In a decision-feedback equalizer for use in combination with a demodulator (13) to equalize a demodulated signal into an equalized signal through first and second transversal filters (15, 16), the demodulated signal and an input signal are filtered by the first and the second transversal filters into the first and the second filtered signals in accordance with a plurality of main controllable tap gains and a plurality of subsidiary controllable tap gains, respectively. The input signal supplied to the second transversal filter is controlled or selected by a supplying circuit (42). Specifically, the supplying circuit (42) produces as the input signal a first local signal obtained from the demodulated signal when the demodulator is put in a synchronization state. The supplying circuit produces as the input signal a second local signal obtained from the equalized signal when the demodulator is put out of the synchronization state.

This invention relates to a decision-feedback equalizer for use in equalizing a demodulated signal sent from a demodulator.
In general, a demodulator is operable in response to a received signal sent through a radio channel to demodulate the received signal into a demodulated signal. The received signal may have been seriously subjected to distortion during transmission. The demodulated signal may be a baseband signal having a binary level or multilevel. A decision-feedback equalizer of the type described is supplied with the demodulated signal and is operated to equalize the demodulated signal into an equalized signal. As a result, the distortion is removed from the equalized signal which is put into a distortion-free state.
A conventional decision-feedback equalizer comprises first and second transversal filters each of which has a plurality of controllable taps and which are supplied with the demodulated signal and an input signal which is produced on the basis of the equalized signal in a manner to be described later. The first transversal filter filters the demodulated signal into a first filtered signal in accordance with a plurality of main controllable tap gains of the respective taps. On the other hand, the second transversal filter filters the input signal into a second filtered signal in accordance with a plurality of subsidiary controllable tap gains. The conventional decision-feedback equalizer further comprises a producing section for producing the equalized signal dependent upon the first and the second filtered signals and a control section for controlling the main and the subsidiary controllable tap gains in accordance with the demodulated and the equalized signals.
Such a conventional decision-feedback equalizer is disclosed in "DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS" which is issued by McGRAW-HILL INTERNATIONAL BOOK COMPANY and which is written by John G. Proakis, Professor of Electrical Engineering in Northeastern University.
However, the distortion inevitably and partially remains as a residual distortion in the equalized signal in the above-referred decision-feedback equalizer when the received signal is subjected to a large distortion through the radio channel. As a result, the main and the subsidiary controllable tap gains are not quickly controlled by the control section because the residual distortion remains in the equalized signal. Therefore, it is difficult for the conventional decision-feedback equalizer of the above-mentioned type to quickly equalize the demodulated signal into the equalized signal and to obtain a distortion-free equalized signal.

Decision-feedback equalizer capable of producing an equalized signal at high speed


A method and apparatus for allocating bandwidth within a network domain. A centralized bandwidth broker maintains a link-level database including detailed flow data for individual links in a network domain and a path-level database including summarized flow data for individual paths in the network domain. The bandwidth broker determines bandwidth allocations at a path-level by allocating discrete amounts of bandwidth, termed quotas, based on flow requests. If a flow request cannot be satisfied by allocating quotas, then the bandwidth broker uses the link-level database to recover bandwidth from unused bandwidth by other paths on the same link in order to satisfy the flow request. In another embodiment of a bandwidth broker, the centralized bandwidth broker is replaced by a distributed bandwidth broker including a central bandwidth broker and one or more edge bandwidth brokers. An edge bandwidth broker conducts path-level allocations and requests or releases quotas from and to the central bandwidth broker. The central bandwidth broker conducts link-level allocations and allocates or de-allocates quotas to and from the path maintained by the edge bandwidth broker.

This invention relates generally to the field of computer networks and more specifically to quality of service provisioning within a computer network.
A network domain may have a special network server, herein termed a bandwidth broker, responsible for maintaining the network Quality of Service (QoS) states and performing various QoS control and management functions such as admission control, resource reservation and provisioning for the entire network domain. A centralized bandwidth broker for the control and management of QoS provisioning may reduce the complexity of a QoS control plane.
A centralized bandwidth broker for QoS control and management has several appealing features. For example, a centralized bandwidth broker may decouple a QoS control plane from a data plane. In particular, QoS control functions such as admission control and QoS state maintenance are removed from the core routers of a network domain located within the data plane, thus reducing the complexity of the core routers. Consequently, hop-by-hop signaling for reservation set-up along the path may be eliminated, thus removing signaling overhead from the core routers. Furthermore, because network QoS states may be centrally managed by the bandwidth broker, the problems of unreliable or inconsistent control states may be circumvented. In this respect, a centralized bandwidth broker may provide a scalable alternative for QoS control and management.
However, a centralized bandwidth broker for QoS control and management also introduces its own scalability issue, in particular, the ability of a bandwidth broker to handle large volumes of flows as the network system scales. In a network where only slow time scale, static resource provisioning and traffic engineering (e.g., those performed to set up virtual private networks) are performed, the scalability problem may not be acute. But with the rapid evolution of today's Internet, many new applications and services such as Voice over IP (VoIP), on-demand media streaming and real-time content delivery (e.g., stock quotes and news) may require dynamic QoS control and management such as admission control and resource provisioning at the time scale of flow arrival and departure. In these circumstances, an inappropriately centralized bandwidth broker system can become a potential bottleneck, limiting the number of flows that can be accommodated into the network system, while the network system itself is still under-loaded.
One measure of scalability is the ability of a bandwidth broker system to handle large volumes of flow reservation requests, as the network system increases in size. For example, as the network link capacity increases, the call processing capability of a bandwidth broker system, herein defined as the number of flow requests that can be processed by the bandwidth broker system per unit of time, should increase proportionally with increasing numbers of flows that can be accommodated in the network system. In particular, a bandwidth broker should not become a bottleneck while the network system has not been overloaded.
Although it may be possible to enhance the call processing capability of a bandwidth broker by simply adding more processing power or increasing memory and disk access speed, such an approach in itself may not provide a scalable bandwidth broker. There are many factors that may potentially affect the call processing capability of a bandwidth broker. Among them, the speed of memory and disk accesses may play a prominent role. When processing a flow reservation set-up request, a bandwidth broker performs an admissibility test, and if the request can be granted, the bandwidth broker updates the relevant QoS states. Likewise, when processing a flow reservation tear-down request, a bandwidth broker updates the relevant QoS states. In either case, access and/or update to QoS states are involved. Since memory/disk access speed is typically much slower than processing speed, the processing time of flow requests may be determined in a large part by the number of memory/disk accesses and updates.
Another factor that may affect the overall call processing capability of a centralized bandwidth broker is the capacity of the communication channels (e.g., the network or I/O bandwidth) between a centralized bandwidth broker and various edge routers. As the number of flows increases, these communication channels may become a bottleneck, limiting the number of flow requests delivered to a centralized bandwidth broker system, thereby reducing a centralized bandwidth broker's overall call processing capability. To scale with the demand of the network system, a distributed multiple-bandwidth-broker architecture may be called for.

Method and apparatus for a bandwidth broker in a packet network


A distillation unit for producing potable water using solar radiation is disclosed. The distillation unit includes a heating chamber defining an interior chamber adapted to contain a non-potable liquid for distillation, and a dome-shaped condensing portion having an inner surface and an outer surface, with the condensing portion disposed over the heating chamber such that the heating chamber and the inner surface of the condensing portion are provided in fluid-transfer communication. The distillation unit also includes a pre-heat jacket having a first surface and a second surface and an interior defined therebetween adapted to receive non-potable liquid for distillation therein. The first surface is disposed adjacent the outer surface of the condensing portion, and the pre-heat jacket defines an access entry for introducing non-potable liquid for distillation into the interior of the heating chamber. The distillation unit also includes a trough adjacent for receiving a potable liquid therein.

Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a solar powered water purification system and, more particularly, is directed to a high efficiency water purification system that is powered by concentrated solar generated thermal energy.
Description of Related Art
Conventional systems for producing potable drinking water from salt water by means of solar distillation typically include a material transparent to solar radiation disposed over a pool of salt water in such a fashion as to allow the radiant energy to heat and vaporize the salt water. The resulting vapor subsequently condenses and coalesces into a body of distilled potable water. Other conventional systems for producing potable drinking water include a receptacle for containing a quantity of liquid to be distilled, such as salt water or brine, and a covering made of a material transparent to solar radiation that is suspended over the liquid. The covering typically includes portions sloping downwardly toward the side surfaces of the receptacle and is adapted to permit the passage of solar radiation into the receptacle in order to raise the temperature of the salt water or brine to vaporize the liquid. However, conventional systems are largely inefficient and slow to operate making them inadequately adapted for large-scale implementation.
Sufficient potable drinking water is not currently available to more than half of the world's population. However, as most of the world's population has access to vast sources of impure or non-potable water, such as oceans, lakes, rivers, wells, or other underground water sources, a need exists for a distillation system that utilizes an available source of non-potable water and a renewable solar energy source to provide, in an efficient manner, potable drinking water for large-scale implementation.
As a significant portion of the world's population suffers from a lack of potable water, a further need exists for a distillation system that provides an affordable, easy-to-use, highly reliable and convenient way to purify non-potable sources of water. Existing water purification technologies, including reverse osmosis and mechanical filtration, are expensive and require significant energy resources to operate, as well as continual maintenance. Accordingly, a further need exists for a distillation system that reduces associated maintenance, costs, and related operational expenses.


An overall wireless broadcast system utilizing headphones that react in terms of light colors and light impulses when attuned to specific broadcast channels is provided. Such a system provides a unique performance capability in relation to the whims and selections of headphone wearers and listeners at an event with multiple attendees, ostensibly creating a spontaneous, continually changing visual result for spectators and participants alike. The headphones utilized for such a purpose are particularly adapted to allow for channel selections based upon different broadcast music possibilities (such as from a DJ or music device located in sufficiently close proximity for a headphone wearer to receive the broadcast signal to the degree that the broadcast music can be properly heard within the headphones themselves) such that the headphones themselves become modified in their own presentation based upon such a channel selection. The headphone modifications at a minimum require outward displays of luminescent color of at least the ear pieces (and may include the headband portion as well) thereof, as well as impulses of such color attenuated to reflect the rhythm of the selected broadcast music received by the headphones themselves. In essence, a wearer (listener) has the ability to select different broadcast music not only to allow for their own listening pleasure, but the outward appearance of the headphones in relation to such a selection provides a unique visual view to other listeners and/or spectators, as well. The entire multi-listener system utilizing such multi-channel and multi-color headphones is encompassed within this invention as well.

A recent movement has taken hold throughout Europe, Australia, and the United States, at least, wherein a group of individuals don headphones to which is broadcast music from a proximally located music source, allowing for such a group to enjoy a common musical presentation, but with little to no invasion of undesirable loud noise to other locations nearby. Basically, this development has reduced the typical dance party, rave, disco, whatever wants to call it, from a loud, complicated cacophony of invasive sound to a shared experience through intimately provided music that all (at least some) participants enjoy together without encroaching on the listening pleasure of others. Likewise, such a possible arrangement permits individuals to actually speak to one another on the dance floor without having to shout above the typical din and difficulty loudspeakers and amplifiers can create simply by removing the personal headphones (or possibly just turning them off). Such a revolutionary way of providing group enjoyment without the potential for crowd-deafening shared noise has been making headway throughout the world, growing every year as many planners realize the benefits of permitting full group enjoyment of musical presentations (and still allow for self-expression in terms of dancing, at least, in such an environment) and at locations that in the past were not conducive to such happenings, particularly in late-night and/or urban settings.
The spectator without any headphone in such a setting is provided a unique visual experience to watch groups of people enjoy themselves and undertake dance moves without any clearly distinguished musical source for the spectator to understand such motivations. As such, these headphone-enabled dances, discos, raves, etc., provide more than just an audio means of enjoyment for listeners, but also visual montages of individuals expressing themselves in ways and manners that had not been experienced in the past.
Even more interestingly, such situations have actually led to the utilization of more than one musical source (such as two competing disc jockeys, for instance), further improving on the overall experience for participants and spectators by permitting more than one choice of music at one time. In those situations, multiple channels provide access to either broadcast music source (as, again, these are all wireless devices; it should be well understood that requiring any deliberate and dedicated connections between such headphones and the broadcast music sources would be rather cumbersome, if not impossible, to permit full enjoyment and freedom of the overall experience), thus leading one population of the event area to enjoy one source and the other to enjoy another at the same time. The resultant experience is thus unique for the listeners as one group would move and dance to one song while another group would enjoy a totally different tune; the spectators would also enjoy seeing the resultant chaotic movements (and possibly accompanying singing) of the overall dance floor in relation to such potentially disparate music sources. As such, the overall effect could lead to any number of unique outcomes, with disc jockeys competing for listeners due to their specific broadcast music selections (as one example), to specific groups of listeners providing dance steps in unison for one song with any number of responses in like manner from the other (or, if more than two music sources are present, even more chaos could ensue in such an instance). In other words, the overall experience is heightened for listeners and spectators alike when these headphone-enabled events are provided with multiple broadcast music sources.
The provision of such a multi-listener multiple headphone event has not been a simple endeavor in the past. The proper development of multiple headphones in a single setting that provide simultaneous access to even a single broadcast channel is the first obstacle. As well, such headphones must exhibit sufficient resiliency to undertake repeated use, not to mention continuous and, at times, rather violent movement, a suitable electrical source to ensure sufficient power exists to receive a signal from at least one music source as well as permit a dialed-in volume by the listener (and one that will not easily be disturbed during erratic movements, as alluded to above), as well as the capability to potentially change from one channel to another on demand by the listener. Beyond that, such headphones must also be of suitable comfort for a listener to keep such a device in place potentially for hours during such an event (not to mention, with a suitable dampening mechanism to best prevent extraneous sound from emanating external from the headphone earpieces; with multiple listeners potentially utilizing such headphones, if the bleed of sound from one is of a significant level, then combining the same result with one hundred (or even more) could lead to undesirable levels of noise generation that such a system was intended to prevent. In other words, the basic headphone designs that work to this end are rather difficult to accomplish themselves. Nothing has been proposed to date to move past these initial designs, however, to provide any further beneficial functions.
As such, it is important to realize that the overall effects, as discussed above, associated with these headphone-enabled events are just the start of the potential enjoyment levels participants and spectators alike might have. Raves are (in)famous for involving multi-colored lighting effects, both within the actual arena of enjoyment (through, for instance, synchronized light generation on a stage or overhead), coupled with brightly colored attire, iridescent light sticks, etc., that are worn or held by attendees. The overall effect is, in that situation, more than just a musical show, but an all-encompassing performance involving all participants with sound, light, color, etc., in concert. Although headphone-enabled concerts, discos, etc., provide a certain level of quietude (for spectators and external locations), the capability of incorporating further enhancements to the overall headphone-enabled experience has been limited to these rave-like features (i.e., supplied lighting, contributed clothing, hand-held implements, as examples), rather than involving the music source itself via the actual headphones. The potential to enliven the specific location and enhance the overall enjoyment level through any further effect provided by the multiple headphones in use has not been considered. Although individual headphones have been developed that provide certain visual effects, including lighting, flowing designs, and the like, these issues have not taken into consideration the potential for multi-listener events at all. As well, the designs and circuitry to accord the necessary overall effect to not just a single headphone device, but multiple types on a simultaneous basis, and pegged to either a channel selection or even a received signal to that end, has certainly not been of interest. Furthermore, the ability to provide any headphone device system in a multi-listener format, particularly wherein all such devices are wireless in nature and retain the needed levels of comfort, electronic performance, and music performance, let alone retain a resiliency to survive chaotic movements and other effects on a daily (or nightly or both) basis, and, even more so, allow for cleaning in such a timeframe without any deleterious effects from such a procedure, is not a simple, nor foreseeable end result within this industry. It should not be a surprise, then, that such a wireless headphone device, let alone on overall headphone-enabled multi-listener system, have yet to be provided this unique and growing entertainment area.

Multi-listener headphone system with luminescent light emissions dependent upon selected channels


A semiconductor device is provided that includes a substrate including a device region and a peripheral region surrounding the device region, a first interconnection including one or more first conductive lines extending in a first direction, a second interconnection including one or more second conductive lines extending in the first direction, the second interconnection spaced apart from the first interconnection, a first conductive plate and a second conductive plate spaced apart from each other, the first conductive plate corresponding to the first interconnection and the second conductive plate corresponding to the second interconnection, one or more first vias connecting the first conductive lines to the first conductive plate and overlapping the device region and one or more second vias connecting the second conductive lines to the second conductive plate, the second vias overlapping the device region and arranged in a staggered, alternating configuration with the one or more first vias.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, as electronic devices such as smart phones are becoming light, thin, short and small, they include many built-in functions, thus achieving high specification electronic devices. Since the high specification electronic device needs to be capable of quickly processing functions, switching speeds of the electronic device are increasing. The increasing switching speeds of the electronic device may increase current driving capability, resulting in a reduction of the useful time of a battery with a limited capacity. In order to increase the useful time of the battery, various studies for reducing power consumption of semiconductor devices are being conducted.


Methods for obtaining a shallow depth of field effect (DOF) and improved signal-to-noise (SNR) in an image through synthetically increase the camera aperture of a compact camera using at least one actuator included in such a camera for other known purposes, for example for providing optical image stabilization (OIS). The synthetically enlarged camera aperture enables to take a plurality of images at different aperture positions. The plurality of images is processed into an image with shallow DOF and improved SNR.

Compact cameras, such as those that are incorporated in smartphones, have typically small apertures with a size of a few millimeters (mm) (e.g. 1-5 mm). The relatively small aperture of the camera (compared with cameras with larger aperture) causes at least the following handicaps:
a) the amount of light that can be absorbed by the camera image sensor in a given period of time is limited. This results in poor signal to noise ratio (SNR) ratio when capturing an image in low light situations; and
b) the small aperture, when coupled with a relatively short focal length (e.g. 3-15 mm) due to the physical dimensions of the camera, causes a relatively wide depth of field (DOF). This is contrary to the shallow DOF or "bokeh" effect that is a sought-after property in smartphone devices. Note that "shallow DOF" and "bokeh" are used herein interchangeably.
In known art, the bokeh effect is achieved with a dual-camera setup, by calculating a depth map from two camera images obtained from two separate cameras and by digitally blurring the images according to the depth map.
Compact cameras in smartphones and other hand-held personal electronic devices have different types of actuators. In an example, they often have an optical image stabilization (OIS) actuator that can move the lens barrel (or simply the "lens") of the camera in a plane parallel to the image sensor plane. In folded cameras, in which an optical path from an object to be photographed is folded toward the image sensor by an optical path folding element (OPFE), for example a prism, OIS is known to be achieved by shifting the lens barrel laterally, in parallel to the sensor plane, or by tilting the prism (see for example co-owned published international patent application WO2016166730).


Methods of fabricating a magnetic flux channel for a transverse wound electric motor by forming a ring of plural adjacent molded magnetic flux channel pole pieces and a second ring of opposite pole pieces. The two rings are mated such that each pole piece mates with an opposite pole piece to form magnetic flux channels and a c-shaped recess forms a winding channel for a transverse phase winding. After mating, the rings are bonded together to form a stator assembly of the transversely wound electric motor. The two rings may be approximately identical, or the two rings may be different as long as they mate to form the plural molded magnetic flux channels and the transverse phase winding channel. The molds may be designed to form the outer surface of a stator assembly. Molds of adjacent phases may be combined back-to-back to reduce part count and increase mechanical strength.

Approximately 93% of motors constructed use iron cores, or variations thereof, to concentrate magnetic flux and boost torque. "Coreless" motors are suited for very high RPM's with low torque and iron core motors usually utilize insulated steel laminations in their stators, which reduce heat losses from eddy currents. However, even with thinner laminations, the eddy currents are only blocked in one plane. So to further reduce eddy current losses, silicon is typically added to the steel to reduce its electrical conductivity. Although the silicon reduces some remaining eddy current losses (by reducing the current conductivity), the addition of silicon actually worsens the magnetic conductivity. This reduction of magnetic strength reduces the maximum amount of torque produced, and also reduces electrical efficiency.
Most prior art multi-phase motors use phase windings radially sequenced around the plane of rotation. The close-coupled proximity results in "Armature Effect" which reduces efficiency at higher speeds. The usual multi-phase high-speed motors also require a gearbox or other loss prone speed-reducing device in order to boost torque. Additionally, conventional motors use some variation of axial or radial flux, with multiple salient windings wound around iron type cores. Although this boosts magnetic flux, it also increases inductance and electrical resistance, and reactance. At higher speeds, the inductive and reactive losses limit top speed and efficiency at high speed.
Known prior art direct drive motors include U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,392 issued to Stokes on Dec. 2, 1986 titled Method of Manufacturing a Molded Rotatable Assembly for Dynamoelectric Motors, describes molding a rotor of a motor from magnetic material. However, it does not involve Transverse Flux and does not use molded material for the stator.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,567 titled Direct Drive Motor issued on Aug. 1, 1989, which describes a three-phase outer rotor motor. However, it uses conventional configuration with the three phase windings sequentially located within the same axis, and does not use Transverse Flux.
Transverse wound electric motors were first patented in 1895, and have evolved more slowly than conventional salient wound motors, due partly to material limitations. While nearly all salient wound motors use laminated magnetic structures to reduce eddy current losses and accompanied heating, this technique is not optimal to transverse wound motors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,777,413 issued to Lange et al. on Jul. 7, 1999 titled Transverse Flux Motor with Magnetic Floor Gap, describes a locomotive motor with Transverse Flux. However, it uses conventional iron laminations as its flux path, and is mainly concerned with physically flattening the motor to allow it to fit into the space between the floor of the locomotive and the train axle.
Since every wire carrying electrical current produces magnetic flux, it is desirable to capture all or nearly all of this useful magnetic flux in producing useful work. In salient wound motors, this is commonly done, but most transverse wound stators waste about half of the potentially useful magnetic flux.
Prior art transverse flux motors have historically been too costly to construct, and have rarely been used. This invention simplifies construction and lowers costs of Transverse Flux motors, and at the same time increases electrical efficiency to a higher level than before.
The motor of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/731,427 filed on Mar. 30, 2007 and 12/015,718 filed on Jan. 17, 2008 (incorporated herein by reference) overcome the problems with prior art motors by using separate, independent, uncoupled planes for each phase, as well as phase and pulse timing to eliminate the "Armature Effect" which results in much higher efficiency at higher speed. The novel motor also has very high torque and can drive directly most loads (such as vehicle tracks, wheels, or propellers) without requiring clutches, gearboxes, or other speed reducing devices. The result is greater efficiency, lower costs, and fewer moving parts.
The co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/015,718 also overcomes prior problems associated with boosting magnetic flux, which increases inductance and reactance and at higher speeds, the inductive losses limit top speed and efficiency at high speed. The direct drive motor of the present invention can use radial flux construction, but the preferred embodiment is Transverse Flux construction. In Transverse Flux construction, one large single winding powers each phase. Because magnetic flux is directly proportional to Ampere-Turns, the same magnetic flux can be achieved with more turns with less amperage, or higher amperage and fewer turns. In the preferred embodiment, this novel motor has fewer turns, and higher amperages. With fewer turns, the inductance is less, and with larger copper conductors the electrical resistance is less also. Since the inductance and resistance are reduced, both the inductive losses and the resistive losses are greatly reduced which results in higher efficiency and also a much higher usable speed range.
Advantages of the Molded Magnetic Flux Channels disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/731,427 and 12/015,718 include capturing and channeling nearly all magnetic flux produced by the Transverse Winding to the Pole Piece where the Magnetic Flux interacts with the Permanent Magnetic Rotor through the Air Gap. Another advantage is that since the magnetic material is molded from high permeability powder, rather than being assembled from sheets of laminations, the eddy currents are blocked in all three planes, rather than only on one; the shape of the Magnetic Path can be advantageously shaped to maximize magnetic transfer to the Pole Pieces, and to minimize the flux leakage between poles of opposite polarity; and the Parallel Pole MMFC allows the simultaneous use of every magnetic on the rotor, rather than every other one in other Transverse Wound Motors. Using every available magnet increases Torque, Power and Efficiency.
This invention provides a novel method and systems for arranging and casting Molded Magnetic Flux Channels within a permanent female mold which ultimately houses and supports the stator assembly of a Transversely Wound Stator. The Molded Magnetic Flux Channels is a uniquely shaped magnetic structure designed to capture, focus, and direct magnetic flux to or from a transverse wound stator to or from a magnetic air gap between the non moving stator and the moving rotor or armature. The subject female mold can be built preferably by using 3-D rapid prototype machines, or cast by the lost wax technique.

Method of fabricating a magnetic flux channel for a transverse wound motor


A solar energy enclosure unit having a housing defining a central cavity in which there is located a turntable upon which is mounted a solar panel; the turntable and solar panel rotated at low revolutions per minute by an associated electric motor, the enclosure having a convex transparent dome covering the solar panel, the transparent convex dome having prismatic facets formed thereon for magnifying, concentrating, and focusing solar rays onto the solar panel regardless of the position of the sun, in the sky, relative to the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solar energy unit, and more particularly to a solar panel unit housed within a cavity covered by a transparent dome, which dome magnifies and centralizes solar rays on the solar panel concentrating the solar rays on the solar panel regardless of the suns position in the sky relative to the housing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Since the advent of the so called "global warming" theory, there has been a great deal of effort and thought put into alternative energy sources and the weaning of the populous from fossil fuels and carbon energy sources for the sake of the atmosphere. This has led to recent developments in efficiencies associated with solar energy panels which convert solar rays into electricity for not only industrial use, but residential use. It is not unusual to drive down any residential street and see solar panels mounted on the roofs of houses gathering solar rays and converting it to electrical energy either for the home owner's direct use, or for direction to the electrical grid of the local area. Additionally, depending upon space, large solar panel farms are erected by industry, including the power companies to take advantage of this free energy.
The one draw back to solar panels is that they must be mounted in such a position or location to take advantage of solar rays as the sun traverses the sky. Therefore as the sun moves throughout the day, the solar panel becomes less efficient in collecting solar rays. Recent developments have led to improved efficiencies in solar panels, but this positioning of the solar panel remains an axiom of their use.
One of the primary purposes of this invention is to provide for a solar energy unit which incorporates a solar panel which is mounted on an adjustable rate turn table and is covered by a hemispherical transparent dome which is provided with prismatic facets so as to magnify and concentrate solar rays onto the rotating solar panel. In this manner, any light hitting the dome despite the time of day and positioning of the sun will be intensified and focused onto the rotating solar panel within the enclosure. The solar panels rotating within the enclosure would be in communication with the appropriate electrical circuitry to transfer the electrical energy generated to the appropriate appliance or electrical grid.


Methods and systems for conserving power using predictive models and signaling are described. Parameters of a power management policy are set based on predictions based on user activity and/or signals received from a remote computer which define a user preference. In an embodiment, the power management policy involves putting the computer into a sleep state and periodically waking it up. On waking, the computer determines whether to remain awake or to return to the sleep state dependent upon the output of a predictive model or signals that encode whether a remote user has requested that computer remain awake. Before returning to the sleep state, a wake-up timer is set and this timer triggers the computer to subsequently wake-up. The length of time that the timer is set to may depend on factors such as the request from the remote user, context sensors and usage data.

Current computers have high power consumption even when idle. It is beneficial to reduce the power consumption of computing devices for environmental reasons and to reduce operating cost. Additionally, for battery powered devices, reduced power consumption enables increased battery life or alternatively the size, weight and cost of the battery can be reduced.
A number of solutions have been proposed to reduce the power consumption of battery powered computing devices, such as laptop computers and handheld devices. These include mechanisms which shut down or suspend the device, and/or which switch off associated devices, such as a display, when the device is not in use. Factors for determining when a device or its components will not be needed for a period of time and thus can be powered down are typically based in policies that note the amount of time that a device or one or more of its components (e.g., a hard drive) has not been used. When the time period of non-use has exceeded a threshold idle time, the device or component is powered down. The device may subsequently be woken up by the user through user input (e.g. by hitting the space bar or pressing the power button). The devices may also have a reduced power operating mode which is used whenever the device is not connected to mains electricity, e.g. in which the brightness of the display is reduced. Further solutions have been proposed which incorporate additional hardware (e.g. a sensor) within the computing device, which triggers the wake-up of the computing device upon certain events (e.g. detection of a wireless network).
The embodiments described below are not limited to implementations which solve any or all of the disadvantages of known methods of reducing the power consumption of computing devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Conserving power using predictive modelling and signaling


A refrigeration system includes: a compressor arrangement for compressing gaseous refrigerant from a first pressure to a second pressure, wherein the second pressure comprises a condensing pressure; a plurality of condenser evaporator systems, wherein each condenser evaporator system comprises: a condenser for receiving gaseous refrigerant at a condensing pressure and condensing the refrigerant to a liquid refrigerant; a controlled pressure receiver for holding the liquid refrigerant from the condenser; and an evaporator for evaporating liquid refrigerant from the controlled pressure receiver to form gaseous refrigerant; a first gaseous refrigerant feed line for feeding the gaseous refrigerant at the second pressure from the compressor arrangement to the plurality of condenser evaporator systems; and a second gaseous refrigerant feed line for feeding gaseous refrigerant from the plurality of condenser evaporator systems to the compressor arrangement.

Refrigeration utilizes the basic thermodynamic property of evaporation to remove heat from a process. When a refrigerant is evaporated in a heat exchanger, the medium that is in contact with the heat exchanger (i.e., air, water, glycol, food) transfers heat from itself through the heat exchanger wall and is absorbed by the refrigerant, resulting in the refrigerant changing from a liquid state to a gaseous state. Once the refrigerant is in a gaseous state, the heat must be rejected by compressing the gas to a high pressure state and then passing the gas through a condenser (a heat exchanger) where heat is removed from the gas by a cooling medium resulting in condensation of the gas to a liquid. The medium in the condenser that absorbs the heat in a cooling medium and is often water, air, or both water and air. The refrigerant in this liquid state is then ready to be used again as a refrigerant for absorbing heat.
In general, industrial refrigeration systems utilize large amounts of horsepower oftentimes requiring multiple industrial compressors. Due to this fact, industrial refrigeration systems typically include large centralized engine rooms and large centralized condensing systems. Once the compressors compress the gas, the gas that is to be condensed (not used for defrosting) is pumped to a condenser in the large centralized condensing system. The multiple condensers in a large centralized condensing system are often referred to as the "condenser farm." Once the refrigerant is condensed, the resulting liquid refrigerant is collected in a vessel called a receiver, which is basically a tank of liquid refrigerant.
There are generally three systems for conveying the liquid from the receiver to the evaporators so it can be used for cooling. They are the liquid overfeed system, the direct expansion system, and the pumper drum system. The most common type of system is the liquid overfeed system. The liquid overfeed system generally uses liquid pumps to pump liquid refrigerant from large vessels called "pump accumulators" and sometimes from similar vessels called "intercoolers" to each evaporator. A single pump or multiple pumps may deliver liquid refrigerant to a number of evaporators in a given refrigeration system. Because liquid refrigerant has a tendency to evaporate, it is often necessary to keep large amounts of liquid in the vessels (net positive suction head (NPSH)) so the pump does not lose its prime and cavitate. A pump cavitates when the liquid that the pump is attempting to pump absorbs heat inside and around the pump and gasifies. When this happens, the pump cannot pump liquid to the various evaporators which starve the evaporators of liquid, thus causing the temperature of the process to rise. It is important to note that liquid overfeed systems are designed to overfeed the evaporators. That is, the systems send excess liquid to each evaporator in order to ensure that the evaporator has liquid refrigerant throughout the entire circuit of the evaporator. By doing this, it is normal for large amounts of liquid refrigerant to return from the evaporator to the accumulator where the liquid refrigerant in turn is pumped out again. In general, the systems are typically set up for an overfeed ratio of about 4:1, which means that for every 4 gallons of liquid pumped out to an evaporator, 1 gallon evaporates and absorbs the heat necessary for refrigeration, and 3 gallons return un-evaporated. The systems require a very large amount of liquid refrigerant in order to provide the necessary overfeed. As a result, the systems require maintaining a large amount of liquid refrigerant to operate properly.
Referring to FIG. 1, a representative industrial, two-stage refrigeration system is depicted at reference number 10 and provides for liquid overfeed where the refrigerant is ammonia. The plumbing of various liquid overfeed refrigeration systems may vary, but the general principles are consistent. The general principles include the use of a centralized condenser or condenser farm 18, a high pressure receiver 26 for collecting condensed refrigerant, and the transfer of liquid refrigerant from the high pressure receiver 26 to various stages 12 and 14. The two-stage refrigeration system 10 includes a low stage system 12 and a high stage system 14. A compressor system 16 drives both the low stage system 12 and the high stage system 14, with the high stage system 14 sending compressed ammonia gas to the condenser 18. The compressor system 16 includes a first stage compressor 20, second stage compressor 22, and an intercooler 24. The intercooler 24 can also be referred to as a high stage accumulator. Condensed ammonia from the condenser 18 is fed to the high pressure receiver 26 via the condenser drain line 27 where the high pressure liquid ammonia is held at a pressure typically between about 100 psi and about 200 psi. With reference to the low stage system 12, the liquid ammonia is piped to the low stage accumulator 28 via the liquid lines 30 and 32. The liquid ammonia in the low stage accumulator 28 is pumped by the low stage pump 34, through the low stage liquid line 36 to the low stage evaporator 38. At the low stage evaporator 38, the liquid ammonia comes in contact with the heat of the process, thus evaporating approximately 25% to 33% (the percent evaporated can vary widely), leaving the remaining ammonia as a liquid. The gas/liquid mixture returns to the low stage accumulator 28 via the low stage suction line 40. The evaporated gas is drawn into the low stage compressor 20 via the low stage compressor suction line 42. As the gas is removed from the low stage system 12 via the low stage compressor 20 it is discharged to the intercooler 24 via line 44. It is necessary to replenish the ammonia that has been evaporated, so liquid ammonia is transferred from the receiver 26 to the intercooler 24 via liquid line 30, and then to the low stage accumulator 28 via liquid line 32.
The high stage system 14 functions in a manner similar to the low stage system 12. The liquid ammonia in the high stage accumulator or intercooler 24 is pumped by the high stage pump 50, through the high stage liquid line 52 to the high stage evaporator 54. At the evaporator 54, the liquid ammonia comes in contact with the heat of the process, thus evaporating approximately 25% to 33% (the percent evaporated can vary widely), leaving the remaining ammonia as a liquid. The gas/liquid mixture returns to the high stage accumulator or intercooler 24 via the high stage suction line 56. The evaporated gas is then drawn into the high stage compressor 22 via the high stage compressor suction line 58. As the gas is removed from the high stage system 14, it is necessary to replenish the ammonia that has been evaporated, so liquid ammonia is transferred from the high pressure receiver 26 to the intercooler 24 via the liquid line 30.
The system 10 can be piped differently but the basic concept is that there is a central condenser 18 which is fed by the compressor system 16, and condensed high pressure liquid ammonia is stored in a high pressure receiver 26 until it is needed, and then the liquid ammonia flows to the high stage accumulators or intercooler 24, and is pumped to the high stage evaporator 54. In addition, liquid ammonia at the intercooler pressure flows to the low stage accumulator 28, via liquid line 32, where it is held until pumped to the low stage evaporator 38. The gas from the low stage compressor 20 is typically piped via the low stage compressor discharge line 44 to the intercooler 24, where the gas is cooled. The high stage compressor 22 draws gas from the intercooler 24, compresses the gas to a condensing pressure and discharges the gas via the high stage discharge line 60 to the condenser 18 where the gas condenses back to a liquid. The liquid drains via the condenser drain line 27 to the high pressure receiver 26, where the cycle starts again.
The direct expansion system uses high pressure or reduced pressure liquid from a centralized tank. The liquid is motivated by a pressure difference between the centralized tank and the evaporator as the centralized tank is at a higher pressure then the evaporator. A special valve called an expansion valve is used to meter the flow of refrigerant into the evaporator. If it feeds too much, then un-evaporated liquid refrigerant is allowed to pass through to the compressor system. If it feeds to little, then the evaporator is not used to its maximum capacity, possibly resulting in insufficient cooling/freezing.
The pumper drum system works in a nearly identical fashion to the liquid overfeed system, with the main difference being that small pressurized tanks that act as pumps. In general, liquid refrigerant is allowed to fill the pumper drum, where a higher pressure refrigerant gas is then injected on top of the pumper drum thus using pressure differential to push the liquid into the pipes going to the evaporators. The overfeed ratios are generally the same, as is the large amount of refrigerant necessary to utilize this type of system.

Refrigeration system and methods for refrigeration


A gas-and-water-tight flexible fastener comprises an plug being of a arrow-shaped cross-section and including a shaft and a head mounted on a front end of the shaft, the head having a pair of locking fins formed at the proximal ends so as to be directed rearward and outwardly; and a socket being of a squared C-shaped cross-section and including a base, a pair of substantially parallel side plates integrally formed with the base, the side plates having a pair of locking hooks formed along their respective confronting distal edges so as to be directed rearward and inwardly for locking engagement with the locking fins when the plug is forced into the socket between the opposed locking hooks, and resilient partition interposed between the opposed side plates for defining an inner hollow and an outer locking groove.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a gas-and-water-tight elongated flexible fastener used on water-proof bags, water-proof canvases, raintight cover and the like and particularly to a gas-and-water-tight elongated flexible fastener comprising an elongated plug and an elongated socket which can be firmly coupled together so that the fastener is improved in gas-and-water-tightness.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are two types of gas-and-water-tight elongated flexible fasteners described above. The first type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 37-12467. This type of fastener comprises a plug and a socket adapted to be coupled together. The elongated plug has a coupling head adapted for coupling engagement with the socket and having an elongated inner hollow formed thereon. The elongated socket has a coupling groove adapted for coupling engagement with the coupling head of the plug and an elongated inner hollow formed behind the coupling groove. Since the coupling head and the coupling groove are generally round in contour, the fastener itself does not provide sufficient gas-and-water-tightness. For sufficient gas-and-water-tightness, both inner hollows of the socket and plug must be supplied and inflated with pressurized fluid after the coupling head of the plug comes into coupling engagement with the coupling groove of the socket, thereby swelling the coupling head and contracting the coupling groove so that the head-and-groove coupling engagement becomes the tighter and the fastener enjoys increased gas-and-water-tightness.
The second type of fastener is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-3965. The second type of fastener comprises an arrow-shaped plug and a socket to be coupled therewith. The plug has an arrow-head-shaped head which in turn has a pair of locking fins formed on its opposed sides. The socket has a pair of symmetrical hook portions facing each other to define therebetween a coupling groove. The hook portions terminate with the respective hook ends which face each other. In addition, the hook portions have at the middle portions their respective tongues projecting toward each other. The head of the plug is thrusted into the groove of the socket until the opposed locking fins of the plug comes into locking engagement with the respective hook ends of the socket with the projecting tongues resting against the opposed sides of the plug head so that the fastener enjoys gas-and-water-tightness.
However, the above-mentioned two types of fasteners suffer from the respective drawbacks.
In the first type of fastener, for sufficient gas-and-water-tightness, both inner hollows of the socket and plug must be supplied and inflated with pressurized fluid after the coupling head of the plug comes into coupling engagement with the coupling groove of the socket, as mentioned earlier. This makes the coupling operation tedious and time-consuming. Not only this, the inflation of pressurized air into the inner hollow renders the plug and socket extremely stiff, thereby making difficult the manipulation of the fastener.
In the second type of fastener, when the plug are trusted into coupling engagement with the socket, the opposed locking fins of the plug comes into locking engagement with the respective hook ends of the socket with the projecting tongues resting against the opposed sides of the plug head so that the fastener enjoys gas-and-water-tightness, as mentioned hereinabove. However, the projecting tongues are deficient in urging the head of the plug outward, so that the fastener could lose gas-and-water-tightness depending on how severely the fastener is used. For example, if the fastener is subjected to severe distortion or other severe stresses, the fastener is very likely to lose gas-and-water-tightness.


The control device includes: a unit for receiving, for a time period, phase voltage setpoints forming a setpoint vector in vector space; a unit for selecting at least N+1 states of the inverter which are associated, respectively, with at least N+1 predetermined vectors (M1 . . . M27) defining a volume in the vector space (Esp) containing the setpoint vector; a unit for controlling the inverter, over the time period, in order to place it successively in the selected states so that it substantially applies, on average over the time period, the phase voltage setpoints. The at least N+1 states of the inverter are selected from among groups of at least N+1 states of the inverter, the at least N+1 states of the inverter of at least one of the groups being associated, respectively, with at least N+1 predetermined vectors (M1 . . . M27), at least N of which are formed by predetermined zero-sum phase voltages and at least one of which is formed by predetermined nonzero-sum phase voltages.

Paul Sandulescu's thesis, entitled "Modelling and control of a system with three independent, dual-function phases: Electrical Traction and High Power Charger for automobile application" defended on 6 Sep. 2013 at the ParisTech School of Arts and Business, describes a control device for an inverter configured to be connected to a triphase engine, respectively configured to receive three phase voltages, with the three phase voltages defining a vector space of which each phase voltage is one dimension. The inverter is designed to support several statuses in each of which it is designed to apply predetermined phase voltages to the engine phases, with the predetermined phase voltages for each status of the inverter forming a predetermined vector in the vector space.
Two control methods have been described.
In the first control method, namely Z-SVM Vector MLI, the control device is configured to put the inverter only in statuses associated with predetermined vectors, each formed from predetermined phase voltages, the sum of which is zero (i.e. non-homopolar). In using such predetermined vectors, this first control method ensures that the phase voltages do not present any homopolar component. However, it is not possible to apply a homopolar component to the engine.
In the second control method, namely 3-Level Intersective MLI, all vectors that can be obtained from the inverter statuses can be used. There are 27 of such vectors. According to this control method, four of these vectors are used for a predetermined length of time (known as an MLI period): these are four vectors that form a tetrahedron containing the setpoint vector. This second control method is more flexible than the first, since it allows a homopolar component to be applied to the engine, which is sometimes useful. However, a parasitic homopolar component may, nevertheless be applied to the engine when the setpoint is not homopolar.
The aim of the invention is to propose a control device for an inverter that allows the above disadvantages to be mitigated at least partially.


This invention relates to a thiazolidinedione derivative represented by the following formula (1): ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 individually represent H, a halogen atom, or a halogen-substituted or -unsubstituted lower alkyl or alkoxy group, and R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 may be coupled together to form a ring of an alkylenedioxy chain, X represents a nitrogen atom or a CH group, A represents a substituted or unsubstituted imidazolidinone, pyrrolidinone, imidazole or pyrazole ring, or a salt thereof; and a pharmaceutical composition containing the thiazolidinedione derivative or a salt thereof. The above compound has excellent blood sugar-lowering action and blood lipid-lowering action and is useful as a therapeutic agent for diabetes.

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to novel thiazolidinedione derivatives and salts thereof. More specifically, this invention relates to thiazolidinedione derivatives or salts thereof which have excellent blood sugar-lowering activity and blood lipid-lowering activity, pharmaceutical compositions containing one or more of the compounds and methods for the treatment of diabetes.
b) Description of the Related Art
As synthetic hypoglycemic agents useful as therapeutic agents for diabetes, sulfonylurea preparations are widely used now. These sulfonylurea preparations, however, require very careful control during their use because they involve drawbacks such that they may cause critical and prolonged hypoglycemic symptoms or induce drug resistance.
There is accordingly the desire for development of a hypoglycemic agent serving as a substitute for such sulfonylurea preparations. Pharmaceuticals which can enhance the insulin sensitivity at peripheries and can show blood-sugar lowering action are increasingly attracting interests these days. However, these pharmaceuticals suffer from the disadvantage in that they produce undesirable side effects, and they do not posses sufficient blood sugar-lowering activity.
In addition, many cases of severe diabetics are accompanied by complications associated with hyperlipidemia. The development of a hypoglycemic agent which also displays blood-lipid lowering activity would be a useful pharmaceutical in the treatment of diabetes.

Thiazolidinedione derivatives or salts thereof and pharmaceutical compositions containing the same


An electrical connector is secured to a wall of an electrical enclosure. The connector permits passage of electrical cable and conduits into the enclosure. The connector includes a hub having a cable receiving end, a cable egressing end and a central passage therethrough. A hub nut is attachable to the cable egressing end to secure the hub to the enclosure wall. The hub further includes an annular shoulder having a groove therein which accommodates a sealing ring for providing sealed engagement of the hub to the enclosure wall. The sealing ring has a body of noncircular cross-sectional shape having a dimension which is greater than the longitudinal dimension of the groove to provide a seal against the wall of the enclosure upon attachment of the hub. The sealing ring further includes a radially extending skirt for retaining the sealing ring within the groove.

In order to run electrical conduit or cable into an electrical enclosure such as a junction box, a connector, commonly known as a hub, is typically employed. The hub is positionable in an opening in a wall of the electrical enclosure and is secured to the enclosure by use of a nut attached to the hub from the inside of the enclosure. The hub provides a passage to permit electrical wire or conduit to be pulled therethrough and into the electrical enclosure.
In order to provide a weatherproof seal between the hub and the wall of the enclosure, the hub typically includes a sealing ring which is supported by the hub against the wall of the enclosure.
A typical sealing ring, known in the art, is of the O-ring of variety, that is, a ring having a circular cross-sectional shape. While rings of this type perform adequately for their intended function, it has been found that O-rings have a tendency not to remain captive within the hub. They may become damaged upon installation or inadvertently lost. Also, for the O-ring to seal properly, it is necessary that the hub be placed in the opening through the enclosure precisely perpendicular to the plane of the wall. Any skewing of the hub with respect to the wall of the enclosure, may result in an inadequate seal between the hub and the enclosure itself.
It is desirable to provide a sealing ring which is captively retained by a hub and which will provide a sealed connection between the hub and the wall of the enclosure even where the hub is not precisely positioned perpendicular with respect to the wall of the enclosure.

Electrical connector hub having improved sealing ring


A dehumidifier system has a solution, a refrigerant, a first heat exchanger cooperative with the solution so as to pass a warmed solution therefrom, a second heat exchanger cooperative with the warmed solution so as to increase in temperature of the warmed solution, a radiator, a fan cooperative with the radiator such that the fan blows air across the radiator as the warmed solution is passed through or along the radiator and such that the air absorbs moisture and increases in temperature is the air passes through the radiator, and an evaporator having the refrigerant passing along or through thereof. The evaporator cooperates with the increased temperature air such that heat from the increased temperature air is transferred to the refrigerant and such that moisture is created therefrom. A compressor is cooperative with the evaporator and with the second heat exchanger so as to pressurize the refrigerant passing into the second heat exchanger.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dehumidification systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to industrial-type dehumidifiers having a heat pump, receiver/dryer, and closed-cycle regeneration. Additionally, the present invention relates to dehumidifiers in which the receiver/dryer relies on energy used for dehumidification instead of heat transfer.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
Air humidity control has historically been important in providing comfortable working and living environments and for the preservation of assets, such as historical documents. Recently, it has become even more critical for certain environments, such as hospital operating theaters, electronics manufacturing facilities and pharmaceutical production process areas. In addition, humidity control improves the economics of refrigeration on, for example, supermarket display cases, by eliminating or reducing defrost cycles or the use of the anti-sweat heater.
Basic humidity reduction is typically accomplished at the cooling coil of an air conditioning system. If the coil temperature is below the dew point of the air stream entering the coil, excess moisture collects on the coils, producing a condensate stream. In such a system, the goal is control of the air stream temperature, with some reduction in humidity. In contrast, by adding a sensor to measure humidity (humidistat), air is cooled as needed, in response to the humidistat, to maintain a desired humidity level. Such systems provide either temperature control or humidity control, but not both. A separate heating or cooling system must be added in series with the humidity control coil to achieve both temperature and humidity control. This can increase energy costs. For example, often the cooling necessary to reach a desired humidity results in overcooling the air stream, requiring subsequent reheating of the air stream to achieve the desired temperature and humidity. Some systems are able to alleviate energy cost penalty by using waste heat elsewhere in the system (e.g., condenser heat). However, the components necessary to reclaim the waste heat and transfer it to the air stream add to the installation cost of the system. Where low-humidity conditions are needed, coil temperatures must be correspondingly low. If the coil temperature is maintained by a vapor compression system, the compressor must work harder and use more energy to reach the lower temperature, resulting in a reduced chiller coefficient of performance (COP).
Other mature technologies exist for dehumidification, other than by a cooling coil. Desiccant wheels and enthalpy wheels, honeycombed wheels having surfaces covered with a solid desiccant, such as silica gel, are often used to remove moisture from an air stream. The wheels rotate between supply and exhaust air streams to transfer water and heat between them. Desiccant wheels can achieve very low dew points by using a heated exhaust air stream to greatly enhance the removal of adsorbed water, creating a very dry desiccant for contact with the supply air stream. Such a system needs a lot of energy to heat the exhaust air and additional cooling of the supply air stream to remove heat transferred from the exhaust air to the wheel and subsequently to the supply air stream. In contrast, enthalpy wheels have a lighter coating of desiccant and are primarily designed to transfer energy in the forms of heat (sensible heat) and moisture (latent heat) from one stream to another without any additional energy. The amount of moisture removed depends on the dryness of the exhaust air. As such, enthalpy wheels are more limited than desiccant wheels regarding the level of humidity control they can maintain. Combinations of desiccant and enthalpy wheels, along with the use of waste heat from elsewhere or water for evaporative cooling, can improve the level of humidity control as well as the energy efficiency of the system, but at a significant penalty in initial cost and complexity of the system.
Liquid desiccant dehumidifiers are another currently available alternative for removing moisture from air. A hygroscopic fluid (one that readily adsorbs water from the air), such as a LiCl solution, circulates between supply and exhaust air streams. The solution picks up moisture from the supply air stream, essentially diluting the solution, which then circulates to the exhaust air stream where heat evaporates the excess moisture into the exhaust air stream. In addition to the energy needed to heat the liquid to evaporate the moisture on the exhaust air side, additional energy is necessary on the supply air side to remove the heat of condensation either by sub-cooling the liquid before contact with the supply air or by cooling the supply air after dehumidification. As with the systems discussed above, to ease this energy penalty, waste heat from elsewhere can be used to evaporate the moisture, at higher initial cost and complexity for the system.
In the past, various patents have issued relating to liquid desiccant dehumidification systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,906, issued on Jul. 10, 1992 Spatz et al., describes a multi-stage boiler/regenerator for liquid desiccant dehumidifiers. In this system, a gas-fired desiccant boiler and a combined desiccant regenerator/interchange heat exchanger is used. The combined re-generator/heat exchanger utilizes steam produced from the boiler to provide heat for partial regeneration. The desiccant boiler has a liquid/vapor separator chamber and a thermosyphon recirculation to reduce scale and corrosion of the boiler.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,154, issued on May 25, 1993 to Marsala et al., shows a liquid desiccant regeneration system for use in an air-conditioning system. The regeneration system utilizes a falling film heat exchanger for transferring heat from concentrated desiccant so as to dilute the desiccant. A boiler is used for regenerating dilute desiccant. Piping is provided for flowing the dilute desiccant from the air-conditioning system upward through the heat exchanger. A flow path directs the concentrated desiccant from the boiler through the heat exchanger into the air-conditioning system. This patent only relates to an exchanger used in a regeneration process. It does not relate to a entire dehumidification system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,514,321, issued on Feb. 4, 2003 to Lehto et al., describes a dehumidification system utilizing desiccants and multiple effect evaporators. The desiccant the solution from the multiple effect evaporator is conveyed to a desiccant spray chamber that sprays the cooled desiccant solution into an airstream. The desiccant solution absorbs water vapor from the air stream creating a desiccant and water solution. A conduit transfers the water and desiccant solution to the multiple effect evaporator for removal of the water from the desiccant solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,938,888, issued on May 10, 2011 to G. Assaf, teaches a liquid desiccant regenerator system including a desiccant/air heat exchanger having a first desiccant inlet and a desiccant reservoir. The reservoir has a first desiccant outlet, a second desiccant outlet and a second desiccant inlet. The first desiccant inlet and the first desiccant outlet are connectable to a heat source. The second desiccant inlet conducts diluted desiccant of the reservoir and the second desiccant outlet conducts concentrated desiccant from the reservoir. The second desiccant inlet and the desiccant outlet are connected to a desiccant/desiccant heat exchanger for applying heat to the diluted desiccant flowing into the reservoir. Water is heated with moisturized hot air and the heat of this water is transferred into the internal environment in order to generate water by condensing the moisturized hot water in regeneration. Water releasing its energy is then transferred into the same chamber to be used in order to cool the moisturized hot air. In this manner, thermal energy is transferred into the environment. This system is carried out with a heating or cooling of the environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,268,060, issued on Sep. 18, 2012 to Hargis et al., provides a dehumidifier system having a dehumidifier section within which liquid desiccant absorbs moisture from air flowing therethrough and a dehumidifier section within which the desiccant is regenerating that employs a heat exchanger for maintaining a relatively high temperature differential between the desiccant contained within the dehumidifier and the regenerator sections. The desiccant is conducted to either the dehumidifier section or the regenerator section and is separated into multiple streams. The multiple streams are treated differently from one another before being discharged to preselected segments of the air flow moving through the corresponding one of the dehumidifier section and the regenerator section. This process is realized with a heat pump between regeneration (with external environmental air) and dehumidifying (with internal environmental air). The system requires external environmental air. Additionally, the system requires thermal energy transfer into the internal environmental air.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0090356, published on Apr. 15, 2010 to Sines et al., teaches a liquid desiccant dehumidifier in which a liquid desiccant solution is used to extract moisture from ambient air in a first location within a dehumidifier. A regenerator is in fluid communication with the dehumidifier so as to extract moisture from the liquid desiccant solution. One or more pumps circulate the liquid desiccant through the dehumidifier. One or more pumps also circulate the liquid desiccant through the regenerator. The base exposes the liquid desiccant solution at least partially to the ambient air.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2011/0132027, published on Jun. 9, 2011 to Gommed et al., describes a liquid desiccant dehumidification system and heat/mass exchanger therefor. The exchanger has an absorber solution section operably connected to the system's absorber/dehumidification system and a desorber solution section operably connected to the desorber/regeneration section. A partition separates the sections and includes at least two interconnecting ports positioned to facilitate flow of a relatively weak solution from the absorber solution section into the desorber solution section.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2013/0269522, published on Oct. 17, 2013 to D. D. DeValve, is a heat pump-enabled desiccant dehumidification system that includes a heat pump with a desiccant-coated passive heat transfer device on both sides of the heat pump and an air circulation system for alternately directing a process airstream to be humidity controlled and a separate regenerative airstream past each side. As desiccant on one side becomes laden with moisture, the air streams are redirected to the opposite sides of the heat pump so the regenerative stream removes moisture from the first side. Simultaneously, the airstream to be humidity-controlled uses the previously regenerated desiccant on the second side.
International Publication No. WO/2013/172789, published on Nov. 21, 2013 to Cai et al., describes a dehumidifying system having a dehumidifier containing a desiccant for dehumidifying a process airflow and a regenerator to regenerate the desiccant. The dehumidifier has a cooler connected to the dehumidifier. The cooler is designed to cool the desiccant such that the desiccant is cooled by the cooler before entering the dehumidifier. The regenerator has a heater connected thereto. The heater is designed to heat the desiccant such that the desiccant is heated by the heater before entering the regenerator. A desiccant transfer conduit is connected to the dehumidifier and the regenerator and a desiccant supply conduit is connected to the dehumidifier and the regenerator such that the desiccant transfer conduit and the desiccant supply conduit form a desiccant transfer loop through the dehumidifier and the regenerator such that the desiccant loop provides transfer of desiccant from the dehumidifier to the regenerator via the desiccant transfer conduit and supply of desiccant from the regenerator to the dehumidifier via the desiccant supply conduit. The regeneration air is not in a closed cycle. Cooling is provided by receiving thermal energy from the internal environment.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a dehumidification system which recovers energy before discharge of volatile and hot air.
It is another object of the present invention provide a dehumidification system in which heat is not transferred to the outside environment.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a dehumidification system whereby energy is used only for the purpose of dehumidification.
It is another object of the present invention provide a dehumidification system that uses a heat exchanger such that the outgoing/incoming liquid transfers the energy to each other.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a dehumidification system whereby the liquid is transferred long distances in the plastic pipes so as to allow the liquid to work with dehumidification terminals in independent zones.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.

MEKANO ELEKTRONIK TEKNIK SANAYI VE TICARET LIMITED SIRKETI


A shelf-stable, ready to use, water-like composition for humans/animals; as an adjunct to fiber-water, and/or safe drinking water, consumed directly, tube feedings, or in the preparation/reconstitution of food(s)/beverage(s). Fortified Fiber-Water is fiber-water, with added delivery systems: Encapsulations/particles, of different size(s), shape(s), material(s), colors, non-visible, serving one or more functions: improved taste, odor-masking; controlled release applications; bio-availability of actives, avoid hygroscopicity; minimized interactions, improved thermal, oxidative, and shelf-life; decorative. Viscosity changing elements, (with one or more viscosity changing additives, with or without encapsulations, particles) to enhance delivery of active medicants/ingredients of categories: pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, dietary supplements, therapeutics, diagnostics, etc. Composition ensures hydration, simultaneously providing soluble fiber (fiber-water), with additives contained within the delivery systems, having the ability to target specific health goals/needs: weight loss, diabetes, cholesterol/heart, gastrointestinal tract disorders/improvement, osteoporosis, cancer, pain, stress, relaxant, stimulant etc.

In keeping current with modern trends, consumer's preferences, and/or the like the inventor has noticed all the flavored waters, enriched waters, and the like. It is irrelevant as to the inventor's personal feeling on the value to the consumer of these new products, but is focused on inventing beyond fiber-water, ethically and scientifically sound product(s), and these may be referred to by some as line extension of fiber-water: Fiber-Water with the added value delivery systems/elements/additives addressing specific, and/or special dietary use(s), and/or medical use(s) for humans and animals.
The inventor calls first attention to the fact that while many still enjoy the refreshing taste of pure spring and/or purified water, others are desirous of water with a dash of flavor. Still others wish that they had further supplementation/nutrition, beyond water, but are desirous of having the "taste just like water" taste. At most, lightly flavored water, even colored, yet can remain transparent/clear (except if designed to be colorful and cloudy for effect), following the guidelines set forth by the FDA of the United States and the equivalent jurisdiction in other countries.
Certainly companies have added excitement to the water category by adding ingredients such as flavors, sweeteners, etc. As an example of flavored waters Hydrator™, a new line of lightly flavored still waters from Aqua Vie Beverage Corp., Ketchum, Id., includes varieties such as Avalanche (pear, guava and other flavors), Bamboo (Japanese cherry), Harvest (French strawberry), McIntosh (McIntosh apple), Paradise (orange, peach), Java (kona coffee), Sun Tea (tea, lemon and other flavors).
Past just the flavors, new water-like beverages are rapidly appearing in the marketplace. After years of research, limited before filing for Fiberwater, and post issuance of U.S. Pat. No. 6,248,390 to the inventor, Stillman here, and World Intellectual Property Organization (PCT WO 01/62108 A1), the inventor has come to realize that there's a growing segment of enriched/enhanced water-like drinks. The functional beverage trends are spilling over into the water subcategory.
In Japan they are called "Near Water", as meaning close to water. As an example, Nice One drink from Asahi contains vitamins B1 and C, reishi, seaweed extract and chamomile as just an example. Although the trend started in Japan, it is apparent that these beverages are becoming more popular in the United States, Europe and beyond.
Now many are beginning to believe that we can get Americans to drink more water by making available these more mainstream enhanced waters, offering healthy additives such as vitamins, minerals, herbs and/or the like. However this inventor feels, that as with anything else, responsibility must be taken by the producing companies and the consumers as well.
The inventor calls attention to the following news release:                Jul. 1, 2002 American Institute for Cancer Research, Healthy Drinks by Karen Collins, M.S., R.D.,C.D.N.American Institute for Cancer Research
Choosing a drink has never been so complicated. "New age" waters, teas and juices—with added vitamins, herbs, or other "healthy" ingredients—are now a billion-dollar business. Although some of these new beverages may be simply a flavorful way to increase consumption of liquids, others may not be appropriate for everyone. Some added ingredients might cause health problems, while others are in amounts so small they may have a negligible effect.
Many of these new beverages are simply water or tea with added flavorings like fruit essence, lemongrass, or ginger. They are promoted on the premise that most Americans don't drink enough water, and that people will drink more of flavored drinks than plain water. Studies suggest that this may often be true. If a flavored water or tea helps you drink more, it could be a great choice.
Before selecting any of these drinks, consider whether you want them to add or limit your calorie intake. If you're trying to control your weight, an extra 250 to 375 calories may be counter-productive. On the other hand, people who don't need to lose weight might benefit from extra calories shortly before, during, or after high-energy exercise.
Some drinks are fortified with vitamins or minerals. For example, juices with added calcium may help people who don't or can't consume dairy products and would benefit from this fortification. On the other hand, B vitamins don't need to be added to a drink since most of us consume adequate amounts. Added vitamins or minerals can help make up for what is lacking in some people's diets, but for those who meet recommended amounts through diet or supplements, significant additions to drinks may be useless or even harmful.
Many drinks contain herbals—like echinacea, guarana, ginkgo biloba, or kava—that supposedly help energize, calm, or promote well-being in other ways. But the effectiveness of many of these herbs is either questionable or still under study. For example, echinacea is currently thought to help the immune system fight some illnesses in the short term, but continued long-term use is believed to actually depress the immune system.
In some cases, herbal ingredients that seem likely to have possible health benefits are added in amounts too small to have any real effect. Drinks containing St. John's Wort usually provide 250 milligrams (mg) per 20-ounce bottle, but studies show that 900 to 1,500 mg a day are needed to create mood enhancing effects. The low levels found in most drinks might reduce the chance of consuming too much of this herb, but it also means consumers are paying extra for something they aren't getting in any significant amount.
People assume that any new drink on the market must be safe. But some added ingredients, if present in significant amounts, might pose health dangers for certain people. Warnings have recently been issued about kava as a possible cause of liver damage. Kava should be avoided by anyone who drinks alcohol daily or takes medicines that could affect the liver. St. John's Wort and ginkgo biloba can interact with medications. Guarana and some kinds of ginseng can raise blood pressure.
Don't be misled by new marketing ploys. Before buying a pricey "health" beverage, check what and how much added ingredients it contains, and how it relates to your needs.
AICR is the only major cancer charity focusing exclusively on the link between diet, nutrition and cancer. The Institute provides education programs that help millions of Americans learn to make changes for lower cancer risk.
PepsiCo launched a purified water called Aquafina, and will break soon with a line of fruit-flavored, vitamin-mineral enhanced waters called Aquafina Essentials. Coca-Cola, Atlanta, decided to produce a bottled water with added minerals, Dasani, and now they too will be launching Desani Nutri-waters adding additional nutritive value to their existing mineral fortified water.
Aquafina rang up $214 million in sales last year, while Dasani brought in $168 million, according to Information Resources, while sales of carbonated beverages, such as soda, have dropped about 4 percent in the last five years, sales of bottled water have more than tripled, as people have become more health conscious and, simultaneously, leery of the quality of tap water.
With soda sales slipping, and energy drinks losing their buzz among consumers, beverage companies are hoping these enhanced waters can build on the success of bottled water, providing consumers something new that will have an effect on their body, and/or won't make them feel guilty.
The first such products out on supermarket shelves in the last years were Energy Brand's VitaminWater, Veryfine's Fruit20, and Propel™ by Quaker Oats, now a part of PepsiCo's Gatorade brand that is a so-called a "fitness water", with vitamins B and C in flavors such as black cherry and/orange.
In coming months, in addition to PepsiCo Inc., Coca Cola Inc. much of the rest of the beverage industry will be jumping in including Snapple Beverage Group Inc. with its Elements fruit-flavored waters, and health products maker Baxter International Inc. with Pulse, a fruity water supplement designed to ward off prostate trouble in men and ease menopause in women.
Other companies will roll out a barrage of lightly sweetened "waters" laced with fruit flavors, vitamins, herbs and even ingredients used to treat specific medical conditions. In coming months, more and more products are coming to market with all sorts of twists, ergo it is firmly apparent that the nation's largest beverage makers are about to launch an all-out campaign to change the definition of water. With bottled water a $6 billion a year business it is possible that this so-called potential sub-category can be extremely profitable.
The belief is that this so called sub-category is blossoming quickly and will be booming by year 2003 forward. If the sales of the Japanese Near Waters are an indication then this is correct. In fact some editorials claim that the distribution between natural spring waters and the flavored/functional variety are approaching a split down the middle potential.
The inventor has noticed that there are other enriched waters on the market that containing recognizable ingredients such as caffeine, nicotine, oxygen, and/or the like. They sell not necessarily based on hydration, even though that might be a part of it, but on the "effect" that the additional ingredient is supposed to illicit for the user.
The inventor has also noticed that noticed that most enhanced waters, with 10 to 40 calories per 8-ounce serving, are still lower in calories than juice or soda, but some have as many as 80 calories per serving, bringing the total calorie count to 160 for the average 16-ounce container. By contrast, non-diet colas have about 215 calories per 16-ounce servings and/orange juice has about 225 calories.
It also seems to the inventor that the higher-calorie waters are "starting to be more like a juice drink" at best, and at worst just flavored sugar water for which the inventor is opposed.
When you start adding one or more additional ingredients, especially needed to mask undesirable taste, the inventor has many mixed feelings. Amongst the major concerns, the just said may greatly increase the caloric count and/or, just as negative, use chemicals, must be taken into consideration while additionally noting that the efficacy equation most likely gets muddled. While there are benefits to offering healthy additives, caution, and certainly responsibility, should be taken by both the companies and the consumers.
The inventor feels that flavored water, because it is a clear product just like water, is more closely linked to water's heritage. Flavored waters are just a way to add variety and keep people from getting bored with plain water. Then to you can color water and governed by association have no flavor in the water at all but the color fools the perception.
As more people live lives on the go, we are seeing a tremendous increase in sales of bottled water due to the fact that users are deciding to carry bottles with them. (Bottled water sales, U.S. only, are about $6 billion annually) Other packaging is becoming more and more noteworthy.
Beyond the just flavored waters are the enriched waters and with the enriched waters it is the inventor's concern relative to such additional additives. While the general idea is to have another alternative that consumers still see as healthy (Propel is focused on fitness-conscious customers, while Snapple appears to be targeting its Elements at the energy drink set with vibrant colors and exotic ingredients such as ginseng, guarana, bee pollen and gingko biloba, as well as more traditional health enhancers like beta carotene), the inventor, by this invention, wants to use innovative methodologies/technologies, into water, to assure her position.

Nutritionally fortified liquid composition with added value delivery systems/elements/additives


A horticulture growing medium mixture or so-called “potting soil” provides a generally soil-less medium that does not rely on the use of peat moss, soil or compost. A unique combination of anaerobically digested solids, perlite, vermiculite, and various additives and amendments provides a growing medium with a surprisingly high acid-buffering coefficient. Although the growing medium is particularly suited for orchids, the medium can be tailor-mixed for various other plants as well.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention generally pertains to potting soils and more specifically an alternative growing medium.
2. Description of Related Art
A wide variety of potting soils and other growing media have been developed for supporting the growth of potted plants. Perhaps the most common are mixtures having a base of sphagnum moss peat, soil, ground coconut coir, composted hardwood bark, or composted manure (aerobically reduced manure or crop byproducts). Current potting soils, however, have various drawbacks.
Harvesting peat from wetland bogs is becoming expensive and is raising environmental concerns. Compost and other base materials often have one or more disadvantages such as high shipping costs, poor nutrient holding capacity, unpleasant odor, or unsuitable water retention. Moreover, some potting mixes have a pH that is unsuitable for certain plants.
Thus, there is a need for a better plant growing medium that overcomes the drawbacks of existing potting mixes.


In one embodiment, a medical device includes a tissue anchor, and elongate member, a first needle, and a second needle. The tissue anchor has a first arm portion, a second arm portion, and a base portion extending between the first arm portion and the second arm portion. The first needle extends from the elongate member. The first needle defines a lumen configured to receive the anchor member of the first arm portion of the tissue anchor. The second needle extends from the elongate member. The second needle defines a lumen configured to receive the anchor member of the second arm portion of the tissue anchor.

A variety of medical procedures are performed to provide support to portions of a body of a patient. For example, some medical procedures are performed to treat various female pelvic dysfunctions, including procedures to treat urinary incontinence, and correcting various prolapse conditions such as uterine prolapse, cystoceles, rectoceles, and vaginal vault prolapse.
Some such medical procedures include placing a support member or implant into the body of the patient such that the support member or implant provides support to a portion of the body of the patient. Specifically, in some medical procedures, the support member or implant may be fixed or coupled to the body of the patient at various locations within the body of the patient and a support portion of the support member or implant may be placed beneath the portion of the body to be supported.
In some known medical procedures, tissue anchors or fixation devices are used fix or couple portions of the support member to portions of the body of the patient. A need exists for a tool or medical device that is configured to effectively place fixation or tissue anchors inside the body of the patient. A need also exists for fixation devices or tissue anchors that may be coupled to or provide support for various portions of a bodily implant.


Antenna systems employing multiple linear polarization antennas that have capacitively loaded magnetic dipoles and that are magnetically coupled to generate a circular polarization. In a first embodiment of the present invention, two intersecting linearly polarized antennas elements are arranged to obtain a circular polarization. In a second embodiment, a first linearly polarization antenna is placed orthogonally to a second linearly polarization antenna where a single active feed excites the first linearly polarization antenna.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of wireless communication, and particularly to the design of an antenna.
2. Description of Related Art
Small antennas are attractive in portable wireless communication devices. One type of compact antennas uses a circular polarization. A circularly polarized antenna may improve the performance of a mobile system. To produce a resonant antenna structure at a certain radio frequency and within a certain bandwidth with a circular polarization, classical antenna structures need to have a certain volume. This volume is fairly large as the bandwidth required is large, especially as the antenna needs to be symmetrical to meet the circular polarization constraint.
Accordingly, the present invention addresses the needs of small compact circularly polarized antennas with possibly a wide bandwidth that could be integrated in a mobile device.
The present invention provides an antenna system using capacitively loaded magnetic dipoles, magnetically coupled in order to obtain a circular polarization. In a first embodiment of the present invention, two intersecting linearly polarized antenna elements are arranged to obtain a circular polarization. In a second embodiment, a first linearly polarization antenna is placed orthogonally to a second linearly polarization antenna where a single active feed excites the first linearly polarized element. In terms of lengths, the first linear polarization antenna can have a length that is greater or less than the length of the second linear polarization antenna. On the vertical or z-axis, the first linear polarization antenna can be positioned above, below, or at the same level as the second linear polarization antenna. One or more elements, such as an electronic chip, can be inserted between the first linear polarization antenna and the second linear polarization antenna without disturbing the circular polarization generated from the magnetically coupled first and second linearly polarized antennas. In a third embodiment, a circular polarization antenna structure is constructed with two curved linear polarization antennas. In a fourth embodiment, an antenna system that is able to alternate between right hand circular polarization (RHCP) and left hand circular polarization (LHCP). In a fifth embodiment, an antenna system is configured to tune to a wider frequency band.
Advantageously, the antenna system in the present invention allows for circularly polarized waves while occupying a small volume. The present invention further advantageously provides high isolation and strong frequency selectivity through the use of capacitively loaded magnetic dipoles.
Other structures and methods are disclosed in the detailed description below. This summary does not purport to define the invention. The invention is defined by the claims.

Circular polarization antennas and methods


Provide are an electrode sensor and a method of fabricating the same. the method may include providing a substrate with a first electrode, forming a resist layer on the substrate to cover the first electrode, patterning the resist layer to expose a portion of the first electrode, forming an insulating layer on the substrate, removing the insulating layer on the resist layer and the resist layer to form a well in the insulating layer, and forming a second electrode in the well to be electrically connected to the first electrode. According to the method, it is possible to prevent the first electrode from being damaged. In addition, the second electrode may be configured have an increased surface area, and thus, the electrode can have low impedance.

Example embodiments of the inventive concept relate to an electrode sensor and a method of fabricating the same.
An electrode may be used to provide or detect an electric signal to or from a sample. As a size of an electrode decreases, a surface area of the electrode is needed to be increased in order to prevent an increase in impedance of the electrode.
A surface state of the electrode is a key parameter affecting application and performance of the electrode. Accordingly, a surface of the electrode may be passivated with an insulating layer, and in order to detect signals, a portion of the electrode may be exposed by an etching process of the insulating layer. However, the electrode may be unintentionally etched during the etching of the insulating layer.
Conventionally, culturing solution is provided on a nerve electrode, and the presence of the culturing solution may lead to a difficulty in optically observing nerve cells adjacent to the nerve electrode. In addition, since the nerve electrode is opaque, it may be hard to observe the nerve cell through the nerve electrode.

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute