A monitoring device is coupled to the open proximal end of an implanted gastrostomy feeding tube in order to monitor the administration of enteral nutritional fluids into the body of the patient. The monitoring device includes a clamshell-like casing and an electronic control circuit mounted within the casing. The casing includes upper and lower housings which are coupled together about a hinge. The casing additionally includes a connector shaped to fittingly project into the open proximal end of the feeding tube, the connector defining a lumen in fluid communication with the longitudinally-extending bore of the tube. A metering device is disposed within the lumen in the casing and is electrically connected to the control circuit. In use, the monitoring device is capable of, among other things, measuring the duration of a particular feeding period, measuring the duration between subsequent feeding periods, and measuring the delivery rate and amount of fluid that passes through the lumen during a feeding period, the results of the measurements being provided on an externally-viewable display.

The present invention relates generally to monitoring the administration of enteral nutritional fluids to a feeding tube which has been implanted in the body of a patient.
Certain patients are unable to take food and/or medications transorally due to an inability to swallow. Such an inability to swallow may be due to a variety of reasons, such as esophageal cancer, neurological impairment and the like. Although the intravenous administration of food and/or medications to such patients may be a viable short-term approach, it is not well-suited for the long-term. Accordingly, the most common approach to the long-term feeding of such patients involves gastrostomy, i.e., the creation of a feeding tract or stoma between the stomach and the upper abdominal wall. (A less common approach involves jejunostomy, i.e., the creating of a feeding tract or stoma leading into the patient's jejunum.) Feeding is then typically performed by administering food through a catheter or feeding tube that has been inserted into the feeding tract, with the distal end of the feeding tube extending into the stomach and being retained therein by an internal anchor or bolster and the proximal end of the feeding tube extending through the abdominal wall.
Although gastrostomies were first performed surgically, most gastrostomies are now performed using percutaneous endoscopy and result in the implantation of a catheter/bolster assembly (also commonly referred to as a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) device) in the patient. Two of the more common techniques for implanting a PEG device in a patient are "the push method" (also known as "the Sacks-Vine method") and "the pull method" (also known as "the Gauderer-Ponsky method").
After a PEG device is implanted, the proximal portion of the implanted gastrostomy feeding tube is typically severed to reduce the externally-extending portion of the tube to a desired length (typically about 4-6 inches). An external bolster is then secured to the remaining exposed length of the implanted tube to prevent the retraction of the tube into the patient's stomach.
A "Y-port" adaptor is commonly attached to the proximal end of the implanted feeding tube. The Y-port adaptor is typically constructed as a unitary, tubular member made of silicone or the like which includes an unbranched distal end and a branched proximal end. The unbranched distal end of the Y-port adaptor is typically connected to the proximal end of the implanted feeding tube using a tubular connector. The branched proximal end of the Y-port adaptor is typically shaped to include a pair of lumens, a larger diameter lumen and a smaller diameter lumen. The larger diameter lumen is adapted to receive the dispensing tip of a syringe or feeding set adapter of the type through which food is typically dispensed. The smaller diameter lumen is adapted to receive the dispensing tip of a syringe or feeding set adapter of the type through which medication is typically dispensed.
The Y-port adaptor also typically includes a pair of tethered plugs, the plugs being used to 'cap' the lumens when the lumens are not in use (the Y-port adaptor typically remaining secured at all times to the proximal end of the feeding tube). In this manner, the plugs prevent undesired materials from entering the patient through the Y-port adaptor. At the same time, the plugs are also intended to prevent the escape of the patient's stomach contents through the Y-port adaptor.
Enteral nutritional fluids are typically administered to a patient using either a bolus feeding technique or a drip feeding technique.
In the bolus feeding technique, enteral nutritional fluids are manually administered to the patient using a conventional syringe. Specifically, the dispensing tip of a syringe which contains the required nutritional fluids is inserted into the larger diameter lumen of the Y-port. The nutritional fluid is then administered to the patient by applying a manual dispensing force to the plunger of the syringe.
Although effective in administering nutritional fluids to a patient, the bolus feeding technique suffers from a few notable drawbacks.
As a first drawback, the bolus feeding technique provides the fluid administering party with limited control of the rate in which the fluid is dispensed into the patient. In fact, the rate of fluid administration is directly dependent upon the injection force applied to the syringe plunger by the fluid administering party. As a consequence, it has been found that nutritional fluids administered using the bolus feeding technique are often delivered to a patient at an unacceptably fast rate. The administration of enteral nutritional fluids at such a fast rate can undesirably cause the patient to experience, inter alia, abdominal pain, gas, and/or bloating.
As a second drawback, the bolus feeding technique requires continuous human intervention, thereby rendering the bolus technique considerably labor intensive. Specifically, the person responsible for the administration of the fluid (e.g., a nurse, a trained professional, or even the patient himself) is required to manually dispense all of the syringe contents by depressing the syringe plunger. This can be time-consuming as the bolus administration of 200 cc of nutritional fluids can often take as long as 30 minutes.
Due to the aforementioned drawbacks associated with the bolus feeding technique, it has been found that drip feeding techniques for administering enteral nutritional fluids into the body of a patient are typically preferred.
In the drip feeding technique, enteral nutritional fluids are typically packaged within a deformable supply pouch. A fluid delivery set, also referred to herein as a feeding set, serves a conduit through which the fluids can travel from the supply pouch and into a desired lumen of the Y-port. The fluid delivery set commonly includes a drip chamber having an inlet which is adapted to receive, directly or through a connecting piece of flexible tubing, nutritional fluids from the supply pouch. The outlet of the drip chamber is connected to an elastically flexible tubing, such as a silicone rubber tube, or interconnected lengths thereof, which is in turn inserted into the desired lumen of the Y-port via an adaptor.
The fluid which collects within the feeding set drip chamber is typically transported to the Y-port either through the use of natural gravitational forces (i.e., disposing the supply pouch at a height above the Y-port) or through the use of an enteral feeding pump.
A rotary peristaltic pump is one well known type of enteral feeding pump. A rotary peristaltic pump commonly includes a motor driven peristaltic rotor mounted on a shaft which extends out through the front wall of the pump housing. The peristaltic rotor carries an array of equidistantly spaced rollers along its outer periphery. The elastically flexible tubing which connects the outlet of the drip chamber to the Y-port is wrapped around the rotor in tension against the plurality of rollers. Accordingly, as the rotor is rotated, the rollers squeeze the flexible tubing so as to force a predetermined amount of the fluid through the flexible tubing by means of the squeezing action. The pump is typically provided with an electronic control circuit for regulating the operation of the rotor which, in turn, controls the rate and schedule of fluid administration into the body of the patient. Based on the operation of the rotor, the control circuit can calculate the amount of fluid dispensed to the Y-port (and, in turn, to the patient) over one or more feeding periods.
The use of an enteral feeding pump to transport enteral nutritional fluids from the feeding set drip chamber to the implanted feeding tube provides a number of significant advantages over the use of natural gravitational forces to transport enteral nutritional fluids from the feeding set drip chamber to the implanted feeding tube.
As a first advantage, the utilization of an enteral feeding pump allows for the metering of a specified amount of nutritional fluid to the patient. In this capacity, an enteral feeding pump can ensure that a patient ultimately receives the proper amount of nutritional fluid, which is highly desirable. In fact, once the pump determines that the proper amount of fluid has been delivered to the patient, the feeding pump will terminate further rotation of the rotor. In addition, if the proper amount of fluid is not delivered to the patient over a specified period of time, the pump can be programmed to activate an alarm which is electrically connected to the pump control circuit. To the contrary, gravitational feeding techniques are only capable of delivering a non-adjustable amount of fluid to the patient (i.e., the amount of fluid contained within the supply pouch).
As a second advantage, the utilization of an enteral feeding pump allows for the rate of fluid administration to be adjusted (typically between 5 ml/hr to 75 ml/hr) as deemed necessary to maximize the effectiveness in which the patient absorbs the nutrients in the fluid. To the contrary, gravitational feeding techniques are more limited in their maximum fluid feed rates as they are dependent upon the fluid level within the pouch and the height of the pouch relative to the implanted feeding tube.
As a third advantage, the utilization of an enteral feeding pump allows for intermittent feeding at user-specified feeding cycles. Specifically, the control circuit of the feeding pump can be programmed to monitor the time which has elapsed since the last feeding period and, in turn, re-commence the feeding process once the elapsed time reaches a pre-defined level. To the contrary, gravitational feeding techniques only allow for a single, uninterrupted feeding period.
Although well-known and widely used in the art, one problem is commonly associated with the use of enteral feeding pumps. Specifically, enteral feeding pumps of the type described above are commonly shared amongst a plurality of patients. For example, in certain situations (e.g., a hospital or nursing home), a single pump can be used to routinely administer enteral nutritional fluids for a large group of patients who have distinct feeding requirements. Because a single pump is often used to dispense fluids for multiple patients, it is essential that the pump be constantly re-programmed to match the precise fluid administration requirements of a particular patient. If the feeding pump is not properly re-programmed in accordance to the precise fluid administration requirements of a particular patient, said patient becomes susceptible to improper feedings, which is highly undesirable.

Device for monitoring the administration of enteral nutritional fluids into a feeding tube


The present invention is directed to a main element of a surge protector device and its fabrication method which uses breakdown phenomenon of a single high resistive film. A breakdown voltage and a place where breakdown occurs can be precisely controlled. The surge protector device changes from its non-conductive state to conductive state very quickly when a surge is induced and returns quickly to the non-conductive state when a surge is removed if said element is surrounded by oxidizing agent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a main element of a protector device and its fabrication method which returns itself to its non-conductive state in a very short time after conversion to its conductive state by a surge including thunder.
2. Related Background Art
A surge protector device including an arrester is very important device to protect various electronic devices from surge including thunder, where the term "thunder" means lightning due to an electrical phenomenon in the atmosphere. The surge protector device is a general name of devices which are used in order to protect other electronic devices from excess voltage, that is surge. An arrester is used to protect other electronic devices from thunder, that is extremely high voltage and large current. The arrester is one of the surge protector devices. The term of "protector device" is used here to indicate devices which are used in order to protect other electronic devices from excess voltage or excess current. However excess voltage is not limited to extremely high voltage such as thunder but includes low voltage if it is excess to a specified voltage.
A glass-tube type arrester has been used. It contains special gas between two electrodes in a glass tube. It is non-conductive unless surge is induced. When surge or thunder is induced, discharge starts and the gas between the electrodes changes to conductive. Current flows through the arrester and, it is lead to the earth. Discharge does not stop immediately after surge is removed. The arrester cannot protect other electronic devices from continuous current or next attack by surge or thunder. There are serious problems which a glass-tube and other type protector devices have which have been used. One of it is that a protector device must change from its resistive state to a conductive state in a very short time such as 0.03 μsec. when it is attacked by surge. Another problem is that a protector device should return from its conductive state to its resistive state when surge is removed.
In order to solve these problems in the prior art an arrester was proposed (Japanese Patent 118361, 1995 "Molybdenum arrester" by Seita Ohmori). It used a plural of molybdenum bars whose surface was oxidized. The arrester will be called here as a "molybdenum arrester".
The molybdenum arrester leads current to the earth in a very short time when surge or thunder is induced. That is, it changes from non-conductive state to conductive state very quickly by breakdown of the oxide formed on the molybdenum bar. Moreover, it returns from conductive state to non-conductive state when surge or thunder is removed because molybdenum is oxidized quickly if it is in oxidizing atmosphere. The molybdenum arrester is very useful and economically efficient because it repeats change of the state automatically.
It is possible to use metals other than molybdenum in a protector device which functions with same principle as the molybdenum arrester. Tantalum, chromium and aluminum are included in such metals.
There is a serious problem in a protector device of the prior art which comes from the fact that the protector device uses a plurality of bars which have high resistive films on their surfaces. FIG. 1 shows schematically the protector (10) of the prior art which is called the molybdenum arrestor proposed by Ohmori (Japanese Patent 118361, 1995 Molybdenum arrester").
The arrestor (10) includes two molybdenum bars (11) which have high resistive oxide films (12) on their surfaces and electrodes (13). The arrestor (10) uses breakdown phenomenon at the interface between the high resistive films (12). A breakdown voltage depends largely on microscopic structure of the interface. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the high resistive films (12) on the two molybdenum bars contact point by point microscopically although they seem to contact line by line or surface by surface macroscopically. It is difficult to control the microscopic structure at the interface during fabrication process. Breakdown occurs at a point where largest electric field is applied by a surge. A breakdown voltage also depends on force induced to the interface. Therefore, it is impossible to design and fabricate the arrestor of the prior art with a precisely controlled breakdown voltage. The problem cannot be solved as far as a protector device uses breakdown phenomenon at the interface between two surfaces.
It is desirable, therefore, to provide a surge protector device which does not use breakdown phenomenon at the interface between two surfaces.

Main element of a surge protector device

Abstract: The main element of the surge protector device of the present invention has a single high resistive film on a single metal bar. The high resistive film has a part or parts where electric field concentrates when a surge induced. A breakdown voltage can be controlled precisely by controlling a size including a thickness of the high resistive film of the part. The part is called a fuse part. The main element includes also at least two parts on said metal bar which are continuous to said fuse part. Electrodes are formed on said at least two parts. Therefore said at least two parts are called pad parts.


A technique of reducing temperature unevenness in a heating member which heats a heating target member while reducing heat capacity of the heating member in a fixing device for an image forming apparatus is provided. The fixing device has a heating member having diamond fine particles dispersed and contained at least in its surface layer, a pressurizing member which is pressed in contact with the heating member and nips and carries a sheet in collaboration with the heating member, and a heating unit which heats the heating member.

Conventionally, on a fixing roller, a fixing belt and the like in a fixing device, a release layer to prevent toner from adhering to the fixing roller or the like, and an elastic layer to adjust flexibility of the surface of the fixing roller or the like are formed.
The release layer and the like mainly use a resin as their material. However, a resin usually has a lower thermal conductivity than a metal or the like. Therefore, if temperature varies in the release layer or the like constituting the surface of the fixing roller or the like, it takes time to solve this unevenness. If toner is fixed in the state where temperature is varied in the circumferential direction or the axial direction of the fixing roller or the like, it causes uneven gloss and uneven color of the fixed toner.
The unevenness in temperature of the fixing roller or the like becomes conspicuous particularly if a heating member of the fixing roller or the like having a small heat capacity is used in order to cope with energy-saving. That is, if the heating member has a small heat capacity, for example, when a sheet of paper or the like passes through a nip part of the fixing roller or the like, the surface temperature of the fixing roller or the like is immediately lowered. However, since the release layer and the elastic layer have a low thermal conductivity and it takes time to raise their temperature, fixing is carried out without recovering the initial temperature. If this happens, temperature is consequently varied at the time of fixing. In this manner, if the temperature of the fixing roller or the like that is necessary for fixing toner is not recovered at the time of pressure contact and the roller surface has temperature unevenness, toner fixing capability is lowered. However, a predetermined heat capacity is necessary to maintain the fixing capability. Thus, it is difficult to realize both further reduction in heat capacity of the fixing member and reduction in temperature unevenness.

Fixing device having a temperature-uniforming roller


A pharmaceutical composition containing 3-(2,2,2-trimethylhydrazinium)propionate and .gamma.-butyrobetaine with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases is disclosed. The composition may be for oral, parenteral, subcutaneous or rectal administration and exhibits low toxicity and a wide interval of therapeutic action safety.

.gamma.-Butyrobetaine (actinine), from which the mammalian organism synthesises carnitine, was primarily characterised as a toxic substance which accelerates respiration, causes salivation and lacrimation, pupil dilation, vasoconstriction and heart stop in diastole (W. Linneweh, Z. Physiol. Chem., 42, 181, 1929). At the same time, in later papers other authors ascertained that .gamma.-butyrobetaine is extremely low toxic (LD.sub.50 >7000 mg/kg, s.c.). (W. Rotzsch, I. Lorenz, E. Strack, Acta biol. med. ger. 1959,3,28-36).
In the literature data on nonsubstituted .gamma.-butyrobetaine cardiovascular effects are missing, though it was reported (Hosein E. A., McLennan H. Pharmacological action of .gamma.-butyrobetaine. Nature, 1959, 183, 328-329) that .gamma.-butyrobetaine is a substance similar to acetyl choline with a prolonged action. However, later the same authors reported that by an error the experiments involved, instead of .gamma.-butyrobetaine, its methyl ester which in fact possesses cholinergic properties. Contrary to the former nonesterified .gamma.-butyrobetaine was characterised as a pharmacologically inert substance (E. A. Hosein, P. Proulx, Isolation and probable functions of betaine esters in brain metabolism, Nature, 1960, 187, 321-322. A. S. V. Burgen, F. Hobiger. Brit. J. Pharmacol., 4, 229 (1949), E. Strack, K. Foesterling. Z. Physiol. Chem., 1953, 295, 377).
.gamma.-Butyrobetaine administration increases the level of carnitine biosynthesis in the organism serving as a substrate in this process. Thus, it would be natural to anticipate that in the organism at a simultaneous administration of camitine biosynthesis blocker 3-(2,2,2-trimethyl-hydrazinium)propionate and .gamma.-butyrobetaine, the pharmacological effect of 3-(2,2,2-trimethylhydrazinium)propionate should decrease because carnitine biosynthesis is activated if .gamma.-butyrobetaine concentration increases. On the contrary, it was now unexpectedly discovered that the opposite effect is observed, i.e. .gamma.-butyrobetaine intensifies the effect of 3-(2,2,2-trimethylhydrazinium)propionate on the cardiovascular system.

Pharmaceutical composition for treating cardiovascular diseases containing 3-(2,2,2-trimethylhydrazinium)propionate and .gamma.-butyrobetaine


Methods and systems for providing battery backup power to a home or other building are disclosed. Methods and systems include a fluid container holding an electrolyte solution. The electrolyte solution is prevented from flowing through an array of galvanic cells having annular flow paths via a fluid flow control mechanism, such as a valve, which is energized by an external power source. When the external power source is removed, such as during a power outage, the fluid flow control mechanism is deenergized and electrolyte solution is allowed to flow through the galvanic cell array, generating electric current. Energy produced by the system then powers the home or other building until the external power source returns, which in turn closes the fluid flow control mechanism and ceases energy production by the system.

As dependency on electronic devices increases, so does the age and unreliability of electrical distribution networks. In the United States, the average home is powered by the electric grid. The "Grid" is an intertwined web of transmission wires that supply various voltages to a multitude of buildings. While this network is generally reliable, there are instances where it fails.
As dependency on electronic devices is increasing, so is the age of the Grid. Power failures, or outages, are usually limited to small regions and have short durations, ranging from a minutes to hours, and sometimes days. On rare occasions, outages can be spread across large geographic areas, or can last multiple weeks. External effects, including age, also affect the reliability of power distribution, including weather patterns, attacks from nefarious organizations, and solar activity.
Currently, homeowners and corporations alike rely on generators to supply backup electrical power. There are three methodologies for providing this power: (1) Stationary generators; (2) portable generators; and, to a lesser extent, (3) backup batteries. Stationary generators are widely used for industrial or large building applications where the cost of installation and fuel are outweighed by the revenue or necessity of maintaining power. Portable generators are small in size and are generally designed to be used on worksites where electrical power is not readily available. These generators are usually gasoline powered although some diesel options are available. Portable generators are limited in capacity and can supply vital circuits in a home for as long as a fuel supply is present. These generators are not designed to be permanently installed in a circuit breaker and require a power cord to connect directly to components.
Both portable and stationary generators are restricted in placement in or near a home based on fresh air intakes to the building's ventilation supply. Further, these units necessitate the combustion of some fuel type and therefore produce exhaust gasses that are hazardous to health when inhaled. In addition, the cost of fuel and need to refill that supply has certain economic drawbacks. Both types of generators are limited by the volume of fuel in storage. Portable and stationary generators require a fuel source, which often has limited capacity, such as a fuel tank.
Battery backup systems are becoming popular alternatives to the above-mentioned generators, with the aim of avoiding the environmental impacts of fossil fuels and the inconvenience of having to consistently refill the system with fuel. These systems usually incorporate lithium-ion batteries that are designed to operate up to on a daily basis. However, there are real concerns about the environmental impact of lithium ion batteries, namely from the processes currently employed in mining the materials necessary for their operation and the methods of their construction. Further, they are often quite expensive.

Methods and systems for providing backup power


Representations of data inversions are generated by alternate forms of maximum likelihood estimating and associated least-squares and regression analysis which are rendered in correspondence with either single component residual deviations or projections between data samples and inversion-conforming data sets. Deficiencies in representing likelihood as related to errors-in-variables data and heterogeneous precision are compensated by composite weighting of likelihood elements. Composite weight factors employ both normalization to establish non-skewed homogeneous likelihood elements and fundamental weighting to compensate for associated non-linearly and establish common units for combining orthogonal coordinate-oriented data-point projections. Respective weight factors are related to alternately considered fundamental variables. Variance or alternate representation, as related to statistically independent sampling, is utilized as assumed applicable or replaced by composite variability representing single coordinate variations as affected by orthogonal coordinate sampling dispersions. Statistical rendition is generated as a replacement for unquantifiable dependent variable representation.

The present invention relates to automated forms of data processing, more particularly implementing forms of least-squares analysis, inversion-conforming data sets processing, and alternate forms of regression analysis and maximum likelihood estimating, to include the appropriate handling of linear and nonlinear data in correspondence with homogeneous and heterogeneous sample precision, with added provision for handling unquantifiable dependent variable representations and representing multivariate observations as related to two dimensional segment inversions.
As empirical relationships are often required to describe system behavior, data analysts continue to rely upon least-squares and maximum likelihood approximation methods to fit both linear and nonlinear functions to experimental data. Fundamental concepts, related to both maximum likelihood estimating and least-squares curve fitting, stem from the early practice referred to in 1766 by Euler as calculus of variation. The related concepts were developed in the mid 1700's, primarily through the efforts of Lagrange and Euler, utilizing operations of calculus for locating maximum and minimum function value correspondence. The maximum and minimum values and certain inflection points of the function occur at coordinates which correspond to points of zero slope along the curve. To determine the point where a minimum or maximum occurs, one derives an expression for the derivative (or slope) of the function and equates the expression to zero. By merely equating the derivative of the function to zero, local parameters which respectively establish the maximum or minimum function values can be determined.
The process of Least-Squares analysis utilizes a form of calculus of variation in statistical application to determine fitting parameters which establish a minimum value for the sum of squared single component residual deviations from a parametric fitting function. The process was first publicized in 1805 by Legendre. Actual invention of the least-squares method is clearly credited to Gauss, who as a teenage prodigy first developed and utilized it prior to his entrance into the University of Göttingen.
Maximum likelihood estimating is of somewhat more general application than that of least-squares analysis. It is traditionally based upon the concept of maximizing a likelihood which may be defined either as the product of discrete sample probabilities or, for the current analogy, as the product of measurement sample probability densities. By far, the most commonly considered form for representing a probability density function is referred to as the normal probability density distribution function (or Gaussian distribution). The respective Gaussian probability density function as formulated for a mean square deviation of <δY2> in the measurement of y will take the form of Equation 1:
                                          D                                                                                (                              Y                -                y                            )                                =                                    1                                                                    2                                        π                                    <                                      δ                    Y                    2                                    >                                                                                ⅇ                              -                                                                            (                                              Y                        -                        y                                            )                                        2                                                        2                    <                                          δ                      Y                      2                                        >                                                                                ,                            (        1        )            wherein D represents a probability density, Y represents an observation or dependent variable measurement, and y represents the expected or true value for the dependent variable. The formula for the Gaussian distribution was apparently derived by Abraham de Moivre in about 1733. The distribution function is dubbed Gaussian Distribution due to extensive efforts of Gauss related to distributions of observable errors. Consistent with the concept of a probability density distribution function, the actual probability of occurrence is considered as the integral or sum of the probability density, taken (or summed) over a range of possible samples. A characteristic of probability distribution functions over all possible observations is that the area under the curve, considered between minus and plus infinity or over the restricted range of possible dependent variable measurements, will always be equal to unity. Thus, the probability of any arbitrary sample lying within the range of the distribution function entire is one, e.g.,
                                          ∫                          -              ∞                                      +              ∞                                                      D                                                                                (                              Y                -                y                            )                                                                                ⅆ              Y                                      =        1.                            (        2        )            The probability of occurrence corresponding to any specific sample value, as considered in the limit as the range of integration approaches zero, would of course be zero.
In accordance with the present invention, for homogeneous uncertainty associated with a set of observations or homogeneous precision in the measurements of a variable, the precision and form of the probability density function associated with said set of observations or said measurements of said variable are independent of the coordinate location over the range and domain of the measurements. For line regression analysis, since lateral translations of a linear fitting function are indistinguishable from a respective change in the mean values of the dependent variable measurements, assuming normal error distributions, samples corresponding to any variety of coordinates along the fitting function can be independently included and combined in representing a likelihood estimator without consideration of affects that might be associated with lateral fitting function translations or fitting function distortions. By restricting the discussion in the following example to a concept of maximum likelihood with homogeneous precision and errors limited to the dependent variable, a typical linear Gaussian likelihood estimator can be represented for variations in the measurement of the dependent variable.

Implementing two dimensional segment inversions with inversion-conforming data sets processing being rendered to include generalized composite weight factors in the processing of error-affected multivariate data samples


A latex glove removal and disposal device including a container having an open upper end, a closed lower end, a front wall, a back wall, and opposed side walls. A cover member is dimensioned for positioning over the open upper end of the container. The cover member has a closed upper end, an open lower end, a front wall, a back wall, and opposed side walls. The front wall of the cover member has an opening therethrough. A glove removal apparatus is secured to the container and is positionable between a person's wrist and an opening of a latex glove to facilitate removal of the latex glove from the person's hand.

The present invention relates to a latex glove removal and disposal device and more particularly pertains to facilitating a sanitary removal of a latex glove from a hand.
The use of storage receptacles is known in the prior art. More specifically, storage receptacles heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of containing items for disposal are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objective and requirements, these patents do not describe a latex glove removal and disposal device for facilitating a sanitary removal of a latex glove from a hand.
In this respect, the latex glove removal and disposal device according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of facilitating a sanitary removal of a latex glove from a hand.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved latex glove removal and disposal device which can be used for facilitating a sanitary removal of a latex glove from a hand. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


In a WDM network employing a plurality of optical amplifiers in at least one optical fiber link, a system and method for dynamically controlling gain in accordance with the collective behavior of the amplifier chain. According to the present invention, the required response time of dynamic gain control is selected substantially inversely relative to the number of amplifiers in the communication path. Illustratively, in a large-scale optical network (with signal channel paths traversing say, a hundred optical amplifiers), the response time of gain control in accordance with the present invention may be on the order of 5 .mu.s or even less.

A dramatic increase in the information capacity of an optical fiber can be achieved by the simultaneous transmission of optical signals over the same fiber from many different light sources having properly spaced peak emission wavelengths. By operating each source at a different peak wavelength, the integrity of the independent messages from each source is maintained for subsequent conversion to electric signals at the receiving end. This is the basis of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM).
Wavelength switched optical networks potentially offer high capacity networking at lower cost than current electronically switched networks. The rare-element doped fiber amplifiers such, for example, as erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA's) in the nodes and repeaters of such networks will each be traversed by multiple signal channels following diverse routes. In optical amplifiers such as EDFA's, amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) is the major source of noise. ASE originates from the spontaneous emission of incoherent light over the full gain bandwidth of the amplifier. This is the random noise contribution of the amplifier. In the wavelength domain, gain saturation induced by a data channel operating at .lambda..sub.1 produces a level change in another data channel at wavelength .lambda..sub.2. If the optical powers in the transmission fibers are too high, optical nonlinearities, such as Stimulated Brillouin Scattering, can occur and degrade the signals.
In optically amplified systems, the above described noise sources present two limitations on the amplifier operating range. At low input signal levels the amplifier random noise contribution, ASE, causes bit errors (signal-spontaneous beat noise) while at large input signal levels, nonlinearities in the transmission medium can also add noise which degrades performance.
Although automatic gain control circuit (AGC) employing laser feedback at the detection end can compensate for fluctuations in the data stream that occur on the order of 1 ms, significant crosstalk between channels can occur for multichannel applications such as wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), especially when channel(s) is/are dropped or added to the system. The number of channels traversing an EDFA may, in fact, change suddenly as a result of a network reconfiguration or a fault that interrupts some of the channels. To prevent performance penalties in a high capacity network, the power excursions experienced by the surviving channels--those which share an amplifier with the channels directly affected by the fault or reconfiguration--should be limited when channels are added and when channels are dropped.
The gain medium in an EDFA has a comparatively long excited state lifetime or relaxation time, and for this reason is generally regarded as allowing for a larger saturation energy and hence, as exhibiting virtually no modulation of the saturation level at high speed data pulses (pulse period<1 ns). In fact, it has been reported that transient effects of gain saturation and recovery in an individual amplifier typically occur on a 100 .mu.s-1 ms time scale. Desurvire et al, Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers, 1994, p. 412. The inventors herein have, however, observed gain dynamics in a chain of EDFA's almost two orders of magnitude faster than this and, for large scale wavelength routed networks, gain dynamics three orders of magnitude faster may be predicted. These fast transients in chains of amplifiers may ultimately constrain the design or extent of multi-wavelength optical networks. Accordingly, a need is recognized for dynamic gain control fast enough to ensure reliable service in high capacity networks employing significant numbers of optical amplifiers in the communication paths thereof.

Method of fast gain control in WDM optical networks


A pass through socket (12) and wrench (10) combination is disclosed wherein a first drive member (22a, 22b) is provided on the socket's exterior surface and a second drive member (24) is provided on the front side of the ratchet wrench's wheel (26) for engaging the socket's first drive member (22a, 22b) to enable the socket (12) to be driven with the wrench (10). The wrench's wheel (26) defines an axially aligned through hole (30) extending through the wheel (26) for receiving an insertable end of the socket (12) through the front side of the wheel (26). Socket retention means, preferably a snap ring mounted on the front side of the ratchet wheel (26), is also provided.

Over the years various ratchet wrenches and sockets for use therewith have been developed for allowing an externally threaded member to pass through the socket and wrench as a fastener threaded on the threaded member is driven with the socket and ratchet wrench. By allowing the threaded member to pass through the socket and wrench, these wrenches eliminate the need for deep well sockets which are expensive and break more easily than shallow sockets. These wrenches are commonly referred to as "pass through" wrenches and two known wrenches of this type which are commercially available today are the Armstrong Eliminator wrench which is available from the Danaher Tool Group of Lancaster, Pa. and the O-Ratchet wrench which is available from Summit Tools of Denton, Tex. A wrench similar to the Eliminator wrench is generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,390 to Whiteford while a wrench similar to the O-Ratchet wrench is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,534.
While both of these wrenches work with varying degrees of success neither has been particularly successful in the marketplace because neither offers all the advantages of conventional sockets and ratchet wrenches which use the conventional square male drive to connect the socket to the wrench and drive the socket. The Eliminator and O-Ratchet wrenches seem to have particular difficulty in holding the socket on the wrench. They are also more complicated and more expensive to manufacture than conventional wrenches and sockets. Other "pass through" type wrenches found in a search of the patent literature include U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,062 to Colvin and U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,720 to Shiel as well as our own previously developed "pass through" ratchet wrench which is described in International application No. WO 98/49455.

Pass through socket and ratchet wrench combination


A semiconductor device includes a thermal oxide film for isolation, a semiconductor region that becomes an element forming region with the circumference thereof surrounded by the oxide film and diffused resistance layers in the semiconductor region and provides a structure for controlling resistance value variation of diffused resistors originated in a stress generated at time of forming the oxide film for isolation. A distance between an end portion on a longer side closest to a thermal oxide film of the diffused layer and an end of the thermal oxide film is apart from each other by a predetermined value determined by stress distribution in the semiconductor region or by at least 4 .mu.m or more, the longitudinal direction of the diffused layer portion formed from the end of the thermal oxide film over to a stress distribution (gradient) forming region in the semiconductor region is parallel to the forming direction of the stress gradient, and resistance value distribution is formed parallel to the stress gradient in the diffused layer formed from the end of the thermal oxide film over to the stress distribution forming region in the semiconductor region.

The present invention relates to semiconductor devices and methods of designing and manufacturing the same, and more particularly to device structures for setting a characteristic variation among a plurality of semiconductor devices based on stress distribution in a semiconductor element forming region originated in the existence of an oxide film forming an isolation region to a predetermined value or below in a highly integrated semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same.
In forming a conventional semiconductor device, a thermal oxide film of silicon (SiO.sub.2) has been used for the purpose of aiming at electrical insulation between adjacent devices. Since there is a difference in coefficients of linear expansion between the oxide film and a semiconductor substrate, i.e., silicon, and the thermal oxide film is produced at a high temperature in the vicinity of 1,000.degree. C., a thermal stress is generated in the semiconductor substrate and the thermal oxide film in the vicinity of room temperature. In particular, steep stress distribution (gradient) is generated in the vicinity of the boundary between both materials. Furthermore, the generated stress changes depending on the production temperature of the thermal oxide film, the oxide film thickness, the plane layout dimension or the like.
High integration of a semiconductor device is being expedited in recent years, but a trend to increase a circuit current or current density for improving a response speed of a device is shown in a high speed device in particular, thus requiring also to increase a required oxide film thickness for securing electrical insulation from an adjacent device. The film thickness of 0.5 .mu.m to 1.0 .mu.m has been heretofore sufficient, but it becomes necessary to secure the film thickness of 2 .mu.m or more as occasion demands. As a result, a spread region of a stress field (a stress distribution (gradient) forming region) formed in the vicinity of the boundary between the oxide film and the semiconductor region is also expanded. When a stress field is formed in a semiconductor region, variation is generated in various electrical characteristics of the circuit device.
There is a piezoresistance effect as a typical factor for variation. This phenomenon is one in which electrical resistivity of a semiconductor is varied when a stress (a strain) is generated in a semiconductor region. Thus, when a diffused resistor is formed in the region where the stress field is generated, the resistance value of the resistor is shifted from a designed value in accordance with the stress field. Since the variation of the resistance value of the resistor produces such a phenomenon that variation of an amplification factor in an amplifier circuit is caused, a resonance frequency is shifted in a resonance circuit and so on. Therefore, reliability is detracted by a large margin depending on the product.
As the integration of a semiconductor device (element) is accelerated and more complication of an element structure or more diversification of an element forming material is aimed at hereafter, a tendency that the increase of the stress inside the device (element) is unavoidable is shown, thus producing possibility of causing such a problem that the characteristic variation quantity is further increased and the variation quantity in characteristics of the element or the circuit becomes different depending also on the location in accordance with stress distribution generated inside the device. The measurement of residual stress after thermal oxidation of a silicon substrate is described in a literature, H. Miura et al., "Residual Stress Measurement in Silicon Substrates after Thermal Oxidation", Series A, Vol. 36, No. 3, July 1993, pp. 302-308.
When the characteristics of an element or a circuit change in a semiconductor device, such problems that the voltage amplification factor is lowered and a booster circuit becomes no longer operated, an error is generated in signal transmission and so on are generated. When the characteristics of the element or the circuit of the whole device vary uniformly, it is possible to control the variation by compensating for the characteristic variation or designing by taking the variation into consideration, but when the stress distribution is generated inside the device (semiconductor region) and characteristic variation becomes different depending on the location inside the device (semiconductor region), compensation for characteristic variation becomes very difficult.
Accordingly, since the increase of the film thickness of the oxide film for electrical insulation enlarges the stress distribution (gradient) generating region in the vicinity of the boundary between the oxide film and the semiconductor region, and spreads the characteristic variation region of the element or the circuit, a useless region where no circuit is formed becomes necessary in order to assure the product reliability, thus requiring to make the dimensions of the device (semiconductor chip) larger. This fact gives rise to a problem of substantially impeding miniaturization and high integration of the device.

Semiconductor device having circuit element in stress gradient region by film for isolation and method of manufacturing the same


A playback device includes a storing unit storing a contents database in which contents including at least music and tempo information indicating the tempo of the music are correlated with each other; a playback unit for performing playback of the contents; a tempo measuring unit for measuring an exercise tempo obtained along with the body movements of a user; a searching unit for searching contents from the contents database based on the information of the measured exercise tempo by the tempo measuring unit; and a contents selecting unit for selecting the contents searched by the searching unit as contents to be played by the playback unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a playback device for performing playback regarding contents, and a contents selecting method for selecting contents to be played. Also, the present invention relates to a contents distribution system and a contents distribution method, and further, an information processing device, a contents transfer method, and a storing medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
As audio players have become smaller and lighter, carrying an audio player to enjoy music contents has become commonplace.
Note that Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-31644 can be given an example of the related existing technology.

Playback device, contents selecting method, contents distribution system, information processing device, contents transfer method, and storing medium


An electric arc welder including a high speed switching power supply with a controller for creating high frequency current pulses with negative polarity components through the gap between a workpiece and a welding wire advancing toward the workpiece, where the pulses and a background current defining a series of weld cycles. A wave shape generator defines the shape of the pulses and the background current including a controlled ramp up and/or ramp down in each of said cycles, and a circuit to change the shapes of the pulses and/or background current in a repeating pattern in each of the weld cycles, including a negative current in at one of said pulses. The shape change in a cycle can be between first and second shapes or by a rhythmic AC modulation.

Pulsed AC or variable polarity gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) may be used to weld aluminum when appearance is important. The modulation of current in the process serves to alternately expand and cool the puddle, thus creating a series of ridges in the weld bead, sometimes called a "stacked dimes" appearance. To speed up the process, beyond the speed of a GTAW process, GMAW has often been used, but with difficulty in achieving a "stacked dime" weld appearance. To achieve a similar "stacked dime" weld appearance via GMAW welding instead of GTAW welding, the operator can shuffle the torch, forward/backward in the joint. While shuffling can result in a desirable stacked dime appearance, it requires the operator to manipulate the torch rapidly, resulting in a process that is not as fast as a straight progression and that produces inconsistent results. Another approach to achieve the "stacked dime" appearance with GMAW is the modulation of a pulsed waveform's parameters to achieve high energy and low energy portions of the weld cycle. The high energy portion delivers high heat to the weld puddle/pool, whereas the low energy portion delivers relatively low heat to the weld puddle. A high energy portion of a weld cycle can expand the weld puddle size, whereas a low energy portion of a weld cycle can allow the puddle to cool and shrink, creating the ridges associated with the "stacked dime" appearance. Although the method works, in order to achieve the desired bead appearance, significant differences in pulse parameters are required, often resulting in spattering in the high energy segment and stubbing in the low energy segment. Still another approach is to synergistically modulate the wire feed speed to modulate the heat and achieve the desired "stacked dime" appearance. Modulation of the wire feed speed (with associated pulse parameters) may be effective and may achieve the desired bead shape, but requires a slowdown in travel speed because the resulting deposit rate is significantly slowed by the low energy portion. Thus, there is a need for a process that delivers an attractive "stacked dime" bead shape appearance and is achieved at a speed similar to the steady state GMAW process.

Electric arc welder using high frequency pulses and negative polarity


A self-organizing internet protocol television (IPTV) grid system that: establishes an internet protocol television grid including an IPTV server, a plurality of grid nodes, a first end user device and a second end user device; communicates an IPTV channel signal over a first communication path that begins at the IPTV server and ends at the first end user device; communicates the IPTV channel signal over a second communication path that begins at the IPTV server and ends at the second end user device; determines that a quality issue condition exists for the channel signal as communicated to the second end user device; and responsive to the determination of the quality issue condition, communicates the IPTV channel signal over a third communication path that begins at the first end user device and ends at the second end user device.

The present invention relates generally to the field of internet protocol television, and more particularly to improving the user quality of internet protocol television.
IPTV (internet protocol television) is an electronic network or grid system where television services are provided via the internet, instead of being delivered by more traditional formats such as: (i) "over the air" broadcast; (ii) satellite; and (iii) cable. IPTV provides reliable and secure delivery of entertainment and related services to end users. These services may include: (i) live TV (television); (ii) VOD (video on demand); and (iii) iTV (interactive television).
IPTV services are delivered across an access agnostic, packet switched network (or grid) that uses IP (internet protocol) to transport: (i) audio signals; (ii) video signals; and (iii) control signals. The IPTV grid uses a network of nodes between the IPTV server(s) and the user's end point device. The end point devices may include, but are not limited to: (i) a television; (ii) a laptop computer; (iii) a tablet computer; (iv) a netbook computer; (v) a personal computer (PC); (vi) a desktop computer; (vii) a personal digital assistant (PDA); and (viii) a smart phone. IPTV service is in real time, and allows users to stream different channels through the IP network.
The use of IPTV services is ever increasing, including HDTV (high definition television) services. IPTV services require state of the art network services to ensure a high QoS (quality of service). In a very large grid of users watching various programs using an IPTV service, multiple users may watch a broadcast concurrently. As an example, two users may have sufficient network resources for good QoS with a satisfying QoE, while a third user may observe a less than ideal QoS that leads to a poor QoE (quality of experience). Different scenarios and conditions may lead to loading the network with huge traffic demands. Such scenarios may include but are not limited to: (i) large numbers of users demanding the same live stream and/or demanding to view a live stream at the same time, creating an unbalanced load on the network; (ii) large numbers of users in the same locality tuning to the same stream, creating congestion on the link serving that locality; and/or (iii) large numbers of users in the same locality, tuning to the same stream with different network capacities, resulting in different QoE.

System for self organization of an internet protocol television grid

International Business Machines Corporation


A purifying device comprising a purifying tank (1) having an ultraviolet radiating tube (2) installed within the middle thereof and a submersible pump (3) mounted in the upper region thereof. The purifying tank is held 5 to 100 cm below the water level by floats (7a). A partition (6) divides the region adjacent to the water level into upper and lower levels, wherein only the water on the upper side of the partition (6) is sucked in by the submersible pump (3) for purification in the purifying tank (1), whereby water-bloom, algae or the like floating on water is rapidly collected and decomposed for removal.

In closed water areas such as lakes, ponds, dams and reservoirs, where any water flow is scarce and is retained for a long time, water-bloom, algae and the like floating on water, if left untreated in a natural state, thrive with high density and decay, which eventually pollutes the water. A conventional method employed for removing water-bloom and algae is, for example, to catch and collect it with a net or the like from a boat. Such an operation, where water-bloom and algae are collected manually, has limited efficiency and takes considerable time when operating on large lakes.
Recently, another kind of purifying device has come into use, which destroys cells of phytoplankton such as water-bloom by a single use of ozone, ultrasonic waves, ultraviolet rays or the like, bringing a marked improvement in efficiency of purification operations in closed water areas. However, most of the conventional purifying devices treat water by blowing ozone into water or collecting sludge-formed decayed substances accumulated on the water bottom.
Therefore, water-bloom and algae that are floating on water in particular cannot yet be collected without operations using boats, hindering complete purification in closed water areas. In view of this, the present inventor proposed, in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-289005, a purifying device for rivers and lakes which has an improved degree of purification by efficiently decomposing water-bloom and algae and releasing oxygen only.
In the above purifying device for rivers and lakes, water adjacent to the water level is sucked in with a submersible pump, then oxidizing gases such as ozone are added and dissolved in the water sucked in by the submersible pump, and the resulting water is discharged to the rivers or lakes, thereby removing water-bloom and algae near the water level as well as rapidly decomposing them when ozone is used.
With this purifying device, as algae such as water-bloom is collected together with water by suction power of the submersible pump, the submersible pump should have larger suction power in order to increase the speed of sucking in algae to purify water. However, larger suction power would increase the electric power consumed by the submersible pump.
In view of the above problem, an object of the present invention is to provide a purifying device requiring less electric power and that is capable of rapidly collecting floating substances such as water-bloom and algae to purify water in closed water areas with higher efficiency.


An embroidery machine includes a plurality of thread reel stand bars, a plurality of thread reels installed to the thread reel stand bars, respectively, a plurality of needles to which threads are supplied from the respective thread reels, at least two of the needles being selected to operate, on the basis of an embroidery data, in order for forming a stitch pattern of multiple colors, a wireless tag attached to each of the thread reels an having information related to the thread wound therearound, and a receiving device, for reading the information in the wireless tag, provided at each of the thread reel stand.

JP2004-129947A describes a conventional embroidery machine including multiple needles and a thread-changing mechanism. In the conventional embroidery machine, thread information such as colors of the threads supplied to respective needles are inputted to a personal computer by means of a keyboard, mouse, or other input device. The personal computer inquires matching between the thread information and an embroidery data of an embroidery pattern. Then, when the color of the thread indicated by the thread information is different from the color of the thread indicated by the embroidery data or the like, the personal computer automatically corrects a thread color indicated in the embroidery data on the basis of the inquiry result. In other words, in the embroidery machine, color of embroidery is changed.
However, manual input for thread color data in terms of RGB, thread material data, and thread thickness data is troublesome works. In particular, in the embroidery machine in which different threads are supplied from the plural thread reels, the amount of input data in relation to the thread information becomes large.
A need thus exists for an embroidery machine enabling labor saving of inputting thread information. It is preferable that correct input of thread information is available. It is further preferable that input system of thread information can be configured compact by efficiently utilizing structure property of the embroidery machine. A need thus also exists for an embroidery system including the embroidery machine described above. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances and provides such an embroidery machine and an embroidery system.

Embroidery machine and embroidery system


Prediction, detection and mitigation of network or device issues in a communication system are facilitated. An embodiment can comprise: determining whether an identified problem of a device has an associated defined solution stored in a repository of information; transmitting solution information representative of the associated defined solution to the device for application of the solution information to the device in a manner determined to have less than a defined amount of impact on the device and in accordance with defined security protocols of the device; and assessing a performance of the device after application of the solution information to the device to determine whether the solution information solved the identified problem. In some embodiments, solution detection can be performed such that based on a determination that the identified problem has been removed, the change that caused the identified problem can be determined.

In today's vast world of telecommunications, there is an ever-evolving network topology of different types of cellular devices that handle different densities of customers. For example, macrocell, microcell and picocell sites can be included in the same network and can service different densities of customers. Macrocell devices can have antennas greater than approximately 80 feet above ground level and whose transmitted radio frequency (RF) power is above 100 watts Equivalent Isotropically Radiated Power (EIRP). Microcell devices can have antennas approximately 80 to approximately 25 feet above ground level and whose transmitted RF power is between 100 watts and 5 watts EIRP. Picocell devices can have antennas below approximately 25 feet above ground level and whose transmitted RF power is below 5 watts EIRP. It is important to understand these three general types of sites (and correspondingly sites)—and the interaction among them to understand the future of radio networks and, thus, the embodiments described herein are important for providing such understanding and solutions to address issues resultant from these complex networks.
The network topology and/or landscape of a system can be a primary driver demanding that a network problem detection become faster and/or more automated. There are expectations that networks of tomorrow will densify and tomorrow's network demand of more calls, data and video can only be satisfied by a more densely packed network of cell sites than what is experienced in today's networks. Thus, growing network complexity and network demand can call for improved approaches to detection and/or remediation of problems.
Further, providers can have more than 100,000 cell site nodes to manage, often in uncontrolled environments more prone to failures and/or difficult to access. As radio networks densify, the number and variety of cell site nodes and uncontrolled conditions will likely increase by an order of magnitude. The increasing probability and volume of cell site node failures drives the resources for more resources to manage detection, diagnosis and correction. As systems become more complex, this makes it more difficult to match each problem with the associated cell site condition. Further, it is difficult to determine whether there has been a solution that was successful previously. Further, efforts to track, trend and timely respond to emerging conditions are labor intensive and not always perfectly accurate. Documentation and trouble handling processes therefore become inefficient, ineffective and unresponsive. This is true for the cellular communications business, medical industries and any other field where system and trouble complexity and volume exceed human capabilities to deal with them. Lastly, many other discreet variables such as specific location, specific mobile device, specific user application, specific time of day and a plethora of other operational details are not routinely captured and stored to make better optimization or diagnostic decisions.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System facilitating prediction, detection and mitigation of network or device issues in communication systems


A decoy stand includes a tubular base pole, a tubular sleeve coaxially supported on a top end of the base pole, and an extension pole telescopically received within the tubular base pole and the tubular sleeve. At least one decoy mount is coupled to each of the tubular sleeve and the extension pole.

Decoys have been used extensively by hunters to attract duck, geese, and other fowl. Typically, decoys are mounted individually on a stand and may have wings that are movable (e.g., by wind gusts, by an electric motor, etc.) to give an appearance as if the decoy is flapping its wings.


A high-precision positioning post having alternating parallel cuts transving the center-line of the shaft body and which are perpendicular to the major axis of the shaft. The shaft further comprises a bearing rod internal to the shaft which is acted on by a screw. As the screw is turned, the bearing rod forces the end of the shaft to axially translate an object without rotation. This allows an object integral to the shaft or mounted on the shaft to be translated and located along the major axis of the shaft without rotation of the object. In an alternate embodiment the present invention may be used to isolate vibration by inclusion of dampers in the hollow shaft. A third embodiment uses the basic design as a vibration isolation mechanism for buildings.

Devices used for positioning objects on optical benches in laboratory situations are well known. Representative of the art is U.S. Pat. No. 3,103,352 (1963) to Steffen which teaches a workpiece holder comprising two members rotatably held together. Each member has a V-notch to which the workpiece is clamped. The members may be rotated to any position relative to each other so that the V-notches are disposed at any predetermined angle relative to each other.
Another device representative of the art is what is known in the art as a "1/2-inch post". It is simply a 1/2-inch diameter post which is rigidly mounted to a base and to which other clamps are attached to support lenses, targets, or other workpieces. These devices tend to rotate the workpiece as the post is adjusted linearly.
What is needed is a high-precision positioning post with high rigidity which does not rotate the workpiece during linear adjustment. Such a breakthrough will significantly reduce position uncertainty of the workpiece due to backlash, wobble or hysteresis. The present invention satisfies this need.
Also representative of the art is:
A translation stage which provides a means for adjustably translating an object on one or more axis.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,554 (1993) to Asakawa et al. discloses a supporting device comprising a first member which supports and detects the position of a springy means resiliently supporting a second member.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,336 (1979) to Malis discloses a suspension arm and couplings for supporting an operating-room microscope.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,230,595 (1966) to Kedem discloses a device for gripping or clamping rods, wires, or other forms of similarly shaped members.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,129,918 (1964) to Bradley discloses a holder for linear indicators having an adjustable element through a wide range.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,095,665 (1937) to Greth discloses a paralleling and surveying machine to locate tooth surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,590,203 (1926) to Olssen discloses a support device for adjusting automobile glare shields.
Other publication: Product Engineering; May 2, 1960; page 73; Rotocon assemblers.

Axial translation precision position post

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


A vacuum cleaned micro-strainer is provided. The apparatus uses a rotating cylinder-shaped set of filtering screens through which waste water flows. A vacuum head centered above the cylindrical screen assembly sucks particulate matter from the screens. The micro-strainer is constructed of inexpensive, corrosion resistant, lightweight materials which minimize replacement and maintenance. The invention offers a cost-effective means for filtration of particulate matter from water generated by fish culture systems, cooling tower systems and waste water treatment systems while minimizing the collection of water.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to filtration of solids from water and more particularly to filter systems for fish culture tanks.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the culture of fish in small quantities, such as in aquarium culture, solid wastes are removed by capturing the solids in filters that must be cleaned by hand after they have become loaded with solids. Although labor intensive, this method is the preferred for small culture systems.
In large outdoor fish farms, such as catfish farms, the solids collect on the bottoms of ponds and are removed once per year after the fish have been harvested. This process results in all of the water in the pond being discarded (approximately 1-5 million gallons) and requires that new water be supplied before new fish can be added to the pond. The pond draining, drying, and refilling process can take as much as a month to accomplish.
Where fish are grown in raceways, such as in trout farms, solids are collected in areas near the end of the raceways and drained off to settling ponds. These ponds may be as large as one quarter the area of the raceways. These settling ponds must also be drained and cleaned by hand once or twice per year.
In Europe where Atlantic salmon are grown, some hatcheries are indoors using heated water for optimum growth. As settling ponds are too large to be placed indoors, a form of mechanical micro-strainer is used to remove solids. The fine screens used are cleaned by jets of high pressure water applied to the clean side of the screen which removes the solids but adds water. The ratio of water-in to water-out is about 100:1 and with a water flow of 24,000 gallons in per hour, the solids-rich waste water generated in this method typically amounts to 240 gallons. This solids-rich waste water cannot be discharged to a stream but must be collected and stored to be treated later by yet another process.
In a typical commercial fish growing operation, fish are stocked at about one pound per gallon of water. In a system containing 12,000 gallons of water, 12,000 pounds of fish can be fed three percent of body weight per day or 360 pounds per day or 30 pounds per hour dry weight. The wet weight of feces and uneaten food is about equal to the dry weight of food fed.
Efforts to avoid the generation of large quantities of waste-laden liquid during the cleaning process have been generally unsatisfactory in the fish farming industry. However, in an unrelated art area, U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,398 dated Sep. 20, 1988 shows a means of removing textile fibers from a stream of water containing fibers that have been concentrated by aeration of the incoming stream. The fibers are concentrated and are picked up by the belt and vacuumed off the belt and recovered.
The inapplicability of this scheme shown in the '398 patent to the fish farming tanks is evident in the patent's use of a belt as a waste pick-up. In fish farming operations, waste must be filtered out by a flow-through system thereby allowing removal of much smaller particles and also allowing particle removal at lower concentrations of waste per volume of liquid.


An exhaust-gas turbocharger includes: an exhaust-gas turbocharger housing having a turbine housing, a compressor housing, and a bearing housing; a turbine in the turbine housing; a compressor in the compressor housing; and a shaft rotatably mounted in the bearing housing by which the turbine and the compressor are rigidly connected, at least one channel having an inlet opening and an outlet opening being formed inside the shaft, the inlet opening and/or the outlet opening being arranged in a radial direction on a circumference of the shaft between the turbine and the compressor. The at least one channel is part of a channel system of an exhaust-gas recirculation system, a reducing agent infeed, or a secondary air infeed. For the secondary air infeed, an interior space of the compressor housing is in fluidic connection with an interior space of the turbine housing.

Exhaust-gas turbochargers are known for increasing the efficiency and increasing the power of internal combustion engines, and serve to turbocharge the internal combustion engine by using the exhaust-gas energy. For this purpose, the exhaust-gas turbocharger comprises a turbine arranged in a turbine housing in the exhaust-gas line and a compressor arranged in a compressor housing in the combustion-air line, wherein the turbine and the compressor are mounted on a common shaft for power transmission and form the rotor of the exhaust-gas turbocharger. During operation of the internal combustion engine, the turbine converts the exhaust-gas energy available in the exhaust-gas line into mechanical energy and uses this to compress the intake air in the combustion-air line by means of the compressor. The charge level and, accordingly, the efficiency and power are increased by the compression of the intake air.
Exhaust-gas recirculation systems are known which reduce nitrogen emissions or reduce charge-cycle losses in internal combustion engines, partially replacing the oxygen taking part in the combustion in the cylinder of the internal combustion engine by recirculated exhaust gas as inert gas. Particularly in the case of gasoline internal combustion engines, exhaust-gas recirculation reduces the charge-cycle losses due to a possible dethrottling, whereby efficiency is increased in the part-load range. Particularly in the case of diesel internal combustion engines, exhaust-gas recirculation reduces nitrogen oxide emissions due to the reduced combustion temperature resulting from the lower oxygen concentration. The exhaust-gas recirculation systems can take the form of internal exhaust-gas recirculation systems controlled by gas exchange valves or external, line-bound, exhaust-gas recirculation systems, wherein, in the case of an external exhaust-gas recirculation system, a distinction can be drawn between high-pressure exhaust-gas recirculation, low-pressure exhaust-gas recirculation, or multiple-path exhaust-gas recirculation. Accordingly, separate line systems and valve systems are necessary for an external exhaust-gas recirculation system.
A turbocharged internal combustion engine with an exhaust-gas turbocharger and exhaust-gas recirculation is known from patent specification DE 28 55 687 C2. The exhaust-gas recirculation system is embodied as a high-pressure exhaust-gas recirculation system with a connecting line between the high-pressure side of the turbine and the high-pressure side of the compressor. A valve is provided in the exhaust-gas recirculation line, by means of which the exhaust-gas recirculation line can be opened or closed as required.
European patent specification EP 1 191 216 B1 discloses an exhaust-gas turbocharger with exhaust-gas recirculation. The exhaust-gas recirculation system is embodied as a high-pressure exhaust-gas recirculation system with a connecting line between the high-pressure side of the turbine and the high-pressure side of the compressor, wherein the exhaust-gas recirculation line is connected directly to the turbine housing and to the compressor housing. A valve is provided in the exhaust-gas recirculation line, by means of which the exhaust-gas recirculation line can be opened or closed as required.
Patent specification DE 43 12 077 C1 discloses an exhaust-gas turbocharger for a turbocharged internal combustion engine, wherein the exhaust-gas turbocharger has a turbine and a compressor. For the purpose of recirculating exhaust gas or cooling the turbine components by means of charge air, a line is provided as a flow connection between the pressure side of the compressor and inflow side of the turbine. The flow connection is controlled by means of a variable guide-vane ring in the turbine housing. The charge air infeed from the pressure side to the inflow side or the exhaust-gas recirculation from the inflow side to the pressure side takes place as a function of the pressure gradient between the pressure side and inflow side, in which the guide-vane ring is actuated by an engine-map-controlled regulator.
Catalysts which operate according to the principle of selective catalytic reduction are known which further reduce nitrogen emissions in internal combustion engines. For the reduction of nitrogen oxides, such SCR catalysts require a reducing agent—in particular, ammonia—which, in the form of an aqueous urea solution, is added to the exhaust gas by means of a metering system. An optimal atomization and evaporation of the aqueous urea solution is of importance for the effectiveness of nitrogen oxide reduction. The aqueous urea solution is therefore injected into the exhaust-gas line by means of an injector upstream of the SCR catalytic converter, and optionally evaporated by means of additional heaters. Such SCR exhaust-gas aftertreatment systems are used primarily in diesel internal combustion engines.
European patent specification EP 1 295 016 B1 discloses an internal combustion engine which has a turbine in a turbine housing in the exhaust-gas line. For reducing the nitrogen emissions arising during operation of the internal combustion engine, an injection of aqueous urea solution into the exhaust gas is provided, wherein the injection nozzle is positioned in the turbine housing, and the aqueous urea solution is injected into the turbine chamber.
European patent specification EP 1 767 755 B1 discloses an internal combustion engine with an exhaust-gas turbocharger which has an ammonia reactor for reducing the nitrogen oxide emissions. The ammonia reactor has an evaporation/hydrolysis chamber which is positioned in the turbine housing of the exhaust-gas turbocharger such that the exhaust-gas waste heat is used for ammonia generation. The evaporation/hydrolysis chamber is, further, fluidically connected to the exhaust-gas line upstream and downstream of the turbine so that an exhaust-gas substream can be routed through the evaporation/hydrolysis chamber. Aqueous urea solution is fed into the evaporation/hydrolysis chamber by means of a metering device, wherein ammonia is formed by thermolysis and hydrolysis by using the exhaust-gas heat and steam from the exhaust-gas substream. Downstream of the turbine, the exhaust-gas substream with ammonia is then fed into the exhaust-gas line in order to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions.
For reducing hydrocarbon emissions and carbon monoxide emissions in gasoline internal combustion engines during the cold-start and warm-up phases or during regeneration of a particulate filter in the case of diesel engines, secondary air systems are known which cause afterburning of unburned components in the exhaust gas. For this purpose, by means of the secondary air system, air is supplied to the exhaust gas in the exhaust-gas line, bypassing the internal combustion engine. Afterburning reduces the hydrocarbon emissions and carbon monoxide emissions, and at the same time increases the exhaust-gas temperature to enable a faster activation of exhaust-gas aftertreatment devices. Secondary air systems are also known which conduct charge air into the exhaust-gas line to cool components in the exhaust-gas line while bypassing the internal combustion engine. Furthermore, solutions are known by means of which the exhaust gas can be enriched with fuel.
Patent specification DE 43 38 696 B4 discloses a device for exhaust-gas detoxification for internal combustion engines with an exhaust-gas turbocharger. This device comprises a secondary air system by means of which secondary air is blown into the exhaust-gas line downstream of the turbine.
Published patent application DE 102 04 073 A1 discloses a diesel internal combustion engine with an exhaust-gas turbocharger and secondary air system. For a regeneration of a particulate filter of the diesel internal combustion engine, compressed charge air is extracted upstream of the compressor of the exhaust-gas turbocharger and added to the exhaust gas downstream of the turbine and upstream of the particulate filter. In conjunction with an increase in unburnt exhaust-gas constituents, the particulate filter is regenerated using the secondary air system.
From the publication of international patent application WO 2008/00365 A1, a secondary air system for a turbine of an exhaust-gas turbocharger is known, by means of which a cooling of turbine components is to be achieved. The cooling air used for this purpose is removed at the outlet of the compressor.
In the known systems, an inadequate mixing, and thus a stratification of the recirculated exhaust gas, can, as a function of the pressure conditions and flow conditions, occur in the charge air, in the supplied secondary air, or in the supplied reducing agent in the exhaust gas. This inadequate mixing has an influence—in particular, during exhaust-gas recirculation—on the uniform distribution of the recirculated exhaust gas to the individual cylinders of a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine, on the reduction performance of the SCR catalytic converter during the infeeding of reducing agent, and, during the infeeding of secondary air, on afterburning or on component cooling.
From the Japanese published patent application JP 2008-215097 A, an exhaust-gas turbocharger is known which has a device for supplying fuel to the exhaust gas. For this purpose, the shaft of the exhaust-gas turbocharger is provided with a fuel channel. The fuel channel is provided with an inlet on the compressor side which is connected to an infeed. The infeed here extends partially over the inflow region of the compressor. The fuel channel is further provided with several outlets which are arranged in the region of the turbine blades. This is intended to effect a uniform distribution of the fuel in the exhaust gas.
It is disadvantageous that the infeed extends beyond the region of inflow to the compressor and thus influences the inflow. Furthermore, when designing the connection between the infeed and the shaft, a compromise must be made between tightness and friction.
The published patent application KR 1020170009130 A discloses an exhaust-gas turbocharger with an at least partially hollow shaft, wherein the channel in the shaft is part of a lubrication system of the exhaust-gas turbocharger.
Patent specification DE 809 690 B discloses an impeller for radial blowers and radial turbines, wherein a channel of an impeller cooling device is provided within a partially hollow impeller shaft. This impeller with cooling, which is illustrated as a sheet metal construction, is also intended to be used for exhaust-gas turbines.
Published patent application WO 97/11263 A1 discloses an exhaust-gas turbocharger having a hollow shaft as turbocharger shaft, wherein the channel formed thereby is used as a cooling channel. The coolant infeed is here effected via a nozzle fixed on the housing on the end face of the hollow shaft.
Published patent application JP 2015-113711 A discloses an exhaust-gas turbocharger having a hollow turbine with a turbine shaft, wherein a catalytically-active layer is arranged within the cavity in the turbine. In the exhaust-gas system, exhaust gas is recirculated downstream of the turbine via an exhaust-gas channel in the turbine shaft and the hollow turbine.
Published patent application DE 10 2009 020 646 A1 discloses an electrically-driven turbocharger having a shaft, wherein the shaft, at least in longitudinal sections, has a hollow channel for cooling the rotor. Furthermore, in the shaft, a connecting channel is provided between the hollow channel and the impeller.
Published patent application WO 2015/167844 A1 discloses a lubricant infeed of an impeller shaft of an exhaust-gas turbocharger, wherein, at the housing end, an annular channel running over the circumference of the shaft is provided for an oil infeed into an oil channel in the impeller shaft.
Published patent application JPS 55-57622 A discloses an exhaust-gas recirculation system, wherein the shaft of an exhaust-gas turbocharger is designed as a hollow shaft and connects the inlet channel and the outlet channel to one another. The introduction of the exhaust gas into the intake channel takes place by means of several radially-aligned openings.
Published patent application WO 2015/098391 A1 describes an exhaust-gas recirculation system for a supercharged internal combustion engine in which the recirculated exhaust gas is introduced upstream of the compressor impeller via an inlet cone in the compressor inlet.

IAV GMBH INGENIEURGESELLSCHAFT AUTO UND VERKEHR


A memory device and fabricating method thereof. In the memory device of the present invention, a substrate has a plurality of deep trenches, wherein the deep trenches formed in the adjacent rows are staggered. A deep trench capacitor and a control gate are disposed in each deep trench successively. Word lines are disposed on the control gates respectively, and each word line is electrically coupled to the control gate thereunder. Diffusion regions are disposed in the substrate and surrounding the deep trenches respectively to serve as sources of vertical transistors. Each diffusion region is electrically connected to the surrounding deep trench capacitor. Active areas are disposed on the rows of the control gates respectively along a second direction. The regions where each active area overlaps the control gates have at least one indentation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a memory device, and more particularly, to a memory device with vertical transistors and a fabrication method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a layout of a conventional memory device with vertical transistors and deep trench transistors. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of deep trench capacitors 10 are formed in the substrate (not shown), and the deep trench capacitors formed in adjacent rows are staggered. A plurality of word lines 12 are disposed above the columns of the deep trench capacitors respectively, along the vertical direction. A control gate (not shown) is disposed between each deep trench 10 and each word line 12, and is electrically coupled to the word line 12 thereon. A plurality of active areas 14 are formed in the substrate along the horizontal direction. Each active area 14 is disposed above one row of the deep trench capacitors 10, and overlaps the control gates thereunder.
Although the deep trench capacitors shown in FIG. 1 are rectangular, in fact, trench capacitors are actually octagonal due to the semiconductor fabrication process, as shown in FIG. 2A. FIG. 2B shows a misalignment between the active area 14 and control gate in a deep trench capacitor 10. FIG. 3A is an enlarged view of the region 19 in the FIG. 2B. Typically, the region 21 is a gate oxide layer of a transistor (not shown), and region 23 is a portion of an active area 14 and is composed of Si. The region 25 composed of polysilicon is another portion of the active area 14 and serves as the gate of the transistor (not shown). The region 27 is a deep trench isolation composed of silicon oxide. FIG. 3B shows a silicon on isolation (SOI) structure. As shown in FIG. 3A, the regions 21, 23, 25 and 27 form an SOI structure. FIG. 3C shows the relationship between threshold voltage and the thickness of a silicon transistor with an SOI structure. In a memory device as shown in FIG. 3A, the silicon thickness of the transistor with an SOI structure may decrease when a misalignment occurs between the active areas 14 and the control gate on the deep trench capacitors 10. When this condition is met, an angle of the lateral surface 141 of the active area 14 relative to lateral surface 29 of the region 21 is θ1 and is not equal to 90°. The smaller angle θ1 the smaller thickness W. Consequently, the threshold voltage of the vertical transistor (not shown) is reduced as the thickness W is reduced, as shown in FIG. 3C.
In view of this, memory devices with vertical transistors and deep trench capacitors suffer a decrement in threshold voltage of the vertical transistors, and further, current leakage or malfunctions due to misalignment of active areas and control gates on the deep trench capacitors thereof may occur.

Memory device and fabrication method thereof


According to the present embodiment, an image-reading apparatus determines any one or both of the type of document and the shape of a document, selects any one or both of an appropriate document tilt detection method and an appropriate document position detection method according to any one or both of the determined type of document and the determined shape of a document, and detects any one or both of the tilt of the document and the position of the document by the selected detection method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image-reading apparatus, an image-reading method, and a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, technologies of image-reading apparatus have been developed to automatically detect the tilt and position of a document and to clip only the document area.
For example, there is a method to improve the accuracy with which the document area is detected, where the linearity of the edge of a document is detected so that the effect of the edge that is different from the end of the document is reduced (see JP-A-2007-088654).
Furthermore, there is a method to improve the accuracy with which the tilt of a document is detected, where the two sides that are perpendicular to each other or the two sides that are parallel to each other are selected from the edge of a document, and the tilt of the document is detected (see JP-A-2009-267652).
However, conventional methods for detecting a document area have a problem in that it is difficult to handle various types of document and shapes of a document, such as a document of a medium that is stitched and cut out. Specifically, the cut side of a document is sometimes tilted compared with a group of other straight lines, or a distortion occurs on a document due to the manner of feeding it during reading; however, according to conventional methods for detecting the document area, it is difficult to detect the tilt and position of a document with a high accuracy.

Image-reading apparatus, image-reading method, program, and recording medium


In encoding in which an adaptive codebook such as PSI-CELP or a fixed codebook is used on switching selection, waveform distortion caused by selection of the fixed codebook in case input speech frequency components are changed significantly is diminished. An output of an adaptive codebook 21 or an output of a fixed codebook 22 is selected by a changeover selection switch 26 and summed to an output of noise codebooks 23, 24 so as to be sent to a linear prediction synthesis filter 16. A switching control circuit 19 for controlling the switching of a changeover control switch 26 operates in response to a prediction gain which is a ratio of the linear prediction residual energy to the initial signal energy from a linear prediction analysis circuit 14 so that, if the prediction gain is smaller than a pre-set threshold value, the switching control circuit 19 judges the input signal to be voiced and controls the changeover control switch 26 for compulsorily selecting the output of the adaptive codebook 21.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a speech encoding method and apparatus for encoding speech signals by digital signal processing with high efficiency.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a speech encoding method with a low bit rate of the order of 4.8 to 9.6 kbps, for example, applicable to a car telephone, a portable telephone or to television telephone, has been developed. A code excited linear prediction (CELP) encoding method, such as vector sum excited linear prediction (VSELP) encoding method, has been proposed as the speech encoding method . There is also proposed, a so-called half-rate speech encoding method, having a halved bit rate, such as a bit rate on the order of 3.45 kbps, CELP encoding with pitch synchronization processing, that is a so-called pitch synchronous innovation- CELP (PSI-CELP), has been proposed.
This PSI-CELP encoding method is of a CELP type encoding system and includes, a codebook for excited code vector as an excitation source, an adaptive codebook for long-term prediction, a fixed codebook and a noise codebook. The PSI-CELP encoding method is characterized in that the noise codebook is rendered periodic in association with the pitch period lag of the adaptive code vector. The pitch synchronization of the noise codebook is realized by taking out the speech corresponding to a pitch period, as the basic speech period, from the leading end of the noise codebook, and by modifying the speech thus taken out into a repetitive form for improving the quality of the voiced portion. Also, with the PSI-CELP, it is aimed to improve the expressive character of the non-periodic speech by switching between the adaptive codebook and the fixed codebook.
With the above-described PSI-CELP, the voiced speech and the unvoiced speech are effectively processed for speech synthesis by selectively switching between the fixed codebook and the adaptive codebook as a long-term predictive filter responsive to input signals. However, if frequency components of the voiced speech are significantly changed between forward and backward sub-frames, the fixed codebook is predominantly selected, thus impairing continuity of the decoded speech and possibly producing waveform distortion.
In selecting the code vector of the adaptive codebook and the fixed codebook, candidates exhibiting the strongest correlation with the input signals are selected. For example, if the input speech is changed from the speech containing many high-frequency components to the speech where the specified low frequency range is predominant, the state of the adaptive codebook of the long-term prediction filter cannot follow up with such changes, as a result of which the fixed codebook exhibiting strong correlation is predominantly selected. However, on decoding, speech continuity is impaired significantly, such that waveform distortion is produced in the worse case.