An amusement ride has a wooden running track realized by two wooden track structures and a support beam that is disposed above the two wooden track structures and that bridges the two wooden track structures. A passenger carrier (e.g., coaster car or train) has a frame structure with a first set of wheels mounted thereto that are adapted to run along the first and second wooden track structures during positive-g motion in addition to at least one seat that is suspended below the first set of wheels. This suspended wooden-coaster design provides a distinctive rough, noisy out of control feeling in addition to a distinctive feeling of freedom (and risk/danger), which are enjoyed by many roller coaster enthusiasts.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to roller coaster amusement rides. More particularly, this invention relates to roller coaster amusement rides employing wooden running tracks.
2. State of the Art
Roller coasters have enjoyed immense popularity in the United States and elsewhere for over one hundred years. These rides often consist of a passenger carrying vehicle, or collection of vehicles joined together, which move along a track system. Historically, the track system typically comprised a pair of parallel rails which exhibit steep upward and downward gradients in elevation, and sharp left and right banking turns. Aside from supplying the passenger with a pleasing panoramic view from high elevations, the main objective of the roller coaster ride was to thrill the passenger by traversing the track at the fastest possible speed while maintaining an acceptable degree of safety. The thrill experienced by the passenger thus arose through the sensations of rapid acceleration, brought about through rapid changes in vertical and horizontal direction of movement.
Innovations in roller coaster design have sought to enhance and intensify passenger thrill by substantially increasing the speed of movement along the track system, and hence, the resulting forces of acceleration experienced by the passenger. These innovations were greatly facilitated by technological advances in materials engineering, a direct result of which enabled the construction of stronger and lighter track systems and passenger vehicles. However, attendant with ever increasing speeds of the passenger vehicles is the ever increasing risk of catastrophic failure of the ride. As a result, other innovations sought to enhance and intensify passenger thrill by incorporating increasingly complex geometries into the track system itself. Two of the more common track geometries which have thus evolved are the loop and the helix.
In parallel with the aforedescribed track system geometries, there also exist innovations in passenger vehicle configurations for enhancing and intensifying passenger thrill. These innovations typically depart from the conventional roller coaster in that the passenger vehicle no longer assumes the standard railway car configuration. For example, Achrekar (U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,943) discloses a suspended passenger vehicle configuration whereby individual passenger units are rotated and translated in a multiplanar manner as the carriage assembly proceeds along a Möbius strip, or one-half section of helical track. A more recent departure from the conventional passenger vehicle configuration is disclosed in Bolliger et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,984). The invention disclosed in Bolliger enables passengers to be suspended from a bogie moving along a horizontal track system, so that a seated passenger's head is in closer proximity to the bogie—and hence the track rails—than are the passenger's body and limbs. This configuration results in a passenger vehicle being designed so that each passenger is suspended with his legs in mid-air without a wall or a floor around him.
Early roller coasters were built on a wooden superstructure which was formed as a latticework to provide sufficient strength. The tracks were made of laminated wood covered by a metal strip that was nailed to the wooden track. More recently, some modern roller coasters have been built on steel superstructures with steel tracks and contain no wooden parts. Today all roller coasters are classified as either wooden or steel.
The tracks of a metal roller coaster include a pair of long steel tubes supported by a superstructure made out of slightly larger steel tubes and/or steel beams. The tubular steel tracks are prefabricated in large, curved segments that are welded together. With this manufacturing process, designers can realize a smoothly curving track that tilts the coaster car (and rider therein) in all directions, which makes for a distinctive smooth ride.
An exemplary metal roller coaster is shown in FIG. 1A including a pair of steel tubes 11A, 11B that are supported by a metal superstructure 13. The coaster car 15 is supported below the steel tubes 11A, 11B in an inverted manner by two groups of wheels that ride on the respective steel tubes 11A, 11B. Each group includes an upper wheel 17, a bottom wheel 19 and a side wheel 21, which are rigidly supported such that the wheels (and the car) follow the curves governed by the configuration of the ride. The passengers 23 are suspended below the steel tube track in seats 25 that are integral to the car 15. Such seats 25 enable the passenger's legs to dangle free, which provides a distinctive feeling of freedom (and risk/danger) that is also enjoyed by many roller coaster enthusiasts.
The metal roller coaster shown in FIG. 1A is commonly referred to an inverted roller coaster. Suspended metal roller coasters are similar to an inverted roller coaster, except that the passenger's feet are typically restrained such that they remain within the coaster car, and the coaster car typically has flexible mountings to the tubular rails which allow it to swing from side to side during the ride. These configurations also provide a distinctive feeling of freedom (and risk/danger) that is also enjoyed by many roller coaster enthusiasts.
In contrast to the steel tubular tracks of the metal roller coaster, the tracks of a wooden roller coaster include a flat metal strip that is bolted to a running track made of laminated wood. The tracks are braced by wooden cross-ties and diagonal support beams. The entire wooden track structure rests on a lattice of wooden or steel beams. With this design, designers can combine hills, twist and turns to realize a variety of course layouts. Typically, the wooden tracks are laid out in small pieces, thus forming joints that connect these pieces together. These joints impart a distinctive rattling sensation to the car (and the rider(s) therein) that is enjoyed by many roller coaster enthusiasts.
An exemplary wooden roller coaster is shown in FIG. 1B including a pair of running tracks 31 each consisting of eight layers of timbers each about 2 inches thick and 6 inches wide. The runner tracks 31 are affixed to cross beams 33 (one shown) typically by bolts and/or other fastening means. A flat metal strip 35, typically measuring 4 to 6 inches across, is bolted to each running track 31. The coaster car 37 is supported above the tracks 31 by a set of tractor wheels 39 that ride along the metal strip 35 during positive-g motion of the coaster car in addition to a set of side-friction wheels/rollers 37 and under-friction wheels/rollers 39 (which run under the inside edge of the running track 31) that prevent the car 37 from rising completely off the running track 31 during negative-g motion of the car. The wooden roller coaster provides a distinctive rough, noisy out of control feeling to the passenger, but fails to provide for suspension of the coaster car below the track. Thus, wooden roller coasters do not offer many of the distinct characteristics of inverted metal roller coasters that are enjoyed by many roller coaster enthusiasts.
Thus, there remains a need in the art to provide a wooden roller coaster that provides a distinctive rough, noisy out of control feeling to the passenger(s) while also providing for suspension of the coaster car below the track.

Wooden track roller coaster having a passenger carrier with suspended seats


A combined infant feeding and pacifier retention device is an apparatus used to retain and distribute breastmilk or other fluids. The apparatus is also configured to store a pacifier for selective use. The apparatus comprises a liquid retention chamber, a pacifier retaining mechanism, and a feeding spout. The liquid retention chamber is a contained volume that enables transportation of inserted liquids, particularly milk or breastmilk. The pacifier retaining mechanism is a unit that enables storage of any of a variety of pacifiers. The feeding spout is a unidirectional valve that enables fluid transfer from the liquid retention chamber. The feeding spout is preferably made of any of a variety of soft, bisphenol A-free (BPA-free) materials that effectively operates when utilized as a mouthpiece for an infant. The general configuration of the aforementioned components allows the apparatus to efficiently and effectively store and distribute fluids to users.

In present times, infants and young children are known to use pacifiers, teethers, or other similar "chew-toys" to occupy their mouths. Use of these devices has been recognized as a standard practice when caring for very young children since at least 1473; first noted by German physician Bartholomäus Metlinger in his book "Kinderbüchlein". Though the pacifiers used to be simple sweet-stuffs wrapped in a permeable cloth, modern pacifiers consist of a deformable, durable mouthpiece (structurally similar to a mother's nipple), a flanged guard (to prevent the infant from swallowing the toy), and a rear-mounted grab-ring. Also common in the infant care field is the ubiquitous baby bottle. This flexible fluid vessel is generally capped with a hollow, deformable silicone "teat" (also structurally similar to a mother's nipple) that a child may bite or suck to extract milk, formula, or other drinks from the vessel. Given the ubiquity and utility of these two devices, it is often desirable to have both available on-hand to feed a hungry child or occupy a fretful one. However, both of these devices must be kept clean during and between use, lest the vulnerable immune systems of the child are tested by ambient microbes or other harmful contaminants.
The present invention aims to allow a user to combine a pacifier and a drinking vessel into a single form for storage and transport. Additionally, the present invention discloses a means of maintaining the upright position of the drink-vessel portion of the present invention with the relocation of a dual-purpose cover component. Further, the means of fixing the pacifier to the drink vessel will constitute a means of fixing the mouthpiece in a sterile chamber, in addition to protecting the entire body of the pacifier from contact with contaminants when encased by the aforementioned cover component.

Combined infant feeding and pacifier retention device


The present invention relates to a method for producing low-ash poultry plasma protein powder by utilizing poultry blood. Specifically, the method of the present invention comprises the steps of: mixing the poultry blood with an anticoagulant to obtain anticoagulated whole blood; centrifugally separating the anticoagulated whole blood to obtain plasma liquid; de-calcifying the plasma liquid via a precipitation reaction, ultra-filtrating the plasma liquid via a ultra-filtration membrane, emulsifying, and nano-filtrating to obtain the concentrated plasma liquid; and drying the concentrated plasma liquid to obtain the poultry plasma protein powder. The method of the present invention effectively overcomes the defect of difficult poultry blood deep processing, achieves the recycling of poultry blood resource, avoids wasting resources, and reduces environmental pollution; and the produced plasma protein powder has the advantages of high protein content, good palatability, balanced amino acid and the like.

The butchery grows rapidly in China. A large amount of byproducts such as blood are produced, while poultry is slaughtered for producing meat food. According to statistics, the total amount of poultry blood in China is more than one million tons per year, which at least can be used to produce about 130,000 tons of animal protein powder products. However, due to some problems, such as insufficiency of poultry blood slaughter methods, high calcium content, easy quick-setting, high viscosity and low dry matter content etc, no effective means for poultry blood processing and utilization is available at home and abroad. Because of some reasons, such as lack of large-scale intensive processing technology, these protein resources are not reasonably used, resulting in a huge waste of large amount of high-quality protein resources.
At present, there is a serious lack of protein resources in China, 75% of soybean meal production depends on import, and 70% of fish powder production depends on import. The high dependent on imports of protein materials is the bottleneck restricting the development of animal husbandry industry chain in China. The purpose of 12th five-year development plan of feed industry in China is to build demonstration bases in which high quality protein is produced through deep processing by using animal processing by-products.
Consequently, there is an urgent need to develop deep processing methods of poultry blood resources, especially the method for preparing the poultry plasma protein powder.

Method for producing low-ash poultry plasma protein powder by utilizing poultry blood

Shanghai Genon Biological Product Co., Ltd.


A phase locked loop circuit comprising a phase detector having a first input for receiving a first frequency signal and an output, a first filter adapted to filter the output electric signal of the phase detector, a voltage controlled oscillator adapted to generate a second frequency signal in response to the output filtered signal of the phase detector. The phase detector has a second input for receiving the second frequency signal and is adapted to compare it with the first frequency signal. The circuit comprises means adapted to amplify the difference between an electric signal coupled with the output of the phase detector and a reference electric signal and a second filter adapted to receive the output electric signal of the amplification means and to send an output electric signal to the voltage controlled oscillator. The circuit comprises further means adapted to modify the value of the electric signal in input to the second filter to decrease the response time of the second filter.

Phase-locked-loop circuits or PLL circuits are known in the state of the art which are employed in numerous electronic appliances as, for example, in modulators or demodulators of medium frequency signals or FM signals. Generally a PLL circuit comprises a phase detector having in input a reference frequency and a frequency deriving from a voltage controlled oscillator or VCO, a filter having in input the output signal of the phase detector and outputting a signal in input to the VCO.
A parameter of the PLL circuits is the lock time, that is the time period employed by the circuit to obtain that the output frequency of the VCO becomes equal to the reference frequency. The lock time is inversely proportional to the bandwidth of the circuit; for the PLL circuits used, for example, in FM modulators where the bandwidth of the PLL circuit is about 10 Hz, the lock time is high, that is of some seconds.
Also, during the lock phase of the PLL circuit, the output frequency changes thereby producing interferences in adjacent channels, in the case of a multi-channel FM modulator, and it produces higher noise in the receiver channel. The lock time should be kept low for reducing said perturbations.
A known circuit that lowers the lock time is the PLL circuit which uses a charge pump as shown in FIG. 1. Said circuit comprises a digital phase/frequency detector or PFD (Phase Frequency Detector) 4 having in input a digital reference frequency Fref1 and a digital frequency fv and which has two outputs UP and DOWN to be enabled if the reference frequency Fref1 is respectively higher or lower than the frequency fv. The two outputs UP and DOWN control respective current generators adapted to send a current to a filter 1 having a narrow bandwidth; the phase detector 4 and the current generators act as a current-pump charger. The output voltage signal of the filter 1 is the control signal of the VCO 2, which outputs a frequency of Fout, which is in input to a frequency divider 3 for obtaining the frequency fv. The increase of the current in input to the filter allows an increase of the bandwidth of the filter 1 and a decrease of the lock time. After the lock phase, the charge pump's current is turned back to its normal value to assure the stability of the PLL circuit.
Said circuit is of easy design and the charge pump's current can be controlled easily by means of a microcontroller; however, the circuit has a reduced stability both in the lock phase and during the other successive phases and it may also be difficult to optimize the current-boost time for reducing the lock time to its minimum.
Another circuit solution with a PLL is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,631,601, which is incorporated by reference. Said patent discloses a PLL circuit adapted to demodulate a FM carrier wave; the circuit comprises a phase detector and a VCO having in input the output signal of the phase detector and adapted to provide a signal in input to the phase detector for comparison with said FM carrier wave. The PLL circuit comprises a variable gain circuit operable to select a desired gain for the PLL and to select a bandwidth for demodulation by the circuit. The circuit of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,631,601 comprises a synthesizer adapted to regulate the PLL at a given frequency; the synthesizer provides a voltage signal in input to the VCO to bring the output frequency of the VCO equal to that of the required carrier. The synthesizer is a circuital element which is of complex provision and requires the use of a determined space in the chip wherein the PLL is implemented.

Phase locked loop circuit having reduced lock time


A color measurement system laterally determines chromatic characteristics of a printed substrate. A measurement carriage includes a measurement head for laterally moving across the printed substrate and a measurement magnetic coupler slidably mounts onto a measurement rail positioned on a first side of the printed substrate. A backing carriage includes backing surface(s) and backing magnetic coupler(s). Each backing magnetic coupler is associated with a respective backing surface. Each backing magnetic coupler can be coupled with the measurement magnetic coupler for coupling the measurement carriage with the backing carriage. The backing carriage slidably mounts onto a backing rail positioned on a second opposite side of the printed substrate. The measurement carriage or backing carriage includes a motor for moving across a respective measurement rail or backing rail. Another measurement carriage and backing carriage move across another measurement rail and backing rail by coupling with the first measurement carriage and backing carriage.

Spectral measurements of objects are required by various industries for different applications. The term 'object' herein refers to continuous printed substrates or discrete objects such as packages, fruits, vegetables, plastic toys, boxes and the like. For example, in the food industry, spectral measurements are used for sorting and quality control. In the biological materials industry, spectral measurements are used for the examination of dye markers absorbed by various cells or organisms, or to non-invasively identify pigments in a single cell or clusters of cells and to map the spatial organization of phototrophic groups in complex microbial communities. In the chemical industry, spectral measurements are used, for example, to identify the presence of pollutants in the air, by distinguishing the pollutants from the nitrogen, oxygen, water and other expected constituents.
In particular, spectral measurements are used in the printing industry for determining chromatic characteristics of objects. The chromatic characteristics may be represented, for example, by the estimated coordinates of a printed color in a color space (e.g., CIEXYZ, CIELUV, CIELAB, RGB, CYMK, HIS and the like), determined according to measurements of the light, which is either reflected from or transmitted through the object. The chromatic characteristics may further relate to the optical reflection densities of the inks deposited on a printed substrate or an object. The chromatic characteristics may also relate to the spectral composition of the light reflected from the printed substrate.
Objects, which at least a portion thereof, transmit at least a portion of incident light thereon, are herein referred to collectively as non-opaque objects. The term 'non-opaque' is defined, for example, in accordance with the ISO 13655 standard, where "opaque" is defined as a material with opacity greater than 99. A material behind the non-opaque objects may affect the reflectance factor of light impinging on the non-opaque objects. Alternatively, the material behind the non-opaque objects may affect the transmittance factor of light illuminating the non-opaque objects. When spectral measurements are made, the material behind the non-opaque object is referred to herein as a 'backing.' The reflectance factor can be defined as the ratio of light reflected from the object to light reflected from a perfect reflecting diffuser, both illuminated with the same light from the same direction. Similarly, the transmittance factor can be defined as the ratio of light transmitted through the object to light transmitted through a perfect transmitting diffuser, both illuminated with the same light from the same direction. The reflectance or transmittance factors may in turn affect the estimation of chromatic characteristics of the non-opaque objects, which are determined according thereto. For example, the reflectance factor is used when determining the X, Y and Z tristimulus values (e.g., according to the CIE 1931 XYZ color space) according to spectral measurements of the reflected light from the non-opaque object. Thus, for example, the determined X, Y and Z tristimulus values of a green color printed on a non-opaque material with a shiny aluminum backing will be different than the determined X, Y and Z tristimulus values of the same green color printed on the same non-opaque material with a white material backing.
To achieve repeatability and reproducibility of measurements of chromatic characteristics from a non-opaque object, as well as to provide a basis for comparing measurements between different measurement systems, a standard backing may be placed behind the non-opaque object during spectral measurements. During such spectral measurements, the printed material may need to be in proximate contact with the backing. The term 'repeatability of measurement' relates herein to a measurement of a sample, which can be repeated (i.e., for that same sample), with the same measuring instrument, under substantially the same measurement conditions, with substantially the same results (i.e., within a determined tolerance). The 'reproducibility of measurement' relates herein to a measurement of a sample, performed by an observer, with a measurement instrument, under specified measurement conditions, which can be reproduced by another observer, with substantially the same measurement instrument, under substantially the same measurement conditions, with substantially the same results (i.e., within a determined tolerance). For example, according to the ISO 13655 standard, the backing may be black, referred to as a black backing, or white, referred to as a white backing. Specifically, Annex A of the ISO 13655 standard defines the requirements of the white and black backings. The ISO 13655 standard further recommends that the measurements of light reflected off the non-opaque object, placed on and in contact with the backing, should be corrected relative to the reflection measurements of the backing alone. Similarly, other standards and industry accepted specifications such as those provided by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN), Fogra, and the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA), have various existing and evolving standards and specifications for colorimetric measurements. Such standards and specifications are, for example, FIRST, SNAP, Specifications Web Offset Publications (SWOP), General Requirements for Applications in Commercial Offset Lithography (GRACOL) and the like.
Systems and methods for the measurement of chromatic characteristics of non-opaque objects are known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,047,652 issued to Lisnyansky, et al., and entitled "System for On-line Measurement of Color, Opacity and Reflectance of a Translucent Moving Web", is directed to a system for on-line optical measurement of properties of a translucent moving web. The translucent moving web is conveyed on a backing roll. The backing roll has a surface which includes at least two portions respectively comprising the "white" and "black" optical standards. For example, one semi-cylindrical half of the backing roll surface comprises the "white" optical standard, and the other semi-cylindrical half of the roll surface comprises the "black" optical standard. The backing roll is positioned such that a circumferential portion of the roll surface contacts the back web surface where the web characteristic is to be optically measured. For measuring web characteristics, an optical sensing device is positioned adjacent the circumferential portion of the roll surface so as to view the front web surface backed by the one or more optical standards of the surface. The optical sensing device includes a scanning mounting operable to traverse in a direction parallel to the roll axis such that measurements can be made across the width of the web.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,818,497 issued to Kerr, et al., and entitled "Apparatus for Magnetically Coupling a Lead Screw to a Print Head", is directed to an apparatus for coupling a lead screw to a print head. The print head is mounted on a movable translation stage member which, is supported for low friction slidable movement on translation bearing rods. The movable translation stage is magnetically coupled with a drive nut of a lead screw by a magnetic assembly. The lead screw includes an elongated, threaded shaft which is attached to a linear drive motor on its drive end. It is noted that rotation of the drive nut typically produces undesirable movement of the translation stage member. The magnetic assembly functions to provide a rotational constraint to the drive nut for consequently preventing the undesirable movement.
US Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0256087 to Engler Hans, et al., entitled "Measuring Apparatus Having a Movable Measuring Device in a Press" is directed to a measuring apparatus for scanning moving sheet-like printing materials. The scanned printed sheets are transported through a sheet transport section by transport cylinders. A measuring device is disposed above the sheet transport section. The measuring device has a movable runner, which carries the measuring optics. The linear drive moves the measuring optics concomitantly in parallel in the sheet transport direction during the measuring operation, so that the time of the measuring operation can be prolonged. During the measuring operation, the printed sheet can additionally be supported by a tray-like measuring support, in order to keep the distance between measuring device and printed sheet constant. The measuring support is moved concomitantly with the sheet and is additionally designed to be vertically adjustable by means of an adjusting element, so that the distance between printed sheet and measuring device can be regulated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,003,660 to Christie, Jr., et al., entitled "Sensing Head Assembly for Multi-Color Printing Press On-line Densitometer" is directed to a sensing head assembly for multi-color printing press online densitometer. The sensing head assembly is moved across the width of the scanned web by a reversible electric motor driving a reversible rotating drive screw.
US Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0042022 to Friedman, Michael et al., entitled "Active Color Control for a Printing Press" is directed to a system for the accurate measurement and control of image color density on an operating printing press. The color control system scans a conveyed web. The color control system includes an imaging assembly including a CCD digital camera and a strobe light. The imaging assembly scans the top side of the web. Another imaging assembly including another CCD digital camera and another strobe light scans the bottom side of the web. Each imaging assembly is mounted on a respective carriage, which moves and positions the camera and strobe at an operator specified location across the web width.
European Patent No. EP 1 068 958, issued to Kerr, Roger Stanley and entitled "Method and apparatus for positioning a writing assembly of an image processing apparatus" is directed to an image processing apparatus including an imaging drum, and a print head. The print head is driven by a lead screw and stepper motor for moving along a line parallel to a longitudinal axis of the imaging drum as the imaging drum rotates.

Color measurement system including lateral moving measurment carriage

Advanced Vision Technology (A. V. T.) Ltd.


There is disclosed a method, device and computer-readable storage medium for decoding video data. The method includes: obtaining a reference sample array of a video block; obtaining a sum of the reference sample array; calculating a threshold by performing arithmetic right shift to the sum, a shift value of the arithmetic right shift being determined according to size information of the video block; and determining the binary partition pattern by comparing the reference sample array with the threshold.

Digital video capabilities can be incorporated into a wide range of devices, including digital televisions, digital direct broadcast systems, wireless broadcast systems, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptop or desktop computers, tablet computers, e-book readers, digital cameras, digital recording devices, digital media players, video gaming devices, video game consoles, cellular or satellite radio telephones, so-called "smart phones," video teleconferencing devices, video streaming devices, and the like. Digital video devices implement video coding techniques, such as those described in the standards defined by MPEG-2, MPEG-4, ITU-T H.263, ITU-T H.264 MPEG-4, Part 10, Advanced Video Coding (AVC), the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard presently under development, and extensions of such standards. The video devices may transmit, receive, encode, decode, and/or store digital video information more efficiently by implementing such video coding techniques.
A recent draft of the upcoming HEVC standard, referred to as "HEVC Working Draft 10" or "WD10" is described in document JCTVC-L1003_v34, Bross et al., "High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) text specification draft 10 (for FDIS & Consent)," Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC) of ITU-T SG 16 WP 3 and ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 11, 12th Meeting: Geneva, CH, 14-23 Jan. 2013, which, as of Jul. 18, 2013, is downloadable from http://phenix.it-sudparis.eu/jct/doc_end_user/documents/12_Geneva/wg11/JCTVC-L1003 -v34 .zip. Document JCTVC-L1003_v34 is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Video coding techniques include spatial (intra-picture) prediction and/or temporal (inter-picture) prediction to reduce or remove redundancy inherent in video sequences. For block-based video coding, a video slice (e.g., a video frame or a portion of a video frame) may be partitioned into video blocks, which may also be referred to as treeblocks, coding units (CUs) and/or coding nodes. Video blocks in an intra-coded (I) slice of a picture are encoded using spatial prediction with respect to reference samples in neighboring blocks in the same picture. Video blocks in an inter-coded (P or B) slice of a picture may use spatial prediction with respect to reference samples in neighboring blocks in the same picture or temporal prediction with respect to reference samples in other reference pictures. Pictures may be referred to as frames, and reference pictures may be referred to a reference frames.
Spatial or temporal prediction results in a predictive block for a block to be coded. Residual data represents pixel differences between the original block to be coded and the predictive block. An inter-coded block is encoded according to a motion vector that points to a block of reference samples forming the predictive block, and the residual data indicating the difference between the coded block and the predictive block. An intra-coded block is encoded according to an intra-coding mode and the residual data. For further compression, the residual data may be transformed from the pixel domain to a transform domain, resulting in residual transform coefficients, which then may be quantized. The quantized transform coefficients, initially arranged in a two- dimensional array, may be scanned in order to produce a one-dimensional vector of transform coefficients, and entropy coding may be applied to achieve even more compression.

Method and apparatus of derivation for a binary partition pattern


In one embodiment, the memory device includes a first memory area and a second memory area. The first memory area stores secure data. The first memory area is inaccessible by an external device. The second memory area is configured to store encrypted secure data. The second memory area is accessible by the external device, and the encrypted secure data is an encrypted version of the secure data in the first memory area.

1. Field of the Invention
Example embodiments relate to a memory device which protects secure data and/or a method of protecting data using the secure data, and more particularly, to a memory device which stores secure data and protects the stored secure data and/or a method of authenticating the memory device using the secure data stored in the memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, various types of memory storage devices have been introduced. Some examples include a memory card that uses a flash memory as a storage medium, a universal serial bus (USB) memory that can be connected to a USB port, and a solid state drive (SSD). As evidenced by these memory storage devices, memory storage devices are becoming larger in storage capacity and smaller in volume, and their interface is insertable into/removable from a host device. Thus, the mobility of memory storage devices is increasing. For example, as a new type of hard disk, which is evaluated as one of inexpensive memory storage devices, an external hard disk has been introduced. The external hard disk offers mobility unlike a conventional hard disk fixed to a personal computer.
This trend is not limited to memory storage devices. Host devices which can consume contents stored in a memory storage device are also becoming smaller and portable. Accordingly, an environment in which digital contents stored in a memory storage device can be enjoyed anytime and anywhere has been created. With the creation of this environment, contents are increasingly being distributed in the form of digital data. This increases the importance of a technology that prevents illegal copying of digital contents stored in a memory storage device.
One example of the technology that prevents illegal copying of digital contents is a technology that encrypts digital contents using a unique key stored in a memory storage device. However, if the unique key stored in the memory storage device is leaked, the digital contents can be decrypted in the environment in which digital contents are not controlled. As a result, illegal copying of the digital contents is possible. In this regard, a technology that can prevent the leakage of a unique key stored in the storage device is desirable.

Memory device which protects secure data, method of operating the memory device, and method of generating authentication information


A shoe lace fastener is set forth which includes a base member and a clamp member. The base member has an opening defining a pair of bearing surfaces and the clamp member has legs adapted to be received in the opening to trap and secure lace ends threaded through holes in the legs.

Ever since shoes have been developed with eyelets and shoe laces for retaining the shoes in place on human feet, mankind has been confronted with the difficulty of tying the laces, keeping the laces tied, untying the laces, adjusting the laces, to say nothing of teaching children how to tie shoe laces. Tying shoe laces is also difficult for persons suffering from arthritis or other maladies or injuries to the hands and fingers.
Over the years a variety of shoe lace fastening and holding devices have been developed including Boden U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,574 and Murai U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,946. In these devices there is a requirement for activation of either a spring mechanism or the like to retain the fastener and laces in the tightened condition. In none of these references does pulling on the laces act to cause the fastener to grip the laces tighter to prevent loosening thereof.
It would be advantageous to provide a fastener adapted to be connected to shoe laces and drawstrings which, when the laces or drawstrings are pulled, tightens the fastener to the laces against release of relaxing of the laces and further which can easily be released to loosen the laces.

Fastener for retaining shoe laces and drawstrings


A forming fabric for use in papermaking machines having a paper support surface and a machine contact surface. The support surface comprises first weft yarns interwoven in a weaving pattern with warp yarns to form a weft dominated surface having alternating weft floats of first and second lengths. These floats are formed by the first weft yarns passing over different numbers of adjacent warp yarns in each pick of the weft across the weave pattern. The contact surface is woven with the second weft yarns weaving with the warp yarns in a weave pattern which also forms a weft dominated surface. The second weft yarns are passed under a greater number of adjacent warp yarns in each pick across the weave pattern than the first weft yarns are passed over forming the contact surface with very long weft floats.

The present invention is directed to papermaking fabrics and particularly to two-layered forming fabrics for use in the forming section of papermaking machines.
Modern papermaking machines operate at speeds unheard of in years past. Multi-layer forming fabrics of mono-filament synthetic yarns are gaining increased popularity due to their durability, flexibility and good drainage properties. However, it has been found that paper formed on these fabrics has a tendency, at times, to appear streaky and uneven in color. In general, it is believed that these defects are caused by uneven drainage and poor or uneven fiber support, both due to movement of the fabric forming filaments away from the relative positions in which they are woven.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a forming fabric which produces paper which is substantially free of the above defects.
Another object of the invention is a forming fabric in which the forming filaments are interlaced in a weave pattern which provides a more stable structure.
Another object of the invention is a forming fabric having a paper fiber support surface of uniform texture.
Another object of the invention is a forming fabric with superior wear resistance.
Another object of the invention is a forming fabric with cross-direction stability.
Another object of the invention is a forming fabric with even drainage.
Another object of the invention is a forming fabric having a weft dominated paper fiber support surface.
Another object of the invention is a forming fabric having a weft dominated contact surface.
Another object of the invention is a forming fabric woven in a sixteen harness weave construction.

Papermakers forming fabric with weft dominated paper support surface


A chair having an integrally molded chair back and seat that move together upon reclining movement of a user. The seat includes a series of glides that travel along a glide track mounted to a fixed support frame. A bias spring, connects the support frame to the seat and chair back to urge the seat and chair back into an upright position. The chair includes a pair of ganging arms that are movable between a storage position and an operative position. In the storage position, the ganging arms are concealed within a bottom cover. When in the extended, operative position, the ganging arms allow multiple chairs to be ganged together.

The present disclosure relates to a chair having an integrated seat and chair back. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a chair in which the chair back and seat move together to provide a reclining position for the user and which further includes integral ganging arms movable between storage and operative positions.
Presently, many different types of high density, low cost stackable chairs are available for use as both economical and temporary seating. The use of these low cost stacking chairs has resulted in a very large number of different types of chairs that have a stationary seat and a stationary chair back.
Recently, the focus in the seating industry has been to create ergonomic designs that increase the comfort level for the seat occupant. One large aspect of increasing user comfort is to provide a chair that can move between an upright and a reclined position. Many of the most commonly available stacking chairs do not provide any ability for the chair back to recline relative to the seat. Designs that do allow the chair back to recline relative to the seat do not include any ability for the seat to move forward at the same time as the reclining movement of the chair back.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,722,735 and 6,935,690 disclose embodiments of chairs in which the chair back and seat are movable to increase comfort for the seat occupant. Although these two references disclose a chair having integrated movement between the chair back and seat, the mechanisms used to affect such movement suffer from deficiencies in both manufacturing and function.
Since low cost stacking chairs are often used in creating rows of seating, there is a desire to include some type of ganging mechanism that allows the chairs to be joined together to define the desired rows. Various types of ganging devices have been developed to link chairs together in such a manner. However, many of these ganging devices include some type of bracket that extends from the side of the chair, which can create problems when the chairs are not used in a ganged application.


An exemplary support stand (102) for a flat-panel display body includes an elevating support (30), a monitor bracket (50), and a support member (20). The elevating support includes a first chassis (321), a second chassis (322), a plurality of supporting blocks (3231) for connecting end portions of the first chassis and the second chassis, an elastic member (391), a first pivot subassembly (305), and a second pivot subassembly (306). The monitor bracket is rotatably connected to the first pivot subassembly. The support member is rotatably connected to the second pivot subassembly. The elastic member is capable of exerting a rebound force on two of the first chassis, the second chassis, and the supporting blocks. The first and second pivot subassemblies are fixed to the supporting blocks. The monitor bracket and the support member are rotatably connected to the first and second pivot subassembly correspondingly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to support stands and, particularly, to a support stand for a flat-panel display body.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Flat-panel display bodies, such as liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors, offer advantages, over cathode ray tubes (CRTs) such as a greatly reduced size, and better image quality. Furthermore, because of the small weight of the flat-panel display body, the viewing angle and the height of the flat-panel display body can be adjusted without moving a base of a support stand of the flat-panel display body.
A typical support stand generally includes a monitor bracket for attaching to the flat-panel display body, a rotatable bracket for fixing the monitor bracket, an elevating support, a support member, and a base member for mounting the support member. The rotatable bracket is rotatably hinged to an end of the elevating support by a first hinge assembly. The support member is hinged to another end of the elevating support by a second hinge assembly.
A viewing angle of the flat-panel display body mounted on the typical elevating support can be adjusted by rotating the rotatable bracket relative to the elevating support. A height of the flat-panel display body can be adjusted by rotating the elevating support relative to the support member. A frictional force between components of the elevating support balances a gravitational force of the flat-panel display body, thus the flat-panel display body may be retained at a desired position. However, the components of the elevating support may become loose when the elevating support is used for a certain time. As a result, the flat-panel display body may not remain stable at the height selected by a user. Therefore, the typical elevating support has a relatively short usage life.
Therefore, a new support stand for a flat-panel display body is desired in order to overcome the above-described shortcomings.

Support stand for flat-panel monitor and elevating support for support stand

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


According to an embodiment, a method includes constructing a neutral ontology model of a query front end characterized by ontology schemata which subsume the plurality of different databases on the network in order to provide a common semantic interface for use in generating queries for data from any of the different databases, importing respective database metadata representing logical and physical structures of each database subscribed for receiving queries for data from the database using the query front end, constructing mappings of the database metadata representing the logical and physical structures of each subscribed database to the ontology schemata of the query front end, and storing the constructed mappings for use by the query front end for queries through the common semantic interface of the neutral ontology model for data from any of the different databases.

The nature of a product support infrastructure typically requires those who support complex systems, particularly in highly distributed environments, to have ready access to design, maintenance, supply point, and other logistics support information sources. The heterogeneous nature of these sources may pose unique challenges having to do with access, accuracy, semantic understanding, completeness, and correlation of performance and maintenance information with relevant resources. The state of current technology is such that the physical constraints having to do with access are easing, but consistent answers to the questions involving content understanding and integration have not yet been found—especially in the area of maintenance and supply chain data source integration. Therefore, there remains a need in the art to address the problems associated with product support in a highly distributed environment.

Querying of distributed databases using neutral ontology model for query front end


Embodiments of keyframe analysis and distribution from broadcast television are disclosed. For example, embodiments include methods and systems of sharing video frame data over a data network to provide features that may include improved program guides, parental or other monitoring of televisions or other video receivers, and sharing of user identified frames or scenes of video programs.

1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to interaction with televisions and other video playback devices.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Televisions and other video receivers often include network interfaces to provide household and internet related features. Generally, such networking features have been used to download content to televisions. However, a need exists for additional applications that take advantage of networking features of video receivers.

System and method for keyframe analysis and distribution from broadcast television


An elastic tire according to the invention comprises a tread (1) which comprises at least one unit (3) for measuring the grip of the tire on the ground, the measuring unit (3) being intended to come into contact with the ground on each revolution of the tire, and comprising, viewed at a radially outer face (5) of the tread (1), a central zone (10) and an encircling zone (20) surrounding the central zone (10), a sensor (40) sensitive to at least a tangential force exerted on the radially outer top (11) of the central zone (10) being provided opposite the top (11), the central zone (10) and the encircling zone (20) satisfying the two conditions:                a) Rzzc<Rzze, and        b) (i) Rxzc/Rzzc>Rxze/Rzze or (ii) Ryzc/Rzzc>Ryze/Rzze, where: x, y and z represent the circumferential, axial and radial directions for the tire, Rzzc and Rzze represent the rigidities of the central zone (10) and of the encircling zone (20) under a force oriented perpendicularly to the radially outer face (5), Rxzc and Rxze represent the rigidities of the central zone (10) and of the encircling zone (20) under a force oriented tangentially to the radially outer face (5) in the circumferential direction (X) of the tire, and Ryzc and Ryze represent the rigidities of the central zone (10) and of the encircling zone (20) under a force oriented tangentially to the radially outer face (5) in the axial direction (Y).

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an elastic tire, such as a pneumatic tire, provided with means permitting measurement of the grip of a vehicle equipped therewith on a surface on which the tire rolls (rolling ground), such as a roadway. It concerns more particularly the determination of grip characteristics of such an elastic tire on rolling, based on obtaining physical parameters in the contact area between this elastic tire and the rolling surface.
2. The Related Art
It has already been proposed to carry out continuous measurements in the tread of a pneumatic tire while a vehicle equipped therewith is driving, in order to know in real time the forces which develop between a pneumatic tire and the ground. The patent document DE-A-3937966 may be consulted on this subject. Nevertheless, however interesting it may be, such information is still insufficient, since the driver, or even an automatic device such as those referred to by the well-known designations in the automotive field of "ABS" or "ESP", is still incapable of anticipating a deterioration in the grip. One therefore contents oneself with noting a posteriori the exceeding of a grip limit, and as rapid action as possible is taken to control the vehicle.
There exists in this respect a need to obtain indications "in real time" of the grip conditions liable to affect, in the instants which follow, the behavior of a vehicle, notably in cases where it undergoes a substantial acceleration, due to driving or braking forces or to a change in trajectory.

Elastic tire for measuring the grip of a vehicle equipped therewith on a ground


Device and method for tracking a phase error in a digital TV receiver, wherein a phase noise compensated I signal is subtracted from I level reference signals of VSB signal, to obtain an error of the I signal, a sign of the Q signal having a phase noise thereof compensated is multiplied to the error of the I signal from the error determining part, to estimate a basic phase error, and a phase error compensating area is determined, a preset constant ‘α’ is multiplied to the basic phase error to provide a final phase error in the determined phase error compensating area, and the basic phase error is provided as it is as the final phase error in other areas, thereby estimating the phase error more accurately.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to digital TV (DTV) receivers, and more particularly, to device and method for tracking a phase error in a digital TV receiver, for receiving a signal modulated in a VSB system, and removing a phase noise therefrom.
2. Background of the Related Art
Digital TV receivers in most of digital transmission systems used currently, and digital TV receivers for receiving an ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) 8VSB signal suggested as a DTV transmission system for the USA uses tuners inevitably when a broadcasting signal is transmitted through the air, or a line.
FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a related art DTV receiver, wherein, when a RF signal modulated in a VSB system is received through an antenna, the tuner 101 selects a desired channel frequency, converts into an IF signal, and provides to a demodulating part 102. The demodulating part 102 digitizes the IF signal, has a phase separated therefrom, and recovers a carrier, to convert the IF signal into I, and Q component base band signals, which I component base band signal is provided to a timing restoring part 106. That is, since the I component signal includes a signal distortion at the channel and the tuner, an equalizing part 103 is used for compensating the signal distortion.
The equalizing part 103 removes a linear distortion of an amplitude that causes an interference between symbols, and a ghost produced as the signal is reflected at buildings and mountains from the I component signal, and provides the I component signal to an error tracking loop 104. After compensating for the phase noise, and the like remained in the channel equalized signal, the error tracking loop 104 provides a compensated data to a slicing part 105. The slicing part 105 slices the data having the phase error tracked at a preset slice level, to restore a signal transmitted originally.
A synchronism detection and timing restoring part 106 restores a field synchronizing signal, a segment synchronizing signal, and the like from the base band I signal from the demodulating part 102 inserted therein at the time of transmission, and generates a symbol clock identical to one used at the time of transmission by using the synchronizing signals, and the base band I signal. This is because, in the ATSC 8VSB transmission system suggested for a USA digital TV system, no symbol clock is transmitted, but only data are transmitted. The synchronizing signals detected at the synchronism detection and timing restoring part 106 are provided to the equalizing part 103, and the symbol clock proportional to a timing error of the present symbol is provided to the demodulating part 102 for A/D conversion.
In the digital TV receiver, a frequency generator in the tuner 101 fails in generating a constant frequency, to generate a frequency varied with performance. One of noises caused by the frequency variation is the phase noise. Moreover, there are a small DC offset, and a gain error mixed in a signal passed through the demodulating part 102 and the equalizing part 103 that compensates for a channel distortion. The phase error implies that a signal is deviated from an original signal with a fixed phase error, but the phase error varies irregularly. In general, the phase noise has a size below approx. 60°, and 90° at the maximum.
A part that corrects the phase noise, the DC offset, and the gain error is the error tracking loop 104.
That is, though the equalizing part 103 compensates for the channel distortion, the gain error, and the like, the equalizing part 103 can not compensate for noises and errors that vary quickly properly because a base band of a loop that renews an equalizing coefficient is narrow. Particularly, since the phase noise generated at the tuner 101 varies quickly, the equalizing part 103 can not compensate for the phase error, adequately. The DC offset, and the gain error having the equalizing part 103 failed to compensate for are also mixed in the equalized signal.
Therefore, the error tracking loop 104 corrects the phase noise, the DC offset, and the gain error.
FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a related art error tracking loop 104, wherein it can be noted that a signal passed through the equalizing part 103 has I component data, only. However, for compensating for the phase noise, both the I data and the Q data are required.
A multiplier 201 multiplies a gain error compensating signal passed through a gain loop filter 211 and a limiter 212 in succession and the I component signal from the equalizing part 103, to compensate for the gain error of the I signal, and provides to a delay 202, and a Hilbert Transform FIR filter (Hilbert Transform Finite Inpulse Response Filter) 203. The Hilbert Transform FIR filter 203 receives, and inverts the I component signal at 90°, and provides to a complex multiplier 205. An I signal inverted at 90° at the Hilbert Transform FIR filter is in general called as a Q signal. The delay 202 receives, and delays the I signal as much as a time period required for processing at the Hilbert Transform FIR filter 203, i.e., equal to a number of taps of the Hilbert Transform FIR filter 203, and provides to an adder 204. The adder 204 adds the delayed I signal and the DC offset compensated signal passed through a DC offset loop filter 209, and a limiter 210 in succession, to compensate the I signal for the DC offset, and provides to the complex multiplier 205.
The complex multiplier 205 makes complex multiplication of a sine wave and a cosine wave obtained through a phase loop filter 208 and a cosine table 206 to the I, and Q signal, to compensate for the phase noise remained in the I signal.
An I′ signal having the phase noise thereof compensated is provided to an error determining part 207 and a slicing part 105, and a Q′ signal is provided to the error determining part 207.
The error determining part 207 estimates the phase error, the gain error, and the DC offset from the I′, and Q′ signals, having the phase errors therein compensated, and provides the phase error to the phase loop filter 208, the DC offset to the DC offset loop filter 209, and the gain error to the gain loop filter 211.
The phase loop filter 208 multiplies a loop gain to a received estimated value of the phase noise, i.e., the phase error, accumulates multiplied values, and provides to a complex multiplier 205. That is, once the phase error passes the phase loop filter 208, the value becomes a sinusoidal value, approximately. Therefore, a value from the phase loop filter 208 can be used as a sinusoidal value. A cosine value can be obtained from a cosine table 206, by reading the cosine table 206 to pick up a cosine value corresponding to the sinusoidal value, which is provided to the complex multiplier 205.
The DC offset loop filter 209 multiplies a loop gain to the DC offset from the error determining part 207, accumulates the values, to generate a DC offset compensation signal, and provides to the adder 204 through the limiter 210.
The gain loop filter 211 multiplies a loop gain to the gain error from the error determining part 207, and accumulates the values, to generate a gain error compensation signal, and provides to the multiplier 201 through the limiter 212. For stability of the DC offset loop filter 209 and the gain loop filter 211, the limiters 210 and 212 limit the DC offset compensation signal from the DC offset loop filter 209, and the gain error compensation signal from the gain loop filter 211 to be within preset values, respectively.
In this instance, more accurate detection of the phase error is required for effective compensation of the phase noise.

Device and method for tracking phase error in digital TV receiver


The present disclosure is directed to a web control guide for an inflation and sealing assembly of a protective packaging formation device for inflating a web material into a chain of inflated cushions. The web control guide is positioned along a material path at a transverse spacing from a first compression element and constrains a first thickness of the material path measured normal to the longitudinal and transverse directions of the material path. The transverse spacing and constrained thickness dimension are sufficiently small to prevent transverse movement of the flexible material towards the first compression element to avoid excessive heating of the web material outside a sealing zone.

A variety of inflated cushions are well known and used for sundry packaging applications. For example, inflated cushions are often used as protective packaging in a manner similar to or in place of foam peanuts, crumpled paper, and similar products. Also for example, inflated cushions are often used as protective packaging in place of molded or extruded packaging components. A typical type of inflated cushions is formed from films having two plies that are joined together by seals. The seals can be formed simultaneously with inflation, so as to capture air therein, or prior to inflation to define a film configuration having inflatable chambers. The inflatable chambers can be inflated with air or another gas and thereafter sealed to inhibit or prevent release of the air or gas.

Inflation and sealing device with web control


A communication system comprises a network configured to support data, voice, and video communications and a docking station coupled to the network and configured to provide data connections to a personal computer wireless device, wherein the personal computer wireless device is configured to communicate with the docking station using light communication. A method for accessing the communication system comprises connecting a personal computer wireless device to a docking station using light communication and identifying a current location of the personal computer wireless device based upon LC with the docking station or an LC access point. One or more selected applications may be enabled or disabled on the personal computer wireless device based upon the current location.

Correctional facilities, such as prisons and jails, usually allow residents (i.e., inmates) to communicate with family, friends, attorneys, and others outside the facility to allow the residents to maintain personal connections and to facilitate their transition back into society upon release. Most controlled-environment facilities allow some form of telephone calls, in-person visitation, video visitation, etc. for such communication. Traditional visitation sessions provided by controlled-environment facilities include telephone calls and in-person visits. Technological advances have allowed controlled-environment facilities to provide other types of monitored visitation sessions, including audio conferences, video conferences, video messages, email, and online chat sessions. Visitation sessions may be conducted via portable computing devices issued to residents on a temporary or permanent basis.
Portable computing devices, including tablets, laptop computers, and personal digital assistants, allow users to access many of the functions of a personal computer while facilitating freedom of movement. Portable computing devices can offer a very high level of mobility and flexibility to the user. Portable computing devices are generally lightweight and compact, but these devices can also be subject to certain limitations, such as smaller keyboards and displays, reduced battery storage, lack of a keyboard, mouse, or printer ability, restricted network connections, or limited memory/data storage.
In addition to providing increased opportunities for visitations, additional services may be provided to residents via a portable computing device. For instance, a portable computing device may provide residents with educational and counseling services. A portable computing device may also be used to provide residents with entertainment services, such as gaming services and access to digital content. The availability of such services may be limited based on bandwidth limitations within a controlled-environment facility. In many scenarios, the demand for wireless bandwidth within a controlled-environment facility far exceeds the bandwidth that is actually available. These bandwidth limitations are magnified as greater numbers of portable computing devices are issued. Additionally, due to the movable nature of portable computing devices, correctional facilities may need to control where residents are able to use such devices.

Docking station for connecting to personal computer wireless devices using light communication


A picture frame scanner has a frame defining a display area. The frame is disposed generally upright. A transparent retention pane is mounted within the frame, spanning the display area. A support back spanning the display area is spaced apart from the retention pane. An image scanning bar is operatively mounted in the frame for moving across the display area and scanning an electronic image of media disposed between the support back and the retention pane into memory storage.

Existing scanners are generally handheld, sheet-fed or flatbed. Handheld scanners are held by a user and passed over a document, photo or other media to digitally scan its image. The image quality of a scan performed with a handheld scanner is largely dependent on the steadiness and alignment of the scan pass. Sheet-fed scanners are generally integrated into another device, such as a fax machine; scanning for output to a personal computer or similar device is a secondary function. The quality of images associated with a sheet-fed scanner is largely dependent on the ability of the feed mechanism to handle the article being scanned.
As relatively high resolution flatbed scanners have grown in popularity, handheld scanners have become largely obsolete, while sheet-fed scanners are relegated to the aforementioned secondary role. Existing flatbed scanners are configured similar to a copier. A document cover lid is opened, the item or media to be scanned is placed face down on a document glass or platen and a mechanism disposed beneath the glass is activated to scan a digital image of the media. Typically a document cover is closed over the document, photo or other media to hold the media in place and to shut out ambient light. Necessarily a flatbed scanner has a large "footprint" as it must accommodate a document laid flat.
Computer software, e-mail and Internet traffic have become image intensive. Therefore, the use of scanners has become more prevalent. As scanner technology moves to the desktop, several barriers arise. First, the footprint or the size of the scanning device is not compatible with the fairly well occupied desktop. Hence, potential scanner users must consider the tradeoffs associated with incorporating a new bulky piece of equipment into their computing environment. To address the relatively large footprint of existing flatbed scanners, scaled down versions of scanners, sized to take a four inch by six inch photograph or similar items, have been introduced. These smaller existing scanners have the typical horizontal flatbed architecture or configuration, accepting an item or photograph face down for scanning. Therefore, these smaller flatbed scanner still possess a cumbersome footprint. Additionally, the flatbed scanner is a utilitarian product, it has no function beyond that of scanning images.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Systems, devices, media, and methods are presented for controlling user interface with an object depicted within the user interface. The systems and methods initiates an augmented reality mode configured to present augmented reality elements within a graphical user interface. A face is detected within a field of view of an image capture component and presented within the graphical user interface. In response to detecting the face, the systems and methods sequentially present a set of augmented reality elements within the graphical user interface. A subset of the augmented reality elements and the face may be depicted contemporaneously. A movement is detected of at least a portion of the face relative to a first augmented reality element and presentation of the first augmented reality element is modified and at least one second augmented reality element is presented.

Telecommunications applications and devices can provide communication between multiple users using a variety of media, such as text, images, sound recordings, and/or video recording. For example, video conferencing allows two or more individuals to communicate with each other using a combination of software applications, telecommunications devices, and a telecommunications network. Telecommunications devices may also record video streams to transmit as messages across a telecommunications network. Some telecommunications applications enable touch based control, gesture based interactions with a touchscreen, and other user interactions with a graphical user interface. Further, some telecommunications applications allow a user to control options of a communications session through screen or keyboard interaction while images captured by a camera are presented within the graphical user interface.
The headings provided herein are merely for convenience and do not necessarily affect the scope or meaning of the terms used.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Augmented reality user interface control


An algorithm, for use in automotive vehicle control systems for substantially reducing control inaccuracies caused by parameter sensing delays, predicts the present value of a sensed parameter by establishing a time history of the parameter behavior over a predetermined time period, and by extending the time history to the present time based on the dominant time constant of the parameter, the most recent sensed value of the parameter, and a calculated rate of change in the time history of the parameter.

Conventional control systems for automotive vehicles commonly involve means for sensing engine parameters, and a controller for reading those sensed values and for issuing control commands to the engine in accord with those sensed values. The quality of the control is constrained by, among other things, the integrity of the sensed values, i.e. the proximity of the value the sensing means provides the controller to the actual present value of the parameter.
Generally, the sensing means have some delay time associated with their response, such that by the time the sensed signal becomes available to the engine controller, the parameter may have undergone a significant change in value resulting in substantial error between the sensed value and the actual present value of the parameter, which may erode the precision of the engine control.
Prior attempts to reduce the effect of sensor lag have included the use of high speed sensors, which provide parameter information to the system controller with reduced transmission delay. This solution usually involves increased cost, and cannot completely eliminate the delay.
Parameter sensing systems have also proposed the use of future value estimating means for estimating the value of a sensed parameter at some future time, such as when an actuator is set into motion. These systems do not compensate for potentially substantial delays in the sensing means itself, and therefore provide the system controller with obsolete parameter information. Additionally, many of these systems use strictly linear approximations of the future value of the parameter, ignoring non-linear peculiarities in the parameter trajectory. Accordingly, such estimating approaches may limit the accuracy of the engine control.
Consequently, it would be desirable to provide the controller with the present value of relevant control parameters by eliminating or reducing sensor lag, without increasing system cost significantly, and without ignoring non-linearities in the parameter trajectory.


A motor vehicle according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, a sensor, a headlamp, and a controller configured to adjust an aim of the headlamp based on a signal from the sensor. The controller is configured to account for a zero drift of the sensor. A method is also disclosed.

Motor vehicles are known to include headlamps that generate a beam of light, which illuminates the road ahead of the vehicle. Some headlamps are capable of being aimed such that the beam of light is focused on the road. If not properly focused on the road, the beam of light may be a nuisance for oncoming traffic.
Manual headlamp leveling systems are known. Such systems include mechanical linkages and knobs, which are manipulated by a user to aim the headlamps. Automatic headlamp leveling systems are also known. At the time of filing this disclosure, some geographic locations (such as in non-U.S. markets, like Europe) require certain vehicles to include automatic headlamp leveling systems. Such automatic systems adjust the aim of the headlamps without requiring user intervention.


A feeding fence section suitable for separating a feeding area for animals and a feed-holding part, where the feeding fence section is provided with a flexible mounting element, which allows the fence section to be angularly displaced by the animals from a starting position towards a tilted position about a substantially horizontal, longitudinal axis, wherein the mounting elements are biasing the fence section from the tilted position towards the starting position.

Feeding fences, also known as feeding barriers and in particular embodiments as head gates, have been known for centuries for separating the area where the animals are enclosed and the area where the feed for the animals are provided, commonly known as the feeding table. The feeding fence prevents the animals from soiling the feed and may furthermore be provided with head openings for the individual animal to allow the animals to eat undisturbed by the neighbouring animals.
In case some of the feed is placed on the feeding table outside the reach of the animals, they may push so strongly against the feeding fence that they may inflict injuries on themselves and care should be taken when feeding the animals that all feed is placed within reach of the animals, and the feeding fence is normally designed to reduce the risk of such injuries. It has been found that cows may apply a force of more than 800 Newton with their shoulders and forepart against the feeding fence in order to try to reach feed, and it has been found that forces above 500 Newton may cause injuries to the cows in the long run.
Feeding fences that are displaceable, either by a motor or by being pushed by the animals, are also known in the art form e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,172, GB 2 259 437 and from U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,002 so that a larger amount of feed may be arranged at the feeding table and gradually come into reach for the animals, whereby the feed may be distributed to the feeding table less frequently.


A disk drive to condense a defect scan log for a disk is disclosed. The disk drive comprises: a disk including a plurality of tracks having a plurality of wedges; a head to perform read operations from the disk including reading defects on the disk; and a processor. The processor controls operations in the disk drive including: determining a plurality of defect zones, wherein each defect zone includes a plurality of physical locations on the disk; detecting defects on the disk; recording the defects into the defect scan log as log entries, wherein the log entries comprise a location parameter related to the defect location on the disk; determining that the number of defects detected in a first defect zone exceed a first threshold; and combining the log entries of the first defect zone into a coalesced log entry.

A huge market exists for disk drives for mass-market computing devices such as desktop computers and laptop computers, as well as small form factor (SFF) disk drives for use in mobile computing devices (e.g. personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell-phones, digital cameras, etc.). To be competitive, a disk drive should be relatively inexpensive and provide substantial capacity, rapid access to data, and reliable performance.
Disk drives typically employ a moveable head actuator to frequently access large amounts of data stored on a disk. One example of a disk drive is a hard disk drive. A conventional hard disk drive has a head disk assembly ("HDA") including at least one magnetic disk ("disk"), a spindle motor for rapidly rotating the disk, and a head stack assembly ("HSA") that includes a head gimbal assembly (HGA) with a moveable transducer head for reading and writing data. The HSA forms part of a servo control system that positions the moveable transducer head over a particular track on the disk to read or write information from and to that track, respectively.
Typically, a conventional hard disk drive includes one or more disks wherein each disk includes a plurality of concentric tracks. Each surface of each disk conventionally contains a plurality of concentric data tracks angularly divided into a plurality of data sectors. In addition, special servo information may be provided on each disk to determine the position of the moveable transducer head. The moveable transducer head typically includes a writer and a reader.
The most popular form of servo is called "embedded servo" wherein the servo information is written in a plurality of servo wedges that are angularly spaced from one another and are interspersed between and within data sectors around each track of each disk. Each servo wedge typically includes at least a phase locked loop (PLL) field, a servo sync mark (SSM) field, a track identification (TKID) field, a sector ID field having a sector ID number to identify the sector, and a group of servo bursts (e.g. an alternating pattern of magnetic transitions) that the servo control system of the disk drive samples to align the moveable transducer head with or relative to a particular track. Typically, the servo control system moves the transducer head toward a desired track during a "seek" mode using the TKID field as a control input. Once the moveable transducer head is generally over the desired track, the servo control system uses the servo bursts to keep the moveable transducer head over that track in a "track follow" mode.
During disk drive manufacturing, the disk of the disk drive is scanned to detect defects that are present on the disk. A log is generated to indicate the locations of the defects detected on the disk. The log typically has a finite size. If the log becomes full before the entire surface of the disk is scanned, the disk drive fails the manufacturing process.
The presently-utilized disk drive manufacturing process that fails the disk drive when the finite sized log becomes full unfortunately fails disk drives that are actually capable of passing the manufacturing process. This is because, oftentimes, the continued scanning of the remaining surface of the disk may yield fewer defects such that the disk can still be formatted to achieve the targeted storage capacity for the disk of the disk drive.
Therefore, there is a need in the disk drive manufacturing process to enable further scanning of the disk and to not fail a disk drive based solely on an overflowing log.

Condensing a defect scan log for a disk of a disk drive


A compiler tool is provided to selectively solicit assistance from a programmer in order to improve optimization of code compiled by the compiler. As a program is being compiled, the compiler keeps track of the places where it could do better if it only knew certain information. The user is presented with one or more pieces of advice that each identify a problem that prevented the compiler from making a particular optimization due to not enough information and one or more suggestions as to how to provide additional information to the compiler. This list is generally filtered so that only a subset of missing information that has a high likelihood of leading to better performance is presented. Other missing information is not requested.

Microprocessors are general-purpose processors that provide high instruction throughputs in order to execute software running thereon, and can have a wide range of processing requirements depending on the particular software applications involved. Many different types of processors are known, of which microprocessors are but one example. For example, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) are widely used, in particular for specific applications, such as mobile processing applications. DSPs are typically configured to optimize the performance of the applications concerned and to achieve this they employ more specialized execution units and instruction sets. Particularly in applications such as mobile telecommunications, but not exclusively, it is desirable to provide ever increasing DSP performance while keeping power consumption as low as possible.
Several types of tools to help tune source code are known that produce programs that execute with improved performance. For example, Code Coach (part of Vtune suite developed by Intel) suggests source code transformations but does not solicit information. For example, if a loop contains an operation that only needs to be done once, Vtune may suggest the user rewrite the loop to move-the operation outside of the loop.
Balancing tools such as PBC (Texas Instruments) and CodeBalance (Greenhills) compile code using several different options, execute the resulting code and measure the code size and performance. The results are provided to a user who can then select various compiler options based on the user's desire to trade off code size and performance. Thus, these tools focus on automatically determining tradeoffs between code size and performance.
Parascope (research project at Rice) allows users to suggest the transformations that a compiler should perform. This tool is aimed at very sophisticated, compiler-literate users who want to focus on a small piece of code.
Another category of tools helps users identify hot pieces of code on which the user may then focus their attention. Vtune is one such tool, among others. There are also visualization tools for identifying memory usage patterns and layout issues that are problematic, such as the Cache Visualization Tool (Leiden Univ.) and Munin (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/191,175 now U.S. Patent No. 6,947,052. While these tools help a user visualize what's going on in "hot" pieces of code, they don't make recommendations for how to fix the problems.

Method for selective solicitation of user assistance in the performance tuning process


Lasing at the edge of the reflection band or at a defect state within the reflection band of a thin one-dimensional feedback structure is used to create a large-area, thin-film laser source with transverse dimensions that can be much greater than the film thickness. Angular confinement of radiation propagating perpendicular to the layers leads to a spreading of the beam inside the medium which is much greater than the diffraction divergence. This enhances the spatial extent of correlation at the output surface of the thin film. When a pump source induces gain at the lasing threshold in a wide region, a spatially coherent monochromatic light beam is emitted perpendicular to the film surface from the entire gain region. Alternate embodiments of the present invention include a passive spatial filter and an active amplifier.

Semiconductor coherent laser beam sources have found many industrial and commercial applications in recent years. For example, lasers are used in telecommunications, in optically readable media pickups that are used in CD players, CD ROM drives and DVD players and in medical imaging. In particular wide area coherent lasers would be very useful in holographic displays, in communication systems and in information processing. However, previously known semiconductor lasers have a number of disadvantages. For example, traditional semiconductor lasers, such as ones used in CD players, emit light from the edge of a chip, so it is necessary to cleave a wafer into chips and package the chip before knowing if the laser functions properly. Other types of light sources, such as LEDs do not provide the performance needed for certain applications.
Vertical Cavity Surface Emitted Lasers (hereinafter "VCSELs") have been developed to address the need for a more advanced, higher quality laser that can function well in a variety of applications. VCSELs are comprised of a gain medium between two periodic stacks of binary-layered medium, giving a periodic profile of the refractive index variation. VCSELs combine the performance advantages of edge-emitting lasers at costs comparable to LED solutions. VCSELs emit light vertically from the wafer surface, like LEDs, which means their fabrication and testing is fully compatible with standard I.C.s procedures and equipment, and also means that arrays of VCSELs are feasible. Additionally, VCSELs are much faster, more efficient, and produce a smaller divergence beam than LEDs.
The VCSELs structure leads to a host of performance advantages over conventional semiconductor lasers.
1) small size
2) low power consumption
3) 2-dimensional array capabilities
In contrast to conventional edge-emitting semiconductor lasers, the surface-emitting VCSELs has a radially symmetric Gaussian near-field, greatly simplifying coupling to optical elements or fibers. In addition, VCSELs technology allows the fabrication of two-dimensional laser arrays.
However, VCSELs suffer from a number of disadvantages. The manufacture of VCSELs requires sophisticated and expensive microfabrication. Since single-pass gain in thin layer semiconductor lasers is low, VCSELs incorporate highly reflective dielectric stacks which are integrated into the laser as Bragg reflectors. These consist of alternating layers of dielectric material, which are grown using methods of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). This ensures a close match of the atomic lattice structures of adjacent layers. Alternating atomically ordered layers of materials with different electronic characteristics are thereby produced. The interfaces between the layers must be digitally graded and doped to reduce the electrical resistance.
Much work has been done to improve the performance of VCSELs by increasing the number of layers and/or the dielectric constant difference between alternating layers. However, this approach makes the fabrication more expensive and difficult. There is also a limit to the number of layers determined by the absorption in these layers. While VCSELs can be manufactured in two-dimensional arrays, there has been great difficulty in achieving uniform structure over large areas and in producing large area arrays. The materials typically used for VCSELs do not have the desired low absorption and high index contrast over a broad frequency range. In particular, it is difficult to achieve high reflectivity in the communication band around 1.5 microns.
In addition, VCSELs cannot be tuned in frequency since their periods cannot be changed. The density of photon modes is not changed appreciably by use of low index contrast multilayer Bragg reflector and the gain cannot be improved in a VCSELs system as compared to that in an ordinary laser cavity. Also, an external device must be used to control the polarization of the light.
With respect to wider area coherent lasers, since the maximum excitation energy is proportional to the laser area, large-area thin-film devices provide a new approach for high-power lasers. While it would appear that VCSELs are the best candidate for wide area lasing in a 1-D periodic structure, high order transverse modes arise in small-diameter VCSELs, while in large-diameter VCSELs spontaneous filamentation results from structural nonuniformities. Furthermore, in all previously known lasers coherence width is much smaller than longitudinal size (VCSELs) or mirror distances (in conventional lasers). It should also be noted that VCSELs inherently do not allow for large area coherence because their length is greater than the diameter, and because they are comprised of alternating layers with low index contrast. This requires a greater number of layers and hence a thicker structure.
It would thus be desirable to provide a laser apparatus and method that produces a wide-area coherent laser beam superior to other previously known wide area coherent laser beam sources. It would further be desirable to provide a wide area coherent lasing apparatus and method that is configurable for using in filtering and amplification applications.

Thin-film large-area coherent light source, filter and amplifier apparatus and method


This invention provides compounds which are represented by a general formula [I]

Nociceptin (the same substance as orphanin FQ) is a peptide comprising 17 amino acid units having a similar structure to that of opioid peptide. Nociceptin has an augmenting activity on reaction against nociceptive stimulation, an appetite stimulating activity, an activity for reducing a space learning ability, an antagonism against an analgesic action of classic opiate agonists, a dopamine release inhibitory action, a water diuresis action, a vasodilative action and a systemic blood pressure-lowering action, and it is considered to take part in intracerebral controlling of pain, appetite and memory learning through a nociceptin receptor ORL1 [cf. Nature, 377, 532 (1995); Society for Neuroscience, 22, 455 (1996); NeuroReport, 8, 423 (1997); Eur. J. Neuroscience, 9, 194 (1997); Neuroscience, 75, 1 (1996); ibid., 333; Life Sciences, 60, PL15 (1997); ibid., PL141; Proceedings for National Academy of Sciences, 94, 14858 (1997)].
Further, it is known that morphine tolerance is reduced or memory and learning ability are improved in knockout mice in which expression of nociceptin receptor ORL1 is inhibited [cf. Neuroscience Letters, 237, 136 (1997)]; Nature, 394, 577 (1998)].
It has also been reported that nociceptin itself induces symptoms resembling withdrawal symptoms observed with morphine addicts, and that non-peptide nociceptin receptor antagonist improves morphine tolerance, dependence and symptoms resembling withdrawal symptoms [cf. Psychopharmacology, 151, 344–350 (2000); Journal of Neuroscience, 20, 7640 (2000)].
On the other hand, nociceptin protein precursor-defective mice are reported to show behaviors resembling anxiety and changes in stress response [cf Proceedings for National Academy of Sciences, 96, 10444 (1999)].
Hence the substances which specifically inhibit binding of nociceptin to nociceptin receptor ORL1 are useful as an analgesic against diseases accompanied with pain such as cancerous pain, postoperative pain, migraine, gout, chronic rheumatism, chronic pain and neuralgia; a reliever against tolerance to narcotic analgesic represented by morphine; a reliever against dependence on narcotic analgesic represented by morphine or against addiction; an analgesic enhancer; an antiobestic or appetite suppressor; a treating or prophylactic agent for cognitive impairment and dementia/amnesia in aging, cerebrovascular diseases and Alzheimer's disease; an agent for treating developmental cognitive abnormality in attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder and learning disability; a remedy for schizophrenia; an agent for treating neurodegenerative diseases represented by Parkinsonism and chorea; an anti-depressant or treating agent for affective disorder; a treating or prophylactic agent for diabetes insipidus; a treating or prophylactic agent for polyuria; a remedy for hypotension, and the like.
Substances which specifically inhibit binding of nociceptin to nociceptin receptor ORL1 are described, for example, in International Publications WO99/36421A, WO99/59997A, WO00/14067A and WO00/27815A; EPO Publications EP963987A2 and EP970957A1. None of these, however, relates to compounds having a benzimidazole ring.
Furthermore, EP 0254322 and EP 0370381 disclosed compounds resembling benzimidazole derivatives of the present invention, but none of the compounds disclosed in these publications has 1) a specific aliphatic carbonyl group or alicyclic amido group at 2-position of benzimidazole skeletal structure and/or 2) a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic ring at 6-position of said structure. They clearly differ from the compounds of the present invention.

Abstract: [in which X stands for hydrogen or halogen; B stands for halogen, cyano or optionally fluorine-substituted lower alkyl; D stands for a 3–10 membered aliphatic nitrogen-containing heterocyclic group; R3, R4 and R5 may be same or different, and each stands for hydrogen, lower alkyl optionally having substituent group(s) and the like; and a is 0 or 1]. These compounds exhibit high affinity to nociceptin receptors and whereby inhibit actions of nociceptin, and are useful as an analgesic, antiobestic, agent for ameliorating brain function, treating agents for Alzheimer's disease and dementia, and therapeutic agents for schizophrenia, neurodegenerative diseases, depression, diabetes insipidus, polyuria, hypotension and the like.


An improvement in an oil filler funnel cap that replaces the normal oil filler cap on internal combustion engines. The improved filler funnel cap is adjustable to fit a variety of different size oil filler openings forming an enlarged funnel receptacle with a resilient sealing closure.

1. Technical Field
This device relates to accessories for engines that are used in the addition or replenishment of engine oil into the engine.
2. Description of Prior Art
Prior art devices of this type have relied on a variety of different oil filler cap embodiments that are secured to the oil inlet opening on the valve cover of internal combustion engines. These devices provide a larger funnel receptacle into which oil can be added without the use of an auxiliary funnel or pour spout. Examples of prior art devices directed to this problem are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,033,521, 4,703,867, 4,896,746 and 4,338,983.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,521 a cap with a collapsible funnel is disclosed that has a telescopically expansible multiple interconnected sections that can be collapsed upon themselves when not in use. The sections can be vertically extended i.e. expanded for use defining an elaborate telescopically extensible funnel to facilitate the addition of oil through the oil filler cap opening on the valve cover of a typical internal combustion engine.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,867 is directed to an oil filler funnel and cap which has an open top collection chamber positioned on top of a support and fill pipe that is secured to the oil filler opening in the valve cover of an engine. A retainer bar, ring assembly engages the valve cover and inner surface of the pipe locking the fill pipe in place by rotation. A hinge cap is removably positioned on the collection chamber's open top.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,746 is directed to a covered storage funnel for the fuel compartment on a lawn mower engine. A first storage compartment is within the body of the device to receive gasoline and/or oil mixture above the fuel tank of the lawn mower. A release valve assembly is within the storage compartment that opens upon rotation to release the contents of the container into the fuel tank of the lawn mower.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,983 an oil cap with self-contained funnel for automobiles is disclosed in which a funnel is secured a top a long neck portion, the end of which is inserted into the oil filler opening on the engine.
A support bracket extends from the cover on the funnel so that the assembly can be secured to the automobile.


Provided herein are nanoparticle compositions (e.g., nanoparticle compositions comprising high atomic number ions) that are useful for imaging diseases in a subject as well as radiosensitizing a disease in a subject (e.g., radiosensitizing a cancer in the subject). Methods of imaging a subject, methods of treating cancer, and processes of preparing the nanoparticle compositions are also provided.

Clinical radiation therapy is a non-invasive means of killing cancer cells and effectively reducing tumor burden. This method of treatment is prescribed for more than 50% of cancer patients. While radiation therapy is highly effective for the majority of cancer patients (see e.g., Miller et al, A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 2016, 66:7) the nonspecificity of the irradiation can result in toxicity to surrounding tissues (see e.g., Barnett et al, Nature Review, 2009, 9:134). This is can be problematic for patients with tumors that require high radiation doses or with tumors that are difficult to target with image-guidance (see e.g., Movsas et al, JAMA Oncology, 2016, 2:359; and Kong et al, International Journal of Radiation Onocology, Biology, Phyiscs, 2005, 63:324).

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique