Compositions and methods are disclosed herein to deliver and anchor nanoscale drug carriers into the extracellular matrix (ECM) of tissues, such as degenerating cartilage or tumor margins, and to provide local and sustained release of drugs.

Advances in stem cell research have uncovered exciting possibilities for the treatment of a vast array of medical conditions and diseases. Unfortunately, stem cells injected or implanted into the body have demonstrated highly variable results in clinical trials. All adult tissues harbor stem cells that can contribute to tissue homeostasis and repair. Therapeutic approaches harnessing the regenerative potential of endogenous cells could circumvent the issues that hinder the success and reproducibility of exogenous stem cell transplantation, such as the burdensome and costly process of expansion and poor survival and engraftment in vivo.
Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. and the fourth leading cause worldwide. The most common and disabling type of arthritis is osteoarthritis (OA), or degenerative joint disease, which affects 27 million people in the U.S., and is associated with healthcare expenditures of over $185 billion. These numbers are expected to grow as the population ages, reaching 67 million Americans by 2030. The physical limitations caused by OA contribute to high incidences of heart disease, depression and obesity. There is no cure for OA—current therapies are simply palliative, often requiring long-term use of pain medications that can have serious, life threatening side effects. There is a critical need for regenerative medicines that treat and/or prevent OA.
OA is a complex disease, marked primarily by articular cartilage degeneration that ultimately results in joint failure. The limited regenerative potential of articular cartilage is a central problem for degenerative joint disease, which is largely attributed to insufficient progenitor cell numbers and activity (Candela, M. E., et al. Matrix biology 39:44-49 (2014)). Therefore, injury- or disease-associated chondrocyte death eventually produces degenerative changes in the joint. Numerous small molecule drugs and trophic factors have been identified for promoting cartilage repair and blocking various OA disease mechanisms, however the success of these therapies have been significantly hindered by their short residence times in the joint and poor tissue targeting (Evans, C. H., et al. Nature reviews. Rheumatology 10:11-22 (2014)).

Chondroprotective nanoparticles for the treatment of osteoarthritis

University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc.


A joist storage system with a pair of hangers mounted to adjacent joists. The hangers are configured to removeably receive and support a storage container with the channel between the joists.

In most residential homes, storage space is limited. Once the closet space is used up, homeowners began utilizing other spaces of the house, including, the garage, the attic, the basement, extra bedrooms, or crawl space. These spaces can be modified for better storage to include shelves or other organizational systems. However, many conventional systems do not provide for convenient access to the stored items or are not cost effective. In addition, conventional systems do not utilize available spaces, such as the channels between joists.
What is needed is a cost effective, convenient storage system that utilizes the channels between joists.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.


The information processing system of the present invention includes a profile information collection unit for storing access-related profile information in response to detecting access to an object set as a profile target on the basis of the sampling frequency for each class or object allocation site during the execution of a program, and a sampling frequency updating unit for calculating the allocation percentage of an object having properties used in the optimization of the program at each class or object allocation site on the basis of profile information, and for reducing the sampling frequency regarding a class or object allocation site in which the calculated percentage is below a predetermined threshold value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a profiling technique using sampling and, more specifically, to an information processing device, profile target determining program and method for reducing speed overhead during execution of a program using profiling.
2. Description of Related Art
Many programs dynamically allocate a large number of objects to heap areas in memory. The object format is fixed during program execution in, for example, current Java virtual machine implementation. The fixed object format is the header and data field layout and their size. The memory footprint (memory usage), required memory bandwidth, cache misses, garbage collection (GC) frequency and GC overhead are reduced, and the computer cost for executing the program is also reduced.
The fixed object format is usually changed to reduce the cost and to optimize the program by obtaining information related to access to an object by the profiler during program execution and examining the properties of the object.
For example, when there is a plurality of objects having the property of either not being written or very infrequently being written after initialization (henceforth referred to as "immutable objects") and the content of these objects is identical, the objects can be merged into a single object. Also, if an object is found which has the property of either not being read or very infrequently being read (henceforth referred to as write-only objects), the object can be compressed. Also, if an array object is found in which some array elements are not accessed (henceforth referred to as unaccessed objects), the unaccessed elements can be deleted. This optimization reduces GC frequency and improves cache utilization by saving memory.
In profiling, objects are sampled because the speed overhead is very high when access to all objects is profiled. The speed overhead is still large even when sampling is performed. Depending on the type of program, the execution speed with profiling is at least 40% slower. When the sampling frequency is simply lowered in order to reduce the speed overhead the profile accuracy declines.
The following is a description of the literature discovered in a prior art search for the present invention.
In Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-0102597, a technique is disclosed in which source information selected based on profile information or user-specified information is inputted, the source information is parsed, the procedure call-up (sub-procedure) attributes called up by the procedure (main procedure) that appear in the source information are analyzed from the analysis results and stored in a procedure analysis table, the main procedure is marked optimization-not-required if the sub-procedure attributes are not registered in the procedure attribute table during inline expansion, main procedures marked optimization-not-required are removed, and the other procedures are optimized. This technique can automatically prevent optimization when there is the possibility of a problem occurring. However, the technique described in Patent Literature 1 does not improve a profiling technique using sampling. Therefore, it cannot reduce speed overhead due to profiling.
In Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-0071135, a technique is disclosed in which a process is added to record values and their frequency of occurrence to a maximum of two pairs in intermediate-format data when the frequency of the value being given to a variable inside a procedure during execution is at least 50% to obtain primary profile information, adding a process of recording the frequency of occurrence of two values in primary profile information and the number of times the procedure is executed in intermediate-format data to obtain final profile information, determining a value with a frequency of occurrence of at least 50% with respect to a variable based on the final profile information, optimizing the procedure with respect to this value, and generating the target program. In this technique, the number of occurrences of a value given to a variable in a procedure can be estimated without error. In particular, profile information reliably recording values which exceed a 50% frequency of occurrence can be outputted. However, the technique described in Patent Literature 2 does not improve a profiling technique using sampling. Therefore, it cannot reduce speed overhead due to profiling.
In Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-0304302, an optimization device for microprocessor object code is disclosed which includes a compiling unit for compiling inputted code, which is a compiling program recorded on a recording medium, using profile data to generate primary object code, and a simulator for simulating the primary object code and generating profile data. The simulator in this optimization device analyzes instruction code in the primary object code generated by the compiling unit, executes the instruction code to execute the process corresponding to the instruction code, detects data code with a high access frequency based on data access information, in which the number of times the data code is accessed during execution of the instruction code is recorded by address and size of the accessed data code, the data code is rearranged in a cache area, which is a data code area accessible by a single instruction, secondary object code is generated, the instruction code in the secondary object code is analyzed, and the instruction code is executed. This technique can improve the execution speed of a program because the data code in the object code is rearranged and the method for accessing the data is optimized even when the data code is out of displacement range. However, the technique described in Patent Literature 3 does not improve a profiling technique using sampling. Therefore, it cannot reduce speed overhead due to profiling.
In Japanese Patent Publication No. 1999-0039167, a technique is disclosed in which a resource assigning unit assigns an internal variable generated by a compiler to a machine resource such as a register or memory, an alias accessibility unit records in assigned resource information whether or not there is a possibility of alias access to a memory access instruction included in a sequence of instructions when an assembler code generating unit outputs a sequence of instructions, and an assembler optimization unit references allocation information and optimizes the assembler level. This technique can ease constraints due to the presence of indirect addressing-type memory access instructions, and can improve execution times and program sizes. However, the technique described in Patent Literature 4 does not improve a profiling technique using sampling. Therefore, it cannot reduce speed overhead due to profiling.

Information processing device, profile target determining program, and method

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A high tensile strength hot-dip galvannealed steel sheet having excellent coated-layer adhesiveness in which the hot-dip galvannealed layer does not peel off from a base steel sheet even in being subjected to working accompanied by sliding and a method for producing the same are provided. In the high tensile strength hot-dip galvannealed steel sheet, a hot-dip galvannealed layer is formed on the surface of the base steel sheet, the base steel sheet contains Si by 0.04-2.5%, and, when the surface roughness of the base steel sheet after the hot-dip galvannealed layer is removed by dissolution with an acid is measured for a plurality of locations by a laser microscope, the arithmetic mean inclination angle (RΔa) is 23.0° or more and the root mean square inclination angle (RΔq) is 29.0° or more in 60% or more of all of the locations measured.

For a structural member used for an automobile, from the viewpoint of improving safety and the viewpoint of vehicle body weight reduction for fuel consumption improvement as the measures for environment problems, high strengthening has been required. For such a structural member, improvement of corrosion resistance has also been required.
As a raw material having both of the strength and corrosion resistance, a hot-dip galvannealed steel sheet (may be hereinafter referred to as a GA steel sheet) is used which is obtained by subjecting the surface of a base steel sheet to hot-dip galvanizing and alloying the same. In order to exert the corrosion resistance, it is required for the GA steel sheet that there is not a non-coated portion, the surface appearance is excellent, and the hot-dip galvannealed layer does not peel off from the base steel sheet (may be hereinafter referred to as coated-layer adhesiveness).
As a technology for improving the adhesiveness of the interface between the hot-dip galvannealed layer and the base steel sheet of the GA steel sheet, Patent Literature 1 can be cited for example. In Patent Literature 1, it is described that the coated-layer adhesiveness can be improved by making the interface between the coated layer and the base steel sheet after alloying treatment is made a complex state in which unevenness is high and the coated layer and the base steel sheet are complicatedly arranged. More specifically, it is described to be effective to contain Si of a predetermined amount and to achieve a state of high surface roughness of 6.5 μm or more in terms of 10 point mean roughness Rz of the steel surface surface roughness after removing the hot-dip galvannealed layer.
Also, in Patent Literature 2, the present inventors have disclosed a technology for improving the slidability and powdering resistance of the GA steel sheet with the aim of improving the workability of the GA steel sheet. According to the technology, the slidability and powdering resistance of the GA steel sheet have been improved by properly controlling the containing balance of Mn, P, Cr, Mo out of the chemical composition of the high strength steel sheet.
On the other hand, the shape of the structural members described above is becoming complicated year by year, and the GA steel sheet may possibly be subjected to working accompanied by sliding. Therefore, provision of a GA steel sheet whose hot-dip galvannealed layer hardly peels off from the base steel sheet in sliding working has been desired.

High tensile strength hot-dip galvannealed steel sheet having excellent coated-layer adhesiveness and method for producing same


An F-inverted compact antenna for ultra-low volume Wireless Sensor Networks is developed with a volume of 0.024λ×0.06λ×0.076λ, ground plane included, where λ is a resonating frequency of the antenna. The radiation efficiency attained is 48.53% and the peak gain is −1.38 dB. The antenna is easily scaled to higher operating frequencies up to 2500 MHz bands with comparable performance. The antenna successfully transmits and receives signals with tolerable errors. It includes a standard PCB board with dielectric block thereon and helically contoured antenna wound from a copper wire attached to the dielectric block and oriented with the helix axis parallel to the PCB. The antenna demonstrates omnidirectional radiation patterns and is highly integratable with WSN, specifically in Smart Dust sensors. The antenna balances the trade offs between performance and overall size and may be manufactured with the use of milling technique and laser cutters.

The rapid progress in personal wireless communication devices has made the development of the Electrically Small Antennas (ESAs) the center of research interests. A large variety of miniature antennas has been developed with the emergence of mobile handheld devices. The success of these devices largely relies on the progress and innovation in dielectric materials, the optimization of size, gain, and bandwidth.
Integrated circuit antennas (Chip antennas), Planar Inverted F Antennas (PIFA), and printed circuit board (PCB) antennas (e.g. Meander antennas, inverted L antennas, printed monopole antennas and printed dipole antennas) are popular antennas available in today's market, which are widely used in different wireless hand held devices. However, in order for these antennas to effectively radiate or receive energy when used as transmitting or receiving antennas, they need a ground plane of an appropriate size. Chip antennas from various companies, such as Johanson Technology, Mitsubishi, Matrix Electrica, S.L, Antenna Factor, Raisun, etc., all require a specific PCB size. Usually, at least one edge of these PCBs should have a minimum of a quarter wavelength at its operating frequency.
One of the major design highlights of these commercial antennas is focused on the space/volume dual-usage realized by sharing the ground plane of the antenna and the circuits. Since the current is most significant on the edge of the ground plane, the center portion of the ground plane that serves as the return path of the circuit signals will have less of an effect from the antenna radiation. Some of these antennas are adopted for hand-held applications, such as cell phones and PDAs. Others are used in blue-tooth devices, such as wireless mouse and keyboards. The approximate quarter wavelength ground plane size required by the antenna in these applications is still within the range of the package for the end-user products. Therefore these antennas are widely accepted in wireless devices.
However, in some Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) systems, such as the Smart Dust systems, different application constraints are employed. SmartDust is a Wireless Sensor Network system intended to be used in sensing signals for civil or military purposes. The key challenges of the SmartDust prototyping are power, size, cost and sensing. SmartDusts can detect any target signal, such as sound, vibration, light, the environment temperature, humidity for industry factories, warehouses, plantings, poultry or animal husbandry, or can monitor patients conditions, etc. Some applications require thousands of SmartDust sensors distributed over a large area. They are usually disposable simply because it is not practical to collect SmartDusts and reuse them. Therefore, wireless sensor nodes in the WSN systems with low power consumption and low cost are very important. In military and other applications, it is preferred to hide the SmartDusts, e.g., the size of these sensors should not be noticeable. Ideally, these sensors should be as small as sand or dust. Obviously, antennas requiring a large ground plane are not compatible with SmartDusts and cannot be applied in these areas.
In addition to the many common requirements in ESAs for conventional handheld devices, such as low cost, light weight, compactness, gain and bandwidth performance, antennas in ultra low volume Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) applications, such as in SmartDust systems, have stricter dimensional limitations and demand for omnidirectional radiation for the following reasons:
First, in each WSN transceiver node, all components, such as sensor, antenna, battery, transceiver integrated circuit (IC), as well as the reference ground plane (normally a printed circuit board) for IC and antenna are to be stacked or integrated in a package with a total volume of only a few mm3 to one cm3, where only a fraction of this volume is left for an antenna. The millimeter or centimeter scale dimensions are often much less than a quarter wavelength at the operating frequency (i.e., 0.1λ or less). For example, in conventional ESA designs, a ground plane with a minimum quarter wavelength dimension is often necessary for proper performance. In the ISM bands (916/828/433 MHz), this ground plane size is between 8 to 16 cm. Though this is a reasonable size to be fit within a cell phone or a PDA's housing, it is too large to be integrated into SmartDust sensor nodes in WSN communication package, whose node size is on the order of a few cm3 or smaller. A package with a low height and a large ground plane area is not suitable for WSN applications. In WSN, the ground plane size must be decreased as well as the height of the antenna. This requires new designs to reduce both factors and keep the antenna highly functional.
Second, in WSN/SmartDust applications, a large amount of transceiver nodes are distributed randomly. These transceiver nodes, as well as the antennas associated with them, are oriented in various directions and form an autonomous communication network. Each communication node in this network is a complete self powered transceiver node, which requires the antenna to have a radiation pattern as omnidirectional as possible to transmit and receive signals from all directions due to the random orientation of the nodes.
Third, there is no need for a base station in WSN/Smart Dust applications. Any node in the network may serve as a base station. These nodes cover a large communication range by multi-hops. The communication distance is determined mainly by the separation of nodes, and can range from 1 to 10 m. Therefore, the gain of antenna is traded against the volume requirement.
Thus there is a need in SmartDust WSN applications for an antenna which occupies a volume no larger than 20 mm×25 mm×8 mm, which is 0.06λ×0.076λ×0.024λ (for a particular operating frequency of 916 MHz), and which has an omnidirectional a radiation pattern in order to transmit to and detect signals from random directions. The desired compact antenna also must be optimized for maximum efficiency and bandwidth, since small antennas inherently have high Q or low efficiency.

F-inverted compact antenna for wireless sensor networks and manufacturing method


The present invention relates to ablation electrode assemblies. The present invention further relates to an irrigated ablation electrode assembly that includes a recessed portion that can improve fluid flow around the irrigated ablation electrode. The electrode includes an outer body portion having an outer surface, and an inner cavity defined within the outer body portion. The electrode further includes at least one passageway for fluid flow from the inner cavity to the outer surface of the body of the electrode. The passageway further defines an outlet on the external surface of the electrode, therein allowing the fluid to flow on and/or around the electrode surface. The outer surface of the electrode further includes a recessed portion. The outlet of the passageway is disposed at least partially within the recessed portion. The fluid that exits the passageway may flow within the recessed portion to improve irrigation of the electrode.

a. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates to ablation electrodes and/or electrode assemblies. The present invention further relates to ablation electrodes and/or assemblies having a mechanism for irrigating targeted areas. The present invention further relates to irrigated ablation electrodes and/or assemblies that include at least one recessed portion.
b. Background Art
Electrophysiology catheters have been used for an ever-growing number of procedures. For example, catheters have been used for diagnostic, therapeutic, and ablative procedures, to name just a few examples. Typically, a catheter is manipulated through the patient's vasculature and to the intended site, for example, a site within the patient's heart, and carries one or more electrodes, which may be used for ablation, diagnosis, or other treatments.
There are a number of methods used for ablation of desired areas, including for example, radiofrequency (RF) ablation. RF ablation is accomplished by transmission of radiofrequency energy to a desired target area through an electrode assembly to ablate tissue at the target site. Because RF ablation may generate significant heat, which if not controlled can result in excessive tissue damage, such as steam pop, tissue charring, and the like, it is desirable to include a mechanism to irrigate the target area and the device with biocompatible fluids, such as saline solution. The use of irrigated ablation catheters can also prevent the formation of soft thrombus and/or blood coagulation.
Typically, there are two classes of irrigated electrode catheters, open and closed irrigation catheters. Closed ablation catheters usually circulate a cooling fluid within the inner cavity of the electrode. Open ablation catheters typically deliver the cooling fluid through open outlets or openings on the surface of the electrode. Open ablation catheters use the inner cavity of the electrode, or distal member, as a manifold to distribute saline solution, or other irrigation fluids known to those skilled in the art, to one or more passageways that lead to openings/outlets provided on the surface of the electrode. The saline thus flows directly through the outlets of the passageways onto the distal electrode member. This direct flow of fluid through the distal electrode tip lowers the temperature of the distal tip during operation, rendering accurate monitoring and control of the ablative process more difficult. Accordingly, it is desirable to have a method that allows for cooling of the electrode while having accurate monitoring and control of the ablative process.
Overall, open flush irrigated ablation catheters may improve the safety of RF catheter ablation by preventing protein aggregation and blood coagulation. In addition, in order to improve and/or maximize the effect of irrigation, it is very important to maintain all irrigation holes open at any possible tissue contact orientations. During the performance of various procedures, some of the irrigation holes may be plugged when the holes are facing down to the tissue during the ablation procedure.

Irrigated ablation electrode having recessed surface portions

St. Jude Medical, Atrial Fibrillation Division, Inc.


A system and method of managing the storage of data in flash memory performs snapshots of the data by maintaining the data at the epoch that the snapshot is performed in the same physical memory location. Data that is modified after the snapshot is then stored to a new physical memory location and referenced to the snapshot location. When a user read operation is performed, the data is read from the original location if the read operation is for the snapshot data. The read operation for dynamic data is performed from the original location if the data has not change since the snapshot epoch, or from the referenced data location if the data has changed since the snapshot epoch. Snapshots are released by dereferencing the original location if the data has been changed since the snapshot epoch.

NAND FLASH memory is electrically organized as a plurality of blocks of physical memory on a die (chip), and a plurality of dies may be incorporated into a package, which may be termed a FLASH memory circuit. The chip may have more than one plane, each plane configured so as to be separately addressable for erase, write and read operations. A block is comprised of a plurality of pages, and the pages may be comprised of a plurality of sectors. Some of this terminology is a legacy from hard disk drive (HDD) technology; however, as used in FLASH memory devices, some adaptation is made, as would be understood by a person of skill in the art.
NAND FLASH memory is characterized in that data may be written to a sector of memory, or to a contiguous group of sectors comprising a page. Pages can be written in sequential order within a block, but if page is omitted, the present technology does not permit writing to the omitted page until the entire block has been erased. This contrasts with disk memory where a change to data in a physical memory location may be made by writing to that location, regardless of the previous state of the location. A block is the smallest extent of FLASH memory that can be erased, and a block must be erased prior to being written (programmed) with data.
Earlier versions of NAND FLASH had the capability of writing sequentially to sectors of a page, and data may be written on a sector basis where the die architecture permits this to be done. More recently, memory circuit manufacturers have been evolving the device architecture so that one or more pages of data may be written in a write operation. This includes implementations where the die has two planes and the planes may be written to simultaneously. All of this is by way of saying that the specific constraints on reading or writing data may be device dependent, but the overall approach disclosed herein may be easily adapted by a person of skill in the art so as to accommodate specific device features. The terms "erase" and "write" in a FLASH memory have the characteristic that when an erase or a write operation is in progress, a plane of the FLASH memory chip on which the operation is being performed is not available for "read" operations to any location in a plane of the chip. Any other memory type with similar characteristics may be substituted
One often describes stored user data by the terms sector, page, and block, but there is additional housekeeping data that is also stored and which must be accommodated in the overall memory system design. Auxiliary data such as metadata, error correcting codes and the like that are related in some way to stored data is often said to be stored in a "spare" area. However, in general, the pages of a block or the block of data may be somewhat arbitrarily divided into physical memory extents that may be used for data, or for auxiliary data. So there is some flexibility in the amount of memory that is used for data and for auxiliary data in a block of data, and this is managed by some form of operating system abstraction, usually in one or more controllers associated with a memory chip, or with a module that includes the memory chip. The auxiliary data is stored in a spare area which may be allocated on a sector, a page, or a block basis.
The management of reading of data, writing of data, and the background operations such as wear leveling and garbage collection, are performed by a controller, using an abstraction termed a flash translation layer (FTL) that maps logical addresses, as understood by the user, to the physical addresses of the memory where the data values are actually stored. The generic details of a FTL are known to a person of skill in the art and are not described in detail herein. The use of a FTL or equivalent is assumed, and this discussion takes the view that the abstraction of the FTL is equivalent of mapping an address of a page of user data to a physical memory location. The location may be a page of a block. This is not intended to be a limitation, but such an assumption simplifies the discussion herein.
A snapshot is used in, for example, data base systems (DBS) to freeze the values of an existing set of stored data at the time of the snapshot. The frozen data copy may be used, for example, for backup, study purposes, regression analysis, quality assurance, or the like. But, the operation of the data base or other program that created the frozen memory image continues, and changes to the user dynamic data need to be accommodated as transparently as possible to the user while the snapshot (frozen data) is being used for these other purposes. The time interval during which the snapshot is maintained is generally a user-determined parameter, but may also be defined in terms of the percentage of the frozen data image that has been obsoleted by changes to the dynamic data. The amount of memory needed to support the snapshot operation depends on the amount of the data that existed at the time of the snapshot that has been changed between the snapshot time and the time that the snapshot has been released. Releasing a snapshot, regardless of the specific terminology used, is the act or process of disassociating the data representing the snapshot from the dynamic data that has evolved since the time of the snapshot.
Since, in principle, all of the data present at the time that a snapshot has been initiated may be changed over a long enough period of time, the size of the memory used by a snapshot may ultimately equal that of the original data set. Generally, the time duration of a snapshot is sufficiently short that a smaller amount of memory may be used for each snapshot. A higher level system may monitor memory usage and manage the retention of snapshots based on a variety of criteria.

Snapshots in a flash memory storage system


Generating an image includes receiving a light at sensors, where the light is associated with images. A previous matrix is determined, where the previous matrix includes image information associated with an image. For each sensor, a current image data corresponding to a current image is generated and a current matrix is determined using the previous matrix and the current image data. The current matrix includes image information associated with the current image. A fusion matrix is computed according to the current matrix of each sensor, where the fusion matrix initiates generation of a fused image.

An optical sensor typically generates image information representing a sensed image. The image information may be analyzed by one or more image processors to generate at least a portion of the sensed image. A known technique for processing the image information may be performed by calculating and processing a matrix. Processing a matrix according to the known technique, however, consumes processing power, which may affect the battery life of a portable device. Additionally, memory may be required to store matrix information for the processed matrix, which may impact the cost and size of portable optical devices. Consequently, known techniques for processing image information may be unsatisfactory in certain situations.

Method and system for generating an image

Northrop Grumman Guidance and Electronics Company, Inc.


Signal processing is used to detect transient signals in the presence of noise. Two embodiments are disclosed. In both embodiments, the time series from a remote sensor is broken into a number of short time series. The power spectrum of each short time series are then calculated along with the mean noise level. The moments of each peak in every power spectrum are calculated and the peak with the largest power selected from each power spectrum. A histogram of the moments from these selected peaks is generated and normalized to become a measured PDF. In addition, a pre-determined PDF is derived, in the same method as above, from theoretically calculated noise, numerically simulated noise, or measured noise. Comparison between the measured and pre-determined PDF's establish the detection of a transient signal. The first embodiment compares the area between the measured and pre-determined PDF's against a threshold to determine detection. In a second embodiment, the differences between the measured and pre-determined PDF's are weighted and summed to form a score. This score is compared to a threshold to determine detection.

Many remote sensing instruments, (i.e. radars, lidars, sodars), calculate Doppler spectra (power spectra scaled to represent the Doppler shift) as part of their signal processing. Transforming signals from a time-series representation to a power spectrum is very useful since it concentrates the signal energy into a small region of the power spectrum while spreading out the noise energy. Typically, the desired signal appears as a peak in the power spectrum in the presence of noise. If the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is large enough, it is easy to detect the signal peak amongst the noise peaks. Usually, the largest peak in the spectrum is chosen as the signal. However, when the SNR is low, it is difficult to select the desired signal since the noise peaks can be larger than the signal. Optimum detectability occurs when the signal exists at least as long as the duration of the sampling time. However, many real-world signals are of shorter duration. These transient signals are difficult to detect in the presence of noise. Under these conditions, the signal energy is contained in many spectral points and difficult to detect.
Most instrument designers will choose the sampling time of an instrument equal to the time the scattering target is in the beam to optimize its detectability. Since the Fourier transform of a continuous signal has narrow bandwidth, its corresponding signal will have a narrow peak in the power spectrum. This narrow peak has the best chance of detection. In addition, the sampled time series is often divided into short blocks whose power spectra are averaged together. This averaging reduces the variance of the noise making signal peaks more detectable. However, often the detection of a transient signal is required. The Fourier transform of a transient signal will have a broad peak in the power spectrum. Therefore, the signal energy will appear in many frequency bins and be difficult to detect. Also, it is not possible to average short power spectra together when trying to detect transient signals, since averaging would reduce the amplitude of a transient peak.
Detecting signals in the presence of noise is a problem when signal amplitude is small compared with the amplitude of the noise signal. Transforming from a time-series representation to a power spectrum is very useful since it concentrates the signal energy into a small region of the power spectrum while spreading out the noise energy. Typically, the amplitude of a signal peak must be larger than one to two standard deviations of the noise peaks to be detected. The Heisenberg-Gabor Uncertainty Principal states that long duration time signals have narrow spectral peaks and short transient signals have broad spectral peaks. This makes detection of long duration signals much easier, since the signal energy will be contained in very few spectral bins. Transient signals with short time duration will spread the signal energy over a larger part of the spectrum, making detection based on the peak exceeding the noise deviations difficult.
This effect is demonstrated in FIGS. 1A-1C. FIG. 1A is a simulated power spectrum calculated from a 500 msec long time series. This spectrum contains exponentially distributed noise and a 400 msec long burst of a sine wave. The signal peak is contained in one spectral bin and is obviously detectable compared with the surrounding noise peaks. FIG. 1B is a similar spectrum that contains a 40 msec burst of signal with the same signal energy as in FIG. 1A. Again the signal peak is easily detectable, standing well above the noise. However, the signal peak has been spread over several frequency bins and is not as tall in relation to the noise peaks. The shorter duration signal has a larger spectral width and is not as detectable as the longer duration signal. FIG. 1C shows another spectrum that contains a 4 msec signal burst with the same signal energy as above. The peak is so broad that it is not possible to detect the signal in the noise. The solid line is added to FIG. 1C to highlight the signal peak. The spectral width of a 4 msec burst of signal is so large that it is not possible to choose the signal peak from the noise peaks. A different detection method is necessary to detect such short transient signals.

Detection of transient signals in doppler spectra

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


A method for coordinating shared access to data objects comprises applying modification operations to a data object from a first thread of a plurality of threads on behalf of all the other threads during a session in which the first thread owns a lock on the data object. Each modification operation corresponds to a respective entry recorded in a log associated with the data object by a respective thread. The method may further comprise predicting, for a second thread, a result of a particular operation requested by the second thread on the data object. The result may be predicted using log entries corresponding to modification operations that have not yet been applied to the data object. In addition, the method includes performing one or more other operations in a non-blocking manner from the second thread during the session, where at least one other operation is dependent on the predicted result.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to computer systems. More particularly, it is directed to coordination mechanisms for concurrent programming in computer systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of computer systems, considerable effort has been expended on developing techniques to support concurrent access to shared resources. Mutual exclusion locks and monitors represent two traditional concurrent programming synchronization mechanisms. Locks and monitors protect shared resources by separating access to them in time; for example, in one implementation, as long as a given thread of execution retains a lock on an object or resource, no other thread of execution may modify the object, and any other thread attempting to modify the object may be blocked from further execution until the lock is released.
However, designing efficient lock-based concurrent data structures has long been recognized as a difficult task better left to experts. Determining the optimal level of locking granularity for a given concurrently accessed data structure is not easy. Typical locking mechanisms either lock entire data structures (which helps to simplify programming), or implement locks of fine granularity to independently protect portions of complex data structures in an attempt to increase concurrency. However, fine-grained locking techniques often result in a substantial increase in programming complexity. In addition, many data structures that are typically protected by locks are often accessed for read-only operations (such as method calls that do not modify any field of the data structure). The reading operations could have been making progress concurrently if it were known that no writes on the data structure were performed during their execution.
The transactional memory programming paradigm has been gaining momentum as an approach of choice for replacing locks in concurrent programming. In transactional memory programming, sequences of concurrent operations may be combined into non-blocking atomic transactions, thus making parts of the code appear to be sequential without the heed to use locks. Executing threads indicate transaction boundaries, e.g., by specifying when a transaction starts and when it ends, but do not have to acquire locks on any objects. Transactional memory programming techniques may allow transactions that do not overlap in data accesses to run uninterrupted in parallel; transactions that do overlap may be aborted and retried. Transactional memory seems to promise a great reduction in the complexity of both programming and code verification, by making parts of the code appear to be sequential without the need to use locks. One stated goal of transactional memory programming techniques is to remove from the programmer the burden of understanding the interaction among concurrent operations that happen to overlap or modify the same locations in memory. However, transactional memory techniques also suffer from a variety of drawbacks. While transactions may simplify the programmer's need to reason about concurrency, programmers still have to decide which instructions to include in a transaction. This may leave the programmer with a tradeoff similar to that of locking techniques, between the size of the transactions used and program performance: a reduction of transaction size to enhance performance may lead to added complexity in code design and verification. In addition, many current implementations of transactional memory programming are known to be inefficient, for example because of the overhead of the specific mechanisms used to implement transactions and/or conflict detection. Explicit transactions may also introduce various programming language issues and complications such as how to support nesting of transactions, I/O during transactions, exceptions, etc., which may complicate transactional programming even if the transaction mechanisms were made more efficient.


There is provided a fiber Bragg grating devise comprising an FBG mount that is constituted by sequentially stacking a temperature control plate, a base plate, and a mounting plate, and an SSFBG in which a plurality of FBG units of the same constitution and a plurality of phase modulation portions are alternately formed in the same optical fiber. The temperature control plate is constituted by a thermo module and a heat-insulating member. The base plate is fixed in contact with the upper face of the temperature control plate and the mounting plate is in contact with the upper face of the base plate in a state where the mounting plate is able to glide over the upper face of the base plate. The SSFBG is fixed to contact an FBG contact portion that is established on the upper face of the mounting plate. The phase modulation portions are formed to be capable of expanding and contracting and, as a result of the expansion and contraction of the phase modulation portions, the phase of the carrier wave of the optical pulse signal that is propagated by the phase modulation portions can be changed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fiber Bragg grating device and, more particularly, to a fiber Bragg grating device that is used as an encoder and a decoder in optical code division multiplexing transmission.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, the demand for communication has been increasing at high speed as a result of the popularization of the Internet. Accordingly, high-speed and large-capacity optical networks that employ optical fiber or the like have been developed. In such optical networks, wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) methods are indispensable, there being a particular focus on so-called Dense WDM (DWDM) methods in which wavelength-multiplexing is performed at high densities on the wavelength axis by narrowing wavelength intervals of optical carrier waves allocated to each channel.
In addition to WDM methods or DWDM methods, transmission methods tend to focus on transmission using optical code division multiplexing (OCDM). According to OCDM transmission, transmission is carried out as follows. On the transmission side, optical pulse signals of a plurality of channels are generated in parallel, and the optical pulse signals are modulated (encoded) by means of code that is different for each channel. On the reception side, the modulated optical pulse signals are restored (decoded) to the original parallel optical pulse signals by means of the same code as that used when the optical pulse signals were encoded on the transmission side. Here, an optical pulse signal is an optical pulse train that is rendered by reflecting binary digital electrical pulse signals and that is obtained by subjecting an optical pulse train to optical modulation. Meanwhile, the expression 'optical pulse train' is employed when referring to an optical pulse train in which optical pulses are lined up at regular fixed time intervals.
In order to contribute to an understanding of the fiber Bragg grating (FBG) device of the present invention, a representative constitution of the OCDM transmission device will first be described with reference to the block constitution shown in FIG. 1.
The OCDM transmission device comprises a transmission portion 10 and reception portion 30 that are connected by a transmission line 50.
The transmission portion 10 is constituted comprising an optical pulse train generator 12, a modulated signal generator 14, an optical modulator 16, a first optical circulator 18 and an encoder 20.
The optical pulse train generator 12 generates an optical pulse train (shown by an arrow 13 in FIG. 1). The modulated signal generator 14 supplies information that is to be transmitted to the optical modulator 16 as a binary digital electrical pulse signal (shown by an arrow 15 in FIG. 1). The optical modulator 16 subjects the optical pulse train 13 to optical modulation to generate an optical pulse signal (shown by an arrow 17 in FIG. 1) that reflects a binary digital electrical pulse signal 15. The optical pulse signal 17 generated by the optical modulator 16 enters the encoder 20 via the first optical circulator 18. The encoder 20 generates a transmission signal (shown by an arrow 21 in FIG. 1) by encoding the optical pulse signal 17. A transmission signal 21 is sent to the transmission line 50 via the first optical circulator 18 and then sent to the reception portion 30 after being propagated by the transmission line 50.
The reception portion 30 is constituted comprising a second optical circulator 38, decoder 40, and O/E converter 36.
The transmission signal 21 that is transmitted through propagation via the transmission line 50 enters the decoder 40 via the second optical circulator 38. The decoder 40 generates an optical pulse signal (shown by an arrow 31 in FIG. 1) by decoding the transmission signal 21. The optical pulse signal 31 enters the O/E converter 36 via the second optical circulator 38 and is restored as a binary digital electrical pulse signal (shown by arrow 37 in FIG. 1) by the O/E converter 36. That is, the binary digital electrical pulse signal 15, which is information to be transmitted, is propagated via the transmission line 50 as an optical pulse signal 21 and then restored as a result of becoming a binary digital electrical pulse signal 37 in the reception portion 30.
Transmission using OCDM makes it possible to transmit optical pulse signals of a multiplicity of channels at the same time and the same wavelength. Further, transmission using OCDM is a method that uses the same code as a key on the transmission side and reception side, whereby highly stable or safe transmission is obtained.
Phase code system OCDM that employs the phase of light as code is known as OCDM encoding means (see, for example, DOCUMENT 1: P. Petropoulos et al. "Demonstration of a 64-chip OCDMA System Using Superstructured Fiber Gratings and Time-Gating Detection", IEEE Photonic Technology Letters, Vol. 13, No. 11, November 2001, pp. 1239–1241). More specifically, an FBG device comprising a superstructured fiber Bragg grating (SSFBG) is used as the encoder 20 and decoder 40. The SSFBG comprises a plurality of fiber Bragg gratings (known as 'FBG units' hereinafter) with the same constitution in the core of the optical fiber.
With an SSFBG, it can be assumed that the phase difference (known as a 'relative phase difference' hereinafter) of the reflected light in adjacent FBG units is 0 or π as a result of establishing the interval between adjacent FBG units. For example, when encoding is performed by means of a 15-bit code array '0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1', the phase of reflected light in the first to fifteenth FBG units is set as '0, 0, 0, π, π, π, π, 0, π, 0, π, π, 0, 0, π' by establishing the interval for adjacent FBG units. Further, in the case of decoding, the arrangement of FBG units in SSFBG is the same as the arrangement for encoding but the light input and output terminals are reversed with respect to the encoder.
In the OCDM encoder and decoder of the conventional example above, the code that is employed in encoding and decoding, that is, the interval between adjacent FBG units is fixed. As a result, to change the code, a set of the encoder and decoder showed be replaced by a new one set. Therefore, as means for converting or changing the code constituting the OCDM encoder and decoder, a phase encoder that regulates the phase shift amount and optionally sets the code by causing a plurality of tungsten wires to touch the SSFBG at fixed intervals and adjusting the interval between adjacent FBG units through localized heating using respective tungsten wires has been tested (see, for example, DOCUMENT 2: M. R. Mokhtar et al., "Reconfigurable Multilevel Phase-Shift Keying Encoder-Decoder for All-Optical Networks", IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 15, No. 3, March 2003, pp. 431 to 433).
However, with the OCDM encoder and decoder appearing in the DOCUMENT 2, when a long time passes after setting the code, the heating area increases as a result of thermal conductivity on the optical fiber. When the heating area increases, the phase shift differs from the desired value, that is, there is the problem that decoding can no longer be performed because the code is different.
Further, when the temperatures of the environment in which the encoder and decoder are installed are different or the environmental temperatures fluctuate, the reflection wavelengths of the encoder and decoder are then different. In OCDM transmission, when there is a wavelength difference of a few picometer (pm) between the reflection wavelengths of the encoder and decoder established with the same code, encoding and decoding cannot be favorably performed.
The present invention was conceived in view of the above problem. An object of the present invention is to provide a fiber Bragg grating device that is used as an OCDM encoder and decoder that is capable of implementing code changes by means of a low-cost and simple constitution, which allows a phase shift to hold the desired value even after a long time has passed and which permits adjustment of reflection wavelengths.


A semiconductor package may include a substrate, and a semiconductor interposer having a cavity and a plurality of through semiconductor vias. The semiconductor interposer is situated over the substrate. An intra-interposer die is disposed within the cavity of the semiconductor interposer. A thermally conductive adhesive is disposed within the cavity and contacts the intra-interposer die. Additionally, a top die is situated over the semiconductor interposer. In one implementation, the semiconductor interposer is a silicon interposer. In another implementation, the semiconductor interposer is flip-chip mounted to the substrate such that the intra-interposer die disposed within the cavity faces the substrate. In yet another implementation, the cavity in the semiconductor interposer may extend from a top surface of the semiconductor interposer to a bottom surface of the semiconductor interposer and a thermal interface material may be disposed between the intra-interposer die and the substrate.

As the speed, complexity, and functionality of semiconductor dies continue to increase, the interconnect requirements for semiconductor dies become increasingly complex. To accommodate increasingly complex interconnect requirements, conventional approaches have included using interposers to provide additional flexibility to distribute and route semiconductor die connections in semiconductor packages. However, using interposers can create unique problems when multiple dies are used in the same package. For example, when interposers are used to stack and interconnect multiple dies, the total thickness of the semiconductor packages may become unacceptably large.
In addition, the increase in semiconductor die speed, complexity, and functionality has led to an increase in total power dissipation within semiconductor packages. However, the thermal dissipation capabilities of conventional semiconductor packages employing interposers are inadequate. The inadequate thermal dissipation can result in thermal, electrical, or mechanical failure of the semiconductor dies and packages. Where multiple semiconductor dies are in the same package, inadequate thermal dissipation in one semiconductor die can also cause undesirable thermal stress in other semiconductor dies due to slow or uneven thermal dissipation in the semiconductor package.

Semiconductor interposer having a cavity for intra-interposer die


A combination lock and particularly an electronic combination lock used on a container that is typically housed within an enclosure having a door which further has a lock and a security switch indicating that the enclosure door has been opened may, be provided with a device to shunt a security signal around the switch associated with the enclosure door to shut off, override, or cancel the security switch signal. The lock may be provided with a shunt relay which effectively connects a signal from a voltage source to a monitor or alarm when the combination lock is opened, thereby signaling the monitor that the enclosure door was opened by an individual having the authorized combination for the combination lock. This indicates that the person opening the enclosure lock has a legitimate authorization to access the locked container within the enclosure and that the opening of the enclosure door may be reasonably ignored. Upon the locking of the combination lock and the closing of the enclosure door a brief alarm signal indicates that the combination lock has been locked and the enclosure closed.

Electronic combination locks are known that use data uniquely associated with a particular lock to generate a unique combination to open the lock. An authorized combination is provided to service personnel by a dispatch computer which mimics the processor of the lock control to determine the combination to be accepted whenever the lock control actually generates the combination. For an example of a lock which generates its combination for comparison with a combination similarly generated by a separate computer for dispatching purposes, reference is made to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/139,450 filed Oct. 20, 1993 by Gerald L. Dawson et al, entitled ELECTRONIC COMBINATION LOCK UTILIZING A ONE TIME USE COMBINATION.
The lock combination is a mathematical combination of such numbers or values that are uniquely associated with a particular lock such as the lock serial number, the last opening combination, a master combination, and the seal count indicating the number of times the lock has been opened.
It is advantageous both to identify the operator entering the lock and further to identify and log the date time of entry as well as the date and time of closing.
Locks of the type which self-generate power through operation of a lock component, such as a dial or lever, generally use capacitors to store the electrical energy necessary for operation of the lock but cannot store sufficient energy to power a clock at all times to accurately date and time log each entry because the clock must run continuously and, therefore, consumes electrical power. An example of a lock that generates its own operating power is co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/268,193, filed Jun. 29, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,934, by Gerald L. Dawson et al. and entitled ELECTRONIC COMBINATION LOCK WITH TIME DELAY FOR OPENING.
The security of a lock is only as secure as the personnel operating the lock. If a lock is left unlocked so that the operator may return at a later time and remove the contents of the container without having to operate the lock, security has been compromised. By incorporating into the lock a feature that provides the operator an indicator the lock has been relocked and that indicator is required to be reported or conveyed to the dispatcher of the combinations for the lock and the indicator is an essential element of data that must be provided to the lock to open it the next time, the security is improved. An example of a lock that provides an indication of the locking thereof is co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/198,835, filed Feb. 18, 1994, by James E. Hamilton et al. and is entitled ELECTRONIC COMBINATION LOCK WITH CLOSURE AND LOCKING VERIFICATION.
Automated Teller Machines in many instances are housed in stand alone structures or kiosks. Access to the ATM for purposes of maintenance or service is typically through a door of such housing structure. These doors are many times provided with a sensor or switch that is part of an alarm circuit which is in turn connected to a monitor device or panel at a security monitoring center.
Such an alarm circuit is typically activated by opening the door to the housing structure which interrupts the signal being carried on the circuit. Opening the door activates a normally closed door switch to interrupt the "door closed" signal and activate the alarm. When the monitoring signal voltage is not received by the monitor an alarm is set off to alert the operator of the monitor that some condition exists that warrants attention, i.e., a door is ajar and not secure. The circuit will continue to cause the alarm to continue at the monitor unless overridden by the individual entering the structure. The override control is typically a key pad control through which the individual enters a code that the terminal recognizes as a turn-off signal or an override signal. This signal may be entered within a preset time period which will then be effective to silence the alarm or prevent the alarm from being sounded. Alternative override controls involve the insertion of a key into a lock and operation of the key/lock to provide a signal that an individual with an authorized key has overridden the alarm system.
Typically, a person who is assigned the task of restocking or reloading the cash supply in the dispensing mechanism picking up deposits in the collection tray of an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) will need to be in the ATM for only a very short period of time.
Upon opening the structure door and triggering the alarm in a conventional alarm circuit monitoring the door, the service person should disarm the alarm signal by entering a code into a touch pad terminal within the structure.
Upon completion of the task to be performed the service person must re-arm the alarm circuit by entry of a code or a key as required by the particular circuit design.
Because the service person may need to have access to the ATM for only a very short time, and because the alarm does not necessarily sound at the ATM site many service persons will not disarm the alarm circuit upon entry, rather relying upon swift entry and exit.
The result is that the operator of the monitor is alerted by the alarm and does not know for a period of as much as 2-3 minutes whether the alarm is the result of an unauthorized entry or not. The alarm may be false and if the monitor operator waits for 2-3 minutes to contact the law enforcement agency or the security personal of the company, valuable time has been lost. On the other hand, too prompt a response will result in the requesting a dispatch of security or law enforcement personnel for a false alarm.

Keypad entry electronic combination lock with self-generated combination


A cooking cream was prepared that is useful for cooking and preferably has a good whipping capability also. The cream comprises about 55 to 93% by weight water, about 5 to 45% by weight fat, about 1 to 10% by weight protein, about 0.5 to 10% by weight starch, and an effective amount of emulsifier. Preferably, the cream also contains an effective amount of stabilizer and an effective amount of buffer.

Cooking creams have become popular substitutes for dairy creams in part because a large number of people are either unable or unwilling to consume dairy products. Cooking creams also offer certain advantages over dairy creams, such as better shelf life and consistent quality and price. Cooking creams also commonly lack high temperature stability, which is an important characteristic for creams that are used in cooking.


A fluid drop detecting reservoir tank has a float with a magnet which moves down in accordance with a drop in the level of fluid in a reservoir tank. The magnet closes a magnetically operated switch when the fluid reaches a predetermined level so that a predetermined drop in the level of the fluid is detected. The fluid drop detecting reservoir tank is provided with a mount casing for receiving therein a switch casing in which the switch is encased. The reservoir tank is provided with a retainer mechanism arranged between the mount casing and the switch casing for holding the switch casing in the mount casing so as to locate the switch below the magnet and preventing the switch casing from being withdrawn from the mount casing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid reservoir tank for use with brake systems and clutch systems for automotive vehicles and, more particularly, to a fluid drop detecting reservoir tank which can detect a predetermined drop in the level of a fluid in the reservoir tank.
2. Description of Related Art
In order to install reservoir tanks of this kind in restricted spaces and assure certain fluid drop detection, it is typical to use fluid drop detecting means including, in combination, a magnetized float and a reed switch. Some fluid reservoir tanks with such fluid drop detecting means, which are used with, for instance, hydraulic brake systems for automotive vehicles, have magnetized floats disposed in fluid reservoir tanks and reed switch units removably mounted on or attached to the reservoir tanks.
A reservoir tank for use with a hydraulic brake system for an automobile vehicle is described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-35,635, for example. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, in this system, there is provided a float 4 with a magnet 3. The float 4 is movable up and down along a pair of vertical guide rails 2 in a cylindrical fluid container or reservoir tank 1. The reservoir tank 1 is provided, at its bottom, with a mounting casing 5 integrally formed with the reservoir tank 1. A reed switch unit casing 6 is removably inserted into and held in the reservoir tank 1. Within the reed switch unit casing 6, a magnetically operated, normally open reed switch 7 is disposed. The reservoir tank is assembled to a master cylinder 8 of a hydraulic brake system which is well known in the art.
As the volume of brake fluid in the hydraulic cylinder 8 decreases in quantity with the passage of time, hydraulic brake fluid contained in the reservoir tank 1 is supplementarily supplied to the master cylinder 8 so as to maintain a necessary quantity of brake fluid in the master cylinder 8. With a drop of the brake fluid in the reservoir tank 1, the float 4, floating in the brake fluid, slides downward along the guide rails 2. At a predetermined distance from the bottom of the reservoir tank 1, the float 4 places the magnet 3 in such a position that the magnet 3 effectively forces the reed switch 7 to turn on. Turning the reed switch 7 on causes a warning means to provide a warning that the fluid volume in the reservoir tank 1 is low.
Reed switch 7 is generally offset within the reed switch unit casing 6 either in a lengthwise direction or in a transverse direction of the reed switch unit casing 6 with respect to the center of the reed switch unit casing 6. To position the reed switch unit casing 6 at a predetermined position with respect to the magnet 3, the reed switch unit casing 6 should be positioned at a predetermined position in the mount casing 5 with respect to the reservoir tank 1. For this reason, the mount casing 5 is formed with a guide groove 9 extending in a direction in which the reed switch unit casing 6 is inserted. In addition, for preventing the reed switch unit casing 6 from coming out of the mount casing 5, the reed switch unit casing 6 is provided, at its forward end as viewed in a direction of insertion, with a stopper means, such as an elastically contractible projection 11. The elastically contractible projection 11 is contracted so as to pass through the guide groove 9 to an end opening 10 formed at the rear end of the mount casing 5. The reed switch unit casing 6 is forced into the mount casing 5, and the projection 11 elastically expands and is returned to its original shape in the end opening 10. The reed switch unit casing, therefore, firmly engages with and is retained by the rear end of the mount casing 5 when the reed switch unit casing 6 is properly positioned within the mount casing 5.
Because the elastically contractible projection requires a great thrust force in order to be contracted, the elastically contractible projection makes it difficult to demount the reed switch unit casing 6, which firmly engages with and is retained by the rear end of the mount casing 5, from the mount casing 5. In addition, because the elastically contractible projection is provided at the forward end, in a direction of insertion, of the reed switch unit casing 6, it is forced to strongly rub against the guide groove while the reed switch unit casing 6 is mounted and demounted. The projection, consequently, may be broken.


A cable operated shopping cart brake apparatus for fitting to an existing shopping cart or other like wheeled vehicle to provide selectively impeded movement. The cable assembly connects a master brake assembly to a slave brake assembly. The cable attachment on the master assembly is reversible, whereby in one mode the resting position of the actuator engages the cart brake, thereby impeding cart movement. The reversed mode provides disengagement of the brake in the rest position of the actuator. The actuator position is lockable so that the above 2 modes are possible. A button of the lock provides disengagement.

Hazard and inconvenience may be presented to both people and objects when grocery carts are allowed free movement. Cars are often damaged and carts sometimes collide with individuals as well. Resultantly, shopping cart braking devices have been developed. With the significant number of existing shopping carts, a retrofit breaking apparatus would be beneficial in solving the above problems. More specifically, a cable operated retrofit apparatus would offer the best solution to unimpeded cart movement.


A spring for a suspension is described. The spring includes: a spring chamber divided into at least a primary portion and a secondary portion, and a fluid flow path coupled with and between the primary portion and the secondary portion. The fluid flow path includes a bypass mechanism, wherein the bypass mechanism is configured for automatically providing resistance within the fluid flow path in response to a compressed condition of the suspension.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to shock absorbers for vehicles. More particularly, the disclosure relates to fluid dampers. More particularly still, the disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for controlling and managing dampening through the selective use of dampening fluid having variable flow characteristics.
Description of Related Art
Magneto rheological fluid (MR fluid) is a variable character fluid comprising a (e.g. colloid like) suspension of micrometer-sized particles in a carrier fluid, often a type of oil. When subjected to a magnetic field, the fluid greatly increases its apparent viscosity and/or shear strength. The particles, which are typically micrometer or nanometer scale spheres or ellipsoids, are active when subjected to a magnetic field (e.g. such as iron particles) and are distributed randomly and in suspension within the carrier liquid under normal circumstances. When a magnetic field is applied to the liquid suspension, however, the particles (usually in the 0.1-10 μm range) align themselves along lines of magnetic flux. When the fluid is contained between two poles (typically of separation 0.5-2 mm), the resulting chains of particles restrict the movement of the fluid, perpendicular to the direction of flux, effectively increasing its viscosity and/or shear strength. The yield stress of the fluid when it is "activated" or in an "on" magnetized state can be controlled very accurately and quickly (typically a few milliseconds) by varying the magnetic field intensity.
There are problems arising from the use of variable viscosity fluids, like MR fluid in mechanical applications. For example, even in the absence of electromagnetic energy, MR fluid is very dense, resulting in much greater viscosity and strength (up to four times) compared to "normal" fluids. Mechanical systems using such fluids may not be capable of handling corresponding dynamic loads.
Another problem with the MR fluid is its abrasiveness. This abrasiveness is caused by the ferrous particles suspended in the oil as they can have a sandpaper effect on all of the moving parts. Mechanical systems employing such fluids may be rapidly worn out.
What is needed is a damper for a suspension system that utilizes variable rheology fluid in a manner that avoids problems associated with use of such fluid.

Methods and apparatus for controlling a fluid damper


Power train control unit 100 controls friction clutch 203 when shifting from one cogwheel row to the other cogwheel row, sets the target synchronous rotation speed based on the output rotation speed of a transmission and parameters indicative of the state of engine 1 or the transmission, and sets the command value to the friction clutch so that the input rotation speed can be synchronized with the target synchronous rotation speed. Control unit 100 sets the target shifting required time based on parameters indicative of the state of engine 1 or the transmission, and corrects the command value to the friction clutch so that the required shift time can approach the above target shift required time.

The present invention relates to a method of controlling a vehicle, a vehicle control apparatus, a transmission, and an apparatus for controlling a transmission, and particularly to a method of controlling a vehicle, a vehicle control apparatus, a transmission, and a transmission control apparatus, which are suitable to control the automatic transmission in the vehicle.
A vehicle of a manual transmission type is excellent in fuel economy compared to a vehicle mounting a transmission using a torque converter. However, coordination of the clutch and the accelerator at starting is difficult to be operated. If the coordination of the clutch and the accelerator at starting is not operated well, a large shock is generated at engaging the clutch, or rotation speed of the engine may be rapidly increased when the clutch pressure is insufficient, that is, what is called as a blowing-up phenomenon occurs. Further, when the clutch is suddenly engaged while rotation speed of the engine is insufficient, or when the vehicle is started to run on an uphill, the engine may be stopped, that is, what is called as engine stopping occurs.
In order to solve these problems, a system automatizing clutching and shifting using the mechanism of a manual transmission, that is, an automatized MT (an automatized manual transmission) has been developed. However, a driver sometimes feels incongruity because suspension of driving torque occurs by disengaging and engaging of the clutch in the control at shifting gear in the conventional automatized MT (the automatized manual transmission).
A system disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,703,169 is known. In order to avoid the interruption of torque during shifting in the system, an assist clutch or a friction clutch of one form of a friction transfer means is added to the conventional automatized MT (the automatized manual transmission) to perform rotation speed synchronization and torque transmission for shifting gear by controlling the assist clutch when shifting is performed.
It is necessary to control the above assist clutch to synchronize the rotation speed of an input shaft of the transmission with the rotation speed which corresponds to the next gear position by the above assist clutch in such a vehicle. However, it was revealed that the time required to synchronize these rotation speeds gets longer in consequence of the change in characteristics due to the machine difference between assist clutches or the deterioration with age, the change in characteristics due to the replacement of the assist clutch or the changing of operating fluid, or the machine difference between engines or the deterioration with age, and shift quality is deteriorated by the sluggish feeling of shifting. Moreover, the striking-feeling occurs if the time required to synchronize the rotation speeds is occasionally shortened, and shift quality decreases.

Method of controlling a vehicle, apparatus for controlling the same, transmission and apparatus for controlling the same


A kite of delta shape having a frame and sail defining a keel and a pari of wings. Primary and secondary bridle lines are connected together and to the frame and carry connectors, two being located for dual line control and four being located for quad line control whereby the flyer can select either type of control depending on the desired variation he may wish in the maneuvers of the kite while flying.

Keeled kites are well known and dual control line kites wherein kite lines are attached to the kite on opposite sides of its center line are known as, for example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,832 to Tabor. Four or quad line kite control is also known as in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,006 to Hadzicki. Heretofore there has not been a kite which has been constructed to enable its control alternatively by either two lines, i.e. "dual line" control or four line, i.e. "quad line" control.
The broad object of the invention is to provide such a kite.
It is another object of the invention to provide improved construction of a keeled delta wing kite for dual or quad line control.


The present disclosure relates to a utensil that can be used to manipulate batter. In one embodiment, the utensil is a slotted batter spatula that comprises: (i) an elongated handle comprising a front end and a back end; (ii) a fork-shaped head attached to the front end of the elongated handle, said fork-shaped head having at least two substantially parallel tines; and (iii) a slotted head cover mounted over the fork-shaped head so that a slot of the head cover extends between each of the substantially parallel tines of the fork-shaped head. The present disclosure also relates to a method of manipulating batter with the slotted batter spatula. This method involves using the slotted batter spatula to lift, spread, stir, scrape, move, and/or remove batter from one or more surface.

In the culinary arts, batter is an integral part of preparing numerous types of foods and food products. A mixing apparatus such as a mixer with beaters, blades, or other attachments is used to prepare the batter. Such mixing apparatuses also typically involve using a bowl to mix the ingredients that make up the batter. Once the batter is mixed and prepared according to its intended use, it is normally removed from the mixing apparatus and bowl for use in the final food preparation stages.
Depending on the recipe and intended use of the batter, the consistency of various types of batters can range in thickness and stickiness. However, in most cases, even after removing the batter from the mixing apparatus and bowl, remnants of the batter remain on various portions of the bowl and the mixing apparatus, mixers, blades, beaters, and other mixer/beater attachments. Further, for certain food preparations, the recipe may call for the batter to be spread out in a certain manner for the final preparation stage.
Although spoons and spatulas are normally used to manipulate batter in the food preparation arts, the currently available spoons and spatulas are inefficient and/or ineffective in removing batter from mixing bowls and mixing apparatuses such as mixers and their various beaters, mixing blades, and other mixing attachments. Therefore, there is a need for improved utensils such as a modified spatula that can be used to effectively remove batter from mixing apparatuses and their various surfaces, particularly those surfaces that are difficult to reach with traditional spoons or spatulas.
The present invention is directed to overcoming these and other deficiencies in the art.


A training device for preventing a batter from overstriding and causing a batter to feel an attempt to overstride is disclosed. In one embodiment, the device includes a length of material, one-half of the length of which is approximately equal to a maximum desired stride length for a batter. The ends of the material are joined at a central location, so that the material forms a loop. A pair of adjustable sliding rings are provided along the material, and each adjustment member cooperates with a portion of material to form respective, separate ankle loops. The adjustment members are slid along the material toward the central location to define relatively large ankle loops through which a user may pass his or her feet, and thereafter, the adjustment members are slid toward the respective ankles to snugly fit around the user's ankles. The device is made of a resilient material which firmly yet gently prevents the batter from moving his or her front foot away from the rear foot by greater than the previous determined distance equal to the desired stride length.

The present invention relates generally to baseball or softball training devices, and relates more specifically to a device worn on a batter's lower legs to promote proper stride during batting training and practice.
The present invention is engineered to promote awareness in a batter of the direction of his or her batting stride, both longitudinal and lateral, the prevention of an excessive length stride and the development of a consistent, proper length stride and balance through muscle memory. This simple, yet effective apparatus is worn on a batter's lower legs, slightly above the ankles, during batting drills where there are incoming pitches, or practices using tees or soft toss.
An excessive stride causes a series of problems for the batter. An excessive stride negatively affects a batter's balance, hip rotation, quickness, weight shift, timing and sight of an oncoming pitch. Any one or a combination of the above problems can lead to the batter having a slow bat, a poor eye or a lack of power.
The result of a slow bat is directly related to stride length. Since the swing cannot begin until a batter's front foot is planted on the ground, it naturally follows that the swing will begin sooner if the hitter's stride is shorter, that is, if the batter does not overstride. The shorter the stride, the quicker the bat. A shorter, more compact stride allows the batter extra time to get the bat head into position and to get the barrel of the bat through the hitting zone. If the batter is restricted from overstriding, the hips do not slide too far forward and waste valuable time, and the front foot makes contact at the proper point with the ground and immediately promotes weight shift, hip rotation and balance. This sequence causes a batter to get the bat head through the hitting zone.
A stable head permits a batter to see an oncoming ball in its real perspective. Quite often, overstriding results in "excessive" head movement, which means a change in the batter's line of sight and in turn impacts the batter's interpretation of the speed and direction of the approaching pitch. By eliminating the time it takes to plant the front foot when overstriding, the batter's head moves less and stops moving sooner, allowing additional time for the batter to see the ball in its true perspective.
Batters constantly wonder about their lack of power, when some pitches seem to jump off the bat, but others barely get to the outfield. Again, the solution begins with the batter's stride. The myth that a higher, longer stride generates power is not correct. Actually, little power is generated by the longer stride in comparison to rotation of the batter's body and extension of the arms. Rotation and extension generate superior bat head speed, which promotes power. Being in an overstriding position places the hitter's center of gravity and balance low and in the center of the stride similar to a first baseman, which restricts hip rotation. Thus, the overstride creates poor rotation, poor balance, and poor bat head speed for the batter. Having the proper length stride allows the hitter to easily shift his/her weight to the front foot, thus creating a center of gravity over the front foot to allow the hips to freely rotate and generate bat head speed and power.
Over the last several decades, baseball players, coaches, batting instructors and engineers have been devising different techniques and devices which promote a proper stance, prevent batters from stepping out of the batter's box and prevent overstriding. As a result, there are numerous known devices for teaching proper hitting techniques to a batter. One type of device utilizes a pair of cuff members, one each being affixed on the ankles of the player. The cuffs are coupled by an intermediate member such as a chain so that the batter cannot overstride. Such devices have a number of drawbacks. First, known chains are not resilient, and consequently upon overstriding a batter's ankles and front foot are jerked back unnaturally as the chain is extended to its full length. Specifically, the batter's front foot and toes are moved out of position by the jerking action. Because the toes on the front foot are used as a steering device for a batting swing, similar to a rudder being used as a steering device on a boat, numerous problems result from the toes being out of position.
For example, if a pitch is approaching the inside part of the plate, the ankle and toes on the front foot are rotated to point towards the pitcher. This simple movement allows the hips to rotate freely, quickly and naturally. The arms are extended and the hands now have ample room to pull the bat head into and through proper position, making contact with the ball out in front of the plate and on the sweet spot of the bat. Together, rotation and extension are the primary mechanism for bat head speed, which is directly responsible for the batter's power.
If the batter's ankle and toes are jerked back unnaturally towards their starting position on an inside pitch, i.e., perpendicular to a line between the batter and a pitcher, the batter's stride leaves the batter in a closed position, and the batter's hips cannot open freely and rotate as described above. Also, the arms do not have ample room to pull the bat head into proper position, out in front of the plate. Consequently, the batter makes contact on the inside part of the bat, nearer the hands and away from the bat's sweet spot, and the batter gets "jammed" and hits the ball weakly.
The great hitters of baseball always refer to hitting as a science. To understand and master the science of hitting, the great hitters have expressed the need for a batter to have a superior ability to concentrate and stay focused. Before a batter steps into the batter's box, he must know such things as the count, and each time he steps up to the plate, the number of outs in the inning, if there are runners on base, if their team is ahead or behind in the game, the inning of the game and the opposing pitcher's tendencies and best pitch. All of this is important in order for the batter to have a good idea of the type of next pitch.
Once he steps into the box, the batter needs to stay focused and concentrate only on the rotation of the laces of the oncoming pitch. The rotation of the laces shows the batter the direction and the speed at which the ball is moving. If a batter is thinking of the situation or the mechanics of the swing, these distractions will lead to his/her failure to hit the ball with any consistency.
Distractions to a batter who is trying to concentrate on an oncoming pitch can come in many forms. In devices including metal chains, the chains are unnaturally heavy, especially for the smaller or younger batters, and distracts a batter from his concentration on an oncoming ball. This results from the extra weight felt around the batter's legs, which requires extra energy to lift the front leg and stride, compared to normal. Devices which employ chains, even plastic chains, are also noisy, and the noise generated during a swing further distracts the batter from focusing on the oncoming ball. This is true to most sports where a swinging motion is required, such as golf or tennis. As discussed above, it is critical for a batter to stay completely focused in order to be successful consistently at the plate.
Some of the above mentioned devices are designed for use by batters of all various heights, and therefore adjustable to various stride lengths. These adjustments and needed assembly are both time consuming and especially complicated for youth players. For example, in prior art devices a batter first needs to wrap and affix each cuff member to a leg, and then attach an elongated restraining device to both cuff members. The elongated device is fabricated from a plurality of links (metal or plastic), and have one or more removable links positioned at both ends which attach to the cuff members. Before the player fastens the device to the front leg, he must step up to the plate, get into a comfortable stance, spread the restraining device along the direct path between the ankles of the player and add some desired distance, for example six to eight inches, beyond the stance. At that particular point, the batter fastens the restraining device to the front leg. The excess amount in the restraining device is then placed out of the way by connecting it with another link towards the back foot.
The above-described assembly poses additional problems by assuming a player's comfortable stance is the same as their proper stance, and that a player or coach knows a proper stance for a particular batter. A proper length stance is generally assumed to be the width of the batter's shoulders, and a batter who is comfortable taking a wider stance will be overstriding if an extra six to eight inches, are added to the length of the restraining device. Also, a youth does not take as long a stride as an adult. A youth should generally take a stride 2" to 4" wider than his shoulders, while an adult of 72" or more would more likely take a stride that is 6" to 8" wider than his shoulders.
Still another problem faced by shorter players is the excess chain or other material which remains free after adjustment. This material can be tripped upon, even if the excess material is attached upon itself, since it will still extend to the ground for the shortest players. Moreover, known devices which provide for adjustment of the stride length tend to separate, break or slip to such that the permitted stride length varies during use, which does not promote a consistent, proper stride.
Other types of devices for establishing a proper stance and limiting a batter's stride are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,516,772 to Stratton, 3,815,906 to Hermo, 3,342,487 to David, 3,350,096 to Kile and 3,979,116 to Matchick, and either lay on or are fixed to the ground. A batter stands at and positions his or her feet relative to the device, and a pair of stops is positioned so that the batter knows where to position his feet. A batter's front foot is movable from the rear foot, and forward towards an oncoming ball, but not forward beyond a predetermined point. Some devices of this type only permit a batter to move the front foot parallel, but not laterally, to the oncoming ball.
These devices have an number of drawbacks. For example, such devices are rather complicated, cumbersome and include associated expense and time to assemble and properly set up. As noted above, such devices may not permit a batter to step laterally with respect to an oncoming ball, and thus are of limited effectiveness in teaching a batter to step inside with the front foot to hit an outside pitch, or outside to hit an inside pitch. Such devices can also present a safety hazard since they may not permit a batter to step out of the way of an oncoming ball which may otherwise hit the batter. Certain types of these devices are also not readily adapted for use by right handed and left handed batters.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which can be used by baseball and softball players during batting practices, drills and training which promotes awareness to the direction of a batter's stride and balance, through feeling. It is important for the batter to be able to step in the correct direction for an oncoming pitch, whether the pitch is inside, outside or down the middle.
It is another object of the present invention to provide prevention of an excessive length stride and to develop consistency of the proper length stride through muscle memory.
It is another object of the present invention to be inexpensive and affordable by any one individual player.
It is another object of the present invention not to require assembly, and to provide an effective device that is readily portable. For example, the devices, of the present invention will fit in a user's pants pocket.
It is another object of the present invention to come in predetermined sizes for youth and adult players which would require little or no adjustments in determining stride length.
It is another object to provide a device fabricated from a tubular material to prevent abrasions resulting from continued use.
It is another object of the present invention to be extremely light weight, comfortable and unnoticeable when wearing the device in order for the batter to feel totally natural when standing at the plate, allowing him or her total concentration on the incoming pitch.


A method (200) and apparatus (100) for segmenting a sequence of audio samples into homogeneous segments (550 and 555) are disclosed. The method (200) forms a sequence of frames (701 to 704) along the sequence of audio samples, and extracts, for each frame, a data feature. The data features form a sequence of data features. Transition points in the sequence of data features are thin detected by applying the Bayesian Information Criterion to the sequence of data features. The transition points define the homogeneous segments (550 and 555). Preferably the data feature is single-dimensional and a leptokurtic distribution is used as an event model in the Bayesian Information Criterion.

There is an increasing demand for automated computer systems that extract meaningful information from large amounts of data. One such application is the extraction of information from continuous streams of audio. Such continuous audio streams may include speech from, for example, a news broadcast or a telephone conversation, or non-speech, such as music or background noise.
In order for a system to be able to extract information from the continuous audio stream, the system is typically first required to segment the continuous audio stream into homogeneous segments, each segment including audio from only one speaker or other constant acoustic condition. Once the segment boundaries have been located, each segment may be processed individually to, for example, classify the information contained within each of the segments.
Whilst a number of techniques have been proposed in a somewhat ad-hoc manner for segmenting audio in specific applications, one of the most successful approaches that has been used is an approach based on the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC). The BIC is a model selection criterion known in statistical literature and is used to determine the positions of segment boundaries by determining the most likely positions where the signal characteristics change. When applied to audio segmentation, the BIC is used to determine whether a section of audio is better described by one statistical model or two different statistical models, hence allowing a segmentation decision to be made. It also gives a criterion to determine whether the change at this point is significant, or not.
Previous systems performing audio segmentation with the BIC have made the assumption that the statistical model characterising each audio segment is a Gaussian process. However, the Gaussian model tends not to hold very well when only a small amount of data is available for the audio stream between segment changes. Thus, segmentation performs very poorly with the Gaussian BIC under these conditions.
Another major setback for BIC-based segmentation systems is the computation time required to segment large audio streams. This is due to the fact that previous BIC systems have used multi-dimensional features for describing important characteristics within the audio stream, such multi-dimensional features being those of the mel-cepstral vectors or linear predictive coefficients.

Audio segmentation with energy-weighted bandwidth bias


An apparatus includes a memory and a circuit. The memory may have a transmitter. The memory may be configured to (a) train transmit parameters of the transmitter that synchronize transmission of data with a clock signal while in a first mode, (b) save the transmit parameters in response to a command received while in the first mode, and (c) transmit additional data while in a second mode using the transmit parameters learned while in the first mode. The circuit may have a receiver in communication with the memory. The circuit may be configured to (a) train receive parameters of the receiver that synchronize reception of the data with the clock signal while the memory is in the first mode and (b) receive the additional data from the memory while the memory is in the second mode using the receive parameters learned while the memory was in the first mode.

Conventional memory controllers train an internal circuit that synchronizes a clock signal to information received from memory chips when the memory chips are in a "delay lock loop (DLL)-on" mode of operation and in a "DLL-off" mode of operation. The training for the different memory modes means dedicated hardware and additional complexity in the memory controllers to account for each mode. Designs of the memory controllers also commonly implement different training processes for each memory mode resulting in more dedicated hardware per mode.
It would be desirable to implement synchronization after a memory mode switch.

Memory includes transmitter for data synchronization transmission after a mode switch and method thereof