A multimedia information recording device is used for efficiently recording multimedia information (100) file storage area (111) on a recording medium (110). From the multimedia information given to the device, a data body DB and control information (HD and FD) are created and given to a file storage area writing section (106) where the data is written in parallel at a time on a free cluster in the file storage area. In the free area of each cluster where the data is written, dummy data is packed by a dummy data adding section (107) to absorb the difference between the first position of a cluster and the first position of the data in the cluster. Thus, data rewriting to eliminate this difference is avoided. Information for connecting plural clusters where data is written is created by a multimedia information file creating section (108), and the multimedia information is recorded in a multimedia information file on the recording medium.

In general, a file recording apparatus utilizing a DOS (abbreviation of Disk Operating System) file system is known as an apparatus recording multimedia information including information of motion pictures and voices. This conventional file recording apparatus is described with reference to FIG. 18 to FIG. 21.
The structure of a conventional multimedia information recording apparatus is shown in FIG. 18.
A file for storing multimedia information generally includes data (hereinafter referred to as a data body) of a body part of multimedia data and control information for controlling the data body. The data body may be raw data of a voice and a motion picture, or may be data previously coded by a coding technique such as MPEG (abbreviation of Motion Picture Experts Group), for example.
As to the fine where the corresponding multimedia information is stored, the control information includes information such as a file ID for identifying the file, the size of the file, the system of coding applied to the file etc., and information (hereinafter referred to as index information) for accessing the data body at random etc. The control information is arranged on the head part of the file, i.e., the front position (hereinafter referred to as a header position) of the data body, the rear part of the file, i.e., the rear position (hereinafter referred to as a footer position) of the data body, or the intermediate position of the file etc.
At this point, a case where control information is arranged on the header position and the footer position is illustrated, and the control information arranged on the respective positions is referred to as header control information HD and footer control information FD. Further, the overall file is referred to as a multimedia information file. In ASF (abbreviation of Advanced Streaming Format), for example, the information such as the file ID, the size, the applied coding system etc. as to the multimedia information file is included in the header control information HD, and the index information is included in the footer control information FD. ASF is described in detail in Advanced Streaming Format (ASF) Specification (Feb. 26, 1998 Public Specification Version 1.0/Microsoft Corporation).
Referring to FIG. 18, the multimedia information recording apparatus includes a multimedia information input control part 101 inputting multimedia information 100 obtained by photographing and coding processing etc. from an unillustrated front stage part and outputting the same to each part of a rear stage, as well as a header control information generation part 102, a data body generation part 103 and a footer control information generation part 104 generating and outputting the header control information HD, the data body DB and the footer control information FD respectively on the basis of the multimedia information 100 input from the multimedia information input control part 101. The multimedia information recording apparatus further includes respective ones of a header temporary storage area writing part 301, a data temporary storage area writing part 302 and a footer temporary storage area writing part 303 for inputting and temporarily storing output results from the respective ones of the header control information generation part 102, the data body generation part 103 and the footer control information generation part 104, a file storage area writing part 304 for writing all data in a recording medium (not shown) at a point of time when processing of generation and storage of all data terminates in the header control information generation part 102 to the footer temporary storage area writing part 303, a multimedia information file formation part 108 accepting and processing results of processing of the file storage area writing part 304 and a cluster management part 105 managing a write destination of data on the recording medium by the file storage area writing part 304.
At this point, the file is managed every cluster which is a used unit of a storage area on the recording medium with a table referred to as an FAT (abbreviation of File Allocation Table) where management information is stored in the DOS file system or the like. Each cluster may be formed by a plurality of sectors, for managing the file in units of sectors.
The FAT is recorded on the recording medium along with the multimedia information file. In the FAT, information for specifying at least one cluster where data forming the corresponding multimedia information file is stored is stored according to the sequence for forming the file. Therefore, arrangement of a plurality of clusters where the data of the multimedia information file are stored on the recording medium may be physically continuous arrangement, or may be random arrangement.
The cluster management part 105 manages a cluster (hereinafter referred to as an empty cluster) area of the recording medium not written with effective data but in a state capable of writing new data, the so-called empty state. After termination of writing of data in the recording medium by the file storage area writing part 304, the multimedia information file formation part 108 appends information specific to the file system etc. to a series of data stored on the recording medium and completes the formal requirements as the file, while performing generation and updating of the FAT in a file generation stage.
The file storage area writing part 304 monitors the state of a cluster where data is currently written, and when detecting that data is fully written in the cluster and the writing terminates, it posts this purport to the cluster management part 105 and supplies position information indicating the position of the cluster where the writing terminates in the recording medium to the multimedia information file formation part 108. At this point, the information indicating the position of the cluster in the recording medium is referred to as cluster position information.
When receiving the aforementioned notice from the file storage area writing part 304, the cluster management part 105 returns cluster position information of an empty cluster where data must be subsequently written to the file storage area writing part 304. On the other hand, the multimedia information file formation part 108 updates the contents of the FAT on the basis of the position information of the cluster terminating the writing supplied from the file storage area writing part 304. At a point of time when all data are completely written in the recording medium, the file storage area writing part 304 posts the cluster position information of a cluster where data has been finally written to the multimedia information file formation part 108. In response to this notice, the multimedia information file formation part 108 completes the FAT and forms the multimedia information file.
In FIG. 19A to FIG. 19E, states of respective storage areas during generation of data in the multimedia information recording apparatus of FIG. 18 are typically shown. By arrows A in FIG. 19A to FIG. 19C, positions where data are currently written in the respective storage areas are shown. In the multimedia information recording apparatus in the aforementioned manner, the respective ones of the head control information HD, the data body DB and the footer control information FD are generated by the respective ones of the header control information generation part 102, the data body generation part 103 and the footer control information generation part 104, and the respective ones of the information are concurrently written in respective ones of a header temporary storage area E1 (see FIG. 19A), a data temporary storage area E2 (see FIG. 19B) and a footer temporary storage area E3 (see FIG. 19C) on an unillustrated buffer memory area by the header temporary storage area writing part 301, the data temporary storage area writing part 304 and the footer temporary storage area writing part 303. At this point of time, no data are written in a data storage area E4 (see FIG. 19D) having a plurality of clusters C, which is a file storage area on the recording medium, and an FAT storage area E5 (see FIG. 19E).
In FIG. 20A to FIG. 20E, states of the respective storage areas in termination of generation of data in the multimedia information recording apparatus of FIG. 18 are typically shown. In FIG. 21A to FIG. 21E, states of the respective storage areas in file formation in the multimedia information recording apparatus of FIG. 18 are typically shown. When generation of the header control information HD, the data body DB and the footer control information FD terminates in the multimedia information recording apparatus, the states of the respective storage areas become those of FIG. 20A to FIG. 20C. The header control information HD, the data body DB and the footer control information FD written in the respective temporary storage areas are recorded in the file storage area E4 on the recording medium (see FIG. 21D). At this time, an FAT 500 corresponding to the file storage area E4 is generated in the FAT storage area E5 on the recording medium. Thus, the multimedia information file is formed on the recording medium.
In this case, the rearmost end part of the header control information HD and the head part of the data body DB are recorded in one cluster C4, and the rearmost end part of the data body DB and the head part of the footer control information FD are recorded in one cluster C5, as shown in FIG. 21D. The respective ones of the clusters C4 and C5 include boundaries (hereinafter simply referred to as boundaries) shown by arrows B where data of different types are adjacent.
In the multimedia information recording apparatus of FIG. 18, the sizes of the header control information HD, the data body DB and the footer control information FD are unidentified until generation of the respective ones terminates. Therefore, write processing of twice of generating the respective data while temporarily making the same stored in the respective ones of the temporary storage areas E1 to E3 different from the recording medium and writing each generated data in the file storage area E4 of the actual recording medium at a point of time when generation of the respective data is completed and the sizes of the respective data are defined has been performed. Thus, the conventional generation processing of the multimedia information file has been redundant processing. This enlarges loss related to the processing particularly when the size of each data enlarges. Therefore, it is desirable that each data is directly written in the file storage area E4 of the recording medium in the stage where the same is generated.
While the multimedia information recording apparatus of FIG. 18 sets the temporary storage areas E1 to E3 to buffer memory areas different from areas on the recording medium, these temporary storage areas E1 to E3 may be provided on the recording medium depending on limitation of a hardware scale etc. In this case, processing such as movement and copying etc. of data on the recording medium takes place at a point of time when the multimedia information file is finally created. When a recording medium such as a flash memory, for example, slow in writing is utilized, therefore, the processing time extremely lengthens and it is not excellent in practicalness. When the cluster C4 or C5 including a boundary is present in the file storage area E4 as shown in FIG. 21A to FIG. 21E, a process for acquiring an access position (position of the boundary) in the multimedia information file is required in edit processing of dividing the multimedia information file or mutually connecting the same is required and hence the edit processing is complicated and not excellent in practicalness.

Multimedia information recording device and method for recording multimedia information file on recording medium


Disclosed is an optical gunfire detection system comprising an image-capturing device operable for detecting light; a narrowband Fraunhofer line filter connected to the image-capturing device, and operable for partially restricting transmission of the light; a convex parabolic reflector operable for transmitting images to the image-capturing device; a lens system; an image storage device connected to the image-capturing device, wherein the image storage device comprises a solid-state digital memory unit operable to store multiple seconds of video imagery; a real-time computer-implemented mechanism connected to the image storage device, the computer-implemented mechanism operable for detecting locations and classifications of gunfire associated with the images; an acoustic device in communication with the computer-implemented mechanism, and operable for verifying the classifications of the gunfire; a position laser operable for identifying the locations of the gunfire; and a defense mechanism comprising the laser pointer and operable to defend against a source of the gunfire.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to weapon fire detection, and more particularly to a hemispherical field-of-view optical system and method for the detection and location of sniper gunfire.
2. Description of the Related Art
Snipers present a significant hazard to deployed soldiers and to the public at large. Single-shot gunfire events are difficult to locate, thus snipers tend to escape detection and, in the absence of credible detection and retaliation capability, constitute a repetitive and dangerous hazard. A sniper shot can be detected both by the muzzle blast and by the bullet shock wave. A conventional acoustic array can determine the direction and range from which the shot is fired with reasonable accuracy, and may provide classification and possible identification of the weapon based on acoustic signatures. Acoustic systems may also detect supersonic bullets, and provide additional discrimination against noise (i.e., fireworks, blanks, etc.). Usually, conventional optical weapon fire detection systems sense the optical energy released or generated when a weapon is discharged.
Acoustic and optical gunfire detection and location systems exist, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,822 issued to Hirschberg on Feb. 3, 1976, U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,024 issued to Smith on Oct. 19, 1999, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,215,731 issued to Smith on Apr. 10, 2001, the complete disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference. Generally, acoustic systems use multiple widely spaced microphones with algorithms, which use relative detection times to obtain an approximate direction of the gunfire event, for providing a probable classification and identification of the weapon used. However, acoustic systems generally provide an approximate line-of-bearing with an approximate range. Therefore, the location of the sniper shooter may not be sufficiently precise to accurately return defensive fire.
Further, optical systems may not provide a very wide field-of-view, thereby limiting the probability of detecting gunfire at any given moment. Generally, optical systems exploit spectral signatures of gunfire, which can enhance detection and reduce false alarms. The lack of an efficient wide field-of-view optical weapon fire detection system may be a significant handicap in current military operations as well as in pseudo-military and non-military settings.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved very wide field-of-view optical system capable of detecting, documenting, and identifying gunfire events, which can accurately determine the direction of the gunfire and provide necessary information for effective retaliation.

Optical detection and location of gunfire

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


Aspects of the present invention disclose a method, computer program product, and system for embedding information associated with content depicted in a video frame into a video file. The method includes one or more processors identifying an object depicted in a frame of a video file. The method further includes determining information associated with the identified object. The method further includes generating a graphical user interface (GUI) element that includes an embedded link to the determined information associated with the identified object. The method further includes embedding the generated GUI element into the video file overlaying a portion of the frame of the video file that corresponds to a location of the identified object within the frame of the video file.

The present invention relates generally to the field of streaming intelligence, and more particularly to embedding content in a video file.
In recent years, the growth of online collaborative services (e.g., web seminars, webcasts, peer-level web meetings, etc.) have produced opportunities for innovation in the features associated with the services. Video files of web seminars may contain embedded links to content that includes additional information about the speakers and/or content discussed during the seminar.
A link is a method to add a reference to external content (e.g., document, image, uniform resource locator, etc.), allowing access to the external content in response to a selection of the link. Although the external content can be stored independent of the content that includes the link, a user that does not have access to the external content directly may access the content via a link. Embedding is a method to incorporate external content into an existing file, where the result is external content is now accessible through the existing file.
Cognitive analytics combines the use of cognitive computing and analytics. Cognitive computing combines artificial intelligence and machine-learning algorithms, in an approach that attempts to reproduce the behavior of the human brain. Analytics is the scientific process of transforming data into insights for making better decisions. Cognitive analytics applies intelligent technologies to bring unstructured data sources within reach of analytics processes for decision making.

Automatic embedding of information associated with video content

International Business Machines Corporation


A steel sheet is provided that has a tensile strength of 540 MPa or more, includes a particular composition; and has a steel structure containing ferrite and a secondary phase, in which an area fraction of the ferrite is 50% or more, the secondary phase contains 1.0% or more and 25.0% or less of martensite in terms of area fraction with respect to the entirety, the ferrite has an average crystal grain size of 3 μm or more, a difference in hardness between the ferrite and the martensite is 1.0 GPa or more and 8.0 GPa or less, and, in a texture of the ferrite, an inverse intensity ratio of γ-fiber to α-fiber is 0.8 or more and 7.0 or less.

The rise in consciousness of global environmental protection in recent years has strongly urged improvements be made in fuel efficiency to reduce the CO2 emission from automobiles. Under such trends, there has been increasing activity towards increasing the strength of the automobile body material to achieve thickness reduction and weight reduction of automobile bodies. However, increasing the strength of steel sheets poses a risk of degrading ductility. Thus, development of high-strength, high-ductility steel sheets is anticipated. Moreover, increasing the strength of and decreasing the thickness of steel sheets significantly degrade shape fixability. To address this issue, it has been a widespread practice to forecast in advance the change in shape after demolding and to design the mold at the time of press-forming by taking into account the amount of change in shape. However, once the yield stress (YP) of a steel sheet changes, there occurs a large deviation from the amount anticipated from the presumption that the yield stress is constant, shape defects are generated, and correction, such as sheet-metal-working of shapes of individual pieces after press-forming becomes necessary, thereby significantly degrading the mass production efficiency. Thus, variation in YP of steel sheets needs to be minimized.
To improve the ductility of high-strength cold-rolled steel sheets and high-strength galvanized steel sheets, there have been developed a variety of multi-phase high-strength steel sheets, such as ferrite-martensite dual phase steel (dual-phase steel) and TRIP steel that utilizes the transformation-induced plasticity of retained austenite.
For example, regarding the high-strength cold-rolled steel sheets and the high-strength galvanized steel sheets, Patent Literature 1 discloses a steel sheet having excellent ductility, in which the composition and the volume fractions of the ferrite, bainitic ferrite, and retained austenite are specified.
Patent Literature 2 discloses a method for producing a high-strength cold-rolled steel sheet in which variation in elongation in the sheet width direction is addressed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Steel sheet, coated steel sheet, method for producing hot-rolled steel sheet, method for producing cold-rolled full hard steel sheet, method for producing heat-treated sheet, method for producing steel sheet, and method for producing coated steel sheet


An underfill film for an electronic device includes a thermally conductive sheet. The electronic device may include a printed circuit board, an electrical component, an underfill, and the thermally conductive sheet. The underfill is situated between the circuit board and the component. The thermally conductive sheet is situated within the underfill, and together with the underfill, constitutes the underfill film. The device may include solder bumps affixing the component to the circuit board, the underfill film having holes within which the solder bumps are aligned. There may be solder bumps on the underside of the circuit board promoting heat dissipation. There may be heat sinks on the circuit board to which the thermally conductive sheet is affixed promoting heat dissipation. The thermally conductive sheet may be affixed to a chassis promoting heat dissipation. The thermally conductive sheet thus promotes heat dissipation from the component to at least the circuit board.

Electronic devices commonly include printed circuit boards on which electrical components, such as integrated circuit (IC's) and other types of electrical components, are mounted and connected in particular ways to provide desired functionalities. A common approach to mount an electrical component to a printed circuit board is to use solder. More particularly, a number of solder bumps may be applied to the printed circuit board and heated, such that an electrical component can then be disposed to the solder bumps to affix the component to the circuit board.
Unfortunately, this approach to mounting electrical components to printed circuit boards can be problematic. Stresses can result from the differences in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of an electrical component and the CTE of solder, as well as from differences in the CTE of a printed circuit board and the CTE of the solder. During use of such an electrical device, for instance, if these stresses become too high, the solder may crack, causing the electrical component to no longer be properly affixed to the printed circuit board.
A solution to alleviate this problem is to include an underfill film between the electrical component and the printed circuit board of an electronic device. The underfill film itself relaxes the stresses resulting from CTE differences of the solder and the electrical component and the printed circuit board. Such stresses are thus absorbed by the film, instead of by the solder, reducing the likelihood that the electrical component may break way from the printed circuit board.
Another issue within electronic device design is the dissipation of heat. Modern IC's, for instance, can generate significant amounts of heat, which if not properly dissipated can cause failure of their electronic devices. Furthermore, electronic devices have become increasingly smaller, leading to printed circuit boards that are closely packed with electrical components. This means that using heat sinks for heat dissipation, as is conventional, can become problematic, because they may not be able to be located near the electrical components that require heat dissipation.
One solution is to add solder bumps, or balls, to the underside of a printed circuit board, which serve to dissipate heat through the printed circuit board. This approach is not overly effective, however, because the printed circuit board itself is usually not a good thermal conductive, such that the printed circuit board itself becomes a thermal insulator. Therefore, another approach, either alone or in combination with solder bumps on the underside of a printed circuit board, is to use the printed circuit board itself as a type of heat sink to dissipate heat.
For example, printed circuit boards may be manufactured using a resin that has a high thermal conductivity. Printed circuit boards using such resins are available, for instance, from Thermagon, Inc., of Cleveland, Ohio. As another example, printed circuit boards may incorporate graphite sheets to improve their thermal conductivity. Such printed circuit boards are available, for instance, from U-AI Electronics Corp., of Aichi, Japan. The graphite sheet may be caused to contact the metal or other chassis of the electronic device in question, to further improve heat dissipation, as described in the published Japanese patent application no. JP 1999-233904A, published on Aug. 27, 1999, and entitled "Heat release structure print substrate."
However, in order for a printed circuit board to effectively dissipate heat, there must be a thermally conductive path between the electrical components and the printed circuit board in the first place. Unfortunately, the inclusion of underfill films between the components and a printed circuit board effectively results in the components being thermally insulated from the printed circuit board. That is, most underfill films are made of a resin or another material that has low thermal conductivity. Therefore, heat does not efficiently travel from the electrical components to the printed circuit board.
A limited solution is to mix materials with high thermal conductivity into the underfill film material itself to improve thermal conductivity. For example, underfill available from AI Technology, Inc., of Princeton Junction, N.J., includes aluminum particles mixed into resin to improve the thermal conductivity of the resulting underfill film. However, this solution only transfers heat to the printed circuit board itself. Even a printed circuit board with a high thermal conductivity still has a thermal conductivity lower than most heat sinks, for instance, and therefore additional heat dissipation may be required. For instance, the printed circuit boards described above using thermally conductive resins still have relatively low thermal conductivity as compared to heat sinks.
For these and other reasons, therefore, there is a need for the present invention.

Underfill film having thermally conductive sheet


A multi-session data storage facility coordinates similar status changes across all sessions at appropriate times. In each session, a data mover implements data mirroring by copying updates from the primary storage to the secondary storage. A master data set, accessible by all sessions, includes a common area for posting commands and/or errors to all sessions and individual session areas for posting errors occurring in particular sessions. When a data mover receives a host initiated command, this data mover becomes a xe2x80x9cmaster.xe2x80x9d Initially, the master data mover lists the command in the master data set""s common area. Whenever other, xe2x80x9cslavexe2x80x9d data movers notice a command in the master data set""s common area, they respond by suspending their formation of consistency groups and responding with a xe2x80x9creadyxe2x80x9d message. The xe2x80x9creadyxe2x80x9d message comprises the slave data mover""s consistency form time (i.e., the earliest of most-recent update time from all controllers in that session). Accordingly, after posting the command, the master data mover reviews the slave data movers"" responses. If these responses indicate all sessions can execute the command at a requested consistent time, then the master data mover instructs the slave data movers to execute the command by entering an execute instruction in the master data set""s common area. Otherwise, the master data mover enters a cancel operation in the master data set""s common area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system, method, and program for ensuring data consistency across different storage areas and, in particular, coordinating similar status changes across multiple logical sessions at the appropriate consistency time.
2. Description of the Related Art
Disaster recovery systems typically address two types of failures, a sudden catastrophic failure at a single point in time or data loss over a period of time. With the gradual type of disaster, updates to volumes may be lost. To assist in recovery of data updates, a copy of data may be provided at a remote location. Such xe2x80x9cdualxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cshadowxe2x80x9d copies are typically made as the application system is writing new data to a primary storage device. International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), the assignee of the subject patent application, provides two systems for maintaining remote copies of data at a secondary site, extended remote copy (XRC) and peer-to-peer remote copy (PPRC).
These system recover data updates between a last, safe backup and a system failure. Such data shadowing systems can also provide an additional remote copy for non-recovery purposes, such as local access at a remote site. The XRC and PPRC systems are described in IBM publication xe2x80x9cRemote Copy: Administrator""s Guide and Reference,xe2x80x9d IBM document SC35-0 169-02 (IBM Copyright 1994, 1996), which publication is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In such backup systems, data is maintained in xe2x80x9cvolume pairsxe2x80x9d. A volume pair is comprised of a volume in a primary storage device and a corresponding volume in a secondary storage device that includes an identical copy of the data maintained in the primary volume. Typically, the primary volume will be maintained in a primary direct access storage device (DASD) and the secondary volume of the pair is maintained in a secondary DASD shadowing the data on the primary DASD. A primary storage controller may be provided to control access to the primary DASD and a secondary storage controller may be provided to control access to the secondary DASD.
In the IBM XRC environment, the application system writing data to the primary volumes includes a sysplex timer which provides a time-of-day (TOD) value to time stamp data writes. The application system time stamps data sets when writing such data sets to volumes in the primary DASD. The integrity of data updates depends upon performing updates at the secondary volumes in the same order as they were done at the corresponding primary volume. In systems such as XRC, the time stamp provided by the application program determines the logical sequence of data updates. In many application programs, such as database systems, certain write operations cannot occur unless a previous write operation has already occurred; otherwise the data integrity is jeopardized. A data write whose integrity depends on the occurrence of previous data writes is a xe2x80x9cdependent writexe2x80x9d. For instance, if a customer opens an account, deposits $400, and then withdraws $300, the withdrawal update to the system is dependent on the occurrence of the other writes, including the opening of the account and the $400 deposit. When such dependent transactions are copied from the primary volumes to secondary volumes, the transaction order must be maintained to preserve the integrity of dependent write operations.
Volumes in the primary and secondary DASDs are xe2x80x9cconsistentxe2x80x9d when all writes have been transferred in their logical order, i.e., all earlier writes transferred first before their corresponding dependent writes. In the banking example, this means that the $400 deposit is written to the secondary volume before the $300 withdrawal. A xe2x80x9cconsistency groupxe2x80x9d is a collection of updates to the primary volumes such that dependent writes are secured in a consistent manner. In the banking example, this means that the withdrawal transaction is in the same consistency group as the deposit or in a later group; the withdrawal cannot be in an earlier consistency group. Consistency groups maintain data consistency across volumes and storage devices. If a failure occurs, consistency groups ensure that data is recovered from the secondary volumes will be consistent.
Each consistency group has a xe2x80x9cconsistency timexe2x80x9d which is derived from the application system""s time stamps. More particularly, the consistency time is a time that is always equal to or after every time stamp from a data write of that consistency group. In the XRC environment, the consistency time is the latest time to which the system guarantees that updates to the secondary volumes are consistent. As long as the application program is writing data to the primary volume, the data writes"" time stamps increase, and so does the consistency time. However, if update activity ceases, then the consistency time does not change as there are no data sets with time stamps to provide a time reference for further consistency groups. If all the records in the consistency group are written to secondary volumes, then the reported consistency time reflects the latest time stamp of all records in the consistency group. Methods for maintaining the sequential consistency of data writes and forming consistency groups to maintain sequential consistency in the transfer of data between a primary DASD and secondary DASD are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,615,329 and 5,504,861, which are assigned to IBM and incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Consistency groups are formed within a xe2x80x9csession.xe2x80x9d All volume pairs assigned to a session will have their updates maintained in the same consistency group. Thus, the sessions determine the volumes whose updates will form a consistency group. Consistency groups are formed within a journal. From the journal, updates from a consistency group are applied to the secondary volume. If the system fails while updates from the journal are being applied to a secondary volume, during recovery operations, the updates that did not complete writing to the secondary volume can be recovered from the journal and applied to the secondary volume.
In some data storage systems, consistency problems are possible if a database or data set spans multiple sessions. In these systems, consistency groups are not able to maintain consistency across sessions; in such systems, consistency groups are only formed within one session. This concern, namely allowing consistency across sessions or other groupings of storage areas, was addressed by U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/422,595, entitled xe2x80x9cMethod, System, and Program For Maintaining Data Consistency Across Groups of Storage Areas,xe2x80x9d filed on Oct. 21, 1999 in the names of R. M. Kern et al., and assigned to IBM. The foregoing application is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Although the approach of the foregoing application might be satisfactory for many applications, the present inventors are actively involved in researching possible improvements for products such as these. In this respect, one area of focus involves preserving consistency during backup operations. In this endeavor, the present inventors have recognized that status changes in one of the sessions can impede the ability of the other sessions to maintain mutual consistency. In particular, if one of the sessions is suspended (for example, with the XSUSPEND command), then this session is not processing any updates and also not incrementing its time of the last consistency group in the journal. Another situation arises when a complete set of consistent secondary devices is desired, for example, to capture a point in time backup of all of the volumes. In this case, the normal means of obtaining this condition in a single session is insufficient in the multiple session environment. Consequently, known multi-session data storage facilities may not be completely adequate for some applications due to certain unsolved consistency issues.
Broadly, the present invention concerns a multi-session data storage facility that coordinates similar status changes across all sessions at appropriate times. The data storage facility includes multiple sessions, each session having primary and secondary storage. In each session, a data mover implements data mirroring by copying updates from the primary storage to the secondary storage. A master data set, accessible by all sessions, includes a common area used by a master data mover to post xe2x80x9cuniversalxe2x80x9d commands applicable to all sessions. The master data set also includes individual session areas. Whenever a data mover receives a host-initiated command, this data mover becomes a xe2x80x9cmaster,xe2x80x9d and the remaining data movers become xe2x80x9cslavesxe2x80x9d with respect to this command. The command is initially received along with a xe2x80x9cstart time,xe2x80x9d which may be immediate or some time in the future. Initially, the master data mover lists the command in the master data set""s common area.
Whenever a slave data mover detects a command in the master data set""s common area, it suspends the formation of consistency groups and responds by posting a xe2x80x9creadyxe2x80x9d message in the slave""s session area. The xe2x80x9creadyxe2x80x9d message comprises the slave data mover""s consistency form time (i.e., the earliest most-recent update time from all controllers in that session).
After posting the command, the master data mover reviews the slave data movers"" responses. If these responses indicate all slave data movers are capable of executing the command in a consistent manner, then the master data mover instructs the slave data movers to execute the command. This is done by entering the command""s start time in the master data set""s common area. Otherwise, the master data mover enters a cancel instruction in the master data set""s common area.
In addition to commands, errors may also be entered into the master data set. When an individual data mover detects an error in its own processing, it records the type of error and the time of day in its session area to advise other data movers that the error-initiating data mover is processing its error. The error-initiating session then begins to process the errors. When other data movers detect the error listing in the error-initiating data mover""s session area, they proceed to process equivalent errors locally, such as by suspending data mirroring operations as appropriate. When the error is corrected, the error-initiating data mover resets the error handling indication in its session area to show that the error has been corrected.
The foregoing features may be implemented in a number of different forms. For example, the invention may be implemented to provide a method of distributing and locally processing commands and errors among multiple remote copy backup sessions of a data storage system. In another embodiment, the invention may be implemented to provide an apparatus, such as a data storage facility, configured to perform operations to distribute and locally process commands and errors among multiple remote copy backup sessions of a data storage system. In still another embodiment, the invention may be implemented to provide a signal-bearing medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital data processing apparatus to perform such operations. Another embodiment concerns logic circuitry having multiple interconnected electrically conductive elements configured to perform the foregoing operations.
The invention affords its users with a number of distinct advantages. Chiefly, the invention maintains data consistency by coordinating the local processing of errors and commands among separate storage sessions. The invention also provides a number of other advantages and benefits, which should be apparent from the following description of the invention.

Coordinating remote copy status changes across multiple logical sessions to maintain consistency


A back lighting device includes a light waveguide having generally planar upper and lower surfaces, a light module having a lamp member encapsulated between the upper and lower surfaces, a specular reflective material applied about the waveguide lower surface, and a light extracting material applied about the waveguide upper surface. The waveguide can be mounted in a user specific frame to allow high volume usage of a common waveguide element.

Liquid crystal displays are used extensively in cellular telephones, pagers, watches, etc. Such displays are illuminated by light panels referred to as back lighting devices. Conventional devices generally utilize a light source mounted adjacent a plastic light waveguide for containing light from the light source entering the waveguide. Light is extracted from the waveguide by providing a surface that changes the reflective or transmissive characteristics of the waveguide causing light striking the surface to be transmitted out of the waveguide.
These conventional devices suffer from light loss associated with inefficient light coupling with the light source being placed next to the plastic waveguide. In addition, these devices usually have the light extraction surface mounted away from the light exiting surface so that a portion of the light striking the surface is reflected back into the waveguide.
In addition to these and other disadvantages associated with conventional back lighting devices, a differently sized back lighting device must be manufactured for a differently sized application.


A method is provided wherein a gate dielectric film that is plasma nitrided in a chamber of one system is subsequently heated or “annealed” in another chamber of the same system. Processing delay can be controlled so that all wafers processed in the system experience similar nitrogen content.

1). Field of the Invention
This invention relates to semiconductor processing, and more specifically to a method for improving nitrogen profile in plasma nitrided gate dielectric layers.
2). Discussion of Related Art
Gate dielectric films that are used for transistor fabrication are often nitrided with nitrogen ions to increase their capacitances. A small fraction of nitrogen in such a film is lost after being incorporated into the film before further processing. The total nitrogen content may differ from wafer to wafer because of differences in process delay, so that transistors of different wafers have dielectric layers with dramatically different capacitances.

Method for improving nitrogen profile in plasma nitrided gate dielectric layers


The automotive alternator according to the present invention includes: a case; a rotor that is disposed inside the case and that is fixed to a shaft; a stator that is disposed so as to surround the rotor and in which alternating current arises by means of a rotating magnetic field from the rotor; a rectifier that is disposed at an end portion of the shaft and that rectifies the alternating current that arises in the stator into direct current; and a noise preventing capacitor that is connected between a positive side and a negative side of the rectifier and that absorbs noise that arises during rectification into direct current by the rectifier, wherein a carbon resistor that suppresses current that flows to the noise preventing capacitor is connected to the noise preventing capacitor in series.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automotive alternator that includes a rectifier that rectifies alternating current that is generated in a stator into direct current.
2. Description of the Related Art
Examples of known conventional automotive alternators include automotive alternators that include: a rotor that is disposed inside a case and that is fixed to a shaft; a stator that is disposed so as to surround the rotor, in which alternating current is generated by a rotating magnetic field from the rotor; a rectifier that is disposed near an end portion of the shaft and that rectifies the alternating current that is generated by the stator into direct current; and a noise preventing capacitor that is disposed between a positive side and a negative side of the rectifier and that absorbs high-frequency noise that arises during rectification into direct current by the rectifier and adversely affects radio waves (see Patent Literature 1, for example).
Patent Literature 1
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. SHO 58-43423 (Gazette)
In the automotive alternator described above, since rectification ripple voltages arise in the rectifier, one problem has been that current flows through the noise preventing capacitor, and the service life of the noise preventing capacitor is shortened by the generation of heat by the noise preventing capacitor.
The generating capacity of automotive alternators has also increased in recent years, and impedance in connecting wiring between batteries and automotive alternators has also been reduced. For this reason, when an automotive alternator and a battery are finally connected electrically by connecting a negative terminal of the battery and a negative cable from a vehicle body, for example, another problem has been that an inrush current may flow through the noise preventing capacitor, giving rise to sparks between the negative terminal of the battery and a tip portion of the negative cable and degrading the negative terminal of the battery.
An additional problem has been that although abrupt commutation surge voltages can be suppressed by the noise preventing capacitor during rectification, new oscillating waveforms that adversely affect on-board electrical equipment arise.


A method for obtaining a stable and accurate solution for an ill-conditioned system of normal equations associated with digital Weiner filter for a time invariant system and/or an autoregressive operator of an autoregressive model. A time invariant stochastic model, uses a Gram_Schmidt process of orthonormalisation to condition the coefficient matrix, a singular matrix associated with such a system of normal equations, to an identity matrix. The observed output of the digital Weiner filter and/or autoregressive operator is defined as a time advanced version of the input. The method has application in situations where digitized data at smaller sampling intervals are made available.

Calculating the prediction filter, viz., digital Weiner filter's autoregressive operator for accurately describing a time-invariant geophysical system is of considerable importance. Obtaining a stable and accurate solution for an ill-conditioned system of normal equations assocaited with prediction filter viz. digital Weiner filter or autoregressive operator for a time-invariant digitized data made available at smaller intervals has not been attempted. This problem is central to most measured data and is especially important in applications relating to the data available from reflection seismic, gravity, magnetic, resistivity, magnetotelluric used for prospecting for oil, mineral and water. The central problem is, therefore, to obtain a stable and accurate solution for an ill-conditioned system of normal equations assocaited with digital Weiner filter/or autoregressive operator or in general a prediction filter.
Treitel and Wang (1976) suggested a method of finding solution of an ill-conditioned system of normal equations by means of "pre-whitening". They advocate the replacement of zero-lag term r0 of the auto-correlation coefficient sequence by a slightly larger number r′0 such that:r′0=r0+Δr0where Δr0 is small compared to r0. The replacement of r0 by r′0 results in a different system of normal equations. Treitel and Wang (1976) illustrated with examples that as the prewhitening levels used on the original ill-conditioned matrix increases, the condition number, which is a measure of ill conditioning, decreases. They observe that the percentage levels of prewhitening to be used depend, in part, on the numerical accuracy of the available computer. They also observe that more numerical computations on a given computer would be necessary if a closer estimate of such an "optimum" prewhitening level is desired. They also note, without proof that the addition of a small amount of white noise improves the conditioning of the linear system (O'Dowd, 1990).
Treitel and Wang (1976) advocate that the application of pre-whitening level to the coefficient matrix associated with an ill-conditioned system of normal equations to condition the coefficient matrix. A trade-off between the prewhitening levels and the condition numbers must be considered. Apparently, the compromise made between prewhitening level and condition number result in a system of normal equations, which may not be totally well conditioned, as some measure of ill conditioning would still persist in the system under treatment. O'Dowd (1990) observes that the application of prewhitening level is not an acceptable reason to make the change in the diagonal arbitrarily large.
Gram_Schmidt process of orthonormalisation has been used in the past to condition an ill-conditioned system of normal equations assocaited with the trend surface and to determine the trend-coefficients. Sarma and Selvaraj (1990) demonstrated the use of Gram_Schmidt process of orthonormalisation in the determination of trend-coefficients from an ill-conditioned system of normal equations assocaited with trend-surface analysis.

Method for stable and accurate solution for an ill-conditioned system of normal equations associated with a prediction filter whose output is defined as a time advanced version of the input

Council of Scientific & Industrial Research


Methods of forming a microelectronic structure are described. Those methods may include forming a gate dielectric layer on a substrate, forming a metal gate layer on the gate dielectric layer, and then forming a polysilicon layer on the metal gate layer in situ, wherein the metal gate layer is not exposed to air.

Microelectronic devices are often manufactured in and on silicon wafers and on other types other substrates. Such integrated circuits may include millions of transistors, such as metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) field effect transistors, as are well known in the art. The MOSFET may comprise a gate structure, such as a metal and/or a polysilicon gate structure, as are known in the art.

Methods for fabricating PMOS metal gate structures


A manufacturing method for an isothermal evaporation casting process is disclosed and to design the manufacturing method for the simple atmospheric casting. The present invention can melt the Mg—Ni alloy with the aspect of totally different melting points thereof, and the other elements can be added during melting simultaneously. Through the Mg—Ni alloy with a suitable weight ratio, the eutectic alloy of Mg/Mg2Ni and high purified γ-phase Mg2Ni can be made. Then adding other elements are to produce the composition of Mg/Ni/M. By way of the manufacturing method of the present invention, the melting equipment is simplified; and, through different manufacturing steps, the purposes of time-saving and low cost are reached; further that, a large amount of the eutectic alloy of Mg/Mg2Ni with different kinds of ratios of Mg, high purified γ-phase Mg2Ni, or the composition of Mg/Ni/M can be obtained.

Some known sorts of metals have the characteristics of absorbing hydrogen and releasing hydrogen. Any of such metals absorbs hydrogen to become metal hydride; otherwise, hydrogen is released by the metal hydride, the metal hydride is back to the metal. For instance, the alloy of iron and titanium, the alloy of lanthanum and nickel, the alloy of magnesium and nickel, etc., those hydrogen storage alloys are found 1960-1970 of 20th century.
The prior arts to manufacture a high purified Mg2Ni alloy are vacuum arc melting, induction melting, powder metallurgy, laminate rolling, mechanical alloying, rotation-cylinder method, etc. Such prior arts have the disadvantages of expensive equipment, a long period of manufacturing, a less quantity of output, etc. Further, eutectic Mg+Mg2Ni and γ-phase Mg2Ni are easily mixed each other during manufacturing processes. Therefore, the high purified γ-phase Mg2Ni is hardly to gained.

Manufacturing method for isothermal evaporation casting process


Hot melt adhesive masses are provided with a tackless surface by a process which comprises the steps of: a) extruding the hot melt adhesive through an appropriate die orifice; b) spraying the surface of the extruded adhesive with a molten film forming low molecular weight polymer or formulated polymeric material, the material being selected so that it will not appreciably detract from the properties of the adhesive composition when remelted therewith; c) heating the surface of the coated adhesive at a temperature and for a period of time sufficient to re-melt the film forming polymer so as to form a continuous coating thereof yet insufficient to appreciably melt the adhesive; and d) cooling the thus coated adhesive mass to a temperature suitable for handling.

This invention relates to a method for coating hot melt adhesives compositions to provide tack free surfaces.
Hot melt adhesives which are generally applied while in the molten or liquid state are solid at room temperature. Typically, these adhesives are provided in the form of blocks and because of the nature of these materials, particularly the pressure sensitive hot melts, there are problems associated with handling and packaging them. The solid adhesive blocks not only stick or adhere to hands or mechanical handling devices and to each other, but they also pick up dirt and other contaminants. Additionally, certain applications which require high tack formulations result in blocks that will deform or cold flow unless supported during shipment. The need and advantages for providing tackless or non-blocking hot melt adhesives are apparent and various ways of accomplishing this have been developed.
Japanese Patent 48-103635 published Dec. 26, 1973, discloses a granular adhesive which is tacky at room temperature and coated or enveloped with a non-tacky hot meltable material that is the same type or is miscible or mixable with it.
French Patent 2,544,654 published Oct. 26, 1984, discloses forming a tackless hot melt by adding molten hot melt to a mold containing a preformed support layer having a transfer film thereon which is compatible with the hot melt.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,748,796 issued Jun. 12, 1988, and 4,755,245 issued Jul. 5, 1988, disclose forming a protective coating for an adhesive material by electrostatically coating a mold or cavity with a powder screen and then pouring hot melt into the mold.
French Patent 2,601,616 published Oct. 22, 1988, discloses forming blocks of hot melt pressure sensitive adhesives by casting the pressure sensitive adhesive into molds precoated by spraying with a film of non self-sticking hot melt material thereby forming a fusible non-tacky veil around the pressure sensitive block.
In German Patent 22 48 046 and U.S. Pat. 4,054,632 the hot melt adhesive is squeeze-cut into pillow-shaped pieces; the pieces subsequently cooled and solidified.
European Patent 412,867 published Feb. 13, 1991, discloses a process for coating hot melt adhesives with a compatible anti-adhesive agent, the coating being done at a temperature higher than its softening point.
Still other processes involve the coextrusion of a sheath surrounding the hot-melt material where the coextruded material may be, for example, polyethylene or a non-self-adhesive "hot-melt" compatible with the formulation of the extruded product.

National Starch and Chemical Investment Holding Corporation


A method of forming a camouflage pattern, a method of manufacturing a camouflage material in accordance with the pattern, and a camouflage material so manufactured. The method is performed by the taking of a series of photographs in a setting in the environment in which the camouflage configuration is intended to be used. One typical environment might include oak, poplar and birch trees. The individual images of the photographs are then entered graphically into a computer. The computer images are then overlain, one upon another, to form a composite print. Using the computer, the colors in the composite print are separated into a plurality of color prints portraying the predominant colors in the composite print. The colors are identified, and a corresponding plurality of layer screens based upon the individual color prints are made. The layer screens are then employed to screen the identified colors onto a sheet of material.

Camouflage materials have numerous applications. Certainly there is a military application. Beyond that, however, applications exist for hunting and other endeavors wherein it is necessary to maintain one's self blended into the environment and undetected.
Various types of camouflage backgrounds are applicable. The particular type of background, of course, hinges upon the environment in which the material is intended to be used. Such environments might include snow, desert, woods, and possibly swamp.
The particular environment can be broken down even further and the camouflage material be made more specific. For example, in the case of a woods environment, the camouflage material can be constructed depending upon the particular type of foliage present in the area in which the material is intended to be used. In various locations throughout the United States and various other countries, a common mix of trees is oak, poplar and birch.
Simulation of environment is a function not only of coloration, but also of specific portrayal of coloration and stacking or overlaying of color layers. It is, of course, important to consider all of these factors in order to most effectively simulate a particular environment.
It is to these problems and dictates of the prior art that the present invention is directed. It is an improved method for forming a camouflage pattern simulating an oak, poplar and birch environment, a method of manufacturing a camouflage material based upon such a camouflage pattern, and a camouflage material so manufactured.

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An improved vascular incisor and method for allowing a user to safely create an incision in a body lumen. The present invention provides an apparatus which can create an incision in a front wall of the ascending aorta while preventing the blade from creating an incision in surrounding body structures, such as the back wall of the ascending aorta. The incisor includes a surgical element such as a blade which is activated by an actuator. As the actuator is depressed, the blade is moved from a protected, retracted position to an exposed, deployed position. The exposed blade is pushed into a front wall of the ascending aorta to create an incision. As the actuator is depressed further, the blade is automatically moved to the retracted position to prevent the blade from incising the back wall of the aorta.

The present invention is directed to methods and devices for safely creating an incision through a wall of a patient""s blood vessel. Such devices and methods are useful for performing various procedures on a patient""s vascular system and heart such as the procedures described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,584,803 and 5,682,906 which describe coronary arty bypass grafting (CABG) and valve procedures, respectively.
Prior to occluding the ascending aorta and maintaining circulation of oxygenated blood, an incision must be made in the ascending aorta and a cannula inserted for return of blood to the patient. However, conventional methods suffer from potentially serious drawbacks. Conventional surgical techniques use a scalpel or knife to create an incision in the front wall of the ascending aorta prior to the insertion of the cannula into the aorta. Such scalpels have the potential to injure surrounding body structures. Additionally, in closed chest procedures, it is difficult and time consuming for the surgeon to separately manipulate both the scalpel and cannula.
Accordingly, there is a need for an incision method and device which can quickly and easily create an incision within the front wall of the ascending aorta through a small incision in the chest rather than a full sternotomy.
The present invention provides an improved vascular incisor, and cannula assembly and method for allowing a user to safely create an incision and insert a cannula in a body lumen. More specifically, the present invention provides an apparatus which can create an incision in a wall of the ascending aorta and insert a cannula in a fast and convenient single step process. The present invention includes a cannula and an incisor positionable within the cannula. The incisor has a blade which is moved by an actuator such as a trigger or a plunger. As the actuator is depressed, the blade is moved from a protected, retracted position to an exposed, deployed position. The exposed blade is pushed into a front wall of the ascending aorta to create an incision. As the plunger is depressed further, the blade is automatically moved to the retracted position to prevent the blade from contacting other body structures such as the back wall of the aorta. As the incisor is pushed through the incision, the cannula can be simultaneously inserted through the incision in a single step process.
In a first aspect, the present invention provides an incisor for creating a vascular incision. In one embodiment, the incisor has a rod which is movable relative to a body. A surgical element, such as a blade, is disposed at a distal end of the rod. A plunger having at least one finger engages a proximal end of the rod. When the plunger is moved from an undepressed position to a depressed position the rod and surgical element are advanced from the retracted position to the deployed position. The finger engages a ramp so that the fingers disengages from the proximal end of the rod, and the surgical element is moves back to the retracted position. In a specific configuration the incisor has a return spring to bias the plunger to the undepressed position. As the plunger is biased back to the undepressed position, the plunger fingers pass by the proximal surface of the push rod and the resilient spring force contained in the flexed plunger fingers biases the finger radially inward into the initial position and into engagement (or near engagement) with the proximal end of the push rod. At this position, the plunger and push rod are positioned for repeat actuation of the blade.
In another embodiment, the incisor includes a housing and a movable push rod. The push rod is biased toward a retracted position. Actuation of a trigger pin over a ramp moves the push rod and a surgical element from the retracted position towards a deployed position. When the trigger pin reaches a top of the ramp, the trigger pin disengages from the push rod and allows the surgical element and the push rod to return to the retracted position. In some embodiments, the trigger pin is coupled to an actuator, such as a trigger or a plunger. The actuator is actuated in the distal direction to move the trigger pin distally over the ramp. In one configuration, the actuator is biased towards an initial position so that after the surgical element has been deployed and retracted, the actuator is biased back to the initial position and the apparatus is ready for repeat actuation. In another specific configuration, the actuator is moved along a longitudinal axis of motion which is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the push rod. In yet another specific configuration, the actuator is two pivotal handles. The handles are movable between an initial outwardly separated position and a closed position in which the handles are adjacent to the body. A user squeezes the handles to the closed position to move the surgical element to the deployed position. In most configurations, the handles are biased to the initial position, such that when the handles are released, the handles return to the initial position and the incisor is ready for repeat actuation.
In yet another embodiment, the incisor has an elongate rod with a surgical element disposed at the far end of the rod. A rod spring biases the rod and surgical element in the retracted position. A hammer is positioned in the body, typically along an axis parallel with the push rod. Actuation of an actuator engages an angled cam surface against the hammer to move the hammer to compress a hammer spring. Once the trigger and cam surface move past the hammer, the cam surface disengages from the hammer so that the hammer spring can expand and push the hammer distally against the rod to move the surgical element to the deployed position. Because the rod and surgical element are biased in the retracted position by the rod spring, the surgical element is instantaneously pulled back to the retracted position.
In another aspect, the present invention provides methods of forming an incision in a tissue structure of a patient. In one method, a plunger is depressed substantially along a longitudinal axis of the device to move a surgical element from a retracted position to a deployed position. The surgical element is moved from the deployed position to the retracted position independently of further movement of the plunger. In most embodiments, the plunger is biased back to an undepressed position such that the plunger is ready for repeat actuation.
In yet another method, the present invention provides a method for inserting a cannula into a blood vessel. The method comprises positioning a tip of a device adjacent the blood vessel. An actuator is activated to move a surgical element from a retracted position to a deployed position. The surgical element is automatically moved from the deployed position to the retracted position while simultaneously inserting the cannula into the blood vessel. In most embodiments, the plunger is automatically returned to the undepressed position so that the plunger is ready for repeat actuation.
In yet another method, the present invention provides a method of creating an incision. The method comprises placing a distal tip of a device adjacent a vessel wall. An actuator is activated to compress a spring. The spring is expanded to deploy a surgical element to create an incision in a vessel. Thereafter, the surgical element is automatically retracted.
In yet another method, the present invention provides a method for occluding an aorta. A surgical element is deployed to create an opening in the aorta. The surgical element is automatically retracted and the cannula is inserted through the opening and into the aorta. The surgical element is withdrawn from the cannula and an aortic occlusion device is positioned in at least a portion of the aorta. In some methods, the aortic occlusion device includes an inflatable balloon which is expanded to occlude the aorta.
In still another aspect, the present invention provides an assembly for creating an incision in a blood vessel. The assembly includes a cannula having a lumen. An incisor having an automatically retracting surgical element is removably receivable within the lumen of the cannula. The cannula has a body and a push rod with a surgical element. An actuator is coupled to the push rod to move the surgical element between a retracted position and a deployed position. A fixed release mechanism is positioned within the body to disengage the push rod from the actuator to allow the push rod and surgical element to be biased from the deployed position to the retracted position.
In another embodiment, the assembly includes a cannula and an incisor having a hammer type assembly for retracting the surgical element. A hammer and hammer spring are positioned within the body and adjacent the push rod. A cam surface, typically coupled to an actuator, moves to compress the hammer and hammer spring. The cam surface is moved beyond the hammer and allows the hammer spring to expand so as to push the hammer distally against a push rod. The impulse from the hammer moves the surgical element from a retracted position to a deployed position. In most assemblies, the surgical element (and rod) are biased to the retracted position, such that the surgical element is immediately biased back to the retracted position.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides an assembly for treating the ascending aorta. The assembly includes a cannula having a lumen and an incisor having an automatically retracting surgical element. The incisor is removably received in the lumen of the catheter such that a surgical element is positioned near a distal end of the cannula to create an incision in the ascending aorta. An aortic occlusion device can be inserted through the lumen of the cannula and into the incision in the ascending aorta after the incisor has been removed from the cannula.
Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.


A nursing assistance device for aiding with the delivery of breast milk and/or formula while augmenting breastfeeding. The nursing assistance device generally includes a housing adapted to be secured to the breast to aid in nursing. The housing includes an inner channel in which a syringe dispenser or dispenser tube may be positioned. Each of the dispensers includes an outlet tube through which fluids such as formula and/or breast milk may be dispensed alongside the nipple. The dispenser tube may be connected to various sources of fluid, such as a pouch. The lower surface of the housing includes a securing member which will enable the housing to be removably and comfortably secured to the breast during use. The outlet tube is positioned directly alongside the nipple so that the infant may latch onto both the nipple and the outlet tube to augment breast feeding and facilitate nipple stimulation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a nursing aid and more specifically it relates to a nursing assistance device for aiding with the delivery of breast milk and/or formula while augmenting breastfeeding.
2. Description of the Related Art
Any discussion of the related art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such related art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
In recent decades, it has become widely accepted that a mother's breast milk is preferable to formula in most infants. However, breastfeeding can be a challenge even with full term pregnancies with uncomplicated deliveries. The challenge of breastfeeding can be multiplied exponentially when there are delivery complications or pre-term infants. Most hospitals these days employ at least one lactation consultant due to the prevalence of problems with nursing.
Pre-term infants often do not have the musculature or well-developed cheek fat pads necessary to properly latch onto a nipple and nurse. Also, mothers after complicated deliveries or with pre-term infants may experience difficulties with their milk supply and thus require at least partial use of formula. These mothers still often have a desire to experience nursing their newborn infant.
Because of the inherent problems with the related art, there is a need for a new and improved nursing assistance device for aiding with the delivery of breast milk and/or formula while augmenting breastfeeding and facilitating nipple stimulation to increase a mother's milk supply.


A terminal crimping machine includes an applicator having a movable ram and an anvil. The anvil is located in a crimping zone and configured to receive a terminal thereon. The ram has crimp tooling that is configured to crimp the terminal on the anvil to a wire during a crimp stroke of the ram. An image acquisition device is positioned to acquire at least one image of the crimping zone. A display device is configured to display the at least one acquired image.

The subject matter herein relates generally to terminal feed alignment aids for terminal crimping machines.
Electrical terminals are typically crimped onto wires by a crimping machine to form a lead. In operation, a terminal is placed in a crimp zone, and an end of a wire is inserted into the ferrule or barrel of the terminal. A ram is caused to move toward the base through a crimp stroke, thereby crimping the terminal onto the wire. The terminals, prior to crimping, are typically provided in strip form. The strip of terminals must be manually loaded into the crimping machine by an operator. The position of the terminal strip within the crimp zone is critical to the overall performance. A terminal that is not properly located in either the side-to-side or front-to-back directions will not meet the crimp specification after it is crimped to a wire. Leads that do not meet crimp specifications are discarded.
There are several mechanical adjustments within the crimping machine to position the terminal within the crimp zone relative to the mechanical crimp tooling. It is up to the skill of the operator to properly make those adjustments. One area of difficulty is adjusting the side-to-side feed position, which is especially difficult with physically small terminals. The operator must exercise great care, exceptional vision, and finesse to adjust the crimping machine so that the terminal is properly centered relative to the mechanical tooling. In addition to requiring skill and diligence, these small manual adjustments take time and reduce production efficiency. Costs are increased due to reduced efficiency and discarded misaligned leads. There is a lack of gages or setup tools to help the operator with this task.
A need remains for a crimping machine that supports proper alignment of the terminal relative to the mechanical crimp tooling.

Terminal crimping machine with a terminal feed alignment aid


In an approach for managing user profiles, a computer identifies a first user profile and one or more additional user profiles, wherein the first user profile is active on a computing device. The computer receives streaming data. The computer receives a trigger wherein the received trigger includes biometric data. The computer identifies a second user profile from the identified one or more additional user profiles that is associated with the received trigger. The computer compares biometric data from the second user profile with the biometric data in the received trigger. The computer determines whether the biometric data matches, within a defined tolerance level, the biometric data in the second user profile.

The present invention relates generally to the field of computer configuration settings, and more particularly to managing computer configuration settings in a multi-user environment.
Computers can be utilized by a single user or shared among multiple users. Operating systems and/or application software can be enabled for multi-users, allowing more than one user to utilize the same computer through unique user accounts. User accounts enable individual utilization of a computer or network service by maintaining separate information in the form of a user profile about each user. The user profile within the user account includes unique settings and preferences (e.g., personal preferences, desktop settings, backgrounds, network connections, etc.) specific to the particular user. The user profiles associated with a user account can be either local (i.e., stored on the local hard disk of a computer) or roaming (i.e., stored on a centralized file server accessible from any network joined desktop computer). Roaming profiles allow users to log on from any computer on the same network and have a consistent desktop experience whereas local profiles are specific to a single computer.
Multi-user systems require users to have authorization to access a computer system and to enable the correct user account and user profile for the user. Authorization is determined when a user provides valid credentials to the computer system to prove identity. Credentials may be a physical/tangible object (e.g., an access badge, near field communication), a piece of knowledge (e.g., a user name and password combination), and/or a facet of a person's physical being (e.g., a biometric feature). Biometric authentication relates to human characteristics and traits such as fingerprints, facial recognition, iris recognition, retinal scans, voice, and hand geometry which are captured by the computer system. The captured data converts the actual image or sound into a digital file which is stored and analyzed by a computer or compared with other files in a database to verify identity and provide authorization to the appropriate user account. Near field communication allows devices to transfer electronically stored information automatically from tags (i.e., small microchips with antennas) by touch or proximity detection (e.g., radio-frequency identification (RFID)). The transferred data automatically identifies and collects data about the object and enters the data directly into the computer system to determine the appropriate user account. Successful authorization of a user through the verification of credentials results in the loading of the user account and user profile providing the appropriate work environment determined by the user.

Dynamic multi-user computer configuration settings


A take-out roll, spreader roll or equivalent roll for a web-like material having three parts linked with one another, namely, a middle part and two end parts, one on each side of the middle part. The middle part and end parts are pivotal with respect to one another for the purpose of bending the roll into a desired curved shape. The middle part is constructed to operate as a revolving axle of the roll which is mounted revolvingly on support members by end bearings. The end parts are mounted in the area of their axial inner ends on the middle part by articulation devices. The end parts are further mounted in the area of their axial outer ends, revolvingly and movably in a radial direction on support parts which are separated from the revolving parts of the roll by bearings arranged inward of the end bearings in the axial direction of the roll.

The invention relates to a take-out roll, spreader roll, or equivalent for a web-like material, which roll comprises three parts linked with one another, i.e. two end parts and a middle part, which parts are pivotal with respect to one another for the purpose of bending the roll into a desired curved shape.
Take-out rolls and spreader rolls have been formed most commonly so that they have a continuous axle and a roll mantle fitted on the axle, which roll mantle is in turn composed of a number of parts. The take-out roll can be made to be curved into a desired shape by shifting the outer journalling points of the roll mantle in the radial direction, whereby the mantle forms an arc or a broken line. Each of the mantle parts is generally journalled separately on the axle, in which case the arrangement comprises a number of bearings. The conventional arrangements involve a number of problems and drawbacks, which are, among other things, problems of journalling of the roll and peaks of heat produced by the journalling in the paper web. The making of the mantle of several parts may also constitute a considerable problem because the gaps between the parts may mark the paper web and because the arc form of the roll is not optimal, but the line of shape of the roll is shaped as a broken line. Further, owing to the metallic roll mantle, problems of corrosion may arise. One such prior-art spreader roll is described, for example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,971. Attempts have been made to provide an improvement over such a prior-art spreader roll, for example, so that a coating layer of a resilient material has been fitted onto the metal mantle consisting of a number of parts, the objective of this arrangement being in particular to provide an improvement concerning the problem of marking of the paper web and concerning optimization of the arc form of the roll. However, the journalling system of the roll is similar to that described above, and, thus, also the problems related to the journalling are unchanged. Such a spreader roll is described, for example, in the Canadian Patent No. 766,843.
Previously, attempts have been made to find a solution to the problem arising from a roll mantle made up of several parts also so that, as the roll mantle, a continuous metal tube mantle has been used which has been provided with xe2x80x9ccutsxe2x80x9d, i.e. into which slots have been formed in order to facilitate the bending of the roll mantle. This construction, however, causes its own problems, one worth noticing being the fact that, owing to its construction, the roll mantle becomes quite slack, i.e. excessively readily bending. In such a case, the roll mantle concerned must be supported on the roll axle by means of bearings at a number of points, for which reason the problems described above and arising from the journalling remain unchanged. Also, the cost of manufacture of the roll mantle is relatively high because of the mode of manufacture.
The greatest problems of present take-out rolls, spreader rolls and equivalent are mainly due to the construction of the roll in use, which is most commonly a construction of the kind in which the roll comprises a non-revolving roll axle and a roll mantle revolvingly journalled on it. In addition to the prior art publications already cited previously, reference is made in this connection to the Finnish Patent Application No. 951921, which fairly representatively describes the prevailing prior art. More specifically, said publication describes a roll comprising a continuous and non-revolving roll axle. A roll mantle made up of three parts, i.e. a middle part and end parts, is fitted on the axle. The middle part is journalled in the area of its both ends directly on the axle of the roll. The inner ends of the end parts are also journalled directly on the axle and the outer ends are similarly journalled on separate sleeve parts, whose inside diameter is larger than the diameter of the axle. The sleeve parts can be shifted radially, whereby the roll mantle curves or, more exactly, attains the shape of a broken line, when the outer ends of the end parts of the mantle move radially with respect to the inner ends. The roll is thus provided with a desired xe2x80x9ccurvedxe2x80x9d shape.
However, all the arrangements of today involve the drawback that there are journalling points in the inner area of the roll mantle, that is, in the area of the web. Firstly, arrangement of lubrication of these bearings is at least principally difficult to provide. A second, even more serious drawback is that the bearings heat up during operation with the result that this heating up produces a thermal gradient in paper. Heat is transferred with the paper into a roll nip and, at worst, it may cause burning of a soft nip roll. In the FI Application 951921, for example, attempts have been made to solve this problem in such a way that thermal insulation material is provided in connection with the bearings situated in the area of the web for the purpose of reducing the transfer of heat from the bearings to the paper web. The structure of the roll has, however, become very complicated and expensive, and yet it has not been possible to eliminate all drawbacks.
The object of the present invention is to provide a novel construction of a take-out roll, spreader roll, or equivalent, by means of which the problems related to the prior art described above are avoided. With a view to achieving the objective of the invention, the invention is mainly characterized in that the middle part of the roll is constructed to also operate as a revolving axle of the roll, which is mounted revolvingly on its support members by means of end bearings, and that the end parts of the roll are mounted, in the area of their axial inner ends, on the middle part by means of articulation devices.
The invention provides quite a considerable advantage over the prior art, and of the advantages obtainable by means of the invention, for example, the following may be mentioned. The roll does not comprise across the width of the web any lubrication points that impede the use of the roll and make its use more difficult. Also, there has been no need to place any bearings in the roll in the area of the width of the web, thereby making it possible to avoid the problems of the prior art caused by heating up of bearings. Considerably smaller bearings may be used in the roll as compared with conventional take-out rolls, bearing frictions being then also smaller than previously. The number of bearings has been made smaller than previously, since the roll needs only four roller bearings, whereas the rolls in accordance with the prior art usually comprised at least six roller bearings and two glide bearings. The axle of the roll is substantially more rigid than in the previous arrangements, which employ a separate non-revolving axle. A possible drive is very easy to arrange by coupling a drive means simply to the end of the roll axle. Owing to the construction in accordance with the invention, for example, a composite material may be used as the roll material. In that case, the roll is advantageously constructed as a shell structure, whereby the roll becomes fairly light in weight and its lowest specific frequencies can be raised so high that the support provided by the end journalling of the roll is sufficient for support of the entire roll. The further advantages and characteristic features of the invention come out from the following detailed description of the invention.

Take-out roll, spreader roll, or equivalent for a web-like material


A carbon monoxide selective oxidizing catalyst includes a carrier of ferrierite or ZSM-5 that supports a metal component of platinum (Pt) alone or platinum and at least one type of transition metal. Alternatively, a carbon monoxide selective oxidizing catalyst includes a carrier whose maximum pore diameter ranges from 0.55 to 0.65 nanometers (nm) that supports a metal component of platinum (Pt) alone or platinum and at least one type of transition metal.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to carbon monoxide selective oxidizing catalysts that promote a reaction of oxidizing carbon monoxide by giving carbon monoxide priority over hydrogen and manufacturing methods for the same.
2. Description of Related Art
A reformed gas obtained by reforming gasoline or a hydrocarbon-based fuel such as natural gas or alcohol is employed as a hydrogen-rich fuel gas used in an electrochemical reaction in a fuel cell. Such a reformed gas generally contains a certain amount of carbon monoxide. However, in a fuel cell provided with a platinum-based catalyst such as a proton-exchange membrane fuel cell, if the supplied gas contains carbon monoxide, the catalyst may be poisoned by carbon monoxide and the cell performance may deteriorate. Therefore, a carbon monoxide concentration reduction apparatus is employed to reduce the concentration of carbon monoxide contained in the reformed gas before the reformed gas is supplied to the fuel cell, thereby preventing the catalyst in the fuel cell from being poisoned by carbon monoxide.
One of the reactions performed in the carbon monoxide concentration reduction apparatus is a carbon monoxide selective oxidizing reaction that oxidizes carbon monoxide by giving carbon monoxide priority over hydrogen. The oxidation reaction of carbon monoxide is represented by an equation I described below.CO+(½)O2→CO2  I
Various types of catalysts that promote such a carbon monoxide selective oxidizing reaction are known. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 11-347414 discloses a catalyst in which a platinum alloy is supported on a carrier including mordenite, a kind of zeolite. According to the art disclosed in this publication, the percentage of metals other than the platinum contained in the platinum alloy is controlled to 20 to 50 atomic percent, thereby improving the performance of the carbon monoxide selective oxidizing catalyst.
However, even in a case where the above-mentioned carbon monoxide selective oxidizing catalyst is used, the performance of reducing the concentration of the carbon monoxide contained in the fuel gas supplied to the fuel cell may be insufficient. Therefore, it is desired to obtain a carbon monoxide selective oxidizing catalyst with much superior performance of reducing the concentration of the carbon monoxide.
Generally, activity of the reaction promoted by catalysts can be improved by increasing the reaction temperature. On the other hand, the above-mentioned carbon monoxide selective oxidizing reaction is to selectively oxidize an extremely small amount of carbon monoxide present in a large amount of hydrogen. Therefore, in general, as the reaction temperature becomes higher, the oxidizing reaction of hydrogen becomes more active, thereby decreasing the efficiency of reducing the carbon monoxide concentration. This results in a problem that the fuel utilization efficiency decreases. In addition, as the reaction temperature becomes higher, undesirable reactions (for example, a methanation reaction that methanates hydrogen) become more active to consume more hydrogen, in addition to the carbon monoxide selective oxidizing reaction. This causes a problem that the fuel utilization efficiency decreases. Therefore, to improve performance of the entire fuel cell system, it is desirable that the carbon monoxide selective oxidizing catalyst should achieve a higher carbon monoxide concentration reduction rate, provide higher selectivity in oxidizing carbon monoxide, and exhibit sufficient activity at lower temperatures.

Carbon monoxide selective oxidizing catalyst and manufacturing method for the same


Optical transmission is accomplished with a set of transmitter arrays that are each constructed to transmit spatially separated optical data streams that are determined by the positions of each transmitter of said transmitter array and a set of receiver arrays, each of which is constructed to receive one or more of the spatially separated optical data streams. Optical coupling is provided over transmitter and receiver fiber-optic cables and other conventional optical elements, such as lens and prisms, to provide optical paths that maintain the spatial separation of said optical data streams as established by said transmitters. An interface is coupled to transmitters and to receivers which are constructed (i) to translate electrical data signals into optical data streams which are intended to be transmitted from the transmitters to selected receivers and which contain receiver selection data that specifies the selected receivers, and (ii) to prevent any of the transmitters from transmitting to any particular receiver that is selected by a particular transmitter to receive data while that particular receiver is still receiving an optical data stream from another of the transmitters that previously selected that particular receiver. The optical transmitters are implemented with vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL) 2-dimensional arrays consisting of an N.times.N matrix of 30 microns diameter optical emitters with the optical transmitters consisting of a complementary N.times.N 2-dimensional photodiode array. The photodiode array would use 80 micron diameter oversized detectors to minimize tolerance requirements.

1. Field of the Invention
A high bandwidth optical crossbar switch is created using spatial multiplexing in which multiple distinct optical paths are provided in high density coherent fiber-optic transmitting and receiving bundles.
2. Background Description
U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,693 in the name of the inventor of this application, which issued Sep. 17, 1996 and is entitled "Apparatus and Method for Transmitting Optical Data," shows a method and apparatus for transmission of a multiplicity of independent optical data signals. This patent eliminates the need to precisely align each source of an optical data signal with a single fiber-optic strand. This is accomplished by including an emitter array for emitting a multiplicity of the optical data signals onto one end-face of a coherent fiber-optic bundle and a photodiode array with a receiving area that is larger than the output area of a plurality of fiber-optic strands wherein each group of strands carries particular data signal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,321 entitled "Apparatus for Selective Routing of Information Signals" issued Jan. 7, 1997 in the name of David Elberbaum. The patent discloses an apparatus for the selective routing of information signals in which a plurality of fiber-optic lines are provided for carrying the light signals from transmitting units. Each fiber-optic line corresponds to one of the transmitting units, and at least one receiving unit is provided for selectively receiving the information carried by the fiber-optic lines. The receiving unit includes a liquid crystal panel that has a plurality of light passing areas in which the optical transmission properties of the light passing areas are controlled individually. Connections may be made between the transmission units and the receiving unit by the fiber-optic lines in any arbitrary combination. Each light passing area corresponds to one of the fiber-optic lines. A receiver which is part of the receiving unit generates an electrical signal converted from the light which passes through the liquid crystal panel.

Optical crossbar using guided spatial division multiplexing


A moving body surface or paper web (1) to be investigated is irradiated at at least one irradiation site by 3 laser light sources of a surface structure measuring device (FOS1, FOS2). Reflected and scattered light is detected and evaluated in order to calculate ellipse points. An ellipse major axis ratio corresponding to a fiber orientation ratio, and a fiber orientation angle are calculated from the ellipse parameters thus obtained. Identical measurements and calculations are carried out periodically on an isotropic sample (NO) and a sample (Nx) having a fiber orientation similar to that of the body surface to be measured, in order to calibrate the measurements at the body surface (1).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for determining the structure of a body surface.
2. Discussion of background
The invention according to the independent patent claim 1 refers to a prior art as is disclosed in DE 34 13 558 A1. Specified there is a method for contactless determination of the fiber orientation in paper on running paper webs, in which laser light is irradiated into the paper in radiation pulses and the light intensity in the region adjacent to the irradiation site on the irradiation side or on the transmission side at a plurality of prescribed measuring points distributed over an angle of 180.degree. around the irradiation site is measured by 2 detector pairs at a predetermined distance from the irradiation site, and the electric measured values obtained are compared with one another. The irradiation site has a diameter of <100 .mu.m. Extraneous radiation is suppressed by stops or masks. Elliptical curves or intensity distributions of the detected light are yielded as a function of the average value of the fiber orientation by rotating the detector pairs about the irradiation site. No calibration of the measurement results is provided.
A method for optically determining the surface structure of workpieces is presented in DE 31 27 604 A1. For this purpose, the light reflected from a body surface is detected at an azimuth angle and at a multiplicity of lateral angles by using a rotatably mounted light-deflecting prism and stationary detectors to measure the scattered-light or reflected-light distribution.

Method for determining the structure of a body surface


A method and apparatus is provided for processing a received orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal at a receiver, wherein said signal has been distorted by one or more transmission bursts from a transmitter. The method and apparatus generate a phase compensated OFDM signal based upon a pre-fast fourier transform (pre-FFT) phase progression estimate and information regarding timing of the one or more transmission bursts.

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a multi-carrier transmission technique, where a single data stream is transmitted over a number of lower rate subcarriers (SCs). An OFDM signal includes a plurality of symbols. Each symbol includes a guard interval ("GI"), which is a copy of the latter (or last) segment ("LS") of the OFDM signal. The GI thus serves as a cyclic prefix used by the OFDM receiver to demodulate the signal.
Multimode handheld devices can obtain embedded modules which support cellular services, e.g., speech via GSM/GPRS Groupe Special Mobile (Global System for Mobile communications)/(General Packet Radio Service), and other services, e.g., reception of DVB-T/H (Digital Video Broadcasting—Terrestrial/Handheld) digital television or IP datastreams. A transmission burst from one of these services on a device can disturb the receipt and processing of an OFDM signal for another services on the device.

Apparatus and method for compensating for frequency / phase pulling bursts in received OFDM signals