A vehicle mounting arrangement is provided for a vehicle having a sunroof with a sunroof drain tube and an inflatable airbag. The drain tube and the inflatable airbag are mounted to a vehicle roof rail of the vehicle. The vehicle mounting arrangement includes an inflatable airbag mounted to the vehicle roof rail. The inflatable airbag is expandable toward an interior side of the vehicle. A sunroof drain tube is pivotally mounted to the vehicle roof rail and positioned adjacent the inflatable airbag so that the drain tube is pivotally displaced upon expansion of the inflatable airbag.

The present disclosure relates to a drain tube mounting arrangement in a vehicle and, more particularly, to the mounting of a sunroof drain tube and positioning thereof relative to an adjacent side curtain airbag. In one embodiment, a sunroof drain tube is pivotally mounted in a vehicle adjacent a side curtain airbag and will be described with particular reference thereto. It is to be appreciated however that the present disclosure may relate to other similar environments and applications.
Inflatable safety restraints such as airbags are often utilized in motor vehicles for their potential to reduce injuries and possibly fatalities to vehicle occupants that result from the vehicle being struck, colliding with another vehicle or object, or overturning. More recently, airbags have been employed as curtains within a vehicle and are often positioned along sides of the passenger compartment of the vehicle to further improve the safety of vehicle occupants, particularly against side impacts and roll-overs.
One type of airbag utilized along a side of a vehicle is a side curtain airbag. Conventional curtain airbags unfold or unroll downward to inflate beside an adjacent vehicle occupant to create a barrier between the occupant and the portion of the vehicle defining a passenger compartment in which the occupant is carried. Often, curtain airbags are sized to hold relatively large volumes of inflation gas and are able to extend from a roof rail of a vehicle to at least below a window sill of the vehicle. As a result these types of curtain airbags can include a relatively large amount of airbag material. Generally, this material is rolled or folded tightly into an elongated tubular bundle. When the curtain airbag is deployed or inflated, the curtain unrolls or unfolds along a side of the passenger compartment of the vehicle, typically adjacent side windows and doors of the vehicle, thereby creating an inflatable barrier for the vehicle occupants.
Typically, side curtain airbags are mounted along a vehicle's side roof rail. When the curtain is inflated, it breaks through a cover, if a cover is utilized, as inflation gas fills the curtain. In many conventional mounting arrangements, the side curtain airbag is mounted to the vehicle's roof rail by a plurality of mounts, which can be bolts or other types of permanent fastening devices. Generally, the roof rails of a vehicle are relatively small and narrow for purposes of providing an appealing and spacious vehicle interior for the vehicle occupants. Thus, the area in which the inflatable curtain is installed and stored (when not being deployed) is relatively small and narrow.
Often, besides the inflatable curtain, a variety of other components are installed in and/or around the roof rail. These components compete for space in this narrow area along the roof rail. Examples of such components include: hand grips, lighting fixtures, sun or moon roof brackets, sunroof drain tubes, wiring, heating and ventilation controls and/or ducts. All of these components require some mounting space. The available mounting space is further constrained by the structure of the vehicle and by the common desire to make the passenger compartment spacious and comfortable.
In addition to spatial constraints, another design issue relates to mounting arrangements of components that are positioned closely adjacent inflatable curtains. Specifically, components mounted closely adjacent inflatable curtains are desirably prevented from projecting into the passenger compartment upon deployment of the side curtain airbag. One such component is the sunroof drain tube which, when utilized in a vehicle, often extends along a portion of a roof rail to which the side curtain airbag is mounted.
The drain tube is typically routed over the side curtain airbag which reduces the likelihood of the drain tube projecting into the passenger compartment upon inflation of the side curtain airbag. However, in some vehicle designs, routing the drain tube over the side curtain airbag is not feasible. Accordingly, any improvements to the mounting of components, such as a sunroof drain tube, adjacent the side curtain airbag are desirable, particularly those that decrease the likelihood of such components being projected into the passenger compartment during airbag deployment.


A hydraulic control system for controlling an actuator has a cylinder and a piston, and an oil pump. A first passage is communicated with the oil pump, and a second passage is communicated with the cylinder of the actuator. A plurality of branch passages are connected in parallel between the first and second passages, and a valve is provided in each branch passage. The hydraulic control system has a flow rate setting device for operating each valve thereby applying a predetermined quantity of oil to the cylinder of the actuator to shift the piston a desired distance.

The present invention relates to a system for hydraulically controlling an actuator such as an oil hydraulic cylinder having a piston.
The hydraulic cylinder is applied with pressurized oil from a pump driven by a motor, thereby causing the piston to be continuously and effectively shifted a distance dependent on quantity of oil supplied to the cylinder.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open 56-105102 discloses a hydraulic control system of an actuator for controlling the moving distance of the piston. Referring to FIG. 6, an actuator 1 has a piston 1a which reciprocates in a cylinder comprising two chambers defined by the piston 1a. Each of the chambers is communicated with a servo valve 12 through which oil is supplied. The servo valve 12 is controlled by an electronic control system having an servo amplifier 18. The servo amplifier 18 which is applied with an input signal el from an adder 9 is connected to a manually operated changeover switch 17 for selectively connecting the servo amplifier with a loop gain setting resistor 13 for controlling load exerted on the piston 1a of the actuator, or a loop gain setting resistor 15 for controlling moving distance of the piston 1a, in accordance with the position of the contact of the switch 17. The resistor 13 and 15 are connected to the servo valve 12 through amplifiers 14 and 16, respectively. By operating the switch 17, either the moving distance or the load of the actuator 1 is controlled.
The servo amplifier 18 is adjusted to nonlinearly produce an appropriate output signal e0 in accordance with the input signal e1 from the adder 9. The servo valve 12 is adapted to be operated to supply an appropriate quantity of oil to one of the chambers in accordance with a current i corresponding to the signal e0 applied from the amplifier 14 or 16.
The electronic control system is provided with a feedback control system comprising a moving distance detector 2 for sensing the actual moving distance of the piston 1a and a load detector 3 for sensing the actual load exerted on the piston 1a. The detector 2 is connected to an amplifier 7 through a variable resistor 6 and the detector 3 is connected to an amplifier 5 through a variable resistor 4. The amplifiers 5 and 7 are connected to the adder 9 through a changeover switch 8 which is operatively connected to the changeover switch 17 to be operated in synchronism therewith. An input signal representing a desired moving distance or a desired load applied to the adder 9 is compared with the signal from the detector 2 or 3. The difference between the signals is fed to the servo amplifier 18 to further control the piston 1a, thereby decreasing the deviation. Hence, the control system can accurately and stably control the actuator 1 with a servomechanism.
However, the servo valve is extremely expensive so that the manufacturing cost of the system is increased. In addition, the adder and the servo amplifier must be adjusted to obtain preferable operational characteristics thereof, the operation of which is complicated, so that the actuator cannot be accurately controlled.

Hydraulic control system utilizing a plurality of branch passages with differing flow rates


An apparatus for sensing the position of a tape edge of a magnetic tape sliding against a magnetic head which includes a light transmitter positioned on one side of the magnetic tape and a light receiver arranged on the same side, and a reflective surface arranged on an opposite side of the tape for receiving light from the light transmitter and for reflecting light back to the light receiver. The amount of light reflected from the transmitter to the receiver depends on the amount of interference by the interposition of the magnetic tape so as to sense the edge of the tape. A light signal from the receiver is used to control the relative position of the head to the tape to correct for tape wander. One pair of light transmitters/receivers can be used, or more than one pair such as four pairs of light transmitters/receivers and corresponding reflective surfaces, to accurately position a tape head with respect to a magnetic tape, by determining a dynamic position of the tape edge.

In the field of tape recording, both magnetic and optical recording, a constant goal is to increase the total storage capacity on a given media, such as a tape cassette or cartridge. This goal can be achieved in many ways, including the use of longer and/or wider tape.
When the tape length and width are preset, the total capacity may be increased by increasing the number of recorded tracks on the tape, i.e., increasing track density, or by increasing the linear data bit density on each track. Track density is often measured in tracks per inch ("tpi"), while linear bit density is often measured in bits per inch ("bpi").
For many years increasing track density has been a very effective way of increasing the total storage capacity. For example, the popular 3M cartridge, often referred to as a "QIC" cartridge or a "DKC6000" type cartridge, has increased in capacity from 20 MBytes in 1983 to 13 GBytes in 1996. The 20 MBytes capacity was achieved by recording on four tracks on a one-quarter inch wide tape. This therefore gives a track density of 16 tpi. The 13 GByte format employs 144 data tracks on the same tape width. The data track density is therefore 576 tpi. Other types of tape cassettes and cartridges have undergone the same improvements. For example, the small Minicartridge ("DC 2000"- cartridge) and its new companion, the TRAVAN cartridge have over a similar period gone from 8 tracks on a one-quarter inch wide tape, to 76 tracks and soon 109 tracks on an 8 mm wide tape (as used in the TRAVAN cartridge).
In theory, increasing the number of tracks is a very simple way to increase the total storage capacity. In the past, the upper limit to the number of tracks was set by the recording head, the read/right head. With previous technology, it was difficult to design heads which could record and read on vary narrow tracks. However, with the invention of thin film magneto-resistive heads, very narrow recording/read heads can be achieved economically. Therefore, head technology today allows for very narrow tracks, thus making it possible to increase the number of tracks on a given tape width far beyond what was possible just a few years ago.
Unfortunately, another limitation makes it difficult to maximize the number of tracks and use very high track numbers which the new head technology offers, and that relates to the stability of the tape itself as it passes over the head during read/write operations. With very high track densities, it becomes critical that the tape substantially maintains the same position as it passes over the head. To achieve this stability, all tape drives utilize some form of tape guides. Normally, tape guides are placed on each side of the head as shown in FIG. 1. Here, a read/write head 100, a tape 103, tape guides 101, 102, and base plate 104 which mounts the guides, are illustrated. Such tape guides can either be built into the tape cassette itself on the base plate, as it is for the 3M DC6000 cartridge and the DC2000 and TRAVAN cartridges, or can be designed as an integral part of the tape drive as for example as used for small Phillips type cassettes. In either case, the tape guides must be designed so that it can keep the tape in a very stable position as it passes across the head.
To avoid problems of either overwriting previously recorded tracks or not reading in the correct position, the maximum vertical movement, perpendicular to the tape length, allowed for the tape between the tape guides must be only a fraction of the distance between two adjacent tracks. Therefore, as track width, and the distance between adjacent tracks, becomes smaller and smaller, the tape guiding must be improved in corresponding fashion.
Hence, as the head is designed for narrower and narrower track widths, such as based on the new thin film technology, tape guiding has become more and more critical. To keep costs down, most tape guides are designed with fixed flanges. Some high end expensive tape drives utilize guides with one side spring loaded. This is expensive and also requires a fairly high tape tension to work properly. For low-cost small form factor tape drives, such spring loaded tape guides are normally too expensive and impractical, and even may not work in many systems due to low tape tension.
With fixed flanges on the tape guides, the tolerance in tape width and the tolerance in the distance between the upper and lower flanges of a tape guide make it very difficult to design a tape guiding system with the stability required by the new high density, high tpi, thin film heads now available. The tape guides must be designed so that even with a tape having a maximum tape width, or having a maximum tolerance on the tape width, running in a cassette or tape drive where the distance between the tape guides is at its minimum level, the tape can still pass correctly between the guides. Although the tape manufacturers have been able to improve tape slitting very much over recent years, it is still a certain tolerance in the tape width along any given tape. Furthermore, the tape will also expand or contract depending upon humidity and temperature. Therefore, the tape guides must be designed to allow for some tolerance in the tape width.
Coupled with the necessary tolerances of the tape guides themselves, this space allocated for the tolerance in the tape width will unavoidably lead to the tape typically having some play between the guide flanges. Very often this leads to the tape "wandering" between an upper and a lower position during operation as demonstrated in FIG. 2. The total tape wander between guides ("d" in FIG. 2) must be much less than the width of a recorded track, or the distance between two adjacent tracks, in order to avoid writing in an incorrect position, overwriting previously recorded data, or not being able to read previously recorded data. While FIG. 2 exaggerates the tape wander in a normal cartridge, nevertheless the problem of tape wander plays an important role in modern tape drive designs.
In addition to tape "wandering" between the guides, shock and vibrations may also cause the tape to change its position relatively to the head during operations.
To overcome these problems and allow for very narrow tracks, a technology called servo-tracking has been introduced during the 1990's. With this technology, special tracks named servo-tracks are precisely recorded along the tape during manufacturing. The tape drives utilizing such tapes are designed so that they are able to detect the position of the servo-track(s) as the tape passes over the tape, and by means of a voice coil or similar technology, constantly repositions the head so that it stays in the correct position relatively to the tape. This principle is used in the new 13 GB DC 6000 system mentioned earlier. This system has 24 prerecorded servo-tracks in addition to the 144 data tracks. The total track density for this system is thus (144+24).times.4=672 tpi.
Unfortunately, while such servq systems make it possible to design tape drives with very high track density, it also adds significantly to the cost and complexity of the tape drive and the tape cartridge itself. Low cost tape drives, often with a small form factor, cannot easily utilize such complex and costly servo-designs. For these drives, attempts have been made to improve the number of tracks in a tape cartridge by constantly reducing the tolerance of the tape width and the play between the tape and tape guides. However, with tighter and tighter tolerances, the cost of improving the guiding is increasing significantly.
Therefore, it is advantageous to provide a method which makes it possible to monitor the variations in tape position, and correct for these variations, without adding significantly to the cost or complexity of the tape drive or the tape cartridge. Such a method is described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,796. This patent teaches the method of utilizing light to monitor either one or both edges of the tape by placing a transmitter along one side of a tape edge and a receiver on the opposite side of the tape edge. The variation in tape position will result in a varying light signal detected by the receiver. The signal is converted to a corresponding electrical signal which can be used to either make the necessary corrections in the head position or in the cartridge position so that the relative position between the tape and the head is stable along a track.
While the principle of U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,796 will work adequately in many systems, small tape cassettes and drive systems having a small form factor may make it difficult or sometimes impossible to position the light transmitter and receiver correctly on opposite sides of the tape edge. The purpose of this invention is therefore to overcome this problem by a new method which makes it simple to utilize the principle of tape edge following using light, even for physically very small tape cassette systems.

Tape cartridge with integrated mirror tracking mechanism


Embodiments of the invention provide an efficient layout of circuit elements on a circuit board. A hard disk drive (HDD) according to one embodiment of the present invention is provided with a circuit board. The circuit board has an IC of HDC, MPU, and R/W channel, an IC of MDU, an SPM aperture, and a carriage bearing aperture. The IC is provided on the circuit board on the side where the center of a carriage bearing protrusion is positioned with respect to a central line AB parallel to the short sides of the surface of the housing and on the side opposite to the side where the center of the carriage bearing protrusion is positioned with respect to a central line CD parallel to the long sides of the surface of the housing. The IC of MDU is provided on the circuit board on the side where the center of the carriage bearing protrusion is positioned with respect to the central line CD and at a position between the center of an SPM protrusion and the center of the carriage bearing protrusion in the longitudinal direction of the surface of the housing.

The present invention relates to a magnetic disk drive, and more particularly to a magnetic disk drive having an efficient layout of circuit elements on a circuit board.
Devices using various types of media such as optical disks and magnetic tapes are known in the art as recording media drives provided in the interior or the exterior of information processing apparatuses. Among them, hard disk drives (hereinafter referred to as HDDs) have become popular as storage devices for information processing apparatuses to such an extent that they are one type of the storage devices indispensable for today's information processing systems. Further, not limited to the information processing apparatuses as described above, HDDs are expanding more and more in application. For example, HDDs are used for moving picture recording/reproducing devices, car navigation systems, cellular phones, and removable memories for use in them.
Each magnetic disk used in HDDs has a plurality of tracks formed concentrically and each track is partitioned into a plurality of sectors. Sector address information and user data are stored in each sector. Either data write to a sector or data read from the sector is enabled by a magnetic head which accesses the desired sector according to the sector address information. A signal read out by the head from a magnetic disk through data read operation is subjected to waveform shaping, decoding processing and other prescribed signal processing by a signal processing circuit disposed on an HDD circuit board before being transmitted to the host. Likewise, data transferred from the host is subjected to prescribed signal processing by the signal processing circuit and then written to the magnetic disk.
Reducing the size of the HDD has heretofore been performed. For example, what is called a one inch type HDD (also called a 1.0 type HDD) using a magnetic disk of 26 to 28 mm in diameter) and a smaller size of a 0.85 inch type HDD have appeared on the market. These small-sized HDDs are implemented not only by the reduction in size of magnetic disks but also by the reduction in size of mechanical parts such as a spindle motor (SPM), an actuator, and a voice coil motor (VCM) and of signal processing circuits such as a hard disk controller (HDC) mounted on a circuit board.
Further, apertures are formed in a circuit board so as to thin these small-sized HDDs. Protrusions, which are formed on a housing for accommodating rotary shafts of SPM and actuator, are fitted in the apertures formed in the circuit board to complete assembly.

Magnetic disk drive having circuit board apertures fitted with protrusions to achieve efficient layout of circuit elements

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, Netherlands B.V.


A tubular crutch including a tubular crutch body, a cantilever handle and a ground engaging extension is described. The cantilever handle includes a curved base plate, a plurality of bolts, a tubular member, a plurality of locking nuts, a key, and a contoured component. The tubular crutch also includes a ground engaging extension with a spring loaded button that is received at the bottom of the tubular elongated member. The tubular crutch body includes a tubular posterior stabilizing element, a first concave curve adjacent to the posterior stabilizing element, a second convex curve proximate to the first concave curve, a third concave curve proximate to the second convex curve and a tubular elongated portion adjacent to the third concave curve.

Crutches have been used by individuals with lower extremity disablements for over 5,000 years. Unfortunately, the crude form of axillary or underarm crutches depicted in ancient illustrations has not changed appreciably.
In spite of the lack of improvement in the basic design of axillary or underarm crutches they are still widely used as they are inexpensive, functional and light in weight. These are very important elements in the rehabilitation of short-term users and for handicapped individuals who use crutches as a primary means of ambulating. However, the standard axillary crutches are difficult to use, inherently unstable, and improper use will cause underarm irritation and soreness and prolonged use can cause permanent damage to the user. Crutches having a cantilever handle with one point of contact between the tubular crutch body and tubular stabilizing element may be unstable. A very large number of people require the use of crutches each year, and the need for an improved design that is easier and especially safer to use continues.
The difficult activity of crutch ambulation has long been recognized and there have been numerous attempts within the prior art to overcome the disadvantages inherent with typical crutches.
Underarm or axillary crutches require the user to support the majority of his body weight by the arms and hands at the hand grip of the crutch. When the user takes a forward step he applies a forward thrust to the crutches at the handgrip. This forward thrust in turn must be transferred through the crutches to the user's body to complete the forward moving step. To accomplish this transfer of thrust the user must first make certain the crutches don't slip out from under his arm and then transfer the thrust to his body by developing a resisting frictional force between the axillary pad and the body. Many individuals lacking adequate strength or skill are unable to use the crutches in this manner and find it necessary to clamp the axillary bar under the arms to transfer the forward thrust. This procedure even though widely used is not recommended and results in discomfort and soreness under the arm. In spite of the discomfort, crutch users continue to clamp the axillary bar under their arms because it is imperative that the crutches not slip or the user would fall and further injury could result.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Tubular crutch with a cantilever handle and key


A semiconductor device and a method of operating the same are provided. The method includes determining whether a read operation on a selected page is a beginning read operation on the selected page; performing a least significant bit (LSB) read operation on the selected page when the read operation is the beginning read operation on the selected page according to a determination result, and performing a first sub-read operation on the selected page according to a result of the LSB read operation; and performing a second sub-read operation including the LSB read operation or a most significant bit (MSB) read operation on the selected page according to stored program state data when the read operation is not the beginning read operation on the selected page according to the determination result.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of operating the same. More specifically, the invention relates to a read operation of a semiconductor device.
2. Related Art
A single-level cell (SLC) in which one-bit data is stored in one memory cell has been used for a semiconductor device, but due to a large capacity of the semiconductor device, a multi-level cell (MLC) in which a plurality of bits of data are stored in one memory cell is being developed. Recently, a type of the multi-level cell is subdivided, a cell in which two-bit data is stored in one cell is referred to as a multi-level cell, a cell in which three-bit data is stored in one cell is referred to as a triple-level cell (TLC), and a cell in which four-bit data is stored in one cell is referred to as a quadruple-level cell (QLC).
As such, as the number of bits stored in one cell is increased, program and read operations are performed unlike those of the single-level cell. For example, the program operation on the most significant bit (MSB) (an MSB program operation) is performed after the program operation on the least significant bit (LSB) (an LSB program operation) is performed. The read operation is performed according to each program state after it is determined whether a selected page is a page on which the LSB program operation is performed or a page on which the MSB program operation is performed.

Semiconductor device having multi-level cell and method of reading the same


An apparatus and method for the transmission of information between downhole and surface locations through a drillstring. The apparatus includes a wireline extending from instrumentation at the downhole location to a clamp-off sub in the drillstring where it is connected to the lower end of a cable spooled on a cable cartridge above the clamp-off sub in the drillstring. The cable cartridge is moved upwardly through successive pipe joints added to the drillstring as drilling progresses, to permit rotation of the drillstring and use of blowout preventors without retrieving the wireline or cable. Cartridge cable is releasably connected at its upper end to a wireline extending through a pack-off to a slip ring assembly at the surface, for transmitting data from downhole instrumentation to surface equipment. Multiple cable cartridges may be sequentially added in series if drilling proceeds beyond the length of cable in a single cartridge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the transmission of information between a downhole location and a surface location, and more specifically to an apparatus and method for the transmission of information between downhole and surface locations during the conduct of a subterranean drilling operation using air or gas as the energy source for a downhole drilling motor.
2. State of the Art
Drilling for oil and gas with downhole motors employing dry air, mist, or foams (all referred to hereinafter generically as "air") as a drilling fluid has been contemplated and practiced with some limited success for a number of years. Use of air as the drilling fluid, because of its low density, can result in faster penetration rates. Moreover, air drilling is less damaging to the producing formation than oil- or water-based drilling fluids. However, the reduced hydrostatic head of the air drilling fluid cannot effectively control formation pressures nor support borehole wall against collapse, and therefore air drilling is substantially limited to competent formations and requires religious use of blow-out preventors ("BOP's").
The foregoing limitations notwithstanding, air drilling has many applications, and improved motor technology has popularized its use in recent years, particularly in navigational drilling operations where a bottomhole assembly including a drilling motor may be steered to drill either a curved path or straight ahead. When drilling a nonlinear path, the bottomhole assembly is oriented in a particular direction, and drilling proceeds under power of the motor alone. For straight ahead drilling, the drillstring is rotated to negate the drill bit tilt angle or offset from the longitudinal axis of the bottomhole assembly. One suitable and recently developed bottom hole assembly for air drilling is the Navi-Drill Mach 1/AD, employed by Eastman Christensen Company of Houston, Tex., which assembly includes a positive displacement Moineau-type air motor and an adjustable bent sub between the motor and the drill bit, the bent sub providing the desired bit tilt angle for nonlinear drilling. An additional bent sub may be placed above the motor to enhance the assembly's kick off abilities, but such an arrangement precludes drillstring rotation and straight ahead drilling.
When drilling directionally or navigationally it is, of course, imperative to track the azimuth and inclination of the actual borehole against the intended well plan. Many survey, steering and measurement-while-drilling ("MWD") devices and techniques have been developed and employed over the years, but experience has confirmed many deficiencies and limitations of the prior art apparatus and methods when employed in an air drilling environment.
Conventional survey instrumentation, and particularly high accuracy gyroscopic instrumentation, is somewhat delicate for use in air drilling, as the drilling fluid does not provide dampening of deleterious vibration and resonance effects. Moreover, when conducting a navigational drilling operation, drilling torque may drastically change the toolface orientation and thus the borehole path over a short drilling interval, and survey techniques only confirm such changes after the fact.
Conventional MWD systems employ pressure pulses in the drilling fluid to transmit information from the downhole probe to the surface. As air is highly compressible, it cannot be pulsed effectively, and so conventional mud-pulse MWD technology is inoperative in air-drilled boreholes. Electromagnetic MWD ("EM MWD") systems, which employ the drillstring as the transmission media for electromagnetic waves, have been employed in air-drilled holes with mixed results. Rougher drilling conditions in air-drilled holes commonly cause tool failure, and EM MWD use can be severely hampered by formation resistivity. Finally, use of EM MWD requires a conductive drilling fluid, and therefore cannot be used for dry air drilling.
A steering tool offers significant advantages while navigationally drilling, as it provides continual surface readout of survey data while drilling, including the highly important toolface readout, solving the problem of reactive torque effects causing toolface orientation change. Steering tools also offer almost instantaneous information, unlike MWD tools, which do not continuously transmit data between the downhole location and the surface. Wireline-controlled steering systems have been employed in directional drilling, such systems including a side-entry sub and split kelly for the wireline to maintain contact with the probe. With a side-entry sub, the wireline is on the outside of the drillstring, and therefore subject to kinking, wear and breakage. If the probe signal is lost, the drillstring must be pulled out of the hole to the location of the side-entry sub, and the probe retrieved. Moreover, these systems preclude rotation of the drillstring due to the exterior location of the wireline. If a swivel assembly is used instead of a side-entry sub, the steering tool must be round-tripped out of the hole whenever a drill pipe joint connection is made, although in this case the drillstring may be rotated for straight ahead drilling. Finally, use of a wireline exterior to the drillstring precludes full closure of the BOP's unless the wireline is seuered.
Wet-connect systems have been developed wherein a steering tool probe having a wireline leading to a connection on the upper end thereof is run into the drillstring at the kickoff point, the upper end clamped off at the connection, and an upper wireline section with a mating connection on the lower end thereof is run into the drillstring to electrically connect the probe for directional drilling. While effective, such systems cause lost rig time due to the necessity for wireline retrieval prior to drillstring rotation.
Horizontal air-drilled wells provide additional problems as, at well inclinations exceeding 70 degrees from the vertical, a steering or survey tool will no longer fall down the drillstring, nor will air passing by the tool generate enough drag to carry it downhole. Currently, two methods are used to address this problem. In the first, the drillstring is pulled from the hole until the bit is at 70 degrees of inclination, a side-entry sub installed and a survey or steering tool run on electric line to a latching assembly above the drill bit, and the drillstring tripped back to bottom with the wireline above the side entry sub on the outside of the drillstring. A survey is then taken, the drillstring tripped back out to the side-entry sub, the survey tool and side-entry sub removed, and the drillstring run back to bottom to continue drilling. Obviously, a great deal of rig time is wasted with this method, and the driller learns of deviations from the well plan after the fact. The second method reduces time somewhat, by running a survey tool on a slickline with a releasing overshot when the drillstring has been pulled to the 70 degree inclination point. Upon reaching the monel drill collars, a monel sensor activates the releasing overshot, disconnecting the survey tool from the slick line, which is then removed from the hole. The drillstring is tripped back to the bottom to take the survey, subsequent to which the drillstring is pulled to 70 degrees, and the survey tool retrieved with a standard overshot run in on slickline. It will be appreciated that significant rig time is still involved with this method.

Method and apparatus for relaying downhole data to the surface


A method for invoking a user interface for use with an application operating in a computer system which involves providing in the computer system a generic object class that corresponds to a class of function that is to be performed using the user interface; specifying in the application instance data in the form of a generic object specification that corresponds to the generic object class, the instance data including attribute criteria and hint criteria; providing in the computer system at least one specific user interface toolbox and controller that operates in the computer system to provide a selection of possible specific user interface implementations for use in performing the class of function; and providing in the computer system at least one interpreter that corresponds to the at least one specific user interface toolbox and controller.

1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to an application program operating in a computer and, more particularly, the invention relates to a process for designating a user interface of an application program.
2. Description of the Related Art Applications
An application (or program) is a tool which allows a person to use a computer to accomplish a task. For example, a word processor provides the user of a computer with a way to write, store, and print out letters. A drawing program allows him to create charts, diagrams, and organizational charts. As far as the user is concerned, the application is the interface between him and the computer hardware. However, from the application's perspective, there is another layer.

Process of designing user's interfaces for application programs


Availability of a computer network is determined by analyzing specific pairs of source/destination devices in the network and alternative paths between them. The topology of the network is analyzed so as to determine all paths between the devices and the availability of devices on each path is determined. If any one alternative path is available, this is included in the determination of network availability. Further, a relative weight may be assigned to various devices/paths on the network depending on usage or other parameters. The availability information is then presented in the format of a report card where specific source/destination pairs and the paths therebetween are chosen as indicia of the network's availability.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to the management of computer networks, and more specifically to a method and system for determining availability of devices and paths within a computer network in order to determine and report on availability of the network.
2. Description of Related Art
Businesses and academic organizations throughout the world are now highly dependent on the operation of their computer networks and they make large investments of time and money in setting up and maintaining the same. MIS directors and system administrators work with and need to know and understand the workings of these networks, and in particular, need to be able to determine network "availability," i.e., if the network has been available to its users and if the network has been running efficiently. In doing so, it must be determined what measurements can be used to establish whether the network has been available. It is also necessary to keep track of the unavailability of the network to determine how much time has been lost because employees were prevented from doing their jobs. Finally, those components which impact network availability must be identified and their problems addressed.
In the past, network availability has been defined in different ways depending upon the focus of those persons doing the measuring and recording. For example, one purpose of availability measurement is to provide an early warning of a potential disaster, in which case network availability is defined as a ratio between MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) and total time, where the total time equals MTBF plus MTTR (Mean Time To Repair).
In a communications network, device availability may be defined as a ratio between the time the device was available and a total time under evaluation. In this case, no consideration is given to the users and/or the functions of these devices where, for example, a wide-area link between two sites is inoperative and has no effect unless the users from one site are trying to access a facility on the other site. In other words, there may be instances where a device is inoperative, but has little or no impact on network operations because it is not being used or is lightly used.
It has been suggested that the availability of devices that are connected to each other can be aggregated, i.e., the aggregate is a product of all the availabilities of all devices in a particular path. This approach, however, has two flaws when applied to historic data. Firstly, when considering a single path between two devices, the resulting calculation will provide the most pessimistic number for the availability of the path and not the actual one. Using the most pessimistic number may mislead network managers about the actual functional availability of their networks. This inaccuracy results because the method does not account for any overlapping of down times of the devices under consideration. Secondly, the proposed approach fails to address a situation where there are multiple paths between devices in the communications network.
As a result, a system and method are necessary for providing a representation of network availability that is more comprehensive and realistic than known methods and which accounts for overlap between device down times or path down times when aggregating the availabilities for a network link. Further, a system is needed which takes into account network topology and any changes thereto.

System for determining network connection availability between source and destination devices for specified time period


A rubber-containing resin composition suitable as an impact modifier for styrene resins (such as styrene homopolymer and copolymers and polymer alloys thereof with other thermoplastic resins), which comprises (A) a graft copolymer having a graft ratio of 10 to 80% by weight wherein a graft component comprising 15 to 60% by mole of at least one vinyl cyanide compound, 40 to 85% by mole of at least one aromatic vinyl compound and 0 to 30% by mole of at least one other monomer copolymerizable with them is graft-copolymerized onto a diene rubber having a volume average particle size of 100 to 1,000 nm by an emulsion polymerization method, and (B) an emulsion-polymerized copolymer of 15 to 60% by mole of at least one vinyl cyanide compound, 40 to 85% by mole of at least one aromatic vinyl compound and 0 to 30% by mole of at least one other monomer copolymerizable with them, which has a weight average molecular weight of 5,000 to 90,000 and a ratio of weight average molecular weight to number average molecular weight of 1.5 to 4.5, in which the ratio of the graft copolymer (A) to the copolymer (B) is from 50/50 to 95/5 by weight. A styrene resin composition comprising the rubber-containing resin composition and a styrene resin provides molded articles having excellent properties such as impact resistance, mechanical property, heat resistance and surface appearance with good processability.

The present invention relates to a rubber-containing resin composition and a styrene resin composition containing the rubber-containing resin composition. More particularly, the present invention relates to a styrene resin composition which can be suitably used for automobile interior materials such as pillar and instrument panel of automobiles, housings of household electric appliances such as electronic jar rice cooker and electronic oven, housings of office automation equipments such as telephone and facsimile machine, and others such as sundry goods, and to a rubber-containing resin composition used for preparing the styrene resin composition.
In order to improve mechanical properties such as impact resistance and properties such as surface appearance of rubber-modified styrene resins, it is known to mix a matrix of a styrene resin with an ABS resin having a high rubber content which comprises as a main component a graft copolymer wherein at least one monomer is graft-polymerized onto a rubber, in the form of a latex or a slurry. The graft copolymer can be uniformly dispersed into the styrene resin in this manner.
Also, in recent years, a process has been investigated for preparing a desired rubber-modified styrene resin by incorporating a powder of the high rubber content ABS resin into pellets or beads of the styrene resin matrix, from the viewpoints of productivity of rubber-modified styrene resins and convenience in control for producing various grades of the resins. However, this process has the disadvantage that when a powder of high rubber content ABS resin having a rubber content of about 40-80% by weight is used, the obtained rubber-modified styrene resins have impaired properties such as impact resistance, surface appearance and heat stability, since the styrene resin and the ABS resin must be melt-mixed at a high temperature in order to uniformly disperse the graft copolymer (ABS resin) into the styrene resin.
In order to eliminate this disadvantage, it is proposed to incorporate a polymer of an acrylic acid ester, a methacrylic acid ester or styrene to raise the dispersibility of the high rubber content ABS resin, thereby lowering the mixing temperature, as known from Japanese Patent Publication Kokai No. 57-5755. However, this proposal has the disadvantage that the impact resistance and heat resistance of the obtained rubber-modified styrene resin are impaired.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a rubber-modified styrene resin which can provide molded articles having excellent properties such as impact resistance, tensile strength, elongation, heat resistance, molding processability and surface appearance, in particular excellent impact resistance and surface appearance.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a rubber-containing resin composition suitable for incorporating into styrene resins to prepare a rubber-modified styrene resin having improved properties.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a styrene resin composition containing the rubber-containing resin composition and having improved properties as mentioned above.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the description hereinafter.

Rubber-containing resin composition and styrene resin composition containing the same


The invention discloses a flame-retardant thermoplastic resin composition without containing any halogen compounds as a flame-retardant agent but still exhibiting excellent flame retardancy. The resin composition comprises: (a) a thermoplastic resin kneadable or moldable at a temperature lower than 250° C. such as polyethylene; (b) magnesium hydroxide as the principal flame retardant agent; (c) an organopolysiloxane compound of a specified viscosity; and (d) a reactive catalytic compound which is a radical-generating compound having an incipient thermal decomposition temperature higher than 250° C. such as 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-diphenylbutane. Alternatively, the catalytic compound as the component (d) can be a combination of a noble metal, e.g., platinum, compound and a vinyl group-containing organosiloxane compound.

The present invention relates to a novel flame-retardant resin composition free from halogen or, more particularly, relates to a novel flame-retardant thermoplastic resin composition without containing any halogen compounds but still having excellent mechanical properties and safety against pollution of environments as well as sufficiently high flame retardancy even by compounding a decreased amount of non-halogen flame-retardant agent such as metal hydroxides.
As is well known, one of the most serious problems in thermoplastic resins is the inflammability of the articles shaped or molded therefrom, which sometimes prohibit use of the resin in certain applications requiring high flame retardancy of the resin articles. While various technological proposals and attempts have been made heretofore to impart flame retardancy to thermoplastic resins, a most conventional way in this regard is to prepare a flame-retardant thermoplastic resin composition by compounding the resin with flame-retardant agents including a halogen-based compound, e.g., bromine compounds, and antimony oxide in combination. While halogen-based flame-retardant agents can impart excellent flame-retardancy to the resin composition by way of their radical-trapping activity and evolution of nonflammable gases, such halogen-containing gases are generally very toxic against human body and the damage in a fire hazard is sometimes multiplied by a large volume of such toxic gases evolved from thermoplastic resin articles containing a halogen-based flame-retardant agent. Accordingly, it is eagerly desired to develop a flame-retardant thermoplastic resin composition without formulation of a halogen-based flame-retardant agent.
A proposal recently made in this regard for polyolefin-based resin compositions, which are widely employed as an insulating material or sheath of electric wires and cables, is for the use of a metal hydroxide such as magnesium hydroxide as a non-halogen flame-retardant agent. Metal hydroxides are mostly advantageous as a flame-retardant agent in respect of their low toxicity and small volumes of smoke evolution by combustion along with little corrosiveness. The flame-retardant effect on the matrix resin thereby is exhibited by means of the water of crystallization released from the resin articles under combustion. The effect of flame retardancy exhibited by this mechanism, however, cannot be high enough and the oxygen consumption index, referred to as the OI hereinafter, can rarely exceed 25 even in a resin composition containing 100 parts by weight of a metal hydroxide powder per 100 parts by weight of the polyolefin resin.
An alternative proposal is made in Japanese Patents Nos. 2825500, 3019225 and 3072746, according to which the flame retardancy of a polyolefin resin composition can be improved without adversely affecting the mechanical properties of the resin articles by the use of a metal hydroxide powder after a surface treatment with a special surface treatment agent as the flame-retardant agent. Japanese Patent Publication 7-119324, Japanese Patent Nos. 3051211 and 3063759 and Japanese Patent Kokai 8-295784 further disclose a flame-retardant resin composition which is prepared by compounding a polyolefin resin with a specific metal hydroxide and a specific organopolysiloxane compound in combination. Each of these methods is in fact effective to improve the flame retardancy of the resin composition prepared according to the proposed formulation so that the amount of the metal hydroxide can be substantially decreased without affecting the mechanical properties of the resin articles prepared from the resin composition. The effectiveness of these methods, however, is still not high enough so that debut of a flame-retardant thermoplastic resin composition having excellent flame retardancy without a decrease in the mechanical properties is eagerly desired.

Flame-retardant resin composition free from halogen


Conventional SCUBA diving equipment is heavy and cumbersome, mainly due to the mass and size of the breathing gas carrier, i.e. the pressure vessel. A preferred pressure vessel for SCUBA diving can be as light as possible and neutrally buoyant at all stages of the dive. To achieve such preferred characteristics, the pressure vessel volume can be adjusted in accordance with the change in its mass. The present invention provides SCUBA systems that provides for the preferred characteristics.

The SCUBA diving industry had made significant technical progress in most areas. The common SCUBA pressure vessel, however, is still very heavy and cumbersome to maneuver. Equipment handling is considered the highest barrier for maintaining SCUBA as a long-term hobby by the leading SCUBA certification agencies. The weight of a common SCUBA pressure vessel and its size reduces ease of access to diving locations, increase risk of SCUBA equipment handling related injuries and is costly to transport on land, air and sea.
Modern materials such as carbon fiber, composites, fiberglass and polymer-based materials can function as well as or better than steel or aluminum to contain the breathing gas mixture pressure at a much lighter weight. However, simply using lighter materials does not solve the problem because it only deals with one of the forces operating on a submerged object.
Gravity facilitates the downward force operating on a SCUBA pressure vessel. The total mass of the SCUBA pressure vessel can be considered as comprising two components. The first component is its construction-related mass: a pressure vessel made of steel or aluminum is usually heavier than a pressure vessel made of lighter material such as composites, carbon fiber, etc. The second component is the mass of the breathing gas mixture.
The upward force operating on a SCUBA pressure vessel is a function of its volume and the density of the liquid it is submerged in. Archimedes' principle states that the upward buoyant force that is exerted on a body immersed in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid that the body displaces. A standard SCUBA pressure vessels have fixed volume. Hence, it displaces a fixed amount of water and the upward force is constant. FIG. 1 shows an illustration of these forces.
Two of the three components influencing the vertical position of a conventional pressure vessel while submerged remain constant through the dive: its construction related mass and its total volume. The third component is the total mass of the breathing gas. As the diver consumes the breathing gas throughout the dive, the mass of the breathing gas inside the SCUBA pressure vessel is reduced. For this reason, standard SCUBA pressure vessels are heavier at the beginning of the dive than at its end. As a result, SCUBA divers take additional weight with them to maintain buoyancy towards the end of the dive.
New materials allow for a substantial mass reduction of a conventional SCUBA pressure vessel. The caveat is that mass reduction in such SCUBA applications means increased buoyancy by an equal force. A lightweight pressure vessel that is neutrally buoyant at the beginning of the dive will be overly buoyant at the end of the dive, unless the diver takes additional weight. Doing so defeats the purpose of reducing the SCUBA pressure vessel by using lighter materials of construction.
There is a need for SCUBA pressure vessels that do not require extra weight to maintain buoyancy during a dive.

Self-contained underwater, integrated bouyancy and breathing apparatus


A method for transmitting data in TDM mode is provided to solve the problem in the prior art that the data processing between a transmitter side and a receiver side could not be real time and the delay time during data transmitting would be longer. The method comprises: packaging TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (TDM) frame head information and data to be sent into a TDM frame at a transmitter side, and transmitting the TDM frame to a receiver side; receiving the TDM frame at the receiver side. With the solution according to the present invention, it is possible to perform real time data processing between the transmitter side and the receiver side and shorten the delay time during data transmitting.

With the Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), transmission of different data between multiple devices or multiple users is usually implemented via one shared link, in which data transmission is divided into several time slots, and each user or device occupies a different time slot, so that the maximum utilization efficiency of bandwidth may be implemented.
A typical use of TDM is directed to stream data transmission of different users. Specifically, in practice, different users, e.g., 12.2 k voice users, occupy different time slots during the data transmission, and transmitting and receiving at different time slots correspond to different data buffers, so that multiplexing and demultiplexing of data may be implemented.
However, on the other hand, for some situations, a TDM port device is needed to implement the point-to-point communication between two devices, to facilitate the rapid and direct exchange of internal data.
At present, TDM is widely used for stream data transmission, and a typical solution of the data transmission is that: different users are assigned to different time slots each of which corresponds to a certain buffer; when gaining an access to transmit data, a user writes the data into the buffer and notifies a link to transmit the user's data; a controller continually transmits the data at the corresponding time slot, and inserts idle data for transmission when the data transmission is completed and no further data is to be transmitted; the opposite end continually receives and inserts the data into the corresponding user buffer, and if receiving the idle data, the opposite end discards the idle data and ends receiving.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for transmitting data in a TDM mode.
As shown in FIG. 1, C1, C2, C3 and C4 represent 4 users that transmit data, respectively. D1, D2, D3 and D4 represent 4 users that receive data, respectively. C1, C2, C3 and C4 share one link, and transmit data 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. If detecting that the transmitting of certain data is completed, a transmitting device adds idle data at the end of the transmitted data, and a receiving device stops the receiving of the corresponding transmitted data when receiving the idle data.
In the prior art, a solution of TDM point-to-point is typically implemented with a transmitter end employing a ping-pong buffer mode and a receiver end employing a search mode. Specifically, an interruption is generated after transmission of data in a ping buffer is completed, and transmission of data in a pong buffer continues; at the same time, the data to be transmitted is put into the ping buffer in response to the interruption, and thus the ping and pong buffers transmit data alternately. If no further data is to be transmitted, the pong buffer inserts idle data at the end of the transmitted data. After receiving the idle data, the receiver end perceives that the receiving of data is completed and ends the receiving of data. Similarly, the receiver end employs ping and pong buffers to receive data, where the ping buffer searches for data, finds a specific frame header and receives data, and an interruption is generated after the ping buffer is full; the pong buffer continues to search for data, finds the specific frame header and receives the data, thus the ping and pong buffers receive the data alternately.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a process for transmitting data using ping and pong buffers in the TDM mode in the prior art.
As shown in FIG. 2, to transmit the combined small data, a transmitting device puts small data a, b and c into a ping buffer sequentially. If further data d and e need to be transmitted during the transmitting of data a, b and c, the remaining space of the ping buffer has to be filled with invalid data, and the data d and e are put into a pong buffer for transmitting, the remaining space of the pong buffer is also filled with invalid data, and idle data is inserted at the end of the transmitted data for transmitting together. A ping buffer of the receiving device searches for the frame header of the data, and starts to receive data a, b, and c and the invalid data. After the ping buffer is full, an interruption is provided for a pong buffer, which searches for the frame header of the data, starts to receive the data, and stops receiving the data when receiving the idle data.
During the transmitting of large data, the transmitting device puts data a into a ping buffer, and transmits the data after filling the remaining space of the ping buffer with invalid data, at this point, no further data is to be transmitted, and the transmitting device needs to fill a pong buffer with invalid data and transmit it together with an idle data inserted at the end of the transmitted data. A ping buffer of the receiving device searches for the frame header of the data and starts to receive data a and the invalid data, an interruption is provided for a pong buffer after the ping buffer is full, and the pong buffer receives the invalid data and stops receiving the data after receiving the idle data.
It can be seen from an online transmission state that a large amount of invalid data needs to be added during transmitting of either combined small data or large data.
In summary, in the prior art, during the point-to-point transmitting of data in the TDM mode, the ping and pong buffers are required to have a large space, and a large amount of invalid data needs to be added during the transmitting of data, thus the time delay of data transmission is increased and link resources are wasted; moreover, during the transmitting of data, the internal bus is always used to shift data, and thus an increased load capacity of the bus bandwidth is required.

Method and system for transmitting in TDM mode

Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co., Ltd.


Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with controlling pixels of a display are described. According to one embodiment, an apparatus includes a frame counter logic configured to maintain a global frame counter to track a number of refreshes of a display while updating pixels. The frame counter logic is also configured to determine a frame number when updating a pixel. The apparatus also includes a pixel logic configured to update the pixel.

Electronic paper displays, also known as e-paper or electronic ink displays, are a type of electronic display often used in electronic reading devices such as ebooks. Electronic paper displays are stateful, meaning they can display an image without constantly using power, unlike many conventional displays (e.g. LCD displays). Electronic paper displays differ from conventional displays in the way they update a displayed image. For example, electronic paper displays progressively change the value of pixels in the display from a starting value to a final value through intermediate values when switching between displayed images.
Even different electronic paper displays update displayed images in different ways. Some conventional electronic paper displays update all pixels in the display concurrently in a global update. When updating the pixels concurrently, if a new value for a pixel is received during the update, the new value is not reflected in the current update sequence. Instead, the pixel is updated after a second global update that must wait until after the first update is finished. This limits the display's ability to change images quickly.
Other conventional displays update on a per pixel basis, however, these displays use individual counters for each pixel in the display. Maintaining counters for each pixel is cumbersome and consumes a large amount of memory bandwidth since every incremental update of a pixel uses a memory read and write-back to the pixel's counter.
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

Controller for updating pixels in an electronic paper display


A method of correctly segmenting phonemes by determining a boundary indicating a start point and an end point of each of the segmented phonemes, and correctly finding the phoneme in the speech signal by determining which phoneme in a phoneme recognition standard table corresponds to each of the segmented phonemes. Using this phoneme recognition method, an amount of computation can be significantly reduced, and the phoneme in the speech signal can be easily found by calculating probability distances between phonemes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method and system for recognizing a phoneme in a speech signal, and in particular, to a method of recognizing a phoneme in a speech signal, which is used in a speech recognition system, and a system using the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various techniques using a speech signal are applied to various systems including a speech recognition system, where it is important to know whether correct speech can be input to a relevant system by correctly detecting a start-point and an end-point of a speech signal when the speech signal is input.
In particular, a method of distinguishing a phoneme should be studied to recognize a speech signal. According to the prior art, when phonemes are segmented by obtaining locations thereof, methods of distinguishing the segmented phonemes and obtaining the contents of the segmented phonemes are achieved through very complex processes, most of which are constituted by combining a statistical method and a plurality of measure extraction methods.
One of the most frequently used methods combines a plurality of cepstral or perceptual linear predictive coding (LPC) coefficients. However, this method also has an intrinsic limit that a linear prediction method has.
Performance of the linear prediction method frequently used in speech signal analysis depends on an order of linear prediction. However, if the order of linear prediction is increased to increase the performance, an amount of computation increases, and furthermore, the performance is not increased more than a certain level. The linear prediction method is available only in a short-time stationary assumption in which a signal does not vary for a short time and an assumption that a vocal tract transfer function can be modeled using a linear all pole model.
In addition, in the linear prediction method, a formant center frequency has a high amount of computation due to LPC polynomial root calculation, and a peak may not be robust in peak picking of a spectral envelope.
In addition, the linear prediction method uses data windowing. However, if a resolution balance between a time axis and a frequency axis is not maintained when the data windowing is selected, it is difficult to detect a spectral envelope. For example, in a case of speech having a very high pitch, individual harmonics are followed in the linear prediction method due to wide gaps of the harmonics. Thus, in a case of a female or child, performance of the linear prediction method decreases.
As described above, it is inconvenient due to a high amount of computation to distinguish and recognize a phoneme using a conventional method. Thus, a method of recognizing a phoneme more correctly while reducing an amount of computation is desired.

Method and system for recognizing phoneme in speech signal


A color measurement instrument wherein the communication protocol used by the instrument is determined by the cable attached to the instrument. The instrument includes a handheld unit having a control system capable of communicating in at least two different protocols through a common connector. This control system connector includes a set of pin-outs corresponding to each of the available protocols. The instrument also includes a cable having a connector mated with the control system connector. The pin-out of the cable connector corresponds to only one of the sets of pin-outs of the control system connector, so that the cable provides a communication pathway corresponding to only one of the available protocols.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to color measurement instruments, and more particularly to color measurement instruments capable of communicating in multiple protocols.
2. Description of Art
Color measurement instruments are capable of reading a color for the subsequent conversion of the color to a mathematical representation. That representation can be processed using techniques known to those skilled in the art to perform color functions such as calibration. Color measurement instruments include, by way of illustration and not limitation, spectrophotometers, colorimeters, densitometers, and spectroradiometers.
One particularly useful color measurement instrument is a monitor colorimeter (also known as a colorimetric radiometer) manufactured and sold by X-Rite Incorporated (X-Rite) of Grandville, Mich. as Model No. DTP92Q. This colorimeter is a tethered desktop unit for monitor calibration, and it includes a handheld unit and a cord for connecting the unit to the serial port of a computer. The handheld unit can be positioned over a portion of a monitor screen to read the color displayed on that portion of the screen. The color information or representation is communicated to the computer through the cord. The communication protocol for the colorimeter is RS232. The color information received by the computer from the colorimeter can be processed using color management software such as that sold by X-Rite under the trademark COLOR SHOP or that sold by Apple Computer under the trademark COLORSYNC.
While the DTP92Q colorimeter has enjoyed widespread popularity, it is dependent on the RS232 protocol. Although RS232 has been the serial communication protocol standard for a considerable period, computer manufacturers and the computer industry are developing new and improved protocols. For example, the Universal Serial Bus Implementers Forum (USBIF) recently developed a new protocol known as Universal Serial Bus (USB); and Apple Computer is phasing out the inclusion of RS232 serial ports on new computers. A unit such as the DTP92Q, which is capable of communicating only in the RS232 protocol, is not compatible with the USB protocol. Additional future changes in communications protocols are anticipated. For example, one such protocol is known as Fire Wire. Accordingly, it is possible that a colorimeter redesigned for the USB protocol may itself be outdated shortly.
The aforementioned problems are overcome in the present invention wherein a color measurement instrument is capable of multiple communication protocols each associated with a unique interface cable. The implemented protocol is selected by connecting the appropriate cable to the handheld unitxe2x80x94either during manufacture or during subsequent service.
More specifically, the color measurement instrument includes on-board hardware, firmware and/or software capable of communicating in a variety of protocols through a common internal connector. Any one of a variety of cables may be connected to the connector. Each of the cables is uniquely associated with a particular communication protocol and includes a connector interfitting with the connector within the instrument. Appropriate connections are made between the cable connector pin-outs and the on-board connector pin-outs so that the instrument communicates though the cable in the selected protocol.
In the disclosed embodiment, the instrument is capable of communicating in both the RS232 protocol and the USB protocol. A first cable is unique to the RS232 protocol, and a second cable is unique to the USB protocol. Either cable may be connected to the instrument, and particularly to the internal connector. After a particular cable has been connected, the instrument communicates in the selected protocol through the cable.
As will be appreciated, the present invention is not restricted to the particular protocols disclosed. The invention is readily extendable to other exiting protocols and to future communication protocols.
The present invention provides improved flexibility for color measurement instruments. With the exception of the cable, the instrument is xe2x80x9cgenericxe2x80x9d to all protocols. Only the cable varies by instrument to implement a desired protocol. The xe2x80x9cgenericxe2x80x9d design of the instrument simplifies manufacture, testing, and calibration. During manufacture, the instrument can be tested and calibrated using any one of the available protocols.
These and other objects, advantages, and features of the invention will be more readily understood and appreciated by reference to the detailed description of the preferred embodiment and the drawings.

Color measurement instrument with multiple protocol interface


A photographic silver halide material and a method using said material for mammography are disclosed. The photographic material has a large dynamic range and a high contrast, so that lesions deep in the glandular tissue are accurately detected, and also clearly depicts thin tissue such as the skin line of the breast. The sensitometric curve of optical density versus logarithmic exposure logE of said photographic material is characterised by (i) an average gradation of at least 3.5 between Dmin+1.0 and Dmin+2.5; and (ii) a local gradient ranging from 0.7 to 1.8 and an optical density not higher than 3.5 at the point where logE equals SP+0.8 (SP being defined as the logE at which the optical density equals Dmin+1.0); and (iii) an optical density of at least 3.7 at the point where logE equals SP+1.3.

The incidence of breast cancer carcinoma among women continues to increase, posing a serious health problem throughout the world. The mortality rate from breast cancer can be decreased significantly by early detection using the radiological mammography technique. With this technique the compressed breast is irradiated with soft X-rays emitted from an X-ray generating device and the modulated X-rays are detected with a radiographic X-ray conversion screen, also called intensifying screen, fluorescent screen or phosphor screen. The X-ray conversion screen comprises a luminescent phosphor which converts the absorbed X-rays into visible light and the emitted visible light exposes a silver halide film that is brought into contact with said X-ray conversion screen. After film processing, comprising the steps of developing, fixing, rinsing and drying, a mammogram is obtained which can be read on a light box.
No other field of medical radiology demands such a high level of image quality as mammography and the ability of the mammogram to portray relevant diagnostic information is highly determined by the image quality of the screen-film system. Image quality is manifested by a number of features in the image including sharpness, noise, contrast, silver image colour and skin line perceptibility. It is common practice to set the amount of X-ray exposure so that the tissues on the inside of the breast are depicted at medium optical density values, i.e. in the optical density range from Dmin+1.0 to Dmin+2.5 (Dmin being defined as the base+fog density obtained after processing the unexposed film), and the diagnostic perceptibility of small, potentially malignant lesions in these tissues is highly determined by the contrast of the mammography film within said density range. A quantitative measure of the film contrast is the so-called average gradation, defined as the slope of the line drawn by connecting both points of the sensitometric curve of optical density vs. logarithmic exposure at which the optical density is equal to Dmin+1.0 and Dmin+2.5.
Conventional mammography films can roughly be classified in low and high contrast types according to the value of their average gradation as defined above. The low contrast type can be characterised by a relatively low average gradation ranging from 2.0 to 2.5 whereas the average gradation of the high contrast type may range from 3.0 to 3.5. Often, high contrast films are preferred because of the higher ability to detect tiny cancers deep in the glandular tissue of the breast. If the contrast is too high, however, it may preclude visualisation of both thin (i.e. the skin line) and thick tissues (i.e. the inside of the breast) in the same image due to lack of exposure latitude. Therefore, some radiologists prefer low contrast mammography films. When the contrast is low, skin line perceptibility is excellent, but then the chance of missing possibly malignant breast lesions is high. Thus a balance has to be found between contrast and exposure latitude and an example of this approach is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,665.
In order to extend the exposure latitude some manufacturers have introduced high contrast mammography films characterised by a higher maximum density (hereinafter referred to as Dmax) than conventional high contrast films, e.g. a Dmax equal to at least 3.7, preferably even higher than 4.0. However, a film characterised by a higher Dmax is only a minor improvement with regard to better skin line perceptibility, since the background density is too high for the skin line to be clearly visible. Indeed at optical density values above 3.5, the local gradient, i.e. the slope of the sensitometric curve must be very high in order to guarantee a reasonable perceptibility as described in the classic article `Determination of optimum film density range for rbntgenograms from visual effect` by H. Kanamori (Acta Radiol. Diagn. Vol.4, p. 463, 1966). Nevertheless, mammography films with a higher Dmax are appreciated by a growing number of radiologists because of the wider dynamic range, i.e. the density range Dmax-Dmin of the mammogram.
As a conclusion, it remains difficult to obtain mammograms with high contrast and high Dmax that also clearly depict thin tissue such as the skin line of the breast. Some improvements have been obtained by modifying the X-ray generating device, such as the scanning mammography system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,976. These solutions however require the replacement of the conventional X-ray apparatus by a completely new system of a much higher technical complexity.
Maintaining the image quality constant is becoming another requirement of facilities performing mammography. Accordingly, quality control tests are executed on a regular basis in order to monitor the consistency of the performance of the X-ray equipment, the image receptors and the film processor. To minimise the influence of varying film processing time, temperature, chemistry and replenishment, a preferred mammography film requires a stable speed and contrast with regard to these processing parameters. In addition, there is a general trend in the field of radiology to shorten the film processing time and likewise in the field of mammography, being driven by intensified screening programs, the interest has focused on rapid access of mammograms. As a consequence, mammography films are preferred which comprise silver halide crystals that can be processed rapidly and consistently in a dry-to-dry processing cycle of 90 seconds or less and therefore, most mammography films today comprise good developable cubic silver halide crystals. As described in the European Patent Application No. 712,036, such cubic crystals show a stable speed and contrast upon varying processing parameters. Cubic emulsions however are characterised by a very high contrast, resulting in a poor skin line perceptibility.
On the other hand tabular silver halide emulsion crystals, also being rapidly processable, are characterised by a much lower contrast than cubic silver halide emulsions and thus are only applicable for manufacturing low contrast mammography films. Another drawback of these tabular emulsions is the residual colour after processing: due to the larger specific area of the tabular grains compared e.g. with cubic crystals having the same crystal volume, these tabular grains require higher amounts of spectrally sensitising dye(s), which may leave dye stain after the short processing cycle. Also the brownish colour of the developed silver image of thin tabular grains is a disadvantage for mammography.

Photographic silver halide material for mammography


Methods, computer systems, and computer-storage medium are provided for providing closed-loop intelligence. A selection of data is received, at a cloud service, from a database comprising data from a plurality of sources in a Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) format to build a data model. After a feature vector corresponding to the data model is extracted, a selection of an algorithm for a machine learning model to apply to the data model is received. A portion of the selection of data is utilized for training data and test data and the machine learning model is applied to the training data. Once the model is trained, the trained machine learning model can be saved at the cloud service, where it may be accessed by others.

The advent of powerful servers, large-scale data storage and other information infrastructure has spurred the development of advanced data warehousing and data mining applications. Structured query language (SQL) engines, on-line analytical processing (OLAP) databases and inexpensive large disk arrays have for instance been harnessed in financial, scientific, medical, and other fields to capture and analyze vast streams of transactional, experimental, and other data. The mining of that data can reveal sales trends, weather patterns, disease epidemiology and other patterns not evident from more limited or smaller-scale analysis.
In the case of medical data management, the task of receiving, conditioning, and analyzing large quantities of clinical information is particularly challenging. The sources of medical data for an organization, for instance, may include various hospitals, laboratories, research or other facilities, each of which may generate data records at different times and in widely varying formats. Those various data records may be presorted or pre-processed to include different relationships between different fields of that data, based upon different assumptions or database requirements. When received in a large-scale data warehouse, the aggregation of all such differing data points may be difficult to store in a physically or logically consistent structure. Data records may, for instance, contain different numbers or types of fields, which may have to be conformed to a standard format for warehousing and searching.
Even when conditioned and stored, that aggregation of data may prove difficult to analyze or mine for the most clinically relevant or other data, such as those indicating a disease outbreak or adverse reactions to drugs or other treatments. Clinical systems are often extremely large, with a high volume of data, and utilizing that data is inefficient and requires significant processing overhead. This heavy back-end processing is time-consuming and particularly burdensome to the server and network infrastructure. Moreover, organizations are forced to rely on internally created predictive models that are tailored to internal data. Consequently, these predictive models are trained and tested on internal data only and do not benefit from training and testing on an entire population of data. As a result these predictive models are not usable or accessible by other organizations. Accordingly, currently there is not an efficient and convenient system and/or method that enables structured views of data to be aggregated into a big data architecture, to train and test predictive tools on an entire population of data, push insights gained from the predictive tools on the entire population of data into a clinical workflow, and provide access and use to these predictive tools by other organizations.


Disclosed are systems for underwriting insurance contracts. In one embodiment a system comprises a rules database of business rules specifying one or more conditions based upon one or more underwriting parameters; a user database comprising entries corresponding to registered users; and a processor configured to: provide to the user a form having a plurality of data fields generated based upon the underwriting parameters specified in the business rules; receive a plurality of inputted underwriting parameters corresponding to the data fields; determine whether the inputted underwriting parameters satisfy the business rules; and if at least one of the inputted underwriting parameters does not satisfy the business rules, provide a status message indicating that at least one business rule is not satisfied. The status message can be provided in an interface that includes a graphical element linking a part of the status message with a portion of the displayed form.

1. Field of Invention
This disclosure relates to the field of digital management of insurance underwriting, and more specifically to systems and methods for processing and managing requests for underwriting of insurance contracts.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Underwriting is the process that a financial services provider, such as an insurer, uses to assess the eligibility of a customer to receive a service, such as an insurance contract. Insurance underwriting is the detailed analysis preceding the binding of an insurance contract to determine how much coverage (if any) the customer should receive and at what premiums. The analysis may take into account a wide range of information concerning the customer's exposure to a wide variety of risks covered by the insurance. The underwriting process is crucial to an insurance provider's evaluation of whether taking on a particular risk—in exchange for collecting premium payments—will be profitable in the long run.
Typically an insurance underwriter is an individual who is given a letter of authority by his or her employer, an insurance carrier. The letter of authority defines the range of contract parameters for which the underwriter is authorized to quote or to bind the carrier to an insurance contract. For example, the underwriter may be permitted to offer property and casualty coverage on behalf of the carrier only up to a cap of $1M but not beyond. Or, the underwriter may be authorized to offer property and casualty coverage on behalf of the carrier to retail clothing businesses, but not to a construction business whose daily operations are considerably more hazardous.
An underwriter's letter of authority is typically a physical typed or printed paper letter setting forth the underwriting criteria that a case must meet for the underwriter to have binding authority. It is up to the underwriter to know the limits of his or her own authority as set forth in that letter, and to enforce those limits against the parameters of each submission they are given to underwrite. This process is error-prone, exposing carriers to risk and potential losses should an underwriter exceed his or her authority in binding an insurance contract.

Systems for digital management of underwriting insurance contracts


The present invention is directed to plant based formulations for improving liver health by protecting the liver from alcohol and chemical insults and/or by inducing phase II enzymes. Formulations according to the present invention include wasabi root fiber powder, artichoke leaf extract, asparagus dehydrate, kudzu root extract, oregano extract, schisandra berry extract, notoginseng (ethanol extract of Panax notoginseng root), sanchi (water extracts from Panax notoginseng root), Gegen root extract (Pueraria omeiensis), spinach dehydrate, or combinations thereof.

The present invention is directed to unique formulations of plant-based extracts that work synergistically to aid in good liver health. More specifically, the present invention relates to a unique formulation of plant-based extracts that assist in protecting the liver from alcohol and chemically induced damage.
The liver is one of the hardest working organs in the body. Good liver function is important for balanced hormone levels, weight control and maintenance, cholesterol levels, skin health and general health. The liver serves as the body's clearing house and is responsible for the metabolism of a number of substances, including alcohol, and plays an important role in the detoxification of toxins in the body. Phase II enzymes are part of this detoxification process because they aid in the removal of potential carcinogens from the body. As a result of its function in the body, the liver is under constant attack and prone to damage from environmental toxins, impurities, alcohol, prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Many hepatotoxicants such as carbon tetrachloride, nitrosamines, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are metabolically activated by liver enzymes to form reactive, toxic metabolites that cause injury to the liver in humans.
Thus, a formulation of plant-based extracts that aids in protecting the liver against alcohol and carbon tetrachloride insults would be useful. Additionally, a plant-based formulation that works to induce phase II enzymes responsible for detoxifying the liver would be useful.

Plant-based formulations for improving liver health

Access Business Group International LLC.


A voice converting apparatus and a voice converting method are provided. The method of converting a voice using a voice converting apparatus including receiving a voice from a counterpart, analyzing the voice and determining whether the voice abnormal, converting the voice into a normal voice by adjusting a harmonic signal of the voice in response to determining that the voice is abnormal, and transmitting the normal voice.

1. Field
Methods and apparatuses consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to voice converting, and more particularly, to a voice converting apparatus which analyzes a voice of counterpart during phone call, coverts the voice of the counterpart into a normal voice, and outputs the voice, and a method for converting a user voice thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, due in part to an increase in air pollution, activities in restricted spaces, and use of mobile phones, some people suffer from a sore larynx and thereby experience change in their voices. Particularly, when a person's larynx is hurt due to any of a variety of reasons, a person's voice may change abnormally. Also, there are some people who naturally have what is spectrally considered to be an abnormal voice. Further, radio spectrum pollution, in the form of noise and loss of signal strength, may also distort a person's received voice such that appears abnormal.
Such an abnormal voice which may not be recognized properly may not only interfere with an attempt to have a smooth conversation with others, but may also cause discomfort and even misunderstandings.
For example, when an abnormal voice is heard during a phone call which may be performed through a communication terminal (for example, wired phone call, wireless phone call, etc.), a user may not recognize the voice properly and sometimes, it may not be possible to continue the conversation via phone.
Accordingly, a method and/or an apparatus that may help allow a user to have a smooth phone conversation with a counterpart who transmits an abnormal voice is desired.

Voice converting apparatus and method for converting user voice thereof


Computer programs and computer-implemented methods implement techniques for applying a modification operation to vector objects in an image. These include receiving user input applying a modification operation in an image, identifying one or more vector objects to be affected by the modification operation and changing one or more attribute values for one or more of the attributes of each identified vector object according to the modification operation. The techniques can also include receiving user input selecting one of a plurality of image processing modes, each of the image processing modes defining a method of changing attribute values for of one or more of the attributes.

This application relates to computer-implemented vector illustration programs and methods and techniques for modifying vector objects using such programs and methods.
In conventional computer graphics or illustration programs, such as Adobe® Illustrator®, available from Adobe Systems Incorporated of San Jose, Calif., an image can include multiple graphical elements representing, e.g., shapes, objects or other components of the image. In general, vector illustration programs create and manipulate graphics in which such graphical elements are represented as vector objects that have attributes that define the visual characteristics of the corresponding graphical element in the image, such as location, color, size, shape, orientation, transparency, and the like, based on a set of attribute values. Vector objects describe graphics mathematically, using, e.g., lines and curves that define their geometric characteristics. For example, a bicycle tire in a vector graphic is made up of a mathematical definition of a circle drawn with a certain radius, set at a specific location, and filled with a specific color. Vector objects can be edited—e.g., the location, size, or color attributes can be changed—by changing attribute values associated with the object.
By contrast, many painting and image-editing programs, such as Adobe Photoshop, generate and manipulate bitmap or raster images. Raster images use a grid of pixels to represent graphics, with each pixel having a specific location and color value. A bicycle tire in a bitmap image is made up of a collection of pixels, with each pixel forming part of a mosaic that gives the appearance of a tire. A raster image is edited by editing pixels (i.e., by changing color or opacity values associated with a pixel), rather than objects or shapes.

Abstract: In preferred embodiments, feedback is provided to the user of how attribute values for the attributes of vector objects are changing within the image.


Sewage manholes having a deteriorated or defective manhole housing which is subject to undesired ground water infiltration are rehabilitated by inserting annularly expandable tubular sleeve assemblies partially into each inflow and outflow pipe of the manhole, connecting the sleeve assemblies to one another via an annularly-closed tubular conduit or network of tubular conduits and then sealing the sleeve assemblies to the inflow and outflow pipes and to the tubular conduit or conduits to form a fluid flow path between the inflow and outflow pipes which is sealably enclosed against water infiltration and sewage exfiltration.

The present invention relates generally to the construction of sewage manholes such as are utilized in municipal sewage and waste water handling systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for rehabilitating deteriorated or otherwise defective sewage manholes.
In a typical municipal sewage handling system, an extensive network of underground pipes are provided to carry sewage and other waste waters to a municipal waste water treatment facility or other suitable treatment facility to purify the water for return to the municipal water supply. While the input of sewage per se into a municipality's water treatment system is generally predictable, the impact of fluctuations in rainfall and the resultant surface water run-off into a sewer system is highly unpredictable and, during periods of heavy rainfall, can overload a municipality's water treatment system. For example, it is not uncommon for a municipal treatment facility to receive on a rainy day two to three times the volume of sewage water received on a normal day without rain.
This problem of handling sewage water fluctuations due to intermittent rainfall can be significantly compounded by the presence in a municipality's sewer system of old deteriorating manhole structures and other manhole structures which may otherwise be defective and leaky because of faulty workmanship, settling, or other reasons. Local municipal ordinances and codes uniformly require the provision of manholes at periodic intervals along sewer lines to provide access into the sewer system when necessary to remove blockages, perform repairs, and correct other periodic problems. Generally, such manholes are subterranean structures which may be of a cast concrete construction or, in older manholes, may be of a brick and mortar construction. In either case, manholes should be sufficiently water-tight to prevent infiltration of ground water into the sewer system by seepage through the walls of the manhole. However, over time, the gases which are typically present in sewage, especially sulphide gas, gradually corrode and deteriorate mortar and concrete in manholes, to the point of ultimately permitting a substantial degree of ground water infiltration. Also, relatively new manholes can be subject to leakage and infiltration due to poor workmanship, earth shifting, or settling and like reasons. During periods of rainy weather, it is not uncommon for water infiltration through a single deteriorated or defective manhole to amount to ten to twenty gallons per hour and, thus, over an entire municipal sewer system, deteriorated and defective manholes can substantially contribute to overloading of a municipality's water treatment facility, the cost of which in turn is ultimately borne by the taxpayers.
Various means have been proposed for addressing the problem of deteriorated and defective manholes. The most obvious but most extreme and costly solution is to excavate, remove, and completely rebuild a deteriorated and defective manhole. A common alternative which is less extreme but still nevertheless costly is to construct a new water tight interior lining within the interior of an existing manhole's original wall structure. While these techniques can be generally effective for their intended purpose, the cost of implementing these solutions on a system-wide basis is viewed by many municipalities as being cost prohibitive. Accordingly, a substantial need exists for a simple and inexpensive yet effective means for rehabilitating deteriorated and defective manholes which will enable municipalities to minimize the strain imposed on water treatment facilities by ground water infiltration of manholes.

Method and apparatus for rehabilitating sewage manholes