The invention relates to a membrane pipe module, said module comprising a cylindrical housing containing a plurality of tubular membrane sections which extend in the axial direction and are interconnected at the ends thereof, forming longer tubular membrane sections. Said cylindrical housing comprises a heatable chamber, on one or both sides, comprising U-shaped connection pipes which are arranged therein and are guided through a separating wall between the chamber and the housing, with the two open ends thereof, and respectively connect two adjacent open tubular membrane sections, forming a membrane loop.

The membranes used in membrane technology for the separation of liquid or gaseous mixtures are incorporated in useful arrangement in modules. General known forms of such modules are those with pleated membranes, plate modules, and spiral wound modules on one side, and hollow fiber, capillary, tubular, or tube modules on the other side. The first group of modules is used for flat sheet membranes, the second one for membranes in tubular form. The diameter of the respective tubular membranes vary between 30μ to 100μ for hollow fiber modules, between 0.2 mm to 3 mm for capillary modules, and in the range between 4 mm to 50 mm for tubular or tube modules. The transmembrane flux is directed from the outside to the inside for hollow fibers, in capillary membranes it may be directed from the outside to the inside as well as from the inside to the outside, in tubular or tube membranes it is in general directed from the inside to the outside.
In tubular or tube modules the membrane is arranged in form of a tube or flexible hose on the inside of pressure resistant support tubes, whereby the material of the support tubes may have a sufficient porosity and permeability for the permeate. When the material of the support tube is not sufficiently permeable the support tube has to be provided with a suitable number of bores or holes for the removal of the permeate. In this case it may be useful to install an additional porous tube, e.g. made from porous polyethylene, between the membrane and the support tube. Such an arrangement will allow for an unhindered drainage of the permeate between the holes in the support tube and support the membrane additionally over the holes. The membranes are either exchangeable or fixed to the support material. Following this construction modules incorporating membranes in the form of tubes or flexible hoses with a diameter in the above mentioned range of 4 mm to 50 mm, provided with a support layer are known in the state of art as tube modules and the respective membranes as tubular ones. Depending on the respective process the tubular membranes of a tube module may be passed in series by the mixture to be separated or two or a plurality of tubular membranes may be passed in parallel. Following the necessities of a respective process any combination of serial or parallel passage can be verified.
Depending on their respective characteristics tubular membranes are employed e.g. in the processes of microfiltration, ultrafiltration or reverse osmosis and those of pervaporation and vapor permeation. In the process of pervaporation for the separation of liquid mixtures the heat for the evaporation of the permeate is taken from the sensible heat of the liquid mixture, the thus caused decrease in temperature leads to a reduction of the driving force, and hence the flux through the membrane, and thus to a decrease in the performance of the process. In the separation of vaporous or gaseous mixtures unavoidable heat losses may lead to a cooling of the feed mixture and condensation of components out of the mixture, as a consequence blocking of the flux through the membrane can occur. Therefore it is desirable to replace the lost heat to the feed mixture. In tube modules of state-of-art technology this reintroduction of lost heat is effected stepwise by heating the mixture to be separated in intermediate heat exchangers outside of the module. After leaving the intermediate heat exchanger and entrance into the module no supply of heat is possible in the tube modules of the state-of art technology. Especially in tube modules with long membrane tubes or flexible hoses and a respectively large membrane area combined with a large amount of permeate significant cooling of the feed mixture may occur which will affect the separation or stop it at all. Therefore only modules with a limited membrane area can be employed, with intermediate heat exchanger between each two modules. The thereby unavoidable limitation in membrane area per module, the required number of intermediate heat exchangers, the additionally necessary piping connection between these apparatus and the additional expenses for controls lead to an uneconomical increase in the specific costs per membrane area installed. The task of the present invention follows immediately from these considerations.


The invention is an apparatus for simulating attributes of a vehicle during a certain inertial event. The apparatus comprises a rigid shell, an occupant compartment surrounded by the rigid shell, and a carriage supporting the occupant compartment and the rigid shell. The test apparatus transforms the vehicle into a system of reusable components. The rigid body shell eliminates damage to body components by protecting the occupant compartment. The invention also provides a method of simulating a tripped rollover event of a vehicle with the test apparatus and a cart.

Rollover crash tests are commonly used in the development of rollover detection sensors, algorithms and occupant protection systems. As in many other crash tests, partial damage or complete destruction of the vehicle is not uncommon. The building of new vehicle prototypes alone is a costly endeavor which requires engineers to attempt to maximize the amount of data and analysis gained from a limited number of crash tests available.
Due to the limited availability of destructive crash tests, a majority of the tests used to develop current rollover detection algorithms and occupant protection systems are laboratory based. Safety engineers and researchers have sought to develop component level testing methods that replicate key aspects of a crash test in a repeatable and non-destructive manner. Laboratory based rollover tests often utilize a mechanism, such as sliding a vehicle into a curb or placing the vehicle on a cart and decelerating the cart, to induce vehicle roll. For tripped rollover tests, the key phase events of which the occupant compartment is involved are: the vehicle lateral velocity phase, the tripping or transition to rotation phase, the free flight rotation phase, and the ground impact or landing phase.
Conventional testing attempts to simulate or replicate a few of the key phases of a given crash test. "Spit Test" type devices are capable of generating the free flight motion often seen in the airborne phase of a rollover test. The Dynamic Rollover Fixture and the Rollover Restraint Tester were developed by NHTSA and are examples of these types of devices. "Spit Test" type devices that are capable of generating the free flight motion often seen in the airborne phase of a rollover. The driving force for these devices is provided by a drop tower and free-weight system. The angular velocity ranges from 180°/s to 290°/s and is generated by various combinations of drop weight and drop height. However, it focuses only on the rotational motion occurring during the free flight phase of a typical rollover crash test.
Another conventional testing device which does not include all of the key phases was developed by Breed. This device includes only a portion of the occupant compartment and simulates a quarter turn roll with no free flight motion. The fixture is accelerated using a HYGE™ sled to reach the desired lateral velocity, and the "compartment" is pushed outward by hydraulic pistons at the bottom, causing the compartment fixture to rotation clockwise about the pivot at the top of the compartment fixture allowing the dummy to experience a vehicle rotation. However, this device fails to simulate the occupant compartment free flight or landing phases.
Another conventional testing device attributed to Pywell et al. simulates different quasi-static vehicle rollover conditions for characterizing various belt restraint systems in terms of dummy's excursion. This device can generally achieve a peak roll rate from 240°/s to 360°/s with a rotation up to 180°. However, it fails to simulate the occupant compartment flight phase or the landing phase.
To date, most of the methods used in rollover tests and reported in the literature are either dynamic or quasi-static tests that involve rotating or "inverting" an occupant around a stationary axis. Many have been successful in simulating the rotational phase of a rollover test. However, they fail to take a vehicle's lateral translational motion into consideration. These methods primarily have been used for occupant motion studies, restraint system evaluation and development. Since most vehicle laboratory based rollover events utilize a tripping mechanism that generates lateral vehicle motion, the aforementioned methods fail to adequately characterize the transition of the occupant compartment from lateral to rotational vehicle motion. Additionally, the effects of ground contact are either not simulated or done in a very simplistically manner.
Therefore, a new component rollover test device and methodology is needed. A repeatable, reusable and representative component level testing which incorporates all of the key phases could potentially be instrumental in developing robust occupant restraint systems, rollover detection sensors and understanding occupant kinematics during rollovers.

Rollover component test fixture and methodology


The present inventors have demonstrated the presence of H-ferritin receptors on endothelial cells in culture and on rat brain rat brain microvasculature, identifying H-ferritin as a means for transporting iron across the blood brain barrier. The present invention provides a method for treating an iron deficiency disorder in a patient, comprising administering to a patient in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of a ferritin-iron complex. In an embodiment of the invention, the ferritin-iron complex comprises H-ferritin. In another embodiment, the iron deficiency disorder comprises an iron deficiency in the brain. The present invention also provides a method for delivering iron to the brain, comprising administering iron in the form of a ferritin-iron complex to a patient, whereby said iron is transported across the blood-brain barrier and delivered to the brain; a method for using H-ferritin as a targeting moiety, comprising attaching H-ferritin to a liposome, whereby said liposome is targeted to the brain and/or cells within the brain; and a method for treating an iron overload disorder in a patient, comprising administering to a patient in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of a multi subunit ferritin complex, wherein said multi subunit ferritin complex is at less than 100% iron binding capacity.

Ferritin, the main intracellular iron storage protein in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, is a large (nearly 480 kDa) multi-subunit complex comprising 24 polypeptide subunits. This iron storage complex, found in high concentrations in serum, is capable of containing as many as 4,500 atoms of iron ions (Fe3+) within a hydrous ferric oxide core. In mammals, there are two distinct subunit classes, heavy (H) and light (L) type with a molecular weight of about 21 kDa and 19 kDa, respectively, which share about 54% sequence identity. The H and L subunits appear to have different functions: the L subunit enhances the stability of the iron core while the H subunit has a ferroxidase activity that appears to be necessary for the rapid uptake of ferrous iron. H rich ferritins are localized in tissues undergoing rapid changes in local ion concentration. For instance, expression of the H subunit is preferentially increased relative to the L subunit in cells undergoing differentiation, development, proliferation and metabolic stress.
The brain imposes heightened challenges to iron acquisition because of the highly developed tight junctions that bind neighboring endothelial cells that make up the brain microvasculature. These junctions prevent the paracellular flux of molecules into the brain. The resulting blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a highly effective mechanism for protecting the brain from potentially harmful substances that circulate in the blood. A consequence of such a blockade, however, is that specific transport mechanisms must be designed for the many trophic substances that are required for normal brain function. Pinocytosis is a potential method to circumvent the BBB, but vesicles that arise from pinocytosis contribute relatively little to nonspecific transport of compounds across the brain vascular endothelial cells.
Traditionally, transferrin has been considered the primary mechanism for cellular iron delivery, and a transferrin mediated transport system has been identified in the BBB (Jefferies W. A., et al. Nature 312: 162-163, 1984; Fishman J., Rubin J., Handrahan J., Connor J., Fine R. J. Neurosci. Res. 18: 299-304, 1987). However, transferrin-independent iron delivery to the brain has been suggested using hypotransferrinemic mice (Malecki E. A., Cook B. M., Devenyi A. G., Beard J. L. and Connor J. R. J. Neurol. Sci. 170: 112-118, 1999). It has been proposed that lactoferrin may also transport iron into the brain (Ji B., et al. Life Sci. 78: 851-855, 2005), but lactoferrin concentrations in serum are barely detectable and this protein is generally found within cells (neutrophils) and is thus unlikely to contribute to iron transport to the brain or other organs.

Use of ferritin to treat iron deficiency disorders


In a system and method for x-ray brachytherapy, a probe is introduced into the body of a subject, the probe carrying an x-ray source that radiates x-rays into an exposure area outside of the probe within the body of the subject. A number of markers are located in or on the probe, that are detectable in an image generated by an imaging device. The markers are located in or on the probe in a known spatial relation to the exposure area, so that the position of the exposure area can be determined by identifying the markers in the displayed image.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a device for x-ray brachytherapy as well as a method for positioning of a probe inserted into the inside of a body for x-ray brachytherapy.
2. Description of the Prior Art
X-ray brachytherapy is a therapeutic treatment with x-rays in which the x-ray source is brought very close to the tissue to be treated (for example a tumor or a vessel wall) after the implementation of a endovascular dilatation. In order to able to insert the x-ray source with the aid of a catheter or a probe either without an invasive procedure or with an optimally minimally-invasive procedure inside a body, a miniaturized x-ray source, is required, as is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,721,392, for example. This is arranged at the distal end of a probe that, for example, is intraoperatively positioned in a tumor or tumor bed (after its extraction), as is explained in detail in the PR information of Carl Zeiss AG, Medical Engineering Innovation by Carl Zeiss AG, "Intraoperative Strahlentherapie mit dem INTRABEAM System von der Carl Zeiss AG" state as of, September 2004, for example.
A miniaturized x-ray source that is arranged in a catheter with which it can be inserted into the body cavities (lumen) in order to irradiate selected tissue zones from the immediate surroundings from there is known from United States Patent Application Publication 2003/0149327 A1. It contains a shielding rotatable around the axis of the catheter in order to radiate the x-rays in a targeted manner at least perpendicular to the axis in a selected solid angle. The surroundings of the catheter can be observed with an optical observation device arranged in a catheter. A light source that exposes only the part of the surface of the hollow space that is also irradiated is used for this purpose.
Given endovascular brachytherapy with a beta or gamma radiator arranged in the tip of a catheter, it is also known from DE 10 2004 008 373 B3 (for example) to arrange an optical observation device in the catheter. For this a brachytherapy catheter is integrated into a unit with an OCT catheter operating on the basis of optical coherence tomography (OCT).
For the therapeutic success it is essential that the x-rays radiating out of the catheter from the x-ray source in an exposure area for most part exclusively strike the tissue (for example the tumor) to be treated in order to ensure an optimally low exposure of the healthy tissue located near this. This requires a precise positioning of the exposure area, i.e. a precise positioning and alignment of the x-ray source or of the solid angle in which the x-rays exit.

Device for X-ray brachytherapy, and method for positioning a probe introduced into a body for X-ray brachytherapy


A lens module includes a barrel defining a through hole, at least one plastic lens accommodated in the through hole and a UV/IR cut filter mounted on the barrel and configured for preventing entry of both UV light and IR light into the barrel. The lens module has a UV/IR cut filter mounted on the barrel configured for preventing entry of both UV light and IR light into the barrel, so it can prevent UV light damaging plastic lenses, and accordingly can improve the useful life of the lens module.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lens modules and cameras and, more particularly, to a lens module that can prevent a plastic lens therein from being affected by ultraviolet light, and a camera employing the lens module.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, image pick-up devices such as charge coupled devices (CCD) or complementary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS) used in, for example, cameras, react to light even in the near-infrared region beginning at a wavelength of about 700 nm and in the infrared (IR) region. However, light in the near-infrared and IR regions causes crosstalk that reduces a signal-to-noise ratio of an image pick-up device and thereby deteriorating the device's reproduction ability. In order to prevent such reaction and crosstalk, IR cut filters that block light in the near-infrared and IR regions are assembled in lens modules implemented in conventional cameras.
However, in a conventional lens module, the IR cut filter usually is assembled as the last part for the lens module by using ultraviolet (UV) glue on a spacer. The use of UV glue has adhesion and reliability problems. Also, a plastic lens in the lens module may be affected by UV light in sunlight, or by UV light used in UV curing processes. Many plastic lenses turn yellow with long-term exposure to UV light.
What is needed, therefore, is a lens module which can prevent plastic lenses from being affected by UV light.

Lens module and camera employing the same


A varnish includes resin and composite curing agent. The composite curing agent includes curing agent of polyphenylene methylphosphonate resin and curing agent of phenol resin. Glass fabric cloth is dipped into the varnish so as to form a prepreg with better thermal stability, anti-flammability, and low absorbent ability. Furthermore, the composite curing agent can be provided for higher curing rate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a varnish and a prepreg, in particular to a halogen-free varnish with composite curing agent, a prepreg made out of the varnish, and a substrate made out of the prepreg.
2. Description of Related Art
Printed circuit board (PCB) is widely used in many applications and fields, for example, electronic devices of electronic products are inserted on PCBs. Now, PCBs are increasingly applied to high power and high thermal environment. Therefore, study and research on heat-dissipation are developed in order to improve the heat-dissipation efficiency of PCBs.
PCB is made by pressing the prepregs, copper clad laminate (CCL), or copper film. The prepregs are made by dipping glass fabrics into varnish and then curing the fabrics to form thin prepregs.
Regarding environmental protection, halogen-free PCB is more and more developed for electronic application. Phosphor is usually added into the halogen-free PCB for compensating the anti-flammability of the PCB. Traditionally, the varnish can contain either primary resin with phosphor or curing agent with phosphor. Alternatively, a phosphoric compound may be added into the varnish for improving the anti-flammability of the PCB.
The traditional varnish contain phenolic epoxy resin as the primary resin, phenol resin as the curing agent, and phosphoric compound so as to manufacture a prepreg with anti-flammability. Patent NO. TW 293831 and Patent NO. TW 583258 discloses a composite curing agent mixing the phenol resin with benzoxazine (Bz) ring along with another curing agent of phenolic resin. However, the Bz resin can lower the moisture absorption and has a low dielectric property, but the toughness of the prepreg is low. Moreover, the heatproof property is lowered in the case of the over-addition of the Bz resin. In addition, the prepreg has low reactivity for the lamination process of the FP4 substrate and the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the substrate only reaches 160° C.

Varnish and prepreg, and substrates thereof


A system and method for measuring a refrigerant in a vapor compression system utilizes a sight glass in fluid communication with the condenser. Refrigerant collects in the sight glass and, upon reaching equilibrium, can be read to provide an accurate measure of the amount of refrigerant in the entire vapor compression system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for determining the amount of refrigerant in vapor compression systems, and more specifically to a device and method for determining such amount by measuring the refrigerant collected in a sight glass attached to the system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and refrigeration systems rely on cycling a refrigerant through stages of compression and expansion. As the refrigerant undergoes compression, it changes state from a gas to a liquid. As the refrigerant expands, it reverts to the gas phase. The thermodynamic properties of the refrigerant are such that these phase changes produce certain desired conditioning effects, such as cooling, heating, and dehumidifying.
In order for these systems to operate optimally, the amount of refrigerant must be maintained at certain desired levels. If the refrigerant charge diminishes, as may happen in the case of a system leak, system performance may suffer. Thus, knowing the amount of refrigerant in a system at any given time provides helpful diagnostic information. Moreover, the ability to determine the amount of refrigerant allows a manufacturer or user to develop performance specifications based on empirical data obtained by observing how system performance values vary with differing amounts of refrigerant. For these and other reasons, there is a need to easily and economically determine the amount of refrigerant in an HVAC system at any given time.
Typically, if the amount of refrigerant in a vapor compression system is to be measured, all of the refrigerant must be removed from the system and then weighed. This procedure, apart from its time-consuming and labor-intensive nature, requires that the system be shut down for considerable time as the complete removal and subsequent recharging of the refrigerant takes place. Such downtime produces disadvantages, including, notably, the extended loss of conditioning to the environment served by the system.
While there are some devices and methods that provide for observing the refrigerant in a system without entirely evacuating the refrigerant, the approaches known to the inventors have drawbacks and/or fail to specifically determine the amount of refrigerant present in the system. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,191,397 to Kennedy is directed to an air conditioning system that includes means for determining whether the system contains the proper charge of refrigerant. This is accomplished by viewing the refrigerant through a sight glass disposed on a storage receptacle. If, during system operation, a liquid-vapor interface is observed, then the system contains the proper amount of refrigerant. This observation, though, fails to provide a quantitative measurement of the amount of refrigerant in the system, focusing instead on the quality of the refrigerant's phase. Thus, Kennedy provides but a threshold measurement--namely, whether an appropriate amount of refrigerant is present--rather than an actual volumetric measurement.

System and method for determining the amount of refrigerant in a vapor compression system


The present invention relates to a mixture of polymers (A) having polyamide blocks and copolymers (B) comprising vinylaromatic units and unsaturated carboxylic anhydride units, the quantity of (B) being sufficient for the melt index (or melt flow index, MFI) of the mixture of (A) and (B) to be less than the melt index of (A) alone.. It also relates to masterbatches of (A) and (B).

The prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,407 describes mixtures comprising:
from 85 to 65 parts of polyamide 6.6; PA1 from 15 to 30 parts of a copolymer of ethylene and acrylic acid in the proportions 90/10, which is neutralized 70% with zinc; PA1 from 0.1 to 3 parts of a styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer. PA1 from 90 to 65 parts of polyamide 6.6 PA1 from 10 to 30 parts either of an ethylene-acrylic acid copolymer which is neutralized to 70% with zinc or of a mixture of polyethylene and grafted polyethylene PA1 from 0.1 to 3 parts of a styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer PA1 from 0.1 to 30 parts of fibres of a fluoropolymer.
The comparative examples show that the presence of the styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer is necessary in order to give a sufficient melt strength and to allow blow moulding of the alloys of the PA 6.6 and of the neutralized ethylene-acrylic acid copolymer and their conversion into hollow bodies.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,570 is similar to the abovementioned prior art except that the neutralized ethylene-acrylic acid copolymer is replaced by a mixture of polyethylene and grafted polyethylene.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,941 describes mixtures comprising:
The comparative examples show that the presence of the styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer and of the fluoropolymer fibres is required to enable the alloys of the polyamide with either the neutralized ethylene-acrylic acid copolymer or the polyethylene and the grafted polyethylene to be blow moulded and converted into hollow bodies.
EP 624 623 describes films made up of a mixture of 45 parts of a styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer of mass Mw 110,000, which is optionally imidized, and 55 parts of a copolymer having polyamide blocks and polyether blocks. These films withstand repeated folding.
The prior art has not described the technical problem of the present invention.

Mixtures of polymer having polyamide blocks and copolymers having vinylaromatic units and anhydride units


An overhead lift system for supporting a person with a lift unit includes an overhead rail and an elevator track. The overhead rail includes a subject support portion and a docking portion. An end of the docking portion is removably coupled to an end of the subject support portion. The elevator track is coupled to the docking portion of the overhead rail. The elevator track is configured to convey the docking portion of the overhead rail from a height of the subject support portion of the overhead rail toward a position below the height of the subject support portion of the overhead rail.

Overhead lifting devices, or lift units, such as subject lifts used in the health care industry, may generally be coupled to an overhead rail system with a carriage which facilitates positioning the lift unit with respect to the overhead rail. Sometimes it may be desirable to dismount the lift unit from the overhead rail system and transport the lift unit to a different overhead rail system that may not be connected to the first overhead rail system. Alternatively, it may be necessary to dismount the lift unit from the overhead rail system to service the lift unit. Because the lift units are generally suspended well-above the ground on the overhead rail system, ladders or other such structures may be required to allow an operator or service person to reach the lift unit to manually remove it from the overhead rail. Such methods of removal may be unstable and lead to possible injury or damage to the lift unit.
Accordingly, a need exists for alternative overhead lift systems to facilitate mounting and dismounting a lift unit on an overhead rail system.

Overhead lift systems for mounting and dismounting lift units on an overhead rail


There is provided an electronic control unit capable of detecting an abnormality of a dark current while suppressing increase in the size of a circuit. The electronic control unit includes a control unit that operates with a current supplied via a power-supply input terminal from a battery, and a diode arranged on a power supply path connecting the power-supply input terminal with the control unit and serving as a reverse connection protection element that prevents a reverse current when the battery is reversely connected to the power-supply input terminal, and detects an abnormality of a dark current flowing through the diode based on a voltage difference between a voltage on the power-supply input terminal side of the diode and a voltage on the control unit side.

An electronic device, such as an electronic control unit (ECU) mounted on an automobile or the like, operates using a current supplied from a battery mounted in a vehicle, but the power charged in the battery is limited to a certain degree. Thus, in addition to the power consumption during the normal operation of the electronic device, the current consumption (what is called a dark current) during a power-saving state needs to be managed and reduced.
As a technique related to such a dark current, for example, PTL 1 JP 2015-95086 A) discloses a power supply control system including a predetermined number of controllers capable of switching between an operating state in which operation performed by a plurality of electronic devices is controlled and a power-saving state in which control of the electronic devices is suspended according to a predetermined condition, a monitoring controlling means for monitoring and controlling a current supplied to each of the controllers, a first detecting means for detecting a current flowing through each of the controllers in the operating state of each of the controllers, a first current controlling means for supplying, by controlling of the monitoring controlling means, a driving current to each of the controllers in the operating state of each of the controllers, and for disconnecting the driving current to each of the controllers when a current that exceeds a predetermined threshold value is detected by the first detecting means, a second current controlling means for supplying, by controlling of the monitoring controlling means, a dark current to each of the controllers by being switched from the first current controller in the power-saving state of each of the controllers, and for disconnecting the dark current to each of the controllers in the operating state of each of the controllers, a second detecting means for detecting a voltage drop amount based on change of the dark current in the power-saving state of each of the controllers, and an abnormality determining means for determining whether there is an abnormality in the power-saving state of the controllers based on whether a predetermined voltage drop amount has been detected by the second detecting means (see claim 1 in Claims).


Content, such as video content, may be encoded using encoders that are installed at encoding devices of customers of a telecommunications provider. In one implementation, a server device may maintain presence information relating to an operational state of a number of set-top boxes installed at customer residences; receive an indication of content that is to be encoded; and select a set-top box, of the set-top boxes, to encode the segment, the set-top box being selected based on the operational state of the set-top boxes. The server may further transmit, to the selected set-top box, instructions to initiate encoding of the content and to provide an encoding format for the content; and update the presence information to reflect a result of encoding of the content by the selected set-top box.

Wireless and wired networks may be used to provide a wide variety of services to customers. For example, a telecommunications provider may implement networks that provide services relating to content delivery (e.g., streaming video and audio delivery) as well as other services, such as television programming, cellular wireless mobile data and voice services, and/or wired voice and data services.
Content may be delivered to customers of a telecommunications provider using content delivery techniques such as over-the-top (OTT) content delivery or content delivery that is more closely integrated within the underlying network. OTT content delivery may generally refer to content that is provided to users over a network in which the telecommunications provider delivers the content as a series of Internet Protocol (IP) packets that may be transmitted on a best-effort basis. Other content, such as video on demand (VoD) content, may be delivered using data streams that are associated with guaranteed bit rates and/or other guaranteed quality metrics.
For both OTT content non-OTT content, it may be desirable to encode or transcode the content into a number of different encoding formats. For example, a streaming video service may store different versions of a particular video program, in which each of the different versions encodes the video program using a different codec (e.g., a H.263/MPEG-2 codec, H.264/MPEG-4 codec, a Windows Media Video (WMV) codec, etc) and/or different parameters for the codecs (e.g., different bit rates or other parameters). Due to the potentially large number of combinations of codecs and parameters that may be desired for a particular video program, the particular video program may be associated with a large number of encodings.

Distributed encoding of content for a network


A backlight may include a light guide and a light input. The light guide may have a light reflection surface and a light emission surface. The light input may include a diverging wedge having a narrow end and opposing side surfaces extending to the narrow end. A light source may be disposed adjacent to one of the opposing side surfaces and may emit light into the light input portion. A multilayer polymeric mirror film may be disposed adjacent to the opposing side surfaces but not in intimate contact therewith and may reflect more than 95% of visible light incident on the multilayer polymeric mirror film.

The present disclosure relates generally to optical assemblies such as backlights.
Optical devices employing backlights are used, for example, in displays for laptop computers, hand-held calculators, digital watches, cellphones, televisions and similar devices as well as illuminated signs and many other devices.
Light can be supplied to backlights via optical elements that can include conventional reflectors. Conventional reflectors, including pigmented surfaces, silvered mirrors, polished metallic or metallized surfaces, etc., suffer from a number of disadvantages in many applications. For example, these conventional reflectors suffer from relatively high absorbance of light incident on their surfaces, often absorbing about 10% of the light incident on them. As a result, the amount of light remaining after each reflection is less than that initially provided. In devices in which multiple reflections are encountered, the overall output of the optical device can be substantially limited.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Backlight wedge with side mounted light source


A step ladder includes a frame having a front leg and a rear leg coupled to the front leg for movement relative to the front leg between an opened position and a collapsed position. A pivot support mount of the step ladder supports a handle of the step ladder for pivotable movement on the front leg about a pivot axis. The step ladder further includes a retainer member coupled to the handle to move therewith about the pivot axis. The retainer member is arranged to lock the front leg to the rear leg when the front and rear legs are in the collapsed position. A guide of the step ladder is coupled to the pivot support mount and configured to engage the rear leg and maintain the rear leg in alignment with the front leg when the frame is in the collapsed position.

The present disclosure relates to a ladder, and particularly to a collapsible ladder. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a collapsible ladder including a carrying handle for use when the ladder has been folded to assume a collapsed, storage position.
Ladders have a frame and one or more steps that people use for elevation when reacting for objects, painting walls or any everyday task where extra elevation would be helpful. Ladders are often foldable for ease of storage when the ladder is not being used.

Foldable step ladder with leg aligner and handle


This disclosure provides a base station in a wireless communication system. The base station comprises a field programmable gate array (FPGA) with an upper side and a bottom side, a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) with a hot side and a cold side, a thermal pad, and an anti-radiation cover. The cold side of TEC is thermally coupled with the upper side of the FPGA, the thermal pad is thermally coupled with the hot side of TEC, and the anti-radiation cover is thermally coupled with the thermal pad.

There are scenarios when a base station works under a high ambient temperature, some components may shut off due to a high temperature exceeding the limitation. For example, as part of a base station, RRU (Remote Radio Unit) includes one or more FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array). The RRU's power consumption is about 500 w or even higher. When the base station works in an ambient temperature of 45° C. with natural cooling, the temperature of FPGAs is close to its limitation 100° C. So the base station can not work under 55° C. due to failure of FPGAs. Thus, there is a need to cool down the FPGAs to ensure that the whole base station works under a high ambient temperature.

Base station in a wireless communication system


A dynamic flip flop is provided. The dynamic flip-flop comprises a transmission gate, a first inverter, a second inverter, a pull-up transistor and a pull-down transistor. The pull-up transistor and the pull-down transistor constitute a feedback inverter, and the feedback inverter is configured as a weak keeper circuit compared to the first inverter serving as a tri-state inverter. Therefore, the dynamic flip-flop can be such that makes a master latch to use the tri-state inverter for capturing data in order to reduce electric leakage. In addition, the dynamic flip-flop can also be such that makes a slave latch to use the weak keeper circuit for storing data, thereby avoiding floating point to drive the output.

In general, dynamic flip-flop can achieve logical function with fewer number of transistors. Therefore, compared to static flip flop, dynamic flip-flop has a small circuit layout area and thereby reducing the production cost. For example, please refer to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a schematic circuit diagram of a conventional dynamic flip-flop. A dynamic flip-flop 1 comprises a transmission gate 101, an inverter 102, a transmission gate 103 and an inverter 104. Firstly, the transmission gate 101 is used to receive a data signal D, and output the data signal D to the inverter 102 according to a clock signal CLKB and its inverted clock signal CP. The inverter 102 is used to invert the data signal D and output the inverted data signal D.
Next, the transmission gate 103 is used to receive the inverted data signal D, and output the inverted data signal D to the inverter 104 according to the clock signal CP and the clock signal CLKB. The inverter 104 is used to invert the inverted data signal D and output a data signal Q. It can be known from the above content that the dynamic flip-flop 1 under this type of architecture is more suitable for high-speed operation environment because the input signal load is reduced, but the disadvantages are that there will be problems of glitch and leakage currents, so that the erroneous data signal Q is output, or even a storage loss occurs. Therefore, there is a need to design a dynamic flip-flop that can solve the above-mentioned conventional problems while maintaining the advantages of the original area efficiency.


The power system for extending the effective range of an electrical vehicle including a non-polluting power generating mechanism for recharging the battery system during vehicle use and providing sufficient electrical energy to an electric motor for constant speed cruising without draining the battery system. The additional power needed for acceleration and hill climbing is provided by a temporary draw on the battery system, and by an increase in the RPM of the heat engine when needed. When the need for additional power is over, the power generating mechanism again recharges the battery system while it provides the energy necessary for continued steady state operation. The power generating mechanism comprises a non-polluting heat engine which is mechanically coupled to an alternator or a generator and a control network for controlling the heat engine and selectively directing the electrical energy generated by the heat engine to the vehicle's electric motor and/or battery supply.

Numerous efforts have been undertaken to develop a pollution-free electrically-powered vehicle as an alternative to vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. The primary limitation to the implementation of battery power as an alternative to the internal combustion engine has been the limited amount of energy that can be stored in a battery system of acceptable size and weight; As a result of this limited energy storage capacity and the failure of the industry to develop a suitable charging system, the electric vehicles currently available or proposed have a range of only about sixty to eighty miles before recharging and thus have limited utility.
Another shortcoming of electric vehicles related to the problem of limited range is the need for lengthy, stationary battery recharging. This need not only requires downtime for the vehicle, but consumes energy derived from traditional sources, thus undermining the zero-emissions objective of the electric vehicle concept. While electrically powered vehicles would eliminate the consumption of fossil fuel during use, the generation of the power necessary to recharge the vehicle's batteries requires fossil fuel consumption. Thus, pollution is shifted from a moveable source to a fixed source. While emissions from such a stationary source may be easier to control than those generated by automobiles powered by internal combustion engines, they would still prevent the zero-emissions concept of electric car usage from being fully attained.
Thus, to realize fully many of the potential benefits of electrically powered vehicles, it is first necessary to provide a mechanism for extending the effective range of the vehicle. It is also important that an increase in range be achieved without significantly increasing the overall vehicle weight and thus decreasing performance. Moreover, it has been recognized that there is a definite need to reduce the down-time for re-charging, much less the energy costs attendant to recharging. Without these advances, widespread acceptance of such vehicles is unlikely. Even with these advances, however, it is also important that the mechanism for extending the vehicle's range be non-polluting. In this regard, the mechanism should obviate the need for stationary battery recharging and preferably give off zero emissions. The power system of the present invention obtains these results.

Power system for extending the effective range of hybrid electric vehicles


A text search and retrieval system which builds an index representing every word in stored files created by a variety of applications, searches for requested words using the index and ranks the files based on the relative strength of match with the search request. From a display of the ranked filenames, the user can select a file, whereupon the file is tested to determine which one of a plurality of file viewers to deploy. The corresponding viewer is automatically loaded and used to display consecutive screens of information from the selected file. Further searching within the file is accomplished within the context of the viewer by matching character strings of a new search request with words in the items of the file produced by the viewer. To work on a file in view, the user can invoke the software application which created the file by loading the application corresponding to the viewer along with the desired file, without abandoning the search system.

The invention relates to searching and retrieving data stored in a digital data processing system.
A storage unit in a digital data processing system, e.g. a hard disk drive in a personal computer (PC), is capable of storing great volumes of data in its files. To search the files, the central processing unit (CPU) in such a system is capable of comparing given data with the data stored in one or more files in order to locate any occurrence(s) of the given data. For example, the CPU can compare a given word or phrase to the words or phrases in a lengthy file and locate the word or phrase if it occurs in the file. Having located the given data, the CPU can then retrieve the data or provide other information regarding it, e.g., the name of the file containing the data.
The storage capacity and access speed of today's hard disk drives is increasing rapidly. At the same time the price of hard disk drives is decreasing rapidly. As a result there is a proliferation of hard disk drives installed in PCs and users of varying levels of expertise are storing more and more data on the drives. Many users, however, encounter difficulties in searching and retrieving the data they have stored. For example, users sometimes cannot remember the name of the file that contains the data they seek or even where the file is located within a maze of directories and subdirectories of files. Further, users who store vast amounts of data in files created with a growing diversity of software applications, e.g., spreadsheets, personal information managers, word processors, database managers, and electronic mail exchanges, often find that they cannot consolidate the data.
Toward managing this growing volume of data, a number of search techniques of varying scope and complexity have been devised. Some search techniques are quite literal, i.e., they search for and retrieve exactly what the user specifies. For example, given "chemical patent" a literal technique locates only occurrences of exactly those two words in that order and overlooks "patent on a chemical compound."
Other search techniques allow a user to issue a search request that contains data as well as Boolean expressions, e.g., AND, OR, or NOT, which expand the range of data retrieved. For example, given "patent AND chemical OR pharmaceutical" a search technique including Boolean expressions locates "chemical patent" as well as "pharmaceutical patent". The range of the search can be further expanded by adding variables indicating word order and proximity. For example, given "patent AND chemical WITHIN 3 WORDS" the technique locates "patent on a chemical".
Still other search techniques include a feature known as "fuzzy searching" which provides "wild card" characters, e.g., "!" and "*", that make it possible to locate variations of given data. For example, if "!" indicates one or more wild card characters, the fuzzy search technique given "chem!" locates "chemical", "chemist", and "chemistry".


A molded base having a first base section and a second base section arranged at an obtuse angle so that the base has a preformed bend. The base includes a plurality of guide walls carried by the first and second base sections extending along opposing peripheral edges of each base section to define a strap receiving channel for receiving a securing strap and guiding the molded base along the securing strap during positioning. A strap biasing tab is carried by each of the guide walls extending laterally from the guide walls above the strap receiving channel for engaging a securing strap in the strap receiving channel. The obtuse angle between the first base section and the second base section biases each of the strap biasing tabs against the securing strap when under non-load bearing conditions to hold the molded base at a desired location along the securing strap.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chafe protector for cargo securing straps to shield the straps from wearing engagement against an object, and more particularly, to an easily attachable, adjustable, and removable strap chafe protector that will hold a desired position on a strap until forcibly manipulated to a new position when the strap is under non-load bearing conditions.
2) Description of Related Art
Cargo securing straps are used in a wide variety of application from securing heavy loads on commercial flatbed trucks and railway cars to non-commercial light duty applications such as strapping down an item in a pickup truck. A common material for constructing securing straps is nylon, particularly for use in non-commercial light duty applications as they are light weight and extremely strong. However, nylon straps are subject to fraying and ultimately total structural failure resulting from wearing engagement with items over which the straps pass during use. Thus there is a need to protect the strap from wearing engagement against the items being secured without damage to the item.
The prior art discloses a variety of strap attachments. However, most of these items are designed to protect the corner of an item from being damaged by the strap, or do not address the concerns of providing a strap protector that is quickly and easily attachable, removable, and adjustable along the length of the strap. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,479 discloses a bendable plastic corner support for use in conjunction with strapping materials. The apparatus includes two openings at distal ends for receiving a strap and tabs which extend from the openings that stick into the strap to hold it in a fixed position on the strap. This protector is specifically designed to operate at right angles in order to distribute the force of the strap over a broader area of the edge of the item over which the strap passes to prevent damage to the corner of the item. Once the corner support is in position on the strap it is not readily moveable along the strap due to the tabs which dig into the strap.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,996 also discloses an edge protector designed to distribute the force from a tie-down strap over a broader area to prevent damaging the corner edge of a package. The protector is specifically designed in a planar form with a score line through the middle that allows for bending of the protector specifically to a right angle arrangement for protecting corner edges. The invention discloses a spring clip that extends over the strap in order to hold the edge protector in position on the strap. Repositioning of the strap requires tedious manipulation of the spring clip that does not promote a quick and easy attachment, removal, or adjustment along the strap.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,152,693 discloses a slip guide for binding straps. The guide is preformed of a plastic material with two legs extending at approximately a 90° angle from one another. The guide is attached to the strap in a removable manner using tabs that extend partly over the surface of the strap in an opposing arrangement. The tabs are formed in a planar arrangement with the rest of the guide and must be manipulated by bending them upward and outward in order to first receive the strap, and then folded down and locked in position to secure the strap. Repositioning of the strap requires the manipulation of these tabs and the right angle makes sliding along the strap extremely difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,865 discloses a lading tie-down strap protector. The protector is secured to the strap by a plurality of flaps that enclose the strap and through which the strap is threaded. The strap can only be removed by manipulating the flaps which are locked in position. Additionally, in order for the flaps to hold the protector in position on the strap, the strap must be a given thickness or the protector will simply slide down the strap uncontrolled. While this invention is intended to protect the strap, it fails to provide a for quick and simply attachment and adjustment on the strap.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cargo securing strap chafe protector that shields the straps from wearing engagement against an item over which the strap passes.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an easily attachable and removable strap chafe protector.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a strap chafe protector that can be quickly adjusted and repositioned to a desired location along the length of the strap.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a strap chafe protector that will hold a desired position on a strap until forcibly manipulated to a new position when the strap is under non-load bearing conditions.


A new and distinct cultivar of Calibrachoa plant named ‘Balcabred’ characterized by its dark red-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, good basal branching character, and moderately vigorous, mounded-trailing growth habit.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Calibrachoa plant botanically known as Calibrachoa×hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Balcabred'.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Elburn, Ill. during September 2002. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Calibrachoa cultivars with attractive flower coloration, medium green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, mounded-trailing growth habit.
The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar was the proprietary Calibrachoa×hybrida breeding selection designated 2043-2, not patented, characterized by its scarlet red-colored flowers and semi-upright growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar was the proprietary Calibrachoa×hybrida breeding selection designated 1032-2, not patented, characterized by its cherry red-colored flowers and semi-upright growth habit. The new Calibrachoa was discovered and selected by the inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during May 2003 in a controlled environment at Elburn, Ill.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since May 2003 at Elburn, Ill. and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.


Roll winding device and process for use, e.g., in a reel slitting device. The roll winding device includes a roll carrier device, a pneumatic pressure release device including a plurality of blow boxes having top sides with escape nozzles, and a rocker arm on which the blow boxes are mounted in articulated pairs. The blow boxes are swivelably adjustable on tilting axes that run parallel to a roll axis. The process includes positioning the blow boxes beneath a peripheral surface of a roll being wound on the winding machine and ejecting air through the escape nozzles in the blow boxes directed toward the peripheral surface to orient the top surface of the blow box substantially parallel to a tangent of the peripheral surface and to position the top surfaces of the blow boxes a substantially same distance from the peripheral surface. In this manner, the ejected air forms an air cushion under the roll.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a roll winding device and process, e.g., for a reel slitting device, that includes a roll support device and a pneumatic pressure release device.
2. Discussion of Background Information
A roll winding device similar to the device generally discussed above is known, e.g., from DE 195 24 905 A1, for use with material webs, e.g., paper webs.
In one of the last manufacturing steps, paper webs are usually cut or slit into a desired widths or partial webs and wound into rolls before they are packed and delivered to consumers. In contrast to the reel-spools which are used during paper production, the cores upon which these rolls are wound have a relatively low stiffness and bearing capability, and are generally cardboard tubes. Thus, the paper rolls are normally supported by support rolls during winding. This is particularly true if the winding device is a carrier roll winder in which the roll lies on carrier rolls without additional holding forces being applied on the core. However, even with a back-up roll winder, in which additional holding devices are used to hold the roll at its core, the roll rests on the back-up roll. As the paper rolls become larger and heavier, the line force of the paper roll on the support roll or rolls become increasingly larger. Thus, the roll density is likewise increased, which may disadvantageously lead to damage to a support roll. To unburden the support rolls and to reduce the line force, pneumatic overpressure can be produced underneath the paper roll, so that the paper roll is resting, at least partially, on air cushions.
The above-described pneumatic overpressure procedure has been utilized in the art to unburden the support roll. However, due to the changing geometry of the paper roll, a relatively large amount of pressurized air is required. Nevertheless, due to the escape of the air, forming the air cushion solely using the pressurized air is difficult.


An information processor includes a rotating magnetic disk that stores therein data, an accessing unit that accesses the magnetic disk, a detecting unit that detects an abnormal state. The abnormal state is a state that a user takes an action that may cause the magnetic disk to vibrate. The information processor further includes a control unit that terminates an access to the magnetic disk and stops rotation of the magnetic disk when the detecting unit detects the abnormal state, and an output unit that outputs a request for the action after the control unit has stopped the access and the rotation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processor and an image generator that access a rotating magnetic disk.
2. Description of the Related Art
Copiers, printers, multifunction products (MFP), and the likes use a hard disk drive (HDD) to store image data and buffer data. While the HDD is inexpensive and suitable to store large-volume data, structure of the HDD is vulnerable to shock. When the HDD is subjected to shock, a magnetic head that is normally floating can contact a platter and scratch the platter, and particles resulting from the scratch can float in the HDD to consequently damage the platter. This causes loss of important data.
When a chassis of the MFP is closed after fixing a paper jam and the like, a force applied to the chassis transfers to the HDD as a shock, which is assumed to be a cause of the data loss.
To protect the HDD from vibration and shock transferred from a movable unit in an image generator, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-62763 discloses a technology to extend the life of a motor that rotates the platter and to prevent heat shock and heat deterioration due to the heat caused by the rotation of the motor by stopping the rotation of the platter in standby mode.
However, if the rotation stops after vibration in the movable unit is detected, the HDD can receive a shock from the vibration. Therefore, it is required to stop the rotation of the platter before vibration or the like occurs.

Information processor and image generator for stopping rotation of a magnetic disk in response to an abnormal state


A system and a method create metadata for media files. The metadata may be information relating to, based on and/or associated with the media files. The metadata of the media files may be searched by one or more terminals. An event database connectable to a terminal may use a location, a date and/or a time of creation of the media files to associate specific events with the media files. Further, the specific events may be used by the database to create keywords associated with the media files. As a result, the system and the method may organize and/or may provide searching for media files. A web page may be generated for an event that accumulates the media files related to the event.

The present invention generally relates to a system and a method for creating metadata. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and a method for creating metadata for media files that uses an event database to provide metadata keywords for organizing, indexing and/or searching the media files. The event database uses a location where the media file was created and/or a date and/or a time that the media file was created to determine a specific event that corresponds to the media file. A specific event title may become part of the metadata to indicate the specific event that corresponds to the media file. Based on the specific event, the event database provides the metadata keywords. The media files may be indexed, may be consumed, may be accessed and/or may be viewed by one or more users via terminals over a network. Based on the metadata created by the database of events and/or associated with the media files, one or more users may obtain and/or may access the media files over the network via a search that may use matching keywords. An event page may be provided that accumulates media files identified by the event database as corresponding to a specific event.
Generally known devices may capture, may store and/or may send digital media. Digital media capture devices traditionally record basic metadata, such as, for example, a time and/or a date. A user may download, may display, may access, may obtain and/or may view the digital media from a database via a terminal over a network. Applications on the digital media capture devices generally allow transfer of the digital media across the network, such as, for example, using Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) or Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
The addition of Global Positioning System (hereinafter "GPS") support to many mobile devices opens up a whole new frontier for mobile application development, such as, for example, the application of location information to the digital media created by the digital media capture devices. One such example is ZoneTag by Yahoo, Inc. (http://zonetag.research.yahoo.com) which associates location information with digital media and uploads the digital media to a social network site.
The social network site is a website or application that has content created primarily by users of the social network site and shared with other users of the social network site. Media content is described and/or classified by the users. Often, the media content is in the form of user-created keywords that are entered by the originating user and/or the other users. Typically, the other users may execute an application to locate, to identify and/or to search the digital media in the database. A searchable index of the media files may be used by the application to locate the media content accessible via the social network site. Metadata associated with the media files provides keywords that may indicate that the media files are associated with a search term. Popular social networks with an emphasis on digital media include MySpace (registered trademark of MySpace, Inc.), Flickr (registered trademark of Yahoo, Inc.), and YouTube (trademark of YouTube, Inc.).
Tagging is the association of the keywords with the media files. Tagging may include a strength of association between the keywords and the media files. Tagging may be a mechanism for classifying the media files so that the media files may be organized and/or may be searched. Tagging is the primary basis of organization for most popular media-centric social networks. As a result of tagging, the users of social network sites may search the media files using the keywords relating to the media content accessible by the social network site. However, the users who generate the digital media files must also generate the associated keywords. Thus, the keywords associated with, corresponding to and/or assigned to the multimedia file may be inaccurate, unreliable and/or incorrect based on the attributes of the multimedia file. Further, if the user generates the keywords when the digital media file is created, exerting effort and/or use of time to generate the keywords may affect, may alter and/or may detract from the experience of the event captured by the digital media file. Still further, the user may be incapable of generating the keywords when the digital media file is created; therefore, the digital media file lacks keywords and is not provided for the searchable index.
A need, therefore, exists for a system and a method for creating metadata for media files. Further, a need exists for a system and a method for creating metadata for media files that use an event database to provide metadata keywords. Still further, a need exists for a system and a method for creating metadata for media files that use an event database to index media files, media content and/or multimedia. Still further, a need exists for a system and a method for creating metadata for media files that associate media files with specific event titles. And, a need exists for a system and a method for creating metadata for media files that maintains consistency in metadata keywords. And, a need exists for a system and a method for creating metadata for media files that creates metadata without user interaction. Moreover, a need exists for a system and a method for creating metadata for media files that may generate a web page for an event that accumulates the media files related to that event.


Apparatus and methods for learning in response to temporally-proximate features. In one implementation, an image processing apparatus utilizes bi-modal spike timing dependent plasticity in a spiking neuron network. Based on a response by the neuron to a frame of input, the bi-modal plasticity mechanism is used to depress synaptic connections delivering the present input frame and to potentiate synaptic connections delivering previous and/or subsequent frames of input. The depression of near-contemporaneous input prevents the creation of a positive feedback loop and provides a mechanism for network response normalization.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present innovation relates generally to artificial neuron networks, and more particularly in one exemplary aspect to computerized apparatus and methods for encoding sensory input using spiking neuron networks.
2. Description of Related Art
Object recognition in the context of computer vision relates to finding a given object in an image or a sequence of frames in a video segment. Typically, temporally proximate features that have high temporal correlations are identified within the sequence of frames, with each successive frame containing a temporally proximate representation of an object. Object representations, also referred to as the "view", may change from frame to frame due to a variety of object transformations, such as rotation, movement/translation, change in lighting, background, noise, appearance of other objects, partial blocking/unblocking of the object, etc. Temporally proximate object representations occur when the frame rate of object capture is commensurate with the timescales of these transformations, so that at least a subset of a particular object representation appears in several consecutive frames. Temporal proximity of object representations allows a computer vision system to recognize and associate different views with the same object (for example, different phases of a rotating triangle are recognized and associated with the same triangle). Such temporal processing (also referred to as learning), enables object detection and tracking based on an invariant system response with respect to commonly appearing transformations (e.g., rotation, scaling, and translation).
Although temporal correlation between successive frames are reduced by discontinuities, sudden object movements, and noise, temporal correlations are typically useful for tracking objects evolving continuously and slowly, e.g., on time scales that are comparable to the frame interval, such as tracking human movements in a typical video stream of about 24 frames per second (fps).
Some existing approaches to binding (associating) temporarily proximate object features from different frames may rely on the rate based neural models. Rate-based models encode information about objects into a dimensionless firing rate, characterized by neuron spike count or by a mean neuron firing rate. An object (and/or object feature) is detected based on matching of an observed rate to a predetermined value associated with the object representation. As a result, in order to encode and recognize different representation of the same object (i.e., a bar of different lengths), the existing methods require different detector nodes that each specialize in a single object representation. Invariably, such systems scale poorly with an increase in the number of objects, their variety and complexity. Additionally, the use of specialized detectors without detector reuse requires detection apparatus with an increased numbers of detectors in order to perform detection of more complex objects. Furthermore, such rate-based approaches merely encode data frames into dimensionless activity of detector nodes, while completely neglecting the short-term temporal interactions between nodes.

Spiking network apparatus and method with bimodal spike-timing dependent plasticity


A system and method for scheduling and controlling delivery of advertising in a communications network and a communications network and remote computer program employing the system or the method. The system includes: (1) a time allocation controller that allocates time available in a particular advertising region in a display device of a remote computer between at least two advertisements as a function of one of a desired user frequency, a desired time frequency, or a desired geometry, for each of the at least two advertisements and (2) data communication controller, coupled to the time allocation controller, that delivers the at least two advertisements to said remote computer for display in the advertising region according to the allocating of the time.

The Internet is a well-known collection of networks (e.g., public and private communications networks) that work together using common protocols to form a world wide network of networks. In recent years, the availability of more efficient, reliable and cost-effective computers and networking tools has allowed many companies and individuals (collectively, "users") to become involved in an ever growing electronic marketplace. The immeasurable gains in technology experienced by the computer industry overall have allowed these users to rely on commercially available computers, such as personal computers ("PCs"), to meet their information processing and communications needs. To that end, PC manufacturers equip most PCs with interfaces for communication over networks, such as the Internet.
The Internet continues to increase its position as an integral place for businesses that offers information and services to potential customers. One of the main funding sources for many of these businesses is advertising over the Internet (popular examples of such advertising include news providers, car dealerships, software providers, book stores, etc.). Many existing Internet home pages have one or more regions allocated to advertising, and in the future the volume of this advertising will increase--not only on home pages, but also on Internet browsers, as it is likely that Internet browsers such as NETSCAPE.RTM. will allocate one or more regions to advertising.
Typically, the region provided by an Internet advertising provider is not a simple, static billboard. Current Internet technology makes possible continuous, dynamic updates to the contents of advertising regions. An important motivation for this is that providers with a high volume of users may charge higher prices for advertising region, and parcel the space between different advertisements thereby making the advertising region accessible to a larger number of advertisers. Such parceling can be accomplished by selling an advertising region that is smaller than the total area available, by displaying different advertisements to different users, by dynamically changing the advertisements seen by a given user, or by some combination of two or more of the same.
What is needed in the art is a system and method for efficiently scheduling the display of advertisements in a communications network, such as the Internet.

System and method for scheduling and controlling delivery of advertising in a communications network


A tape loading device for loading a tape onto a recording drum, comprises, a pair of rotational reel spindles, the reel spindles supporting respective reels on which the tape is wound and between which the tape extends, a spindle drive for applying torque to the reel spindles so that the tape between the reels runs on the recording drum and a tension is applied to the tape between the reels, and tape withdrawing device for withdrawing the tape from the reels so that the tape between the reels moves toward the recording drum and contacts with the recording drum. The spindle drive applies a first tension to the tape between the reels in a first step where the tape withdrawing device move the tape between the reels toward the recording drum, the spindle drive increases the tension of the tape from the first tension to a tension greater than the first tension in a second step where the tape does not contact with the recording drum. The tape withdrawing device makes the tape between the reels contact with the recording drum with the tension of the tape greater than the first tension in a third step after the second step.

The present invention relates to a method and device for loading a tape in a magnetic recorder, more particularly, a method and device for loading a magnetic tape onto a recording drum.
In conventional cassette-type magnetic recorders described, for example, in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publications 63-850 and 63-69055, moving bases including tape guides with flanges at upper and lower ends thereof and inclined tape guides move along guide plates arranged around a rotational head drum so that tape is withdrawn from a tape cassette and is wound and loaded on a circumferential surface of the rotational head drum.

Method and device for loading tape in magnetic recorder


A fiber optic parametric amplifier that includes a resonating cavity. The resonating cavity includes linear fiber optic gain medium, with negative chromatic dispersion; and a nonlinear fiber optic gain medium with positive chromatic dispersion.

1. Field of Art
This disclosure generally relates to fiber based optical parametric oscillators.
2. Description of the Related Art
Light sources based on optical parametric interaction are interesting since they provide access to laser wavelengths that existing gain materials based on electronic transitions cannot provide. An optical parametric oscillator (OPO) can be realized by exploiting the χ(2) nonlinear optical response in a wide range of crystals or the χ(3) nonlinear response in optical fibers.
Optical fiber based OPO (FOPO) are particularly attractive owning to their potential in achieving low cost, alignment-free and compact laser systems while still providing very wide tuning range and high power operation.
The operation of FOPOs is in essence based on degenerated four-wave-mixing (FWM) wherein two pump photons interact with the fiber to generate a signal photon and an idler photon. The exact frequencies of the signal and idler photons are defined by the phase matching condition which depends on the pump laser wavelength, its peak power as well as the dispersion profile of the optical fiber. There are two common ways to pump an OPO. The first approach is continuous pumping where the pump laser is a continuous wave laser or a laser generating long pulses compared to the OPO cavity round trip time. The second approach is based on synchronous pumping of pulsed pump laser. In the second approach, the pump laser is synchronized with the OPO cavity.
Ultrafast synchronously pumped FOPOs have been demonstrated in the past. However, the output pulse energy and peak power of past FOPO have been quite modest. The best ultrafast FOPO that has been produced in the past in terms of output pulse energy and peak power was up to 2 nJ pulse energy and ˜12 kW peak power). The technique used to achieve this was to use only 2 cm fiber length and the rest of the cavity was free-space optics. This implementation avoided the adverse influence of nonlinear effects but required the use of mostly free-space components so free-space alignment was required, and the problems that go along with such a system. What is needed is a high power ultrafast FOPO in an all-fiber laser cavity or mostly all-fiber laser cavity. What is also needed is an ability to tune the emission wavelength of the FOPO over a wide rage while providing high output pulse energy.

Dissipative soliton mode fiber based optical parametric oscillator

THE ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS ON BEHALF OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA


After producing a failure bit matrix made up of a square matrix of an arbitrary degree in which failure analysis results of memory cells are written as elements at positions specified by row addresses and column addresses, the produced failure bit matrix is multiplied by its degree, the values of the origin of the matrix obtained by subjecting the degree-multiplied failure bit matrix to discrete cosine transformation are calculated, and the result is outputted as the number of failures.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a failure counting method and device for calculating the number of defective memory cells (the number of failures) used in the failure analysis of a semiconductor memory.
2. Description of the Related Art
A semiconductor memory testing device that tests a semiconductor memory is provided with a failure analysis memory for storing failure data, which are the pass/fail determination results of each memory cell of a semiconductor memory. The failure data stored in the failure analysis memory is processed by a failure counter incorporated in the semiconductor memory testing device, the number of memory cell failures is calculated, and these results are used in judging whether an article passes or fails, or are used in a prescribed application of the semiconductor memory testing device.
In a prior-art failure counting method that seeks the number of failures of memory cells using such a failure analysis memory, a failure counter is provided with a pattern generator that generates addresses in order, the output of the pattern generator is impressed to the failure analysis memory, all addresses of the failure analysis memory are scanned, each of the stored failure data are read out, and the number of data items "1" indicating "fail" among the read failure data are counted.
In a case in which the failure analysis memory is a semiconductor memory of multi-bit structure capable of reading and writing in units of a plurality of bits, addresses are impressed for every unit of a plurality of bits, and the content of this plurality of bits is read at once in one scan.
In the above-described failure counting method of the prior art, however, the memory capacity of the failure analysis memory that employs high-cost memory such as SRAM(Static RAM) has increased along with the increase in the memory capacity of semiconductor memory, which is the object of testing, resulting in the drawbacks of prolonged processing time and increased cost of components of the semiconductor memory testing device.
To reduce the processing time, a method of finding the number of failures can be considered wherein, for example, the data storage region of the failure analysis memory is divided into a plurality of regions, whereby the failure data of these regions that are simultaneously scanned and read can be processed in parallel to find the number of failures.
However, in prior-art methods in which all addresses are scanned by a pattern generator, parallel processing is prevented because failure data for each region cannot be read simultaneously, and this inability interferes with reducing processing time.


A fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell having laminated cells; a measuring unit that measures an impedance of the cell and a purging unit that performs purging to discharge residual water from a gas passage. The cell includes a wet region and a dry region which are set depending on a distribution of water in the cell when the purging is executed so as to set a total amount of water in the fuel cell to be a necessary amount of water to start up the fuel cell; the measuring unit measures the impedance at a local portion located at a boundary portion between the wet region and the dry region in the cell; and the purging unit terminates the purging when the impedance measured by the measuring means is larger than a predetermined reference threshold value.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a fuel cell system provided with a fuel cell capable of generating an electric energy by electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a fuel cell system in which a gas purge is performed when the operation of the fuel cell is stopped is known. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-282658 discloses a fuel cell system in which a gas purge is performed when the operation of the fuel cell is stopped such that a purge gas is supplied internally so as to eliminate residual water remained in the fuel cell.
Regarding the fuel cell, when a large amount of residual water remains in the fuel cell, it may cause degradation of a start-up process of the fuel cell when the fuel cell starts at the subsequent start cycle, or cause plumbing breakage due to residual frozen water in the fuel cell. Meanwhile, when the fuel cell lacks water in the fuel cell itself, an efficiency of the power generation may be decreased.
In this respect, in the fuel cell system according to the above-described patent document, since there is a correlation between the amount of residual water in the fuel cell and the impedance thereof, an execution time for the gas purge processing is adjusted in response to a change in the impedance of the fuel cell. Specifically, a target impedance value corresponding to most appropriate amount of water to maintain the fuel cell is set in advance. Then, the gas purge processing is started and when the impedance value reaches a target value, the gas purge processing is terminated.
However, in the fuel cell system according to the above-described patent document, the impedance of the fuel cell system (impedance of entire fuel cell system) is measured by using the output voltage and the output current of the entire fuel cell system. Therefore, it is difficult to perform the gas purge processing to control an amount of water in the fuel cell accurately.
Specifically, when the air as a purge gas is supplied to the fuel cell system in order to perform the gas purge processing, it lacks of water at an input portion of the air in the respective fuel cells. Meanwhile, residual water at the input portion of the air flows towards the downstream side of the fuel cell because of flowing purge gas. As a result, excessive water tends to remain at the output portion of the air in the respective fuel cells. In this case, since the impedance value of the entire fuel cell system is calculated as a total resistance value which is sum of a resistance at the input portion of the respective fuel cells and a resistance at the output portion of the respective fuel cells, the correlation between the amount of residual water and the impedance of the fuel cell is not satisfied (i.e., variance of correlation). In other word, when the gas purge processing is executed, even when the total impedance value of the fuel cell system is matched with a predetermined impedance value set in advance that corresponds to an ideal amount of water remaining in the fuel cell, the actual amount of water may greatly differ from the ideal amount of water.

Fuel cell system capable of performing gas purge to adjust amount of water therein


A rotary valve can include a seat and a rotary actuator, each with a surface, the rotary actuator rotatably mounted to a housing. The surfaces can form a seal due to their engagement with an engagement force used to maintain the engagement. One biasing device can elevate pressure in a sealed volume in the valve at a constant level above an external pressure. The elevated pressure can produce a pressure differential across the rotary actuator, thereby producing at least a portion of the engagement force. Another biasing device can act between a splined hub and a mated splined shaft, thereby applying at least a portion of the engagement force through the shaft to the rotary actuator. Fluid flowing through a screen can create a pressure drop, thereby causing a pressure differential across the rotary actuator and applying at least a portion of the engagement force to the surfaces.

Drilling wellbores in a subterranean formation usually requires controlling a trajectory of the drill bit as the wellbore is extended through the formation. The trajectory control can be used to steer the drill bit to drill vertical, inclined, horizontal, and lateral portions of a wellbore. In general the trajectory control can direct the drill bit into and/or through production zones to facilitate production of formation fluids, direct the drill bit to drill a portion of a wellbore that is parallel to another wellbore for treatment or production assist, direct the drill bit to intersect an existing wellbore, as well as many other wellbore configurations. A valve can be used to selectively activate actuators, thereby steering the drill bit, but the valve can be highly susceptible to degradation due to flow of abrasive fluids through the valve, caustic environment, erosive/corrosive agents, and various other modes of degradation. These valves can be manufactured from a material with increased hardness and decreased rate of degradation, but materials of this type, such as diamond based materials, can be more brittle and can be damaged by impacts during operation and/or installation.
Therefore, it will be readily appreciated that improvements in the arts of protecting components from damage due to impacts and other events are continually needed.

Rotary valve with valve seat engagement compensation


To shorten the time required for writing of the distortion compensation coefficient and to reduce amount of data of the distortion compensation coefficient stored as the initial value of the distortion compensation apparatus. The distortion compensation apparatus for amplifying the transmitting signal after implementing the distortion compensation process comprises a coefficient memory for storing corresponding to each address the coefficient used for the distortion compensation process, an initial value memory for storing the initial value of the coefficient, and a controller for write control corresponding to n (n: natural number equal to 2 or larger) addresses of the coefficient read from the initial value memory corresponding to one address.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a distortion compensating apparatus and a compressed data generating method, for example, a distortion compensating apparatus which may be suitably applied to a transmitting apparatus of a radio base station to be used for a mobile communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A radio base station used in the mobile communication system is provided with a distortion compensation apparatus for reducing distortion generated in a power amplifier in order to transmit a high power signal to mobile stations.
As the distortion compensating system, various methods have been proposed and a predistortion system is one example of such methods.
The predistortion system has been proposed to reduce distortion of the amplified signals by providing an inverse distortion characteristic for the distortion generated in the amplifier to the signal before input to the amplifier.
Here, since distortion generated in the amplifier changes in accordance with the input signal (particularly, input signal level), it is preferable that a coefficient (distortion compensation coefficient) for providing inverse distortion is specified by the input signal level and the input signal is then compensated on the basis of this coefficient.
Therefore, in the predistortion system, a look-up table (LUT) for storing the distortion compensation coefficients corresponding to the addresses generated from the input signal is used.
For this look-up table, the coefficients are written at high speed with an exclusive circuit considering activation of power supply and reset thereof as a trigger and all coefficients are completely set before start of operation.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-267850 discloses predistortion.
According to the background of the invention described above, the look-up table (LUT) of the distortion compensation apparatus is triggered by activation or reset of the power supply to write at a high speed the coefficients with the exclusive circuit.
However, when a large amount of distortion compensation coefficients are required to be written, a longer time is required until the completion of write. Particularly when it is attempted to perform the write process using a processor without use of the exclusive circuit, the distortion compensation coefficients must be read in the sequence of addresses for the write process. In this case, additional time is required.

Distortion compensating apparatus, compressed data generating method


A low viscosity, fast-curing binder for textile substrates is produced by admixing an aqueous emulsion copolymer latex with an aqueous solution copolymer formed by the copolymerization of an olefinically unsaturated polycarboxylic acid and an olefinically unsaturated monocarboxylic acid. Viscosities in the range of about 2 cps at 25% total solids to about 1000 cps at 35% total solids are realized by using solution copolymers containing about 40%-75% by weight of polycarboxylic acid.

During the past few years there has been a substantial growth in the production of high-strength textile materials, especially paper and cloth products having a nonwoven, randomly-oriented structure, bonded with a polymeric resin binder. Such products are finding wide use as high-strength, high-absorbency materials for disposable items such as consumer and industrial wipes or towels, diapers, surgical packs and gowns, industrial work clothing and feminine hygiene products. They are also used for durable products such as carpet and rug backings, apparel interlinings, automotive components and home furnishings, and for civil engineering materials such as road underlays. There are several ways to apply a binder to these materials, including spraying, print binding, and foam application. Further, depending on the end use, various ingredients such as catalysts, cross-linkers, surfactants, thickeners, dyes, and flame retardant salts may also be incorporated into the binder.
In the high-speed, high-volume manufacture of cellulosic products such as wet wipes, an important binder property is a fast cure rate; that is, the finished product must reach substantially full tensile strength in a very short time after binder application so that production rates are not unduly slowed down. In these products, such a property is usually obtained either by using a binder which is self-cross-linkable or by incorporating an external cross-linker into the binder formulation. The cross-linker or self-cross-linkable binder apparently not only interacts with reactive groups in the binder, but with the hydroxyl groups on the cellulose fibers as well, to quickly form very strong bonds.
As the need for stronger nonwovens developed, a variety of cross-linking agents for the base binders was utilized. N-methylolacrylamide and other similar cross-linkers were incorporated into the binders. While the strength of the nonwovens increased desirably, it was discovered that many of these cross-linking agents, especially N-methylolacrylamide, emitted formaldehyde during use. The toxicity of formaldehyde caused users to search for non-formaldehyde-emitting alternatives, that is, so-called "zero" formaldehyde binders. An example of a non-formaldehyde-emitting cross-linker is methyl acryloamidoglycolate methyl ether (MAGME). However, while MAGME improved the strength of many copolymeric binders and did not emit formaldehyde, the need for further improving the strength, especially the wet strength, of many copolymeric binders led to the use of various other techniques for strength improvement.
One method of providing a fast curing, zero formaldehyde binder for nonwoven cellulosic materials utilized a binder comprising a solution copolymer formed by copolymerizing a mixture of two or more water soluble olefinically unsaturated organic comonomers. The solution copolymer was admixed with a non-formaldehyde-emitting latex to produce a final composition which, when cured on nonwoven cellulosic material, achieved about 80 percent of fully cured wet tensile strength in 8 seconds or less and which had essentially no emission of formaldehyde from the finished nonwoven.