A method is disclosed including the steps of submitting a print job to a network printer and identifying a specific printer controller governing the print job. The method further includes loading a set of identifiers respective to a specific printer controller and selecting from the set a respective identifier corresponding to the type of print job employed on the specific printer controller. The selected identifier is used to issue the predetermined type of notification from the controller.

The present invention is directed to the field of monitoring an controlling the operational performance of computer output peripheral devices, e.g. printers.
In many offices and other commercial establishments, it is common to have more than one device connected to a network that is capable of printing. Furthermore, multiple users often have the capability to print to any of a group of multiple printing devices on a network. In a large enterprise organization, a plurality of printers often reside on the network, many of which have different manufacturers and makes. Even those printers having the same manufacturer are often created as part of different generations of product lines.
Networked printers are generally bi-directional in nature, meaning that they not only receive print jobs for printing, but they also respond with a communication that can be used to monitor printer status. Each printer product line generally includes a document monitoring utility for monitoring printer status and translating notifications and communications received from corresponding printers. The notifications received from printers are assigned a code, or an object identifier ("OID") corresponding to the status of the printer. Such status notifications include messages describing events such as "Printing," "Paper Jam," "Out of Toner," and any other type of status or notification, depending on the particular features available on a printer.
Document and printer monitoring utilities function to monitor and receive OIDs and display for a user the message corresponding to a particular OID. Unfortunately, different manufactures and products, even different lines of printers from the same manufacturer, use different OIDs to describe the same event. Furthermore, in some instances, different lines of printers use the same OID to describe completely different events. Therefore, document and printer monitoring software is product line specific in that it functions properly only when used solely with the line of printers for which it particularly corresponds. Thus, a single document monitoring utility cannot be used to correctly monitor different printer product lines.
Consequently, network administrators must use a plurality of printer monitoring utilities to track printer activity throughout a network. It would be preferable if one printer monitoring utility had the capability to simultaneously monitor the status of printers from different product lines.

Method of monitoring multiple controller families


Methods and systems for vehicle localization are provided herein. An example method can include obtaining a map within an operating area. A location within the operating area is associated with a pattern of speed bumps that is configured to produce a vehicle pitch response from the vehicle when the vehicle travels over the pattern of speed bumps. The method can include obtaining motion sensor information from a vehicle sensor, determining when the motion sensor information matches the vehicle pitch response, and determining that the vehicle is in the location when the motion sensor information corresponds to the vehicle pitch response of the location.

Communication enabled devices providing localization determination functionalities can be deleteriously affected in areas where connectivity is reduced or is non-existent. For example, a mobile device or vehicle that is configured to determine its location from received Global Positioning Signal (GPS) information may be unable to determine its location when connectivity is compromised or is non-existent.
Dead reckoning can be used whenever a device, such as a vehicle, estimates its position by relying on vehicle dynamics and not GPS signal. The loss of GPS signal is very common in parking structures, which makes it difficult for vehicles to park autonomously (for autonomous valet parking applications in particular). Vehicles which can autonomously park are not limited to autonomous vehicles. For example, driver-operated vehicles equipped with Advanced Driver Assist System (ADAS) can also autonomously park.
In an example use case, a communications device within the parking structure may transmit location signals to the vehicle. Once within the parking structure and the GPS signal is lost, the vehicle has to estimate its position accurately to be able to perform turns when needed or to start the automatic parking system, which may require knowledge about the infrastructure.


A method of identifying anomalies in images produced using an imaging device (70). The method comprises receiving (10), (12) first and second pluralities of candidate anomalies, the candidate anomalies being identified in subsequent images produced with an imaging device. A constellation match (14), (16), (18), (19) is carried out between the first and second pluralities of candidate anomalies to identify a correlation therebetween, represented by a constellation match value. A plurality of constellation match values is determined with a different relative x-y shift between the first and second pluralities of candidate images. If a good correlation is found at a particular x-y shift then the candidate anomalies are common between the first and second images, which is indicative of the first and second images including anomalies.

Images produced using imaging devices may contain anomalies that are not representative of the image that was intended to be captured by the imaging device. That is, due to various reasons, images may include features that are not present in the real world image.
Causes of the anomalies may include, for example: contaminants in an imaging device such as dust that has settled on a lens, mirror or other equipment; irregularities in a mirror, lens or other equipment used in an imaging device; and/or image processing errors associate with the algorithms used in image production. The anomalies may reoccur in successive images produced using an imaging device.
For the avoidance of doubt it is noted that the term "anomaly" as used herein encompasses anomalies that appear in an image that are imparted onto the image by the imaging device or system. In particular, anomalies may refer to anomalies due to dust settling within an imaging device, such as on a mirror or lens.
The remainder of this document refers to anomalies caused by contaminants. However the skilled person will be aware that the scope of the invention is intentionally intended to cover other anomalies as described above.
Contaminants such as dust are a particular problem in the field of retinal imaging scanners. The remainder of this document refers predominantly to retinal imaging scanners. However, the skilled person will understand that other imaging devices such as, for example, cameras, optical scanners scanning laser ophthalmoscopes, and the like, may also suffer from the same identified problem and that the method of the present invention may also be used to identify anomalies in images produced by these devices.
The appearance contaminants in a retinal image can be manifest in a form similar to pathology such as micro-aneurisms that the retinal imaging scanner may be attempting to identify. It is therefore desirable to maintain the optical surfaces of a retinal imaging scanner free of dust and other contaminants in order to avoid any ambiguity in the classification of certain image features and to maintain the general quality perception of images produced by the scanner.
Current known methods for maintaining optical surfaces free from contaminants include periodic maintenance whereby a retinal imaging device is cleaned by a trained engineer at regular intervals. In some cases the cleaning process is conducted too early and the optical surfaces may not have been in need of cleaning. In other cases the cleaning process is conducted too late and the optical surfaces may have been operating under sub-optimal conditions for a period of time.
Another known method for detecting dust is disclosed in US patent application 2005/0068446, which uses multiple images produced using a digital camera to generate a dust map. The dust map is compared to a history of previous dust maps generated from previous images. The method used to identify dust regions is based on searching for regions of common gradient variations. This approach is likely to be sensitive to noise. Additionally, it is not applicable in cases where spatial motion between images occurs, i.e. the method could not be used when the spatial position of an individual dust candidate is different between images.

Method of identifying anomalies in images


A method for data mining includes receiving input vectors and converting them into corresponding sketch feature vectors each having a number of output dimensions that is less than a number of dimensions of the corresponding input vector. Each sketch feature vector is compared against parameters and a decision loop generates results of similarities based on the comparisons. An estimate of cosine similarity or Pearson correlation of the input vectors is obtained based on estimates of an inner product of two input vectors and a 2-norm vector of an input vector. The estimates are obtained using respective hash tables for each input vector having a number of entries up to the number of output dimensions of the sketch feature vector. A decision is provided based on the results of the similarities and an application of the data mining such that the decision is implemented by the application.

Detecting similar objects is a core component in numerous computer science applications. Concrete examples include, but are not limited to, the detection of similar documents in large corpora for plagiarism detection, clustering similar emails according to keywords for spam detection, detecting defective genes that appear to contribute as combinations to certain diseases, collaborative filtering in recommender systems where users are grouped according to similar interests, etc.
There are different similarity measure definitions that have been applied. See <<http://reference.wolfram.com/language/guide/DistanceAndSimilarityMeasures.html>> (accessed Jan. 29, 2015) for an overview. Some of the similarity measure definitions like Hamming distance, Jaccard similarity, Dice similarity, etc, assume binary data as input. For many problems however, this assumption is not justified and one needs to handle weighted features. Arguably, the three most widely used similarity measures for weighted data are Euclidean distance, cosine similarity and Pearson correlation.
For certain applications like recommender systems and genetic data mining, the established similarity measures are cosine similarity and Pearson correlation. See Michael D. Ekstrand, John T. Riedl and Joseph A Konstan, Collaborative Filtering Recommender Systems, Foundations and Trends in Human-Computer Interaction, Vol. 4, No. 2 (2010) as an example.
Formally, cosine between two objects x and y is defined as
      cos              (              x        ,        y            )        =                    ∑                  i          =          1                n                                    x          i                                  y          i                                            x                                          y        
where xi denotes the i-th feature of object x and
          x        =                    ∑                  i          =          1                n                          x        i        2            is the 2-norm of the vector a.
Pearson correlation is defined as
            ρ                    (                  x          ,          y                )              =                            ∑                      i            =            1                    n                                              (                                          x                i                            -                              x                ~                                      )                                          (                                          y                i                            -                              y                ~                                      )                                                                      x            _                                                                            y            _                                                    where                                              x        ~              =                                        (                                          ∑                                  i                  =                  1                                n                                                          x                i                                      )                    /          n                                                          and                                                                                  x            _                                        =                                    ∑                          i              =              1                        n                                                        (                                                x                  i                                -                                  x                  ~                                            )                        2
The problem to compute the similarity between two objects by the above definitions is trivial if it is possible to store the objects in main memory. However, for massive datasets with high-dimensional objects, it is often the case that it is not possible to store all of the objects in main memory. Therefore, one aims to efficiently compute compact sketches or summaries of the objects that will lead to considerable space savings.
In the following, it is assumed that objects are described by vectors and the terms object and vector are used interchangeably. It is also assumed that an input vector is provided as a stream of (index, value) pairs with no particular order.
Previous approaches for similarity estimation include min-wise independent permutations (see Andrei Z. Broder, Moses Charikar, Alan M. Frieze, Michael Mitzenmacher, Min-Wise Independent Permutations (1998)) for Jaccard similarity and a random hyperplane algorithm (see Moses Charikar, Similarity Estimation Techniques from Rounding Algorithms (2002)) for the estimation of the angle between vectors revealed in a streaming fashion. The former applies only to binary data, and the latter suffers from higher processing time per element which makes it impractical for high speed data streams. Count-Sketch has also been applied to inner product estimation (see Graham Cormode, Minos Garofalakis, Sketching Streams Through the Net: Distributed Approximate Query Tracking, VLDB (2005), pp. 13-24) which is closely related cosine similarity estimation. Count-Sketch is also described in Moses Charikar, Kevin Chen, Martin Farach-Colton, Finding Frequent Items in Data Streams, Theor. Comput. Sci. 312(1) 3-15 (2004). To the best of the inventors' knowledge, no sketching technique has been proposed to Pearson correlation estimation.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for data mining and similarity estimation


In a home bus system control signals and information signals are carried between a transmission station at one location and reception stations at other locations. There are plural signal sources at the transmitting station and plural types of signal formats, such as monaural and stereo or NTSC and HDS. A request signal sent from a receiving station identifies the signal source to be accessed and the signal format capability of a receiver at the receiver station. The request signal is decoded at the transmission station and causes transmission of an information signal from the selected signal source in the identified signal format.

The present invention relates to a transmission and reception system, and particularly relates to a transmission and reception system for performing transmission and reception of various types of signals through a transmission line.
A home bus system (hereinafter abbreviated to "HBS"), which is about to be put into practice, is a system in which carrier frequencies modulated with predetermined control signals are transmitted through a transmission line to remote locations where the modulated signals are supplied to controlled appliances, such as lighting fixtures or the like, provided inside a home so as to perform predetermined control of the controlled appliances by demodulating the modulated signals.
An HBS of this type is applicable to a system for transmitting and receiving information signals, such as an audio signal, a video signal, or the like, wherein, for example, an audio signal transmitting means is provided at one location, and a receiving means for receiving the audio signal is provided at another location.
In the case where the transmitted audio signal is a stereo signal and the receiving means has only a monaural capability, the system will not operate properly. The same is true of the reverse situation, and for that matter, it is true in any case where the signal type transmitted differs from the signal type for which the receiver is adapted.
In the case where the transmitting means is a television signal transmitting means which can transmit an HD television signal and the receiving means is a television receiver which can receive only an NTSC signal, it is impossible to receive the transmitted television signal by the receiving means because the television signal supplied to the receiver through a transmission line is an HD television signal.


The invention refers to a multi-functional device (101) for styling hair comprising a handgrip (102), a first and a second arm (104, 105), and means (124, 125) for heating the first and/or the second arm (104,105). The first arm (104) comprises a first fixed half-arm (114) integral with the handgrip (102) and extending substantially along the longitudinal axis (X) and a first mobile half-arm (116) elastically supported by the first fixed half-arm (114) and extending substantially along the longitudinal axis (X) between a first area of the arm (104) close to the handgrip (102) and a second area of the arm (104) remote from the handgrip (102). The device (101) further comprises locking/unlocking means (160) suitable for cooperating with the first mobile half-arm (116) to make the first mobile half-arm to selectively take up one from an unlocked condition, in which the elastic movement of the first mobile half-arm (116) with respect to the first fixed half-arm (114) is allowed, and a locked condition, in which the elastic movement of the first mobile half-arm (116) with respect to the first fixed half-arm (114) at least at the first area of the first atm (104) is prevented.

1. Field of Disclosure
The present invention refers, in general, to a multi-functional device for styling hair, in particular to an electric device for curling or straightening hair.
2. Background Art
As it is known, electric devices for styling hair are widely used both at home and in professional salons. Among such a variety of devices, there are the categories of devices for curling hair and that of devices for straightening hair.
With particular reference to devices for curling hair, the conventional method of curling a lock of hair consists of winding the hair on a heatable cylinder, letting the lock rest for some minutes and then unwinding it. The lock of hair thus takes up a curled shape, determined by the winding on the heated cylinder during the resting time.
In order to achieve a process of this type, it is known to use a so called curling iron, which is typically provided with a cylinder that can be heated on all its surfaces and a clamp that is connected to a lever that is suitable for being actuated by the user of the device. By exerting pressure on the lever, the clamp opens up, promoting the insertion of a lock of hair between the cylinder and the clamp; by releasing the lever, the clamp returns in contact with the cylinder, locking the lock of hair inside it. Once the lock of hair is locked between the clamp and the cylinder, the user rotates the device, manually or through a motor, so as to curl the remaining part of such a lock of hair around the cylinder. Consequently, the entire length of the lock is wound on the heated cylinder and stays resting on it for a period of time that is sufficient for the hair to take up the required style. At the end of such an operation, the user can release the hair unwinding it and again pressing the lever so as to open the clamp.
Electric curling irons are also known that are equipped with so called "floating" arms. A curling iron of this type is described, for example, in Italian patent application MI2009A001946 to the same Applicant as the present application.
Such electric curling irons with floating arms comprise a handgrip, a first atm and a second arm side-by-side and parallel with respect to one another, associated with the handgrip at, respectively, a first end thereof and heating means arranged at at least one arm. One or both of the arms comprise a fixed half-arm that is integral with the handgrip and a mobile half-arm that is elastically supported by the fixed half-arm. When inserting a lock of hair between the two arms, these are capable of moving away from one another so that the lock is easily positioned inside and are moreover capable of exerting, on the lock itself, a weak pressure so as to hold it automatically inside, i.e. without using any mechanical device like levers or clamps, etc. At this point the lock can be partially wound around the cylinder and with a sliding movement towards the free end of the lock it is possible to obtain the desired curling effect in a very simple and effective manner. The elastic action of the mobile half-arms makes up for the lack of the classic mechanical devices such as levers or clamps, automatically modulating the holding force of the lock as a function of its thickness, at the same time keeping it free just enough so as to be able to slide between the mobile half-arms during the movement for obtaining the curl.
The electric curling irons with floating arms described briefly above have undeniable advantages in terms of manageability that is considerably improved and in terms of a substantial reduction of the working time thanks to the total absence of mechanical elements, like for example, clamps or blades and levers or buttons, which can be an obstacle to the hair curling operations. Considering the particular construction of the arms (two semi-circumferences that face one another) it is possible to think that the same tool can be used not only for curling hair but also for straightening it, since there is indeed the opportunity of being able to insert the lock between two opposite flat surfaces. However, the tool is almost useless for this function without suitable provisions, which is an object of the present invention being made.
Indeed, in the case in which the user desires to use a device with floating plates for straightening her hair instead of curling it, the floating of the plates would not make it possible to exert, on the lock inserted between them, the compression force necessary for straightening it, since the existing compression force offers a resistance that is only suitable for weakly holding the lock so as to be able to make the curl as described above. On the other hand, if such a compression force were increased by acting on the elastic elements interposed between the fixed half-arm and the mobile half-arm, there would be the double problem of having a more difficult insertion of the lock between the two arms and very poor sliding while making the curl, with a consequent poor result. Consequently, in order to straighten hair, it is necessary to make some suitable modifications, since only with a suitable compression force it is possible to obtain the desired straight result. Again, if in the attempt of straightening her hair the user were to exert for example pressure on one end of, the arms that is distal with respect to the handgrip of the curling iron device, this would lead to an undesired lever effect, with the result of a spreading apart of the mobile half-arms at the proximal end of the handgrip, with consequent substantial impossibility of exerting any form of pressure suitable for straightening the lock.
The Applicant has thus tackled the technical problem of providing a multi-functional device for styling hair or rather a device that is capable of curling and straightening hair according to the particular requirement of the user and that at the same time is handy and easy to use.

Multi-functional device for styling hair


There is disclosed a process for producing pitch-based carbon fiber which comprises melt spinning an optically isotropic pitch or a mesophase pitch to form pitch fiber; subjecting the pitch fiber to liquid-phase oxidative polymerization in a solvent in the presence of an acid catalyst and a crosslinking agent to form infusibilized fiber; and carbonizing the infusiblized fiber. The above process enables low temperature and short time infusibilizing treatment of optically isotropic pitch fiber having a low softening point which has heretofore been difficult because of failure to preserve the original fibrous shape during infusibilization, and also efficient production of mesophase pitch-based carbon fibers as well as optically isotropic pitch-based carbon fibers each being improved in physical properties.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for producing pitch-based carbon fibers. More particularly, it pertains to a process for efficiently producing pitch-based carbon fibers by liquid-phase oxidative polymerization of pitch fibers to easily infusibilize the fibers at a low temperature in a short time.
2. Description of Related Art
Pitch-based carbon fibers have heretofore been produced by firstly spinning a raw material pitch to form pitch fibers and then subjecting the resultant pitch fibers to oxidative polymerization in gaseous phase of air at an elevated reaction temperature of 160.degree. to 180.degree. C. or higher to form infusibilized fibers. With respect to the aforestated production process, however, in the case where there was used as raw material, a pitch having a softening point lower than the reaction temperature, especially an optically isotropic pitch, it was hardly possible to perform infusibilization treatment by reason of the high reaction temperature.
In the case of producing optically isotropic pitch-based carbon fibers, there is employed a raw material pitch comprising optically isotropic pitch as the principal component. The optically isotropic pitch, however, has involved the problem that because of its low softening point as well as a high contents of low molecular components, the infusibilizing treatment of the pitch fibers obtained by spinning the pitch causes the pitch fibers to melt during the treatment making it extremely difficult to preserve the original fibrous shape and thus to produce infusibilized fibers, and even if it is possible to produce infusibilized fibers, a long time is required.
As described hereinbefore, it is the present status of the conventional process for producing infusibilized fibers by gas-phase oxidative polymerization that the use of optically isotropic pitch as the raw material pitch makes it difficult to effect infusibilization at a high reaction temperature on account of the low softening point of the raw material pitch itself.
Aside from the foregoing, infusibilized fibers have heretofore been obtained by spinning mesophase pitch to form mesophase pitch fibers and subsequently subjecting the resultant fibers to oxidative polymerization in the air at a high temperature of about 200.degree. to 400.degree. C. However, since the above-mentioned process allows oxygen to penetrate to the inside of the fibers and decreases the orientation properties of the pitch molecules owing to the oxidation, growth of crystal is impaired in the later carbonization step and structural defect is brought about by the release of the introduced oxygen, thus causing difficulty in achieving the carbon fibers with high performance in physical properties.
In view of the above circumstances facing such difficulty, intensive research and investigation were concentrated by the present inventors into the development of a process enabling infusibilization of the pitch fibers even at a low reaction temperature by cancelling the disadvantages inherent to the conventional process.
As a result, it has been found that infusibilizing treatment is facilitated by subjecting the pitch fibers to liquid-phase oxidative polymerization under specific reaction conditions adjusted to a relatively low temperature to proceed with infusibilization. The present invention has been accomplished on the basis of the aforestated finding and information.

Process for producing pitch-based carbon fiber


Imaging systems and methods for imaging assisted interventional procedure that receive images of a region of interest, that automatically detect in the images a contrast agent puff as it courses through the region of interest, and that generate a display including a video replay loop of contrast enhanced images based on the automatic detection of the contrast agent puff.

U.S. Pat. No. 9,545,237 discloses a system for recording and displaying a geometry of a vessel or generally a vascular structure, in which an injection catheter is inserted. A guide-wire tip is conducted by a guide-wire in order to examine and treat a stenosis at a coronary artery. A location of the guide-wire tip may be detected by means of X-ray, but it is difficult to illustrate the stenosis, since the coronary artery generally is invisible with respect to X-ray radiation. Therefore, a contrast agent may be provided via the injection catheter in order to increase the contrast of the vascular structure, in particular the coronary artery including the stenosis.
In a diagnosis or examination phase, a clinician injects a large dose of contrast agent and an angiography examination is performed. The clinician steers a guide wire, for example, based on the high quality angiography acquired during the diagnosis or examination phase. However, in difficult cases (such as passing a complex stenosis, going in a particular branch at a complex bifurcation), the clinician may need a more recent view of the vessels to observe exactly where the guide wire is with respect to the stenosis/bifurcation. In those cases, the clinician injects puffs (low dose, transient contrast agent injections).
A clinician typically injects the contrast agent as a short puff of contrast agent during a fluoroscopic, or other imaging modality, examination. The contrast agent injection results in short waves of contrast enhanced imaging that accurately, but briefly, delineate current vessels of interest.
Such transient contrast puffs course over the image in less than 1 second in some cases. It is difficult for the clinician to fully take in, and keep in mind, information presented by imaging the contrast puff when the display occurs over such a short period of time. Repeat puff injections may, therefore, be required for a second look at the vessel region of interest. Such repeat puff injections are inconvenient for the clinician and each comes with a frustration of having to view the information so briefly. Further, use of contrast agent should be minimized for reasons of patient health.
Thus, it is desired to provide an imaging and display technique that allows vessel structures in a region of interest to be effectively visualized by a clinician during an imaging assisted interventional procedure, despite a transient nature of the contrast agent injection. It is further desirable to provide a visualization technique that allows a clinician to reduce a number of contrast agent injections, or puffs, during the procedure.


The invention concerns a micromechanical device and method of manufacturing thereof. The device comprises an oscillating or deflecting element made of semiconductor material comprising n-type doping agent and excitation or sensing means functionally connected to said oscillating or deflecting element. According to the invention, the oscillating or deflecting element is essentially homogeneously doped with said n-type doping agent. The invention allows for designing a variety of practical resonators having a low temperature drift.

Widely used quartz crystal based resonators can potentially be replaced by micromechanical, typically silicon-based resonators in many applications. Silicon resonators can be made smaller than quartz resonators and there are a plurality standard manufacturing methods for silicon resonators. However, a problem associated with silicon based resonators is that they have a high temperature drift of the resonance frequency. The drift is mainly due to the temperature dependence of the Young modulus of silicon, which causes a temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) approx. −30 ppm/° C. This causes the resonance frequency to fluctuate due to changes in ambient temperature.
The large intrinsic temperature drift prevents silicon-based resonators from entering the quartz crystal dominated oscillator market. It is, however, known to compensate the temperature dependence in various ways. The prior art solutions include:                Active compensation with a temperature sensor and related electronic control circuitry, but it has not been possible to provide a resonator with sufficiently low temperature drift with low cost technology which would be suitable for mass production applications and would compete with quartz quality. Also, the use of a temperature compensation circuit increases the consumption of energy, which is a significant disadvantage especially in battery operated devices. Further, the compensation circuit tends to increase electric noise in the resonator circuit.        Active compensation by stabilizing the temperature of the resonator with temperature isolation and controlled warming/cooling of the resonator. However, this solution also increases the energy consumption of the device, and makes the device complicated to produce. The temperature compensation circuits are also slow in controlling, and cannot therefore compensate fast or large changes in ambient temperature sufficiently well.        Passive compensation by addition of amorphous SiO2 exhibiting opposite sign of temperature drift to the structure. This, however, leads to a more complex fabrication process and resonator performance trade-off        Passive compensation by heavy p-type doping, such as boron doping, compensates strongly for c44 characterized shear modes, like the Lamé mode, but less or not at all some other modes, limiting the applicability to quite special modes and excitation geometries in the case of piezoactuation. In particular, extensional modes are not well compensated by p-type doping.
Passive compensation methods are discussed in not yet published Finnish patent applications 20105849 and 20105851 of the same applicant, as well as references cited therein, in particular A. K. Samarao et al, "Passive TCF Compensation in High Q Silicon Micromechanical Resonators," IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS 2010), 2010, pp. 116-119; US 2010/0127596 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,383.
An article by A. K. Samarao et al., "Intrinsic Temperature Compensation of Highly Resistive High-Q Silicon Microresonators via Charge Carrier Depletion", Frequency Control Symposium (FCS), 2010 IEEE International, 1-4 Jun. 2010, pages: 334-339, discloses a bulk acoustic wave resonator comprising boron-doped (p-doping) silicon resonator element for reducing the temperature drift of the resonator. The boron-doped (p-doping) resonator element comprises, in addition, one or more layers of diffused phosphorus (n-doping) in order to create one or more pn-junction to the resonator element. The pn-junctions forming a depletion region with low charge carrier concentration have the effect that a TCF of −3 ppm/° C. could be achieved.
Hajjam et al. "Sub-100 ppb/° C. Temperature Stability in Thermally Actuated High Frequency Silicon Resonators via Degenerate Phosphorous Doping and Bias Current Optimization", IEEE International Electron Device Meeting, December 2010, disclose also the possibility of n-type doping of silicon with phosphorus in order to further improve the TCF. They report a temperature drift of 0.05 ppm/° C. in a thermally diffusion doped silicon resonator. Diffusion doping, however, results in a strong concentration gradient of charge carriers in the resonator and an n-dopant concentration of about 1*1019 cm−3 or higher, which is shown later to be needed for efficient T-compensation, can be created only to a region penetrating to approximately 2 micron thickness from the surface of the device. Achieved concentration levels may be also dependent on the exact geometry of the device, which sets design constraints. Thus, there are severe limits for the design of the resonator with respect to its volume, thickness and availability of resonance modes, for example. For example, bulk acoustic wave modes are not effectively temperature compensated in diffusion doped resonators.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,745 discloses a surface acoustic wave (SAW) device having a substrate comprising a thin doped silicon layer carrying surface waves and being allegedly temperature compensated. Modern simulations have, however, shown that the structures described therein can carry only Rayleigh SAW waves and shear horizontal SAW waves which are not well temperature compensated in practice due to strong contribution from non-compensated elastic matrix elements of silicon. In addition, the publication does not disclose any excitation means which could in practice be used to excite a SAW mode to the structure disclosed. Introduction of such means, such as a piezoactive layer on top of the doped layer, would additionally decrease the performance of the device since the comtribution from the piezoactive layer would be very large. Due to these facts, the described structure has never been commercially exploited.
Thus, there is a need for improved and practically feasible semiconductor resonators and other devices.

Micromechanical devices comprising n-type doping agents


In order to prevent generation of Barkhausen noise of a magnetoresistance-effect element, a thin antiferromagnetic film formed of Fe-Mn-X alloy containing a third alloying element X (which serves to improve corrosion resistance of Fe-Mn alloy) by 0.1 to 20 atomic % is disposed in adjacent to a thin permalloy film. The element X is selected from the group consisting of Ir, Ru, Zr, Nb, Si, Ge, V, Co, Pt and Pd. It is particularly recommended to employ Ir of 4 to 15 atomic % or Ru of 5.5 to 15 atomic % as the element X. When one or more alloying element selected from Ru, Rh, Pt, Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Ni, Cu, Al, Si and Ge is added to Fe and Mn which are essential components of the Fe-Mn-X alloy in addition to the element X, corrosion resistance of the alloy is improved more sufficiently.

The present invention relates to a thin antiferromagnetic film with high corrosion resistance and, more particularly, to an antiferromagnetic thin film applied for restraint of Barkhausen noise of a magnetoresistance-effect element in a reproducing magnetic head for a magnetic disk apparatus or the like.
In order to prevent generation of Barkhausen noise of a magnetoresistance-effect element employing permalloy (a generic name of a Ni-Fe highly-permeable alloy containing 35 to 90 weight % of nickel), it has already been proposed to utilize a method such that a thin antiferromagnetic film is brought into contact with at least one portion of a thin permalloy film so as to restrain movement of magnetic domain walls of the permalloy by an exchange bias field generated from the exchange coupling between the permalloy film and the antiferromagnetic film (refer to JP-A-62-40610 and JP-A63-117309). An Fe-Mn alloy is used as a material for the antiferromagnetic film.
However, because one part of the magnetoresistance-effect element including an Fe-Mn alloy film is normally exposed to the atmosphere, weakness in corrosion resistance of the Fe-Mn alloy causes a problem. The above-mentioned prior method lacks practicality because of the poor corrosion resistance of the Fe-Mn alloy.
It has also been proposed for improving the corrosion resistance of the Fe-Mn alloy, to add Ti, Rh, Cr or the like to that alloy (refer to JP-A-63-273372 and JP-A-1-21389); however, the corrosion resistance of the Fe-Mn alloy to which Ti, Rh, Cr or the like is added, is not still satisfactory and it is therefore desired to further improve the Fe-Mn alloy in corrosion resistance.

Antiferromagnetic film superior in corrosion resistance, magnetoresistance-effect element and magnetoresistance-effect head including such thin film


In some embodiments, an apparatus and a system, as well as a method and an article, may operate to rotate a rotatable driving member having at least one driving lobe, and to periodically contact at least one cam on a unitary driven member with the at least one driving lobe during rotation of the rotatable driving member, to set the driven member in motion. This motion can be used to launch an acoustic wave along an axis substantially orthogonal to the axis of rotation of the driving member, where the driving member disposed completely within the driven member. The signature of the acoustic wave can be at least partially determined by the profile of the cam and the rotation rate of the driving member. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.

Understanding the structure and properties of geological formations can reduce the cost of drilling wells for oil and gas exploration. Measurements made in a borehole (i.e., down hole measurements) are typically performed to attain this understanding, to identify the composition and distribution of material that surrounds the measurement device down hole. To obtain such measurements, acoustic sources in sonic tools are sometimes used to determine the interaction between sonic waves and sub-surface formations.
Presently available sonic tools have a limited ability to generate strong low frequency flexural waves in formations. When conventional piezoelectric and electromagnetic sources are used, large amounts of power are typically required to generate significant acoustic energy. In addition, the fabrication of acoustic wave generation elements (e.g., piezoelectric crystals) that operate to produce a well-matched dipole source is difficult.

Acoustic source apparatus, systems, and methods


A multi-configurable furniture assembly including height adjustable legs, a height adjustable pedestal support structure, a variable height foot support for cabinets and shelves and a panel wall assembly where each of the separate assemblies have finished and high quality appearances after a configuration is constructed.

People come in all different sizes and differently sized people often are most comfortable working at work surfaces that are at heights that are optimal for their specific size. For instance, while a person that is five feet tall may be most comfortable at a work surface that is 28.5 inches high, a person that is seven feet tall may be most comfortable at a work surface that is 31.5 inches high and likely would be uncomfortable at the 28.5 inch high surface.
In addition to wanting work surfaces at different heights, different people often want other furniture components at different heights as well either to accommodate their physical attributes or simply to create a certain aesthetic look or feel. For instance, by simply altering the space between the undersurface of a cabinet that resides above the top surface of a credenza, the entire look and feel of a furniture configuration can be altered. For example, where the credenza to cabinet space is twelve inches a sleek appearance results whereas a space of twenty-four or more inches can result in a more open and airy appearance.
To accommodate preferences of people of different sizes and different personal preferences regarding work surface height and the heights of other furniture components, the furniture industry has developed many different furniture systems that facilitate customized adjustment of work surface heights, shelf heights, cabinet heights, etc. Unfortunately, typically the components that facilitate work surface, shelf, cabinet, etc., height adjustment are not very elegant. To this end, work surface, shelf, cabinet, etc., height adjusting mechanisms often include unsightly telescoping structures, locking structures, fastening structures, exposed tracks or rails.
Where an application requires a more finished furniture appearance, unsightly systems that include structure to facilitate height adjustability often cannot be employed. For instance, in the case of an executive office, unsightly height adjustable structures simply are not desirable in most cases.
Instead of relying on height adjustable structures in customized height applications that require a more finished appearance, one solution has been to design and build customized furniture that meets specific user preferences. While customization results in optimized furniture, customization is extremely expensive and, in at least some cases, is cost prohibitive. In addition, where custom furniture is designed and built, typically the furniture cannot later be reconfigured to accommodate some other person's preferences.
Because of the costs and inflexibility associated with customization, in many cases where finished appearance is required, height adjustability is foregone and standard height work surfaces, shelves and cabinets are used.

Height adjustable support assembly for supporting a furniture component above a work surface


On time division multiplexing first through N-th input signals, each having a bit rate V to represent successive ATM cells, a multiplexing section (12, 13') multiplexes the first through the N-th input signals and a dummy input signal into a time division multiplexed signal having another bit rate V.times.(N+1) and comprising first through N-th multiplexed cells and a dummy multiplexed cell. The first through the N-th and the dummy multiplexed cells are derived from the first through the N-th and the dummy input signals, respectively. A controller (16') successively writes valid cells of the first through the N-th multiplexed cells in an FIFO memory (15) as written cells at a writing rate equal to the bit rate V.times.(N+1) for a writing time interval defined by the first through the N-th multiplexed cells and reads the written cells from the FIFO memory in a first-in first-out order as a read-out signal at a reading rate equal to the bit rate V.times.(N+1) for a reading time interval defined by the dummy multiplexed cell. A converter (17) converts the read-out signal into a multiplexed output signal having the bit rate V.

This invention relates to an ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) cell multiplexing device for multiplexing ATM cells.
An ATM cell multiplexing device of the type described, generally comprises first through N-th input lines supplied with first through N-th input signals, each having a predetermined bit rate V to represent successive ATM cells classifiable into valid and invalid cells, where N represents an integer greater than one. The invalid cells will be called empty or idle cells in the art. The ATM cell multiplexing device further comprises at least one output line and a processing section connected to the first through the N-th input lines and to the output line. The processing section processes the first through the N-th input signals into a time division multiplexed output signal having the predetermined bit rate V. The processing section delivers the time division multiplexed output signal to the output line. Such an ATM cell multiplexing device is described in a paper contributed by Hiroshi SUZUKI et al to IEEE International Conference on Communications, CH2655-9 (1989), pages 0099-0103, under the title of "Output-buffer Switch Architecture for Asynchronous Transfer Mode".
As will later be described in connection with a conventional ATM cell multiplexing device, the processing section comprises a time division multiplexing section connected to the first through the N-th input lines for time division multiplexing the first through the N-th input signals into a time division multiplexed signal having a preselected bit rate V.times.N and comprising first through N-th multiplexed cell or components. The first through the N-th multiplexed cells are derived from the first through the N-th input signals, respectively.
A first-in first-out (FIFO) memory is connected to the time division multiplexing section. A controller is connected to the time division multiplexing section and to the first-in first-out memory for controlling the first-in first-out memory to successively write the valid cells of the first through the N-th multiplexed cells in the first-in first-out memory as written cells at a writing rate or speed equal to 2.times.V.times.N and to read the written cells out of the first-in first-out memory in a first-in first-out order as a read-out signal at a reading rate or speed equal to 2.times.V.times.N. Inasmuch as the writing operation is not carried out simultaneously with the reading operation for the first-in first-out memory using a single port RAM, each of the writing and the reading rates is inevitably made to become equal to twice the preselected bit rate V.times.N to carry out the reading and the writing operation in a time division fashion.
A converter is connected to the first-in first-out memory and to the output line. The converter converts the read-out signal into the time division multiplexed output signal of the predetermined bit rate V to deliver the time division multiplexed output signal to the output line.
In order to realize the ATM cell multiplexing device having a large scale and a high speed, it is required to reduce an accessing speed (namely, the writing and the reading rates or speeds) to the first-in first-out memory.

ATM cell multiplexing device capable of reducing an accessing speed to a FIFO memory thereof


The present invention provides compositions and methods for treating glaucoma, ocular hypertension, and age-related macular degeneration. More specifically, the present invention describes the use of agents that down-regulate expression of tanis and/or p21Waf1/Cip1/Sd1 genes to treat such disorders of the eye.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma. More specifically, the invention provides methods and compositions for treating ocular hypertension, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) and for identifying therapeutic agents to treat these blinding diseases.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a number of ocular conditions that are caused by, or aggravated by, damage to the optic nerve head, degeneration of ocular tissues, and/or elevated intraocular pressure. For example, "glaucomas" are a group of debilitating eye diseases that are a leading cause of irreversible blindness in the United States and other developed nations. Primary Open Angle Glaucoma ("POAG") is the most common form of glaucoma. The disease is characterized by the degeneration of the trabecular meshwork, leading to obstruction of the normal ability of aqueous humor to leave the eye without closure of the space (e.g., the "angle") between the iris and cornea (Vaughan, D. et al., (1992)). A characteristic of such obstruction in this disease is an increased intraocular pressure ("IOP"), resulting in progressive visual loss and blindness if not treated appropriately and in a timely fashion. The disease is estimated to affect between 0.4% and 3.3% of all adults over 40 years old (Leske, M. C. et al. (1986); Bengtsson, B. (1989); Strong, N. P. (1992)). Moreover, the prevalence of the disease rises with age to over 6% of those 75 years or older (Strong, N. P., (1992)).
Glaucoma affects three separate tissues in the eye. The elevated IOP associated with POAG is due to morphological and biochemical changes in the trabecular meshwork (TM), a tissue located at the angle between the cornea and iris. Most of the nutritive aqueous humor exits the anterior segment of the eye through the TM. The progressive loss of TM cells and the build-up of extracellular debris in the TM of glaucomatous eyes leads to increased resistance to aqueous outflow, thereby raising IOP. Elevated IOP, as well as other factors such as ischemia, cause degenerative changes in the optic nerve head (ONH) leading to progressive "cupping" of the ONH and loss of retinal ganglion cells and axons. The detailed molecular mechanisms responsible for glaucomatous damage to the TM, ONH, and the retinal ganglion cells are unknown.
Twenty years ago, the interplay of ocular hypertension, ischemia and mechanical distortion of the optic nerve head were heavily debated as the major factors causing progression of visual field loss in glaucoma. Since then, other factors including excitotoxicity, nitric oxide, absence of vital neurotrophic factors, abnormal glial/neuronal interplay and genetics have been implicated in the degenerative disease process. The consideration of molecular genetics deserves some discussion insofar as it may ultimately define the mechanism of cell death, and provide for discrimination of the various forms of glaucoma. Within the past 8 years, over 15 different glaucoma genes have been mapped and 7 glaucoma genes identified. This includes six mapped genes (GLC1A-GLC1F) and two identified genes (MYOC and OPTN) for primary open angle glaucoma, two mapped genes (GLC3A-GLC3B) and one identified gene for congenital glaucoma (CYP1B1), two mapped genes for pigmentary dispersion/pigmentary glaucoma, and a number of genes for developmental or syndromic forms of glaucoma (FOXC1, PITX2, LMX1B, PAX6).
Thus, each form of glaucoma may have a unique pathology and accordingly a different therapeutic approach to the management of the disease may be required. For example, a drug that effects the expression of enzymes that degrade the extracellular matrix of the optic nerve head would not likely prevent RGC death caused by excitotoxicity or neurotrophic factor deficit. In glaucoma, RGC death occurs by a process called apoptosis (programmed cell death). It has been speculated that different types of insults that can cause death may do so by converging on a few common pathways. Targeting downstream at a common pathway is a strategy that may broaden the utility of a drug and increase the probability that it may have utility in the management of different forms of the disease. However, drugs that effect multiple metabolic pathways are more likely to produce undesirable side-effects. With the advent of gene-based diagnostic kits to identify specific forms of glaucoma, selective neuroprotective agents can be tested with the aim of reducing the degree of variation about the measured response.
Glaucoma is currently diagnosed based on specific signs of the disease (characteristic optic nerve head changes and visual field loss). However, over half of the population with glaucoma are unaware they have this blinding disease and by the time they are diagnosed, they already have irreversibly lost approximately 30-50% of their retinal ganglion cells. Thus, improved methods for early diagnosis of glaucoma are needed.
Current glaucoma therapy is directed to lowering IOP, a major risk factor for the development and progression of glaucoma. However, none of the current IOP lowering therapies actually intervenes in the glaucomatous disease process responsible for elevated IOP and progressive damage to the anterior segment continues. This is one possible reason why most patients become "resistant" to conventional glaucoma therapies. Thus, what is needed is a therapeutic method for altering (by inhibiting or even reversing) the disease process.
Another blinding disease is age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) that affects the outer retina, retinal pigmented epithelial cells, Bruch's membrane, and the choroid. (Ambati et al. 2003). The hallmarks of this disease are diffuse and focal thickening of the Bruch's membrane due to deposition of lipoproteins (drusen) leading to retinal dysfunction culminating in retinal detachment and loss of vision. Other lipoproteins, such as Tanis gene receptor and SAA, may also be deposited at the Bruch's membrane to exacerbate the pathology and retinal dysfunction.
There are several reports suggesting that primary amyloidosis may be associated with glaucoma. For example, it was found that amyloid was deposited in various ocular tissues including the vitreous, retina, choroid, iris, lens, and trabecular meshwork in primary systemic amyloidosis patients (Schwartz et al. 1982). Ermilov et al. (1993) reported that in 478 eyes of 313 patients (aged 25 years to 90 years) with cataracts, glaucoma, and/or diabetes mellitus, 66 (14%) of the eyes contained amyloid-pseudoexfoliative amyloid (PEA) proteins. Krasnov et al. (1996) reported that 44.4% of 115 patients with open-angle glaucoma revealed extracellular depositions of amyloid proteins. Finally, amyloidosis was revealed in the sclera in 82% of the cases and in the iris in 70% of the cases. A number of clinical conditions, including Alzheimer's disease, exhibit abnormal amyloid deposits in tissues associated with the disease. However, amyloids are molecularly heterogeneous and encoded by different amyloid genes. The previous reports are unclear regarding which amyloid(s) might be associated with glaucoma.
To date, more than 100 genes have been mapped or cloned that may be associated with retinal degeneration. The pathogenesis of retinal degenerative diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is multifaceted and can be triggered by environmental factors in those who are genetically predisposed. One such environmental factor, light exposure, has been identified as a contributing factor to the progression of retinal degenerative disorders such as ARMD (Young 1988). Photo-oxidative stress leading to light damage to retinal cells has been shown to be a useful model for studying retinal degenerative diseases for the following reasons: damage is primarily to the photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) of the outer retina (Noell et al. 1966; Bressler et al. 1988; Curcio et al. 1996); they share a common mechanism of cell death, apoptosis (Ge-Zhi, et al. 1996; Abler et al. 1996); light has been implicated as an environmental risk factor for progression of ARMD and RP (Taylor et al. 1992; Naash et al. 1996); and therapeutic interventions which inhibit photo-oxidative injury have also been shown to be effective in animal models of neurodegenerative retinal disease (LaVail et al. 1992; Fakforovich et al. 1990).
To date, there are no approved effective therapies for the treatment of ocular neovascular diseases which do not include the destruction of healthy viable tissue. There are certainly no therapies specifically directed at eliminating or inhibiting the deposition and accumulation of amyloid proteins, drusen or amyloid-like proteins including SAA on the Bruch's membrane in the retina as in ARMD. Such accumulation of amyloid and/or drusen and other lipoproteins including SAA causes retinal dysfunction by several mechanisms including disruption of retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cell function due to thickening of Bruch's membrane, and RPE detachment resulting in rapid loss of visual acuity followed by macular atrophy and retinal detachment (Ciulla et al. 1998). Additionally, the deposited drusen and/or amyloid proteins including SAA could exert direct neurotoxic effects on the RPE cells and neighboring cells in the retina akin to the well known toxic effects of such amyloid proteins and amyloid/lipid complexes observed in brain cell death as in Alzheimer's disease (Lambert et al. 1998; Liu and Schubert 1997; Pike et al. 1993; Nakagami et al. 2002) in retina (Jen et al. 1998). Although panretinal photocoagulation is the current medical practice for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy and ARMD and is effective in inhibiting retinal neovascularization, this procedure destroys healthy peripheral retinal tissue. This destruction of healthy tissue decreases the retinal metabolic demand and thereby reduces retinal ischemia driven neovascularization. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a procedure in which a photoactivatable dye is given systemically followed by laser activation of the dye in the eye at the site of new blood vessel formation (Asrani & Zeimer 1995; Asrani et al. 1997; Husain et al. 1997; Lin et al. 1994). The photoactivated drug generates free oxygen radicals which seal the newly formed blood vessels and thereby prevent or reduce their growth, at least temporarily. This procedure has been used in patients with the exudative form of macular degeneration and many patients show regression of their subretinal neovascular membranes. Unfortunately, it appears that the PDT-induced inhibition of retinal neovascularization is risky, expensive and provides transient and temporary relief lasting only 6-12 weeks (Gragoudas et al. 1997; Sickenberg et al. 1997; Thomas et al. 1998).
Thus, there is an urgent need for therapeutic methods for altering (by inhibiting or even reversing) the disease processes of glaucoma and ARMD.

Method for treating glaucoma comprising administering α-lipoic acid


Systems and methods for measuring characteristics of an electronic visual display are disclosed herein. A method configured in accordance with embodiments of the present technology for measuring an electronic visual display can include, for example, analyzing a region of interest (“ROI”) in an image taken of at least a portion of the electronic visual display. The method determines a center and bounds of the ROI that are, in general, floating point values rather than whole pixel locations. The method then samples whole imaging device pixels and/or fractional imaging device pixels within the bounds of the ROI and determines whether the pixels and/or fractional pixels fall within, outside, or partially within the ROI. Depending on the position of the pixels and/or fractional pixels relative to the ROI, the pixels and/or fractional pixels can be weighted and/or summed to determine an overall image characteristic for the ROI.

Electronic visual displays ("displays") have become commonplace. Displays of increasingly high resolution are used in a wide variety of contexts, from personal electronics with screens a few inches or smaller in size to computer screens and televisions several feet across to scoreboards and billboards covering hundreds of square feet. Virtually all displays are made up of arrays of individual light-emitting elements called "pixels." In turn, each pixel can be up of a plurality of light-emitting points (e.g., one red, one green, one blue, and/or one white). The light-emitting points are termed "subpixels."
It is often desirable to measure characteristics of some portion of a display. For example, it is often desirable to measure the color and brightness of each pixel or subpixel in order to analyze and/or calibrate the display. In the case of calibration, adjustments can then be determined so the pixels can display particular colors at desired brightness levels. However, measuring such characteristics is made more difficult as the resolution of many displays continues to increase.

Methods and systems for measuring electronic visual displays using fractional pixels


A pixel cell with improved lag characteristics without increased noise. The pixel cell according to embodiments of the invention includes a photo-conversion device and a floating diffusion region switchably coupled to the photo-conversion device. The pixel cell includes a reset transistor, which has a first terminal electrically connected to the floating diffusion region and a second terminal switchably coupled to first and second voltage sources. The first voltage source is higher than the second voltage source. The pixel cell operates by returning a potential on the photo-conversion device to a value approximately equal to a value of a potential barrier between the photo-conversion device and the floating diffusion region prior to generating charge in the photo-conversion device.

CMOS image sensors are increasingly being used as low cost imaging devices. A CMOS image sensor circuit includes a focal plane array of pixel cells, each one of the cells includes a photo-conversion device, such as a pinned photodiode, having an associated a charge accumulation region within a substrate for accumulating photo-generated charge. Each pixel cell may include a transistor for transferring charge from the charge accumulation region to a sensing node, which is typically a floating diffusion region, and a transistor, for resetting the floating diffusion region to a predetermined charge level prior to charge transference. The pixel cell may also include a source follower transistor for receiving and amplifying charge from the sensing node and an access transistor for controlling the readout of the cell contents from the source follower transistor.
CMOS image sensors of the type discussed above are generally known as discussed, for example, in Nixon et al., "256×256 CMOS Active Pixel Sensor Camera-on-a-Chip,"IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 31(12), pp. 2046-2050 (1996); and Mendis et al., "CMOS Active Pixel Image Sensors,"IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 41(3), pp. 452-453 (1994). See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,177,333 and 6,204,524, assigned to Micron Technology, Inc., which describe operation of conventional CMOS image sensors, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
A schematic diagram of a conventional CMOS pixel cell 10 is shown in FIG. 1. The CMOS pixel cell 10 comprises a pinned photodiode 21 for collecting charges generated by light incident on the pixel, and a transfer transistor 50 for transferring photoelectric charges from the pinned photodiode 21 to a floating diffusion region 25. The floating diffusion region 25 is electrically connected to the gate of an output source follower transistor 60. The pixel cell 10 also includes a reset transistor 40 for resetting the floating diffusion region 25 to a predetermined voltage before sensing a signal, and a row select transistor 80 for outputting a signal from the source follower transistor 60 to an output terminal in response to an address signal.
FIG. 2 is a timing diagram illustrating the operation of the pixel cell 10. In the pixel cell 10, charge is generated by the pinned photodiode 21 in response to light incident on the cell 10 and accumulated by the pinned photodiode 21 during an integration period. During a readout procedure, the photo-generated charge is transferred to readout circuitry and readout as follows.
For readout, a row select signal (ROW) is pulsed high to activate the gate of the row select transistor 80. At approximately the same time, a reset signal (RST) is pulsed high to activate the gate of the reset transistor 40 and to reset the floating diffusion region 25 to a predetermined voltage Vpix. To obtain a reset signal Vrst, the voltage on the floating diffusion region 25 is applied to the gate of the source follower transistor 60 and readout through the row select transistor 80 to a sample and hold circuit (not shown). For this operation, as RST goes low, a sample and hold reset signal (SHR) is pulsed high and then low to cause the sample and hold circuit to sample and store the reset signal Vrst.
Subsequently, the photo-generated charge is readout to obtain a pixel signal Vphoto. For this, a transfer signal (TX) is pulsed high to operate a gate of the transfer transistor 50 and to transfer the photo-generated charge from the pinned photodiode 21 to the floating diffusion region 25. The voltage on the floating diffusion region 25 is applied to the gate of the source follower transistor 60 and readout through the row select transistor 80 to the sample and hold circuit. As TX goes low, a sample and hold signal pixel signal (SHS) is pulsed high and then low to cause the sample and hold circuit to sample and store the pixel signal Vphoto. After the readout process is complete, ROW goes low to deactivate the gate of the row select transistor 80.
A potential barrier may exist between the pinned photodiode 21 and the floating diffusion region 25. FIG. 3 is a potential well diagram of the pinned photodiode 21 and the floating diffusion region 25 and shows a potential barrier 30 between the pinned photodiode 21 and the floating diffusion region 25. This barrier 30 causes incomplete charge transfer and makes the pinned photodiode potential behind the barrier difficult to control. Additionally, this potential barrier 30 leads to image lag.
Image lag includes two components: charging lag and discharging lag. Charging lag is most apparent when a pixel cell has been functioning for a time under dark conditions. FIGS. 4A-4D are potential well diagrams of the pinned photodiode 21 and the floating diffusion region 25 illustrating charging lag. Initially, as shown in FIG. 4A, the potential well of the pinned photodiode 21 is filled with charge (i.e. electrons) to a point below the barrier 30 and the potential of the pinned photodiode 21 is approximately equal to the barrier potential.
During operation in dark conditions, when the transfer gate periodically opens, the potential well of the pinned photodiode 21 becomes partially depleted, as shown in FIG. 4B, and the potential of the pinned photodiode 21 increases. As shown in FIG. 4C, when the pixel cell 10 subsequently integrates light, a portion of the charge 31 generated from that light serves to replenish the depleted potential of the photodiode 21. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 4D, when the photo-generated charge is transferred to the floating diffusion region 25, the portion of photo-generated charge 31 is prevented from being transferred by the barrier 30 and the charge 31 remains in the pinned photodiode 21 so that the potential of pinned photodiode 21 is again equal to the potential barrier 30.
Consequently, the portion of photo-generated charge 31 is lost and is not readout as part of a pixel image signal. The longer the pixel cell 10 operates under dark conditions, the more depleted the potential well of the photodiode 21 becomes and, therefore, the greater the loss of charge from a first integration period. Charging lag causes non-linearity of signal response, referred to as a "dead" zone with low responsivity at small exposures, and smearing of moving objects.
Discharging lag is associated with a signal from a prior frame appearing as a ghost image in subsequent frames. Discharging lag is likely caused by the potential barrier's 30 dependence on the potential of the floating diffusion region 25 and/or by incomplete charge transfer from the pinned photodiode 21 to the floating diffusion region 25 during a readout cycle. FIGS. 5A through 5D are potential well diagrams of the pinned photodiode 21 and floating diffusion region 25, which illustrate discharging lag
As shown in FIG. 5A, initially, the potential barrier 30 has a height H1, when the floating diffusion region 25 has been reset to a predetermined potential, and is free from any photo-generated charge. Also, the potential well of the pinned photodiode 21 is filled with charge to a point below the barrier 30 and the potential of the pinned photodiode 21 is approximately equal to the barrier potential 30. FIG. 5B illustrates the accumulation of photo-generated charge 33 by the photodiode 21.
As the photo-generated charge 33 is transferred to the floating diffusion region 25, the potential on the floating diffusion region 25 decreases and the height of the barrier 30 increases to H2, as shown in FIG. 5C. Consequently, a first portion of photo-generated charge 34 remains in the potential well of pinned photodiode 21, as a second portion of photo-generated charge 35 is transferred to the floating diffusion region 25. As shown in FIG. 5D, when the second portion of photo-generated charge 35 is readout from the floating diffusion region 25, the potential of the floating diffusion region 25 increases and the height of the barrier 30 decreases to H3, which is approximately equal to H1, and the first portion of photo-generated charge 34 is transferred to the floating diffusion region 25. The first portion of photo-generated charge 34 is then readout with subsequently integrated charge, causing a ghost image in the subsequent frame.
Often, techniques to reduce lag result in an undesirable increase in reset noise in a pixel cell. Some techniques, however, have been suggested that provide improved lag characteristics without increasing reset noise. See B. Pain et al., "Analysis and Enhancement of Low-light-level Performance of Photodiode-type CMOS Active Pixel Images Operated With Sub-threshold Reset,"in 1999 IEEE Workshop on CCDs and AIS, (Nagano, Japan), June 1999; H. Tian et al. "Analysis of Temporal Noise CMOS Photodiode Active Pixel Sensor," IEEEJ. of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 92-101, (2001), which are incorporated herein by reference. Although these techniques improve lag and reduce reset noise, further noise reduction and alternative methods for reducing lag are needed for CMOS image sensors.
Accordingly, there is a need for a CMOS pixel cell and a method of operating the pixel cell to achieve lag cancellation and reduced reset noise.


A sensor is provided for transillumination of a blood-profused portion of a human fingertip. The sensor includes an opaque, semi-cylindrical substantially rigid cradle member having a photosensor mounted to a concave surface thereof such that ambient light cannot penetrate the cradle member and induce erroneous readings. A flexible planar web-like support structure is attached at one end thereof to the cradle member and includes a light source mounted within the web thereof. A repositionable adhesive coating on the concave surface of the cradle member holds the fleshy portion of a human fingertip in conformance therewith, and when the flexible planar web-like support structure is wrapped around a fingertip within the cradle member, the light source overlies the photosensor for transillumination of the fingertip.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates, in general, to improved electro-optical sensors for measurement of arterial oxygen saturation and, in particular, to electro-optical sensors for measurement of arterial oxygen saturation which have cutaneous conformance. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to an electro-optical sensor for measurement of arterial oxygen saturation which is mounted within a partially rigid-partially flexible sensor body which diminishes ambient light artifact and sensor damage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pulse oximetry involves the continuous, non-invasive monitoring of the oxygen saturation level in blood-profused tissue to provide an early indication of impending shock. An oximeter probe typically is secured to the patient and provides an electrical signal to an oximeter device. The oximeter device houses electronic circuitry for processing this electric signal and generating human-readable indicia of the patient's blood oxygen saturation level. Both disposable and non-disposable sensor probes for this purpose are widely utilized.
Non-disposable probes are typically designed utilizing a clamp design. This design includes one or more light-emitting diodes which are adjacent to one side of a fleshy human appendage, such as a finger. Light from the light-emitting diode is received by a photosensor which is placed on the opposing fleshy side of the appendage. Such devices generally consist of a small spring-loaded clip which attaches like a common clothespin to the tip of a finger or similar appendage. While this technique works quite well in many applications, this design suffers from selected defects. For example, inaccurate measurements may result because of so-called "motion artifact" which is created by differential motion between the sensor and the patient's finger, as well as changes in pressure within the tissue. Further, these clamp-type sensors may become removed inadvertently. Additionally, the spring-loaded pressure on fleshy tissue over a period of time will cause a reduction of blood flow to that tissue. Reduction of blood flow will cause a concomitant loss of pulse amplitude and, thus, a loss of the optical signal to be measured. To minimize this constricted effect of clamp-type attachments, the sensor must be adjusted or repositioned frequently, generally once or twice per hour. These drawbacks result in this type of clamp sensor being unacceptable for long-term, uninterrupted measurement.
Disposable sensor probes also are known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,014 discloses a sensor probe which comprises a light source and photosensor mounted within the web of an elongated flexible strip. The flexible strip is then wrapped around the human fingertip such that the light source and sensor are positioned in directly overlying relationship. The low mass and aspect ratio of such sensor probes minimize the motion artifact present within larger clamp-type sensors, and the adhesive nature of the elongated strip causes the sensor and light source to conform to the fingertip skin, minimizing the distortion brought about by pressure on fleshy tissue.
While the sensor disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,014 provides relief from several of the defects known to exist within non-disposable sensor probes, these so-called "bandaid" sensors include various defects as well.
For example, the mounting of a light-emitting diode and sensor in a flexible bandaid-like structure can result in damage to either of these sensitive electronic devices. Further, the porous, translucent nature of the bandaid-like strip mount can result in erroneous readings when the patient is present within an area having high-ambient light in that the ambient light may penetrate the bandaid-like structure and affect the reading at the light sensor.
The so-called "bandaid" sensor also suffers physical frailty in that the conductors which electrically couple the light source and light sensor to the oximeter device are merely woven into the fabric of the bandaid-like structure and, thus, are subject to deformation and fatigue over long periods of time. Finally, the bandaid sensor, which wraps around the tip of the human finger, requires that any patient having a fingernail of greater than nominal length must trim that fingernail in order for the light source and sensor to overlie one another through the fingernail and a fleshy portion of the fingertip.
In view of the above, it should be apparent that a need exists for a disposable electro-optical sensor which may be utilized to transilluminate a human fingertip which possesses small mass but which provides some rigidity for sensor and conductor mounting and protection and which minimizes erroneous readings brought about by high-ambient light.

Partially rigid-partially flexible electro-optical sensor for fingertip transillumination


A rim material having a non-uniform thickness, a rim manufactured from the rim material, and a method for manufacturing the rim from the rim material. The rim material includes a first material portion which forms an axially curved portion of the rim after the rim material is formed to the rim and a second material portion which forms an intermediate portion between adjacent axially curved portions after the rim material is formed to the rim. The first material portion has a thick parallel-surface portion including opposite surfaces parallel to each other. The parallel-surface portion has a width greater than a maximum amount of an axial dislocation of the parallel-surface portion expected to occur when the parallel-surface portion is formed to a corresponding curved portion. The second material portion has a thickness varying portion. The thickness varying portion includes a surface having a configuration defined by a line including a straight line and/or a slightly curved line.

For a wheel rim (for, e.g., a truck or bus), a material selected from at least two kinds of materials including a flat-plate material 1 as illustrated in FIG. 5 and a die steel 2 having a shaped configuration as illustrated in FIG. 6 can be used. Further, a material 3 having a non-uniform thickness (as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8) disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. HEI 8-91005 can be used.
Rim manufacturing processes from those materials are shown in FIGS. 9A, 9B, and 9C. In the manufacturing processes, as illustrated in FIG. 9A, the flat-plate material is formed to a rim configuration through a coiling step 4, a welding step 5, a trimming step 6, a flaring or expanding step, and a roll-forming step 7. As illustrated in FIG. 9C, the die steel is formed to a rim configuration through a coiling step, a welding step, and then an expanding step in a radial direction 8 (sizing), because the die steel has a cross-section close to a final configuration of the rim. As illustrated in FIG. 9B, a material having a non-uniform thickness of Publication 8-91005 may be formed to a rim configuration through the steps 4, 5, 7 and 8 (the trimming step 6 is not used).
Trimming of a welded burr conducted after rim-welding is executed as follows: In the case of a cylindrical material manufactured from the flat-plate material, as illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10B, a welded burr is trimmed by moving a cutter 9 in an axial direction of the cylindrical material. In the case of an annular material manufactured from the die steel, as illustrated in FIGS. 11A and 11B, a burr of a welded portion W is trimmed by moving a cutter 10, which has the same configuration as that of a cross section of an annular material having a convex and/or concave configuration, in a circumferential direction of the annular material. In the case of an annular material manufactured from the material having a non-uniform thickness of Publication 8-91005, trimming is conducted in the same way as in the die steel.
The above-described conventional rim manufacturing processes have, for example, the following problems:
With cylindrical material manufactured from the flat-plate material, the cylindrical material has a uniform thickness except that a local thickness reduction occurs due to coiling and forming. Therefore, a thickness distribution in proportion to a stress distribution cannot be expected, and the thickness of the cylindrical material is uniformly thick in order to satisfy a required thickness of portions where rigidity and fatigue strength are most needed. As a result, the material is heavy and expensive, and it is difficult to obtain lightening and cost requirements.
Annular material manufactured from a die steel has a substantially constant thickness. Annular material has a large wave and a convex and/or concave configuration in the axial direction of the rim. Distortion and interference are likely to occur during the coiling, welding and forming steps. The appearance of the rim is also inferior Further, the welded portions can be trimmed only by moving the cutter in a circumferential direction of the rim as illustrated in FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B. Machining to a smooth surface is also difficult. As a result, the appearance and design quality is low, and additional machining for improving the appearance after trimming is usually required. Even if such additional machining is performed, the appearance is inferior, and cost control becomes difficult.
Japanese Patent Publication HEI 8-91005 (FIG. 7) proposed a method for manufacturing a rim from a material having various thicknesses at various portions of the material.
In Japanese Patent Publication HEI 8-91005, as illustrated in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, thick portions of the material correspond to corner portions (axially curved portions) of the rim, so that the final configuration has a surface shaped in a convex arc. In the case of an arc-shaped surface, if a thick portion where maximum strength is required is offset in a width direction (i.e., an axial direction) of the rim, a required thickness cannot be assured at an objective portion. This means that a required strength cannot be assured at the objective portion, and a crack could be caused at the objective portion. To prevent this, an extra thickness must be added to the objective portion.
In addition, when a material is conveyed on conveyer rolls while being rolled, if the material has a flat surface and is thin, a front end portion of the conveyed material will be bent downward between the rolls due to the weight of the material, and thus, a smooth conveyance will be difficult.
Further, during the step of coiling, if the material has a flat surface, a pinch force caused by the pinch rolls in order to feed the material to coiling rolls is liable to be insufficient and problems may arise in feeding the material to the coiling rolls. If the clearance between the pinch rolls is decreased so that the material is forcibly fed to the coiling rolls, slippage is liable to occur between the coiling rolls and the material, and the material could be scuffed.
Further, since the surface of the thick portion of the curved portion of the rim has the configuration of an arc, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the surface of the curved portion includes a steep, inclined portion 23 which has a large inclination angle exceeding, for example, 30 degrees. In such a case, in the trimming step (6) of FIG. 9B, axial trimming is impossible, and only circumferential trimming can be used. However, as illustrated in FIGS. 12A, 12B, 12C and 12D, circumferential trimming is accompanied by the generation of an overlap 22, which is formed when a remaining material 21 of a removal material 20 is pushed by rolls in a succeeding step (for example, the roll-forming step). More particularly, when the welded portion W of the annular material is trimmed in the circumferential direction C as illustrated in FIG. 12A, by moving the cutter 10 as illustrated in FIG. 12B thereby removing the burr (removal material) 20, the remaining material 21 is generated as illustrated in FIG. 12C. The remaining portion 21 is turned to the overlap 22 when the remaining portion 21 is pushed by the roll during the step of roll-forming. If the overlap 22 is left as it is, it is likely to cause a crack due to a notch effect and the appearance will thus be inferior. Removing of the overlap 22 by machining will cause a large cost increase.


Embodiments of dual mode communication systems and methods are disclosed. On system embodiment, among others, comprises logic configured to perform spatial multiplexing and expanded bandwidth signaling to data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure is generally related to communication systems, and, more particularly, is related to wireless communication systems and methods.
2. Related Art
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication such as voice, data, and so on. These systems may be based on code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM), or some other multiplexing techniques. OFDM systems may provide high performance for some channel environments. FIG. 1A is a block diagram that illustrates an exemplary single-in, single-out (SISO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication system 100 (herein, SISO system 100) that is compliant with IEEE 802.11 standards. The SISO system 100 comprises a transmitter device 102 and a receiver device 104. The transmitter device 102 comprises a transmit (TX) processor 106, radio circuitry 108, and antenna 110. The receiver device 104 comprises an antenna 112, radio circuitry 114, and receive (RX) processor 116.
The transmitter device 102 comprises well-known circuitry that divides the high-speed data signals into tens or hundreds of lower speed signals and transmits the signals in parallel over respective frequencies within a radio frequency (RF) signal that comprise subcarrier frequencies ("subcarriers"). The frequency spectra of the subcarriers overlap so that the spacing between them is minimized. The subcarriers are also orthogonal to each other so that they are statistically independent and do not create cross-talk or otherwise interfere with each other. In operation, the transmit processor 106 receives data signals (designated as TX data1 at a defined data rate designated as TX Rate1). The transmit processor 106 encodes and interleaves the data and maps the interleaved data into respective subcarrier channels as frequency domain symbols. Further processing by the transmit processor 106 may result in the insertion of training signals, cyclic extensions (e.g., guard intervals), and additional processing such as inverse fast Fourier transformations (IFFT) and wave shaping. The processed subcarriers are provided to the radio circuitry 108, which provides filtering, modulation, amplification, and upconversion functionality, ultimately resulting in the transmission of data from antenna 110.
At the receiver device 104, the antenna 112 receives the transmitted data, which is provided to radio circuitry 114 to complement the processing that occurred at radio circuitry 108. The data is then provided to receive (RX) processor 116, which provides clock recovery, cyclic extension removal, transformations (e.g., fast Fourier transformation, FFT), demapping, deinterleaving, and decoding to recover the TX data1 as RX data1. Radio circuitry 108 and 114 comprise synthesizers that operate at a single reference or carrier frequency (designated FREQ1).
FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram that illustrates spectrums of the signals processed in the SISO system 100. In 802.11 standards, each OFDM symbol 118 provided by the transmitter device 102 comprises 52 subcarriers (partially shown for brevity) centered at a defined reference or carrier frequency (designated in FIGS. 1A and 1B as FREQ1), with a bandwidth (BW) of approximately 20 mega-Hertz (MHz). The spectrum 120 resulting from processing at the receiver device 104 is centered at the same reference or carrier frequency (FREQ1). Transmitter and receiver devices that implement OFDM processing pursuant to pre-proposed 802.11n standard are often referred to as legacy radios or legacy devices.
In terrestrial communication systems (e.g., a cellular system, a broadcast system, a multi-channel multi-point distribution system (MMDS), among others), a RF modulated signal from a transmitter device may reach a receiver device via a number of transmission paths. The characteristics of the transmission paths typically vary over time due to a number of factors such as fading and multi-path. To provide diversity against deleterious path effects and improve performance, multiple transmit and receive antennas may be used for data transmission. Spatial multiplexing refers to a technique where a transmission channel is divided into multiple "spatial channels" through which independent streams can be transmitted and received via multiple transmit and receive antennas, respectively.
FIG. 2A is a block diagram that illustrates a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) OFDM communication system 200 (herein, MIMO system 200). The MIMO system 200 employs multiple transmit antennas and multiple receive antennas for data transmission. Through spatial multiplexing, a MIMO channel formed by the transmit and receive antennas may be decomposed into independent channels. Each of the independent channels is also referred to as a spatial subchannel of the MIMO channel. The MIMO system 200 comprises a transmitter device 202 and receiver device 204. The transmitter device 202 comprises transmit (TX) processors 206 and 212, radio circuitry 208 and 214, and antennas 210 and 216. The radio circuitry 208 and 214 comprise synthesizers that operate at a single reference or carrier frequency (designated FREQ1). The receiver device 204 comprises antennas 218 and 226, radio circuitry 220 and 228 (also comprising synthesizers that operate at a single reference or carrier frequency, FREQ1), a signal separator 222 (e.g., joint interference canceller), and receive (RX) processors 224 and 230. The transmit processors 206 and 212 and the radio circuitry 208 and 214 comprise similar circuitry to that found in and described for transmit processor 106 (FIG. 1A), with the addition of circuitry for implementing spatial multiplexing. The radio circuitry 220 and 228 and receive processors 224 and 230 also share common circuitry with like components shown in and described for receiver device 104 (FIG. 1A). The signal separator 222 is configured to remove interference caused by multiple transmit signals occupying the same bandwidth at the receive antennas 218 and 226, and thus are used to increase the data rate.
FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram that illustrates spectrums of the signals processed in the MIMO system 200. As shown, the OFDM symbols 232 and 234 are comprised of subcarriers centered at the same reference or carrier frequency (FREQ1), each with a bandwidth (BW) of approximately 20 MHz. The spectrum 236 resulting from processing at the receiver device 204 is centered at the same frequency (FREQ1).
Consumers continue to demand higher data rates. Current proposals to a proposed IEEE standard, 802.11n, are at least partially in response to these demands. In the competitive communications industry, designers are challenged to meet these new standards in cost effective ways.

Dual mode communication systems and methods


The present invention provides a fitted, supportive, comfortable shoe upper with a laceless closure device comprising one interlaced strap capable of rapid adjustment in multiple planes of movement.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to footwear, more particularly to a laceless shoe upper closure device with adjustability.
2. Description of the Related Art
The modern consumer of sport footwear expects a comfortable, supportive, functional, tastefully ornamented product. Footwear designers have responded with products combining new materials and performance engineering features. The adoption of alternative closure mechanisms to the conventional shoe lace has lead to the use of straps, buckles, and other innovations to adapt the shoe upper to the individual end users foot and to allow for quicker fitting and removing of a shoe. The present invention relates to a laceless shoe upper closure device capable of being adjusted to better fit the end users foot.
Prior art closure mechanisms have included the conventional shoe lace system, multi-strap devices, and other variants. Attempts have been made to improve the closure mechanisms by using an adjustable, single strap design, closure device.
The conventional shoe lace has been used for fastening the shoe upper for numerous years with great success. The use of multiple holes found in the eyerow has allowed for adjustability of the shoe upper to fit the end users foot leading to a comfortable fit. The disadvantage of the conventional shoe lace is that it requires an excessive amount of time for adjustment. The shoe laces need to be individually loosed for removal of the shoe and individually fastened starting from the bottom of the shoe eyerow to the top when lacing the shoe upper. Furthermore, if at any given time the shoe upper needs to be adjusted for better comfort, all laces, above the point at which the adjustment must be made, must be unfastened to adequately reach the point of adjustment, and refastened after the adjustment is made. In addition the shoe lace system has a tendency to unfasten itself as the knot is inadvertently undone. Often this shortcoming is relieved by fastening a double knot, which further adds to the time and effort necessary if the user wants to make an adjustment to the shoe upper, and during fastening and removal of the shoe.
The prior art strap device shoes incorporate the use of multiple independent straps positioned horizontally across the upper of the shoe allowing for the end user to insert the user's foot into the shoe with the straps in the relaxed or open position. Once the foot is inserted, the independent straps are fitted individually to encompass the foot in a comfortable and supportive shoe. The prior art strap device shoe is hindered by the fact that the end user has to adjust multiple straps in order to get the precise fit most comfortable to the end user. The adjustment of the straps, although far more efficient than shoe laces, requires additional time and constant readjustment to maintain the level of comfort and support required in an athletic shoe. Furthermore, the placement of the straps in the horizontal position limits the plane of adjustability in the straps to a uni-dimensional horizontal plane. The human foot is by far one of the most distinct and non-homologated features of the human body. As such, the demand to provide a shoe capable of adjustment in multiple planes is a necessity in providing support and comfort.
The present invention aims to provide a shoe upper closure device consisting of one interlaced strap capable of adjustment in at least two-planes. The use of a single strap allows the end user to adjust, fasten and remove the shoe much more effectively and efficiently. The interlaced strap connected to adjustable d-rings ensures the end users foot is sufficiently supported in the shoe and held into place in at least two planes, leading to a supportive, comfortable housing for the athletic foot.