A magnetic resonance imaging system (A) examines a region of a patient and generates a plurality of views which are reconstructed (B) into a volumetric image representation and stored in a volume image memory (C). A ray projector (D) projects a plurality of rays (14) from a selectable viewing plane (10) into the volume data and retrieves a plurality of data values that lie along each ray. A maximum intensity projection system (E) selects the brightest pixel along each ray to become the corresponding pixel value of an uncorrected projection angiographic image which is stored in an image memory (F). The uncorrected angiographic image represents blood as bright or white values and non-blood tissues as dark or black values. Noise, some tissue types, regions with fine capillaries, and the like, cause the background non-blood regions of the image to appear hazy or gray rather than black. Each pixel value from the uncorrected angiographic image is processed by a transfer function (30) to generate corresponding pixel values of a background darkened angiographic image. The transfer function is linear (32) above a threshold brightness value (34) such that the bright or blood pixels have the same brightness in both the uncorrected and background darkened images. Pixels below the threshold (34) are lowered in brightness along a parabolic curve segment (36) such that the background appears darker.

The present invention relates to the diagnostic imaging arts. It finds particular application in conjunction with magnetic resonance angiography and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, the invention may find application in other imaging areas in which image values have a wide dynamic range and varying degrees of uncertainty associated with different pixel brightness levels.
In x-ray angiography, x-rays which pass through the patient are used to expose photographic film. One or more shadowgraphic or projection x-ray image is taken through a region of interest of the patient. In order to improve contrast between the patient's blood vessels and surrounding tissue, the patient is commonly injected with a contrast agent. The x-ray contrast agents commonly cause the patient's blood to attenuate the x-ray beam 200-300 times as much as comparable volumes of surrounding tissue. The resultant angiographic film image has a dark background where there are no blood vessels, and the blood vessels clearly delineated in white. There is a characteristic translucent appearance where blood vessels cross.
Analogous projection or shadowgraphic angiographic images can be created from magnetic resonance imaging. Most commonly, pixel values are determined for each pixel in a volumetric region defined by a plurality of parallel, planar magnetic resonance images. A viewing plane is defined outside of the volume orthogonal to a direction from which the radiologist wishes to view the material in the volume. The viewing direction is generally parallel to the direction that the x-ray beam would have been directed in x-ray angiography. The viewing plane is divided into pixels corresponding to pixels of a resultant video angiographic image and a ray is projected from each pixel orthogonal to the viewing plane (parallel to the viewing direction) into the volume. A value for each pixel of the image is derived from the brightness or voxel values of each voxel that the corresponding ray intersects as it passes through the volume region.
One difficulty with the magnetic resonance data is that the blood vessels are only 2 to 3 times as bright as the surrounding tissue. This small differentiation between the blood vessels and surrounding tissue causes the MR angiographic images to lack the definition and contrast characteristic of the x-ray angiographic images. The background tends to fade into gray tones. Of course, the blood vessels are not perfect tubes with a uniform brightness across. Rather, the blood vessels themselves have various gray scale shadings indicative of changes in contour, blockages, restrictions, and the like.
In one technique for imparting the visual image characteristics of an x-ray angiography image into a magnetic resonance angiography image, the pixel values along each projected ray are examined to find the pixel with the maximum intensity. This technique is often called the "Maximum Intensity Projection" or MIP technique. This causes the brightest object along each ray to be displayed on the resultant projection image at full intensity. This improved the brightness of the blood vessels. See Laub, et al., "3D MR Angiography Using Bipolar Gradient Echoes" SMRM Book of Abstracts, p. 52, 1987. The surrounding tissue also tends to become bright or more gray, reducing the blackness of the background.
By convention, the resultant angiographic image depicts the blood as bright or white, but not all the same brightness. Larger vessels tend to be brighter than smaller or thinner vessels. Background areas have a variety of gray scales. Some of the background areas are appropriately light gray due to the presence of blood flowing through very fine capillaries too small to be imaged as individual blood vessels. In other regions, light gray and even white spots are attributable to noise. The gray background problem compounds itself when the images are photographed on film to make a permanent record. The lack of contrast between the blood vessels and the background tissue renders film photography more difficult and produces photographic images which are more difficult to read and interpret.
Various techniques have been proposed for darkening the background. In one technique, the computer generated angiographic image is analyzed and a portion of the image which is clearly identifiable as blood is identified. The computer then, with pattern recognition and region growing techniques, attempts to follow the blood vessels through the imaged region. Once a complete mapping of the blood vessels is made, the remaining pixels can be set to black. One problem with pattern mapping or region growing approaches is that they are very computer intensive. Very large computers with very long computing times are required to process each image. Moreover, although they can follow large blood vessels quite accurately, the computer routines have difficulty with small blood vessels. The computer routines have difficulty deciding whether or not smaller blood vessels are in fact blood vessels. The computer tends to decide that many smaller blood vessels are not blood vessels and not follow them. The smaller blood vessels are then inappropriately set to black, causing a misrepresentation of what could be significant medical information.
In one particular implementation, the volumetric data are processed with a connected-voxel algorithm. A low signal intensity threshold is used to separate groups of voxels associated with different vessels from one another and to remove the contribution from low intensity stationary, non-blood material. The remaining voxels are grouped by a connectivity criterion into discrete objects. Vessels are represented by three-dimensional objects. Unconnected small objects were discarded as being noise and not part of the circulatory system. See "Application of Connected-Voxel Algorithm to MR Angiographic Data", Saloner, et al., JMRI, pp. 423-430, 1991. This technique is again very computer intensive, requiring long processing times and tends to lose or omit the smaller blood vessels.
In another technique, angiographic images are obtained by ray projection techniques from a plurality of directions. Each voxel of the volumetric image is thus examined from several directions, e.g. three. If the same spot represents blood in all images, then it is taken as blood. If not, it is taken as noise and deleted. See "The Maximum Intensity Projection As a Segmentation Tool", Denison, et al., SMRI Book of Abstracts, pg. 73, Abstract 250, 1990. Of course, in order to view the object from three or more directions, at least three times the computing time is required to generate the angiographic image.
In another technique, the image data is operated upon by a Hough transform. The Hough transform maps voxels belonging to a given curve to a single point. Through this mapping, bright pixels which are part of a blood vessel laying along a curve can be differentiated from bright pixels which are merely a random incidence of noise. See "The Hough Transform Applied to 3D MRA Data Sets", Wood, et al., SMRI Book of Abstracts, page 158 Abstract PO84, 1990. However, this technique is again very computationally intensive, requiring long periods of time to process each image.
In accordance with the present invention, a new and improved technique is provided for generating angiographic images with a darkened background.

Background darkening of magnetic resonance angiographic images


Methods and systems are provided for producing hydrocarbons from production fluids that have water as an external phase. A method for transporting a hydrocarbon through a pipeline includes injecting water into a production stream at a production center. The production stream includes a hydrocarbon, and the water injection forms a transportation stream that includes a water external phase. The transportation stream is flowed through a transportation line to a surface facility, wherein the transportation line comprises a plurality of static mixers spaced at intervals along the transportation line.

The presence of water in production fluids may cause problems while transporting hydrocarbons due to the formation of emulsions, clathrate hydrates, and wax deposits. The viscosity of water-in-oil emulsions makes transport through long distance pipelines difficult throughout the field life, especially as the watercut increases, which may require the use of pumps, larger pipe diameters, and/or multiple pipes to provide the backpressure necessary to cause or permit fluids to flow to the destination. Further, hydrates may form, for example, at the high pressures and low temperatures that may be found in pipelines and other hydrocarbon equipment. After forming, the hydrates can agglomerate, leading to plugging or fouling of the equipment. Often under the same conditions that cause hydrate formation, wax precipitation can occur, fouling lines and decreasing flow by effectively decreasing the pipeline diameter over time.
Clathrate hydrates (hereinafter hydrate) are weak composites formed from a water matrix and a guest molecule, such as methane or carbon dioxide, among others. Hydrates may form, for example, at the high pressures and low temperatures that may be found in pipelines and other hydrocarbon equipment. For any particular hydrate composition involving water and guest molecules, such as methane, ethane, propane, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide, at a particular pressure there is a specific hydrate equilibrium temperature, above which hydrates are not stable and below which they are stable. After forming, the hydrates can agglomerate, leading to plugging or fouling of the equipment or pipelines.
Various techniques have been used to lower the ability for hydrates to form or cause plugging or fouling. For example, such techniques have included the insulation of lines, active heating, dehydration of the hydrocarbon, and the adding of thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors (THIs), kinetic hydrate inhibitors (KHIs), and/or anti-agglomerates (AAs).
Insulation, active heating, and dehydration can be expensive, especially for subsea systems. Even with insulation, cool-down of production fluids can limit the distance of a producing pipeline. If a hydrate blockage does occur, insulation can be detrimental by preventing heat transfer from the surroundings that may be used for hydrate melting.
Thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors, such as methanol, monoethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, and potassium formate, among others, lower the hydrate formation temperature, which may inhibit the formation of the hydrate under the conditions found in a particular process. Thermodynamic inhibitors can be very effective at hydrate prevention, but the quantities required for total inhibition are large and proportional to the amount of water produced, leading to increasing and even prohibitive quantities late in field life. Low dosage hydrate inhibitors (LDHIs) exist, including kinetic hydrate inhibitors (KHIs) and anti-agglomeration agents (AAs). KHIs delay the nucleation of hydrates, but not by changing the thermodynamic conditions. Instead, KHIs inhibit the nucleation and growth of the hydrate crystals.
An alternative to the use of THIs and KHIs is cold flow technology, in which hydrate can be formed in a manner that prevents hydrate particles from sticking to each other without the use of chemical inhibitors. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,703,354 to Waycuilis, et al., discloses a transport process for a wet gas that employs a subsea heat exchanger that uses the ambient subsea temperature to cool a hydrocarbon stream. A portion of the hydrocarbon stream is converted by the cooling to solid gas hydrate particles. A solid particle medium entrained within the hydrocarbon stream prevents the build-up of gas hydrate particles in the hydrocarbon flow. The gas hydrate particles mix with the remaining liquid phase components of the hydrocarbon stream to form a gas hydrate slurry, which is conveyed through a subsea transport pipeline.
Cold flow has been demonstrated to be successful in systems where oil is the external phase in a water-oil system. The external oil phase is important to this process since cold flow benefits from the generation of small water droplets that can be converted to hydrate particles. Following hydrate formation sufficient liquid should be present to mobilize the hydrate particles. However, at high watercuts, current cold flow strategies may be inadequate.
At high watercuts, where the water phase is external, uninhibited hydrate will continue to form until the water or the gas is exhausted, which may lead to plugging. Wax in another issue in long distance transport. Traditional methods for dealing with wax include insulation to prevent the fluids from dropping below the wax appearance temperature (WAT), pipeline pigging, wax inhibitors to slow deposition, and pour point depressants to prevent gelling. Like that for maintaining the temperature above the hydrate region, insulation may not be adequate in severe environments and will have limitations on the distance in which temperatures can be maintained above the desired WAT. In long distance transport, pigging also becomes more difficult due to the large amounts of fluid and wax to be pushed through the system, potentially resulting in a wax plug. The pressures required to push a pig through the system and move such fluids/wax could even require pumps, resulting in large capital costs. In addition, pigging could require long downtimes in extended pipes. Similar techniques to those used for hydrate inhibition may also be used to inhibit the formation of wax deposits.
These techniques discussed above may fail to keep hydrates and wax particles suspended throughout the entire transportation line to the surface, especially as the material passes through various temperature gradients. Further, as a field matures, it will produce more water. A field may eventually produce primarily water which can limit hydrate remediation strategies and can dictate the end of profitable field production.

System and method for transporting hydrocarbons


An electrode for applying voltage to electroviscous fluid, particularly where the electroviscous fluid has electrically insulating fluid and porous solid particles, the ER effect can be stably maintained up to a high temperature range and high durability can be obtained by laminating an insulating layer on the surface of the electrode in contact with the electroviscous fluid.

The present invention relates to an electrode for applying voltage to electroviscous fluid, in which viscosity can be controlled by voltage application, and in particular to an electrode for applying voltage to electroviscous fluid, which can be utilized for electric control of mechanical devices such as clutches, valves, shock absorbers, etc..
Electro-rheological fluid or electroviscous fluid, in which viscosity of the fluid is changeable by the application of voltage, has been known for many years (Duff, A. W., Physical Review, Vol. 4, No. 1 (1896) 23). Early studies on electroviscous fluid concentrated on the system containing liquid only, and the electroviscous effect was limited. Later studies were made on the electroviscous fluid of solid disperse system, where considerable electroviscous effect could be obtained.
For example, Winslow proposed an electroviscous fluid, using paraffin, silica gel powder and adding water to make the system slightly electroconductive (Winslow, W. M., J. of Applied Physics, Vol. 20 (1949) 1137). From this study by Winslow, the electroviscous (electro-rheological) effect of the electroviscous fluid is called ER effect or Winslow effect.
The mechanism of thickening effect (ER effect), in the electroviscous fluid has also been studied. For example, Klass reported that each particle in electroviscous fluid, also called the dispersoid generates the induced polarization of the electric double layer, in electrical fields and this was the primary cause of the thickening effect (Klass, D. L., et al., J. of Applied Physics, Vol. 38, No. 1 (1967) 67). If this is explained from the principle of the electric double layer, the ions adsorbed on the dispersoids (such as silica gel) are evenly arranged on outer surface of dispersoid when E (electric field)=0, while ion distribution was deviated when E (electric field)=finite value, and particles exert electrostatic action on each other in an electric field.
Thus, each particle forms a bridge between electrodes and begins to have shearing resistance to stress, resulting in the thickening or ER effect.
However, a metal electrode such as copper is used as the electrode to apply voltage to the electroviscous fluid of conventional type, whereas, when voltage is applied on an electroviscous fluid, constant current flows and an electrochemical reaction on the electrode inevitably occurs by the formation of a bridge along with the dipole formation of dispersoid particles. Therefore, the conventional type electroviscous fluid system inherently has the following problems:
(1) By the consumption of the water, polyhydric alcohol, another substance used as the polarization promoting agent which results from the electrochemical process, electroviscous fluid is electrochemically deteriorated, and the thickening effect is decreased.
(2) By electrochemical reaction, metal electrodes are eluted and corroded, which reduces the durability of the electroviscous fluid system. This imposes serious limitations on the metal electrode such as copper electrode for the electroviscous fluid system.
It is an object of this invention to offer an electrode for electroviscous fluid,, by which it is possible to maintain stable a ER effect up to a high temperature range and to obtain higher durability.


Disclosed are 1α-hydroxy-2-(3′-hydroxypropylidene)-19-nor-vitamin D compounds, pharmaceutical compositions, and methods of making and treatment thereof. The compounds are generally directed to biologically active 2-alkylidene-19-nor-vitamin D compounds and analogs thereof characterized by the presence of a 3′-hydroxypropylidene moiety at C-2 and the presence of an abbreviated alkyl side-chain free of any hydroxyl moiety.

The natural hormone, 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and its analog in the ergosterol series (i.e., 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D2) are potent regulators of calcium homeostasis in animals and humans. Recently, its cellular differentiation activity has been established, see Ostrem et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 84, 2610 (1987). Structural analogs of these metabolites have been prepared and tested such as 1α-hydroxyvitamin D3, 1α-hydroxyvitamin D2, and, various side-chain homologated vitamins and fluorinated analogs thereof. Some of these compounds exhibit separation of activities in cell differentiation and calcium regulation. The difference in activity may be advantageous in treating a variety of diseases such as renal osteodystrophy, vitamin D-resistant rickets, osteoporosis, psoriasis, and other malignancies.
A class of vitamin D analogs, the 19-nor-vitamin D compounds, are characterized by replacement of the A-ring exocyclic methylene group at the carbon 19 (typical of the vitamin D system) with two hydrogen atoms. Biological testing of such 19-nor-analogs (e.g., 1α,25-dihydroxy-19-nor-vitamin D3) revealed a selective activity profile having high potency to induce cellular differentiation and very low calcium mobilizing activity. Potentially, these compounds are useful therapeutic agents for treating renal osteodystrophy, vitamin D-resistant rickets, osteoporosis, psoriasis, other malignancies and various skin disorders.
Two different synthetic methods of making various 19-nor-vitamin D analogs have been described—See Perlman et al., Tetrahedron Letters 31, 1823 (1990); Perlman et al., Tetrahedron Letters 32, 7663 (1991); and, DeLuca et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,191. Analogs of 1α,25-dihydroxy-19-norvitamin D3 substituted at 2-position with hydroxy or alkoxy groups have also been synthesized (see DeLuca et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,713) which may exhibit selective activity profiles.
Analogs characterized by the transposition of the A-ring exocyclic methylene group from carbon 10 (C10) to carbon 2 (C2) (e.g., 2-methylene-19-nor-vitamin D compounds) have been synthesized and tested. (See Sicinski et al., J. Med. Chem., 41, 4662 (1998); Sicinski et al., Steroids 67, 247 (2002); and, DeLuca et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,843,928; 5,936,133 and 6,382,071). Molecular mechanics studies performed on these analogs predict that a change of A-ring conformation may cause flattening of the cyclohexanediol ring. Molecular mechanics calculations and NMR studies also predict that the A-ring conformational equilibrium would be ca. 6:4 in favor of the conformer having an equatorial 1α-OH. It was further predicted that introduction of the 2-methylene group into 19-nor-vitamin D carbon skeleton would change the character of its 1α- and 3β-A-ring hydroxyls. They would both be in allylic positions similar to the 1α-hydroxyl group (which is important for biological activity) in the molecule of the natural hormone (i.e., 1α,25-(OH)2D3). It was found that 1α,25-dihydroxy-2-methylene-19-norvitamin D analogs are characterized by significant biological potency. In addition, the biological potency of such analogs may be enhanced dramatically where "unnatural" (20S) configuration is present.
Recently, 2-ethylidene analogs of 1α,25-dihydroxy-19-norvitamin D3 have been synthesized whereby such modification of the A-ring resulted in significant biological potency particularly for the E-geometrical isomers, see Sicinski et al., J. Med. Chem., 45, 3366 (2002). It has been established that E-isomers have A-ring conformational equilibrium that is considerably shifted to the chair form possessing 1α-hydroxyl in equatorial orientation.
Recently, derivatives of 1α,25-dihydroxy-19-norvitamin D3 having a 3′-hydroxypropylidene moiety at C-2 have been synthesized (see DeLuca et. al, U.S. Patent Application No. 2004/0229851) whereby the in vivo calcemic activity significantly exceeded that of 1α,25-(OH)2D3 particularly regarding stimulation of intestinal calcium transport. Molecular modeling studies of the analogs predicted that presence of an oxygen function (located at the terminus of the propylidene fragment) may promote interaction with the vitamin D receptor. The modeling further predicted that affinity of the synthesized compounds to VDR may approach that of the natural hormone. Taking into account the recent findings on 2-methylene-1α-hydroxy-19-norvitamin D analogs having truncated side-chains, Plum et al., PNAS, 101, 6900 (2004), indicates that such compounds effectively suppress parathyroid hormone levels.

1a-hydroxy-2-(3'-hydroxypropylidene)-19-nor-vitamin D compounds and methods of making and treatment thereof


A food processing apparatus such as a cooler, blancher, or cooker, has a water tank with a perforated wall drum cylinder mounted to rotate within the tank. Loose or pouch-packaged food product is introduced into the rotating cylinder and is advanced by the generally helical auger to the discharge end of the tank. The auger has radially extending folds or depressions which project axially from the auger helical surface, such that food product conveyed by the rotating auger is engaged by the projecting portions and is thereby agitated in an axial direction as it is conveyed from the tank inlet to the tank outlet. In a preferred embodiment, the depressions are disposed at 90 degrees from one another along the entire length of the auger, alternately projecting toward the inlet and the outlet.

Many food products, before they can be packaged or consumed, must be subjected to a variety of heat treating processes. The product may need to be blanched, cooled, or cooked, or may require multiple heat treatments. Large quantities of product may be treated in a rotating drum with an internal auger for advancement of the product through a heated or cooled water bath. The efficiency of the process, as well as the time which is consumed in properly heating or cooling the product, depends on the heat transfer rate between the treated product and the surrounding liquid. An increased rate of heat transfer means a decreased retention time of the product required within the treatment apparatus, and hence allows a greater throughput for a given size machine.
It has been found that agitation of food product with a significant thickness, such as animal organs, or pouches of liquid or semi-liquid product, results in improved heat transfer. As disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,344 for a CHILLER, axially extending baffles, peripherally mounted to the rotating auger flights of a drum are effective in imparting some agitation to a conveyed food product. Peripheral baffles, however, will only engage food product of negative buoyancy, that is product which resides within the lower regions of the rotating drum. Product which is of positive or neutral buoyancy, and which therefore floats within the water may avoid contact with peripheral baffles.
What is needed is a rotating drum food processing apparatus which promotes improved heat transfer of treated products of both positive, negative, and neutral buoyancy.

Food machinery with agitating flight auger


Some embodiments include a number of nodes configured to receive a number of signals. The signals may represent information stored in a number of memory cells of a device such as a memory device. The device may include a number of transfer paths having storage elements coupled between the nodes and an output node. The transfer paths may be configured to transfer a selected signal of the signals from one of the nodes to the output node via one of the transfer paths. The transfer paths may be configured to hold a value of the selected signal in only one of the storage elements. Each of the transfer paths may include only one of the storage elements. Other embodiments including additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.

Semiconductor devices, including memory, often are used in computers and electronic products, e.g., digital televisions, digital cameras, and cellular phones, to store data and other information. A memory device usually has many memory cells and associated circuit paths to transfer information to and from the memory cells.
A circuit path in a conventional memory device often has many circuit elements that operate to transfer information with the memory cells. In some cases, a large number of circuit elements in a circuit path may lead to increased circuit layout area, lower transfer speed, circuit control challenge, or a combination of thereof.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Error reporting may be enhanced, by utilizing a programming language, such as C++ and its attendant enhanced error reporting facility. The invention generates an error message at the function level where the error occurs, as well as noting the line of source code during which time the error occurred. The resulting populated error message is then rolled up toward the main program. At each preceding roll up level, an additional error message is populated which notes the original error message information as well as adding return path information. Thus, after completed roll up to the main program, stacked error messages are made available to the user that fully define the complete path involving the error, in addition to the identification of the source code line where the error occurred.

Error code generation is an important aspect of running computer software (hereinafter referred to as "applications"). Even operating systems generate error codes or phrases when an abnormality is detected during operation of the software. Typical error messages in applications may include a message indicating that a particular requested file has not been found. Similarly, in an operating system, error messages are presented to the user, such as in the instance where a command is entered by the user that is not recognized by the operating system.
A primary disadvantage of present error reporting systems, in applications and operating systems, is the lack of fully identifying where in the program (e.g., line of source code) the error was detected. This would enable programmers to review the source code and quickly concentrate on the cause of the error, based on its occurrence at a particular point in the program. Further, the same error code may be returned during various subroutines or functions, during an application, so that no unique correspondence between the error and the function/subroutine exists. This makes it more difficult to troubleshoot problems when running applications.
The problem becomes multiplied when a main program accomplishes its processing by relying upon modules, in the nature of functions and subroutines, that themselves rely upon a library of software services. By way of example, a software function may include an application command to retrieve a file. Services relate to underlying surfaces such as OLE which provides a software transport for importing data from one particular application, such as Excel.TM. into a second application, such as Word.TM.. Since the same service may be employed by various functions and subroutines, the generation of a simple service error message is not terribly useful since it does not uniquely identify which branch of the application was involved.
Accordingly, a need exists to track and report errors with greater detail than that currently available.


A secure wireless IoT platform configured to provide secure channel hopping for transmitting or receiving messages over a television whitespace spectrum. The platform includes a client device and a base station in communication with a gateway device which provides internet access. A secret key is determined based on the transmission loss associated with the transmission and potentially a new parameter. A next hopping channel is determined in a safe manner to ensure secure communications between the multiple devices.

There are many types of wireless communication systems currently available, including radio, cellular, Bluetooth, WiFi, and television (TV) wireless. The range of broadcast coverage can vary based on the type of wireless communication. For example, class 3 Bluetooth transmits with a range fewer than 10 meters, while a cellphone can reach a cell tower almost 45 miles away. Televisions, like radios, operate on a range of frequencies to which corresponding devices can tune for station broadcasting. TV wireless operates mostly on a very high frequency (VHF) and ultra-high frequency (UHF) bands. VHF bands occupy frequencies ranging from 54 to 216 MHz, while the UHF band spans frequencies between 470 and 700 MHz. These frequencies, and thus corresponding channels, require users to register their devices and license the channel(s) that they wish to occupy. Licensing fees become increasingly expensive depending on the value of the channel a user wishes to use.
To avoid interference between television stations operating on the same or adjacent channels, the television stations are typically operated in geographically isolated areas. In some cases, especially in rural areas with low population density, there are portions of unused frequency spectrum on which a television station could operate but does not. The unused frequencies, found between occupied channels, are referred to as white spaces. Across the globe, efforts have been made to make the TV white space (TVWS) band available for unlicensed radio transmitters to use and operate, as well as to establish standards of use. The typical range for a device operating in the TVWS band can extend up to 50 kilometers, which is significantly longer than WiFi or Bluetooth.
There are several factors associated with the TVWS band that users must consider depending on the use type and content being transmitted. For example, because the devices operating on the TVWS band are unlicensed, and thus the length of time each device is operating is variable and not pre-determined, the availability of the TVWS frequencies is dynamically changing. This poses an obstacle to using the TVWS, as extra coordination efforts are employed to ensure that the channel a device will be operating on is available in the geographic location and timeframe a user is wanting to use it.
Some conventional wireless communications between a transmitter and receiver, for example, utilize the channel reciprocity between the two devices to facilitate the signal transmission. Channel reciprocity is the condition in which the wireless channel experienced by a signal from the transmitter to the receiver is the same as the channel experienced by a signal from the receiver to the transmitter. Therefore, the signal strength of the received signal can be used as a shared key (also referred to as a secret key) between the two devices to ensure proper transmission and reception of a data packet. Specifically, when the transmitter sends a packet to the receiver, the receiver measures the signal strength of the received signal. The receiver sends an acknowledgement back. The transmitter measures the received signal strength for the acknowledgement. Since the two numbers should be equal by the reciprocity principle, this number can be used as a shared key.
However, in the TVWS, this configuration is not feasible. TVWS radios, specifically when deployed in a station-client method, have different transmit powers on the transmitter and the receiver devices. Since the station has access to more power sources, it can transmit at a higher power than the client. As a result, even though the channel between them is the same, the actual received signal strength is higher on the client than the received signal strength on the receiver. As a result, the received signal strength itself is not the same for the two devices, and hence they will end up having different values for the shared key, preventing any communication.
Furthermore, like all wireless networks, the TVWS is a broadcast communication network, where every device can listen to the signal transmitted by another device. While the broadcast nature of the TVWS medium provides many advantages, it presents unique security challenges as well. Specifically, consider a communication between two devices, where one device acts as a transmitter and the other as a receiver. When the transmitter transmits the signal, an adversary can transmit a parallel signal to the receiver on the same frequency at the same time. This allows the adversary to corrupt the signal received by the receiver, and hence deny service. Such attacks are called denial of service attacks.
Given the increasing use of wireless communication systems for monitoring critical infrastructure like power grids, telephone lines, etc., denial of service attacks can have crippling effects. Therefore, there exists a real threat of an attacker compromising a transmission, for example, by disabling the power grid infrastructure monitoring and using the lack of communication to physically attack the power grid. Such attacks would have disastrous consequences.
In some cases, for other types of wireless communication networks, a technique for channel hopping has been employed to offer an increase in security. Channel hopping involves dynamically changing the frequency on which a device or a pair of devices are operating. Thus, an attacker would not as easily be able to determine the frequency on which the transmission is being sent or received. However, because of the dynamically changing access to the frequencies available in the TVWS band, traditional channel hopping is not workable. For example, if a device is currently transmitting at a particular frequency, the next frequency to which the device will "hop" might be unavailable. For example, in existing approaches, including those used for Bluetooth, a fixed hopping pattern is employed. However, because the availability of channels is dynamic, a fixed hopping pattern might encounter unavailable channels. As a result, the communication link between the devices will break down.
Thus, although TVWS presents many advantages such as little to no cost and the ability to operate in long-range, rural areas, there are some obstacles to using TVWS, such as device asymmetry and unpredictable channel availability. Additionally, the TVWS is still subject to security attacks. Consequently, there is a persistent and on-going need to improve how the TVWS band is used for communications.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.


An orthopaedic surgical instrument system includes a hinged tibial insert trial and a tibial base trial. A post adapter is sized to be positioned over a post of the tibial base trial and to be positioned in a central opening defined in the hinged tibial insert trial. The hinged tibial insert trial includes a housing configured to be received in a femoral component and a button mechanism to selectively secure the hinged tibial insert trial to the femoral component. The system may include a shim trial sized to be attached to an inferior surface of the hinged tibial insert trial.

Joint arthroplasty is a well-known surgical procedure by which a diseased and/or damaged natural joint is replaced by a prosthetic joint. For example, in a total knee arthroplasty surgical procedure, a patient's natural knee joint is partially or totally replaced by a prosthetic knee joint or knee prosthesis. In a revision knee surgery, the previously-implanted knee prosthesis, sometimes referred to as a "primary knee prosthesis," is surgically removed and a replacement or revision knee prosthesis is implanted. A typical knee prosthesis includes a tibial tray, a femoral component, and a polymer insert or bearing positioned between the tibial tray and the femoral component. In some cases when soft tissue may not be adequate, a hinged knee prosthesis is implanted, where the polymer insert or bearing links the femoral component to the insert to allow for flexion and extension of the knee. The tibial tray generally includes a plate having a stem extending distally therefrom, and the femoral component generally includes a pair of spaced apart condylar elements, which include surfaces that articulate with corresponding surfaces of the polymer bearing. The stem of the tibial tray is configured to be implanted in a surgically-prepared medullary canal of the patient's tibia, and the femoral component is configured to be coupled to a surgically-prepared distal end of a patient's femur.
During joint arthroplasty, trial components may be used to size and select the components of the knee prosthesis that will replace the patient's natural joint. Trial components may include a femoral trial that may be used to size and select a prosthetic femoral component, a tibial tray trial that may be used to size and select a prosthetic tibial tray, a tibial insert trial that may be used to size and select a prosthetic tibial insert, and a stem trial that may be used to size and select a prosthetic stem component.

Orthopaedic surgical instrument system and a method of trialing an orthopaedic prosthetic assembly


A color gamut mapping method, which is capable of minimizing a color difference perceived by a person, preventing brightness and contrast from deteriorating, and improving color reproducibility, and a liquid crystal display device using the same are disclosed. The color gamut mapping method includes converting image data having an original gamut into lightness, chroma and hue data, adjusting a primary hue angle of the original gamut according to a reproduction gamut and adjusting the hue data according to the adjustment amount of the primary hue angle, changing the lightness of an original gamut boundary in consideration of a reproduction gamut boundary and changing the brightness data by the change amount of the lightness of the original gamut boundary, deciding a focal point, which is a reference point of color gamut mapping, according to the size, the shape and the position of the original/reproduction gamut in lightness and chroma coordinates, deciding a mapping slope according to the decided focal point FP and a mapping area in which the lightness and chroma data are located and mapping the original gamut to the reproduction gamut according to the decided mapping slope, and converting the lightness, chroma and hue data mapped to the reproduction gamut into image data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color gamut mapping method, and more particularly, to a color gamut mapping method capable of improving color reproducibility.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
With high resolution and high definition of an image display device, color reproducibility has been improved. Since a color reproduction area, that is, a color gamut, of an image display device varies according to the characteristics of the image display device, a color gamut mapping method of compressing or extending the color gamut according to the characteristics of the image display device is required.
For example, recently, if a standard RGB (hereinafter, referred to as "sRGB") image which is the standard of high-definition television (HDTV) is displayed in a wide color gamut (hereinafter, referred to as "WCG") larger than the color gamut of the sRGB, a color gamut mapping method of extending the color gamut of the sRGB to the WCG is required like a chromaticity coordinate system shown in FIG. 1.
Such a color gamut mapping method should compress or extend the color gamut such that a color difference perceived by a person is minimized. However, since a conventional color gamut mapping method does not consider a hue variation which is sensitively perceived by a person, a color difference of a specific color such as a blue color may vary. In addition, since the shapes and the sizes of an original gamut and a reproduction gamut are not considered, brightness and contrast may deteriorate and thus color reproducibility may deteriorate.

Color gamut mapping and liquid crystal display device using the same


Various embodiments of a wiper assembly are disclosed which facilitate the removal or shattering of ice or snow debris lodged and trapped beneath a wiper blade during its movement. Embodiments of the invention are disclosed which provide means to overcome normal urging forces of the wiper arm in a direction toward a light transmitting screen member and to urge the wiper arm of the wiper assembly away from the surface of the screen member. Some structures according to the invention may cause the wiper blade to return with an impact force sufficient ice and snow debris trapped beneath the wiper blade and also possibly frozen to it. Other embodiments include means for imparting vibrational movement to the wiper assembly to release or shatter ice and snow trapped beneath the blade or frozen to it.

Virtually all vehicles today (cars, trucks, trains, airplanes, boats etc) incorporate one or more windshield wipers which can be deactivated at any time by a driver to sweep repeatedly across an exterior surface of the windshield. A rubber or plastic wiper blade of each wiper assembly engages the exterior surface to clear debris from that portion of the windshield generally in front of the driver to maintain unimpaired visibility. Debris left to build up on the windshield impairs visibility for the driver and if permitted to build up anywhere on the wiper assembly can also reduce wiping efficiency. Maintaining good visibility for the driver lessens the chances of the vehicle becoming involved in an accident and hence increases the safety level for all occupants.
The type of debris which can accumulate depends on the geographical location and season. In particular, in parts of the world where winter weather is severe, snow and ice build up on wiper blades is a common experience. In particularly extreme weather conditions, it is not uncommon for snow or ice to freeze to a windshield wiper arm and/or wiper blade. While allowing for movement of the blade across the windshield, such frozen debris may seriously reduce the cleaning action of the blade on the windshield surface. Such freezing may occur while a vehicle is being driven or when stationary. Also, it is common for lumps of ice or snow to become lodged under a wiper blade during use so as to be carried with the blade on its wiping movement. This situation may occur if the blade in moving across the windshield surface is caused to ride onto a mass of ice or snow and move it from a stationary location upon the windshield.
As long as an ice or snow mass remains lodged the efficiency of the wiper blade is severely reduced as a significant portion or all of the wiper blade can no longer engage the exterior surface of the windshield. The thickness of any mass of ice or snow may have a bearing on the wiping efficiency especially if the mass extends along a significant length of the blade. Ice lumps as small as one millimeter if lodged can cause the wiper to experience reduced efficiency. Snow and/or ice formation anywhere on the windshield wiper assembly may contribute to reducing wiping efficiency also by raising sections of the blade off the windshield.
A driver of a vehicle when experiencing any of the problems discussed above generally has two options. The first and safest option is to stop the vehicle and, even in extremely cold conditions, exit the vehicle to manually break away the ice or snow frozen to or trapped beneath the wiper blade. This is not always convenient and is certainly not possible for pilots and train operators. Even when driving a road vehicle there are times when stopping to remove debris from a windshield is impossible due to inherent danger. For instance, bridges or certain roadways have little or no shoulder area and when busy with traffic, a driver may not stop safely. Even when there is room to stop by the roadside, it may not be prudent to do so as personal safety may be at risk if the driver leaves the vehicle or if his parked position may present a driving hazard to other vehicles.
A common although unrecommended solution for many drivers is to open a window and manually attempt to grasp a windshield wiper as it travels within extended reach of the driver. In reaching the wiper, the driver attempts to lift it momentarily from the windshield in the hope that the debris will become dislodged. Needless to say this is an extremely unsafe practice and, in many cases, such as for larger vehicles, e.g. trains and airplanes, is simply not an option.
A further problem concerns the coating of a windshield wiper assembly with ice or snow when the wiper asembly is in the parked position during storm conditions. The thickness of the ice or snow may be such as to trap the wiper assembly in the parked position and thus prevent its operation when the operating motor is energized. It can be an extremely tedious and unpleasant operation for a driver to need to free the wiper manually from the parked position in winter conditions. To ease this problem, some car manufacturers incorporate heating elements in windshield glass. The elements function to heat windshields in a manner similar to that of present day electrical rear window defrosters. This solution is not only expensive and extremely slow in effective operation, it cannot dislodge or melt ice or snow while the wiper assembly is in operation. Furthermore, windshield heating elements are ineffective in releasing wipers from ice or snow when in their parked positions if the wiper blades are not in engagement with the windshields.
Other solutions, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,561 issued to Kotlar, teach electrically heating various portions of a wiper blade to melt away snow and ice. Although this solution is somewhat effective when the wipers are in operation, it is an extremely slow operation. This solution can also be very expensive for the owner of the vehicle as wiper blades wear away and should be replaced regularly. Wiper blades of the type taught in the above patent would incorporate an integral electrical heating element thereby drastically increasing the cost of replacement blades.
In addition, headlights on some cars incorporate a small wiper arrangement to clean the exterior glass surfaces of the headlights. Headlight wipers may suffer severe ice buildup in winter climates and very often cannot be operated as they become frozen in position. Their proximity to the ground and front end location places them directly in the path of snow, slush and ice raised by passing vehicles or vehicles in front.


In a method of making a tunable twin guide (TTG) type tunable semiconductor laser, over the surface of a semiconductor substrate of one conductivity type, an active layer, a central layer of the opposite conductivity type, and a tuning layer, each being stripe-shaped and overlying the top of the preceding one is provided. This method is characterized in that the processing of semiconductor elements for defining the current path/optical waveguide inside the laser is carried out not by etching but by using selective epitaxy method such as metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). The use of selective MOVPE permits to form stripe-shaped layers at high precision and good uniformity, with consequent effects of minimizing scattering of laser light, increasing the efficiency of the drive power to laser light output conversion and enhancing the coupling efficiency with optical fibers. Besides thinner central layer that can be formed can contributes to enlarging the tunable bandwidth of laser light.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of making a tunable semiconductor laser capable of controlling the wavelength of the coherent light to be output.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The tunable semiconductor lasers is used as a local oscillation light source for receiving in coherent light communications systems, and also as a carrier-wave light source of frequency-division multiplex light transmitter. Not only for increasing channel capacity in optical communications systems but also for enabling longer distance between communication relay stations by longer transmittable distance, it is necessary to improve the performance of the semiconductor laser which is a major component. Effect is being devoted to the development for this.
Tunable lasers proposed so far are of different types such as distributed feedback (DFB) type, distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) type, and tunable twin guide (TTG) type. DFB type and DBR type of these conventional tunable semiconductor lasers are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,350 issued on Aug. 14, 1990, and hence the detail of these is omitted herein.
A typical example of TTG tunable semiconductor laser is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,049 issued on Sep. 10, 1991 which is made by the following process: On the surface of a p-type indium phosphide (InP) substrate is a layer sequence consisting of a 2 .mu.m-thick buffer layer of the same material, a 0.15 .mu.m-thick diffraction grating layer of p-type indium gallium arsenide phosphide (InGaAsP), an n-type InGaAsP active layer of 0.1 .mu.m thick, a 0.05 .mu.m-thick antimelt-back layer of InGaAsP, a n-type InP central layer of 0.1 .mu.m thick, a n-type InGaAsP tuning layer of 3 .mu.m thick, a p-type InP cover layer of 1.5 .mu.m thick, and a InGaAsP contact layer of 0.2 .mu.m thick. These are grown by the liquid phase epitaxy technique each on the top of the preceding one. Then the layer sequence is etched to leave a stripe-shaped mesa having a predetermined width. The remaining where etched away is filled as lateral n-type InP regions. The periphery of the lateral regions is inactivated by proton implantation or p-type impurity diffusion. Then each of conducting films insulated from each other is applied by the usual patterning onto the surfaces of the p-type InP substrate, the contact layer, and the lateral regions, respectively, and connected to a laser oscillation drive power input electrode, a tuning power input electrode, and a common lateral layer electrode, respectively. Electric current injection of charge carriers (holes and electrons) bringing about laser oscillation reaches the common electrode from the laser oscillation drive power input electrode via the conductor layer on the substrate undersurface, substrate, barrier layer, diffraction grating layer, active layer, and lateral regions. On the other hand, the current injection for tuning reaches the common electrode from the tunable power input electrode via the cover, tuning, and lateral regions.
A TTG tunable semiconductor laser achieving independent definition of the current path and optical waveguide, respectively, by different means is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,893 issued on Apr. 16, 1991, and its manufacturing process is summarized as follows: On the surface of a p-type InP substrate of 80 .mu.m thick, a multi-layer structure consisting of a 5 .mu.m thick buffer layer of the same material, a 0.15 .mu.m-thick barrier layer composed of three layers of n-type InGaAsP, n-type InP and p-type InP are formed sequencially. Then a part of the multilayer structure is etched away in stripe form corresponding to the current path for supply of carriers for laser oscillation. A 1 .mu.m-thick compensating layer of p-type InP is formed over the overall surface in addition to filling the etched part with the same material, and thereon an active layer of InGaAsP is formed. After applying a 0.03 .mu.m-thick protective film of InGaAsP onto this active layer, an n-type InP central layer of 0.15 .mu.m thick, and an n-type InGaAsP tuning layer of 0.2 .mu.m thick are formed. After forming the first contact layer of n-type InGaAsP of 0.1 .mu.m thick on the entire surface of the tuning layer, a p-type InP cladding layer of 1.5 .mu.m thick and the second contact layer of p-type InGaAsP of 0.2 .mu.m thick are formed. Then the first etching is carried out to remove a part of the periphery of the multilayer structure including from the second contact layer to the active layer to form an edge parallel to the stripes. Then the second etching is carried out to leave a part of the multilayer structure from the second contact layer to the cladding layer to be a ridge waveguide having the same form as the stripe of the current path and to remove the remaining part. Subsequently to the substrate undersurface, and the first and second contact layers, respectively, are connected each of a laser oscillation drive power input electrode, common electrode, and tunable power input electrode. In the TTG tunable semiconductor laser with this ridge waveguide, current for carrier injection bringing about laser oscillation reaches the common electrode from the laser oscillation drive power input electrode through the compensating layer filling the stripe-shaped window in the barrier layer, the active layer and the central layer. On the other hand, the current for carrier injection for tuning reaches the common electrode from the tuning power input electrode through the cladding, and tuning layers.
As apparent from the above-described structure, the TTG tunable semiconductor laser is tunable through variation of the refractive index which can caused by carrier injection from the wavelength control electrode under the condition of single mode oscillation kept by carrier injection from the laser oscillation drive electrode and in turn. The change in refractive index of the tuning layer which varies laser oscillation wavelength is due to production of plasma in the layer resulting from the carrier injection. The tuning efficiency of the TTG laser is dependent on how much carriers are enclosed into the tuning layer and on what extent the laser oscillation light and the tuning layer interact.
The above-described process of manufacturing TTG laser includes a processing step of building a striped-shaped mesa or a waveguide ridge by selective etching of the multilayer structure as described above, and therefore these geometries vary considerably with the temperature, concentration, and agitation of the etchant used in this step. In other words, progress of etching varies finely with site of the multilayer structure and variable processing time, and this makes it difficult to ensure the geometrical uniformity of the stripe-shaped mesa or waveguide ridge. Further the variation in progress in etching causes geometrical disorder of stripe-shaped mesa and waveguide ridge, which in turn results in scattering of laser light, loss of laser light output, and lowered efficiency of the current to laser light conversion. Besides the scattering of laser light reduces the coupling efficiency between the semiconductor laser light and an optical fiber constituting optical light transmission path.

Method of making tunable semiconductor laser


A topology representation stores the topology in database tables corresponding to a topology schema for representing the manageable entities and relations in the SAN. A management application performs topology manipulations via database queries operable to process the database tables representing the topology, thus avoiding loading the entire topology into memory. Accordingly, configurations herein need not store the entire topology representation in order to process the topology by performing relational database queries that effectively perform the topology processing via the database query engine rather than a memory resident data structure.

In a storage area network (SAN), a SAN management application monitors and manages manageable entities in the SAN. Each of the manageable entities is a component, or resource, deployed with other SAN components in a particular configuration. The manageable entities include storage arrays, connectivity devices, and hosts. Typically, software entities known as agents execute on the hosts for gathering, reporting, and monitoring the manageable entities in the SAN. The manageable entities are responsive to the agents for reporting various status metrics back to the agents and receiving control information from the agents. A management server executes the SAN management application, and oversees the agents. The management server is responsive to a console having a graphical user interface (GUI) for receiving and displaying operator parameters with a SAN operator.
In general, therefore, the storage area network (SAN) is a collection of data storage systems that are networked via a switching fabric to a number of host computer systems operating as data servers for user access. In a large storage area network, the interconnections between the manageable entities may become numerous and complex. A discovery operation identifies the topology of the SAN so that the management application may identify, manipulate, and report on each of the manageable entities and interconnections in the SAN. The management application, therefore, maintains the topology representation to enable a SAN operator to interactively provide direction to and receive feedback on SAN operation via an operator console.

Methods and apparatus for representing and querying storage area network (SAN) topology


A device and method for nondestructively inspecting, measuring, and/or detecting metallic. The device may enable multiple synthetic apertures for measurements simultaneously. The device includes a transmitter coil array and a receiver coil array wound around a core. The receiver coil array includes multiple receiver coil sections built with gaps in between adjacent sections to form multiple associated apertures. An analog electrical network is coupled to the multiple receiver coil sections to enable multiple combined synthetic apertures to be operated together for the transducer to conduct measurements simultaneously to provide multiple outputs associated to the multiple synthetic apertures. Measurement signals can be combined to build a processed signal that can represent more accurate information from the target.

For a transducer, the aperture is defined as the spatial sensitivity function. It indicates the sensor signal measurable level corresponding to the detectible zone targeted by a transducer. Each transmitter coil or receiver coil of the inductive transducer has its own aperture characterized by engineering designs. The individual apertures in the inductive transducer can be combined to form a synthetic aperture. The desired synthetic aperture is determined by the application of the transducer for various measurement goals of remote target investigation such as distances, directions, depths, and spatial resolutions of the target features. As a result, each aperture can capture the information from the measurement target in different combinations of distances, directions, depths, and spatial resolutions.
Currently, an inductive coil transducer can only enable a single synthetic aperture at any one time. To get different apertures, the network connecting the sensor coils must be rearranged. Due to the requirement, the measurements from reconfigurable apertures must be operated sequentially rather than simultaneously, which requires multiple acquisitions following each reconfiguration. Or, to conduct the multi-aperture measurements simultaneously with a single-aperture transducer, one shall use a system and operate together with multiple single-aperture transducers where each transducer is configured with its own unique aperture.
Consequently, there is a need for an improved inductive coil transducer design that may be capable of enabling multiple synthetic apertures simultaneously.
Hereinafter, the terms "inductive transducer" and "inductive sensor" are interchangeably used.

Multi-synthetic aperture inductive coil transducer


A device is disclosed. The device includes a plurality of ports to receive a plurality of audio streams, an audio content control unit configured to modify playback length of an audio content of at least one of the plurality of audio streams according to an input time interval, an audio decoder and a memory buffer coupled to the audio decoder and the audio content control unit. The memory buffer is used by the audio content control unit to buffer at least one of the plurality of audio streams.

Modern broadcast receivers support multiple audio inputs from different broadcast domains such as FM, digital audio broadcast (DAB), or Internet radio. These sources normally are not aligned in time. Further, broadcast or recorded audio content typically have a predefined length and these time lengths may not align with a person's travel time when the person is traveling, for example a vehicle fitted with a global navigation satellite system (GNSS).


A device for associating a circuit breaker with a circuit may have one or more sensors for remotely sensing that a circuit is active. When a sensor senses that a circuit is active, a transmitter may transmit a signal to a receiver that alerts a user. In this manner, the user may determine which of a plurality of different circuit breakers is associated with a particular circuit. This device mitigates the contemporary need to repeatedly turn off circuit breakers, go to the room in which the circuit is being monitored, and check to see if the circuit is active.

Circuit breakers for use in electrical circuits are well known. Circuit breakers trip automatically to disable a circuit in response to an overload or short circuit. In this manner, circuit breakers tend to prevent damage to electrical devices, fires, and harm to people.
Tripped circuit breakers can be reset. A circuit breaker is typically manually reset once the condition that caused the circuit breaker to trip no longer exists. Thus, after an overload has ceased or after a short circuit has been repaired, the circuit breaker can be reset.

Wireless remote detector systems and methods


The disclosed embodiments relate to a system that uses data from an online social network to optimize subscription offers. During operation of the online social network, the system gathers data associated with subscription offers that were presented to members of the online social network, including information about which subscription offers were converted. Next, the system uses a machine-learning technique to train a model based on the gathered data. Finally, the system uses the trained model to select subscription offers to present to a member of the online social network.

Perhaps the most significant development on the Internet in recent years has been the rapid proliferation of online social networks, such as LinkedIn® and Facebook®. Billions of users are presently accessing such social networks to connect with friends and acquaintances and to share personal and professional information. During operation, these online social networks routinely make millions of decisions each day to determine which types of information to present to users. Some of these decisions can directly affect the revenue of the online social network. In particular, online social networks routinely make decisions to determine which types of subscription offers to present to users. For example, a more-expensive subscription may allow a user to perform more-sophisticated searches through member records to look for sales leads, or may make it easier for a user to contact other members of the online social network.
However, designing a system to make good decisions about subscription offers can be a challenging task because a user's preferences and associated behavior can change over time. Hence, it is desirable for the decision-making methodology to be able to adapt to these changing preferences and behaviors.

Using data obtained from an online social network to optimize subscription offers


An IPS-LC panel includes first and second substrates, and a liquid crystal interposed therebetween. The first substrate includes common and pixel electrodes that are spaced apart from each other. Each of the common and pixel electrodes includes a zigzag pattern having a plurality of indentations and protrusions. The zigzag pattern increases an electric field level applied between the common and pixel electrodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display device implementing in-plane switching (IPS) where an electric field to be applied to liquid crystal is generated in a plane parallel to a substrate.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Recently, light and thin liquid crystal display (LCD) devices with low power consumption are used in office automation equipment, video devices, and the like. Such LCDs typically uses an optical anisotropy and spontaneous polarization of a liquid crystal (LC). The LC has thin and long LC molecules, which causes an orientational alignment of the LC molecules. Therefore, alignment direction of the LC molecules is controlled by applying an electric field to the LC molecules. When the alignment direction of the LC molecules are properly adjusted, the LC is aligned and light is refracted along the alignment direction of the LC molecules to display image data. Of particular interest is an active matrix (AM) LCD, in which a plurality of thin film transistors and pixel electrodes are arranged in the shape of an array matrix, because of its high resolution and superiority in displaying moving pictures. Driving methods for such LCDs typically include a twisted nematic (TN) mode and a super twisted nematic (STN) mode.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional LC panel in a typical LCD device. As shown in FIG. 1, the LC panel has lower and upper substrates 1a and 1b with a liquid crystal layer ("LC") interposed between the lower and upper substrates 1a and 1b. The lower substrate 1a has a thin film transistor ("TFT") as a switching element for changing orientation of the LC molecules. The TFT includes a pixel electrode 15 to apply a voltage to the LC layer according to signals from the TFT. The upper substrate 1b has a color filter 25 for implementing colors. There is a common electrode 14 on the color filter 25. The common electrode 14 serves as an electrode for applying a voltage to the LC layer. The pixel electrode 15 is arranged over a pixel portion "P", i.e., a display area. Further, to prevent leakage of the liquid crystal injected into the space between the two substrates 1a and 1b, the two substrates 1a and 1b are sealed by a sealant 6.
As described above, because the pixel and common electrodes 15 and 14 of the conventional LC panel are positioned on the lower and upper substrates 1a and 1b, respectively, the electric field induced therebetween is perpendicular to the lower and upper substrates 1a and 1b. The above-mentioned LC panel has high transmittance and aperture ratio. In addition, since the common electrode on the upper substrate serves as a ground, static electricity is prevented from destroying the LC panel.
Although TN-LCDs and STN-LCDs having the same structure as shown in FIG. 1 have been put to practical use, they have a drawback in that they have a very narrow viewing angle. In order to solve the problem of narrow viewing angle, IPS-LCD devices have been proposed. IPS-LCD devices typically include a lower substrate where a pixel electrode and a common electrode are disposed, an upper substrate having no electrode, and a liquid crystal interposed between the upper and lower substrates. The IPS-LCD device has advantages in contrast ratio, gray inversion, and color shift that are related to the viewing angle.
A detailed explanation about operation modes of a typical IPS-LC panel will be provided referring to FIGS. 2 to 6.
As shown in FIG. 2, lower and upper substrates 1a and 1b are spaced apart from each other, and a liquid crystal is interposed therebetween. The lower and upper substrates are called array and color filter substrates, respectively. Pixel and common electrodes 15 and 14 are disposed on the lower substrate 1a. The pixel and common electrodes 15 and 14 are parallel with and spaced apart from each other. A color filter 25 is disposed on a surface of the upper substrate 1b and opposes the lower substrate 1a. The pixel and common electrodes 15 and 14 apply an electric field "E" to the liquid crystal. The liquid crystal has a negative dielectric anisotropy, and thus it is aligned parallel with the electric field "E".
FIGS. 3 to 6 conceptually illustrate operation modes of a conventional IPS-LCD device. When there is no electric field between the pixel and the common electrodes 15 and 14, the long axes of the liquid crystal molecules maintain an angle from a line perpendicular to the parallel pixel and common electrodes 15 and 14. Herein, the angle is 45 degrees, for example.
On the contrary, when there is an electric field between the pixel and common electrodes 15 and 14, there is an in-plane electric field "E" parallel to the surface of the lower substrate 1a between the pixel and common electrodes 15 and 14. The in-plane electric field "E" is parallel to the surface of the lower substrate 1a because the pixel and common electrodes are formed on the lower substrate 1a. Accordingly, the liquid crystal molecules are twisted so as to align the long axes thereof with the direction of the electric field, thereby the liquid crystal molecules are aligned such that the long axes thereof are parallel with the line perpendicular to the pixel and common electrodes 15 and 14.
By the above-mentioned operation modes and with additional parts such as polarizers and alignment layers, the IPS-LCD device displays images. The IPS-LCD device has wide viewing angle and low color dispersion. Specifically, the viewing angle of the IPS-LCD device is about 70 degrees in direction of up, down, right, and left. In addition, the fabricating processes of this IPS-LCD device are simpler than other various LCD devices. However, because the pixel and common electrodes are disposed on the same plane of the lower substrate, the transmittance and aperture ratio are low.
For the sake of discussing the above-mentioned problem of the IPS-LCD device in detail, with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B, the basic structure of the IPS-LCD device will be described in detail.
FIG. 7A is a plan view illustrating in detail the structure of one pixel region in the IPS-LCD device, specifically, a unit pixel region 10. In addition, a cross-sectional view taken along a line "B-B" in FIG. 7A is illustrated in FIG. 7B.
On the surface of the transparent substrate 1A adjacent to the liquid crystal layer, a scan signal line 2 made of, for example, aluminum (Al) is formed extending along the x-direction, as shown in FIG. 7A. In addition, a reference signal line 4, also known as a common line, is formed extending along the x-direction, close to the scan signal line 2 on the +y-direction side thereof. The reference signal line 4 is also made of, for example, Al. A region surrounded by the scan signal line 2, the reference signal line 4, and the video signal lines 3 constitutes a pixel region 10, as previously described.
In addition, the pixel region 10 includes a reference electrode 14 formed by the reference signal line 4, and another reference electrode 14 formed adjacent to the scan signal line 2. The pair of horizontally extending reference electrodes 14 are positioned adjacent to one of a pair of video signal lines 3 (on the right side of the figure), and are electrically connected to each other through a conductive layer 14A, which is formed simultaneously with the reference electrodes 14.
In the structure described above, the reference electrodes 14 form a pair extending in the direction parallel to the scan signal line 2. Stated another way, the reference electrodes form a strip extending in a direction perpendicular to the video signal lines 3, later described.
A first insulating film 11 (see FIG. 7B) made of, for example, silicon nitride is formed on the surface of the lower substrate 1A on which the scan signal lines 2 are formed, overlying the scan signal line 2, the reference signal lines 4, and the reference electrodes 14. The first insulating film 11 functions as (i) an inter-layer insulating film for insulating the scan signal line 2 and the reference signal line 4 from the video signal lines 3, (ii) as a gate-insulating layer for a region in which a thin film transistor (TFT) is formed, and (iii) as a dielectric film for a region in which a capacitor Cstg is formed. The TFT includes a drain electrode 3A and a source electrode 15A. A semiconductor layer 12 for the TFT is formed near a cross point of the gate and data lines 2 and 3. A first polarization layer 18 is formed on the other surface of the lower substrate 1A.
On the first insulating film 11, a display electrode 15 is formed parallel with the reference electrode 14. One end portion of the display electrode 15 is electrically connected with the conductive layer 14A, and the other end portion thereof is electrically connected with the source electrode 15A. Still on the first insulating film 11, a first planar film 16 is formed to cover the display electrode 15. A first alignment film 17 is formed on the first planar film 16.
FIG. 7B illustrates a cross-sectional view of the upper substrate 1B on which a black matrix 300 is formed. A color filter 25 is formed to close an opening in the black matrix 300. Then, a second planar film 27 is formed to cover the color filter 25 and the black matrix 300. A second alignment layer 28 is formed on the surface of the second planar film 27 facing the liquid crystal layer.
The color filter 25 is formed to define three sub-pixel regions adjacent to and extending along the video signal line 3 and to position a red (R) filter, a green (G) filter, and a blue (B) filter, for example, from the top of the three sub-pixel regions. The three sub-pixel regions constitute one pixel region for color display.
A second polarization layer 29 is also arranged on the surface of the upper substrate 1B that is opposite to the surface of the upper substrate 1B adjacent to the liquid crystal layer, on which various films are formed as described above.
It will be understood that in FIG. 7B, a voltage applied between the reference electrodes 14 and the display electrode 15 causes an electric field E to be generated in the liquid crystal layer LC in parallel with the respective surfaces of the lower and upper substrates 1A, 1B. This is why the illustrated structure is referred to as the in plane switching, as mentioned above.
To improve the aperture ratio, the distance between the reference and display electrodes 14 and 15 should be enlarged. In that case, a driving voltage to induce the electric field between the reference and display electrodes 14 and 15 must be increased to maintain a normal display. Further, since the low aperture ratio results in a low brightness quality of the liquid crystal display device, the incident light from the backlight device must be brighter to compensate, which increases power consumption of the liquid crystal display device.
Since the pixel and common electrodes 15 and 14 are formed on the same substrate, the aperture ratio is reduced. That is to say, the opaque pixel and common electrodes prevent incident light produced by a backlight (not shown) from passing through pixel areas covered by the pixel and common electrodes. If distances between the common and pixel electrodes are enlarged to improve the aperture ratios, much stronger driving voltage must be generated between the electrodes to compensate for the loss of the electric fields due to the greater distance therebetween. In addition, the intensity of the backlight must be increased to compensate for the loss of the backlight due to the decrease in the aperture ratios. Therefore, power consumption will be increased.
Now, the above-mentioned aperture problem of the conventional IPS-LCD device will be explained in detail with reference to FIG. 7C. FIG. 7C is an enlarged (and rotated) plan view of a portion "A" of FIG. 7A.
As shown in FIG. 7C, if a distance "L" between the common and pixel electrodes 14 and 15 is increased, the aperture ratio problem can be solved. However, in that case, a threshold voltage to drive the liquid crystal should be higher. That is to say, the threshold voltage "Vth" is proportional to "L/d", where "d" is the width of the pixel electrode 15 (Vth∝L/d). If the distance "L" is increased, the electric field applied between the pixel and common electrodes becomes weaker. Therefore, the voltage difference to generate the electric field must be increased to maintain normal operation of the IPS-LCD device. However, because the driving circuits that provide the voltage difference to the electrodes have limited capability to further increase the voltage difference, the distance "L" cannot be increased enough to solve the aperture ratio problem.
In short, when the distance L between the common and pixel electrodes 14 and 15 is increased, the aperture ratio is improved to achieve a higher luminance. However, the increase in the distance L causes a loss of the electric field between the common and pixel electrodes. To compensate for the loss of the electric field, the voltage difference between the common and pixel electrodes should become higher. However, the exterior driving circuits cannot provide enough voltage difference to compensate for the loss of the electric field.


Methods and systems for digital control utilizing oversampling.

Applying digital methods to the control of systems bears the promise of creating new features, improving performance, providing greater product flexibility, and providing a lower cost. System operating characteristics dictated by a stored program, rather than the parameters of a set of discrete components, can result in cost and space savings as well as capacity for real time adaptation of those characteristics, greater sophistication in control algorithms and the ability to generate, store and recall valuable real-time functional data.
However, digital feedback control requires high resolution and high speed. These requirements have limited the adoption of digital control in many fields. The advent of low cost logic has it made possible the application of digital control techniques to cost sensitive fields. As the cost of digital logic decreases, new opportunities arise.
A typical digitally controlled feedback system has an analog to digital converter, digital loop compensator, power device driver, and an external system to be controlled. An example of a system in which application of digital control can improve performance or lower cost is the switching power supply or DC-to-DC converter. (However, many other systems would also benefit from application of digital control.)
It is very desirable to minimize the cost, size and power dissipation of a low-cost off-line switching power supply for low power applications, such as recharging cells and batteries used in portable consumer appliances, such as entertainment units, personal digital assistants, and cell phones, for example.
A PWM switched power supply requires a variable pulse width that is controlled by an error signal derived by comparing actual output voltage to a precise reference voltage. The pulse width of the switching interval must also be constrained to be within a minimum and maximum duration. These constraints are imposed for correct PWM power supply or motor driver operation.
An example of a digitally controlled system is shown in FIG. 1. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the system is a simple buck DC to DC converter. The fundamental components are the same for any DC to DC converter. The sample system shown in FIG. 1 includes three major components: a compensator preceded by an ADC, PWM and power switches, and passive LC network.
Typically the PWM resolution is required to be much higher than the ADC resolution. If this is not true, the output of the PWM jumps back and forth in code values to satisfy a particular input ADC code. The frequency of this jumping back and forth, which is commonly known as limit cycling, is determined by the control system dynamics. As a result the frequency and size of the ripple can be large. The typical solution to this problem is to increase the PWM resolution. This method can lead to significant complexity in the PWM Design. Techniques such as polyphase clocks or analog methods may be needed to achieve the required resolution. This is particularly true for high speed power supplies which require a very high speed PWM frequency.
There is a need for a digital controller that overcomes the requirements of high resolution and high speed.
There is also a need for a digital controller that can be implemented without expensive multiplication.
There is a further need for a digital controller that has the above characteristics and can have arbitrarily controlled coefficients.
There is also a need for simple, cost effective methods and systems that provide effectively high PWM resolution.

Systems and methods for digital control utilizing oversampling


Methods, systems, and non-transitory computer readable medium are described for sensor metrology data integration. A method includes receiving sets of sensor data and sets of metrology data. Each set of sensor data includes corresponding sensor values associated with producing corresponding product by manufacturing equipment and a corresponding sensor data identifier. Each set of metrology data includes corresponding metrology values associated with the corresponding product manufactured by the manufacturing equipment and a corresponding metrology data identifier. The method further includes determining common portions between each corresponding sensor data identifier and each corresponding metrology data identifier. The method further includes, for each of the sensor-metrology matches, generating a corresponding set of aggregated sensor-metrology data and storing the sets of aggregated sensor-metrology data to train a machine learning model. The trained machine learning model is capable of generating one or more outputs for performing a corrective action associated with the manufacturing equipment.

Products may be produced by performing one or more manufacturing processes using manufacturing equipment. For example, semiconductor manufacturing equipment may be used to produce wafers via semiconductor manufacturing processes. Sensors may be used to determine manufacturing parameters of the manufacturing equipment during the manufacturing processes. Metrology equipment may be used to determine property data of the products that were produced by the manufacturing equipment.


An appliance for sterilizing contact lenses or the like includes a reaction vessel for containing the lenses in sterilizing contact with hydrogen peroxide solution and two catalytic elements for decomposing the hydrogen peroxide during the lens sterilization. The first catalytic element decomposes a portion of the initial concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the solution during the lens sterilization, and the second catalytic element accelerates combined decomposition of the reduced concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the solution resulting from decomposition by the first catalytic element, in order to achieve sufficiently reduced terminal hydrogen peroxide concentration at completion of the lens sterilization for safe contact by the eyes of a wearer with residues of hydrogen peroxide at the terminal concentration which may adhere to the sterilized lenses.

This invention relates to sterilization of contact lenses using hydrogen peroxide as disinfectant, and more particularly relates to improved catalytic control of the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide in the lens disinfection process.
The well-known, commercialized soft contact lens disinfection process employing hydrogen peroxide solution as a bactericide is described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,750,610; 4,013,410 and 3,912,451. Recent improvements in contact lens cases for conducting such disinfection process are described in copending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 364,471 filed Jun. 9, 1989 which is incorporated by reference herein. In such process, the contact lenses are immersed overnight in a weak bactericidal solution of hydrogen peroxide which is also subjected to platinum catalyst to promote gradual decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide since significant hydrogen peroxide residues upon contact lenses can cause harm and irritation to the eyes of contact lens wearers. It has generally been recommended not only to allow sufficient time for nearly complete decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide, but additionally to employ a rinsing solution to flush any potential hydrogen peroxide residues from the lenses before insertion into the eyes. One object of the present invention is to improve the catalytic control over the hydrogen peroxide lens disinfection process, while additionally ensuring that upon completion of the lens disinfection process, the terminal hydrogen peroxide concentration is sufficiently reduced for safe contact by residues adhering to the disinfected lenses with the eyes of the wearer.


Information on the usage of memory mapped equipment in a telephone switching office can be continuously and non-invasively obtained by monitoring activity on the address, data, and control lines of the computer controlling such equipment. By counting the number of times a circuit is accessed by a computer, as determined by the detection of address, data, and control values for the circuit, equipment usage can be objectively determined. Further, a display device can be attached to an input/output port of a telephone office equipment monitor to provide a graphical representation of data obtained using the display device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to telephone switching equipment and, more particularly, to a monitor for telephone switching equipment used in a telephone switching office.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telephone switching offices include many complex, high-speed switching circuits and computers interconnected together to forming a distributed, computer-controlled switching system. Most of the equipment in a switching office is selected to meet the needs of the subscribers, i.e., the customers of the telephone service provider. A central office serving a rural community may only require hardware to provide basic telephone service. A central office for a metropolitan area likely needs equipment to handle high speed digitized voice, data and video services.
Over time however, equipment needs of a central office change. Equipment in a rural switching office might grow obsolete; equipment in an urban switching center might become inadequate. As the equipment in a telephone central office equipment evolves and the tasks performed by such equipment changes, maintenance workers need to monitor equipment usage in the office.
When considering upgrade, expansion, or replacement of switching equipment, a maintenance technician should have the ability to know whether or not a piece of equipment is operating near its capacity, i.e. the technician should be able to determine usage of central office equipment over time. Data for specific equipment needs to be made available to the technician for continued reliability and cost-effective equipment management. Because telephone switching equipment is now essential to public safety agencies, equipment in a central office requires near-continuous monitoring. Yet, because there may be thousands of switching circuits in a large central office switch, continuous monitoring of all of the hardware in a switching system poses significant logistic difficulties.
Programming the switching system computer itself to track equipment usage would require additional software to be written into the already complex system software. Patching such software into existing system software invariably introduces programming bugs which adversely affect switching system reliability. Even if equipment-usage-software could be seamlessly incorporated into switching system software, execution of the code to perform the task would use CPU time of processors that could be used for call processing.
A non-invasive tool that can continuously keep track of equipment service levels, without degrading system performance would provide hard data on equipment usage that could be used to plan for equipment expansion, prevent service outages, and reduce maintenance costs compared with existing methods of tracking switching office equipment use. Continuously and non-invasively monitoring switching equipment usage throughout a switching office would be an improvement over the prior art, which does not presently provide a tool, to continuously perform dedicated real-time, data collection of switching equipment usage without taxing computational resources of a switching system controller. Such a dedicated tool would be a benefit to a technician, to the telephone service provider, and its customers and would be an improvement over the prior art.
Consequently, there exists a need for a telephone office equipment monitor for monitoring equipment utilization in a typical telephone central office. Additionally, there is a need to monitor the central office equipment in a non-invasive manner.

Telephone office equipment utilization monitor


A method is provided in one particular example that includes identifying an attempt by a first communications device to play video data within a virtual meeting session using a first media player. The first communications device can be sharing at least a portion of a desktop presented on the first communications device with one or more other remote communications devices participating in the virtual meeting session. The method can also include identifying a copy of the video data, and launching one or more media players to present at least a portion of the copy of the video data on the one or more other remote communications devices. The one or more media players are launched to correspond to a location of the first media player on the shared portion of the desktop.

In certain architectures, sophisticated online conferencing services can be provided for end users of communication and computing devices adapted to connect and participate within an online, virtual conference or meeting. A virtual conferencing architecture can offer an "in-person" meeting experience over a computer network. Conferencing architectures can also deliver real-time interactions between people using advanced visual, audio, and multimedia technologies. Desktop sharing can be enabled using a virtual meeting session, allowing a user to share data present and/or displayed on the user's local computing device to other remote users participating in the virtual meeting or conference. Virtual meetings and conferences have an appeal because they can be held without the associated travel inconveniences and costs.
Further, multimedia capabilities and content have grown increasingly important in the Internet Age. Accordingly, a number of developers and vendors have developed media players for use in playing various forms of multi-media including video, audio, digital slideshows, digital photos, computer-aided animation, among other media. Existing media players include such offerings as Apple's QuickTime Player, Microsoft's Windows Media Player, RealNetworks' RealPlayer, among others. Some media players can integrate, interface, or otherwise be used with, or be launched from, other software applications. As examples, media players can be launched by web browsers in connection with video embedded in a web page, as well as by presentation programs such as Microsoft's PowerPoint, in connection with video included in a multimedia slide presentation.
Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.