The present disclosure relates to a secondary battery and a method of manufacturing the secondary battery. The secondary battery includes: a case; an electrode assembly, accommodated in the case and including a main body and a tab connected to the main body; a cap plate, coupled to the case; an electrode terminal, located on an outer side of the cap plate and including a first metal layer and a second metal layer disposed one on top of another; and a current collecting member, connected between the tab and the electrode terminal.

New energy vehicles are widely promoted in China and the world, but there are still many improvements that need to be made to completely replace fuel vehicles with the new energy vehicles. For example, problems, such as small driving distance, high cost of a battery pack, and low reliability of the battery pack still need to be further solved. In view of the above problems, higher requirements have been placed on secondary batteries, core parts of electric vehicles, for example, the secondary batteries are required to have a higher energy density, a lower cost, and the like.
In the prior art, a secondary battery includes a case, an electrode assembly disposed in the case, a cap plate coupled to the case, and an electrode terminal disposed on the cap plate. The cap plate is provided with a mounting hole, and the electrode terminal is mounted in the mounting hole, with a part located on an outer side of the cap plate, and a part located on an inner side of the cap plate. Both of the part of the electrode terminal located on the outer side of the cap plate and the part of the electrode terminal located on the inner side of the cap plate extend beyond the mounting hole in a radial direction of the mounting hole, so as to fix the electrode terminal to the cap plate. In this case, since a part of the electrode terminal is located on the inner side of the cap plate, the electrode terminal occupies some space in the case. As a result, a gap between the electrode assembly and the cap plate is too large to fully utilize the space in the case, thereby causing a low energy density of the entire secondary battery.

Secondary battery and method of manufacturing the secondary battery

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited


A wireless interconnect for an integrated circuit and a method of making the wireless interconnect. The interconnect includes a first antenna and a second antenna arranged over a plurality of electrically conductive interconnects. The interconnect also includes a propagation layer. The first and second antennae are arranged in between the propagation layer and the electrically conductive interconnects.

This invention relates to a wireless interconnect for an integrated circuit, and a method for making a wireless interconnect for an integrated circuit.
Known integrated circuits (ICs) include a wireless interconnect having first and second antennae, between which electromagnetic (typically RF) radiation carrying a signal can be propagated. Typically, an IC having such a wireless interconnect may also include wired interconnects comprising a plurality of electrically conductive signal lines. An example of such an arrangement is shown in FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1, a first antenna 2 and a second antenna 4 are arranged over a plurality of electrically conductive (wired) interconnects indicated generally at 12. The first antenna 2 and a second antenna 4 and the electrically conductive interconnects 12 are provided in a region 6. The region 6 is provided on a substrate 8.
The arrangement shown in FIG. 1 suffers from the problem of interference in the signals passed between the first 2 and second 4 antennae, caused by the presence of the electrically conductive interconnects 12. This interference can lead to signal distortion and a loss of transmission gain.
Propagation of electromagnetic radiation between the first 2 and second 4 antennae in arrangements of the kind shown in FIG. 1 occurs primarily within the substrate 8. As can be seen from FIG. 1, radiation propagating between the first 2 and second 4 antennae via the substrate 8 must traverse the region containing the electrically conductive interconnects 12, whereby the electrically conductive nature of the interconnects 12 can lead to the aforementioned interference.
It may be possible to avoid overlap of the antennae 2, 4 with areas in the IC 10 containing electrically conductive interconnects 12. This could, for example, be achieved by placing the antennae 2, 4 and the wired interconnects in completely separate areas of the IC, or by leaving openings in the network of interconnects 12 (beneath the antennae 2, 4) to allow the free passage of electromagnetic radiation. Neither approach is desirable however, since they would both increase the complexity of the IC design and would create exclusion areas for the electrically conductive interconnects 12 leading to a loss of effective chip area.
A paper by Rashid et al. entitled "Interference suppression of wireless interconnection in Si integrated antenna", Interconnect Technology Conference, 2002, Proceedings of the IEEE 2002 International, pages 173-175, describes 3-D finite element simulations of Si integrated antennae. The simulations described in this paper indicate that a rapid decrease in antenna transmission gain occurs when the number of signal carrying metal lines between the transmitter and the receiver is increased. The authors of this paper suggest placing a high resistivity Si or high permittivity interlayer dielectric material below the antenna, with the signal lines below the interlayer.
Embodiments of this invention can address at least some of the problems indicated above.

Wireless interconnect for an integrated circuit


An attachable cup includes a container and an attachable device for a toothbrush, and the attachable device includes at least one part of the container. An attachable device is for attaching a container to a toothbrush. The attachable device uses a fastening method, a gripping method, a clamping method, a locking method or the like to attach the attachable cup to a toothbrush. Once the attachable device attaches the attachable cup to a toothbrush, the operator can use the attachable cup for oral rinsing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an attachable cup for toothbrush.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to maintain good oral health, it is necessary to properly rinse the mouth after brushing the teeth.
In recent years, in order to rinse the mouth, U.S. Pat. No. 7,905,674 describes a toothbrush with a tunnel which receives a stream of water from a faucet, and the stream of water goes through the tunnel creating a fountain for the mouth. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,072 B1 describes a rinsing attachment for a toothbrush, including a sloped inner recessed surface area to create a fountain when a stream of water contacts therewith.
In order for the above arts to work, users need to adjust the flow of water correctly and position the device at a proper angle constantly to create a fountain, and then maintain a certain body posture so their mouth can contact the fountain of water to rinse.


The present invention provides a pillow to prevent snoring. The pillow includes a base and a mobile seat A shift control assembly shifts the mobile seat between positions and includes a motor, gear set and drive assembly. The shift control assembly also contains a motor output control module for controlling the rotational cycle of output end of the motor. The mobile seat shifts to different positions prior to and after shift based on the set value of the rotational cycle, and this rotational cycle is accurately controlled. The head position or posture happens through different positioning of the mobile seat prior to and after shift, thus helping to stop the snore with improved applicability.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a pillow to prevent snoring in a sleeper, and more particularly to an innovative pillow that senses a snore and automatically swings the head of the sleeper for the purpose of changing the posture of the sleeper and stopping the snore.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
An anti-snore pillow has been developed for addressing a noisy sleeper who snores. The principle of this pillow is that an audio sensor senses the snore sound and automatically drives a moving mechanism to the shift of pillow (e.g. swinging horizontally or vertically), thus achieving movement of the head of the sleeper, changing posture and stopping the snoring.
However, the following shortcomings are observed during actual applications.
When the motor of a typical anti-snore pillow is activated to drive the moving mechanism, the stopping position of the moving mechanism cannot be controlled accurately. The location of the moving mechanism prior to and after shifting may remain unchanged. In such case, the head of user will be returned to the original position, without yielding the desired effect for stopping the snore. Notwithstanding the possible difference of stopping and starting positions of a moving mechanism, the prior art anti-snore pillow makes it difficult to achieve the result of its own intended function.
The frequency of the moving mechanism is fixed when the motor of a typical anti-snore pillow is activated to drive the moving mechanism. Due to the snoring frequency specific to every user, the user may be awakened due to excessive swinging operations of anti-snore pillow. Alternatively, the snore is not stopped due to lack of swinging operations, leading to poor efficacy of the prior art anti-snore pillow.
Thus, to overcome the aforementioned problems of the prior art, it would be an advancement in the art to provide an improved structure that can significantly improve efficacy.
Therefore, the inventor has provided the present invention of practicability after deliberate design and evaluation based on years of experience in the production, development and design of related products.


An optical apparatus may comprise: an electrically reconfigurable optical layer comprising at least one phase-change material, wherein an optical property of the phase-change material is reconfigurable by an electric field; an optically transparent top electrode and a bottom electrode, the top and bottom electrodes configured to apply the electric field to the electrically reconfigurable optical layer, wherein the electrically reconfigurable optical layer is disposed between the optically transparent top electrode and the bottom electrode; and a colossal-K dielectric layer disposed between the electrically reconfigurable optical layer and the bottom electrode. The phase-change material of the electrically reconfigurable optical layer may comprise phase-change nickelate or tungsten oxide. The phase-change material of the electrically reconfigurable optical layer may have a perovskite structure. The phase-change nickelate or tungsten oxide may enable to actuate large refractive index changes of more than 1 in infrared wavelength spectrums at high speeds of phase reconfiguration of more than 1 kHz by applying the electric field to the phase-change material.

Reconfiguration of optical properties of materials enables functional performance benefits in consumer goods, automobiles, and aerospace systems. Dynamic changes to optical material properties including absorption, diffraction, reflection, and scatter have been the subject of intense research. Various stimuli are capable of triggering optical reconfiguration of these properties including heat, light, chemical, and electric field.
Electro-optic materials can be utilized in reconfigurable imaging. Conventional electro-optic materials have challenges in actuating large optical property changes in infrared wavelengths at high reconfiguration speeds. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, there is no conventional technology that can provide refractive index changes of more than 1 and high reconfiguration speeds of more than 1 kHz.
Refractive index tuning by nonlinear electro-optic Kerr and Pockels effects or electro-absorptive effects is small for free-space modulation. For example, FIG. 1 shows that the refractive index change (Δn) of the electro-optic Kerr effect (100) is less than 10−2 and the refractive index change of the electro-optic Pockels effect (110) is in the range of 10−4.
While liquid crystals (120) show a sizable change in the refractive index, such as just below 1, their utility in reconfigurable imaging may be limited due to slow tuning speed (e.g. below 10 milliseconds) and high loss in the infrared wavelength.
Based on the Drude-Lorentz model, charge-injection into semiconductors (130) can modulate the refractive index when a significant free carrier charge, such as more than 1019/cm3, is introduced. However, as shown in FIG. 1, the refractive index change of conventional semiconductors (e.g., Si, III-Vs) is limited to below 10−2.
It is with respect to these and other general considerations that the following embodiments have been described. Also, although relatively specific problems have been discussed, it should be understood that the embodiments should not be limited to solving the specific problems identified in the Background.

Electrically reconfigurable optical apparatus using electric field


The present invention provides an optical device according to this invention comprising a light transmitting optical member of a high molecular material containing mobile ions, and a pair of electrodes formed on surfaces of the optical member, a required potential difference being provided between the electrodes so as to cause ion conduction in the optical member and to reversibly vary a refractive index of the optical member. According to this invention, a refractive index is reversibly varied due to ion conduction, whereby the modulation of a transmitted beam or a reflected beam by the optical device can be reversibly controlled.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an optical device and an apparatus using the optical device, the refractive index of which is varied by application of an external electric field.
2. Related Background Art
As prior art of the method for varying a refractive index by application of an external electric field, there is a method using nonlinear optical effect (see W. Primak et al., J. Electrochem Soc., 124(II), 1816-8(1977)). In other prior art of the method, ions are removed from glass by placing it at high temperatures and under high pressure so as to make refractive indexes of glasses as a property low by causing ion depletion in the glass (see D. E. Carlson et al., J. Amer. Ceram Soc., 57(7), 295-300 (1974) and D. E. Carlson et al., Am. Ceram Soc. Bull., 52(9), 705(1973)), dopants are added to glass substrates by using a method of electrically induced migration (see Chiba et al. a Journal of Electronic Communication Society, 85/7 vol. J68-C No. 7), and optical glasses having gradients of the refractive indexes are fabricated by ion exchange (see A. Feltz et al., DD0235864, WPI Acc No: 86-245898/38)).
But the method using nonlinear optical effect has the problems that high voltages KVs have to be applied to the optical device, which result in high-intensity electric fields occurring in the glass, and further, the high refractive index variations can not be obtained. On the other hand, it is possible to vary the refractive index as one property by the method of doping or depleting ions. But this refractive index variation is irreversible, and the refractive index cannot be reversibly controlled.

Optical device and apparatus using the optical device


A method for oxidizing an organic contaminant in an aqueous medium generates H2O2 in the aqueous medium through the use of a corona discharge procedure. A quantity of hydroxyl radicals is generated from the H2O2. An organic contaminant is oxidized in the aqueous medium by reacting the hydroxyl radicals with the organic contaminant, the oxidation being enhanced by methods for facilitating the generation of hydroxyl radicals.

The present invention relates to oxidation of organic contaminants in aqueous mediums using corona induced reactions. More particularly, the present invention relates to the use of a source or means other than oxygen, such as iron, in a corona reactor to facilitate the production of hydroxyl radicals from hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) generated by corona discharges in the aqueous medium to significantly enhance the oxidation of organic contaminants in the aqueous mediums. In addition, the present invention relates to the use of such sources or means in combination with oxygen in corona discharge procedures to even further oxidize organic contaminants in aqueous mediums.
A normal corona discharge is formed when dc or ac high voltage is applied between a non-uniform electrode geometry in a fluid dielectric. An electric corona has a three-dimensional discharge pattern that displays highly localized positive or negative space charge waves. These waves constitute the active region that propagates due to avalanches of electrons present in the high electric field. The electron avalanches are triggered by a photonization mechanism that provides secondary seed electrons. A region of weakly ionized plasma, known as the xe2x80x9cpassive region,xe2x80x9d remains along the track of the wave. This region provides the path for the current flow from the high voltage electrode. This current flow provides energy for the advancement of the corona.
Pulsed streamer corona technology uses high voltage pulses with very short width, approximately 100-1000 ns. This unique characteristic produces a corona that differs markedly from normal continuous discharge (dc corona), ac discharge, and long-pulse (xcx9c1 ms)* corona discharge. In the past, a pulsed streamer corona discharge has been used for treating gas phase pollutants. See, Clements, I. S. et al.: IEEE Transactions Ind. Appl., IA-(23):224 (1987). In the gas phase, pulsed streamer corona was believed to be much more effective at promoting the reactions leading to desulfurization and dentrification than, for example, electron beam processes. See, Clements, I. S. et al.: IEEE Transactions Ind. Appl., IA-(23):224 (1987). This was believed to be attributed to the more efficient production of hydroxyl radicals using pulsed stream corona. In addition, the work on pulsed streamer corona discharge in aqueous solutions with oxygen gas continuously bubbled through the solution has demonstrated the production of large amounts of ozone. See, Clements, I. S. et al.: IEEE Transactions Ind. Appl., IA-(23):224 (1987).
The use of positive pulsed streamer corona for air pollutant treatment has been demonstrated for a number organic and inorganic toxins. U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,358 to Mizuno et al. discloses a method for converting sulfur dioxide and/or nitrogen oxide gases to acid mist and/or particle aerosols in which the gases are passed through a streamer corona discharge zone having electrodes of a wire-cylinder or wire-plate geometry.
Moreover, the use of positive pulsed streamer corona for air pollutant treatment has been demonstrated for a number of organic and inorganic toxins. See Clements, J. S. et al.: in Conf. Record of the IEEE-Indust. Appl. Soc. Ann. Meeting, pp. 1183-1190 (1986); Mizuno A. et al.: Use of an Electron Beam for Particle Charging in: Conference Record of the IEEE-Indus. Appl. Doc. Ann. Meeting. pp 1215-1219. Chicago, Ill. (October 1984); Masuda et al.: Control of NOX by Positive and Negative Pulsed Corona Diarges. Conference Record of the IEEE Indust. App]. Soc. Ann. Meeting, pp. 1173-1182 Denver, Colo. (1986); Moon, et al.: High Efficiency Ozone Generation Using A Helical Strip-Line Electrode and A Fast Rising Pulse Voltage. Conference Record of the IEEE Indust. Appl. Soc. Ann. Meeting. pp 1205-1210. Denver, Colo. (1986); and Chang, J. S., et al.: IEEE Transactions on Plasma Sci., 19(6):1152 (1991). However, in aqueous phase systems, except for the work of Clements, I. S. et al.: IEEE Transactions Ind. Appl., IA-(23):224 (1987), there has been no systematic investigation of pulsed corona in aqueous systems. Other processes that have been used to treat aromatic compounds include the aqueous-phase radiation treatment of benzene and alkyl-substituted benzenes, Nickelsen, N. G. et al.: Environ. Sci. Technol., (26):144 (1991), and anthraquinone dye, Clements, I. S. et al.: IEEE Transactions Ind. Appl., IA-(23):224 (1987), using electron beams and the use of cobalt gamma radiation to treat solutions containing phenol, Micic, O. I., et al.: Radiation Chemical Destruction of Phenol in Aqueous Solution, Radiation for a Clean Environment, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria, IAEA-SN-1194, 233-239 (1975). Clements, I. S. et al.: IEEE Transactions Ind. Appl., IA-(23):224 (1987), have shown that pulsed corona discharges in aqueous solutions with oxygen bubbling through high voltage needle electrodes produces large amounts of ozone that can, in turn, lead to the decolorization of dyes.
The conventional mechanisms by which organic contaminants are degraded are quite varied. For example, molecular ozone can selectively react with contaminants through cycloaddition, electrophilic reaction, and nucleophilic reaction with unsaturated aromatic and aliphatic species. See Langlais, B. et al.: eds., Ozone in Water Treatment, Applications and Engineering, Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, Mich. (1991). In addition, ozone can lead to the formation of hydroxyl radicals. These radicals are highly reactive with a broad range of organic materials, Haag, W. R. et al.: Environ. Sci. Technol., (26):1005 (1992), and they are generally considered crucial for the breakdown of most organic waste contaminants. Hydroxyl radicals are also formed in photocatalytic reactions of hydrogen peroxide, Zepp, R. G. et al.: Environ. Sci. Technol., (26):313 (1992), nitrates, Zepp, R. G. et al.: Environ. Sci. Tech., (21):443-450 (1987), nitrites, Mopper, K. et al.: Science, (250):662 (1990), and semiconductor surfaces, Korman, C. et al.: Environ. Sci. Technol., (22):798-806 (1988); Matthews, R. W.: J. Phys. Chem., (91):3328-3333 (1987); and Davis, A. P. et al.: Wat. Res., (24):53-550 (1990). Photocatalytic processes have also been investigated for the removal of aqueous waste containing metals, such as silver, gold, mercury, cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel and platinum, alone and in combination with organic waste. The effectiveness of most of the above oxidation methods is attributed to the formation of hydroxyl radicals, however, the major problems with sustaining these reactions are radical scavenging by carbonate and other ions in solution and the low selectivity of the reactions.
Another possible way of removing organic contaminants from wastewater is by corona-induced flocculation. This is similar to an alternative treatment strategy proposed for phenol-containing wastes that utilizes hydrogen peroxide and the enzyme peroxidase to polymerize the phenol into colloidal size particles that can be removed by sedimentation or filtration. See, Klibanov, A. N. et al.: Science, (221):259-261 (1983) and Nakamoto, S. et al.: Wat. Res., (26):49-54 (1992). Indeed, radiation processes are commonly used to initiate free radical polymerization for the production of synthetic polymers, and similar radical mechanisms may occur in aqueous corona systems under properly controlled solution conditions.
Ozone is known to also have a strong effect on coagulation or flocculation of organic matter. However, the mechanisms by which ozone facilitate coagulation are not well understood. Indeed there may be several different mechanisms involved that depend upon the characteristics of the waste. See, Langlais, B. et al.: eds., Ozone in Water Treatment, Applications and Engineering, Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, Mich. (1991).
A number of alternative processes have been considered and studied for the degradation of organic contaminants in aqueous solutions. See, Ollis, D. F. et al.: Environ. Sci. Technol., 25(9):1523 (1991). These include oxidation processes such as UV photolysis, direct ozonation, Langlais, B. et al.: eds., Ozone in Water Treatment, Applications and Engineering, Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, Mich. (1991), photo-catalysis, Davis, A. P. et al.: Wat. Res., (24):53-550 (1990) and Okamoto, K-I. et al.: Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn, (58):2015 (1985), electron beams, Nickelsen, N. G. et al.: Environ. Sci. Technol., (26):144 (1991), and various combinations of these methods. Other processes may include microwave plasma reduction, Barat, R. B. et al.: Environ. Sci. Technol., (23):666 (1989), ultrasonication, Petrier, C. et al.: Environ. Sci. Technol., (26):1639 (1992), and radiation initiated processes such as gamma radiation from cobalt sources, Micic, O. I., et al.: Radiation Chemical Destruction of Phenol in Aqueous Solution, Radiation for a Clean Environment, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria, IAEA-SN-1194, 233-239 (1975) and Hoigne, J.: Radiation for a Clean Environment, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna Austria, 219-232 (1975).
Despite advances in the above techniques there still remains a need to develop more efficient, practical, and robust methods to treat the vast quantities of organic waste released to the environment from a wide variety of processes. It is also crucial to develop a fundamental understanding of the chemical reaction pathways involved in the breakdown of organic species in order to develop means of controlling and facilitating these reactions in order to design and operate systems where these reactions can be carried out.
In brief, the present invention alleviates certain of the aforementioned problems and shortcomings of the present state of the art through the discovery of novel methods for degrading organic molecules or contaminants in aqueous mediums. Generally speaking, the methods of the present invention are based upon the realization that corona-induced reactions when supplemented are very effective at breaking down organic contaminants in aqueous mediums. More particularly, the methods of the instant invention are premised upon the realization that sufficient quantities of hydroxyl radicals can be generated from hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) produced by corona discharge procedures, and preferably pulsed streamer corona discharge procedures, through the use of an effective source or means, other than oxygen, in a corona reactor for oxidizing the organic contaminants in the aqueous mediums to end products, such as CO2, H2O and other possible constituents, like HCl. It should be understood that the type of end products generated from the oxidation in accordance with the methods of the present invention will, of course, be dependent upon the types of organic contaminants present in the aqueous mediums.
In accordance with the present invention, it has been surprisingly discovered that the breakdown of the organic contaminants present in the aqueous mediums can be significantly enhanced through the use of corona discharge procedures in combination with such sources or means, other than oxygen, which are capable of facilitating the generation of hydroxyl radicals from the H2O2 produced in the aqueous mediums by the corona discharge processes. Exemplary of such sources or means includes transition metals, such as iron (ferrous or ferric), manganese, copper, cobalt, unanium, rhenium, and other transition metals, elemental iron, photocatalysts, such as titanium dioxide and silicon dioxide,cadmium sulfide, manganese oxide, magnesium oxide, lead oxide and zinc oxide. It should of course be appreciated that while iron is particularly preferred, any source or means, other than oxygen, which is capable of producing hydroxyl radicals is contemplated by the instant invention.
It has also been found in accordance with the methods of the present invention that when oxygen is continuously added to the aqueous mediums in a corona reactor in combination with such sources or means, ozone is formed in-situ by, for example, the pulsed streamer corona, and the breakdown of the organic molecules or contaminants in the aqueous mediums is even further enhanced.
It should therefore be appreciated that the novel and unique methods of the present invention are effective in breaking down organic contaminants, such as aromatics, like phenol, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, anthracene and phenanthracene, halogenated hydrocarbons, like trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, perchloroethylene and other chlorinated and brominated hydrocarbons, nitrogen-containing compounds, such as nitrobenzene and cyanide, sulfur-containing compounds, such as mercaptans and aliphatic compounds, like hydrocarbons, alcohols and carboxylic acids, in aqueous solutions, such as waste waters.

Methods of oxidizing organic contaminants in aqueous mediums using corona induced reactions


A method comprising: storing, in a database, a list of geographical regions in which the party consents to their data being stored; receiving a request to store data of the party, wherein at least one of the data has a region-restriction that restricts the regions in which that data can be stored; determining, based on a respective region-restriction of a respective one of the data, in which of the list of regions the respective data can be stored; storing the data, wherein each respective data is stored in at least one respective storage centre associated with one of the regions according to the determination; storing, in the database, a list comprising a pointer to each respective stored data, wherein the pointer identifies the respective storage centre; receiving a request to retrieve a respective stored data; and using the pointer to route the request to the respective storage centre.

As the number of users and applications around the world grows, there is an ever increasing need for more efficient management of storage of various data resources. These data resources may include for example: files such as spreadsheets, word processing documents, slide presentations, images, videos, etc.; stored communication histories such as emails, IM chat history, etc.; user profile information such as contact details, social media profiles, etc.; and/or sites such as websites, document sharing sites, etc. Such data resources may originate from a variety of applications installed on the users' terminals and/or hosted online, such as word processing applications, spreadsheet applications, social media applications, file sharing applications, etc.
Online storage has grown in popularity. Using online storage such data resources can be stored online on the "cloud", meaning the data resources are stored on a server system accessible via the Internet, the server system typically comprising multiple server units implemented in more than one storage centre and/or geographic region (i.e. geographical location). Techniques for distributed storage and processing via a network such as the Internet are known in the art.
It is also known for users to make their own data resources available to other users, such as those within the same organization (e.g. company). For instance this may allow one or more other users to view the data resource, subscribe to updates to the data resource, or even modify the data resource.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An optoelectronic transmission and/or reception arrangement with an optical unit having a transmission component and/or a reception component, an electrical circuitry component for the transmission component and/or the reception component, a circuit carrier, on which the components are mounted and contact-connected, and a coupling part for receiving and coupling at least one optical fiber which can be optically coupled to the transmission component and/or the reception component. The electrical contact-connection of the circuit carrier is effected via the coupling part.

DE 199 09 242 A1 discloses an optoelectronic module in which a leadframe with an optoelectronic transducer is positioned in a module housing and potted with a light-transmissive, moldable material. Light is coupled in or out via an optical fiber coupled to a connector of the module housing. The driver module or reception module for the optoelectronic transducer is also situated on the leadframe.
Furthermore, optoelectronic transmission and reception arrangements are known in which the electro-optical or optoelectronic transducers and also the associated circuitry modules (driver module or reception amplifier module) are mounted on a transceiver circuit board. In this case, the individual circuit boards may be arranged closely spaced apart from one another in a rack. An optical fiber is coupled parallel to the transceiver circuit board. For this purpose, the contact legs of the respective transducer module are bent through 90° and mounted on the transceiver circuit board for example using THT technology (through hole technology).
A corresponding arrangement in accordance with the prior art is illustrated in FIG. 5. An optical unit 100 and also associated active and/or passive electrical components 130 are arranged on a circuit board 120. The optical unit 100 is an electro-optical or optoelectrical transducer such as a laser diode, a photodiode or an LED. For the coupling of an optical fiber, provision is made of a plug receptacle 110 arranged in parallel orientation with respect to the circuit board 120, so that an optical waveguide is plugged in parallel to the circuit board 120. The optical unit 100 receives or transmits light likewise in a direction parallel to the circuit board 120, so that it is possible to effect direct coupling to an optical waveguide inserted into the plug receptacle 110.
The small connecting legs (leads) 101 of the optical unit 100 are bent through 90° and mounted on the printed circuit board 120 for example using THT technology. FIG. 5 furthermore illustrates an interface 40 for radio-frequency electrical signals.
In known modifications of the prior art illustrated in FIG. 5, the optical unit 100 is contact-connected to the transceiver circuit board 120 by means of a flexboard, that is to say by means of a flexible structure containing patterned conductor tracks. The flexboard is electrically connected to the optical unit 100, on the one hand, and is electrically connected to the circuit board 120, on the other hand. In a further configuration, the optical unit 100 is soldered in a direction parallel to the circuit board plane directly onto the latter.
There is a need for optoelectronic transmission and/or reception arrangements in which the transmission components of reception components can be arranged in surface-mountable devices (SMD—Surface Mounted Device) and can correspondingly be mounted on a printed circuit board in a simple manner using the standards of SMD technology. The known arrangements are not suitable for this.
When the optoelectronic components are arranged in SMD devices, it must be taken into consideration that the optical axes are typically arranged perpendicular or approximately perpendicular to the device plane. Therefore, when an SMD device is arranged on a transceiver circuit board, there is the problem of either deflecting through 90° the beam path of an optical fiber that is coupled parallel to the circuit board or rotating the device through 90° by means of an auxiliary construction.
Furthermore, in the case of solutions with SMD devices, it must be taken into consideration that the precise joining of the receptacle represents a considerable cost factor. Since a receptacle, depending on its embodiment, also has to completely or partially transfer mechanical forces, it is necessary for the receptacle to be solidly mechanically anchored in the housing or in the main circuit board (motherboard). In this case, it must be ensured that mechanical forces that occur do not influence or even destroy the optical coupling between optical unit and receptacle.

Optoelectronic transmission and/or reception arrangement


A power generator has a hydrogen source, such as a hydrogen producing fuel and a fuel cell having a proton exchange membrane separating the hydrogen producing fuel from ambient. A valve is disposed between the fuel cell and ambient such that water is controllably prevented from entering or leaving the fuel cell by actuation of the valve. In one embodiment, multiple fuel cells are arranged in a circle around the fuel, and the valve is a rotatable ring shaped gate valve having multiple openings corresponding to the fuel cells.

In some fuel cell based power generators, hydrogen is extracted from a fuel in the presence of water and then is introduced into a fuel cell to produce electricity. Power generators based on hydrogen generators and proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells typically offer a narrow range of power outputs over which the power generator operates efficiently. Changing the power output of a power generator usually requires a redesign of the power generator, which is undesirable.

Power generator having multiple layers of fuel cells


The purpose of the invention to provide a method for determining a lifting angle of a charge inside a grinding mill at a specific point in time and a method for positioning a grinding mill which is more accurate. Method for determining a lifting angle of a charge inside a mill body of a grinding mill being rotatable through a drive train, the method comprises the following steps of rotating the mill body; determining a reference lifting angle and a corresponding reference driving torque of the drive train at a reference point in time; calculating a fill factor for the reference point in time based on the reference lifting angle and the reference driving torque; determining a driving torque of the drive train; and calculating the lifting angle based on the driving torque and the fill factor.

Grinding mills, in particular ball mills, rod mills, autogenous mills, semi-autogenous mills, regrind mills, and pebble mills, are commonly used in grinding cement or ore into fine particles. The mills typically have a cylindrical mill body which contains the material to be ground. In addition to the material, a charge of a mill may contain a grinding medium like for example metallic or ceramic balls, pebbles or rods, a transport medium like water, or both.
The mills are driven indirectly with a high-speed electric motor and a gear box to reduce the speed, in particular ring-gear mill drives with one or two pinions, or they are driven directly with a low-speed motor, also known as a gearless mill drive, which is typically a ring motor with a rotor directly mounted to the mill body. The diameter of the mill body is typically between 5 to 15 meters. Ring-geared grinding mills typically have a driving power of 1 to 15 Megawatts. Gearless grinding mills typically have a driving power of 3.5 to 36 Megawatts. A ring-geared mill drive is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,931,583 A. A gearless mill drive is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,272,444 A.
As shown in FIG. 1, when a mill body 1 rotates in continuous operation (rotation indicated by an arrow), a charge 2 inside the mill body 1 is continuously elevated on a side of the mill body 1 to a point where the charge 2 continuously cascades to another side of the mill body 2. As a result, a surface of the charge 2 approximated by a plane 8 and the horizontal direction 9 define a lifting angle α.
At the startup of a mill after standstill, the charge is elevated but does not move due to friction. At a certain lifting angle αc, the gravity force is higher than the friction resulting in the material to cascade. The behavior of the charge after the cascading heavily depends on various factors such as the duration of the standstill, the ball charge or the type of material to be ground. The charge might either slide down significantly after cascading, which results in a lower lifting angle (α<αc) or the lifting angle might remain rather stable (α≈αc).
It is difficult to accurately position grinding mills when a charge is inside the mill body. The accurate positioning is particularly important during the maintenance of the mill like for example the wear liner replacement. When the mill rotates, the center of gravity of the charge is vertically not aligned with the center of the mill body due to the lifting angle resulting from the rotation. Therefore, the charge is in an unbalanced position. This results in a counter rotation of the mill body when stopping to apply a torque to the mill body by the drive. The counter rotation is in the opposite direction then the rotation caused by the torque of the drive. Typically the mill body oscillates back and forth for several minutes due to the high inertia of the mill body until the center of gravity of the charge is vertically aligned with the center of the mill body in a standstill of the mill body. This phenomena is also known as roll back, rocking, or shaking.
As descripted by the Brochure, Siemens, November 2006, Mining, "The operation modes of a grinding mill with gearless drive", page 6, paragraph "Inching", it is known to position a mill at a given angle βq by stopping the mill to a standstill, then starting to rotate the mill, and measuring the cascading angle αc. The mill continuous to rotate until it reaches the sum of the given angle and the cascading angle. Then, the drive will turn back the mill using torque control until the torque will be zero. This results in that the charge will be in a balance position causing no roll back or oscillations. However, the accuracy depends on the assumption that the actual lifting angle at the time of the turn back is equal to the cascading angle. As discussed above, this assumption is at best a good approximation resulting in a slightly inaccurate positioning even in the favorable case that the lifting angle remain rather stable after cascading (α≈αc).

Method for determining a lifting angle and method for positioning a grinding mill


A reagent and method for the specific and highly sensitive detection of C. parvum in which the reagent is an antibody for a soluble C. parvum sporozoite antigen and the method is an immunoassay in which the antibody is used to detect or quantify C. parvum sporozoite antigen in a sample. The sample is treated to cause excystation of C. parvum oocytes, thereby releasing a C. parvum sporozoite antigen, and combined with antibodies specific for the sporozoite antigen under conditions to form an antibody-antigen complex. Detection of the complex indicates the presence of C. parvum in the sample. The assay allows recognition and detection of C. parvum in turbid samples, and due to a lack of crossreactivity with other Cryptosporidium species, is specific for C. parvum contamination or infection. The assay is highly sensitive, allowing for the detection of less than 100 oocysts per milliliter of sample.

Cryptosporidium parvum (C. parvum) is a food or waterborne parasite that infects humans and animals causing severe intestinal distress. Infection caused by C. parvum is particularly dangerous because it can cause prolonged diarrheal illness that may be potentially fatal for immunocompromised individuals. Since the 1970s, C. parvum has been receiving increased world wide attention as the frequency of outbreaks and the number of individuals infected increase across the globe. For example, in an outbreak reported in Milwaukee, Wis. in 1993, approximately 400,000 people were infected with C. parvum and 50 premature deaths were attributed to the infection. Outbreaks have also been reported in Las Vegas, Nev.; London, England; and Australia. Therefore, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has begun the process of mandating that waters in the United States be tested for Cryptosporidium.
C. parvum oocysts are easily moved between watersheds by birds, and mammals, both domestic and wild. The remarkable resistance of oocysts to disinfectants, oocysts long-term environmental survival, and low infectious dose shows that conservative guidelines in detection and quality control of drinking water should be followed.
Although, cryptosporidiosis occurs worldwide, children, travelers to foreign countries, immunocompromised individuals and medical personnel caring for patients with the disease, are at particular risk. Apart from humans, Cryptosporidium infections are widespread in several other vertebrates including mammals, reptiles and fish. Cryptosporidium parvum in non-human mammals, but not reptiles or fish, is infectious to humans. Accordingly, the frequency of cryptosporidiosis in animal handlers and veterinarian personnel is reported to be relatively high.
Considerable efforts have been made to develop and improve Cryptosporidium detection methodologies through the application of a wide range of techniques such as flow cytometry, laser scanning, immunomagnetic separation, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). However, the ability of existing detection methods to detect C. parvum in environmental samples has been limited due to factors such as interference caused by high sample turbidity and the inability to differentiate between viable and non-viable oocysts. Because the minimum infective dose is low (between 30-100 viable oocysts), the volume of sample to be analyzed is small, and the Cryptosporidium organism exists in several forms during its life cycle, detection methods must be highly sensitive or must utilize extensive sample concentration steps in order to be reliable.
The C. parvum life cycle is as follows: Oocysts enter the gastrointestinal system of the host, generally by the ingestion of contaminated food or water, and invade the intestinal and, very rarely, urogenital systems where the oocysts mature and release sporozoites. The sporozoites reproduce asexually to produce additional oocysts. These infective oocysts pass into the feces and are excreted. Following ingestion of the oocysts by another vertebrate, the oocysts release sporozoites that attach themselves to the epithelial surface of the gastrointestinal system and initiate a new cycle of infection by intercellular invasion.
As C. parvum organisms invade the surface of intestinal cells, the host experiences symptoms such as reduced appetite, severe diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and chronic fluid loss. The symptoms generally persist for five to eleven days, and then rapidly abate. However, in immunocompromised individuals, such as malnourished children, individuals with congenital hypogammaglobulinemia, those receiving immunosuppressants for cancer therapy or organ transplantation, and patients with AIDS, onset of the disease is more gradual and diarrhea is more severe, causing extreme fluid losses. Unless the underlying immunologic defect is corrected, the diarrhea may continue persistently or remittently for life because there is no effective, specific anti-C. parvum therapy available at present. Although some patients have responded positively to therapy with conventional antibiotics such as spiramycin and paromomycin, the result of infection is frequently fatal for immunocompromised individuals. In fact, cryptosporidiosis has been reported as one of the predominant causes of death in immunocompromised patients.
In light of the potentially fatal consequences of C. parvum infection, sensitive methods for detecting C. parvum contamination are necessary. In humans, the typical source of C. parvum is contaminated water, therefore the detection of Cryptosporidium in drinking and recreational water sources is a primary goal.
Currently available detection systems indicate that C. parvum organisms are observed in "spikes"; meaning that levels of C. parvum in samples collected upstream and downstream, from the same source of contamination, may not be identical when simultaneous readings are made. Consequently, C. parvum levels recorded from one location may differ significantly from readings taken from the same location minutes later. Detection of C. parvum in water is further complicated because the initial source of the infectious agent is difficult to identify. An abnormally high C. parvum concentration may be caused by water run-off from contaminated farm or pasture land, or an infected infant's soiled diaper carelessly discarded into a stream or worn in a public pool.
Ideally, continuous filtration systems having the capability to capture and retain C. parvum organisms for subsequent analysis would be installed in all water supply reservoirs to allow for continuous monitoring. Unfortunately, filtration systems currently in use often have filtration cartridges that either fail to retain organisms, frequently become clogged with mud or sediment, or must be replaced or cleaned with a frequency that renders the cartridges impractical.
C. parvum detection assays presently in use are cumbersome and frequently inaccurate. For example, most assay test samples begin as crude mixtures of C. parvum oocysts separated out from mud deposits collected by filters. The oocysts are isolated by processes involving centrifugation and ultrafiltration. Separating oocysts in this manner is often tedious and inefficient since each time the test sample is spun and filtered, oocysts are lost in the process, inevitably resulting in a lack of sensitivity and related inaccuracies. Another significant disadvantage of such assays is the large amount of time required for processing test samples. For example, in order to improve the optical properties of test samples for detection, oocysts must be stained. Typically, staining and subsequent detection procedures can take up to four days. Furthermore, samples can be tested only in small increments, and the sensitivity of most currently available assays is very low. Generally at least 50,000 C. parvum oocysts per milliliter must be present for a positive detection result. However, the minimum infective dose is low, between 30 and 100 oocysts. Therefore, C. parvum assays currently in use are generally inefficient, inaccurate and inconsistent.
Another barrier to effective Cryptosporidium screening concerns sample turbidity. The term "turbidity" refers specifically to the clarity or transparency of water and the effect that any suspended particles in the water may have on this clarity. Turbidity is determined by quantifying the amount of light allowed to pass through a sample and is measured in NTUs (nephelometric turbidity units). Many source water sites of public water reservoirs (e.g., rivers and lakes) often have turbidities up to 100 NTUs, whereas finished water (e.g., reservoirs for public consumption) tend to have turbidities in the range of 0 to 5 NTUs. High turbidities are defined herein as having greater than 10 NTUs.
Because it is commonly suspected that Cryptosporidium contamination occurs at source water sites, efforts have been focused on assaying samples at reservoir intakes. Several liters of source water are pumped through filters that are rated to capture particles the size of oocysts or larger. Pumping source water in this way causes large amounts of sediment to obstruct the flow of water through filters and therefore limit the volume of water passing through the filters. The filter retentates are then eluted and assayed for the presence of microorganisms. These retentates can have turbidities up to 300,000 NTU and yield highly variable C. parvum oocyst counts by immunofluorescence assay due to the loss of oocysts that occurs in multi-step sample processing. Concentrations of the retentates can increase turbidities further.
Oocysts present in filter eluate often tend to be washed away during processing and therefore go undetected in the final step of detection assays. Consequently, currently available methods such as immunofluorescence assays (IFA) and enzyme immunoassays (EIA), are mainly useful for detecting oocysts in "clean" samples (i.e., samples that have low turbidity). Such assays are more likely to give reproducible results with clean samples than those that are considered "dirty" (i.e., samples that have high turbidity).
Currently available Cryptosporidium detection methods for public health surveillance of oocyst exposure are incapable of distinguishing C. parvum from other Cryptosporidium species. In addition, current detection methods count the total number of oocysts in the sample, without regard for viability; therefore, both viable and non-viable oocysts are counted. Oocyst viability, measured by the ability of an oocyst to excyst, is valuable because over time, oocysts lose the ability to excyst and thus become noninfective. Therefore, any attempted correlation between the number of oocysts in drinking water and the incidence and risk for disease in healthy and immunocompromised persons is unreliable.
Clinical diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis is made by recovering acid-fast oocysts from stool samples. Excretion of acid-fast oocysts is most intense during the first four days of illness but persists for the duration of diarrhea. Other assays currently in use for diagnostic purposes involve the use of formalin-ethyl acetate sedimentation or Sheather's sugar flotation stool concentration procedure to enhance the yield of oocysts in specimens containing few oocysts. Commercial fluorescein-labeled monoclonal antibody kits also provide detection of oocysts in clinical specimens. (Merck Manual, Chapter 15 pp. 237-238 16th ed. (1992)). The disadvantage of such clinical tests is that, depending on the stage of C. parvum infection, the assays may or may not be adequately sensitive for detecting oocysts. In addition, such clinical tests generally involve a multitude of steps thereby introducing a greater likelihood of inaccuracies. Furthermore, no "standard" for testing stool specimens for C. parvum has been established, and so the absolute sensitivity of currently used methods has not been assessed. (Christine L. Roberts et al., JOURN. OF CLIN. MICRO., Vol. 34 No. 9, pp. 2292-2293 (1996)). Other problems associated with C. parvum testing include extensive processing time and low test positivity rates.
In summary, existing assays for C. parvum parasites are irreproducible, non-specific, insensitive, labor-intensive, susceptible to interference by sample turbidity, and time consuming. In addition, existing assays are not quantitative, lack the ability to distinguish different species of Cryptosporidium or distinguish infectious from non-infectious organisms, and are unable to correlate parasite levels in drinking water with incidence and severity of disease. Useful assays that enable correlation of disease-parasite levels are required for the development of environmental guidelines for safeguarding water sources against C. parvum and other parasitic infestation.
What is needed, therefore, is a sensitive, quantitative and reproducible assay for C. parvum.

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention


A distance measuring system which may be used on a golf course in order for a golfer to accurately measure the distance between the present lie of his golf ball and the hole toward which he is currently advancing the golf ball. A master transceiver station is portably carried by the golfer to be disposed proximate the lie of his ball for measurement purposes, and a remote transceiver system is located in or on each hole's flag marker pole. The present system uses, as the basic measurement frequency, only the frequency of the remote carrier itself. Two separate and distinct phase measurements are made in rapid succession. The first measurement is made with the master RF carrier displaced above the remote carrier frequency by amount equal to the IF frequency, and the second measurement is made with the master carrier frequency displaced below the remote carrier frequency by the same amount. With these two phase measurements, range or distance can be measured unambiguously and accurately over a required distance of at least 300 yards for golf purposes. The phase information from the remote location is communicated to the master location by phase-locking the carriers together. This avoids the necessity of using modulated subcarriers to transmit this information. This, in turn, reduces the occupied bandwidth, simplifies the modulation-demodulation required, and reduces errors normally introduced by the subcarrier filtering processes of the prior art.

1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates generally to a distance measuring system, and more particularly, to a distance measuring system for use on a golf course for enabling a golfer to accurately determine the distance between the current lie of his golf ball and the hole toward which he is presently advancing his golf ball.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
The prior art discloses various, relatively complex and expensive systems and methods for measuring distance. One such system is the Tellurometer system described briefly herein with respect to FIG. 4.
The Tellurometer system uses microwaves at about 3, 10, or 35 GHz as the carrier frequency. The measuring set consists of two active units with a transmitter and a receiver, one being called the master and the other being called the remote unit. The carrier frequencies of the two units differ slightly, making it possible to utilize intermediate frequency (IF) amplification. The microwave carriers are frequency modulated by measurement or pattern signals that are slightly different at the master and remote units, to create beat frequencies in those units. Also, several other nearby pattern frequencies build up the total unambiguous distance. The range of the modulation frequency varies according to the model between five and twenty-five MHz. Because the carriers are microwaves, the beamwidths are relatively narrow, usually between two degrees and twenty degrees. Measuring can be carried on either at night or daytime, through haze or light rain, although heavy rainfall may reduce the working range.
The bare outlines of the measurement principal are as follows: a frequency-modulated carrier wave from the master station is sent to the remote station, where it is received and retransmitted to the master station. There, the phase difference between the transmitted and the received modulation or pattern wave is compared. The distance can be determined by knowing the average velocity of the radio waves along the wave path and also the master modulation wavelength. The development of the Tellurometer system of measurements was initiated by W. Wadley in 1957 at The National Institute of Telecommunications Research of South Africa and is now the basis of all microwave distance measuring instruments.
None of the systems of the prior art relate in any way to measuring the distance between the lie of a golfer's ball and the hole toward which the golfer is presently advancing his golf ball.
All known distance measurement systems of the prior art are relatively complex, expensive, difficult to install and maintain, subject to many types of measurement errors, often occupy excessive bandwidths, are susceptible to noise interference, produce errors in the subcarrier filtering process, and/or require complex modulation/demodulation operations which can result in even more errors.
The present invention avoids all of these problems, while fulfilling a long-felt, and previously unfilled, need for a relatively simple, low-cost, easy-to-install and maintain system which uses a portable master transceiver station and at least one remote transceiver station.
The present system is far simpler than the Tellurometer system in at least two very significant ways. In the first place, the basic measurement frequency is the remote RF carrier frequency itself, for example, 318 MHz. Two separate and distinct phase measurements are made in rapid succession. One measurement is made with the master RF carrier displaced above the remote carrier frequency by an amount equal to the IF frequency, or approximately 248 KHz. The second measurement is made with the master carrier frequency displaced below the remote carrier frequency by the same amount. With these two phase measurements, range can be determined unambiguously over the required distance of at least three hundred yards, at least for golfing purposes.
Secondly, the phase information from the remote location is communicated to the master location by phase-locking the carriers together. This avoids the necessity of using modulated subcarriers to transmit this information. This, in turn, reduces the occupied bandwidth, greatly simplifies the modulation-demodulation required, and very substantially reduces errors otherwise introduced by the subcarrier filtering processes.


A pneumatic tire reduces the columnar resonance noise of the tire while controlling the lowering of wet performances, wherein four circumferential grooves continuously extending in the circumferential direction of the tire are disposed in a treading face and a plurality of lateral grooves each having one end opened to the circumferential groove and terminated in a land portion are formed with respect to two circumferential grooves among the four circumferential grooves, and these lateral grooves and the respective circumferential grooves have such a groove width that both groove walls of the groove do not contact with each other in a ground contact face and one or more lateral groove are always completely included in the ground contact face, and an extending length of a portion of each lateral groove in the ground contact face having a groove width of the lateral groove corresponding to not less than 30% of a groove width of the circumferential groove is made not less than 40% of an extending length of the circumferential groove in the ground contact face.

As the ratio of tire noise occupied in automobile noise becomes relatively large accompanied with a further improvement of the silence in recent vehicles, the reduction of such a tire noise is a significant matter. In especial, the tire noise at about 1000 Hz easily hearing with the human ears becomes a main factor of the off-vehicle noise and the prompt counter-measures with respect to this noise are also demanded from a viewpoint of the environmental problems.
In general, it is known that the tire noise at approximately 800-1400 Hz is generated by a columnar resonance resulted from the occurrence of the resonance in an air column defined between a circumferential groove of the tire and a road surface in the ground contact face of the tire. In order to control such a columnar resonance, it is known that the reduction of the groove volume in the circumferential groove is effective.
However, the reduction of the groove volume in the circumferential groove is obliged to lower the drainage property of the tire and hence the wet performance thereof. For the purpose of reducing the tire noise without lowering the wet performance, for example, JP-A-6-143932 proposes a pneumatic tire wherein one wide-width circumferential groove having a groove width of 25-70 mm is formed in a central region of the tread and lateral grooves each opening to a ground contact end of the tread but not opening to the wide-width circumferential groove and having a groove width corresponding to 5-15% of the wide-width circumferential groove are formed at both side portions of the wide-width circumferential groove.
In this proposed tire, however, the large decrease of the ground contact face of the tread necessarily arises because of the existence of the wide-width circumferential groove and also the large stepwise difference of the ground contact pressure in the widthwise direction of the tread can not be avoided so that this tire has a problem that it becomes particularly difficult to simultaneously establish the steering stability and the limit gripping property on a dry road surface.
The invention is to solve such a problem of the conventional technique and to provide a pneumatic tire largely reducing a columnar resonance of the tire while attaining the sufficient establishment of the steering stability and limit gripping property on the dray road surface but also effectively controlling the lowering of the wet performance as well as a method of designing a tread pattern of the tire.

Pneumatic tire with tread having lateral grooves


An image sensor for detecting time-dependent image data, comprising multiple photovoltaic converters and multiple electronic converters arranged in arrays and linked by switching elements. Each of the photovoltaic converters and one of the electronic converters form a pair that generates digital information dependent on light intensity on the photovoltaic converter. The switching elements are arranged to selectively connect at least two of the photovoltaic converters to one of the electronic converters and at least two of the electronic converters to one of the photovoltaic converters.

A modern image sensor generally consists of an array of photovoltaic converters, connected to electronic converters. While the photovoltaic converters convert incident light into corresponding analog electric signals, the electronic converters convert these analog signals further into digital signals with the help of an analog to digital converters, in the following also called an encoders.
One type of image sensor, which encodes the temporal visual contrast of the scene captured by its photosensors, is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,728,269 B2. By encoding the temporal contrast, temporal redundancy of the output data of the image sensor is almost eliminated, thereby producing activity-driven sparse data in the format of ON/OFF events. This means that each event consists of the sign ON/OFF and the pixel coordinates. However, the device proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,728,269 B2 is not able to capture any temporally static scene information.
To address the issue of capturing temporally static scene information, one may turn to U.S. Pat. No. 9,631,974 or Asynchronous Time-Based Image Sensor (ATIS) (Posch et al. 2010), which describe the static scene information being captured by a secondary dedicated intensity measuring circuit, which produces a second stream of output that encodes the static scene linearly. This two-stream approach adds complexity to the sensor, and results in two outputs that have little similarity to each other: one output encodes the temporal differences in the logarithmic value of incident light intensity, and hence the temporal visual contrast, while the other output encodes the absolute incident light intensity linearly.
There is known art describing a static scene being encoded logarithmically. E.g. according to "A Logarithmic Response CMOS Image Sensor with On-Chip Calibration" (Kavidias et al. 2000), the photocurrent generated by each photodiode is converted logarithmically into a voltage by exploiting the sub-threshold transistor physics. The logarithmic voltage is then measured. But the logarithmic conversion accuracy suffers from transistor mismatch, even after calibration. According to U.S. Pat. No. 8,363,140, the logarithmic conversion is achieved by combining a logarithmic digital counter with in-pixel single slope analog-to-digital converters. However, in this design, the pixel is too complex to be integrated into a temporal contrast pixel.
The concept of encoding a static scene by local spatial contrast has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,828,540, where an image sensor system is described, which uses a mechanically vibrating optical device to convert the spatial contrast of the scene into temporal variance of the incident light to the pixels, and encodes such temporal variance using a pulse density modulation based scheme. However, the mechanically vibrating optics requires additional mechanical parts not widely used in today's state-of-the-art image sensor systems. The mechanical vibrating optics needs additional components to provide precise positioning and timing control. The mechanical vibration also results in each pixel having a circular scanning pattern, which does not match the orthogonal pixel arrangement, hence making post processing the image less accurate.
Sensing the local spatial contrast can also be achieved by sensors described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,170,043 and in "A 100,000 fps Vision Sensor with Embedded 535 GOPS/W 256×256 SIMD Processor Array" (Carey et al. 2013). But both these two pixel designs require relatively complex in-pixel circuitry to compute the local spatial contrast, and therefore are not suitable to be integrated into a temporal contrast pixel.
Finally, US 2016/0093273 A1 describes an image sensor, wherein a cluster of N×N photoreceptors, each comprising a photodiode and a transducer, share a cluster-specific differentiator, which is an analog to digital encoding circuit. The objective of US 2016/0093273 A1 is to increase photodiode density on the chip without increasing the encoder circuit area through time-multiplexing the connection between different photoreceptors and encoders. The sensor described in US 2016/0093273 does not encode a static scene.

Image sensor and sensor device for imaging temporal and spatial contrast


In an oxide superconducting film wiring, when the line width is reduced, the evaporation of a component during firing becomes so vigorous that it becomes impossible to form a desired single crystal phase, which causes a significant lowering in the properties of the oxide superconducting wiring. This problem can be solved by preventing the evaporation of the evaporable component during the firing. Examples of this include a process wherein plate is placed above the superconductor forming material film wiring pattern on the substrate so as to face each other, the plate comprising a material having no chemical influence on the superconducting wiring, and a pattern of a material containing an evaporable component is arbitrarily formed, a process wherein a pattern having a smaller line width is sandwiched between patterns having a larger line width, and a process wherein the firing atmosphere or the concentration of the evaporable component in the pattern is varied depending upon the line width.

The present invention relates to a superconducting film, and more particularly, to a process for producing a film of a bismuth based perovskite superconducting material containing lead.
A superconducting film wiring currently practicable in the art is a Bi-base superconducting film wiring.
Examples of the Bi-base superconducting film wiring realizable in the art include that comprising a 10 K phase having a superconducting transition temperature, i.e., a critical temperature, Tc, of 10 K at which a normal conducting phase is transferred to a superconducting phase, that comprising a 80 K phase having a critical temperature, Tc, of 80 K, and that comprising a 110 K phase having a critical temperature, Tc, of 110 K, but it is known in the art that it is very difficult to prepare a Bi-based superconducting film wiring of a 110 K phase.
In the superconductor field, however, since a high superconducting transition temperature greatly benefits the cooling, such as a reduction of size of the whole equipment through a simplification of a cooling device, a Bi-based superconducting wiring of a 110 K phase is required.

Process for producing Bi- and Pb-containing oxide superconducting wiring films


An apparatus that reduces a volume of a selected site in an interior of the tongue includes a handpiece and an electrode at least partially positioned in the interior of the handpiece. The electrode includes an electrode electromagnetic energy delivery surface and is advance able from the interior of the handpiece into the interior of the tongue. An electrode advancement member is coupled to the electrode and configured to advance the electrode an advancement distance in the interior of the tongue. The advancement distance is sufficient for the electrode electromagnetic energy delivery surface to deliver electromagnetic energy to the selected tissue site and reduce a volume of the selected site without damaging a hypoglossal nerve. A cable is coupled to the electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for the treatment of air way obstructions, and more particularly to an apparatus for reducing a volume of a selected site of an interior of the tongue, and more particularly to an apparatus for ablating a selected site of an interior of the tongue without damaging a hypoglossal nerve.
2. Description of Related Art
Sleep-apnea syndrome is a medical condition characterized by daytime hypersomnomulence, morning arm aches, intellectual deterioration, cardiac arrhythmias, snoring and thrashing during sleep. It is caused by frequent episodes of apnea during the patient's sleep. The syndrome is classically subdivided into two types. One type, termed "central sleep apnea syndrome", is characterized by repeated loss of respiratory effort. The second type, termed obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, is characterized by repeated apneic episodes during sleep resulting from obstruction of the patient's upper airway or that portion of the patient's respiratory tract which is cephalad to, and does not include, the larynx.
Treatment thus far includes various medical, surgical and physical measures. Medical measures include the use of medications such as protriptyline, medroxyprogesterone, acetazolamide, theophylline, nicotine and other medications in addition to avoidance of central nervous system depressants such as sedatives or alcohol. The medical measures above are sometimes helpful but are rarely completely effective. Further, the medications frequently have undesirable side effects.
Surgical interventions have included uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, tonsillectomy, surgery to correct severe retrognathia and tracheostomy. In one procedure the jaw is dislodged and pulled forward, in order to gain access to the base of the tongue. These procedures may be effective but the risk of surgery in these patients can be prohibitive and the procedures are often unacceptable to the patients.
Physical measures have included weight loss, nasopharyngeal airways, nasal CPAP and various tongue retaining devices used nocturnally. These measures may be partially effective but are cumbersome, uncomfortable and patients often will not continue to use these for prolonged periods of time. Weight loss may be effective but is rarely achieved by these patients.
In patients with central sleep apnea syndrome, phrenic nerve or diaphragmatic pacing has been used. Phrenic nerve or diaphragmatic pacing includes the use of electrical stimulation to regulate and control the patient's diaphragm which is innervated bilaterally by the phrenic nerves to assist or support ventilation. This pacing is disclosed in Direct Diaphragm Stimulation by J. Mugica et al. PACE vol. 10 Jan-Feb. 1987, Part II, Preliminary Test of a Muscular Diaphragm Pacing System on Human Patients by J. Mugica et al. from Neurostimulation: An Overview 1985 pp. 263-279 and Electrical Activation of Respiration by Nochomovitez IEEE Eng. in Medicine and Biology; June, 1993.
However, it was found that many of these patients also have some degree of obstructive sleep apnea which worsens when the inspiratory force is augmented by the pacer. The ventilation induced by the activation of the diaphragm also collapses the upper airway upon inspiration and draws the patient's tongue inferiorly down the throat choking the patient. These patients then require tracheostomies for adequate treatment.
A physiological laryngeal pacemaker as described in Physiological Laryngeal Pacemaker by F. Kaneko et al. from Trans Am Soc Artif Intern Organs 1985 senses volume displaced by the lungs and stimulates the appropriate nerve to open the patient's glottis to treat dyspnea. This apparatus is not effective for treatment of sleep apnea. The apparatus produces a signal proportional in the displaced air volume of the lungs and thereby the signal produced is too late to be used as an indicator for the treatment of sleep apnea. There is often no displaced air volume in sleep apnea due to obstruction.
One measure that is effective in obstructive sleep apnea is tracheostomy. However, this surgical intervention carries considerable morbidity and is aesthetically unacceptable to many patients. Other surgical procedures include pulling the tongue as forward as possible and surgically cutting and removing sections of the tongue and other structures which can close off the upper airway passage.
A need exists for an apparatus to treat obstructive sleep apnea without major surgical intervention. A further need exists for an apparatus to reduce a volume of a selected site in an interior of the tongue. Still a further need exists for an apparatus to reduce a volume of a selected site in an interior of the tongue without damaging the hypoglossal nerve.

Apparatus for treatment of air way obstructions


This disclosure covers methods, non-transitory computer readable media, and systems that generate route tiles reflecting both GPS locations and map-matched locations for regions along a route traveled by a client device associated with a transportation vehicle. For example, in some implementations, the disclosed systems use an artificial neural network to analyze the route tiles and determine route-accuracy metrics indicating GPS locations or map-matched locations for particular regions along the route. The disclosed systems can then use the route-accuracy metrics to facilitate transport of requestors by, for example, determining a distance of the route or a location of a client device associated with a transportation vehicle.

Transportation routing systems increasingly use tracking technologies to determine the location and routes traveled by vehicles and computing devices carried by such vehicles. For instance, conventional transportation routing systems use computing devices that employ Global Positioning System ("GPS") to determine traffic patterns, driver habits, or digital maps of a road network. Tracking devices that use GPS can often improve or provide the data for determining vehicles' locations, routes, and patterns.
Despite improving route detection, conventional GPS-based routing systems sometimes generate or receive inaccurate GPS data. For instance, conventional GPS-based routing systems often generate or receive noisy GPS data indicating incorrect locations of a computing device along a route. Such GPS data may indicate locations within a route that would require a vehicle to accelerate or travel at magnitudes that the vehicle could not exhibit based on standard driving patterns or the laws of physics. For example, noisy GPS data sometimes indicates a vehicle rapidly changing from one latitudinal or longitudinal location to another such location, such as at an intersection with a traffic light. Several factors may cause noisy GPS data, such as a faulty GPS device, the landscape of the area in which a computing device is located, or the speed at which the computing device travels. Accordingly, conventional GPS-based routing systems sometimes inaccurately determine a vehicle's location or route based on noisy GPS data.
To correct for the inaccuracies of GPS data, some conventional map-match routing systems adjust GPS data to predict a vehicle's location within roads of a digital map. For instance, some conventional map-match routing systems use GPS data from a computing device to estimate locations along roads of a digital map. But conventional map-match routing systems require up-to-date maps, among other things, to accurately determine a vehicle's location and routes traveled. Developing such digital maps often requires collecting satellite imagery, managing a mapping fleet of vehicles, and purchasing large amounts of traffic data.
Notwithstanding the expense and difficulty of creating digital maps, conventional map-match routing systems often inaccurately determine the location and routes of vehicles. For example, conventional map-match routing systems sometimes determine a vehicle is located on a non-existent (or incorrect) road based on (i) algorithms that inaccurately match GPS data to roads or (ii) faulty digital maps. After construction of a new road, for example, conventional map-match routing systems may take months (or more) to identify the new road and update the map using a minimum number of observed-data points and an offline process for adjusting the map.
Both conventional GPS-based routing systems and conventional map-match routing systems pose significant technical limitations for on-demand service matching systems that provide transportation vehicles to requestors. On-demand service matching systems often need to accurately determine a location and route of a vehicle in real time (or near real time) to match transportation vehicles with requestors and to accurately determine prices for transport. The inaccuracy and slow adjustment mechanisms of conventional GPS-based routing systems and conventional map-match routing systems inhibit such on-demand service matching systems from determining locations, distances, and/or routes for transport.

Utilizing artificial neural networks to evaluate routes based on generated route tiles


An exercise bed is composed of a front bed frame, a rear bed frame fastened pivotally with the front bed frame, a movable frame fastened with the rear bed frame and provided with a plurality of soft rollers arranged at various levels, a transmission motor mounted under the rear bed frame and connected with the movable frame, and an elastic cord fastened under the front bed frame and the rear bed frame. As the transmission motor is started, a pivoting portion of the front bed frame and the rear bed frame is actuated to bulge to urge the backbone and the back muscles of a person lying on the exercise bed.

The conventional exercise machines can not be used as a bed for sleeping or resting on. The conventional beds can not be used as an exercise device for relaxing or training the muscles of a person. It is therefore practical and economical to have an exercise bed which can be used as an exercise device as well as a bed for a person to sleep or rest on.


A flexible planar magnetic sheet for therapeutic use has a regular repeating pattern of curved first and second areas of alternating magnetic polarity arranged so that a line traverses a plurality of said curved areas in a majority of possible orientations of the line along the surface plane of the sheet with respect to the pattern. In one embodiment, the pattern comprises an array of polka dot regions of one polarity uniformly sized and spaced on a background of opposite polarity. Alternatively, the pattern can be shaped as a series of interdigitated undulating first and second areas of alternating magnetic polarity. The areas each have curved boundaries defined by wavy lines and a width which varies between a maximum and a minimum proceeding generally lengthwise along the wavy lines of a lengthwise periodicity to define lobe-shaped portions of each area.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to magnetic medical treatment aids and more particularly to flexible permanent magnetic sheets having an integrally formed pattern of magnetism for therapeutic use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various magnetically patterned sheet-type devices have been disclosed in the prior art as being useful for being applied over a part of a patient's body, the lumbar region for example, to stimulate blood flow and to reduce stiffness and pain. The present invention improves on the prior art in providing these benefits.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,620 to Nakayama and U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,596 to Shumiyashu disclose magnetic belts having a pattern of discrete permanent magnet discs received in circular holes arranged in a rectangular pattern in a substrate, such as a flexible magnetic material, for imparting a magnetic flux normal to the material in the lumbar region to reduce stiffness or pain.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,711 to Latzke discloses a magnetic plaster formed of an elastic magnetizable plastic sheet material, magnetized in a series of parallel stripes of alternating polarity, at a spacing of 4-10 mm. This arrangement is designed to enable positioning the sheet on the patient's skin with the stripes oriented transversely of the patients vasculature so that blood flow traverses the alternating poles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,532 to Baermann discloses a magnetic sheet which strives to improve upon Latzke's design by arranging the magnetic poles in a pattern which is concentric, angular or radial about a common axis or center. This arrangement is intended to permit the patient to position the sheet in any orientation on the skin and still have the pattern traverse the underlying vasculature. Although an improvement over Latzke's arrangement in this regard, Baermann's approach has several limitations.
First, Baermann's patterns cannot be expanded indefinitely in size to cover large areas of a patient's body. As the pattern is scaled to larger sizes, the circumferential extent of each area of one polarity increases to the point where it is no longer effective to induce any changes in magnetic flux. For example, in the concentric case, each ring becomes very large at a distance spaced from the center, so large that an underlying blood vessel oriented tangentially of the pattern can travel a substantial distance without crossing a magnetic polarity boundary. The same thing can happen in the angular or radial pattern. Additionally, as the angular or radial pattern is enlarged, the lengths of segments increase so that a blood vessel, aligned lengthwise of the segment, does not necessarily cross areas of alternating polarity.
Second, the patterns of both Latzke and Baermann are integrally formed by magnetically imprinting them on the magnetic sheet, using a magnetizing fixture. In the case of Baermann's patterns, it is difficult to make an effective fixture to magnetically imprint these patterns, particularly those having sharp angular intersections between the areas of opposite polarity. It has also been proposed to use a checkerboard polarity pattern. This pattern would also be difficult to build and effective fixture for, because of the large number of right angles packed into a relatively small area. Besides the difficulties in making the fixture, the resulting magnetic fields formed in such small geometries will be blurred at the corners.
Accordingly, a need remains for a design for a therapeutic magnetic sheet having a pattern that will cross underlying vasculature with a high probability over a large area while being oriented freely on a patient's skin, and that is easy to imprint integrally into a flexible magnetic sheet.

Therapeutic magnetic sheet with repeated curved magnetic areas


A DMA transfer control apparatus comprises an internal memory for temporarily storing data, a buffer for temporarily storing data, a selector for selecting one of input data to the buffer and output data from the buffer per byte, and a rotator for rotating data. The internal memory receives read data from a transfer source, the buffer receives data from the internal memory, the selector receives data from the internal memory and data from the buffer, and the rotator receives data selected by the selector. An output of the rotator is used as write data. Thereby, high-speed DMA transfer is performed even when data transfer source addresses and data transfer destination addresses have different byte alignments where the addresses are located.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data transfer between buses of a computer system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a direct memory access (DMA) transfer control apparatus for transferring data between devices, a bus adaptor for transferring data between buses, a computer system incorporating either or both of the bus adaptor and the DMA transfer control apparatus, and a method for transferring data between buses.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a DMA transfer method for directly transferring data between transfer devices without a CPU is widely known and, for example, is used to perform direct data transfer between memories.
In DMA transfer, information required for transfer, such a data transfer source address, a data transfer destination address, a data transfer size or the like, is set in registers or the like of a DMA transfer control apparatus, and thereafter, a transfer operation is executed by a CPU or the like controlling the start of transfer. Since the CPU is not required to perform a transfer control during transfer, data transfer can be performed at a higher rate than when data is transferred via the CPU, and in addition, the load on the CPU can be reduced. After data has been transferred in an amount corresponding to the transfer size set in the registers or the like, a DMA transfer end interrupt is asserted, depending on a setting of the DMA transfer control apparatus. The CPU, when detecting the DMA transfer end interrupt, reads the registers or the like of the DMA transfer control apparatus to monitor a result or a status of DMA transfer.
Also, in DMA transfer, burst transfer is often utilized in which, after only one address is designated, a plurality of pieces of byte data can be successively transferred.
In DMA transfer, when data transfer source address and data transfer destination address are set to have different byte alignments where the addresses are located, read data cannot be directly used as write data. Therefore, for example, a process of regenerating write data from two cycles of read data is required, depending on the addresses.
To solve such a problem, a conventional transfer control apparatus comprises a shifter for shifting read data and an accumulator for selectively accumulating shifted bytes and supplying output bytes (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,330,631).
A burst transfer operation in this conventional technique when transfer source addresses and transfer destination addresses have different byte alignments will be described with reference to FIG. 22. One piece of read data is subjected to a two-phase transfer process. In the first phase, read data is shifted, depending on a set address, and for a byte which can be immediately output as write data, a byte enable signal to be supplied to the accumulator is activated and the byte is written into the accumulator, and at the same time, the accumulator outputs write data. In the second phase, for a byte which was not output as write data in the first phase, a byte enable signal to be supplied to the accumulator is activated and the byte is written into the accumulator, and resultant data is accumulated. These bytes are output as write data together with a portion of the next read data in the next first phase.
However, in the conventional transfer control apparatus, when transfer source addresses and transfer destination addresses have different byte alignments, a two-phase process is required for one piece of read data, resulting in a decrease in data transfer rate.

DMA transfer control apparatus for performing direct memory access transfer from a transfer source to a transfer destination