A surgical robot system includes a surgical robot, a robot arm connected to such surgical robot, and an end-effector connected to the robot arm. A registration fixture is used in conjunction with various registration systems in the surgical robot system. Such registration systems likewise include a detachable base in the form of a detachable dynamic reference base, along with an associated mount, the dynamic reference base and mount having certain features which permit the dynamic reference base to be selectively attached, detached, and reattached at different phases of an operation, whether pre-operative or intra-operative, and such successive attachments are done without the dynamic reference base, and tracking markers associated therewith, losing registration. Related methods allow for the more efficient and effective performance of operations by virtue of the dynamic reference base maintaining its registration during attachments and reattachments.

Position recognition systems for robot assisted surgeries are used to determine the position of and track a particular object in 3-dimensions (3D). In robot assisted surgeries, for example, certain objects, such as surgical instruments, need to be tracked with a high degree of precision as the instrument is being positioned and moved by a robot or by a physician, for example.
Position recognition systems may use passive and/or active sensors or markers for registering and tracking the positions of the objects. Using these sensors, the system may geometrically resolve the 3-dimensional position of the sensors based on information from or with respect to one or more cameras, signals, or sensors, etc. These surgical systems can therefore utilize position feedback to precisely guide movement of robotic arms and tools relative to a patients' surgical site. Thus, there is a need for a system that efficiently and accurately provides neuronavigation registration and robotic trajectory guidance in a surgical environment.
Position recognition systems for robot-assisted surgeries often make use of registration fixtures as part of the aforesaid neuronavigation registration, robotic trajectory guidance, or for still other positioning and related functions for robotic-assisted surgery. Tracking markers are likewise used by position recognition systems and/or associated registration fixtures, and it is often necessary to have the positions of such tracking markers determined, registered, or otherwise subject to processing for purposes of the position recognition systems, navigation, or robotic trajectory guidance. In certain implementations, dynamic reference bases, referred to, at times, as DRBs, may be associated with the position recognition systems, including registration fixtures, stereotactic frames, and the like, and the aforementioned tracking markers may likewise be associated with such DRBs.
It is thus advantageous for position determinations of tracking markers or registration fixtures, including DRBs, to be accomplished efficiently and accurately. Registrations of tracking markers generally involve position and orientation relative to one or more of the registration fixture, patient, or anatomy to be operated upon, and such registration may need to be determined or maintained pre-operatively and again intra-operatively.
The need to employ GPS-assisted or other navigation protocols dependent on tracking markers and position determinations likewise may not be optimized when DRBs and their related positioning systems fall out of registration, or otherwise require repetitive verifications, registrations, repositionings, and the like.
To the extent certain of the determinations are associated with a non-sterile environment whereas other determinations are associated with a sterile environment, the foregoing determinations of position or registration are further complicated.

System for neuronavigation registration and robotic trajectory guidance, robotic surgery, and related methods and devices


The invention discloses a vaccine and methods for the treatment of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome. The vaccine is derived from the viral agent NEB-l-P94, deposited at the American Type Culture Collection under accession number VR-2525.. Further, the invention discloses a vaccine virus with phenotypic characteristics which can be distinguished from wild type PRRS virus.

The present invention relates to a vaccine for the treatment of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS).
In 1987, the swine-producing industry in the United States experienced an unknown infectious disease which had a serious economic impact on the swine industry. The disease syndrome was reported in Europe including Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and England.
The disease is characterized by reproductive failure, respiratory disease and various clinical signs including loss of appetite, fever, dyspnea, and mild neurologic signs. A major component of the syndrome is reproductive failure which manifests itself as premature births, late term abortions, pigs born weak, stillbirths, mummified fetuses, decreased farrowing rates, and delayed return of estrus. Clinical signs of respiratory disease are most pronounced in pigs under 3-weeks-of-age but are reported to occur in pigs at all stages of production. Affected piglets grow slowly, have roughened hair coats, respiratory distress ("thumping"), and increased mortality.
The disease syndrome has been referred to by many different terms including mystery swine disease (MSD), porcine epidemic abortion and respiratory syndrome (PEARS), swine infertility and respiratory syndrome (SIRS). The name now commonly used is porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS); this term will be employed throughout this patent application.
It is an object of the invention to provide a vaccine which protects a pig against clinical disease caused by PRRS. Another object is to provide a vaccine which, when administered to a breeding swine herd, will reduce the presence of PRRS in their population.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome vaccine


There is provided a multi-finger hand device which can perform smooth bending and stretching operations of finger mechanisms in holding work of an object or the like while reducing the number of actuators as driving sources of the bending and stretching operations of the finger mechanisms. Wires 29a and 29b, and wires 30a and 30b extending from the finger mechanisms 2b to 2e biased to the stretching side by springs 16 or the like are joined to joining element 32 and 33, respectively. A wire 31 provided extensionally from the finger mechanism 2a is wound onto a pulley 36 and drawn from the base side of the hand 3. The joining elements 32 and 33 are rockably held by a holding element 43 via spindles 44 and 45. The holding element 43 is provided movably and rockably around a spindle 42. The pulley 36 is held by the holding element 43 and moves together with the holding element 43. By pulling the wire 31, the bending operations of the finger mechanisms 2a to 2e are performed collectively. During bending and stretching operations of the finger mechanisms 2a to 2e, even if any of the finger mechanisms touches an object or the like and is disabled to move, the bending and stretching operations of the other finger mechanisms can be performed.

A multi-finger hand device having a structure similar to that of a human hand is configured such that a plurality of finger mechanisms are provided extensionally from a hand attached to a tip end of an arm, each having a plurality of interjoint elements sequentially connected via a plurality of finger joints.
In this type of multi-finger hand device, there have been known in the prior art those in which, for each finger mechanism, an actuator for driving the finger joints of the finger mechanism is provided apart from the finger mechanism (for example, in the hand or arm), this actuator is connected to the finger mechanism via a wire element and a pulley element onto which the wire element is wound, and the wire element is pulled by the actuator to allow the finger mechanism to perform bending and stretching operations (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.207795 (1985), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8178 (1994) or the like).
However, these conventional multi-finger hand devices, being provided with an actuator for each finger mechanism, can control the bending and stretching operations of the respective finger mechanisms independently, while large space is necessary for mounting a number of actuators. Furthermore, since the wire element connecting the finger mechanism and the actuator corresponding to the same are required for each finger mechanism, space for arranging a number of wire elements is also necessary and the arrangement of the wire elements becomes complicated.
In order to solve such inconveniences, it can be considered that, for example, the respective finger mechanisms are biased via springs or the like toward their stretching side or bending side, that the wire elements provided extensionally from the respective finger mechanisms are combined with each other, and that the combined wire elements are pulled by a single actuator, whereby bending operations or stretching operations of the respective finger mechanisms can be performed collectively.
However, in such a case, for example, when the bending operations of the respective finger mechanisms are performed to hold an object, and one of the finger mechanisms touches the object or another obstacle, thereby being disabled to perform the bending operation further, the other finger mechanisms may also be disabled to perform their bending operations further, thereby being disabled to hold the object properly. Furthermore, in a case where the respective finger mechanisms are stretched from the bending state, when one of the finger mechanisms touches an obstacle or the like, thereby being disabled to perform the stretching operation further, the other finger mechanisms are also disabled to perform the stretching operations.
The present invention is achieved in view of the above-mentioned background, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-finger hand device which bends and stretches a plurality of finger mechanisms via wire elements, wherein smooth bending and stretching operations of the finger mechanisms can be performed in holding work of an object or the like while reducing the number of actuators as driving sources of the bending and stretching operations of the finger mechanisms.


The present invention relates to a half-pel motion estimation method. The calculation object half-pel, which is in the block of the previous or next reference frame, is not estimated additionally for each block of the current frame divided into blocks of a predetermined size. The present invention suggests an algorithm that can perform half-pel search only with a SAD value used in integer-pel search and a random variable for correcting errors. Since the present invention does not have to generate half-pel for motion estimation, the calculation amount is amazingly reduced and the calculation time is reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a half-pel searching method of a moving picture encoder, and more particularly, to a fast half-pel searching method for reducing calculation amount and calculation time. In the fast half-pel searching method of the present invention, half-pels are estimated and searched by using a stochastically selected value and SAD values of eight surrounding pixels used in searching for integer-pels to remove the necessity to access to a memory for integer-pel data, so that calculation amount and calculation time are reduced.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital image data is generally used in video conference, a high fidelity Television, a video-on-demand (VOD) receiver, a moving picture experts group (MPEG) image supporting personal computer, a video game system, a digital ground wave broadcast system, a digital satellite broadcast system and a cable television (CATV). The digital image data is however not used as itself but is rather compressed by an efficient compression method because the data amount is greatly increased due to the characteristics of the image and the process for converting an analog signal into a digital signal.
Three compression methods are generally being used for the compression of digital image data. Mainly used are a method to reduce temporal redundancy, a method to reduce special redundancy and a compression method using stochastic properties of generation codes. The representative method to reduce temporal redundancy is the motion estimation and compensation method, which is being used in most moving picture compression standards such as MPEG, H.263, etc.
The motion estimation and compensation method is used to search for the most similar portion from a previous or next reference screen with respect to the particular portion of a current screen, and transmit only the difference components between the two portions. In the motion estimation and compensation method, the more finely motion vectors are searched, the more the amount of the difference components to be transmitted is reduced so that the amount of data is effectively reduced. However, to search the most similar portion from the previous or next screen, a large amount of estimation time and a calculation amount are required. Accordingly, it has been studied to reduce the motion estimation time that occupies the largest amount when the moving picture is encoded.
On the other hand, there are a pixel-by-pixel basis estimation method and a block-by-block basis estimation method as the motion estimation method. The block-by-block basis estimation method is the most popularly used representative algorithm.
In the block-by-block basis estimation method, image is divided into blocks of a predetermined size and the most matched block with the block of a current image is found in the search region of the current image. The difference between the found block and the current image block is called a motion vector. The motion vector is encoded and processed. Various match functions can be used for a match calculation of two blocks. The most popular function is the sum of absolute difference (SAD) value that is the sum of absolute values of differences of pixels between two blocks.
Thus, after the final integer-pel is obtained by integer-pel search, a better quality image is displayed through half-pel search in the moving picture standards such as MPEG-2 or more developed versions. In such a half-pel search, half-pels are calculated for eight pixels around the finally obtained integer-pel, the SAD values are obtained for the obtained half-pel blocks, and the half-pel having the smallest SAD value is searched.
However, in the conventional half-pel searching method, integer-pel data is used repeatedly and also the integer-pels have to be read at least four times randomly, it requires a calculation time at least four times as much as that required by the integer-pel searching method for one block. Since most of multimedia machines use SDRAM, when random memory access such as a half-pel search occurs, the half-pel search requires a considerable calculation time actually as a large amount of delay time is elapsed.
Therefore, the efficient implementation of the half-pel search, which is essentially included in the moving picture-related standards such as MPEG-2 or more developed versions, is the core in encoding the moving picture in real-time, and has been being researched and developed.

Fast half-pel searching method on the basis of SAD values according to integer-pel search and random variable corresponding to each macro block

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A cleated crate having opposing side panels and opposing end panels, hingedly connected together pairs of opposing inner and outer hinges which define corners in the crate. Each hinge comprises a pair of members having trapezoidal shapes in cross-section which defines a neck surface and an opposing shoulder surface and an oblique surface and an opposing back surface. The elongated members in the inner hinges are disposed in mirrored relation with the necks side-by-side and the oblique surfaces defining a V-shaped channel on a side of the hinge. The members are secured together by a pair of U-shaped staples driven into the butt ends. The members pivot to a second position for bringing the oblique surfaces into bearing contact. The elongated members in the outer hinges are disposed in mirrored relation with the distal edges of the members defined by the respective oblique surface and the shoulder surface in touching contact. The oblique surfaces define a V-shaped channel on a side of the hinge. The members are joined together by a pair of plates attached at opposing distal ends. The members pivot on the plates to a second position for bringing the oblique surfaces into bearing contact.

Manufacturers of large, heavy durable goods such as lawn and garden equipment, recreational vehicles, and appliances, package the goods in containers for handling, storing, and shipping the goods from manufactures to consumers. Often the containers with the goods are stored in warehouses waiting for distribution by trucks or other vehicles to retailers and to consumers. The containers are typically stacked in warehouses in order to conserve space, and generally are stacked four to six containers high. The crates must have strong tensile strength to permit shipping and storage of stacks of crates. Also, the upper units in stacked shipment exert large "racking" forces on the lower units. The racking forces a rise from the momentum of the upper units as truck trailers or rail cars change velocity, start, and stop. These forces tend to loosen the staples applied to the corners of the crates. Loosened staples reduce the rigidity of the crate and may cause the crate to collapse, causing damage to the product contained therein and may result in injury or safety hazards to persons nearby.
The structural components of the containers accordingly must allow for handling by specialized material handling equipment such as forklift trucks, clamp trucks and the like while also protecting the products held in the container. The container must provide for stacking, whereby top loads are transferred through the containers to the bases. Wood cleated corrugated paperboard containers such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,256 generally have meet the packaging needs of manufacturers of durable goods. The article, such as a tractor, sits on a rigid wood base which receives a wood cleat reinforced corrugated paperboard body. The body is formed from a blank of corrugated paperboard material folded on scores to define main panels. The ends of the blank join with adhesive to define a tubular body. The body folds on the scores to a knocked-down configuration. The body is squared-open on the assembly line and lifted over the tractor on the wood base. Staples secure the corrugated paperboard body to the wood base. While these cleated corrugated containers meet the needs for low cost containers having durability and load-bearing performance, added protection is required for use in outside, unprotected environments. These protections often involve water resistant coatings or other water repellant features to reduce the effects of moisture on the corrugated panels.
Some manufacturers of lawn and garden tractors and riding lawn mowers package the goods in wood cleated crates. Wood cleated crates are particularly suited for long term outside storage. Conventional wood cleated crates for packaging such articles typically are comprised of separate loose sides, ends, tops, and bases. These components are known in the trade as "crate shook". Two sides and two ends are used together with a base and a top for assembly of a wood cleated crate. The separate components are stapled or nailed together at the assembly line during packaging of the goods. This requires much assembly line labor, fasteners, and time. The crate-line personnel must keep up with the line speed to prevent backups or being overwhelmed with products for packaging. One problem with using crate shook on assembly lines is the consistency of assembly of the components to form a complete crate. The crating line personnel must quickly align edges of the components, hold the components in position, and use conventional air-held air staple guns to connect the components together.
Various crates have been proposed to overcome the need to assemble crate shook during packaging. One type of such crates is known as wire bound wood crates. The opposing sides and opposing ends are positioned side-by-side and strands of steel wire are stapled girth wise to the faces of the sides and ends. The strands of wire join the sides and ends together. Typically there are five to seven strands of wires which extend the full length horizontally across the two sides and two ends. Staples are used to attach the wires to the crate shook. The wire strands form "hinges" across the adjacent sides and ends. The hinges permit the mat to fold. The mat thereafter wraps around the base which supports the heavy article to be packaged. The final corners in the crate is formed by hand stapling the adjacent edges of the side and end or by being tied with wire twists. A top frame made of wood is then set in place and stapled to the crate.
Although wire bound wood crates minimize the stapling required to assemble the crate, there are disadvantages involved with using such crates. The wires are long and interfere with disposal and recycling efforts. Continuous wire strands make manufacturing of the mat easier but it is difficult and impractical to extract the hundreds of staples which secure the wires to the crate shook, in order to dispose of the wood components after the crate has served its purpose. The wires also make grinding the wood components impractical. Such wire bound crates accordingly must be burned or placed in land fills for disposal. Such disposal techniques are no longer environmentally satisfactory.
The wire bound crates are also difficult to handle while packaging. The crates are shipped as long mats which take up significant space in warehouses and delivery trucks. Each mat is manually folded around the base during packaging. Manual handling of the extended mats is difficult and awkward. The wire-type corners that define the hinges also are typically stiff and difficult to fold into squared-up corners. The resulting crates mis-alignments or angled components, may cause stacks of such crates to lean or even to fold.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for cleated crates which are free of such disadvantages while providing a wood cleated crate for packaging heavy goods on assembly lines. It is to the provision of such that the present invention is directed.


A nonvolatile memory device includes a plurality of memory blocks, and a pass transistor array transmitting a plurality of drive signals to a selected memory block among the plurality of memory blocks in response to a block select signal. The pass transistor array includes high voltage transistors including one common drain and two sources formed in one active region and one of the plurality of drive signals transmitted to the common drain is transmitted to different memory blocks through the two sources.

The present inventive concept herein relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly, to a nonvolatile memory device.
Semiconductor devices are memory devices fabricated from semiconductor material such as silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide and indium phosphide. Semiconductor memory devices are generally classified as either volatile memory devices or nonvolatile memory devices.
Volatile memory devices lose their stored data when the supply of power is interrupted, and examples thereof include static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), and synchronous DRAM (SDRAM). On the other hand, nonvolatile memory devices retain their stored data even when the supply of power is interrupted. Examples of nonvolatile memory devices include read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable and programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, phase change RAM (PRAM), magnetic RAM (MRAM), resistive RAM (RRAM), and ferroelectric RAM (FRAM).

Nonvolatile memory device and method of driving the same


A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack, a fluid unit including a heat exchanger for heating an oxygen-containing gas, before the oxygen-containing gas is supplied to the fuel cell stack, and a casing for containing the fuel cell stack and the fluid unit. A first output terminal is electrically connected to one electrode, and provided adjacent to an end plate. A second output terminal is electrically connected to another electrode through a tightening member, and provided adjacent to the end plate. The fluid unit is provided adjacent to an end plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel cell system including a fuel cell formed by sandwiching an electrolyte electrode assembly between a pair of separators. The electrolyte electrode assembly includes an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte interposed between the anode and the cathode.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) employs an electrolyte of ion-conductive solid oxide such as stabilized zirconia. The electrolyte is interposed between an anode and a cathode to form an electrolyte electrode assembly (unit cell). The electrolyte electrode assembly is interposed between separators (bipolar plates). In use, a predetermined numbers of the unit cells and the separators are stacked together to form a fuel cell stack.
In the fuel cell, an oxygen-containing gas or air is supplied to the cathode. The oxygen in the oxygen-containing gas is ionized at the interface between the cathode and the electrolyte, and the oxygen ions (O2−) move toward the anode through the electrolyte. A fuel gas such as a hydrogen-containing gas or CO is supplied to the anode. Oxygen ions react with the hydrogen in the hydrogen-containing gas to produce water or react with CO to produce CO2. Electrons released in the reaction flow through an external circuit to the cathode, creating a DC electric energy.
As an example of the fuel cell stack formed by stacking a plurality of fuel cells, a fuel cell stack disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3,251,919 is known. According to the disclosure of Japanese Patent No. 3,251,919, as shown in FIG. 9, a fuel cell stack 2 is disposed in a pressure casing 1, and the fuel cell stack 2 is surrounded by thermal insulation material 3. Upper and lower tightening plates 4a, 4b of the fuel cell stack 2 are tightened by cylindrical tightening bolts 5.
Current terminals 6a, 6b are provided at upper and lower positions of the fuel cell stack 2. The current terminal 6a is connected to a current cable 7. The current cable 7 is inserted into one of the cylindrical tightening bolts 5, and connected to a current outlet 8a. The current terminal 6b is connected to a current outlet 8b adjacent to the current outlet 8a. A purge gas inlet pipe 9 is connected to the tightening bolts 5. A purge gas for cooling the current cable 7 is supplied through the purge gas inlet pipe 9.
Typically, fluid units such as a heat exchanger for heating an oxygen-containing gas and a reformer for reforming a fuel gas are provided for the fuel cell stack 2. However, in the structure of Japanese Patent No. 3,251,919, the fluid units cannot be suitably disposed in the pressure casing 1.
Further, the current cable 7 is inserted into the cylindrical tightening bolt 5, and the purge gas inlet pipe 9 for supplying the purge gas which cools the current cable 7 is connected to the tightening bolts 5. Therefore, the structure of the fuel cell stack 2 is complicated, and the production cost of the fuel cell 2 is high. Further, the layout of the fluid units is difficult.


A therapeutic composition and method of using the same for the palliation or relief of pain in patients having diseases which affect the bone and bone joints including metastatic bone cancer, arthritis, and other inflammatory arthropathies. The therapeutic composition comprises as the active agent a complex formed of non-radioactive metal ions and organic phosphonic acid ligands, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.

Various forms and types of disease are known to negatively affect and damage the bones and bone joints of humans and animals. Typically these diseases cause severe and often chronic pain which increases over time eventually progressing to result in loss of function and/or destruction of the joints of the body. The source of this pain and joint damage varies depending upon the disease.
For instance, osteoarthritis is a common degenerative joint disorder which normally affects older persons. Osteoarthritis is marked by inflammation of the joint causing swelling, pain and stiffness reducing the mobility and activity of the patient. These symptoms increase in intensity and regularity with advancing age. The constant inflammation can eventually lead to complete or partial loss of function and damage to the larger weight-bearing joints of the body.
The rheumatic diseases, particularly rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis are also marked by chronic inflammation primarily of the synovial tissue leading to pannus formation and eventual destruction of the articular cartilage. In addition to inflammation problems, these diseases also cause the release of various enzymes including collagenase and lysosomal enzymes in the affected area. These enzymes act to indiscriminately destroy extra-cellular collagen fibers and ultimately destroy the connective tissue surrounding the joints.
Another relatively common disease known to affect the bone is metastatic bone cancer which often times accompanies primary cancers in other tissues, notably the lung, breast, and prostate. This form of cancer causes abnormal cell activity in bone, resulting in severe pain and consequent immobility, anorexia, and the need for long-term narcotic analgesia. More specifically, this disease is often associated with overactive osteoblasts (cells which are normally associated with new bone growth) in the bone which cause excessive bone growth in the area of the cancer. Alternatively, the disease may cause abnormally high osteoclastic activity (osteoclasts are cells normally associated with bone resorption) in bone resulting in the destruction of the bone material. Those individuals having excessive osteoclastic activity may also suffer from a condition known as hypercalcaemia caused by excessive levels of calcium ions in the blood resulting from the bone being dissolved or destroyed at an increased rate.
Osteoarthritis, the rheumatic diseases, metastatic bone cancer and other less common forms of inflammatory arthropathies affect great numbers of people in the United States. The cost of treatment and care combined with loss of work time and productivity is incalculable. For instance, it is estimated that one to three percent of the population in the United States is afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis with more than half of these patients suffering inflammation and eventual destruction of the hand and knee joints. With an increasing survival time in the population, these diseases constitute one of the greatest medical, social, and economic problems existing today.
Successful treatment of these diseases generally focuses on pain relief, reduction of inflammation, and preservation of the remaining functional capacity of joints and the adjoining muscles. While complete resolution of the pathological process (e.g. a cure) has not been found, successful early treatment particularly in the case of rheumatoid and osteoarthritis may avert the destructive, deforming phase of the disease.
Presently, the primary method of treating the rheumatoid diseases and arthritis is by drug therapy using anti-inflammatory compounds directed at blocking or reducing synovial inflammation thereby improving function and analgesics directed to reducing pain. Aspirin and other salicylate compounds are frequently used in treatment to interrupt amplification of the inflammatory process and temporarily relieve the pain. Other drug compounds used for these purposes include phenylpropionic acid derivatives such as Ibuprofen and Naproxin, Sulindac, phenyl butazone, corticosteroids, antimalarials such as chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine sulfate, and fenemates. For a thorough review of various drugs utilized in treating rheumatic diseases, reference is made to J. Hosp. Pharm., 36:622 (May 1979).
While these known drug therapies have utility, there are drawbacks to their use. For instance, it may take up to six months of consistent use of some of these medications in order for the product to have effect in relieving the patient's pain. Consequently if the product doesn't work for that particular patient, it could take up to six months before the physician is able to accurately make that assessment. Many of these drugs also cause serious side effects in certain patients, and therefore the patient should be carefully monitored to assure that these side effects are not unduly threatening. Most of these drugs bring only temporary relief to the patient and therefore must be taken consistently on a daily or weekly basis for continued relief. As the disease progresses, the amount of medicant needed to alleviate the pain may increase to relatively high daily doses. The potential for adverse side effects consequently increases with higher dosage amounts. To further complicate matters, many of these patients suffer from other conditions which require them to take a variety of different medications, increasing the risk of negative side effects and interaction between drugs.
Some treatments not only reduce the amount of inflammation and pain, but actually slow the progression of the disease or joint destruction. For instance, gold salts such as gold sodium thiomalate, aurothioglucose, and other sources of auric and aurous ions are said to produce a favorable response in about 75 percent of patients with actual disease remission in 20-25 percent. One major drawback to the use of gold therapy is that the gold is distributed via the blood system not only to the diseased joint, but to a number of tissues in the body including the liver, skin, bone, bone marrow, eyes, and reticuloendothelial system. The gold often causes serious adverse reactions in these tissues including dermatitis, nephrotoxicity, blood dyscrasias and ocular toxicity. A certain amount of the gold also binds with humoral or cellular components such as serum albumin making the bound gold unavailable for purposes of treatment.
Since only a percentage of the total amount of gold administered is actually delivered to the diseased site, significantly high doses of the compound are required for effective treatment. Yet, the risk of adverse reactions is only exacerbated and more pronounced, in certain circumstances becoming life threatening, by virtue of the large dosage amounts administered. It is known to reduce the toxic effects of gold therapy by use of a selenium-containing compound. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,286 to Stockel, et al.). However, the amount of gold required for treatment and delivered to the various organs of the body is not reduced using this detoxification method, the selenium is merely provided to expedite elimination of the gold from those organs which can be most severely negatively affected such as the renal system and liver.
A relatively new method of treating rheumatoid arthritis which is also believed to actually slow the progression of the disease is the use of D-penicillamine, a natural metabolite of penicillin. Like many of the other drugs used in the past, penicillamine has drawbacks because it is relatively slow-acting requiring 8-12 weeks of use before it can be determined whether the patient is responding. Penicillamine can also cause several adverse effects and can be toxic in some patients.
Where the inflammation is present in larger joints such as the knee for example, an alternative to drug therapy is the surgical incision of the inflamed synovium using a procedure known as surgical synovectomy. In this procedure the inflamed synovium and pannus formation are surgically removed which tends to relieve the pain and in many cases proves to arrest the disease. In order to avoid the risks of surgery it is also known to destroy the diseased synovium by a procedure known as radiation synovectomy. Radiation synovectomy consist of injecting a radionuclide directly into the articular region affected whereby the radiation kills the diseased tissue to abate the inflamed synovium. Known methods of radiation synovectomy include intra-articular injection of .sup.121 Sn hydroxide in a carrier (See, U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,450 to Lieberman, et al.) and .sup.153 Sm labeled particulate hydroxyapatite (citation).
Radionuclides have also been delivered to the affected area by the use of bone seeking carriers or agents. For instance, the use of .beta.-emitting radionuclides .sup.186 Re and .sup.153 Sm complexed with phosphonates have been suggested for relieving pain in patients with metastatic bone cancer. (See, Coordination Compounds in Nuclear Medicine, Chem. Rev. 1993, 93, 1137-1156, 1148). Phosphonates were initially shown to have a high affinity for sites of actively growing bone when used in skeletal or bone imaging. Di-phosphonate products have also been used for the treatment of various diseases associated with bone joint pain and destruction. For example, 3-amino-1-hydroxypropylidene 1-di-phosphonate commercially available as Pamidronate from Ciba Geigy is known to reduce the pain of abnormal bone turnover known to exist in Paget's Disease (a disease with the symptoms of marked pain and stiffness of bone and joints). Another di-phosphonate product known as Clodronate (di-chloromethane di-phosphonate) and commercially available from Boerhinger has been found to reduce pain and damage in patients having extensive destruction of the lumbar spine. The di-phosphonates have also been used as resorption inhibitors for the treatment of malignant hypercalcaemia associated with overactive osteoclasts. (See Bone Metastases, R. D. Rubins and I. Fogelman, Springer-Verlag London Ltd. 1991).
In a recent study of radionuclide complexes used for radiotherapy in bone tumors, complexes of .sup.117m Sn with the ligands of pyrophosphate, phosphonate, anddiethylene-triaminepentaacetid acid (DTPA) were prepared. The investigators reported that the .sup.117m Sn-DTPA complex was best suited for radiotherapy and that the tin compound itself acted as a bone-localizing agent having a tendency for high bone uptake. See, e.g. Int. J. Nucl. Med. Biol., Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 167-174 (1985); see also, Radiology, Vol. 186, No. 1 pp. 279-283 (1993).
Thus, the two methods that have primarily been suggested for radiotherapy are articular injection whereby the material is directly injected into the joint for treatment, or i.v. injection whereby the radionuclide complexed with a ligand such as phosphonate is injected intravenously and rapidly localized to the skeleton. While these methods of application attempt to distribute the radionuclide only to the affected area, studies have indicated that activity is leaked or distributed to other parts of the body even when using these techniques. The major drawbacks of these radiotherapeutic agents are the relatively low bone lesion uptake and undesirably high radiation dose to normal tissues. The other problem involved in the preparation of these radiotherapeutic agents is the lack of availability of the radionuclides. Radionuclides are produced from a nuclear reactor or an accelerator Currently there are very few of the radionuclide production facilities operating in the world, which have seriously limited the availability of the medical radionuclides. Furthermore, many radionuclides are either difficult to produce, such as .sup.117m Sn, which can only be produced from a high flux reactor, or too short-lived to be shipped throughout the country, such as .sup.121 Sn (27 hours). As a result, there are very few radiodiagnostic and radiotherapeutic bone agents that have been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
While the rheumatoid diseases, osteoarthritis, metastatic bone cancer and other crippling arthropathies differ somewhat as to source and symptoms, there are certain factors common to each. Firstly, the disease causes chronic or severe pain which significantly impairs the quality of life for the patients. Secondly, the disease, when advanced, causes bone destruction and/or abnormal bone growth. Thirdly, while various forms of drug therapy have been developed for treating these conditions, none have proven successful without continued dosing and/or unwanted side effects. In addition, the drug may be distributed throughout many parts of the body causing toxic side effects in the skin, the liver, the urinary tract and other vital organs. Fourthly, while various forms of radiotreatment have been developed to destroy diseased tissue and/or reduce pain, these treatments involve the use of potentially harmful radioactive materials in the body, are relatively expensive and not easily adapted for convenient use in many doctors' offices or clinics. Thus, there remains a need in the art to develop new methods of treatment to reduce the pain experienced by these patients, and to reduce or prevent joint destruction with minimal negative side effects to the patient.
Thus, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a composition and method for the palliation of pain in patients with metastatic bone cancer, arthritis, or other inflammatory arthropathies which does not require the use of a radionuclide or other radioactive material.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a composition and method for the palliation of pain in patients with metastatic bone cancer, arthritis, or other inflammatory arthropathies wherein the active therapeutic agent is administered to the patient in relatively low dosage amounts.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a composition and method for the palliation of pain in patients with metastatic bone cancer, arthritis, or other inflammatory arthropathies which not only relieves the pain associated with the disease, but also inhibits and/or prevents further destruction of the diseased tissue.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a composition and method for the palliation of pain in patients with metastatic bone cancer, arthritis, or other inflammatory arthropathies wherein the active therapeutic agent is selectively delivered to the bone and bone joints, and specifically to those areas of tissue affected by the disease.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a composition and method for the palliation of pain in patients with metastatic bone cancer, arthritis, or other inflammatory arthropathies wherein single treatments are effective for relatively long term pain relief without the need for daily and/or weekly administration.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a composition and method for the palliation of pain in patients with metastatic bone cancer, arthritis, or other inflammatory arthropathies wherein pain relief and prevention of further tissue damage can be achieved through the administration of small dosage amounts which are effective for extended periods of time.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a composition and method for the palliation of pain in patients with metastatic bone cancer, arthritis, or other inflammatory arthropathies wherein the active therapeutic agent is selectively delivered to the diseased areas providing immediate pain relief as well as relatively long term prevention of tissue destruction by blocking the inflammatory process and/or inhibiting osteoblastic or osteoclastic overactivity.

Composition and method for the palliation of pain associated with diseases of the bone and bone joints


A device for controlling or limiting temperature in an electric cooking appliance includes a switch and a temperature sensor operatively coupled to the switch. The temperature sensor takes the form of a rod arranged substantially coaxially within a tube. The rod is made of a material having a first coefficient of thermal expansion and the tube is made of at least two tube portions, one of the tube portions being made from a material having a second coefficient of thermal expansion lower than the first coefficient of thermal expansion and another of the tube portions being made from a ceramic material having a third coefficient of thermal expansion intermediate the first and second coefficients of thermal expansion. The temperature controlling or limiting device may be incorporated into a radiant electric heater incorporating at least first and second heating elements defining separate heating areas for the cooking appliance.

Such temperature control devices are known in conjunction with radiant heaters installed in glass ceramic top cookers. The devices typically incorporate a rod-like temperature sensor that operates on the basis of a difference in thermal expansion coefficients between an expansion member of the sensor and a reference member of the sensor. The difference in thermal expansion gives rise to differential movement which, in turn, is employed to operate one or more switches which are used, for example, to limit the temperature of the glass ceramic cooking surface and/or to indicate that the surface of the glass ceramic may be too hot to be touched. The temperature sensor generally comprises a rod of high expansion material located coaxially within a tube of low expansion material such as quartz (more correctly known as fused silica). Alternatively, the temperature sensor may comprise a rod of low expansion material located coaxially within a tube of high expansion material.
Where at least two heating elements are incorporated in the radiant heater it is known, for example from United Kingdom Patent Specification No. 2 069 300, to isolate the temperature sensor from the heating effect of all except one of the heating elements. This can be achieved by enclosing part of the temperature sensor in a thermal insulation material or in a thermally conductive material which transmits the heat away to a heat sink, or by limiting the effective length of the temperature sensor to that part which extends over the relevant heating element. This latter means for isolating the temperature sensor can be put into effect by connecting part of the temperature sensor across the heating elements from which it is to be isolated in a manner which precludes those heating elements from influencing the response given by the sensor.
United Kingdom Patent Specification No. 2 080 660 also discloses a radiant heater having at least two heating elements wherein the temperature sensor is isolated from the heating effect of all but one of the heating elements. According to United Kingdom Patent Specification No. 2 080 660 this is achieved by extending the heating effect of the one heating element so as to influence substantially the entire effective length of the temperature sensor. United Kingdom Patent Specification No. 2 133 879 discloses means for isolating part of the temperature sensor from heat emitted by the heating elements of a radiant heater. According to United Kingdom Patent Specification No. 2 133 879 the temperature sensor comprises a rod of high thermal expansion material arranged coaxially within a tube which is assembled from at least two tubular sections. The tubular sections have different thermal expansions such that the overall thermal expansion of the whole tube is less than the thermal expansion of the rod. In practice, the rod is made of an iron-chromium alloy, one of the tubular sections is made of quartz glass or ceramic material and the other tubular section is made of the same material as the rod. Whilst such a temperature sensor can undoubtedly be isolated from all but the chosen heating element, the drawback is that the tubular section or sections where the temperature sensor is isolated are made of a relatively expensive material which requires to be machined to the required tubular shape. Additionally, because one or more of the tubular sections is or are made of metal and reduces the electrical clearance distance between the electrically live heating coil and the underside of the glass ceramic cooking surface, it is necessary electrically to insulate the metal section. This is achieved by surrounding the metal section with a tube of electrically insulating material, such as quartz glass or other ceramic material, which adds to the cost of the temperature control device. The result is that the temperature control device is not economic to manufacture.
European Patent Specification No. 0 141 923 also discloses means for isolating part of the temperature sensor. According to European Patent Specification No. 0 141 923 the temperature sensor comprises a tube of high thermal expansion material such as high-quality steel having arranged therein a rod made of at least two sections. One of the rod sections is made of a ceramic material, but the remaining section or sections are made of a material having a coefficient of thermal expansion at least as high, and preferably higher than that of the tube, thus providing a form of over-compensation in the response of the sensor to variations in temperature. In order to provide electrical isolation for the metal tube it is necessary to provide a further tube of quartz glass around the entire length of the metal tube. Such a temperature sensor has the disadvantage that the further tube acts as a heat sink and causes the temperature response of the sensor to lag behind the actual temperature. Moreover, the further tube constitutes an additional component which adds to the cost of the temperature control device and renders it uneconomic to manufacture.
Despite these drawbacks of known temperature control devices which are intended to provide temperature compensation for the sensor where it passes over heating elements from which it is required to be thermally isolated, such devices avoid the need for a block of thermal insulation material and represent an aesthetically appealing solution to the problem of achieving such isolation.

Device for controlling or limiting temperature in an electric cooking appliance


A recording medium discharge apparatus includes a discharge pusher for discharging a recording medium; and a discharge tray in which the recording medium discharged through the discharge pusher is stacked. The discharge pusher is configured to be capable of conducting electric current, thereby eliminating the static electricity from the recording medium discharged to the discharge tray. For the electric conduction of the discharge pusher, the discharge pusher includes a conductive material. Alternately, an elastic member is made of a conductive material in such a way that a part of the elastic member is extended to a surface of the discharge pusher which comes into contact with the recording medium.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a recording medium discharge apparatus and an image forming apparatus using the same, and in particular to a recording medium discharge apparatus adapted to efficiently eliminate static electricity of a recording medium discharged to a discharge tray and an image forming apparatus using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine and a printer, an anti-static device is often employed in order to eliminate static electricity from a recording medium electrified while being conveyed within the image forming apparatus. An example of an image forming apparatus provided with an anti-static device as described above is disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 2003-212378 and in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1, in a paper loading tray 11, an anti-static device 19 is installed downstream of a paper-feeding roller 12. A paper end filler 16 of the anti-static device 19 is arranged to be freely rotated, and an anti-static brush 17 supported by a bracket 18 is rotated clockwise. Through this construction, when a recording medium P1 enters the device 19, the paper end filler 16 is pushed and rotated by the recording medium P1 so that the paper end filler 16 comes into contact with the anti-static brush 17.
FIG. 2 shows a document conveying device provided with another conventional anti-static device. Referring to FIG. 2, an anti-static mechanism 36 is provided in a document tray in a sheet document reading device of a document reversing type between a document setting tray 31 and a discharge stack tray 32. Through this construction, it is possible to prevent the repulsion/adhesion of the document caused by frictional static electricity produced as a document 32 is conveyed. The conveying device also includes an image sensor 38 and a contact glass 39. As described above in relation to FIGS. 1 and 2, various types of anti-static devices are provided in order to eliminate static electricity from a recording medium while being conveyed.
FIG. 3 shows an example provided with another conventional anti-static device. Referring to FIG. 3, a print head 51 for forming an image on a recording medium 53. A platen 55 is provided under the print head 51 so that a recording medium 53 to be formed with an image is seated on the platen 55. In addition, a feed roller 57 adjacent the platen 55 feeds the recording medium 53 by a predetermined distance. A discharge pusher 61 is provided at a side of the feed roller 57 so as to discharge the recording medium 53 to a discharge tray 59. The discharge pusher 61 is supported by a coil spring 63, so that the discharge pusher 61 is returned to its original position by the restoring force of the coil spring 63 after the discharge pusher 61 has discharged the recording medium 53.
In addition, in the entrance side of the discharge tray 59, there is additionally provided an anti-static brush 65. The anti-static brush 65 comes into contact with the recording medium 53, thereby eliminating static electricity from the recording medium 53. However, because the anti-static brush 65 is provided at the entrance side of the discharge tray 59, there is a problem in that static electricity produced by friction between a recording medium 53 and the discharge tray 59 or between the recording medium 53 and another recording medium already printed and laid on the discharge tray 59 cannot be eliminated, thereby causing poor stacking.

Recording medium discharge apparatus and image forming apparatus having the same


A door impact beam is provided. The beam includes a beam body that has a W-shaped cross section and a reinforcement portion. The reinforcement portion is disposed in middle of the beam body and has a width greater than that of the beam body. Additionally, the reinforcement portion has first and second edges that are symmetrically convex with respect to a central axis of the beam body and the first and second edges have a curved streamlined shape.

One of many important factors in vehicle design is to more safely protect a driver and passengers from impact during a vehicle collision. In particular, to reduce head, rib, and pelvic injuries of the driver and the passengers during side impacts, an optimal design of door structures has been actively researched. As one of such door structures, a door impact beam that absorbs the applied impact energy during the side impact may be mounted in a vehicle door in a longitudinal direction of the door. Such a door impact beam absorbs the impact energy by self-collapsing during the side impact, thereby reducing the impact transmitted to the passengers.
The door impact beam may be disposed between an inner panel and an outer panel of the vehicle door to secure sufficient bending strength. Additionally, the door impact beam may be divided into a steel tube type, a press type, and the like, according to manufacturing methods thereof. A steel tube type door impact beam has disadvantages of low productivity and high production cost due to the increased number of parts and welding.
On the other hand, a press type door impact beam is produced by forming a cold-rolled steel sheet using a cold press forming method, which has advantages of high productivity and low production cost. To secure the strength of the door impact beam sufficiently, it is advantageous for the press type door impact beam to have an M-shaped cross section. However, since a steel sheet having a high yield strength (e.g., 1180 MPa or higher) is subject to constraint conditions for cold press forming due to a strong spring-back phenomenon during the cold press forming, both side edges thereof may be inclined symmetrically outwardly. Thus, the press type door impact beam has a substantially W-shaped cross section, and the W-shaped cross section may remain the same in the longitudinal direction of the door impact beam.
Since the W-shaped cross section of the door impact beam according to the related art remains the same in the longitudinal direction, when a bending moment is applied to the door impact beam during the impact, both side edges of the W-shaped cross section may be easily unfolded in a lateral direction as indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 2. Thus, a section modulus of the door impact beam may be reduced and thus, the strength or support load of the door impact beam may significantly be reduced.


An improved method is described for providing Differentiated Services (Diffserv) traffic to a node in a network that implements a security method that discards duplicate packets received at the node. The method includes the step of identifying at least two service levels to be provided to received traffic and assigning separate sequential sequence numbers and different anti-replay bitmasks to each of the service levels. The anti-replay bitmask indicates the sequence numbers of packets that have been previously received at the node that should be compared against a received packet to determine whether a duplicate packet has been received. Such an arrangement reduces the possibility that traffic having lower priority is dropped as a security measure.

As is known in the art, data is transferred between nodes over the Internet in the form of packets or datagrams. A packet typically consists of a header portion and a data portion. The data portion comprises a number of bytes or octets of data. There may be any minimum number of bytes in the data portion of the packet, but typical protocols also ensure that there is a maximum number of bytes of data that, are transferred between each packet header. Because packets may be transmitted through different routes in the network to a destination node, they may reach the destination node out of order. In certain protocols, such as the Internet Protocol Security (IPSEC) protocol, a sequence number field of an Authentication Header (AH) or Encapsulated Security Payload (ESP) is assigned to each packet to enable the destination node to reject duplicate packets.
Referring now to FIG. 1, an exemplary definition of fields of an Internet Protocol (IP) packet header includes a number of fields that control how the data associated with the header is to be treated at a source and destination node. Exemplary fields include the source address 12j and the destination address 12k, which include the IP addresses of the communicating nodes. In addition, the IP header includes a version field 12a which identifies which version of the IP protocol should be used when parsing the IP header, and a protocol field 12h which identifies what other protocols are layered on top of the IP protocol. For example, certain protocols such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) include their own header, and the encoding of the TCP protocol in the protocol field alerts the destination node to interpret a portion of the data as a TCP header.
Another field in the IP header is the Type Of Service (TOS) field 12m. In the IP protocol, the TOS identifies the quality of service that should be afforded a given transmission between the identified source and destination nodes. For example, for nodes that support Differentiated Services Protocol (Diffserv) the field may be encoded to indicate a relative priority of the transmission; high priority transmissions would be given precedence over low priority transmissions at DiffServ compliant nodes.
In version IPv4 and IPv6 of the IP protocol a replacement header field, called the Differentiated Services Code (DSCP) field 13, is defined, which supersedes the definition of the IP TOS octet. Differentiated Services (generally referred to as Diffserv by the art), enables different Per Hop Behaviors (PHBs) to be experienced at different nodes for different types of traffic. Traffic having a certain type of per hop behavior are said to belong to a particular behavior aggregate. Diffserv thus allows a network subscriber to control the quality of service (QOS) that is associated with their traffic by entering into a service level agreement to obtain the desired behavior of traffic at certain nodes. Generally speaking, there is a correlation between the value in the DSCP field and the per hop behavior desired for the data encapsulated in the data field of the corresponding packet, and the per hop behavior is the means by which a node allocates resources to the behavior aggregate. There can be a variety of different types of traffic between a common source and destination, each of which may have different per hop behaviors and therefore traffic might arrive out of order.
While there are many possible per hop behaviors, certain per hop behaviors have been defined in the art. These per hop behaviors include Best Effort Forwarding (BE), Assured Forwarding (AF) and Expedited Forwarding (EF).
Best Effort (BE) per hop behavior is the default per hop behavior of Diffserv. BE behavior aggregate packets may be sent into a network without adhering to any particular rules and the network will deliver as many of these packets as possible and as soon as possible, subject to other resource policy constraints. The reasonable implementation of this per hop behavior would be to forward packets in this aggregate whenever the output link is not required to satisfy another per hop behavior. A reasonable policy for constructing services ensures that the behavior aggregate was not starved by allowing some accesses to the resources.
Traffic that is forwarded as part of the Assured Forwarding (AF) behavior aggregate is forwarded with a high probability that it will reach the destination node as long as the aggregate traffic from each site does not exceed a subscribed threshold. For example, in a typical application, a company uses the Internet to interconnect its geographically distributed sites and wants an assurance that IP packets within this intranet are forwarded with high probability as long as the aggregate traffic from each site does not exceed the subscribed information rate (profile). Different levels of Assured Forwarding (AF) PHB group behavior may be offered by a service provider to meet the required bandwidth and cost associated with the customer.
Expedited Forwarding provides the highest Priority per hop behavior. The intent of the Expedited Forwarding PHB is to provide a building block for low loss, low jitter and low delay services. The dominant causes of delay in packet network are set propagation delays in wide area links and tuning delay in switching and routers. Since propagation delays are a set property of the topology, delay can be minimized when queuing delays are minimized. The intent of the expedited forwarding per hop behavior is to provide a behavior in which suitably marked packets usually encounter short or empty queues. If queues remain short relative to buffer space available, packet loss is also kept to a minimum.
A protocol that may be layered on top of the IP protocol is the Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) protocol. Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) is a security protocol that provides security services at the IP layer by enabling a system to select required security protocols, determine the algorithm(s) to use for services, and put in place any cryptographic keys required to provide the requested services. IPsec can be used to protect one or more paths between a pair of hosts, between a pair of secure gateways, or between a security gateway and a host. The set of security services that IPsec can provide include access control, connectionless integrity, data origin authentication, limited traffic flow confidentiality, and anti-replay checks (the rejection of replayed packets (a form of partial sequence integrity)).
IPsec uses two protocols to provide traffic security, Authentication Header (AH) and Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP). The IP Authentication Header is used to provide connectionless integrity and data origin authentication for IP datagrams, and to provide protection against replays. The ESP protocol may provide confidentiality (encryption) and limited traffic flow confidentiality. It also may provide connectionless integrity, data origin authentication, and an anti-replay service. The AH and ESP protocols may be applied alone or in combination with each other to provide a desired set of security services in IPv4 and IPv6.
IPsec offers, via AH or ESP protocol, a form of partial sequence integrity referred to as anti-replay integrity, which detects the arrival of duplicate. IP datagrams (or packets) within a constrained window to help counter denial of service (DoS) attacks. A DoS attack is a type of attack on a network that is designed to bring the network to its knees by flooding it with useless traffic. Many DoS attacks, such as the Ping of Death and Teardrop attacks, exploit limitations in the TCP/IP protocols. The anti-replay mechanism seeks to overcome DoS attacks by assigning the sequence number of received packets, and dropping any packets having duplicate sequence numbers within a predefined window.
FIG. 2 illustrates a defined format of an Authentication Header 14 and an Encapsulated Security Payload 16 for purposes of illustrating the sequence number field. As shown in FIG. 2, the sequence number (15d or 17d) comprises 32 bits, and is used in the generation of an anti-replay bitmask for data packets associated with the secure transmission. In, order to prevent DoS attacks, the anti-replay mechanism rejects packets having duplicate sequence numbers within a thirty-two packet window.
Referring now to FIG. 3, an exemplary Diffserv data flow is shown, wherein the IP packets may have layered thereon an Authentication Header for IPsec purposes, including sequence numbers. A first traffic stream is shown to include packets A1, A2 and A3, and a second traffic stream is shown to include packets B1, B2, B3. Source node 20 transmits both traffic streams to destination node 30. In the example of FIG. 3, assume that data transmission A, comprising packets A1, A2 and A3 are packets comprising the BE PHB aggregate, and transmission B, comprising packets B1, B2 and B3 are packets comprising an EF PHB aggregate. Source node 20 initiates the transmission of traffic stream A over the Internet 25 by forwarding packets A1 and A2 to destination node 30. As the packets are transmitted, they are assigned sequence numbers 1 and 2 respectively. Subsequent to the transmission of packets A1 and A2, data traffic belonging to the Expedited Forwarding per hop behavior aggregate is received at the source node 20. To implement the EF PHB for traffic stream B, the source node immediately substitutes the traffic stream B in its transmissions to destination node 30. Packet B1 is assigned sequence number 1, packet B2 is assigned sequence number 2, and packet B3 is assigned sequence number 3, and all packets are forwarded to the destination node. Following the transmission of packet B3 to the destination node, the final packet A3 of the first transmission can be forwarded to the destination node.
A problem arises, however, at the destination node due to the anti-replay mechanism of the IPsec protocol, because when packet B1 and B2 (sequence number of 1 and 2) is received at the destination node it will be dropped since it is out of the 32 bitmask (last packet's sequence number is 36). It would be desirable to determine a method of implementing Diffserv in networks having nodes operating using the IPsec protocol.

Method and apparatus for preserving data in a system implementing Diffserv and IPsec protocol


A display apparatus may include a first substrate defined by a pixel region and a transmitting region adjacent to the pixel region, the pixel region emitting light in a first direction and the transmitting region transmitting external light; a second substrate that faces the first substrate and seals pixels defined on the first substrate; an optical filter arranged on a first side of the display apparatus through which light is emitted, the optical filter being configured to transmit circularly polarized light that rotates in a predetermined direction; and an optical reflectance conversion device arranged on a second side of the display apparatus, opposite the first side, the optical reflectance conversion device being configured to change a reflectance of the external light according to modes of operation of the display apparatus.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to a display apparatus. More particularly, embodiments relate to a display apparatus that can change optical transmittance according to modes, and a method of operating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Applications of organic light-emitting display apparatuses have increased from personal portable devices, i.e., MP3 players or mobile phones, to television sets due to wide viewing angles, high contrast, short response times, and low power consumption. Organic light-emitting display apparatuses have an emissive characteristic. Thus, unlike a liquid crystal display apparatus, organic light-emitting display apparatuses do not require an additional light source. Accordingly, the thickness and weight of organic light-emitting devices may be reduced. Also, the organic light-emitting display apparatuses may be formed in transparent display apparatuses by forming thin-film transistors and organic light-emitting devices therein of a transparent type, and by forming a transparent region (or transparent window) separate from a pixel region.

Display apparatus and method of operating the same


A method and apparatus for protecting user privacy by providing an inaccurate measure of network systems automatically initiates one or more non-user requested accesses to one or more network systems. The data received from the host system corresponding to the one or more non-user requested accesses is then automatically ignored.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the field of networks. More particularly, this invention relates to protecting user privacy on a network.
2. Background
As computer technology has advanced the use of networks has continually increased. Broadly, a network refers to a system which can couple together two or more computer systems such that the systems can communicate with one another. One characteristic of a network is the fact that, in order for two computer systems to communicate with one another, each needs to be able to identify the other. Typically, each computer system has an address associated with itself and computer systems in the network can identify one another via these addresses.
However, one problem which is present when accessing other computer systems via a network is privacy. Typically it is not possible for a computer system to request information from another computer system via the network without divulging an identifier, such as the address, of the requesting computer, and thereby also divulging the identity of the user. Yet, there are situations where individuals prefer to have their access to other computer systems via a network remain private.
One example of this situation is a user's access from a client computer system to a host computer system via the Internet. The host system is able to maintain a record of the Internet addresses of all other computer systems which have accessed the host, including the client system. Another example is a device which is coupled to the Internet and configured to monitor all traffic which passes by it on the Internet. This device could be, for example, a router or gateway which assists in the transferring of packets to various locations on the Internet. This device could access all packets that are routed through it and maintain a record of the source and target Internet addresses of each packet.
Thus, it would be beneficial to provide a system which prevents a host system or other device monitoring accesses in a network from accurately identifying which computer systems have accessed which other computer systems.
As will be described in more detail below, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for protecting user privacy by providing an inaccurate measure of network systems accessed which achieves these and other desired results which will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description that follows.

Method and apparatus for protecting user privacy by providing an inaccurate measure of network systems accesssed


A data transmission method is provided for a medium access control (MAC) of a mobile telecommunication system. Each logical channel may transmit a response field to the transport channel. The response field may represent a data characteristic and an amount of data having a corresponding characteristic. This may be transmitted with the response field representing a data amount of a buffer. The transport channel may perform a TFC selection based on priorities of each logical channel and the data characteristic.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a mobile telecommunication system. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to a data transmission on a medium access control (MAC) layer.
2. Background of Related Art
A medium access control (MAC) layer of IMT-2000 may be coupled to a physical (PHY) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a radio resource control (RRC) layer. The MAC may transmit data generated from a plurality of upper layers to a lower layer through an allocated transport channel. More specifically, the MAC may select a suitable transport channel for a data transmission request of each upper layer. The MAC may efficiently allocate a transmission amount to a plurality of logical channels mapped with a transport channel.
Each of the plurality of logical channels mapped with the one transport channel may have a priority. The MAC may perform a transport format combination (TFC) selection process in which data of the logical channel having a highest priority is transmitted. The TFC of the MAC layer may be controlled by the RRC layer.
Retransmission requests may be sent when all the data has not been properly transmitted. However, in disadvantageous arrangements, data at a specific logical channel may not respond to a re-transmission request and therefore the transmitting system may become deadlocked.

Data transmission in a mobile telecommunication system


A battery charger includes a power source for supplying a primary charge current to a first battery, and a charge manager for charging a second battery. The charge manager is coupled to the power source and is configured to charge the second battery with a secondary charge current in accordance with a continuous comparison between a predefined maximum current limit and a total current drawn from the power source.

It is not uncommon for operators of battery-powered portable communications devices, such as wireless telephones, personal data assistants, wireless pagers, and portable computers, to carry one or more spare batteries to extend the operational time of the device. External-type chargers are popular because they allow the operator to continue using the communications device while the other battery charges. However, typically portable chargers only allow a single battery to be charged at a time. Such "single-capacity" chargers have the obvious disadvantage of requiring lengthy recharge periods, particularly where the operator has multiple spare batteries. Therefore, attempts have been made to provide a battery charger that allows the operator to charge more than one battery at a time.
For instance, Murakami (U.S. Pat. No. 6,794,851) describes an external battery charger that allows a mobile phone to charge the battery that is installed in the mobile phone, while simultaneously charging a second battery that is external to the mobile phone. To apportion the charge current between the batteries, Murakami makes use of the fact that the resistance of a battery increases as the battery becomes charged.
Frame (U.S. Pat. No. 6,005,358) describes a portable computer docking station that supplies power to a portable computer, and includes a first charge circuit for charging the battery installed in the portable computer, and a second charge circuit for charging the battery installed in the docking station. Each charge circuit measures the current that is drawn from the power supply, and adjusts the charge current that they supply to their respective batteries based on these measurements.
None of these solutions make optimum use of the maximum charge current that is available from the power supply. As a result, charge times are unnecessarily long.

Battery charger for a handheld computing device and an external battery


The envelope of an electrodeless lamp which would tend to produce a discharge which does not substantially fill the interior of the envelope if the envelope is not rotated or is rotated at insufficient speed, is rotated at a high enough speed to cause the discharge to substantially fill the interior of the envelope.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improving the operation of electrodeless lamps.
2. Description of Related Prior Art
Under certain circumstances, electrodeless lamps will produce a discharge which is present only in a portion or portions of the bulb interior rather than being distributed substantially throughout the bulb volume.
One example of such a situation is where an electrodeless lamp having a fill wherein sulfur or selenium or compounds of these elements is the primary radiating component, utilizes a relatively small bulb.
Electrodeless lamps which utilize sulfur and selenium based fills are disclosed in co-pending application Ser. No. 071,027, filed Jun. 30, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,076 and application Ser. No. 604,487, filed Oct. 25, 1990, which are incorporated herein by reference. Such a lamp, at least in certain implementations relies on molecular radiation as the dominant source and is able to provide radiation principally within the visible range. Additionally, it is sometimes desirable to use small bulbs in such lamps, for example of less than 1/2" diameter in cases where a bright light source is needed. One such application is in LCD type projection television systems, where the necessity that the source approximate a so-called point light source dictates that the source be no more than about 1/4" inside diameter (ID).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,192, assigned in common with the present application, discloses microwave cavities for coupling to small bulbs, i.e., less than 1/2 inch, and is incorporated by reference herein.
However, it was found that when a bulb having a sulfur fill (including argon as a starting gas) of about 1/4" inch ID is installed in a cavity as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,192, successful operation is not achieved. Rather, a discharge which is isolated and floats near the top of the bulb is observed, and the spectrum which is outputted by the floating discharge is different than what is expected.
When an electrodeless lamp is excited with a coaxial termination fixture, an isolated discharge region may occur in the bulb at a position near the center conductor of the coaxial fixture, where the field is strongest. This leads to a phenomenon known as "arc attachment" wherein rupture of the bulb occurs at a position near the center conductor of the coaxial fixture.
A further problem in the operation of electrodeless lamps, and particularly those which emit visible light is that a "wobble" or "flicker" effect may be present. As used herein, the term "wobble" means any movement in the projected light which is observed by the viewer. This movement may be distracting to the viewer of the projected image, or even cause eye fatigue.
A reason for the wobble effect is that the bulb or envelope is itself visually imperfect and is rotated during operation. Thus, the envelope may have a perturbation, for example, an eccentricity, which would mean that the bulb is slightly out of round if, in the particular embodiment, it is a spherical envelope. The envelope in electrodeless lamps may be rotated while cooling fluid (e.g., compressed air) is directed at it to improve cooling, which allows the lamp to be operated at increased power densities, for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,332. It is the rotation of an envelope having a perturbation which results in the visual wobble or flicker when the bulb is rotated at the usual speed for cooling purposes of about 300 RPM.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,756 teaches to rotate bulbs at speed sufficient to equalize the thin boundary layer near the bulb wall by the application of centrifugal forces on the fill. For example at column 4, line 30 of that patent, it is stated that for bulbs of from 0.75 to 1.5 inch diameters rotation rates in the range of from 1500 to 2500 RPM may be used. It should be noted that between the low speed state and the high speed rotated state there is not a significant change in the spectral energy distribution of the bulb, although there is a change in the directional power distribution. The boundary layer effect described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,756 is different than the effect which is described herein, as in the boundary layer effect the discharge is distributed substantially throughout the interior of the envelope, but only is not present at the boundary layer, (which typically comprises about 5 to 20% of the total bulb volume). Such a boundary layer is typical in electrodeless lamps of the type described herein, and will exist even in lamps operated in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, wherein the discharge substantially fills the interior of the envelope. Moreover, since the redistribution effect in U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,756 is related to the centrifugal forces on the bulb, a rotation speed of at least 4500 RPM would be dictated for one-quarter inch ID bulbs in order to see this effect.

Bulb rotation for eliminating partial discharges


A reactive sputtering apparatus includes a vacuum chamber, a cathode fixed to an inner surface of the chamber, a power source for applying a voltage to the cathode, a magnetic circuit, installed in the cathode and having magnets for generating a magnetic field, a target, installed adjacent the magnets, having an opening at a portion corresponding to a region between the magnets of the magnetic circuit, a vacuum device for evacuating air inside the chamber to obtain vacuum, a first gasintroducing device, disposed at a wall of the chamber, for supplying reactive gas into the chamber, a second gas-introducing device for supplying discharge gas from the opening of the target into the chamber, a first gas flow rate control device for controlling the supply of the reactive gas, a second gas flow rate control device for controlling the supply of the discharge gas, and a substrate holder, disposed in opposition to the target inside the chamber, for securing a substrate thereto.

The present invention relates to a reactive sputtering apparatus to be used in the process of manufacturing an object such as a semiconductor or an electronic component.
In a reactive sputtering apparatus, reactive gas such as nitrogen gas is added to a discharge gas such as argon gas used in a normal sputtering apparatus so as to deposit a compound, formed by the reaction of the reactive gas with particles sputtered from the material of a target, in the form of a thin film on a substrate.
Since a reactive sputtering apparatus is capable of easily forming various kinds of thin films merely by introducing reactive gas into a normal sputtering apparatus, the reactive sputtering apparatus is preferably used in the process of manufacturing a semiconductor or an electronic component.
An example of a conventional reactive sputtering apparatus is described below with reference to FIG. 6.
The reactive sputtering apparatus comprises a vacuum chamber 1; a vacuum discharge opening 2 for evacuating air from the chamber 1; a gas-introducing pipe 3 for supplying discharge gas 5 and reactive gas 6 into the chamber 1; a gas flow rate controller 4 for controlling the flow rate of the discharge gas 5 and the reactive gas 6; a target 7 mounted on a cathode 8; a power source 9 for applying a voltage to the cathode 8 fixed to the inner surface of the chamber 1; a magnetic circuit 10, mounted in the cathode 8 and having a center circular magnet 10a and an annular magnet 10b, for generating a magnetic field; a substrate holder 11 to which a substrate 12 is secured; and an erosion region 13, of the target 7, in which plasma density is highest during magnetron discharge. The erosion region 13 is located between the magnets 10a and 10b. The target 7 is located below the magnets 10a and 10b in the cathode 8.
The operation of the reactive sputtering apparatus of the above-described construction will now be described below with reference to FIG. 6. First, air is evacuated from the chamber 1 by a vacuum pump (P) through the vacuum opening 2 to a degree of vacuum as high as approximately 10.sup.-7 Torr. The discharge gas 5 and the reactive gas 6 are introduced into the chamber 1 through the gas-introducing pipe 3 connected with the chamber 1, with the quantity of the discharge gas 5 and the reactive gas 6 being controlled by the gas flow rate controller 4.
The pressure inside the chamber 1 is kept at 10.sup.-3 to 10.sup.-2 Torr. A negative voltage is applied by the power source 9 to the magnetron cathode 8. Plasma is generated by magnetron discharge in the vicinity of the surface of the target 7 under the action of a magnetic field generated by the magnetic circuit 10 disposed inside the cathode 8 and that of an electric field generated by the power source 9. A compound formed as a result of the reaction of particles sputtered from the target 7 with the reactive gas 6 is deposited in the form of a thin film on the substrate 12 fixed to the substrate holder 11.
It is known that sputtered particles and the reactive gas 6 react with each other mainly on the substrate 12.
According to the conventional reactive sputtering apparatus, the discharge gas and the reactive gas are supplied into the chamber through the same gas-introducing pipe. As a result, the reactive gas exists not only in the vicinity of the substrate 12 but also in the erosion region of the target in which plasma density is highest in magnetron discharge. Consequently, a compound formed as a result of the reaction of the material of the target with the reactive gas deposits on the surface of the target. The compound greatly prevents particles from being sputtered from the target. Therefore, the thin film is formed on the substrate at a speed of 1/3 to 1/5 the speed at which a thin film is formed by a normal sputtering apparatus.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A high resolution article handling system serves as an article discriminator or identifier by creating an object silhouette. The objects are singulated on a conveyor and scanned by a linear array of CCD units (2048 pixels per inch) at a scan rate of 10 MHz. Pixel transitions corresponding to object edge points are converted to a single count value from a counter which is synchronized with the scanner. A microprocessor with a first in, first out buffer memory needs only a capacity to handle the count value rather than all data from the pixels. Article orientation is corrected in response to signal generated by determining the count value difference between a reference value and a work article value at only the scan slice windows at equally spaced positions along the article length where differences have been predetermined to be a maximum.

In Turcheck et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,493 an apparatus and method are disclosed for recognition of an article and its orientation on a conveyor. To determine orientation of a work article, a number of possible orientations are recorded in a memory. The data stored in the memory for each orientation is compared with scanned data from a work article. Orientation of the work article is determined by matching of the compared data.
To enhance resolution, more data points are required which has traditionally meant more expensive processing both for memory size and processing time. The time required for making such article orientation determination restricts the number of articles that can be processed in a unit of time.


A technique for graphically processing perimeter information includes determining a polar representation of the perimeter of an object to define polar perimeter information, storing the polar perimeter information, retrieving the stored polar perimeter information using an overlay, and applying the retrieved polar perimeter information to provide a graphical effect within a scene (such as, but not limited to, a shadow effect).

Designers of computer graphics applications continually strive to improve the realism of rendered scenes. For instance, computer game applications typically demand realism to increase the player's interest in the game, and hence, to enhance the marketability of the game. For example, game designers have been challenged to provide ever-increasing realism in such special effects as fire, explosions, smoke, fog, rain, lens flares, waves, etc. A first challenge is to devise a technique for simulating a special effect in the graphical realm. A second challenge is to implement this technique within the sometimes significant constraints of the hardware and processing limitations of a particular game-playing platform. More specifically, a designer may devise a theoretically sound technique for providing a special effect, but may find that the technique it is too "expensive" to implement within a particular game-playing platform. For instance, the technique may slow a game to an intolerable level, or may make too many demands on the game-playing platform's resources (such as the game-playing platform's memory resources).
An important special effect that contributes to the realism of a rendered scene is the generation of shadows. Several techniques exist for rendering shadows of objects within a scene. In a so-called "shadow volume" technique, the graphical application forms a polygonal volume to represent the shadow (referred to as a shadow volume). A stencil buffer can be used to determine what portions of the scene intersect with the shadow volume. In a so-called "shadow mapping" technique, the graphical application forms a two-dimensional distance texture map which represents the distances between different points on an object and a light source (when the object is viewed from the vantage point of the light source). This distance texture map is then projected onto the scene to determine portions of the scene that are inside a shadow cast by the object, and portions which are outside the shadow. While both of these techniques generate realistic shadows, they may fail to provide a sufficient degree of efficiency for all applications. More specifically, for relatively simple objects within a scene, a designer may wish to employ less precise methods for computing a shadow so as not to unduly slow the rendering of the scene.
Accordingly, there is an exemplary need in the art for an efficient technique for generating graphical effects, such as, but not limited to, shadow effects.

Graphical processing of object perimeter information