profile Repository (SPR) 118 or the User Data Repository (UDR) (not shown).
PCEF 101 is a functional entity which is responsible for enforcement of policies and charging. The PCEF 101 is located at network node, such as e.g. a Packet data network GateWay (PGW) or a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN), and is therefore referred to as a PCEF node in the following. The PCEF 101 is connected to the PCRF node 105 via a Gx interface. The PCEF 101 encompasses service data flow detection (based on the filters definitions comprised in the PCC rules), as well as online and offline charging interactions (not described here) and policy enforcement. Since the PCEF 101 is the entity handling the bearers it is where the QoS is being enforced for the bearer according to the QoS information coming from the PCRF node 105. This PCEF 101 is located at the Gateway (e.g. GGSN in the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) case, and PGW in the WLAN case). For the cases where there is PMIP instead of GTP protocol between BBERF 103 and PCEF 101, the bearer control is done in the BBERF 103 instead. The PCEF 101 further has a Gz interface towards the OFCS 115 and a Gy interface towards the OCS 113.
The PCRF 105 is a node which takes decisions regarding policy control and has flow based charging control functionality. The PCRF node 105 provides network control regarding the service data flow detection, gating, Quality of Service (QoS) and flow based charging towards the PCEF node 101. The PCRF node 105 receives session and media related information from the AF 108 and informs AF 108 of traffic plane events. The PCRF node 105 may provision PCC Rules to the PCEF node 101 via the Gx reference point. The PCRF node 105 may inform the PCEF node 101 through the use of PCC rules on the treatment of each service data flow that is under PCC control, in accordance with the PCRF node 105 policy decision(s). The PCRF node 105 determines the PCC rules based on for example information from the AF 108 obtained via the Rx interface, information from the PCEF node 101 via the Gx interface, information from the SPR 118 obtained via the Sp interface and information from the BBERF 103 obtained via the Gxx interface etc. The PCRF node 105 further has an Sd interface towards a TDF 110 and a Sy interface towards the OCS 113.
The AF 108 is an element offering applications in which service is delivered in a different layer (i.e. transport layer) from the one the service has been requested (i.e. signaling layer), the control of Internet Protocol (IP) bearer resources according to what has been negotiated. One example of an AF 108 is the Proxy-Call Server Control Function (P-CSCF) of the IP Multimedia Core Network (IM CN) subsystem. The AF 108 may communicate with the PCRF node 105 to transfer dynamic session information (i.e. description of the media to be delivered in the transport layer). This communication is performed using the Rx interface.
UE-AMBR and APN-AMBR
User Equipment-Aggregated Maximum BitRate (UE-AMBR) is a QoS parameter that represents the aggregated maximum bit rate that may be assigned to a wireless device, such as a User Equipment (UE). This means that the maximum bit rate consumed by all the Packet Data Network (PDN) connections established by a wireless device cannot surpass the UE-AMBR assigned to the wireless device. The UE-AMBR is a QoS parameter defined in the wireless device subscription that is stored in a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) or a Home Location Register (HLR). The HSS is for the third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and similar to the HLR which is for a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) system. In the following, HSS/HLR is used when referring to either the HSS or the HLR.
The Access Point Name-Aggregated Maximum Bitrate (APN-AMBR) is the aggregated maximum bit rate that may be assigned per Access Point Name (APN) for a wireless device. In other words, the sum of the maximum bit rate of all the PDN connections established by a wireless device towards certain APN cannot surpass the value defined in the APN-AMBR. This QoS parameter is statically defined in wireless device subscription stored in the HSS or HLR but may be dynamically changed by the PCRF node 105.
The PDN connection mentioned above is an association between a wireless device and a PDN. The PDN is identified by an APN and a PDN is accessed via a PGW. The wireless device may have multiple PDN connections. The PDN may also be referred to as an external PDN.
The APN mentioned above is a parameter which identifies the PDN that a wireless device wants to communicate with. In addition to identifying a PDN, an APN may also be used to define the type of service that is provided by the PDN, e.g. connection to Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) server, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) etc. APN is used in 3GPP data access networks, e.g. GPRS, Evolved Packet Core (EPC).
The Mobility Management Entity (MME) or the Serving General packet radio service Support Node (SGSN) sends the "used UE-AMBR" to a RAN node, e.g. the eNB or Radio Network Controller (RNC) or Base Station Controller (BSC). The used UE-AMBR is the sum of all APN-AMBR for different PDN connections, restricted to the "subscribed UE-AMBR", parameter that MME/SGSN receives from the HSS or the HLR at session establishment. The eNB is used in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, RNC is used in a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) network and the BSC is used in a GSM network.
This means:Used UE-AMBR=Min[Sum(all authorized APN-AMBR),Subscribed UE-AMBR]
The MME is a network node in the EPC. The MME manages session states, authentication, paging, mobility with 3GPP, 2G and 3G nodes, roaming, and other bearer management functions. The SGSN is a network node which is responsible for delivery of data packets from and to the wireless device within its geographical service area. Its tasks comprise packet routing and transfer, mobility management, logical link management, and authentication and charging functions. The location register of the SGSN stores location information and user profiles of all GPRS users registered with this SGSN. The term SGSN refers to an SGSN which at supports the S4 interface or the Gn and Gp interfaces. S4-SGSN refers to an SGSN which supports the S4 interface and does not support Gn and Gp interfaces. Gn/Gp-SGSN refers to an SGSN which supports the Gn and Gp interfaces and does not support S4 interface. The MME and the SGSN may be separate network nodes or they may be co-located in one network node. In the following, MME/SGSN refers to a co-located MME and SGSN, an MME, a S4-SGSN or a Gn/GP-SGSN.
FIG. 2 illustrates the prior art situation for the UE-AMBR versus the APN-AMBR in a communications network based on LTE. The UE-AMBR limits the maximum bit rate on non-Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) traffic for a wireless device 120. The globe in FIG. 2 represents a PDN network, e.g. the Internet.
Step 201
The MME/SGSN 125 receives the subscribed UE-AMBR and subscribed APN-AMBR from the HSS/HLR 116. The MME/SGSN 125 and the HSS/HLR 116 are the network nodes which are informed of and may influence the UE-AMBR.
Step 202
The MME/SGSN 125 sends the subscribed APN-AMBR for a PDN-connection to the GW1 node 130a The GW node also forwards the authorized APN-AMBR to the MME/SGSN 125.
Step 203
The GW1 node 130a, in turn, forwards this to the PCRF node 105. The PCRF node 105 may change the APN-AMBR to a value that is different from the subscribed APN-AMBR for a PDN-connection. The APN-AMBR value for a PDN-connection decided by the PCRF node 105 is referred to as authorized APN-AMBR. The PCRF node 105 sends the authorized APN-AMBR to the GW node 105 for enforcement.
Step 204
The MME/SGSN 125 determines and sends the "used UE-AMBR" to the eNB/RNC/BSC 130 which constitutes the sum of the authorized APN-AMBR for all active PDN connections for one wireless device 120, referred to as APN-AMBR in FIG. 2. However this sum is restricted to the "subscribed UE-AMBR" which the MME/SGSN 125 received from the HSS/HLR 116
Note, that the UE-AMBR is enforced in the eNB/RNC/BSC 130 and the APN-AMBR is enforced in the GW 130. Even though the HSS/HLR 116 and the PCRF 105 have all the APN_AMBR values of all the APNs, only one value is downloaded to the MME/SGSN 125 and the GW 130 per session. The RAN node is the enforcing unit, while the MME/SGSN 125 only computes the used UE-AMBR and sends this to the RAN node.
One problem of the prior art is if the PCRF node 105 decides to change (increase) the APN-AMBR value for a specific PDN connection it may potentially have no effect. Since the used UE-AMBR is restricted by the subscribed UE-AMBR this means that an APN-AMBR that is increased beyond this value will have no effect at all on maximal throughput. Of course this is not a problem in cases where the UE-AMBR value specified by the HSS/HLR 116 is very high (which in the extreme case implies that UE-AMBR is disabled in practice).
Another problem is that when, for example, an operator may want to allow simultaneous access to multiple PDNs (e.g. Internet access and virtual private network (VPN)-connectivity) with a fair usage policy that applies across the APNs. Before the usage limit is reached the UE-AMBR should be set to the sum of the APN-AMBR of all active PDN-connection, thus allowing for full speed on all PDN-connections at the same time. The full speed on all PDN-connections will continue for the rest of the time, even though it may not be necessary. This may be described as the operator may want to restrict this full speed upon certain conditions, e.g., when the usage limit established in the user subscription is surpassed. E.g. a user has a subscription that provides 1 Mbps for each of the access sessions (UE-AMBR=numberOfSessions*1 Mbps), up to 1 Gb per month. If the volume consumed surpasses the 1 Gb, then the user will still be able to open sessions but the bitrate of all the simultaneous access sessions will be restricted to 128 Kbps (UE-AMBR=128). When the usage limit is reached the UE-AMBR should be set to a value that is lower than the sum of the APN-AMBR of all active PDN-connections. The PCRF node 105 can retrieve information on data usage, but in the present standard has no influence on the used UE-AMBR decided by the MME/SGSN 125.


An apparatus, method, and system for a database of Bluetooth devices. The Bluetooth directory database accelerates, facilitates, and simplifies communications. Communications are made more efficient with a connectivity tool. Both the Bluetooth directory database and connectivity tool may be integrated into a Bluetooth device. The connectivity tool uses the Bluetooth directory database to correlate Bluetooth addresses of various devices together with other device identifiers, e.g., cleartextual representations. Thus, when other Bluetooth devices are encountered, information obtained from inquiry and/or page responses may be saved into the Bluetooth directory database for future reference. In one non-limiting example embodiment, communications are more efficient because the connectivity tool reduces the amount of subsequent Bluetooth inquiries and responses required to identify and/or engage in communications with Bluetooth devices. Rather than inquiring to identify and locate Bluetooth devices in a particular coverage area and requiring user selections, the Bluetooth directory database may be used as a cache to retrieve a desired device's communication information (i.e., its correlated Bluetooth address, its functionality (e.g. GOEP, SDAP, etc. profiles), its other related information) and communications may commence more efficiently as a result by directing communications based on the retrieved communication information.

Information Technology Systems
Typically, users, which may be people or other systems, engage information technology systems (e.g., commonly computers) to facilitate information processing. A computer operating system enables and facilitates users to access and operate computer information technology and resources. Common resources employed in information technology systems include input and output mechanisms through which data may pass, memory storage into which data may be saved, and processors by which information may be processed. Often information technology systems are used to collect data for later retrieval, analysis, and manipulation, which often is facilitated through database software. Information technology systems provide interfaces that allow users to access and operate various system components.
User Interface
The function of computer interfaces in some respects is similar to automobile operation interfaces. Automobile operation interface elements such as steering wheels, gearshifts, and speedometers facilitate the access, operation, and display of automobile resources, functionality, and status. Computer interaction interface elements such as check boxes, cursors, menus, scrollers, and windows (collectively and commonly referred to as widgets) similarly facilitate the access, operation, and display of data and computer hardware and operating system resources, functionality, and status. Operation interfaces are commonly called user interfaces. Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) such as the Apple Macintosh Operating System or Microsoft's Windows provide a baseline and means of accessing and displaying information.
Networks
Networks are commonly thought to consist of the interconnection and interoperation of clients, servers, and intermediary nodes in a graph topology. It should be noted that the term "server" as used herein refers generally to a computer, other device, software, or combination thereof that processes and responds to the requests of remote users across a communications network. Servers serve their information to requesting "clients." A computer, other device, software, or combination thereof that facilitates, processes information and requests, and/or furthers the passage of information from a source user to a destination user is commonly referred to as a "node." Networks are generally thought to facilitate the transfer of information from source points to destinations. There are many forms of networks such as Local Area Networks (LANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs), Pico networks, etc.
Bluetooth (BT) Protocol
Bluetooth is a wireless technology that operates in the unlicensed Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) radio band of 2.4 GHz. Bluetooth technology includes a number of protocols that allow Bluetooth enabled devices to operate in a peer-to-peer environment forming piconets.
The Bluetooth protocol and specification may be found in: Bluetooth system; Specification Volumes 1 and 2, Core and Profiles: Version 1.1, 22 Feb. 2001.

Apparatus, method and system for a connectivity tool in bluetooth devices


Communication nodes for use with a wireless ad-hoc communication network are disclosed. In an embodiment of the present invention, the communication node comprises a transducer, which generates a signal in response to an external signal. The ad-hoc network communication is supported in part by static communication nodes, which defined an organized infrastructure network in order to achieve the various functions of the transducers. In another embodiment, the communication node for use with a wireless ad-hoc network does not include a transducer. Such communication nodes are preferred for use with a less structured network with virtually no infrastructure and allow for being used with expanding and contracting networks. Mobile communication nodes mostly support the propagation of signals. However, pseudo-static or static communication nodes are also used in wireless communication ad-hoc networks.

Large-scale communication networks are typically supported by an infrastructure, which supports communication between distant individuals, for example the regular mail system, the telephone or electronic message system. In such communication networks, when a person dials a number or writes an address, the phone call, the letter or the electronic mail message is sent through an organized structure, which eventually allows for tracking the path of the message, until it reaches its destination. The construction of such infrastructure necessitates high capital cost expenditure, long-term planning and international compatibility between materials and processors having different origins to be able to connect together and provide the expected connections and services.
To provide more latitude to users and to increase the communication capabilities between people, cellular telephone networks have been established. When a cellular telephone is used, there must exist "towers" or antennas that transmit and receive signals from each cellular telephone. Current cellular telephone networks typically transmit over a long distance to a cellular tower, and cellular phones transmit and receive information from the receiver tower, which is located, many hundreds of meters away. This requires an initial infrastructure investment before cellular telephones function adequately with reasonable areas of coverage. As a result, powerful transmitters are required within the cellular phones, as well as requiring finely tuned receivers within the cellular phones, in order to be able to reliably receive and transmit information over these long distances. Analogous situations exist for telephone networks, satellite communication networks, and so forth. Unfortunately, the infrastructure costs are often non-recoverable capital expenses and end up dictating the overall cost of a service. Further, changing technologies are more difficult to implement due to the lag time associated with infrastructure costs and infrastructure cost recovery. Inconveniently, when a cellular phone is not in the transmission/reception range of a cellular tower, no communication service is provided to the cellular phone. In such dead zones, having a cellular phone is useless. Further inconveniently, when a cellular tower has reached its capacity in relaying communication signals, a request to make another cellular telephone call using that tower will not be permitted and will remain such as long as another user does not end his communication session or leave the area. Of course, to avoid such traffic overload, one option is to build and use another cellular tower. However, it is not a preferred option for municipalities or telephone companies because of the non-profitable expense incurred. Furthermore, large areas exist which are not equipped with cellular tower. This is a major inconvenience when someone accustomed to using a cellular phone travels from a supported region or suburban area toward an unsupported region.

Communication nodes for use with an ad-hoc network


A method for noise removal filtering is provided. The method includes selecting a characteristic of a test pixel, such as brightness, and comparing the brightness of the test pixel to the brightness of an adjacent pixel. The noise removal filtering is terminated if the test pixel brightness is equal to the adjacent pixel brightness, such that it can be determined that the test pixel has not been corrupted with noise data.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to image processing and, more particularly, to an efficient implementation of a noise removal filter for image data.
2. Related Art
It is known in the art to filter image data to correct pixels that have been corrupted by noise. One drawback with such image data filtering is that it requires a significant amount of processor capacity. For example, it is usually necessary to perform a large number of operations using pixel data of a test pixel and adjacent pixels. These operations are performed regardless of whether the test pixel has actually been corrupted by noise.

Efficient implementation of a noise removal filter


An optical disk device includes: an objective lens for focusing an optical beam on a recording layer of an optical disk; a converging lens for converging the reflected optical beam reflected on the recording layer; first and second light receiving units disposed at positions spaced ahead and behind at equal distances from the focal point of the reflected optical beam converged by the converging lens; and a focused recording layer discriminating unit for deciding, on the basis of the output signal of the first light receiving unit and the output signal of the second light receiving unit, the positional relation in a two-layer optical disk between a focused recording layer, on which the optical beam is focused, and a defocused recording layer, on which the optical beam is not focused, thereby to discriminate the focused recording layer on the basis of the decision result.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is properly applied to an optical disk device matching a two-layer optical disk having two recording layers.
2. Background Art
In the related art, an optical disk having two recording layers laminated (as will be called the "two-layer optical disk") with a view to augmenting a recording capacity is put into practice, and an optical disk device suited for that two-layer optical disk is also commercially available.
In this optical disk device suited for the two-layer optical disk, it is necessary to discriminate which of two recording layers an optical beam emitted from an optical pickup is focused on. For this focused layer discriminating method, there has been proposed (as referred to JP-A-8-185637 (Patent Document 1), for example) an optical disk device, in which address information of data and layer information, as recorded in the recording layers, are read out through an optical beam so that the focused layer discrimination is performed on the basis of the address information and the layer information read out.

Optical disk device, and focused layer discriminating method of optical disk


Apparatuses, systems, and methods are presented for error correction based on physical characteristics for memory. A controller may be configured to read a set of encoded bits from a set of cells of a memory array. The controller may be configured to divide the encoded bits into reliability groups based on one or more persistent physical characteristics associated with cells of the set of cells. The controller may be configured to provide reliability estimates based on the reliability groups to a soft decision decoder for decoding the encoded bits.

Data to be stored or transmitted may be encoded using an error correcting code (ECC), which adds redundant information to the encoded data. If errors occur in storage or transmission of the encoded data, the redundant data may be used to decode and recover the original data. "Hard bits" used by ECC decoders include the encoded data as received or read, including redundant bits and possible errors. Additionally, some decoders may receive and use additional information about the estimated reliability of the hard bits. Receiving estimates of which hard bits are more likely or less likely to be erroneous facilitates determining which bits are actually erroneous, to decode and recover the original data.
Reliability estimates for data read from memory may include information about the physical or electrical property that is altered to store the data. A property of a memory cell that can be intentionally altered to store data may also change inadvertently over time, resulting in errors. For example, if the resistance of a resistive memory cell is near a boundary between lower-resistance and higher-resistance states, the data stored by the cell may be more likely to be erroneous (due to drift from an adjacent state), but if the resistance is not near a boundary between states, the stored data may be more likely to be reliable. However, various other physical properties of memory may also be correlated with data reliability.

Error correction based on physical characteristics for memory


A rotationally adjustable respirator cartridge having a self-contained end of service life indicator adjacent the interior of a sidewall of the cartridge shell and in contact with the filter medium provides a color-changing display field that is visible to the wearer of the respirator through a transparent portion of the sidewall. A display window is defined by an opaque border area that surrounds the sensor display field and obscures a predetermined portion of the downstream end of the indicator to provide a desired margin of safety to the wearer. In order to permit the wearer to rotationally position the color-changing display field in the line of sight through the transparent portion of the respirator facepiece, the cartridge is provided with a rotatable mounting assembly that is continuously rotatable in one direction and that forms a seal with the cartridge shell.

The invention relates to replacement cartridges for full face and half mask respirators containing service life indicators.
It is known in the prior art to provide end of service life indicators for replaceable chemical filter cartridges that are used with respirators. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,326,514 discloses a cartridge into which is fitted a web or strip that is treated to undergo a color-changing reaction when it is contacted by the type of toxic chemical contaminant(s) for which the respirator is to be used. Since it is taught to extend the strip around all or most of the interior wall surface, this approach can add a significant cost to the manufactured cartridge. Furthermore, the potential for the formation of channels, cracks and non-conformities in the filter bed adjacent the strip can lead to wide variations in the rate of advance of the color changing line and the inability to accurately evaluate the true condition and capacity of the filter to retain or neutralize the contaminant. These problems may explain why this approach does not appear to have been adopted by cartridge manufacturers.
It is also known from the prior art to apply a web or strip such as that described above to the exterior surface of the cartridge so that the color-changing indicator reaction is initiated as soon as the wearer enters an environment containing a toxic chemical with which the indicator is reactive. This approach suffers the drawback of providing only an approximation of the condition of the chemical sorbent material inside the cartridge, and in practice, it has been found that this exterior-mounted indicator has completed its color-change long before the cartridge has reached the end of its useful service life, thereby resulting in the premature changing and disposal of the cartridge. It is also the practice to extend the strip or web of the color-changing indicator around the entire periphery of the cartridge, since the indicator strip must be visible to the wearer when the cartridge is in place on the face mask and the orientation of the cartridge is random when it is threaded onto the mask mounting means. Thus, a much greater length of the indicator strip material than is actually viewable must be applied to each cartridge.
Another means for providing a color-changing indicator for a respirator cartridge is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,154,586 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,706, where the interior of the cartridge is provided with a plurality of compartments in a vertical array, each compartment containing a color-changing indicator material that is visible through the transparent sidewall of the cartridge that also defines one wall of the compartments. The indicator material is separated from the filter sorbent bed by a sidewall. The upstream end of the chamber is covered by a perforated top wall and airborne contaminant travels through the chamber in a path that is parallel to, but separated from the air entering the filter medium. The rate of change of color in the separate chamber is intended to correspond to the condition of the filter medium in the adjacent bed. It is not clear from the disclosure how this relationship is to be attained, particularly if the cartridges are to be mass produced. The construction of cartridges in accordance with these disclosures by molding or otherwise would be complex and expensive. Furthermore, it is not at all clear how a uniform, consistent and reliable product could be mass produced, since the packing or filling of the chambers to a uniform density and compaction in production quantities is not apparent.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved replacement cartridge and a method for its manufacture that includes a reliable color-changing ESLI with a visual display field that provides for a predetermined margin of safety.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved replacement cartridge that includes an ESLI, which cartridge can be manufactured economically, that is reliable and consistent in performance and that utilizes components of otherwise conventional construction.
A further important object of the invention is to provide an improved replacement cartridge that incorporates a clearly delineated color-changing indicator display field that permits the wearer of the respirator mask to adjust the position of the installed cartridge so that the display field can be viewed during use.
The above objects and other advantages are achieved with the present invention in which a replacement respirator cartridge is provided with an improved end of service life indicator, or ESLI. In one preferred embodiment, the cartridge is provided with a display window defined by an opaque border positioned on the sidewall and a chemical sensor having a color-changing display field is secured in position against the interior surface of the sidewall with the display field at least partly aligned with the display window. The sensor can be a deformable, relatively thin, laminated structure having one exterior sidewall that is transparent and through which a color-changing chemical material can be viewed; the opposite wall is formed from a vapor-permeable material through which contaminant molecules, gas and/or vapor can pass to initiate the color-changing reaction.
The color-changing sensor is securely positioned against the interior surface of the sidewall, as by adhesive applied to a portion of the sensor surrounding the color-changing display field. The sidewall of the cartridge is transparent, in at least the area of the display window where the sensor is secured in position.
The permeable sidewall of the sensor is contacted by the activated carbon or such other filter medium as fills the body of the cartridge. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the relative positions of the display window and the display field with respect to the downstream portion of the filter bed are prescribed in order to provide a predetermined minimum margin of safety for the use of the cartridge. For example, assume that the cartridge is rated as having a total useful service life of sixty minutes in a given concentration of contaminant gas by a user expressing average breathing rates and lung capacity. If the sensor extends vertically through 90% of the upper or upstream end of the filter bed, and a 25% safety margin is to be provided for the particular contaminant, the display window is provided with an opaque border that masks the lowest 25% of the filter bed sidewall and covers 15% of the downstream end of the sensor. If a greater or lesser safety margin is desired, the width of the opaque border, or its position relative to the downstream end of the filter bed and or sensor can be adjusted accordingly.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the sensor is closely-fitted and secured to the interior surface of the shell""s sidewall. In one preferred embodiment, the sensor can be secured by adhesive which is provided around the periphery of the display field and covered with a releasable film or strip prior to placement on the sidewall. In an alternative embodiment, (not shown), the sensor is mechanically secured in position at the interior surface of the sidewall, as by one or more spring clips, a retaining bracket or parallel channels affixed to the interior sidewall. In yet another embodiment (not shown), a reactive color-changing composition is formulated into a coating composition that is applied directly to the interior of the sidewall. The composition can be formulated in a polymeric latex or other suitable material that will adhere securely to the wall and permit the color-change to be clearly visible.
Regardless of the means employed for securing the sensors, it is important that the sensor remain in the desired position without movement during use and that it be maintained in intimate contact with the adjacent filter medium without channels or other irregularities, discontinuities or the like to interfere with the uniform migration of contaminants through the adjacent bed and into the permeable wall of the sensor.
In another aspect of the invention, an apparatus and method for mounting the improved ESLI cartridge on the respirator mask provides means for continuously rotating the sealed cartridge to properly align the ESLI sensor for viewing. A continuously rotatable mounting for the cartridge is required to allow the wearer of the respirator to move the color-changing sensor into the wearer""s field of view. If the cartridge is attached to a full face mask, the sensor will have to be viewed through the transparent portion of the respirator facepiece. Since the cartridge must be mounted on a male threaded member that is an integral part of the respirator cheek area, for safety reasons it must not be possible for the wearer to unscrew the cartridge as might be required to bring the sensor into the field of view, since unscrewing the cartridge would break the air seal and allow possibly contaminated external air to by-pass the filter cartridge.
In order to avoid this possibility and to permit rotation while at the same time maintaining a secure air-tight seal, a multi-part mounting assembly that includes a rotating seal is provided to thereby permit the cartridge to be rotated continuously in the direction used to install the cartridge, traditionally, the clockwise direction. In one preferred embodiment, a ratchet assembly is employed and the detents or ratchet teeth are molded into the interior surface of the cartridge shell. A threaded flanged insert is placed into the projecting collar portion of the cartridge shell, and the flange is divided into a plurality of segments, each of which segments includes a pawl that engages corresponding teeth formed in the interior surface of the cartridge housing surrounding the threaded collar opening. As in any ratchet, the pawls allow the flange to rotate freely in one direction, but engage the teeth when rotated in the opposite direction, thus causing both members of the assembly to rotate together when it is desired to unscrew and remove the cartridge from the respirator mounting means.
Since the flanged insert must be free to rotate against the cartridge housing, it is necessary to provide an air seal against leakage of contaminated air into the respirator at the point of attachment of the cartridge. In a preferred embodiment, a mechanical seal is provided between the members of the assembly. In an especially preferred embodiment, this sealing is accomplished by providing the internal rim of the neck of the cartridge housing with a rounded projecting bead seal and the adjacent exterior surface of the flanged insert with a corresponding concave seat. The flanged insert is produced from a plastic composition having the requisite deformation and resilience properties that permit it to be press-fitted into the neck portion of the cartridge so that the seal engages the seat.
To complete installation of the respirator cartridge on the mask, the cartridge is screwed onto the male threaded member projecting from the cheek of the respirator until the clicking of the ratchet members is heard. This audible signal assures the wearer that the cartridge has been properly installed, since the threaded members will bring the ratchet assembly into contact only when the male and female threads are properly engaged. This also assures the wearer that the proper seal has been achieved between the respirator and the cartridge. After donning the respirator, the cartridge can then be further turned in the clockwise/tightening direction until the sensor is in the wearer""s field of view, the wearer being assured that the cartridge is being turned in the correct direction by the audible clicking sounds. When the cartridge is turned in the counter-clockwise direction, the pawls engage the notches and the cartridge can be removed for replacement.
The present invention provides the user of the respirator to which the cartridges are attached a clear indication of the extent to which the activated carbon contained in the cartridge is being contaminated, and conversely, how much active material is remaining. This is very important to the user, because the life of the cartridge and its contents depends on many variables, including the concentration of the contaminant in the physical area of the user; the rate at which the user is breathing; and the capacity or air volume of each breath. Obviously, a worker exerting himself under strenuous conditions will require considerably more air to sustain himself than a worker in a control booth who may only be monitoring instruments.
In a preferred embodiment, a lower portion of the color-changing sensor adjacent the downstream end of the carbon bed is not visible through the viewing window in the label, thereby providing a margin of safety or time during which the cartridge can continue to function to remove contaminants. The vertical dimension of the display field of the sensor in contact with the carbon bed can be varied in accordance with use requirements and the vertical dimension and position of the viewing window relative to the sensor and/or the bed can be varied to provide a predetermined margin of safety.
It is to be noted that the invention is described with reference to a xe2x80x9ccartridgexe2x80x9d filter, which is to be understood as being distinguished from a xe2x80x9ccanisterxe2x80x9d filter by its somewhat small size and direct attachment to a so-called full-face or half-mask. As will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, the invention can be used in any size filter, where the sensor can be secured in intimate relation with a longitudinal section of the filter bed and viewed through an adjacent transparent display window.
Thus, in its broadest aspect, the improved ESLI cartridge of the invention comprises a cartridge shell that is transparent in at least the area of a sidewall at which the color-changing sensor is placed; the chemical sensor is secured to the interior surface of the sidewall of the cartridge, one side of the sensor having a visually perceptible indicator that forms a display field, preferably a color-changing indicator, the opposite side of the sensor being in touching contact with the activated carbon bed or other filter medium that is packed in the cartridge; a display window defined by an opaque border, where the display window corresponds to at least a portion of the vertical section of the display field of the color-changing sensor; and means for maintaining a seal and means to permit the cartridge to be continuously rotated so that the sensor can be viewed by the wearer of a mask to which the cartridge is attached to bring the sensor into the wearer""s field of vision.

Service life indicator for respirator cartridge


Multilayer high speed flex printed circuit boards (FLEX-PCBs) are disclosed including a dielectrics systems with the back-side trenches, adhesives, signal lines and ground planes, wherein the signal line and ground plane lane are located on the dielectrics. Using of the open trenches in the substrate help to reduce the microwave loss and dielectric constant and thus increasing the signal carrying speed of the interconnects. Thus, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a simply constructed multiplayer high speed FLEX-PCB using the conventional material and conventional FLEX-PCB manufacturing which facilitates the design of circuits with controlled bandwidth based on the trench opening in the dielectrics, and affords excellent connection reliability. As the effective dielectric constant is reduced, the signal width is required to make wider or the dielectric thickness is required to make thinner keeping fixed characteristics impedance. The fundamental techniques disclosed here can also be used for high-speed packaging.

The increasing of higher level of integration within electrical integrated circuit (IC) leads to both higher data rates and larger number of IC interconnections. Today, the inherent signal speed of IC is increased to 3 GHz, and shortly it will be reached to 10 GHz and beyond. The number of pin connection is also increased, with single IC requiring close to 2000 interconnection (i.e. single processor), and shortly it will be increased to over 5000. Simultaneously achieving higher data rates and higher interconnects densities for off-chip, will be increasingly difficult as the IC technologies continue to evolve increasing signal speed of electronic devices and interconnection number. In off-chip case, high density interconnects, covering from die-level packaging to chip-to-chip (hereafter chip indicates the die with package) interconnection on the FLEX-PCB, will also be getting increasingly difficult as the IC technologies continue to evolve increasing the signal speed and interconnection number.
With increasing of the signal speed and interconnection number of the IC, low-cost high-speed interconnect technique compatible to today's manufacturing process are highly desirable to make available in consumer level. Today's FLEX-PCB is mainly made of uniform Polyimide material, and their manufacturing technology along with FLEX-PCB manufacturing are so well matured that, for long run, all system vendors like to use Polyimide based FLEX-PCB to keep the system cost low. However, Polyimide has material characteristics, which limit its usage in high speed if conventional interconnection structure is used. The reason is that conventional Polyimide has the high dielectric loss which mainly limits the bandwidth of interconnects.
FIG. 1 is the schematic showing a part of conventional FLEX-PCB. For simplicity in understanding, only a portion of the FLEX-PCB is shown here. Conventional FLEX-PCB 10 consists of single or multilayer of uniform core layers 12, adhesive used for attaching signal lines and ground to Polyimide 14A and also used for stacking multilayers 14, signal lines 16, and ground 18. The core layer 12 could be any uniform dielectric layer. Usually, Polyimide is used as the core layers in conventional FLEX-PCB. The adhesive 14 is a B-stage (partially cured) acrylic used in between the core layers 12 to stack the multiple core layers. Conventional FLEX-PCB is supplied by vendors as C-staged acrylic (fully cured) adhesive 14A attaching rolled flexible conducting material (usually copper) to the Polyimide core material. The high-speed electrical signal flow through the signal lines 16 attached by adhesive 14 to the core layers 12 and the ground line 18 is laid opposite side of the core layer 12. As shown in FIG. 2, the thickness H, core layer's relative dielectric constant ∈, metal thickness T, and the width W of the signal lines determine the impedance of the signal line. The signal lines 16 can be the microstripline type signal line 16A or stripline type signal line 16B, as shown in FIG. 2. In conventional FLEX-PCB, the microstrip line type signal line 16A in which the ground 18 is separated by the uniform/homogeneous dielectric (core and adhesive) layer 12 and layer 14. Stripline type signal line 16B is also used in conventional FLEX-PCB, in which the signal line 16B is embedded into the homogeneous dielectric (core and adhesive) layer 12 and layer 14, and both sides the ground 18 is used.
Conventional FLEX-PCB 10 as shown in FIG. 1 is manufactured in the way, the flow chart of which is shown in FIG. 3. This is an explanatory diagram for the prior art of FLEX-PCB manufacturing. The dielectric sheet (not shown) 20 is made using the standard FLEX-PCB technology for example using the slurry casting process. The slurry is cast into about 200 μm to 500 μm thick ceramic sheets by slip cast process. The FLEX-PCB core layer 12 is the homogeneous layer usually used in the conventional FLEX-PCB 10. After the patterning and subsequent etching, the signal line is made on side of the core layers. Microvia and subsequent filling process 24 is done, if necessary. Following this, the sheets 26 are laminated together by hot press to form the FLEX-PCB 28. Density heterogeneities in the laminated samples influence any shrinkage in the sintered substrate. Therefore, this lamination process is homogenously carried out by means of the correct dimensional die and punch with flat surfaces. Burn out and sintering process for the multilayered FLEX-PCB board 10, may be necessary after lamination at the temperature suitable to material used as the sheet. The via hole opening and subsequent metal filling (not shown here) are usually done. A sheet 20 may have more than 10,000 via holes in a in a 50 to 500 μm square area.
In conventional FLEX-PCB 10, as the signal line 16 is either laid on the dielectric material (core layer 12) or embedded into the dielectrics, based on the dissipation factor (tangent loss) of the dielectric material used as the core layer in the FLEX-PCB, the signal experiences dissipation while propagating through the signal line 16. The reason is that the electric field starts from signal line and ends in the ground 18 (not shown) and this electric field passes through the dielectric. This signal dispersion is proportional to the signal frequency, i.e., signal speed. It does mean that the higher the signal speed, the lower the distance of transmission of signal for the fixed dielectric material. In the other words, the higher the speed, the lower the bandwidth of the signal line which is used for connecting one chip to other chip on the board. If the tangent loss of the dielectrics are high, the bandwidth of the interconnects gets so limited that, high speed signal can't be sent over longer distance as compared with the dielectrics having the lower tangent loss.
In addition to tangent loss, the dielectric constant of dielectrics material is also important, as electrical field inside dielectric material having higher dielectric constant experiences more signal delay as compared with that of transmission line comprising with lower dielectric constant material. These causes signal skews for the different length signal lines. In this case also, lower dielectric constant material is necessary in the interconnection for high-speed signal interconnection. This is true for both on-chip and off-chip interconnection. Lower dielectric constant material with low dielectric loss offers following functions; Higher density interconnection is possible due to reduction of the cross talk, (2) reducing the capacitance of the interconnection, helping to transfer the signal longer distance, and (3) lower propagation delay.
Considering signal loss and signal delay for various signal line length it is highly desirable to design the interconnects on FLEX-PCB with effective dielectric constant and effective loss of the interconnect system lower.
It is very straight forward that increasing the bandwidth can be possible using of the material having the lower loss tangent (dielectric loss). However, in this case, for off-chip interconnection new material development is necessary. Besides, manufacturing technology is needed to develop to implement in the product level. Conventionally, to increase the interconnects bandwidth, dielectrics having lower tangent loss is used as the FLEX-PCB layer. This dielectric material is very high cost and the manufacturing process for building FLEX-PCB using these materials are not matured yet. In addition, the FLEX-PCB made of such low loss material has low reliability. It is highly desirable to have high speed FLEX-PCB that can be built up with the conventional well-matured dielectric material (for example Polyimide) and also conventional well-matured fabrication process can be used. This can not only reduce the cost, but also have high reliability.
Much work can be found in off-chip interconnection technology focusing on the material development. As for example, low loss materials like Rogers R/flex 1100, etc. are under development stage, to achieve high bandwidth. Implementing new material in FLEX-PCB fabrication process will cost tremendously to make it mature. In addition, new materials having low tangent loss is a material incompatible with conventional dielectric material such as Polyimide processing so is not a low cost solution. These materials will require a much higher temperature and pressure for lamination. Today, in developing the high speed FLEX-PCB, more focused are being paid on shortening the length or on the interconnection layout. In both cases, implementing technology would need to pay high cost.
As explained above, the conventional FLEX-PCB technology being used for off-chip interconnection cannot be used as the need of the signal speed is increasing. And also exiting conventional electrical interconnects have the limitation of achieving the bandwidth in certain level, beyond that complete manufacturing technology is needed to be changed which is costly for FLEX-PCB industries. It is highly desirable to have lower dielectric constant and lower dielectric loss (loss tangent) by adopt a technique or method which can be easily implemented, and which can use the standard dielectric material FLEX-PCB technology.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

High-speed flex printed circuit and method of manufacturing


According to one embodiment, in a manufacturing method of a sealed secondary battery of the embodiment, a first sealing body, which is configured to seal an opening portion of a lid body to cover the opening portion and is formed into a sheet-like shape by using a metal material, is placed on the lid body, and the first sealing body is welded to the lid body. The sealed secondary battery having the first sealing body welded thereto is charged, and the sealed secondary battery is discharged after the charge. A hole is bored in the first sealing body to form a hole portion after the discharge, a second sealing body is placed to cover the first sealing body, and the second sealing body is welded to the lid body through the first sealing body.

As a manufacturing method of a sealed secondary battery, there has been conventionally known the technology that manufactures a sealed secondary battery by accommodating an electrode body in a container, providing an electrolyte in the container, temporality sealing the container, performing charge and discharge, and then fully sealing the container.
For example, in such a sealed secondary battery, a liquid injection opening provided in the container is sealed by using a rubber stopper or the like, and temporal sealing is carried out. Further, in the sealed secondary battery, a gas generated at the time of charge and discharge is discharged from the container by removing the rubber stopper, thereby avoiding deformation and damage of the container. Furthermore, in the sealed secondary battery, the liquid injection opening is sealed by welding a metal lid, and full sealing is effected. Through such a process, the sealed secondary battery is manufactured.

Sealed secondary battery and manufacturing method of sealed secondary battery


A method of resetting a variable resistance memory cell in a nonvolatile memory device includes; programming the memory cell to a set state using a corresponding compliance current, and then programming the memory cell to a reset state by pre-reading the variable resistance memory cell to determine its resistance and resetting the memory cell using a variable reset voltage determined in response to the determined resistance.

The inventive concept relates generally to nonvolatile memory devices and method of programming same. More particularly, the inventive concept relates to nonvolatile memory devices having variable resistance memory cells and methods of resetting same.
There is an increasing need for a nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices capable of realizing high integration and large data storage capacity. In particular, research has been directed to different types of nonvolatile memory devices that enable random data access. Such nonvolatile memory devices include the ferroelectric RAM (FRAM) that uses a ferroelectric capacitor, the magnetic RAM (MRAM) that uses a tunneling magneto-resistive film, the phase change memory device (PRAM) that uses Chalcogenide alloys, and the resistive RAM (RRAM) that uses a variable resistance material film as a data storage medium.
Of these, the RRAM characterized by high operating speeds, large data storage capacity, and low operating power. Thus, a great deal of ongoing research is directed to improvements in RRAM performance. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the variable resistance material film of the RRAM exhibits a reversible resistance variation according to the polarity or amplitude of an applied control pulse. Examples of contemporary variable resistance material films include certain Colossal Magnetro-Resistive (CMR) materials with a Perovskite structure, and certain metal oxides forming a conductive filament.

Nonvolatile memory device having variable resistance memory cells and a method of resetting by initially performing pre-read or strong set operation