An anterior lumbar plate for attachment with bone screws to selected vertebrae of a person's spine is combined: (a) with separate L5 and S1 drill guides separately and removably attachable to the lumbar plate, and (b) with lock plates removably attachable to the lumbar plate to prevent unscrewing of installed bone screws. This invention further provides a method for implanting and locking in place the L5 and S1 bone screws. This invention is adaptable for L4-L5, L4-L5-S1, and L5-S1 lumbar plates.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to spinal fusions and more particularly to an anterior approach implant system for fixing a stabilizing appliance to the L4-L5, L5-S1 and L4-L5-S1 vertebrae.
B. Prior Art
Over 200,000 spinal fusions are performed each year in the United States, with the L4-L5 and L5-S1 disc spaces being the most commonly fused. The indications for fusion range from traumatic instability to degenerative spinal stenosis. Procedures which require decompression in addition to fusion are most commonly performed posteriorly. Fusions performed for primarily mechanical axial back pain from degenerative disc disease are done anteriorly.
In the past, performing anterior fusion with total disc excision has been problematic without using posterior instrumentation. There was the "cage rage" of the 1990's which lead to high non-union rates and failures. Surgeons then began to perform 360s or anterior and posterior fusions because of the superiority of posterior instrumentation. This subjected patients to long procedures with significant morbidity.
Recently, surgeons have been attempting to perform discectomy and anterior fusion with posterior approaches, such as posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) and transpedicular lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF). These techniques are difficult and require significant nerve root retraction, which places the root at risk. There has also been a high rate of non-union because of inadequate disc space preparation from the posterior approach. This has led a significant number of surgeons to once again approach this problem anteriorly; however, rather than using a stand-alone technique they are using anterior instrumentation.
The anterior approach allows a more safe and speedy access to the disc and more safe preparation of the disc, resulting in higher fusion rates. Unfortunately, current instrumentation systems for anterior fusion, such as the Danek triangular plate and the Synthese plate, have serious flaws.
The Danek triangular plate is an anterior plate designed for L5-S1 fusion only, with its base having two screw holes for placement in S1 and its top having one hole for screw placement in L5. Because of this triangular structure with one hole at each apex of the triangle, coronal rotation of L5 cannot be controlled.
With the Synthese anterior plate each bone screw has distal portion threads for engagement with the L5 and S1 vertebrae respectively, and proximal portion threads for engagement with the plate. The plate, the screws and the L5 and S1 vertebrae become joined as a unit, and the vertebrae cannot angulate relative to the plate or relative to each other, thus the term "fixed angle device". Because of this construction, the Synthese plate has two significant shortfalls. Firstly, a fixed angle device does not allow any dynamic loading in compression and may stress shield the graft, possibly leading to non-union. Secondly, the locking mechanism with the Synthese plate fixes the screw to the plate and does not allow the plate to be lagged to the bone securely. This can lead to prominence of the plate, which can be a problem in this location, since the plate is placed under the great vessels at L4-L5. Also, the surgeon has no feel for the purchase of the screws to the bone.


In a plasma display device comprising a pair of opposing insulating substrates and a plurality of light emitting cells 5 formed from partition walls which divide the space between the insulating substrates while a plurality of electrodes are formed in the light emitting cells 5 and the inner space is filled with a discharge gas and plasma being generated by applying a voltage selectively between the electrodes so that the fluorescent substances 4 formed on the inner walls of the light emitting cells emit light as light emitting elements, wherein sizes of the light emitting cells 5 of different colors are made different according to the luminance of the fluorescent substance of the corresponding color. That is, cells which emit light of a color of luminance lower than the other cells are made with larger opening to obtain equally high luminance for all the three primary colors, thereby mitigating the deviation in the luminance among the fluorescent substances and achieving full-color display of high image quality with high color purity.

The present invention relates to a plasma display device used for colored image display of high brightness having low weight and thin construction.
Cathode ray tubes, which have been widely used as image display apparatuses, have bulky construction with large weight and requirements for high supply voltage, and therefore have been replaced by flat panel-shaped image display apparatus such as plasma display device (also referred to as a plasma display panel). The plasma display devices have been developed as the multimedia and telecommunication technologies advance and have been finding new, expanding applications.
The plasma display device is considered to be a promising colored image display apparatus in the future, because it has high image quality achieved by the use of plasma light emission, availability for large screen size and thin and low weight construction without occupying much place to be installed.
A plasma display device, as shown in FIG. 4, has such a construction that a space between a back plate 1, which is a substrate, and a transparent front plate 6 disposed in front of the back plate 1 is divided by plurality of partition walls 2, then to form plurality of light emitting micro-cells 5 surrounded by the partition walls. Each cell includes a pair of discharge electrodes 7 and 7, fluorescent layer 4 applied to the inner wall surfaces within the cell to emit one of the three primary colors, and a rare gas filling the inner space.
An address electrode 3 for switching light emission is placed at the bottom of the cell, and a voltage is applied selectively between the address electrode 3 and the discharge electrode 7, thereby discharging the rare gas to generate plasma. Ultraviolet light emitted by the discharge of the rare gas induces the emission of fluorescent light of wavelengths intrinsic to the fluorescent substances of the fluorescent layer 4 applied to the inner wall of the light emitting cell 5. Such cells constitute as light emitting elements an image for the display apparatus.
The color plasma display device uses emission of light in three primary colors, red (R), green (G) and blue (B) from the different fluorescent substances 4 excited by vacuum ultraviolet rays of the plasma. More particularly, energy released from the rare gas excited by the plasma in the cells, when returning to the ground state, is emitted as vacuum ultraviolet rays, which are used to excite the fluorescent substances 4 and to emit fluorescent light due to a change in energy level of the fluorescent substance from the excited state to the ground state. Red (R), green (G) and blue (B) colors are generated by using light of wavelengths intrinsic to the three different fluorescent substances.
The fluorescent substances which emit different colors receive the supplied energy in the form of the same ultraviolet ray and convert the energies into light of different wavelengths. As a result, the light of different colors have different values of spectral luminous efficacy dependently on the light wavelength, i.e., the color, and, therefore, luminous flux from the light emitting cells varies depending on the color of the cell. Different fluorescent substances also have different luminous efficacy, namely dependency of radiated energy on the electric power supply. Consequently, a simple colored image on the display panel has different value depending on the color, R, G or B.
Supposing, for example, blue light emitted by a fluorescent substance has lower luminance than green light by the another, an image on base of blue, for example color of sea, has different gradient from an image on base of green, for example, the color of forest. The green forest has higher luminance than the blue sea. As a result, gradation of display cannot be controlled smoothly for the image of sea having insufficient luminance, resulting in giving a grained impression of the blue sea to viewers. An image on base of red, for example, making up the color of a person""s skin, has also been difficult to represent with smooth and natural texture for the same reason, because red color has an intermediate level of luminance between green and blue.
Difference in the luminance of fluorescent substances of different colors is a cause of variation in tonality of images displayed on the panel, and the plasma display devices of the prior art has such a problem that it is difficult to represent natural images.
An object of the present invention is to provide a plasma display device which is capable of producing different colors having uniform maximum luminance to display natural full-color images, by setting dimensions of light emitting cells of three colors RGB such that each fluorescent substance in the light emitting cell may emit substantially the same luminous flux of light.
According to the present invention, inner spaces of the light emitting cells of the plasma display device are formed in different sizes according to luminance of the color of each fluorescent substance.
In the present invention, each light emitting cell is to emit light different in color with less deviation in luminous flux between the color light emitting cells, thereby to obtain substantially equal levels of luminance with different colors on the image.
Specifically, among the fluorescent substances of red (R), green (G) and blue (B) colors, cell space for color B, if it has the lowest luminance of the all colors, is made greater, cell space for color G, having the highest level of luminance, is made smaller. Cell space for color R having an intermediate level of luminance is set to an intermediate size. This makes it possible to prevent the image displayed on the plasma display device from being yellowish as in prior art, and to provide more natural full-color display.
More specifically, luminance of light emitted.by a light emitting cell increases in near proportion to the cube of the size of opening of a light emitting cell. For example, when the opening area of the light emitting cell increases by 10%, luminance of light emitted from the cell increases by about 30%. The present invention makes use of this characteristic of light emitting cell to set said cells such that a product of the cube of the size of opening of the light emitting cell emitting one of primary colors multiplied by luminance of the color emitted by the fluorescent substance is substantially equal to that of any other primary color.
According to the present invention, space of the light emitting cell can be changed for different primary colors by forming the light emitting cells with different widths for different primary colors. Width of a light emitting cell can be changed by changing the pitch of partition walls having a constant thickness and/or the thickness of the partition wall having a constant pitch. Such a method may also be employed as the light emitting cells of different primary colors are made to have different depths. In the plasma display device of the present invention, deviation in luminous flux among R, G and B colors emitted by the light emitting cells is mitigated to make the luminances of different colors uniform over the entire display panel, thereby enhancing the displayed image quality.
According to the present invention, ratio of the thickness of each partition wall to the sum of widths of discharging regions located on both sides of the partition wall is preferably made substantially constant. This configuration makes it possible to make substantially equal stress applied to all partition walls regardless of different widths of a light emitting cell adjoining the partition wall (namely the interval between the partition walls). As a consequence, because the stress generated in the partition walls can be made constant even when the opening areas of the light emitting cells and the thickness of the partition walls experience variations because of adjustment of luminance of the three primary colors on the display panel, defects in the partition walls and coupling of the light emitting cells caused thereby can be prevented.


Electrophotographic charging devices and methods for charging a receptor with a solid state charging device are disclosed. In an exemplary embodiment, the solid state charging device can include a dielectric layer, a first electrode disposed adjacent to a first surface of the dielectric layer, and a second electrode having a first surface disposed adjacent to a second surface of the dielectric layer. The solid state charging device can further include a plurality of nanostructures each having an end in electrical contact with a second surface of the second electrode. The exemplary solid state charging devices including the nanostructures can use less voltage than conventional charging devices, produce a reduced amount of oxidizing agents, such as, ozone and NOx, and/or operate at a lower temperature.

In the electrophotographic process, various charging devices are needed to charge a photoreceptor ("receptor"), recharge a toner layer, charge an intermediate transfer belt for electrostatic transfer of toner, or charge a sheet of media, such as a sheet of paper. A conventional solid state charging device extracts charge, e.g., ions and/or electrons, from a high-density plasma source. The source is created by electrical gas breakdown in a high frequency AC field between two conducting electrodes, typically a coronode and one or more AC electrodes, separated by a dielectric material. The potential of the coronode, the electrode directly facing the photoreceptor, determines the polarity and magnitude of charging current. Problems arise because undesired highly reactive oxidizing species are generated in the process that degrade the photoreceptor and may cause air pollution. Moreover, in conventional solid state charging devices, charged species are generated nonuniformly across the surface of the coronode and may occur to a larger degree at the corners. To compensate, high operating temperatures are required to achieve charge uniformity. Another problem arises due to the high voltages which lead to localized breakdown of the dielectric layer that also results in non-uniform charging.
Thus, there is a need to overcome these and other problems of the prior art to provide a method and system for solid state charging of the receptor, to reduce the operating temperature and AC voltages used in the charging process, and to improve the overall operating efficiency of these devices.

Nanostructure-based solid state charging device


A compact, lightweight, and inexpensive spectral analyzer (10) that creates a highly concentrated and collimated beam of light and that has a long optical path length that improves the analyzer's signal-to-noise ratio is disclosed. The spectral analyzer includes an optical collector assembly (12), a specimen holder (14), and an optical detector (16). The collector assembly includes a collector housing (18) having a plurality of spaced, internally reflective walls (22,24) and an exit aperture (26) through one of the walls, and a light source (20) positioned between the reflective walls. The light rays emitted from the light source are collected and collimated by the reflective walls into a highly concentrated beam of parallel light rays that is directed out of the exit aperture. The specimen holder is positioned adjacent the exit aperture of the collector for receiving the collimated beam. The collector assembly and specimen holder are positioned relative to one another so that the collimated beam is directed into the specimen holder at a pre-selected fixed angle. The specimen holder is polygonal in cross section and includes a plurality of internally reflective surfaces for reflecting the collimated beam at the pre-selected fixed angle along an optical path that is substantially longer than the specimen holder. The optical detector is positioned in or adjacent to the specimen holder for detecting the collimated beam after it has been reflected by the internally reflective surfaces of the specimen holder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to spectral analyzers. More particularly, the invention relates to a lightweight and compact spectral analyzer that creates a highly concentrated and collimated beam of light and then reflects the beam along a relatively long optical path length for improving the analyzer's signal-to-noise ratio without the use of complicated and expensive optical imaging equipment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Spectral analyzers are commonly used in the analysis of various types of gas, solid, and liquid specimens. Typical spectral analyzers include a specimen holder for receiving a specimen to be analyzed, a light source for directing light rays through the specimen holder and the specimen contained therein, and an optical detector for detecting the light rays after they have passed through the specimen and for producing representative signals. The detector signals are then analyzed to determine the effect that the specimen had upon the light rays to determine characteristics of the specimen such as the presence and/or concentration of a particular compound in the specimen.
One significant problem associated with prior art spectral analyzers is that they suffer from low signal-to-noise ratios resulting from low detectable light levels and relatively short optical path lengths. One prior art solution to this problem is to focus more light energy through a short optical path length to increase the detectable light levels. This design, however, is limited by Beer-Lambert absorption problems. Other prior art attempts to solve this problem involve the use of complex and expensive imaging optical components coupled with reflective chambers. Although these devices have improved signal-to-noise ratios, they are too complicated and expensive for most applications.
Accordingly, there is a need for a relatively compact, lightweight, and inexpensive spectral analyzer that achieves a relatively high signal-to-noise ratio without the use of complicated and expensive optical equipment.


Optimized pulse commands are utilized for reducing vibration in a step motor, the optimized commands being created by correcting position, velocity, acceleration, deceleration, and movement distance terms of a basic motion profile with position feedback information generated during operation.

It is often found difficult to control operation of a step motor in accordance with a designed motion profile, due to variations in the velocity requirements and the torque demands to which the motor may be subjected. Pulse generators, or indexers, can be employed to create a variety of profiles for implementing different motion patterns, but such systems do not adequately take load factors into account and commonly require speed and efficiency compromises in order to accommodate unanticipated vibrations. Servo control can be applied to ensure reliable attainment of a commanded rotor or motor load position; however, the dedicated position sensor and algorithm required for servo control, and the need for gain tuning, make such systems expensive and complicated and hence ill-suited for many applications.

Position command and pulse timing command optimization for step motors, using a position sensor

Oriental Motor Boston Technology Group Incorporated


Method for determining at least one wavelet coefficient Ws(τ) of a wavelet transform of a signal in which the mother wavelet of the transform has a support subdivided into J≧1 intervals bound by (J+1) extremity points, and is defined by a polynomial of a maximum level N≧1 on each interval. The method includes calculating all or some of the primitives of the signal of order k between 2 and N+1, at least at (J+1) points corresponding to extremity points of the intervals of the wavelet support dilated by a factor of s and translated by a time τ; calculating the convolution of said or each primitive sampled in this way with a respective succession of (J+1) coefficients Cik(s), dependent upon said wavelet; and determining the wavelet coefficient by calculating a linear combination of convolutions. Steps a) to c) are implemented by a processor configured or programmed in an appropriate manner.

Wavelet transform is an important tool in signal processing, used in particular to perform time-frequency analyses. In general terms, a wavelet transform is described by the convolution:
                                          W            s                                          (            τ            )                          =                              1                          s                                                                    ∫                              -                ∞                            ∞                                                                  x                                                  (                  t                  )                                                                                ψ                  *                                                                  (                                                            t                      -                      τ                                        s                                    )                                                                                ⅆ                t                                                                        (        1        )                            where:                    t is time;            x(t) is the signal to be transformed;            function ψεL2() is the "mother wavelet", also called the "generator function"; it generally presents a compact support [−α, +α];            s>0 is called the "scale factor";            τ is the time delay;            "*" indicates the conjugate complex; in fact, ψ can generally be a function with complex values, but in the following we shall consider, without losing generality, the case where it is a real function;            Ws(τ) is a wavelet coefficient dependent on s and τ.
We talk about "Discrete Wavelet Transform" (DWT), when s=am and τ=nb, where m,n are positive integers. If s and τ can adopt any value—any positive value in the case of s—we talk about "Continuous Wavelet Transform" (CWT), even if signal x is discrete, which is generally the case, to allow it to be digitally processed.
DWTs are generally more suitable for processing neuronal signals, for example, because they allow said signals to be analyzed at the desired frequential resolution.
For more details on wavelet transform, one may refer to: Beatrice Pesquet-popescu and Jean-Christophe Pesquet "Ondelettes et applications" ("Wavelets and applications"), Techniques de l'Ingénieur, Chapter TE 5 215.
Fast algorithms have been developed for performing discrete wavelet transforms. In contrast, continuous wavelet transforms remain relatively onerous in terms of time and resources, which limits their use in real time applications and low energy consumption applications.
In a conventional manner, a CWT is implemented, in an approximate fashion, by replacing the integral of equation (1) by a discrete sum. The case of a signal x(t) sampled at discrete intervals t=−1, 0, 1, 2 . . . is considered (for the sake of simplicity, and without losing generality, the time scale is taken such that its discretization step equals 1), and xi=x(ti) is put down; the mother wavelet ψ is defined on a compact support [−α, +α]. The function:
            ψ      s                  (      t      )        =            1              s                        ψ                    (                  t          s                )            is defined, whose support is [−αs, +αs] where αs=α/s. Equation (1) then becomes:
            W      s                  (      τ      )        =                    ∫                  -                      α            s                                    α          s                                            x                                (                          t              +              τ                        )                                                        ψ            s                                          (            t            )                                                                              ⅆ          t                      =                            ∑                      i            =                          -                              α                s                                                                          α            s                    -          1                                            ∫          i                      i            +            1                                                        x                                      (                              t                +                τ                            )                                                                    ψ              s                                                  (              t              )                                                                                ⅆ            t
To calculate this sum of integrals, we make the piecewise constant signal approximation: x(t)=xi ∀tε[i, i+1[(other approximations are possible, for example, linear interpolation between t=i and t=i+1); furthermore, one limits oneself to integer values of τ(τ= . . . , −1, 0, 1, . . . ). One can therefore write:
                                                        W              s                                                  (              τ              )                                =                                                    ∑                                  i                  =                                      -                    α                                                                              α                -                1                                                                                A                i                                                          x                                  i                  +                  τ                                                                                with                                                                                A              i                                =                                    ∫              i                              i                +                1                                                                                ψ                  s                                                                  (                  t                  )                                                                                ⅆ                  t                                .                                                                        (        2        )
By considering the coefficients Ai as known, which can be calculated once and for all, one sees that determining a single wavelet coefficient requires (2α−1) multiplications and (2α−2) sums. Now, α can adopt relatively large values, for example, to make a time-frequency analysis of a signal sampled at 1 kHz in frequency range 10 Hz-300 Hz with Meyer wavelets, α is typically between 100 and 3000.
The article by M. Omachi and S. Omachi "Fast calculation of continuous wavelet transform using polynomial", Proceedings of the 2007 International Conference on Wavelet Analysis and Pattern Recognition, Beijing, China, 2-4 Nov. 2007 describes a fast CWT method for a signal, in which the number of operations required does not depend on α. In this method, the mother wavelet is defined by a polynomial of order d on a compact support: typically, order d and the coefficients of the polynomial are chosen in such a way as to approximate, with the desired accuracy, a non-polynomial "reference" wavelet, such as a Haar wavelet. The wavelet coefficients are calculated in a recursive manner; hence Ws(τ) is calculated from Ws−1(τ), the scale factor being considered an integer. The computational cost of calculating coefficient Ws(τ) is O(ds).
This method has a certain number of disadvantages.
Firstly, the polynomial approximation of a "reference wavelet", such as the Haar wavelet, may necessitate recourse to a high order d, which increases the computational cost of the method accordingly.
Secondly, it does not allow coefficients Ws to be determined for different values of s—and therefore for different frequencies—independently of each other. On the contrary, the recursive character of the algorithm means that the determination of Ws necessarily involves determining W1 . . . Ws−1. The method of M. Omachi and S. Omachi is therefore not optimized for the applications in which a signal has to be analyzed only in certain spectral bands.

Method for fast wavelet transform of a signal

Commissariat A L'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives


An improved shopping cart having retractable legs is provided that allows the cart to be loaded into a vehicle while contents remain in the shopping cart basket.

Conventional shopping carts are limited for use within the compounds of a shopping establishment. Shoppers have to manually transfer their goods from the cart into their vehicles. Then they have to manually carry the goods, usually in several trips, from the vehicle to their homes. This is difficult for people with infants or small children, especially for those who dwell in tall buildings. These people at times have to park their vehicles from a distance to their building entrances. They have to carry their goods into the building, into the elevator, through the hallways, then finally into their dwelling units. These difficulties are further enhanced in inclement weather conditions.
There are inventions of folding or collapsing carts, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,644 , issued Aug. 23, 1988 ,and U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,021 , issued Dec. 23, 1997 , where the user has to empty and transfer the cart's contents into the vehicle, then it is folded, picked up and loaded into the vehicle. These current inventions do not allow the users to effortlessly load the cart without taking out its contents directly into the vehicle.
An invention by Cortes U.S. Pat. No. 5,906,383 , issued May 25, 1999 , for a "Home Shopping Cart" consists of a low profile cart with handles attached to the top edge of the basket. The user has to manually lift the entire cart from the ground and load it into a vehicle's trunk.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,080,844 some of the problems unsolved by the above-mentioned patents allow the user to conveniently load and unload the transportable shopping cart with its contents in and out of their vehicles without manually transferring their goods nor lifting the entire cart. The invention in the '844 patent is complex and requires shocks, and other complicated mechanics, that make operation impractical.


In a method for measuring the bonding quality of bonded substrates, such as bonded SOI wafers, a plurality of marks are created at a first side of a top substrate after, or before, the bonding of the top substrate onto a bottom substrate. Then, the positions of the plurality of marks are measured using a metrology tool. Next, for each of the marks, a difference between a measured position and an expected position is calculated. These differences can be used to determine delamination between the top substrate and the bottom substrate. By displaying a vector field representing the differences, and by not showing vectors that exceed a certain threshold, the delamination areas can be made visible.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for measuring bonding quality of bonded substrates, a metrology apparatus, and a device manufacturing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a lithographic manufacturing process, a lithographic apparatus applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In that instance, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g. including part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. Known lithographic apparatus include steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at one time, and scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction (the "scanning" direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. It is also possible to transfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate by imprinting the pattern onto the substrate.
In the manufacture of Micro Electronic Mechanical Systems (MEMS), a substrate including mechanical devices, here referred to as top substrate, is bonded on top of a substrate including electronic devices, referred to as bottom substrate. Both the bottom as well as the top substrate may be Silicon On Insulator (SOI) substrates. Currently, SOI substrate bonding technology is used at the manufacture of those substrates. Either qualitative infrared (IR) systems or surface flatness systems are used to assess the substrate bonding quality in order to test for de-lamination. Both of these methods are expensive, and in most cases they are qualitative rather than quantitative.

Method for measuring bonding quality of bonded substrates, metrology apparatus, and method of producing a device from a bonded substrate


A greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness is achieved by optically assessing the condition of a gas discharge lamp. Herein, a system and method of optically assessing lamp condition includes measuring the intensity of emitted light within two portions of the emitted spectrum. One portion of the lamp's spectrum is selected such that the intensity of emitted light from that portion remains relatively constant as the lamp ages. The second portion of the lamp's spectrum is selected such that the intensity of the emitted light varies measurably as the lamp ages. A ratio is computed between the two intensities. Comparing this ratio to a reference ratio provides information of the relative present condition (i.e., age) of the lamp being tested. Associating the lamp with location data is a further aspect. Important advantages are the ability to predict relative lamp age, and thus avoid both premature lamp replacement and pre-failure lamp cycling.

Light fixtures (i.e., lights) utilizing high intensity discharge (HID) lamps, such as mercury vapor, metal halide, xenon, high pressure sodium (HPS) and low pressure sodium (LPS) lamps are well-known in the lighting field, and are currently in wide use for area and road way lighting applications in a variety of environments. There are literally millions of these lights in operation throughout the world to light streets and parking lots, industrial spaces, aquariums, gymnasiums, arenas, parks, and many other indoor and outdoor areas. Other types of gas discharge lamps, such as fluorescent, and neon also are widely used in commercial, residential and civic environments. Induction and sulfur lamps are other types of lamps similarly generating light from gas excitation.
A clear arc tube (i.e., a refractory envelope made from, for example, glass, quartz, clear ceramic, etc.) is filled with gasses, such as rare gases and metals. Sodium lamps include an amalgam of metallic sodium, and mercury as a buffer gas for color and voltage control. Small amounts of xenon (or, sometimes, argon plus neon) are used as a "starting gas." A metal halide type lamp is typically filled with argon along with mercury and other metals (e.g., sodium, lithium, thallium, scandium, etc.) in iodine/halogen salt form. A xenon lamp is typically filled with xenon gas. The specific gas mixture used in a particular lamp determines the characteristics of the light emitted therefrom.
The arc tube is often encased within an outer bulb to minimize temperature variations along the arc tube, to reduce oxidation of internal interconnects, to absorb UV light, and to otherwise protect the arc tube. Main (i.e., operating) electrodes, and optional starting electrodes, are enclosed within the arc tube. A starting voltage from a power source is applied from a ballast across the electrodes. The voltage necessary to ignite the arc in the gases is typically derived from a starter circuit connected across an electronic or transformer ballast. Electrons are emitted ionizing one of the fill gasses (e.g., argon) permitting an arc to be established between the main electrodes located across the arc tube. Heat from the arc causes mercury, and/or other materials within the arc tube to vaporize, increasing metal pressures and resulting in color changes until full output equilibrium is reached. Increased metal pressures cause a decrease in the electrical resistance of the lamp up to some point. Further temperature increases will tend to increase electrical resistance. This start-up process can take several minutes to stabilize.
A fluorescent lamp operates in a somewhat similar manner. A glass tube is filled with low pressure gasses (typically argon or argon-krypton with a small amount of mercury added). Electrodes are located across the tube. The inside of the glass tube is coated or composed of phosphors (e.g., calcium tungstenate, zinc sulfide, zinc silicate, etc.). An electrical voltage of sufficient strength is applied across the tube's electrodes causing electrical current (i.e., an arc) to flow between them. The current is composed of moving electrons which interact with the gas atoms (e.g., mercury) causing some of the atoms to move to a higher energy state. However, these excited energy states are not stable and the electrons quickly drop back down to their original energy levels emitting the excess energy as ultra violet (UV) light. UV light is not in the visible light spectrum. The UV light is absorbed by the phosphors and then reemitted at a different frequency (e.g., light in the visible spectrum). This principle is known as florescence, and different types of phosphors emit visible light at different wavelengths (i.e., colors). HID lamps emit visible spectrum light directly and do not need a coating of phosphors in order to produce visible light.
"Neon lamps" are tubes filled with a variety of low pressure gasses such as neon or mercury vapor (with argon), helium, nitrogen, krypton, hydrogen, xenon, and argon. Colored tubes and/or phosphors are combined with a particular gas mixture and concentration to achieve a light emission of the desired color (i.e., spectrum). They otherwise operate similar to fluorescent lamps.
Induction lamps produce light through use of an induction coil to create a high frequency electromagnetic field inside an electron/ion plasma gas enclosed by a glass housing. The field excites the plasma causing atoms (e.g., mercury) to emit UV light. The UV light interacts with phosphors and is converted to visible light in much the same manner as fluorescent lamps. The absence of electrodes is a beneficial feature of this type of lamp.
Sulfur lamps use a small microwave generator (i.e., magnetron) to excite a gas mixture (e.g., argon and sulfur) in a clear quartz enclosure. The argon gas absorbs energy from the microwaves and then kinetically transfers it to the sulfur molecules, which in turn produce to visible light directly. The atoms or molecules of another type of gas discharge lamp are ionized by a radio frequency in proximity to the arc tube.
The lumen (lm) is the SI unit of luminous flux. A standard 100 watt incandescent light bulb emits approximately 1,700 lumens.
Although lamps have a relatively long lifespan, they eventually fail over time. HID and fluorescent lamps exhibit undesirable behaviors as they approach failure, from flickering (e.g., fluorescent, etc.) to exploding (e.g., metal halide, etc.). As certain HID lamps age, their internal resistance increases requiring higher voltages and currents to start, and sustain, the lamp's arc. Electrode depletion and deposition of the electrode material on the interior of the arc tube darkens the tube, resulting in less light emission, increasing heat retention and gas pressure. Internal resistance increases as temperature rises. Eventually the internal resistance exceeds the voltage and current capabilities of its ballast and/or power supply. The lamp can no longer maintain a continuous arc and ceases to operate.
Prior to complete failure the light may cycle on and off repeatedly, igniting and operating until heating increases internal resistance to the point of shut-off, then cooling down until resistance decreases to a point where the lamp can re-ignite. Start-up time, and the required start-up voltage, increases as the lamp ages. The lamp may successfully operate intermittently, continually flash on then off, or continuously attempt to start without success. This repetitive on/off process is known as "drop-out" or "cycling" and occurs over and over until eventually either the lamp is no longer capable of sustaining an arc at the supplied voltage or some other component of the lamp is damaged (e.g., from high or prolonged starting currents and/or voltages). Cycling can be an indication of a lamp's impending end-of-life. As the lamp ages and deteriorates, the "on" time gets progressively shorter. Cycling can be visually distracting or annoying, especially in residential areas. Electromagnetic noise is generated during arc striking, and cycling can result in communication, radio and television frequency interference.
Cycling is not always easy to detect and correct in a quick and cost-effective manner. Failing HID and other lamps waste energy since ballasts remain energized when the lamp is cycled off. A cycling lamp may remain lit for several minutes or more before it heats up, loses its arc and attempts to restart. This may require a service person to visually monitor individual lamps for more then just a brief period of time in order to discover whether cycling is occurring. This is particularly problematic in outdoor applications where lights are widely spaced from one another. Many of these lamps are owned and/or maintained by utilities or governmental entities that have thousands of HID lamps in operation. Manual lamp observation is labor intensive, and thus not a particularly cost-effective means for detecting when lamps are nearing, or in, the cycling phase of a lamp's life cycle. In addition, cycling is often only apparent at night since outdoor lighting normally does not operate during the day. Light owners typically do not have large numbers of service personnel constantly checking lamps at night. As a result, cycling may continue for extended periods of time and often until someone notices the misoperation, is sufficiently inconvenienced by it, and complains to maintenance personnel. Dispatching maintenance personnel in response to the failure of a single lamp is expensive and inefficient, considering that each lamp will ultimately fail and require its own individually-scheduled maintenance visit. Power supply voltage transients and fluctuations also impact lamp cycling too. Service personnel responding to a reported lamp outage may find that the lamp has since cycled on and not be able to accurately locate the "failed" fixture or decide not to replace it.
Cycling is initially correctable by simply replacing a depleted lamp. However, if a cycling condition is allowed to continue over a period of time, it can eventually damage the lamp's starter, ballast and/or other light component(s). As the lamp's internal resistance increases, corresponding higher applied voltage is required for starting and operating the lamp. Ultimately the lamp voltage can no longer maintain a continuous arc. High currents/voltages can damage or degrade a starter, a ballast, or another portion of the light's electrical circuitry. The damaged light cannot operate and the lamp ceases to cycle. When this occurs, the starter, ballast and/or other component(s) must be replaced along with the depleted lamp, resulting in higher overall repair costs. If degradation to the ancillary portions of the light are not detected when a HID lamp is replaced, a second service call may eventually be required when the degraded component ultimately fails. For these reasons, it is desirable to prevent or stop a HID lamp from cycling.
Simply knowing a lamp's calendar age (e.g., calculated from its installation date) and the average life of a particular lamp type, one could schedule a chronologically-determined lamp replacement prior to it reaching the expected cycling phase of the lamp's working life. However, owners/maintenance providers would be required to maintain accurate lamp age records. And the manufacture's estimate of the lamp longevity is only an average expected value. Each lamp's actual longevity will vary from the average expected lifespan. Many lamps will have a useful in-service life that is greater then the manufactures estimated value. Replacing lamps late will not avoid cycling and the accompanying light component stress. Replacing lamps prematurely will result in increased maintenance costs since remaining lamp life is discarded.
Several conventional methods for detecting and/or halting cycling are known. Conventional methods for detecting cycling typically monitor or test an electrical parameter such as voltage, current, power, power factor, and/or resistance magnitude associated with a particular lamp type, ensuring proper values exist for one or more respective magnitude(s). Conventional methods for halting cycling typically provide an electric or mechanical device to interrupt the lamp's power supply subsequent to detection of cycling or abnormal electrical magnitudes. For example, thermal overload protective devices applied to all varieties of electrical equipment are well known. The shut-down light still requires discovery to initiate repair. Other conventional methods provide local (i.e., at the light fixture) indication of likely cycling conditions subsequent to an abnormal voltage/current/resistance magnitude being detected. Another conventional method utilizes a timer energized when the lamp is on, to track the lamp's accumulated operating time as a refinement on the calendar age tracking method. Another conventional method involves temporarily applying an electrical test circuit to the lamp. These conventional methods still rely on someone noticing the light not operating, or its local defect indication, and may also require the failure indication being reported to the owner/maintenance provider. Due to the large quantities of operating HID lights, conventional methods requiring monitoring components added to each light installation may therefore, not yield a cost-effective solution. Likewise, retro-fitting existing light installations with additional monitoring components would entail substantial labor and equipment costs.
Accordingly, there is a need for a more cost-effective and efficient method and apparatus for predicting remaining lamp life, which addresses the aforementioned issues, as well as other related problems.

System and method for optically assessing lamp condition


A system and method for protecting private information by using a near field communication (NFC) tag is provided. A method of making a call by using a telephone number received from a near field communication (NFC) tag in a device includes: receiving from the NFC tag a telephone number and call limit information related to the telephone number according to an approach to the NFC tag; determining whether a call to a target device having the received telephone number is limited based on the call limit information; and limiting a call to the target device based on the determination.

1. Field
One or more exemplary embodiments relate to a system and method of protecting private information by using a near field communication (NFC) tag, whereby the private information can be protected according to a call limit condition.
2. Description of the Related Art
A user, such as a vehicle owner, a building owner or the like, frequently makes available a telephone number including private information thereof to strangers through a memo. For example, the vehicle owner leaves a memo including a telephone number thereof on a dashboard of a vehicle so that a stranger can easily contact the vehicle owner.
However, in this case, there is a problem that the telephone number of the user is exposed to many unspecified people. In addition, the telephone number left by the user for an emergency contact may be abused, resulting in a prank call, an advertisement call, or other crimes.
Thus, a technique of minimizing the exposure of a telephone number of a user to strangers and effectively limiting indiscriminate calls to the telephone number of the user is required.

System and method for protecting private information by using NFC tags


A method and apparatus for mounting heat generating components on a printed circuit board. Components mounted on the printed circuit board that generate heat may alter the properties of the printed circuit board and allow the printed circuit board to conduct current. To stop the flow of current in the printed circuit board, a slot may be used between the mounting points of the component. The slot prevents current from flowing within the printed circuit board.

1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to a method and apparatus for mounting components on a printed circuit board. More particularly, it relates to the use of slots, holes, or cutouts to prevent current from conducting through a printed circuit board when it is heated to a high temperature by a component.
2. General Background
Printed circuit boards are used in a variety of electronic products for interconnecting electronic components and for providing a mounting structure to hold electronic components in place. Printed circuit boards are made from many different materials. The laminate for printed circuit boards are typically produced using phenolic or epoxy resins. Reinforcing materials may include cotton paper, woven glass, mat glass, and glass veil. A popular combination of epoxy resin and glass reinforcement is referred to as FR-4. Other popular combinations of resins and reinforcement are classified by commonly known notations such as FR-2, CEM-1, CEM-3, FR-5 and GI. Common materials used for printed circuit boards are described in Printed Circuits Handbook, third edition by Clyde F. Coombs, Jr. (1988). Most of the base materials for printed circuit boards, however, are designed to operate no more than 85xc2x0 C. to 150xc2x0 C. Some laminates are designed for higher temperatures but are made of ceramics. The disadvantage of ceramic substrates is that they are considerably more expensive than printed circuit boards made of epoxy or phenolic resins.
Electrical components may be assembled on printed circuit boards in a variety of ways. The two main assembly types are through-hole and surface mount. Through-hole components are mounted to the printed circuit boards via connector wire leads or pins, also referred to as mounting legs. Surface mounted components, on the other hand, do not have through-hole wire leads or pins. Surface mounted components are usually mounted to the surface of the printed circuit board by soldering methods such as wave soldering or reflow soldering.
A problem may arise when a component generates heat. This may happen when a component fails or is subjected to an abnormal condition such as an over-voltage condition which may arise during a lifted neutral failure or other event. The heat may conduct down the mounting legs of a through-hole component or down the soldered contacts of a surface mounted component. Heat generated by the component may also dissipate and radiate to the surface of the printed circuit board. If the surface temperature of the printed circuit board is allowed to reach a high temperature, the printed circuit board""s properties begin to change and free electrons allow current to flow between the mounting points of a component.
A component that may generate heat under certain conditions is a Metal Oxide Varistor (xe2x80x9cMOVxe2x80x9d). MOVs may be commercially purchased in several different packages. A common and inexpensive type of MOV is a through-hole component. However, MOVs may also be obtained as a surface mounted component.
MOVs are used in surge suppression and are typically put directly across a line voltage. If the MOV fails, the MOV may generate heat. MOVs may also generate heat when put across a line voltage in series with a fuse. If a fuse is used, the fuse must be large enough to handle thousands of amperes of fast pulsed current to obtain necessary ratings. When a fuse link is large enough to handle the high short-duration pulsed current, there exists a continuous current somewhere between 2.5 amperes and 25 amperes where the fuse will not open. If a MOV is xe2x80x9cprotectedxe2x80x9d by such a fuse and the lower current continuously flows into the MOV, current flows through the MOV and voltage is present across the MOV. This current and voltage at the same time causes a tremendous amount of energy to be released as heat.
As described above, heat dissipating or radiating from a component (such as an MOV) may cause problems if it is allowed to heat the printed circuit board. Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus for mounting components on a printed circuit board to minimize the effects of components that generate heat. The present invention uses slots, holes, or cutout areas to overcome, or at least reduce the effects of, the problems set forth above.
Slots, holes, or cutout areas of printed circuit boards have long been used in the industry for several different reasons. However, they have not been used to solve the problems described above. One use of slots, holes or cutout areas is for physical mounting of through-hole components on printed circuit boards. The lead wires or pins of the components are inserted into the slots, holes or cutouts of the printed circuit board for retention and contact.
Another use of slots, holes, or cutouts is for controlling the natural resonance frequency of a portion of a printed circuit board. This is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,580 to Franke et al. This patent discloses the use of slots, holes or other openings around vibration sensitive circuitry.
Other uses of slots, holes, or cutouts is for voltage isolation such as in the area of horizontal output transistors in monitors and televisions or to help in the isolation of line to load parts of an electronic circuit. Slots, holes, or cutouts may also be used to allow sand, fluid, light or other media to flow from one side to another side. Another use is to cool power resistors via convection.
In accordance with the present invention, a slot, hole or cutout is provided in a printed circuit board between the mounting points of a component. The slot, hole or cutout is sized to prevent the printed circuit board from conducting current after the surface is heated by the mounted component. Further, the slot, hole or cutout is inexpensive and easy to prepare.
In one embodiment of the invention, a printed circuit board assembly comprises of a mounting board having a top surface and a bottom surface. The mounting board has at least two mounting points for receiving an electrical component. The mounting board has a slot between the two mounting points wherein the slot extends from the top surface of the mounting board to the bottom surface of the mounting board. The slot prevents current from passing through the mounting board between each of the mounting points. For a through-hole component, the mounting points are the through-holes of the mounting board where the mounting legs of the component are inserted and soldered. For a surface mounted component, the mounting points are the soldered contacts. The width and length of the slot is sufficiently wide and long to prevent current from passing through the printed circuit board. The slot may have a variety of geometric shapes including circular or square ends or may be rectangular or elliptical in shape.
In another embodiment, a printed circuit board assembly comprises of a mounting board having a top and bottom surface as well as at least two holes for receiving an electrical component. The electrical component has at least two mounting legs and the mounting legs are inserted into the two holes of the mounting board. The mounting board also has a slot between the two holes of the mounting board and extends from the top surface to the bottom surface of the mounting board. The slot prevents current from passing between each of the two holes of the mounting board. The slot is sufficiently wide and long to prevent current from passing through the printed circuit board and the slot may have a variety of geometric shapes including circular or square ends or may be rectangular or elliptical in shape.
In still another embodiment, a printed circuit board assembly comprises of a mounting board and an electrical component that radiates heat to the top surface of the mounting board. The printed board assembly includes a means for attaching the electrical component to the mounting board at least two mounting points. There is also a means for preventing current from passing through the mounting board between each of the mounting points.
In a further embodiment, there is an apparatus for preventing current from passing through a printed circuit board comprising of a circuit board and a heat generating component. The heat generating component has two mounting legs that are attached to the circuit board. The circuit board has a slot between the two mounting legs of the heat generating component.
In yet another embodiment, a printed circuit board assembly includes a mounting board for mounting a plurality of electrical components. The plurality of electrical components includes a heat generating component having at least two mounting legs which are attached to the mounting board. There is an inlet trace and an outlet trace connected to the mounting legs to provide electrical current to the heat generating component. The mounting board has a slot between the two mounting legs and the slot prevents current from passing through the mounting board between the mounting legs of the heat generating component.
In another embodiment, the invention is a method of preventing current in a printed circuit board by machining a slot in the printed circuit board and mounting a component to the top surface of the printed circuit board at least two mounting points. The slot is positioned between the mounting points.
Although the present description uses a MOV as an example electrical component, the present invention is not limited to the mounting of MOVs. The present invention would work for any component that may generate heat sufficient to change the properties of the printed circuit board and to allow current to pass between the mounting points of a component.

Method and apparatus for mounting printed circuit board components


An assembly for the separation by centrifugal force of biological agents from a suspension, which assembly includes (1) a first compartment including a first filtering means as a part of its surface, the first filtering means having pores capable of allowing the passage of the biological agents therethrough; and (2) a second compartment for receiving the biological agents that pass through the pores, the first compartment and the second compartment being securely attached together in such a manner that the spacial relationship among the first compartment, the second compartment, and the first filtering means remain the same throughout centrifugation of the assembly.

Before the amounts and identities of biological agents (e.g., bacteria, fungus, insects, parasites or mammalian cells) in a sample, such as food, soil or a clinical specimen, can be determined, several steps must first be performed.
As an initial step, the sample is usually suspended in a proper buffer, followed by blending or "stomaching" to release the biological agents from the sample. Stomaching was first introduced about twenty years ago [Sharp, A. N. et al., Appl. Microbiol. 24:175-178 (1972] and has since become a useful alternative to blending in the preparation of foods for microbiological analysis.
The biological agents in the sample suspension are thereafter separated from the sample by filtration. The biological agents in the filtrate are most of the time far too diluted, entailing the need of enrichment (i.e., growth of the biological agents) to increase the number of the agents.
Enrichment is a time-consuming process and may take as long as 2 weeks for certain types of biological agents. Also, contamination may occur during the enrichment process. Furthermore, it renders reliable quantification of the biological agents almost impossible.

Apparatus and method for separation of biological agents


A hydrostatic sensor device and method is provided for detecting changes in elevation in pipes, boreholes, and tunnels below ground. A pressure transducer for sensing differential changes in fluid pressure is provided at one end of an extensible hose or other flexible conduit, while the other end is maintained in an equalizer tank at a reference atmospheric pressure at a given elevation. As one end of the system is moved along a grade, pressure changes at the transducer end relative to the reference pressure at the equalizer end are measured corresponding to elevation changes and are recorded against a distance scale, thus providing an accurate profile of the line surveyed.

In the underground construction industry, there are instances where elevation changes in pipes, boreholes, and tunnels must be measured to a high tolerance where specific slopes and grades are required to be implemented in the construction. Post-construction pipe slope irregularities may be present for reasons including faulty design, improper subgrade preparation, inadequate backfill practices, or differential settlements. While trenchless boring technologies such as Micro-tunneling and Horizontal Directional Drilling can provide precision over long distances, trenchless pipe installations can still experience out-of-tolerance grades due to improper installation, soil conditions, etc.
Exact grade surveys of newly installed and existing pipe are difficult to obtain for in situ pipe. Deficiencies such as offset joints and severe pipe sags can be visually detected with CCTV optics. However, more gradual out-of-tolerance discrepancies are harder to detect with optical tools or with existing survey technologies. Optical tools also cannot provide grade surveys around curves, corners or submerged conditions. In micro-tunneling, the conformance of slopes and grades to specification can be determined by laser spotting lengthwise from a jacking shaft. But heat refraction due to temperature changes in the tunnel may result in inaccuracies, and laser tools cannot be used around curves.

Hydrostatic sensor device and method for measuring below-ground elevation changes in grade


The object of the present invention is to provide a three-way valve reduced in the number of component parts and man-hours for assembling the component parts. A pressure chamber of a piston for urging a first main valve in a valve-closing direction by a spring, and a pressure chamber of a piston for urging a second main valve in a valve-opening direction against the urging force of a spring are connected to a medium-pressure port B via a pilot valve and a pressure passage. When the pilot valve is open, the pressure in the pressure chambers into which high-pressure fluid is introduced from a high-pressure port A via an orifice is permitted to escape to the medium-pressure port B, whereby the piston is pushed upward by the high pressure to open the first main valve, and a plug is urged by the spring to close the second main valve. When the pilot valve is closed, the pressure in the pressure chambers becomes high, so that the piston is pushed downward by the spring to close the first main valve, and the piston is pushed downward by the high pressure to open the second main valve. Since the pilot valve is formed by a two-way solenoid valve, and the pressure passage is formed within a body, it is possible to reduce the number of component parts.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a three-way valve, and more particularly to a three-way valve that includes the three ports of a high-pressure port, a medium-pressure port, and a low-pressure port, and performs switching between a flow path causing the fluid to flow from the high-pressure port to the medium-pressure port and a flow path causing the fluid to flow from the medium-pressure port to the low-pressure port.
(2) Description of the Related Art
The three-way valve includes a type that utilizes the pressure of fluid introduced therein, for switching operation of a main valve thereof. The three-way valve of this type includes a valve element for selectively opening and closing a passage between a first port and a second port of three ports, and a passage between the second port and a third port of the same, and pistons for driving the valve element in valve-opening and valve-closing directions, respectively, such that the pressure of upstream-side fluid is introduced into a pressure chamber of one of the pistons, while the pressure of a pressure chamber of the other of the pistons is released, to thereby cause the pistons to actuate the valve element for opening and closing operations. To switch the pressure chamber of each piston between a state connected to the high-pressure side and a state connected to the low-pressure side, a solenoid-operated pilot valve is used. This pilot valve has a three-way valve structure and introduces or releases pressure into or from the pressure chamber of the associated piston by energization or deenergization of a solenoid thereof. For the pilot valves provided in the three-way valve, pressure passages for connecting between the upstream side of the three-way valve, the pressure chambers of the pistons, and the low-pressure side of the three-way valve are formed by capillary tubes or the like (Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication (Kokai) No. H05-64582 (drain passages 29 and 30 in FIG. 1)).
In the conventional three-way valve, however, it is necessary to form the pressure passages for switching the pressure in each of the pressure chambers of the pistons e.g. by capillary tubes, and further each pilot valve has a three-way valve structure. This increases the number of component parts and man-hours for assembling the component parts.


A data structure comprises a clump header table, an inline tree data structure, and one or more auxiliary data structures. Each clump header record includes an indicator of a location in the inline tree data structure of corresponding binary string segments. Clump header records or auxiliary header records include indicators of corresponding locations in the corresponding auxiliary data structure. Each auxiliary data structure can be altered without necessarily altering the inline tree or clump header table. A dedicated, specifically adapted conversion program generates the clump header file, the inline tree data structure, and the one or more auxiliary data structures. The data structure can be stored on any computer-readable medium, and can be read entirely into RAM to be searched (with or without filtering on one or more filter data fields). A dedicated, specifically adapted search and filter program is employed, which can list or enumerate the retrieved data records.

The field of the present invention relates to electronic data search and retrieval. In particular, systems and methods are disclosed herein for high-speed searching and filtering of large datasets.
This application related to subject matter disclosed in (i) U.S. provisional App. No. 61/424,063 filed Dec. 17, 2010 in the name of Roy W. Ward (the '063 application), (ii) U.S. provisional App. No. 61/431,654 filed Jan. 11, 2011 in the names of Roy W. Ward and David S. Alavi (the '654 application), and (iii) U.S. non-provisional application Ser. No. 13/326,326 filed Dec. 15, 2011 in the name of Roy W. Ward (the '326 application). Each of said applications is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein, and are hereinafter referred to collectively as the "inline tree applications."
Many situations exist in which very large amounts of data are generated or collected (e.g., 104, 106, 108, or more data records, each comprising multiple data fields). For data in a dataset to be of any practical use, indicia representing the dataset are stored according to a data structure arranged so that particular pieces of information can be located and retrieved from the dataset. In the pre-digital past, such data structures often comprised printed alphanumeric indicia on suitable media (often including an accompanying printed index), and data search and retrieval were manual functions performed by humans. The introduction of electronic data storage and search capabilities around the middle of the last century revolutionized the ability to store large datasets, and to search for and retrieve specific information from those stored datasets.
Today, alphanumeric indicia representative of a dataset are typically stored according to digital, electronic data structures such as an electronic spreadsheet or an electronic relational database. A spreadsheet (also referred to as a flat file database) can be thought of as a single table with rows and columns, with each row corresponding to a specific data record, and with each column corresponding to a specific data field of that data record. In a simple example (one that will be used repeatedly within the instant specification), each data record can correspond to a registered voter in a dataset of all registered voters in a particular state, e.g., Oregon. The data fields in each data record can include, e.g., last name, first name, middle name or initial, age, gender, marital status, race, ethnicity, religion, other demographic information, street address (likely divided into multiple data fields for street number, street name, and so on), city, state, zip code, party affiliation, voting history, county, U.S. house district, state senate or house district, school district, other administrative districts, and so on.
A relational database typically comprises multiple tables, each comprising multiple records with multiple fields, and relations defined among various fields in differing tables. In the registered voter example given above, a "voter" table might include voter records with name and demographic information in corresponding fields, and an "address" table might include address records that includes street address and district information in corresponding fields. A field in the voter table can include a pointer to the corresponding address in the address table, defining a one-to-many relationship between each address and one or more corresponding voters. Other tables and relationships can be defined (including many-to-many relationships and so called pivot tables to define them).
Electronic spreadsheets and electronic relational databases have become standard methods for storing digital datasets. They offer nearly unlimited flexibility in arranging the data, for updating the data, for adding new data, and for sorting, searching, filtering, or retrieving data. However, it has been observed that for a very large dataset (e.g., >106 or more records, or even as few as >104 or >105 records), spreadsheets and databases tend to become unwieldy to store, access, and search. In particular, search and retrieval of information from such a large electronic dataset can become so slow as to render it essentially useless for certain data retrieval applications.
The applications cited above (hereinafter referred to collectively as the "inline tree applications") disclose alternative systems and methods for high-speed searching and filtering of large datasets. In contrast to conventional spreadsheets and relational databases, the dataset is stored as a specialized, highly compressed binary data structure that is generated from a more conventional data structure using a dedicated, specifically adapted conversion program, and that is searched and filtered using a dedicated, specifically adapted search and filter program. The inline tree data structure typically can be stored in a binary file that occupies less than about 1 to 2 bytes per field per record on a digital storage medium (e.g., a dataset of one million records having 100 fields each can be stored in less than about 100 to 200 MB). The significant size reduction relative to a spreadsheet or a relational database (often greater than 10× reduction) can often enable the entire dataset to be loaded into random access memory for searching and filtering, significantly increasing the speed of those operations. The small size and contiguous arrangement of the inline tree data structure also speeds search and filter processes, so that a large dataset (e.g., 106, 108, or more data records each including over 100 data fields) can be searched and filtered in less than about 150 to 500 nanoseconds per record per processor core.
As noted above, inline tree data structures have a highly specialized structure that must be generated by a dedicated, specially adapted conversion program, and must be search and filtered by a dedicated, specially adapted search and filter program. Unlike a spreadsheet or a relational database, an inline tree data structure cannot be readily modified to include new or updated data. For new or replacement data to be inserted into existing data fields, or to add entire new records to the dataset, the conversion program must be executed to generate an entirely new inline tree structure. For new data fields to be added to the dataset, the conversion program must be adapted to accommodate those new fields before generating a new inline tree structure, and the search and filter program must be adapted to accommodate the new inline tree data structure. As noted in the inline tree applications, this loss of flexibility and updateability is the price paid to obtain the small size and speedy searching of the inline tree data structure.
It would be desirable to provide systems and methods that enable high-speed search and retrieval of information from large electronic datasets that substantially exceed search and retrieval speeds from conventional electronic data structures (e.g., conventional spreadsheets and databases), so as to enable data search and retrieval applications that are too slow for practicable use with those conventional data structures, while also enabling alteration or updating of data strings in certain existing data fields or enabling addition of new data fields.

Systems and methods for high-speed searching and filtering of large datasets


An image forming method containing the steps of (a) forming an image on a thermal transfer sheet of a thermal transfer recording material, and (b) transferring the image onto an image receiving sheet of the thermal transfer recording material, wherein the thermal transfer sheet including a substrate having thereon a yellow ink layer containing a thermally transferable yellow dye, a magenta ink layer containing a thermally transferable magenta dye, and a cyan ink layer containing a thermally transferable cyan dye, the image receiving sheet including a substrate having thereon a thermally transferable dye receiving layer; at least one of the thermally transferable dyes is reactive with a dye fixing agent, and satisfies Formula of (Aa/Am)×100≧75; and a printing rate of each of the yellow ink layer, the magenta ink layer and the cyan ink layer is not more than 2.5 msec./line.

As a color or monochrome image forming technology, known has been an image forming technology in which an ink sheet containing thermally transferable dyes featuring diffusion transition characteristics by application of heat, were an image is transferred onto an image receiving layer, facing the ink sheet to the image receiving layer of a image receiving sheet, using a heat printing means such as a thermal head or a laser. This thermal transfer method enables image formation from digital data, and has a reputation for high image quality comparable to silver salt photography, without using processing solutions such as a developing solution.
However, regarding image storage stability and durability of the obtained images, there are drawbacks such as being inferior to conventional silver salt photography. Specifically, the following inferior characteristics are known.
The problems are:
1) During long period storage, discoloration and bleeding of images are caused by light, heat, oxygen and ambient moisture, that is, unacceptable light stability and heat resistance.
2) In cases when images are contacted with a material having high dyeing properties or containing a plasticizer such as album sheets, clear file sheets and plastic pencil erasers, dyes are reverse transferred to these materials or bleed upon contact during long term storage, that is, they exhibit low plasticizer resistance.
3) When water, juices, alcohol beverages, or coffee is spilled on formed images and wiped away, dyes are also wiped off whereby discoloration occurs, exhibiting lack of water resistance and solvent resistance.
4) Discoloration also occurs due to skin oil when fingers touch the images, that is, low sebum resistance.
5) The images are damaged when rubbed by an eraser, that is, lack of abrasion resistance.
6) When the images are laminated with a commercially available laminate material, specifically with a low temperature laminating material, dyes diffuse to the laminate material and cause bleeding during long term storage, that is, poor laminatability.
The reasons for these problems are assumed to be that the dyes employed in a thermal transfer recording material are primarily dispersed in a binder, and tend to be directly affected by external influences, contrary to the dyes employed in silver salt photography which are protected by high boiling point solvents and UV absorbing agents.
As a means to overcome the foregoing drawbacks, several image forming methods to react with compounds in an ink layer with compounds in a image receiving layer by thermal transfer are proposed, to be an image forming method employing a so-called reactive dye. At this point, a compound contained in an ink layer is defined as a dye precursor, and a compound contained in an image receiving layer is defined to be a dye fixing agent. For example, proposed are image forming methods with re-protonation of a cationic dye by thermal transfer, employing a deprotonated cationic dye as a dye precursor and an organic polymer acid or an oligomer acid capable of protonating the cationic dye as a dye fixing agent, as described in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication (hereinafter, referred to as JP-A) 9-327976, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,880,769 and 5,534,479. Further, in JP-A 5-221151, employing a certain structured dye having a reactive group as a dye precursor and a reactive hydrogen compound as a dye fixing agent, proposed are image forming methods to make them react by thermal transfer.
Further, employing a thermally diffusive dye capable of chelating as a dye precursor and a metal ion containing compound as a dye fixing agent, image forming methods to make them react to form a metal chelate are proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1–3).
The formed images employing this method rarely cause discoloration and bleeding of dyes even though the image receiving material, carrying images, are stored at high temperature and high humidity. Light stability of the images is superior to that of images formed using existing thermally transferable dyes. However, there have been problems that color of the images changes over time due to unreacted dyes which remain due to incomplete reaction between the dyes and the dye fixing agents in high image density areas.
The means to overcome this problem is to increase the added amount of the dye fixing agents in an image receiving layer to increase reactivity. However, this results in another problem of coloring of white background due to the coloring within the dye fixing agents. Another proposed counter method is heating the images again after thermal transfer (for example, please refer to Patent Document 4), however, this results in a problem of lowered density due to reverse transfer of the dyes in the images to an ink layer during re-heating since no dye is contained in the ink layer between the thermal head and the images.
Further, another proposed method is to provide a protective layer on the images, in which a protective layer transfer sheet having a thermally transferable protective layer is applied onto the image forming layer of an image receiving sheet, and then the protective layer is transferred using a heating means such as a thermal head or a heated roller (for example, please refer to Patent Document 5). In cases when a protective layer is provided on images, physical resistance such as the foregoing abrasion resistance, water resistance, solvent resistance, and sebum resistance of images can be enhanced. However, in order to adhere the protective layer onto the image receiving layer, it is requested to decrease the amount of dye fixing agents in the image receiving layer, resulting in lowered reactivity between the dyes and the dye fixing agents. When transfer energy of protective layer transfer is raised to counter this, the protective layer is adversely lowered in quality due to heat, resulting in surface roughness and yellowing.
Patent Document 1: JP-A 59-78893
Patent Document 2: JP-A 59-109394
Patent Document 3: JP-A 60-2398
Patent Document 4: JP-A 11-70746
Patent Document 5: JP-A 2001-246845

Image forming method using thermal transfer recording material


A method of transporting a desired fluid in a channel includes: providing a working fluid to transport the desired fluid, such as a sample; providing a first segment of a first buffer fluid which is immiscible with the working fluid and the desired fluid; providing a first segment of the desired fluid; providing a second segment of a second buffer fluid which is immiscible with the working fluid and the desired fluid; providing the desired fluid to be transported and further manipulated; and transporting the desired fluid in the channel by applying a motive force to the working fluid which in turn exerts force against the desired fluid through the first and second buffer fluid. The method prevents dilution of a sample in an apparatus such as a diagnostic analyzer or an apparatus for immunohematological testing of blood. A microfluidics handling system includes a microsystem platform that has: a substrate having: a first flat, planar surface; and a second flat planar surface opposite to the first surface. The first surface includes: at least one microchannel; an optional reagent source; an optional reaction chamber; a source of motive force to transport the fluid; a working fluid in the microchannels; a first segment of a first buffer fluid which is immiscible with the working fluid and the desired fluid; a first segment of the desired fluid; a second segment of a second buffer fluid which is immiscible with the working fluid and the desired fluid; and the desired fluid to be transported and further manipulated, wherein the fluid is present in the microchannels in the order of working fluid; first buffer fluid; first segment of the desired fluid, second buffer fluid; and the desired fluid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to transporting fluids in channels, such as conduits. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transporting fluids in channels and reducing contamination and/or dilution of fluid being transported.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fluid handling, for example, liquid handling in systems such as analyzers (chemical, biological and immunological), and blood typing systems (e.g., the Ortho ProVue™ system manufactured by Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc.) is known in the art. In addition, fluid handling in microfluidic systems as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,453,928 and 5,992,820 and in PCT publication Nos. WO 97/21090 and WO 02/18949 is also known in the art. Fluid handling systems that use air to separate different liquid samples, or to identify or provide information for different samples are also known in the art. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,853,336, 4,259,291, 3,479,141, 2,797,149 and 2,879,141. See also, WO 88/04052.
In fluid handling systems, it is generally known to use one fluid, hereinafter referred to as a working fluid (water, saline, etc.) to better control the fluid that is being handled, such as being aspirated or dispensed, by hydraulically coupling the metering pump motion to the fluid being metered. The working fluid helps ensure that the fluid being transported will be moved in a manner that-mimics the motion of the metering pump. Air based systems or systems with part air and part working fluid are subject to the compressibility of the air; thus metering precision and accuracy may be degraded.
A disadvantage with systems filled with working fluid only is that the fluid in the system can either dilute the fluid being metered or interact chemically with that fluid. The mixing of these fluids can occur because of turbulence, diffusion at the interface, and residual boundary layer fluid on the internal walls. It is generally known to use air gaps to separate fluids being transported. The size of the air gap is generally minimized such that the increased compressibility associated with the air ideally is not so large that the handling precision and accuracy is degraded substantially. The air gap or bubble can perform the function of "scrubbing" the internal walls of residual fluid, along with providing physical separation between the two fluids.
Several factors can result in increased mixing between these two fluids, even in the presence of an air gap, which reduces the effectiveness of the air gap and can result in unsatisfactory commingling of the two fluids. Some of these factors are listed below:                Smoothness (conversely roughness) of the interior surface of the conduit where the fluid flows, since increased roughness will retain greater amounts of fluid.        Changes in inner diameter of the conduit, such as a lumen since a change in internal diameter will induce turbulence.        Surface wetability of the conduit surface.        Control of the working fluid at the end of a probe on aspiration.        Contact angle of the working fluid and fluid being transported to the channel surface.        Rheology of the fluids being transported since high viscosity fluids will increase the size of the boundary layer.        Accordingly, no air gap or even a single air gap between the working fluid and fluid being handled is unsatisfactory for many applications, including clinical chemistry diagnostics, immunodiagnostics, blood screening, immunohematology, and microfluidics, where the effect of contamination with the working fluid can be significant.

Reducing working fluid dilution in liquid systems


A composite material for a balloon having a transparency and a gas barrier, including a polymer base layer and a transparent thin layer of a silicon oxide provided on one surface of the polymer base layer, the silicon oxide layer having an atomic ratio of silicon to oxygen of 1:0.3 to 2. The composite material has a high degree of barrier to helium gas or hydrogen gas. A balloon produced from the composite material retains its buoyancy for a long period of time.

The present invention relates to a composite material for balloon and a balloon made thereof. More particularly it relates to a transparent composite material for balloon having an excellent gas barrier to helium gas, hydrogen gas or the like and a balloon made thereof.
Heretofore balloons with a variety of sizes are employed for use in toys, advertising media, articles for display, and the like. Most balloons are used in a state of floating in the air with being filled with helium gas or hydrogen gas.
In order to endow a balloon with a sufficient buoyancy in the air, it is necessary to make the specific gravity, on the basis of air, of the balloon filled with a gas not more than 1. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to select, as a gas to be filled, as light a gas as possible, and as a balloon material, a material which is light and has the property that the gas filled in the balloon does not leak out through the wall of the balloon and such a great tensile strength that the balloon does not easily burst.
Rubber materials are used as the material for small-sized balloons such as toy balloons. However, common balloon materials are plastic materials having a gas barrier to helium gas or hydrogen gas, laminated with a sealant film such as polyethylene film or nonstretched polypropylene. Examples of the gas barrier plastic materials are plastic films of ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer, nylons, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and vinylidene chloride resin-coated nylon films or PET films. Other laminated materials are also used wherein a nylon film or a PET film which is laminated with an aluminum leaf or has a deposition layer of aluminum or other metals to improve the gas barrier is laminated with a sealant film such as polyethylene film or nonstretched polypropylene film.
However, the above-mentioned rubber material has the drawbacks as follows: It has a poor gas barrier and a balloon made thereof is very easily broken. Further the inside of the balloon is not easily visible because of its poor transparency.
On the other hand, balloons made of the above-mentioned plastic materials are hard to be broken because of their great tensile strength. However, there is a problem that because the plastic materials do not have a sufficient gas barrier, the gas contained in the balloon escapes through its wall for a comparatively short time so that the balloon loses buoyancy. When it is tried to improve the gas barrier by using a thicker plastic film, there are problems such as the decrease in buoyancy due to the increase in weight and the losing of flexibility.
The plastic materials laminated with an aluminum leaf and the plastic materials provided with a metal deposition layer thereon are desirable because of their good gas barrier. However, the use thereof are limited because the inside of the balloon is invisible.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a composite material for balloon which is transparent and has an excellent gas barrier to helium gas or hydrogen gas.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a balloon the inside of which is visible and which retains the buoyancy for a long period of time.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the description hereinafter.

Composite material for balloon and balloon made thereof


The invention provides methods for preparing substituted phenylalkanes. In particular, the processes comprise reacting a phenyl boronic compound with an α-β unsaturated carbonyl-containing compound via an asymmetric 1,4-addition reaction. The processes may be useful in the synthesis of tapentadol.

Tapentadol (i.e., 3-[(1R,2R)-3-(dimethyamino)-1-ethyl-2-methylpropyl]phenol) is a small organic molecule that is used as an analgesic. Tapentadol is known to have a dual mechanism of action as an agonist of the μ-opioid receptor and also as a norepinephrine (NE) reuptake inhibitor (NRI) for improved analgesic efficacy especially in chronic or neuropathic pain disorders.
Several different routes for preparing tapentadol have been reported. A typical method is to produce a racemic mixture of intermediates that must be separated by chiral chromatographic separation or by chiral resolution. The separation of chiral compounds, however, can be technically challenging, time consuming, or both. What is needed, therefore, is a process for preparing tapentadol that does not require chiral separation or chiral resolution, but rather relies on a direct asymmetric synthesis of chiral compounds. Such an enantioselective synthesis process would facilitate the production of tapentadol by reducing costs and saving time.

Process for preparing substituted phenylalkanes