A method for estimating uncorrelated noise in a distributed record of data including data samples that represent both signal and noise, provided that the signal is substantially in phase between adjacent data samples. The method begins with dividing the record of data into an even number of equal intervals. The method proceeds compiling a reduced data record by subtracting from every other data sample in the record of data one data sample that is adjacent to it. Finally, the method entails a step of estimating the noise power in the signal relative to the signal power by calculating the standard deviation as a measure of the magnitude of the noise.

(1) Field of Invention
The invention relates to digital signal processing and, more particularly, to a method for estimating the noise power in some types of data that contains both signal and noise.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
The estimation of noise in the presence of a data signal is a large problem in many forms of communications and signal processing. The use of noise estimation in measurements taken from an array of receiving sensors can considerably enhance signal estimation. Indeed, estimation and statistical inference of noise are central to many disciplines that entail a series of observations, from which it is necessary to draw conclusions, estimate parameters and make forecasts.
Several conventional methods exist to suppress noise including the following:
1) The use of harmonic models.
2) Noise subspace characterization.
3) (FIR) filter modeling.
4) Data averaging.
5) Inter-epoch averaging, and.
6) Wiener filtering.
Nonlinear Time Series. Nonparametric and Parametric Methods, by J Fan and Q Yao, Springer (2003) offers a good overview of these conventional methods to handle nonlinear time series. Unfortunately, all the foregoing techniques suffer from at least one of the following limitations: the need for extended data acquisition, assumption of limited epoch-to-epoch variability, dependence on assumptions about the signal characteristics, and the inability to use conventional statistical approaches.
Data averaging is perhaps the most practical and widely used approach for estimating and reducing the noise with respect to the signal. For example, United States Patent Application 2004/0097802 by Cohen filed May 20, 2004 shows a method and apparatus for reducing contamination of an electrical signal. The electrical signal is digitized and averaged to obtain an estimated contaminating signal that is subtracted from the digitized electrical signal. This method is shown in the context of electrophysiological signals, such as EEG, ECG, EMG and galvanic skin response, and for elimination of noise associated with methods such as MRI.
To summarize the general approach to noise estimation by averaging, we start with the assumption that we have a data record comprising a group of data samples. A data record is usually divided into N equal intervals. If the data takes the form of a time series, each data sample x(ti) at time intervals consists of a signal s(ti) that is assumed to be correlated over the total duration of all intervals, and a noise component n(ti) that is assumed to be uncorrelated between any two intervals. Thus, at time ti x(ti)=s(ti)+n(ti).  (1)
There are two important statistics involved in the investigation of signal noise. The first is the mean, average, or expected value of a variable. This quantity is often mathematically denoted E(x), where x is a sample of the noise in question and E is called the expectation (average value) of the quantity inside the parentheses. This parameter is usually the signal that is being measured, to which noise is being added. The second statistic is the standard deviation of the noise. This is computed by subtracting the square of the mean from E(x2) and taking the square root. The standard deviation is a measure of the magnitude of the noise, whatever signal is present. If we have a sequence of N samples, the mean of any sample is denoted μ, where, by definition
                              μ          =                                    E                                            (                x                )                                      =                                          1                N                                                                            ∑                                      i                    =                    1                                    N                                                                  x                                                        (                                          t                      i                                        )                                                                                ,                            (        2        )
Let the standard deviations for the signal and noise be denoted by S and σ, respectively, as follows (when both the signal and noise have zero means):
                              E                                (                          s              2                        )                          =                                            1              N                                                                  ∑                                  i                  =                  1                                n                                                                            s                  2                                                                  (                                      t                    i                                    )                                                              =                      S            2                                              (        3        )
and
                              E                                (                          n              2                        )                          =                                            1              N                                                                  ∑                                  i                  =                  1                                N                                                                            n                  2                                                                  (                                      t                    i                                    )                                                              =                      σ            2                                              (        4        )
If the signal is correlated between any two samples, and the noise is uncorrelated between any two samples (and the signal and noise have zero means), then
                                                                                1                  N                                                                                (                                                                  ∑                                                  i                          =                          1                                                N                                                                                (                                                                              s                                                                                (                                                              t                                i                                                            )                                                                                +                                                      n                                                                                (                                                              t                                i                                                            )                                                                                )                                                              )                                    2                                            =                                                                                1                    N                                                                                ∑                                              i                        =                        1                                            N                                                                                ∑                                                  j                          =                          1                                                N                                                                                s                                                                                (                                                          t                              i                                                        )                                                                                s                                                                                (                                                          t                              j                                                        )                                                                                +                                                      1                    N                                                                                ∑                                              i                        =                        1                                            N                                                                                ∑                                                  j                          =                          1                                                N                                                                                n                                                                                (                                                          t                              i                                                        )                                                                                n                                                                                (                                                          t                              j                                                        )                                                                                =                                                                            NS                  2                                +                                                      σ                    2                                    .                                                                                (        5        )
The signal-to-noise ratio is thus improved over that in each individual data sample by a factor N. It should be noted that a simple average as described above is not the only mechanism for "averaging out" noise. Other examples are weighted averages, moving averages, and moving-weighted averages. Underlying the application of averaging is a trade-off between the degree of certainty achieved and the number of samples that must be taken (and the time it takes to obtain them). It would be greatly advantageous to provide a more practical and efficient estimate of uncorrelated noise in data that achieves a high degree of certainty in a minimum number of samples.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A syndiotactic polypropylene resin composition comprising a polypropylene having a substantially syndiotactic structure and a nucleating agent. The syndiotactic polypropylene may be a homopolymer of the propylene, a copolymer of the propylene and a smaller amount of another olefin or a mixture of the above-mentioned (co)polymer and an isotactic polypropylene. The resin composition preferably has a higher crystallization temperature than a polypropylene containing no nucleating agent by 5.degree. C. or more, as measurement is made by a differential scanning thermal analysis.

A syndiotactic polypropylene has been known for a long period of time. Such a polypropylene is prepared by polymerization at a low temperature in the presence of a conventional catalyst comprising a vanadium compound, an ether and an organic aluminum compound, but the thus prepared syndiotactic polypropylene is poor in syndiotacticity and it scarcely has syndiotactic characteristics.
A polypropylene having good tacticity, i.e., a syndiotactic pentad fraction of more than 0.7 in accordance with .sup.13 C-NMR has been discovered for the first time by J. A. Ewen et al. which can be obtained by polymerizing propylene in the presence of a polymerization catalyst comprising compounds of transition metals (Hf and Zr) having an asymmetric ligand and methyl aluminoxane (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 110, 6255-6256, 1988).
In the J. A. Ewen et al. method described above, the activity per transition metal is high, and the obtained syndiotactic polypropylene is excellent in syndiotacticity and physical properties inclusive of impact resistance. However, this kind of syndiotactic polypropylene has the problem that stiffness is poor. In addition, when propylene is copolymerized with another olefin by the use of the above-mentioned method, a copolymer can be obtained which is composed of propylene and the other olefin and which has a substantially syndiotactic structure. However, the thus obtained copolymer is difficult to crystallize, and when molded, there is the same problem that the above-mentioned syndiotactic polypropylene has.

Syndiotactic polypropylene resin composition


Computer-based method and system for geo-spatial analysis for determining groundwater potential zones within a geographic area are disclosed herein. The method and system facilitate a user, without any hard knowledge of geographic information system (GIS) to perform quick geo-spatial analysis with a fully automated, single step, and single input process including automatically retrieving a set of satellite images and digital elevation model (DEM) corresponding to a geographic area and a time frame provided by the user, automatically processing the set of satellite images and DEM to determine one or more spectral indices and topographic wetness index (TWI) corresponding to the geographic area and time frame, automatically determining the groundwater potential zones using the one or more spectral indices and the TWI and automatically presenting a visualization depicting the groundwater potential zones within the geographic area.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Urban parameters are required in various applications of urban planning and management. Urban parameters allow for diagnosis of problems and pressure on cities, and help in identification of areas that would profit from being addressed through good governance and science-based responses allowing cities to monitor and manage the resources and success and impact of sustainability interventions. One of the Urban parameter is ground water potential zones. Nowadays, Geospatial Technology and Earth Observation System play a vital role in determining the groundwater potential zones within a geographic area for efficient planning and development.
The data provided by the earth observation system usually includes large sized satellite image files and is often provided in a format which requires more resources to store and process than necessary.
Also, the conventional computer-based systems for determining the groundwater potential zones are not fully automatic and a user must have good knowledge of geographic information system (GIS) for operating the conventional computer-based systems.
Hence, it is apparent that a need exists for a Geo-spatial artificial intelligence (Geo-AI) based fully automated computer-based method and system for efficient data acquisition and processing for determining and presenting the groundwater potential zones within the geographic area which empowers the user with enhanced visibility into data and where the user does not require any priori knowledge of the geographic information system (GIS) for operating the computer-based system.

Computer-based method and system for determining groundwater potential zones


A damper assembly that produces bi-directional damper door movement from a single-direction motor is provided. Bi-directional rotation of the damper door is enabled by a cam slot on an end of the damper door that is engaged by a motor-driven drive cam having a drive pin extending into the cam slot. As the single-direction motor collectively rotates the drive cam and the drive pin, the drive pin reciprocates within the cam slot. This causes sealing flanges and the damper from the damper door to alternatively engage under a positive pressure and disengage from one another as the damper door is rotated bi-directionally.

A typical appliance, such as a refrigerator-freezer, uses a damper assembly to control the movement of air from the freezer to a fresh food compartment to control the temperature of the fresh food compartment. While there exists several types of passive and manually actuated damper assemblies, many damper assemblies use one of the various types of alternating-current, synchronous motors (hereinafter "AC motor"), such as a single-direction AC motor or a bi-directional AC motor, to drive the damper door within the damper assembly between its open and closed positions.
A first type of motor driven damper assembly, known as a "door style" damper assembly, uses a single-direction AC motor to drive a damper door from a closed position to an open position. Because the door style damper assembly only employs a single-direction AC motor, the damper assembly must rely on a spring or other means to draw a damper door back and return the damper assembly to the closed position.
A second type of damper assembly, known as a "rotary" damper assembly, also typically uses a single-direction AC motor to drive or rotate the damper door in the damper assembly between the closed position and the open position. However, the rotary damper assembly works quite differently from the door style damper assembly. The typical rotary damper assembly includes inner and outer hollow cylinders, each having one or more apertures through which fluid may flow. These apertures may be axial or radial, or both. The inner cylinder is nested within the outer cylinder in a manner that permits relative axial rotation of the cylinders about a common longitudinal axis. In axial type rotary dampers assemblies, this inner cylinder receives the fluid flow at an axial inlet. In radial type rotary damper assemblies, the fluid flow enters through a radial inlet in the side wall of both the inner and outer cylinders. The flow of fluid out of the assembly is typically in a radial direction through the side wall apertures, and may also be via an axial aperture. The size of the opening formed by the side wall apertures is proportional to the degree of alignment of the cylinder apertures.
One such rotary damper system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,240,735, to Kolson, et al., entitled ROTARY DAMPER ASSEMBLY, and assigned to the assignee of the instant application, the teachings and disclosure of which are hereby incorporated in their entireties by reference thereto. Another is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/620,104, to Pearson, et al., entitled FLOW-THROUGH ROTARY DAMPER PROVIDING COMPARTMENT SELECTIVITY FOR A MULTI-COMPARTMENT REFRIGERATOR, and assigned to the assignee of the instant application, the teachings and disclosure of which are hereby incorporated in their entireties by reference thereto.
These damper assemblies can first be placed in the closed position by activating the single-direction AC motor until the inner cylinder in the damper is rotated until the two (or more) openings of the inner and outer cylinders are not in alignment. Alternatively, when the damper assembly is to be placed in the open position, the single-direction AC motor is again activated and continues to drive the inner cylinder in the same direction as before until the openings in the two cylinders are aligned. The downfall of such a rotary damper assembly is that, unless there is an extremely tight tolerance between the inner and outer cylinders, air will leak between them even when the damper assembly is rotated to its closed position.
To minimize such leakage, some rotary damper assemblies include a sealing flange or like structure between the two cylinders. Such a structure is meant to provide a barrier to fluid flow when the damper assembly is in the closed position. However, unless there is an extremely tight tolerance between the cylinder and the flange, air will leak even when the damper assembly is rotated to its closed position. This is because there is a lack of positive engagement between the inner cylinder or its "damper" and the sealing flange. As a result, air is still permitted to undesirably flow.
This problem is overcome in a third type of damper assembly, known as a "bi-directional" damper assembly. In such a damper assembly, a motor that can rotate in more than a single-direction, such as a bi-directional AC motor, a direct current motor, or a stepper motor, is used. The bi-directional damper assembly is capable of driving a damper door or a drum in the damper assembly in two different directions, such as forward and reverse. Therefore, when the damper assembly is to be closed, the bi-directional motor drives the damper door forward until the damper door positively engages with a sealing flange. This positive engagement prevents leakage of fluid through the damper assembly in the closed position. Thereafter, when the damper door is to be opened, the damper assembly drives the damper door in the opposite direction. While positive engagement between the damper and the sealing flange is desirable to prevent the fluid leakage in the closed position discussed above, bi-directional motors used to achieve this result are costly. Therefore, damper assemblies that use these bi-directional motors are extremely expensive. As such, they are typically only used in top of the line appliance models.
There exists, therefore, a need in the art for an inexpensive rotary damper assembly that provides a positive contact force closure of the damper door to prevent or minimize any fluid leakage through the damper door in its closed position.

Bi-directional air flow damper having uni-directional synchronous motor


A water-based pressure sensitive adhesive dispersion is provided. The dispersion is a reaction product of a monomer solution and an aqueous phase. The monomer solution contains from about 40 to 70 parts water-insoluble monomer selected from the group consisting of alkyl acrylate, methacrylate, vinyl ester, and combinations thereof and from about 0.01 to 0.2 parts monomer soluble free radical initiator. The aqueous phase includes from about 1 to 20 parts latex binder, from about 0.1 to 2 parts surfactant, from about 0.02 to 1 parts polymeric suspension stabilizer, and water as a remaining balance. All parts are given as parts by weight per 100 parts of the dispersion. The dispersion has a solid phase of at least 60 weight percent, a viscosity of less than about 300 centipoise, measured at about 23° C., and a bimodal particle size distribution.

A desirable feature in water-based pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs) is high solids content (typically greater than about 50% solids) and low viscosity so as to allow for efficient coating. Such a PSA composition can often translate into relatively low manufacturing cost. Because less water is present with high solids content, less energy is used to evaporate the water when drying a PSA coating. The result is a faster drying rate and higher line speed for coating the PSA composition. However, a high solids content composition may translate into a high viscosity composition. If the viscosity of the PSA composition is too high, coatability and processing of the PSA composition becomes very difficult.
Various techniques have been used in emulsion polymerization to afford latex PSAs of high solids content and relatively low viscosity. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,611 (Lu et al.) describes latex PSAs, produced via emulsion polymerization, having high solids content (about 40 to 70 weight percent solid phase) that is also moisture resistant. The latex PSA uses a relatively low amount (about 2 to 5%) of a low-molecular weight hydrophobic polymer in its monomer phase and a copolymerizable surfactant, which was used to improve cohesive strength and impart moisture resistance. U.S. Pat. No. 6,225,401 (Rehmer et al.) describes a process for producing readily filterable and deodorizable aqueous dispersions of PSA having solids content of more than 65%. The dispersions are prepared using emulsion feed techniques. U.S. Pat. No. 6,706,356 (Lee) describes emulsion polymerized PSA having high solids content (at least 68%) and a viscosity in the range of 300 to 15,000 centipoise prepared using split feed, delayed monomer addition technique to create a bimodal particle size distribution.

Pressure sensitive adhesive dispersion having high solids and low viscosity and method of making same


Described herein is a computer-implemented method for orienting 3D printing of a real object. The method comprises obtaining a 3D modeled object that represents the real object. The method also comprises determining one or more orientations of the 3D modeled object for which an overhang volume is optimal. This improves 3D printing.

A number of systems and programs are offered on the market for the design, the engineering and the manufacturing of objects. CAD is an acronym for Computer-Aided Design, e.g. it relates to software solutions for designing an object. CAE is an acronym for Computer-Aided Engineering, e.g. it relates to software solutions for simulating the physical behavior of a future product. CAM is an acronym for Computer-Aided Manufacturing, e.g. it relates to software solutions for defining manufacturing processes and operations. In such computer-aided design systems, the graphical user interface plays an important role as regards the efficiency of the technique. These techniques may be embedded within Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems. PLM refers to a business strategy that helps companies to share product data, apply common processes, and leverage corporate knowledge for the development of products from conception to the end of their life, across the concept of extended enterprise. The PLM solutions provided by Dassault Systèmes (under the trademarks CATIA, ENOVIA and DELMIA) provide an Engineering Hub, which organizes product engineering knowledge, a Manufacturing Hub, which manages manufacturing engineering knowledge, and an Enterprise Hub which enables enterprise integrations and connections into both the Engineering and Manufacturing Hubs. All together the system delivers an open object model linking products, processes, resources to enable dynamic, knowledge-based product creation and decision support that drives optimized product definition, manufacturing preparation, production and service.
Three-dimensional (3D) printing can make use of these systems and programs. 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, refers to various processes used to synthesize a real object. In 3D printing, successive layers of material are formed under computer control to create said real object. The resulting object can be of any shape and is the physical instance of a virtual solid, for example previously designed by using a CAD system.
Within this context, there is still a need to improve 3D printing.

Orientation of a real object for 3D printing


Wheels of model cars rotate upon axles and their rims contact a track. The present invention is a palm size hand powered lathe for rounding and truing a wheel upon a spindle. The lathe has a bracket that admits a blade to contact the outer edge of the wheel. The blade advances into the wheel by the turning of a threaded rod contained within a housing. The housing limits the inward and outward movement of the blade. The threaded rod has a handle upon one end and a rounded head upon the other end that engages a slot in the blade. A clip provides a rigid connection of the threaded rod to the bracket. The housing has a shape comfortable in the hand. And the invention provides a child the ability to remove wheel material within thousandths of an inch.

The present invention relates to a manual lathe for use as a hand tool on model cars. The manual lathe has particular utility in connection with removing tread material to round wheels for model cars.
As winter loosens its grip, Cub Scouts emerge from dens across the land for a contest: the Pinewood Derby®. For the derby, Cub Scouts and their adult sponsors assemble a wooden car from a kit and then race their cars against those of fellow Cub Scouts upon a track with separate guideways for each car. Cub Scouts that win local races advance to tournaments. In a car race, speed remains essential to victory and thousandths of a second count. Cub Scouts and their sponsors seek to minimize wheel friction and to align wheels precisely. The wood cars have four wheels. Each plastic wheel has a finished face, a rim, and a centered hub opposite the finished face. The hub fits over an axle hammered into the car. Spinning upon the axle, the hub contacts the car and the wheel contacts the track.
A unique aspect of the present invention is rounding a wheel with minimal risk of injury and without power tools. In a lathe, a wheel rounds as it is turned against a gouge or blade applied radially upon the rim. A round wheel rotates and rolls flat upon a track in complete contact, minimizes wobble in the wheel, and avoids contacting the guideway.


In an embedded system, for instance in a household appliance, in addition to the usual embedded microprocessor/microcontroller there is provided another processor which actually executes a user interface HTML document for accepting user input, for instance from a keypad and controlling the display device, for instance an LCD. The embedded microprocessor hosts the user interface document, responds to requests from the other processor, keeps track of changes in variables shared with the other processor, and executes the control device functionality. The other processor renders the graphical user interface to the display and interacts with the user by executing local functions to operate on the memory and i/o resources of the embedded processor as described by the user interface document served to it.

Embedded systems are well known; this refers to microprocessors and microcontrollers (hereinafter generically referred to as microprocessors) used in devices other than general purpose computers. For instance many household appliances (such as microwave ovens) have embedded microprocessors which control operation of the appliance. The microprocessor typically accepts user input, for instance from the keypad of the microwave oven, and controls operation of the microwave oven, for instance the level of heating and duration of cooking. The embedded microprocessor also controls the device display which in a microwave oven is a small LCD (liquid crystal display). That is, the intelligence of such appliances resides in the embedded microprocessor, which interfaces to the human user. Typically this is done through firmware, i.e. computer software executed by the embedded microprocessor and stored in a memory associated with, or a part of, the microprocessor. In addition to executing the software to interact with the controlled device, the embedded microprocessor also accepts and decodes input from the human user, for instance via the keypad, as well as provides visual feedback on the display by providing text and/or graphic information to a display controller which in turn drives the LCD panel.
As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1, the embedded microprocessor 10 (in the drawing designated by the alternative terminology "microcontroller") is a commercially available device, for instance an 8 or 16-bit microcontroller of the type available from a number of vendors. This embedded microprocessor conventionally includes, in addition to its logic circuitry, storage such as ROM (read only memory) which holds what is called firmware 12, which is a type of computer software, and also conventional RAM (random access memory) which is not shown. Firmware 12 performs the indicated functions of application flow, device control (of the controlled device of which the embedded microprocessor is a part) reaction to user input, and the capability to draw pixels to the display controller 24 frame buffer 30.
As shown, the microprocessor 10 is coupled to a user input device 14, e.g. a keypad, an infrared remote controller such as used on television sets, or a touch screen input device. The associated controlled device (not shown) is, for instance, an appliance such as a microwave oven, washing machine, or automobile system, or a scientific instrument, or a machine tool, and is connected conventionally to microprocessor 10. It is to be appreciated that the lines connecting the blocks in FIG. 1 represent buses, that is, parallel multiline connections. The embedded microprocessor 10 supplies input (commands) from the human user via the user input device 14 to control the controlled device and gives user indications on the display 20. Display 20 is driven via conventional pixel drivers/video circuitry 22. The user input device 14, of course, does not directly affect the controlled device, nor does it directly control the display processor 20. Instead, the embedded microprocessor 10 accepts and decodes the user input from the user input device 14, then controls the controlled device and provides information to the user on display 20. Similarly, the display device 20 does not directly display information from the user input device 14, nor the controlled device; instead it only displays information provided to it by the embedded microprocessor 10. This display takes place via the display controller 24, which is often a separate, commercially available, integrated circuit. Display controller 24 includes several well known elements which are the microcontroller (microprocessor) bus interface 28, which drives the frame buffer 30 and the associated LCD/video interface 34. As shown, the display device is for instance an LCD (liquid crystal display), VFD (vacuum fluorescent display), CRT (cathode ray tube), etc.
The FIG. 1 system is well known and has been in use for many years. It is generally suitable for a high volume production products such as household appliances where manufacturing (parts) cost is important and nonrecurring engineering charges for developing software are relatively less important. The reason for this is that the firmware executed by the microprocessor 10 must be customized for each class of controlled device, as well as for the user input device 14 and the display 20. This requires a substantial amount of software engineering effort. However, this approach is less well adapted for non-mass-produced products such as industrial control systems, or limited production products where the software engineering costs are relatively more important than the costs of the integrated circuits. Also, even for mass produced products that are subject to frequent changes in the firmware to be executed by the embedded microprocessor 10, the costs of changing the firmware are high and the FIG. 1 approach is relatively expensive and inefficient. Hence, this approach has significant drawbacks in terms of development time and engineering cost.

Graphical user interface engine for embedded systems


In a device and method to provide a gateway for the transfer of information between financial markets and customers, a processor is coupled to a customer system and to a financial market system. The processor receives transaction information from the customer system in a first format, converts it to a second format and transmits the transaction information to the financial market system. The processor receives an acknowledgment and a transaction confirmation from the financial market system in the second format, converts these to the first format and transmits the acknowledgment and the transaction confirmation to the customer system. The processor may also be coupled to a memory, where it stores tracking information relating to the transaction information, the acknowledgment and/or the transaction confirmation.

To transfer information between two systems, i.e., a customer system and a financial market (exchange) system, that utilize different protocols or languages, it is necessary to manually extract the raw data from the one system and manually enter that data into the other system. Trading interface systems implemented by brokerages utilize such a dual system. One system is used to communicate on the client side for receiving transaction information, e.g., orders, and transmitting transaction information, e.g., acknowledgments, confirmations and historical data. The other system is used to communicate on the market (exchange) side to transmit transaction information, e.g., place orders, and to receive transaction information, e.g., acknowledgments and confirmations.
The current methodology or manual system requires duplication of information entry. Currently, customers who wish to trade (buy and/or sell) financial instruments (i.e., securities, stocks, bonds), currencies, commodities, REITs, options, futures, etc., on financial markets (exchanges) must either communicate directly, e.g., by telephone, with a broker to place an order or be connected to a broker electronically, for example, via computer or terminal. Upon receipt of an order the broker must manually enter the order information for transfer to and execution by the relevant financial market (exchange), e.g., NYSE, NASDAQ, TSE, CBOE, etc.
Once an acknowledgment is received from the relevant financial market (exchange), the broker must then either manually reenter that information for transmission to the customer's computer or terminal, or call the customer and indicate that acknowledgment of the order was received from the relevant financial market (exchange). Upon receipt by the broker of a message from the relevant financial market (exchange) confirming execution, partial execution or non-execution of the order, the broker must then once again either manually reenter that information for transmission to the customer's computer or terminal, or call the customer and indicate that the order was either executed, partially executed or not executed by the relevant financial market (exchange).
Additionally, there are currently markets such as the bond market where trading is not implemented electronically, i.e., there are no computer or other systems linking brokers to their clients or to any markets (exchanges). Thus, in these situations all information must be transferred orally and recorded manually both between the customer and broker and between the broker and the market (exchange).
When using a computer or terminal to communicate between a customer system and a broker system when executing transactions in the equities markets (on the equities exchanges), there is a protocol, the Financial Information Exchange (FIX) that has been accepted and implemented by many brokerage houses as a common, standard protocol for all electronic transfers of transaction information. All electronic communications between customers and brokers are formatted according to the FIX protocol.
However, in the equities markets, the various exchanges each utilize proprietary protocols governing communications between the exchange and brokers who are electronically connected to and who transact business on the exchange. For example, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) uses the Common Message Switch (CMS) format, while the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) uses the Securities Trading Access Message Protocol (STAMP) format.
Thus, any broker wishing to transmit transaction information, e.g., send a customer's order, to an exchange must take the order received from the customer (i.e., in FIX protocol) and reenter it into the broker's system which interfaces with the relevant exchange (using a different protocol), thereby allowing the order to be understood by the exchange's system.
This is a difficult and time consuming process which is prone to errors since the same information must be manually entered by an operator twice for a transaction to be processed.
There is a need for a system and method whereby a broker can receive transaction information from a customer electronically, e.g., via computer or terminal, and transfer that transaction information electronically to a financial market (exchange) without having to manually reenter the transaction information. Additionally, there is a need for a system and method whereby a broker can receive transaction information, e.g., an acknowledgment and/or a confirmation, from a market (exchange) and transfer that transaction information electronically to a customer, e.g., via computer or terminal, without having to manually reenter the transaction information.
Furthermore, there a need for a system and method whereby a broker can automatically translate transaction information received electronically from a customer in a certain protocol or language into a protocol or language compatible with the system used by the market (exchange) to which the transaction information is transmitted, and vice versa.

System and method for providing an information gateway

Belzberg Financial Markets & News International Inc.


This disclosure concerns a method for removing gas and/or gas bubbles from a liquid medicament stored in a reservoir for an infusion pump device. The reservoir comprises a displacing member which is at least partly displaceable relative to the reservoir thereby enabling receiving mechanical oscillations in order to generate mechanical waves in the liquid medicament. The method comprises: providing the reservoir; and transmitting a mechanical oscillation to the displacing member of the reservoir thereby generating a mechanical wave in the liquid medicament for removing gas and/or gas bubbles from the liquid medicament.

This disclosure relates to a method and an auxiliary device for removing gas and/or gas bubbles from a liquid medicament stored in a reservoir for an infusion pump device.
In the therapy of diseases, infusion pump devices can provide for the administration of liquid medicaments to a patient. For example, an infusion pump device in the form of an insulin pump can provide for the administration of insulin to a patient suffering from diabetes. An infusion pump device can comprise a reservoir for storing the liquid medicament. In some applications, reservoirs of infusion pumps are also referred to as cartridges, containers, etc. A reservoir of an infusion pump can be designed to be filled and/or refilled with a liquid medicament according to the needs of the patient. For the purpose of filling or refilling a reservoir of an infusion pump device, the patient can have access to a cooled storeroom having stored storage containers. Each storage container can have stored a particular liquid medicament. The cooled storeroom can have the design of a refrigerator. Storage containers can have the design of vials, storage tanks, storage bottles, etc. Shortly before the patient needs to fill or refill a reservoir of an infusion pump device, the patient withdraws a storage container having the desired liquid medicament from the storeroom, heats the storage container to ambient temperature and fills or refills the reservoir of the infusion pump device with the liquid medicament from the storage container.
A reservoir of an infusion pump device can have various designs and can comprise various materials. For example, a reservoir can have a cylindrical design with a hollow body having two openings. The openings can be arranged at opposite sides of the cylindrical reservoir. At one of the openings, a septum can be arranged for covering, closing, etc. the opening of the reservoir. The other of the openings can support a plunger. The plunger can be movable in an axial direction of the cylindrical reservoir. The plunger can fit tightly in the cylindrical reservoir. The plunger can be moveably arranged for the purpose of filling and/or refilling the reservoir with the liquid medicament as well as for the purpose of administering the liquid medicament to the patient. The reservoir of an infusion pump device can be manufactured out of glass, for example in accordance to the standard DIN ISO 13926 which specifies glass cylinders (part 1), plunger stoppers (part 2), and seals (part 3) for pen-injectors for medical use.
When filling or refilling a reservoir with a liquid medicament from a storage container, it is very important that the reservoir remains without gas or gas bubbles, such as air or air bubbles, because gas or gas bubbles can have various negative effects. Gas or gas bubbles inside the reservoir can have a negative effect on the precision of an administered dosage of the liquid medicament. Gas or gas bubbles inside the reservoir can negatively influence the fluidic stiffness within the infusion pump device, due to the higher compressibility of gas or gas bubbles in relation to the compressibility of liquid medicaments. Gas or gas bubbles in the reservoir can have negative effects on the stability, effectiveness, etc. of the liquid medicament and can negatively influence the lifetime of the liquid medicament. Moreover, administering the liquid medicament to the patient together with gas or gas bubbles can have a negative effect on the patient's health conditions.
Methods are known for removing gas or gas bubbles from a reservoir, which were generated in the reservoir, for example, during transfer of the liquid medicament from the storage container to the reservoir. In a variant, gas bubbles can be removed in a procedure comprising the steps of separation and back transfer. In a step of separation, the reservoir is usually tapped for example with a fingernail, or the reservoir is slightly hammered to the edge of a table plate, wherein the vibrations have the effect that the gas bubbles rise to the top of the reservoir and are separated from the liquid medicament. In a step of back transfer, the gas or gas bubbles can be transferred back to the storage container or elsewhere, for example by slightly moving the plunger.
EP2229970 discloses a bubble trap for removing bubbles from a stream of liquid in an infusion pump device. The bubble trap comprises a grate arranged in the stream. The grate is adapted to retain bubbles that are drifting in the stream. The grate comprises a grate wall and two or more inlets arranged on the grate wall. The stream of liquid can pass the grate through the inlets. The shape and the distribution of the inlets is designed such that a bubble larger than a certain minimum size cannot pass the grate without coming into contact with an inlet. Preferably the shape and the distribution of the inlets is designed such that a bubble below a certain maximum size that is retained in the grate can block only a part of the gross cross-sectional area of the arrangement of inlets.
EP2295096 discloses micro-fluidic chambers for use in a liquid medicament delivery system. A micro-fluidic chamber has a bottom substrate and a top cover spaced from the bottom substrate so as to define a height of the chamber. Walls or fillings are positioned in the chamber and define a fluid channel that extends from an inlet of the chamber to an outlet. The walls or fillings have a height that is less the height of the chamber so as to define a gap between a top surface of the walls or fillings and the top cover. The gap is designed such that it is filled by capillary forces with liquid when liquid is introduced into the fluid chamber. The top cover can be a gas-permeable membrane. Gas in a gas bubble moving along the fluid channel passes the membrane. Gas solved in the liquid migrates into the gap and permeates through the membrane.
EP2455126 discloses a container for storing a medical or pharmaceutical liquid. The container comprises a storage compartment for storing the liquid. The storage compartment comprises an inlet opening for filling the storage compartment and an outlet opening for discharging liquid out of the storage compartment. A hydrophilic membrane is arranged within the storage compartment, which is gas-tight in a wet condition and which at least covers the outlet opening and which contacts the liquid stored in the storage compartment.
As described above, reservoirs can include materials such as glass. When applying methods for removing gas or gas bubbles from a glass reservoir, particular precautions as regards the fragility of the glass material have to be followed. For example, strokes to the glass reservoir or the falling of the glass reservoir to the floor may cause invisible micro-cracks in the glass reservoir, which may cause the glass reservoir to burst apart during the administration of a liquid medicament when used with an infusion pump device. Therefore, operating instructions for glass reservoirs require that a glass reservoir must be replaced if it has been dropped to the floor. Moreover, because of the fragility of glass, applying mechanical strokes or tape to the glass reservoir, for example in order to separate gas bubbles, is strictly forbidden. Stroking the glass reservoir to the edge of a table plate as well as tapping the glass reservoir with a hard piece is equally critical. However, because of properties of glass as regards stiffness and hardness, procedures involving stroking or tapping the glass reservoir would be particularly adapted for separating gas bubbles from the liquid medicament.
WO2006048114 relates to a device for filling or re-filling a container for an infusion fluid. The device comprises a receptacle for the container and a suction device for sucking an infusion fluid into the container. The suction device is actuated by a motor. The device includes a vibratory driving unit for vibrating the container and separating gas bubbles from the infusion fluid. The vibratory driving unit is connected to the container and vibrates the container.

Method and device for removing gas and/or gas bubbles from a liquid medicament stored in a reservoir


The present invention relates generally to semiconductor fabrication. More particularly, the present invention relates to system and method of selectively oxidizing one material with respect to another material formed on a semiconductor substrate. A hydrogen-rich oxidation system for performing the process are provided in which innovative safety features are included to avoid the dangers to personnel and equipment that are inherent in working with hydrogen-rich atmospheres.

Fabrication of semiconductor devices or integrated circuits requires many complex steps. Heat treatment is an important step in the fabrication of semiconductor devices and is used to carry out a variety of processes such as thermal annealing and thermal oxidation, among many other processes.
As well known in the art, semiconductor devices are made of a number of conductive and insulating features on a semiconductor substrate. Devices such as gate electrodes comprised of a gate stack including layers of materials such as polysilicon, dielectric, and metals are commonly used. For semiconductor devices having a critical geometry requirement of less than 130 nm, the polysilicon layer may be strapped over the top by a metal silicide layer. However, it has been found that the circuit performance of such a device is limited due to resistance of the device to device interconnect lines. To reduce the resistance of these interconnect lines, it has been proposed in the industry to replace the metal silicide layer and to fabricate the interconnect lines of polysilicon strapped over the top by a barrier layer and then a metal layer which exhibits a lower resistance than the metal silicide layer, as illustrated in FIG. 1.
Plasma etch processing is typically used to define the gate device. The plasma etch step leaves a roughened edge on the polysilicon layer and produces plasma induced damage near the gate dielectric layer at the bottom of the polysilicon layer. Such damage may cause device failure or degraded performance. Methods have been developed in an attempt to minimize such failure or degraded performance. Methods have been developed in an attempt to minimize such damage, and have included an oxidation step to form a thin oxide layer of approximately 5 to 15 nm thick on the sidewall of the polysilicon layer to repair the plasma damage caused in the plasma step.
It has been found however, that during this oxidation step used to repair the plasma damage, the oxygen-rich environment exposes the metal layer to attack and the oxidant can destroy the metal layer. To address this problem, selective oxidation processes have been investigated.
In one prior art approach, selective oxidation of gate electrodes having polysilicon and tungsten metal structures has been performed in single wafer reactors using a catalytic reactor which reacts hydrogen and oxygen to form partial pressure of water vapor in the reactor ambient. Such an approach suffers from disadvantages however, such as high cost of the catalytic reactor and low throughput (less than approximately 10 wafers per hour achievable by such a single wafer system).
Batch furnace systems have long been employed to carry out annealing processes in the fabrication of semiconductor wafers. Many batch annealing processes are carried out in a hydrogen environment (hydrogen anneal). In most annealing processes, hydrogen is diluted with nitrogen, and safety features such gas ratio interlocks are used to control the hydrogen to concentrations below the explosive or flammability limit. However, for some process applications annealing in an atmosphere of up to 100% hydrogen is required. Systems of this type incorporate use of circuits that force a timed nitrogen purge of the reactor or tube prior to the flow of hydrogen gas, and an automated post purge of nitrogen applied upon the termination of the flow of hydrogen gas. While this approach is useful, improvements are needed. Accordingly, improved systems and methods for selectively oxidizing one material with respect to another in the fabrication of semiconductor devices is desired.

System and method for hydrogen-rich selective oxidation


A distinct cultivar of Aster plant named xe2x80x98Victoria Dianaxe2x80x99, characterized by its upright and outwardly spreading plant habit; dark green foliage; freely flowering habit; and decorative-type inflorescences with white-colored ray florets.

Aster novi-belgii cultivar xe2x80x98Victoria Dianaxe2x80x99.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Aster plant, botanically known as Aster novi-belgii and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Victoria Dianaxe2x80x99.
The new Aster is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in xc3x85rslev, Denmark. The objective of the breeding program is to create new potted Aster cultivars with uniform plant growth habit, desirable floret colors, and good postproduction longevity.
The new Aster originated from a cross made by the Inventor in xc3x85rslev, Denmark, of a proprietary Aster selection identified as code number F2, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with the Aster cultivar xe2x80x98Margrethe Vikingxe2x80x99, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,358, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Aster was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross grown in a controlled environment in xc3x85rslev, Denmark. The selection of this plant was based on its uniform plant growth habit and desirable inflorescence form and ray floret color.
Asexual reproduction of the new Aster by vegetative tip cuttings was first conducted in xc3x85rslev, Denmark during the Spring of 1999. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Aster are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar xe2x80x98Victoria Dianaxe2x80x99 has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength, and/or light level, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Victoria Dianaxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Victoria Dianaxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Aster:
1. Upright and outwardly spreading plant habit.
2. Dark green foliage.
3. Freely flowering habit.
4. Decorative-type inflorescences with white-colored ray florets.
Plants of the new Aster are more compact and have longer postproduction longevity than plants of the female parent selection.
Plants of the new Aster are most similar to plants of the male parent, the cultivar xe2x80x98Margrethe Vikingxe2x80x99. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Broby, Denmark, plants of the new Aster differed from plants of the cultivar xe2x80x98Margrethe Vikingxe2x80x99 in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Aster were more compact than plants of the cultivar xe2x80x98Margrethe Vikingxe2x80x99.
2. Plants of the new Aster had smaller leaves than plants of the cultivar xe2x80x98Margrethe Vikingxe2x80x99.
3. Plants of the new Aster were more freely flowering than plants of the cultivar xe2x80x98Margrethe Vikingxe2x80x99.
4. Inflorescences of the new Aster had more ray florets than inflorescences of the cultivar xe2x80x98Margrethe Vikingxe2x80x99.


A method is disclosed for forming a microporous membrane that incorporates an additive having low water solubility at the membrane's active surface from a precipitation fluid. The incorporated additive at the membrane's active surface can improve one or more of the membrane's hydrophilicity, wettability, anti-fouling behavior, blood compatibility, and stability over long periods of use or repetitive use. The microporous membrane with this modified active surface can be a hollow fiber, flat sheet, or other self-supporting shape. The microporous membranes can be used for membrane filtering or a solute and/or solvent exchange process, which involve contacting aqueous-based fluid or blood with the microporous membrane, such processes for dialysis, blood oxygenation, or blood separation filtering, or other processes.

The present invention relates to microporous membranes and to processes for producing microporous membranes and to hollow fiber and flat sheet membrane products, which incorporate the microporous membranes, and uses of these products.
Membranes which have selective permeabilities are widely used in various products, such as filtration media used in the medical field. Membranes having a form of hollow fiber are particularly suitable for the preparation of high area per volume membranes, such as hollow fiber membranes suitable for hemodialysis, hemofiltration, or hemodiafiltration. A variety of polymers, including polysulfone, polyethersulfone, cellulose, cellulose acetate, polyamides, polyacrylonitriles, polymethyl methacrylates, polyvinyl alcohols, polyolefins, and the like, have been used to form such hollow fiber membranes.
Water-soluble pore forming additives (e.g., polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), polyethylene glycol (PEG)) are generally added to membrane-forming polymers with hydrophobic characteristics (e.g., polysulfone (PSF), polyethersulfone (PES)) for fabrication of microporous membranes using a wet phase inversion process. These additives enhance the hydrophilicity and wettability of membranes for applications involving aqueous based fluids. In addition, water-soluble additives at the active surface of the membrane can enhance the membrane's anti-fouling behavior and blood compatibility during various applications such as kidney dialysis, blood oxygenation, and blood separation.
Water-soluble pore forming additives, however, can be leached out of the membrane core and the membrane's active surface during membrane fabrication as well as in membrane applications involving aqueous-based fluid. These applications can include, for instance, kidney dialysis, blood oxygenation, blood separation, water purification (or treatment), dairy processing, and separations in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry.
To balance the need for hydrolytic stability and other considerations, such as chemical and thermal resistances in membranes, the use of block copolymers comprising a hydrophilic block and a hydrophobic block can be used. Unlike additives such as polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) or polyethylene glycol (PEG) that are added to the hydrophobic-base polymer as pore formers, the block copolymers comprise chemically bound structural units which can impart hydrophilicity, and are not as easily extracted during separation or cleaning operations. For instance, EP 1773913 B1 shows the use of polyarylethersulfone-polyalkylene glycol block copolymers in membrane fabrication. EP 2545096 B1 shows polyurethane block copolymers based on poly siloxane(tensides) with anchoring units, and their use as anti-bioadhesion additives in membrane preparation for microfiltration, ultrafiltration or gas separation or purification purposes.
As another approach, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0263020 A1 shows a membrane which can be used for cultivating cells, wherein the membrane allows for the adhesion and proliferation of the cells based on its specific composition comprising polyurethane. U.S. 2011/0263020 shows certain hollow fiber membranes which have specific adhesive properties only on the outside, wherein the hollow fiber membranes can be prepared and used in applications which require adhesion and cultivation of cells exclusively on the inside or the outside, respectively. To provide this, U.S. 2011/0263020 states that the polyurethane additive is present only in the inside or outside layer of the membrane, supported by a separate layer not containing any polyurethane. U.S. 2011/0263020 suggests that such membranes can be prepared using a triple spinneret and two different polymer solutions, i.e., two different membrane layer forming solutions.
A need exists for improved strategies for incorporating additives with limited water solubility at the active surface of a membrane layer which can improve a membrane's hydrophilicity and wettability, improve membrane's anti-fouling behavior, improve membrane's blood compatibility, and/or maintain stable performance.

Microporous membrane and methods to make same


The invention relates to a non-aqueous washing machine, methods of using the machine, methods of washing, and recycling.

The present invention generally relates to apparati, methods, and chemistries employed in the home for laundering clothing and fabrics. More particularly, it relates to a new and improved method, apparatus, and chemistry for home laundering of a fabric load using a wash liquor comprising a multi-phase mixture of a substantially inert working fluid (IWF) and at least one washing adjuvant.
As used herein, the terms "substantially non-reactive" or "substantially inert" when used to describe a component of a wash liquor or washing fluid, means a non-solvent, non-detersive fluid that under ordinary or normal washing conditions, e.g. at pressures of 0 Pa to 0.5×106 Pa and temperatures of from about 1° C. to about 100° C., does not appreciably react with the fibers of the fabric load being cleaned, the stains and soils on the fabric load, or the washing adjuvants combined with the component to form the wash liquor. An IWF ideally does very little or nothing except act as a carrier or vehicle to carry an adjuvant to the clothes so that the adjuvant can work on the clothes.
Home laundering of fabrics is usually performed in an automatic washing machine and occasionally by hand. These methods employ water as the major component of the washing fluid. Cleaning adjuvants such as detergents, enzymes, bleaches and fabric softeners are added and mixed with the water at appropriate stages of the wash cycle to provide cleaning, whitening, softening, and the like.
Although improvements in automatic washing machines and in cleaning agent formulations are steadily being made, as a general rule, conventional home laundering methods consume considerable amounts of water, energy, and time. Water-based methods are not suitable for some natural fiber fabrics, such as silks, woolens and linens, so that whole classes of garments and fabrics cannot be home laundered, but instead, must be sent out for professional dry cleaning. During water washing, the clothes become saturated with water and some fibers swell and absorb water. After washing, the water must be removed from the clothes. Typically, this is performed in a two-step process including a hard spin cycle in the washer and a full drying cycle in an automatic dryer. The hard spin cycles tend to cause undesirable wrinkling. Even after spinning, drying cycle times are undesirably long.
The solution to this problem was the advent of the traditional dry cleaning business. Consumers had to travel to the dry cleaners, drop off clothes, pay for dry cleaning, and pick the clothes up. While the dry cleaning process is useful to the consumer, it plays terrible havoc with the environment. Traditional dry cleaning uses halogenated hydrocarbons, such as perchloroethylene (nefariously known as "perc"). Because the use of perc is calamitous, strict environmental regulations exist to control its use and disposition. The stricter controls sent many in the dry cleaning industry towards petroleum-based solvents. These solvents are inflammable and are smog-producers. Accordingly, the use of these solvents in the home is out of the question.
A further non-aqueous solvent based washing method employs liquid or supercritical carbon dioxide solvent as a washing liquid. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,492, highly pressurized vessels are required to perform this washing method. In accordance with these methods, pressures of about 3.45×106 Pa to 6.89×106 Pa are required. Pressures of up to about 0.206×106 Pa are approved for use in the home. The high pressure conditions employed in the carbon dioxide create safety hazards that make them unsuitable for residential use.
Various perfluorocarbon materials have been employed alone or in combination with cleaning additives for washing printed circuit boards and other electrical substrates, as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,681. Spray cleaning of rigid substrates is very different from laundering soft fabric loads. Moreover, cleaning of electrical substrates is performed in high technology manufacturing facilities employing a multi-stage apparatus which is not readily adapted for home use.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A circularly polarized microstrip antenna includes a dielectric substrate having only an emitting electrode for generating circularly polarized waves on a front surface of the dielectric substrate and a coplanar signal line for feeding the emitting electrode and a ground electrode on a back surface of the dielectric substrate. The ground electrode covers the entire area of the back surface of the dielectric substrate excluding a region in which the signal line is provided. The signal line extends from an edge of the back surface of the dielectric substrate to an intermediate position between the edge of the back surface of the dielectric substrate and a center position O of the emitting electrode on the back surface of the dielectric substrate. Thus, a circularly polarized microstrip antenna whose circular polarization characteristic can be easily improved and whose manufacturing cost and size can be easily reduced is provided.

FIG. 8a illustrates a perspective view of an example of a circularly polarized antenna structure, and FIG. 8b illustrates a schematic sectional view of the circularly polarized antenna structure shown in FIG. 8a (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This circularly polarized antenna structure 30 includes a dielectric substrate 31. An emitting electrode 32 for generating circularly polarized waves is formed on a front surface of the dielectric substrate 31 and a ground electrode 33 is formed on a back surface of the dielectric substrate 31 so as to cover substantially the entire area thereof. An electrode-free region through which a feeding pin 34 is inserted is formed in the ground electrode 33, and the feeding pin 34 is inserted into the dielectric substrate 31 through the electrode-free region. The feeding pin 34 is electromagnetically coupled to the emitting electrode 32 via a capacitance. The feeding pin 34 is connected to an internal conductor of a feeding coaxial cable so that the feeding pin 34 is connected to, for example, a high-frequency radio communication circuit (not shown) included in a radio communication apparatus via the feeding coaxial cable.
In this circularly polarized antenna structure 30, when, for example, a transmission signal is supplied from the high-frequency radio communication circuit in the radio communication apparatus to the feeding pin 34 via the feeding coaxial cable, the transmission signal is transmitted from the feeding pin 34 to the emitting electrode 32 due to the electromagnetic coupling therebetween. Accordingly, the emitting electrode 32 is excited and circularly polarized waves are generated, so that the signal is wirelessly transmitted.
FIG. 9a illustrates a schematic plan view of another example of a circularly polarized antenna structure, and FIG. 9b illustrates a schematic sectional view of FIG. 9a taken along line A-A (see, for example, Patent Document 2). This circularly polarized antenna structure 36 includes a dielectric substrate 37. An emitting electrode 38 for generating circularly polarized waves and a feeding electrode 39 that extends from the emitting electrode 38 are formed on a front surface of the dielectric substrate 37. In addition, a signal line 40, which is a coplanar line (CPW line), is formed on a back surface of the dielectric substrate 37 so as to extend from an edge of the back surface of the dielectric substrate 37 to a position where the signal line 40 faces the feeding electrode 39. In addition, a ground electrode 41 is formed on the back surface of the dielectric substrate 37 such that the ground electrode 41 covers substantially the entire area excluding the region where the signal line 40 is formed and a gap is provided between the ground electrode 41 and the signal line 40.
The coplanar signal line 40 is electromagnetically coupled to the feeding electrode 39. In addition, the signal line 40 is connected to a high-frequency radio communication circuit (not shown) included in a radio communication apparatus. When a transmission signal is supplied from the high-frequency circuit to the signal line 40, the transmission signal is transmitted from the signal line 40 to the feeding electrode 39 due to the electromagnetic coupling between the signal line 40 and the feeding electrode 39, and is then transmitted from the feeding electrode 39 to the emitting electrode 38. Accordingly, the emitting electrode 38 is excited and circularly polarized waves are generated, so that the transmission signal is wirelessly transmitted.
FIG. 10a illustrates a schematic plan view of another example of a circularly polarized antenna structure, and FIG. 10b illustrates a schematic sectional view of FIG. 10a taken along line B-B (see, for example, Patent Document 3). This circularly polarized antenna structure 43 includes a dielectric substrate 44. An emitting electrode 45 for generating circularly polarized waves is formed on a front surface of the dielectric substrate 44. A feeding electrode 46 is formed on a back surface of the dielectric substrate 44 so as to extend from an edge of the back surface of the dielectric substrate 44 to a center position of the emitting electrode 45 on the back surface of the dielectric substrate 44. In addition, a ground electrode 47 is formed on the back surface of the dielectric substrate 44 such that the ground electrode 47 covers substantially the entire area of the back surface of the dielectric substrate 44 excluding the region where the feeding electrode 46 is formed and a gap is provided between the feeding electrode 46 and the ground electrode 47.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-32014    Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-93330    Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent No. 3002252    Patent Document 4: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1-147905
In the antenna structure 30 shown in FIGS. 8a and 8b, the feeding pin 34 is used. Therefore, it is necessary to insert the feeding pin 34 into the dielectric substrate 31 after the emitting electrode 32 and the ground electrode 33 are formed on the dielectric substrate 31 in the manufacturing process, and thus the manufacturing process is complex. In addition, in the antenna structure 30, the emitting electrode 32 and the feeding pin 34 are preferably electromagnetically coupled to each other while impedance matching is obtained. To provide impedance matching between the emitting electrode 32 and the feeding pin 34, an end of the feeding pin 34 must be precisely positioned with respect to the emitting electrode 32 so that the distance between the emitting electrode 32 and the feeding pin 34 is set to a predetermined distance for impedance matching. However, in mass production, for example, it is extremely difficult to insert the feeding pin 34 into the dielectric substrate 31 as designed in all of the products. Therefore, the distance between the emitting electrode 32 and the feeding pin 34 varies depending on the product and the condition of impedance matching between the emitting electrode 32 and the feeding pin 34 varies accordingly. Since the radio communication performance varies depending on the condition of impedance matching between the emitting electrode 32 and the feeding pin 34, reliability of performance cannot be ensured.
In addition, the antenna structure 30 is connected to the high-frequency radio communication circuit in the radio communication apparatus using the coaxial cable. Therefore, there are problems that a cumbersome task of connecting the coaxial cable to the antenna structure 30 is necessary and the manufacturing cost is increased.
In the antenna structure 36 shown in FIGS. 9a and 9b, not only the emitting electrode 38 but also the feeding electrode 39 is formed on the front surface of the dielectric substrate 37. Since the feeding electrode 39 must be formed, it is difficult to reduce the size of the dielectric substrate 37.
In the antenna structure 43 shown in FIGS. 10a and 10b, the feeding electrode 46 is formed so as to extend from the edge of the back surface of the dielectric substrate 44 to the center position of the emitting electrode 45 on the back surface of the dielectric substrate 44. Therefore, there is a problem that satisfactory resonance for generating the circularly polarized waves cannot be obtained by the emitting electrode 45 because of the reason described below and it is difficult for the antenna structure 43 to function as a circularly polarized antenna.
A current (resonance current) that flows in the emitting electrode 45 travels along linear paths that pass through the center O of the emitting electrode 45, for example, along paths shown by dashed lines α and α′ in a plan view of FIG. 10c. Accordingly, an image current that is induced by the resonance current in the emitting electrode 45 and that flows in the ground electrode 47 preferably travels along the paths α and α′ of the resonance current in the emitting electrode 45, that is, the linear paths that pass through the center position O of the emitting electrode 45. However, since the feeding electrode 46 formed on the back surface of the dielectric substrate 44 extends to the center position O of the emitting electrode 45 and the ground electrode 47 is not formed in a region around the center position O of the emitting electrode 45, the image current in the ground electrode 47 travels along paths that go around the feeding electrode 46, as shown by solid lines β and β′ in FIG. 10c. More specifically, unlike the resonance current in the emitting electrode 45, the image current cannot travel along the linear paths that pass through the center position O of the emitting electrode 45. Therefore, the length of the paths along which the image current travels is longer than the length of the paths along which the resonance current travels in the emitting electrode 45. For this reason, satisfactory resonance for generating the circularly polarized waves cannot be obtained by the emitting electrode 45.

Circularly polarized microstrip antenna and radio communication apparatus including the same


Techniques are disclosed for capturing network traffic in a distributed computing environment comprising a plurality of computing devices executing a plurality of Kubernetes pods. A customer resource definition defines one or more capture filters. Based on the capture filters, a configuration map object specifying data packets to be captured is generated. Capture sidecars are injected at the Kubernetes pods. At each Kubernetes pod the configuration map object is read and a capture of the specified data packets is initiated.

A data center is a facility that houses computer systems and various networking, storage, and other related components. Data centers may, for example, provide computing services to businesses and individuals as a remote computing service or provide "software as a service" (e.g., cloud computing). To facilitate efficient utilization of data center resources, virtualization technologies allow a physical computing device to host one or more virtual machines or containers that appear and operate as independent computing resources. The data center can create, maintain or delete virtual machines or containers in a dynamic manner. Many platforms use Kubernetes as a container orchestration system for application deployment, scaling, and management.
In many cases, the data center may want to capture packets for a variety of reasons, such as to investigate network connectivity issues. Troubleshooting network connectivity issues may be difficult to perform given the complexity of the networks in data centers. It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.


An auto-extending replicator includes a replicator body, a forcing mechanism, an extended unit and a control mechanism. The extended unit includes an extended body and a blocking member. The forcing mechanism connected between the replicator body and the extended body exerts a force on the extended body along a direction of extending. The blocking member connected with the extended body has a stepped structure. A control mechanism second end blocks the blocking member from extending out. When a control mechanism first end is displaced, a contact position between the blocking member and the control mechanism second end is changed so that the extended body together with the blocking member move extendedly along the direction of extending.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an auto-extending replicator. More particularly, the present invention relates to an auto-extending replicator applicable to a portable electrical apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
To meet consumers' demand for portability of electrical apparatuses, the design of portable electrical apparatuses has been trending to lighter weight and smaller scale, resulting in lack of extensibility such as for external connection to peripheral devices. A port replicator has thus been developed for such an apparatus as a notebook computer, providing various functions and more connections for additional hardware, such as a video output connector, USB port connector, network port connector or other input/output connector for peripheral devices.
Most conventional replicators are exclusively sized; for example, a 14-inch notebook and a 17-inch notebook correspond to different replicators respectively. Therefore, utilization of the replicator is limited. Other conventional replicators are available, which are manually extendable. In this case, an extended body of a replicator must be pulled out manually in order to match the size of the apparatus such as a notebook, which is inconvenient for users.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a replicator applicable to several electrical apparatuses of different dimensions.


A fixing structure for fixing a seat of a vehicle includes a fixing member which includes a locking section, a buffering section and a restricting section. The locking and restricting sections are provided with a thread for meshing with the thread of the locking passage, and the buffering section has no thread. The fixing seat includes a locking passage and a restricting space connected to the locking passage. The locking member is inserted through the cover and screwed into the fixing seat. When vibrations occur, the locking member will be unscrewed from the locking passage. However, in order to prevent the locking member from fully disengaging from the fixing seat, the buffering section is retained in the restricting space to prevent the thread of the restricting section from meshing with the thread of the locking passage, which prevents disengagement of the locking member in a vibrating condition.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an aircraft seat, and more particular to a fixing structure for fixing a seat of a vehicle.
Description of the Prior Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional fixing structure for an aircraft seat comprises: a slide rail 10, a fixing seat 20 and a fixing member 30. The slide rail 10 includes a top portion 11 and two lateral portions 111 which are perpendicularly connected to two sides of the top portion 11. At the top portion 11 is defined a slide slot 12 and plural spaced apart engaging apertures 13.
The fixing seat 20 includes a plurality of engaging portions 21 and a connecting portion 22. The engaging portions 21 are formed in the shape of the engaging apertures 13 and engaged into the slide rail 10 via the engaging apertures 13. The connecting portion 22 is fixed to a corresponding one of the legs of the aircraft seat, and includes a press member 23 with two paw portions 231. The press member 23 has a width corresponding to the width of the top portion 11 of the slide rail 10, and the two paw portions 231 are abutted against the two lateral portions 111.
The fixing member 30 is a screw inserted through the fixing seat 20 and has one end pressed against the press member 23.
The engaging portions 21 are formed in the shape of the engaging apertures 13 and engaged into the slide rail 10 via the engaging apertures 13, then moved to a position where the engaging portions 21 are misaligned with the engaging apertures 13, so that the fixing seat 20 is restricted in the slide rail 10 by the top portion 11.
The fixing member 30 is rotated to push the press member 23 against the top portion 11, so as to fix the fixing seat 20 to the slide rail 10.
However, the fixing member 30 is likely to loosen from the fixing seat 20 due to the vibration during bumpy flights.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.

Fixing structure for fixing a seat of a vehicle


A process for the preparation of hydrocarbon products comprising the steps of a) providing a synthesis gas comprising hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide; (b) reacting at least part of the synthesis gas to an oxygenate mixture comprising methanol and dimethyl ether in presence of one or more catalysts which together catalyse a reaction of hydrogen and carbon monoxide to oxygenates at a pressure of at least 3 MPa; (c) withdrawing from step (b) a reaction mixture comprising amounts of methanol, dimethyl ether, carbon dioxide and water together with unreacted synthesis gas and cooling the reaction mixture to obtain a liquid phase with the amounts of methanol, dimethyl ether and water and simultaneously dissolving carbon dioxide in the liquid phase; (d) separating the carbon dioxide containing liquid phase from a remaining gaseous phase comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide; (e) evaporating and reacting the liquid phase being withdrawn from step (d) in presence of a catalyst being active in the conversion of oxygenates to higher hydrocarbons and a tail gas comprising carbon dioxide; (f) separating tail gas from a liquid phase with the higher hydrocarbons; and wherein pressure employed in step (c) to step (f) is substantially the same as employed in step (b).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for the production of hydrocarbons, especially gasoline.
2. Description of the Related Art
In particular, the invention concerns a combination of process steps for the production of gasoline compounds from synthesis gas wherein carbon dioxide being present in the synthesis gas and being formed during the process is separated from the final liquid gasoline compounds.
The synthetic gasoline process is known to take place in two steps: the conversion of synthesis gas to oxygenates and the conversion of oxygenates to gasoline product. These process steps may either be integrated, producing an oxygenate intermediate, e.g., methanol or methanol dimethyl ether mixtures, which along with unconverted synthesis gas is passed in its entirety to the subsequent step for conversion into gasoline or the process may be conducted in two separate steps with intermediate separation of oxygenates, e.g. methanol or raw methanol.
Useful oxygenates include methanol, dimethyl ether and higher alcohols and ethers thereof, but also oxygenates like ketones, aldehydes and other oxygenates may be applied.
In either case conversion of synthesis gas to oxygenates involves heat development in that both the conversion of synthesis gas to oxygenate and the further conversion of oxygenate to gasoline product are exothermic processes.
The production of gasoline by the integrated process scheme is also discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,305. Hydrocarbons and especially as gasoline are prepared by catalytic conversion in two subsequent reactors of a synthesis gas containing hydrogen and carbon oxides and having a mole ratio CO/H2 above 1 and when the conversion commences a mole ratio CO/CO2 of 5 to 20. Synthesis gas is converted with high efficiency in a first step into an oxygenate intermediate comprising predominantly dimethyl ether (DME) said mixture being converted in a second step into gasoline by the net reaction scheme3H2+3CO−>CH3OCH3+CO2+Heat  (1)CH3OCH3−>1/n(CH2)n+H2O+Heat  (2)(CH2)n represents the wide range of hydrocarbons produced in the gasoline synthesis step. After separation of the hydrocarbon product, unconverted synthesis gas comprising hydrogen and carbon oxides is recycled to the oxygenate synthesis step after CO2 is at least partly removed, e.g. in a CO2 wash.

Process for the preparationn of hydrocarbons from oxygenates


Disclosed are methods and compositions for altering the color of hair, comprising treating the hair with a pre-alkalizing composition and then treating the hair with a color-altering composition comprising at least one first oxidizing agent chosen from peroxides, persulfates, perborates, percarbonates, peracids, bromates, their salts and mixtures thereof, and further optionally comprising at least one fatty substance and/or thickening agent, and/or at least one second oxidizing agent. The methods may further optionally comprise applying onto the hair a coloring composition comprising, in a cosmetically acceptable carrier, at least one dye compound chosen from oxidative dye precursors, and direct dye compounds.

Chemical treatments on human hair, such as relaxers, straighteners, waves, perms, oxidative and direct dyes, highlights, lightening compositions and bleaches, are generally known to result in hair breakage and loss, dryness, roughness and brittleness, and skin and/or scalp irritation. Such chemical treatments employ various reducing and oxidizing agents, alkalizing agents, and coloring agents that help re-shape, artificially color, decolorize, modify the color shade/tone, or enhance the appearance and color of hair. Often times, these chemical treatments are used with the application of heat and mechanical combing or brushing, which may contribute to adversely affecting the condition of the hair and the hair cuticle.
Thus, conventional and customary practice by consumers and hair dressers is to have a waiting period of at least 24 hours, preferably two weeks, in between two different chemical hair treatments in order to prevent or reduce irritation to the skin or scalp and the potential damage to hair caused by different chemical treatments within a short period of time, e.g., a few hours.
One example of the problems encountered with successively chemically treating the hair is associated with the use of chemical relaxers or straighteners before coloring the hair. Generally, when hair straightening or relaxing is immediately followed by a conventional oxidative hair color that employs hydrogen peroxide as the only and/or primary oxidizing agent, the combined use of peroxide with the ingredients in the hair straighteners and relaxers can result in significant decrease in the quality of the hair fibers, leading to increased roughness and damage to the hair.
Another problem with hair chemical treatments is that they may prevent the hair's color or shade from being lightened, bleached, dyed or altered correctly after the chemical treatment and therefore, prevent the consumer from achieving the desired lightening or shade/color effects, especially when the lightening, bleaching, coloration or color-altering step is conducted immediately after the chemical treatment. Thus, a waiting period of at least 24 hours is generally recommended in order to reduce the chance of having a reaction between the different chemical treatments, for example, straightening then bleaching the hair, that could potentially result in an undesirable hair color or shade.
In order to address the concerns mentioned above, methods and compositions have been proposed such as those that involve the use of alternative ingredients and/or ingredients and compositions that are less harsh on hair and skin, including hair treatment regimens that may minimize the problems arising from successive chemical treatments. However, there still exists a need to improve such methods and compositions in order to formulate color-altering products and hair treatment regimens or systems that allow the consumer to successively chemically treat hair in a convenient and efficient manner, which effectively alter the color of and/or re-shape the hair while minimizing the damage to the hair and other adverse effects to the consumer.

Compositions and methods for altering the appearance of hair


To accurately detect a zero gravity offset in an acceleration sensor. As an embodiment of the present invention, in the case where position information can be obtained from a GPS processing section, a velocity detecting unit performs an operation according to Expression (15), using real detected acceleration αGr that was actually obtained from the acceleration sensor, vehicle acceleration αP based on the position information, distance Dm, an amount of height change Dh based on pressure PR, and gravity acceleration g. Therefore, offset acceleration αo can be accurately calculated, and an acceleration detection signal can be converted into detected acceleration αG with high accuracy, based on a zero gravity offset value Vzgo by that the above offset acceleration αo was converted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an offset detecting system of an acceleration sensor, an offset detecting method of an acceleration sensor, and an offset detecting program of an acceleration sensor, and a navigation system, and is applicable to a navigation system to be installed in a vehicle, for example.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, a navigation system to be installed in a moving mobile body or the like in that the present position is calculated based on a GPS signal transmitted from a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite, and the position and the forward direction of the above mobile body are displayed on a map screen has been widely popularized.
In such navigation system, the velocity and the forward direction of the mobile body are calculated using an acceleration sensor for detecting the acceleration of the mobile body in the forward direction and a gyro sensor (yaw rate sensor) for detecting the rotary angular velocity of the above mobile body in a horizontal direction. Thereby, the present position of the mobile body can be estimated even in the case where a GPS signal cannot be received in the shade of a building and in a tunnel, for example.
However, this acceleration sensor had a problem that output voltage when acceleration was not detected, so-called zero gravity offset varies, by the effect of the surrounding temperature, generation of heat by the navigation system itself, or the like, by its temperature characteristic.
Then, some navigation systems in which an amount of height change (height difference) is calculated using that the forward direction component of gravity acceleration is included in a detected value by an acceleration sensor when the vehicle runs on a slope, and a zero gravity offset (acceleration error) is calculated by comparing the calculated amount of height change to the known amount of height change based on height data stored in map information or the like have been proposed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-233306, for example).

Offset detection of acceleration sensor and navigation system


A method and system for assigning priority to a talk group of a plurality of talk groups in a communication network (100) is provided. The method includes detecting (304) activity on a first talk group (108) via a Vehicular Repeater (VR) (106). The first talk group is associated with a lower priority than that of a second talk group (110). The method also comprises assigning (306) a higher priority to the first talk group and the lower priority to the second talk group, based on the step of detecting. Further, the method comprises dynamically re-assigning (308) the higher priority and the lower priority amongst the plurality of talk groups, based on detecting activity.

With the growing need for communication and information exchange, communication networks are becoming increasingly important. These communication networks enable users to share resources and communicate among themselves. Examples of communication networks include an Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) network, a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) network, a Digital Cellular System (DCS) network, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, and a Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) network.
Various techniques have been developed to facilitate communication between one or more Portable Subscriber Units (PSUs) within the communication networks. One such system utilizes a Vehicular Repeater (VR) to enable the one or more PSUs to communicate with each other on a talk group. The one or more PSUs can share a communication session collectively on the talk group, using a single channel.
In some situations, multiple talk groups may wish to utilize the available channel simultaneously. For example, in the case of a fire breaking out, the fire department requires communication between the different PSUs allotted to the fire and the water departments that utilize the available channel. Similarly, other agencies such as the police department and rescue services may need the channel for similar communication services.
However, the current VR system does not allow multiple talk groups to utilize the available channel simultaneously. Since there is a single channel available for communication, only one talk group can communicate at a given instance of time. Moreover, when two or more talk groups intend to utilize the available channel for communication, only that talk group is able to communicate that was last using the channel. Hence, there is a need for a method and system that will enable multiple groups of users to communicate by using a single VR.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated, relative to other elements, to help in improving an understanding of the embodiments of the present invention.

Method and system for communicating within a communication network