A surgical access port for insertion into a body cavity can have an elongate tubular body extending along an axis between a proximal end and a distal end, and a tip at the distal end of the tubular body for penetrating through a body wall and into the body cavity. The distal tip moves from a first, penetrating position to a second, retaining position when the body wall has been traversed. The surgical access port may further comprise a seal housing connected to the proximal end of the tubular body, the seal housing having an access port providing an opening into the tubular body to allow passage of surgical instruments. The distal tip may be sharp, pointed or bladed. The distal tip may also be substantially blunt or have a conical surface. The access port may further comprise a retention member for connecting the tubular body and the distal tip.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to surgical access systems and, in particular, to a surgical access port having an integral penetrating distal tip and method of using same.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Laparoscopic surgery typically requires an access device such as a trocar. The term trocar generally refers to a combination of cooperating elements such as a cannula, a seal housing and an obturator. The cannula defines a pathway through a body wall; the seal housing provides an isolation of that pathway; and the obturator cuts or pierces the body wall so that the cannula may be inserted. All three components are usually fitted together and used as a single unit for passage through the body wall and into a body cavity. Once the body cavity, or potential body cavity is reached with the trocar, the obturator is removed and the cannula and seal housing are used as a passageway into the body cavity.
Laparoscopic surgery can be initiated as follows: first, a large bore needle is passed through a body wall and into the internal region associated with the body wall. Next, an inflation or insufflation gas is pumped into the internal region until it is properly distended. The body wall and internal region are now ready for insertion of trocars.
A common method for inserting a trocar system through a body wall is as follows: first, a small skin incision about the length of the diameter of the cannula is made. Second, the obturator and cannula are pushed into the skin incision and are continually pushed until the system has passed through the body wall and into the interior region associated with the body wall. Third, the obturator is removed from the trocar system. The cannula and seal housing are now ready for use.
Placing a sharp instrument such as an inflation needle or trocar obturator through a body wall and into an associated internal region comes with considerable risk. The human abdomen, for example, is a tightly packed region that is filled with delicate structures and organs. There is no open space between the abdominal wall and those structures or organs until inflation gas is inserted and a pneumoperitoneum is established. Great care must be taken when placing inflation needles so as to avoid penetration of intestine, bowel or other structures. Most inflation/insufflation needles have a safety mechanism associated with the sharp end of the needle. Generally it is a spring loaded, blunted core that extends after the tip of the needle has passed through the body wall. There remains, however, a constant risk associated with the spring mechanism since the sharp needle tip extends beyond the safety core during the entire insertion process and somewhat beyond.
Even after pneumoperitoneum is established, there is a risk of injury during placement of additional sharp instruments through the distended body wall. The body wall is comprised of skin, muscle, fat and a thin membrane. The wall may be thick, muscular and tough or it may be lean and soft. As such, placement of a sharp obturator through the body wall requires great skill and knowledge of what lies within the internal region. The force required to insert a sharp trocar through a body wall can exceed forty pounds in some cases. This applied force easily overcomes the pneumoperitoneum and forces the body wall down and against delicate structures where there is the danger of piercing or cutting those structures.
This is not a new problem. Over the years there have been many solutions proposed. The shielded obturators have spring loaded or spring driven safety components that either cover the sharp portions of the obturator or retract the sharp components within the obturator shaft. These mechanisms are complex, costly and not without risk. Many surgeons have also used a technique referred to as a "cut down" procedure where successive small incisions are made until the body wall is cut through, at which time a cannula is inserted. Many feel that this procedure is safe but it is time-consuming and still has some associated risk since it continues to make use of a sharp instrument during the entire passage through the body wall. A sequential dilating system is another device that some surgeons use. This system comprises a sharp needle and associated composite sleeve that are placed into the abdomen followed by a blunted obturator. This system continues to require insertion of a sharp needle followed by the forceful placement of an obturator.
In all of the above prior art systems, the laparoscopic procedures begin with the insertion of a sharp instrument at a nearly perpendicular angle to the body wall and followed by placement of the trocars with a forceful passage of either a sharp or blunted obturator through the body wall. As explained above, a drawback of these systems is that the danger of piercing or cutting internal structures still remains.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a system that minimizes the risk associated with insertion of the trocar cannula while allowing the use of the most efficient penetrating profile.

Surgical access port and method of using same


In the present trailer, a pair of cross members are pivoted on the trailer frame about parallel horizontal fulcrum axes and extend transversely across a boat trailer frame. A keel receiver is provided on each cross member, extending to one side of the respective fulcrum axis. A pair of elongated bunk members extend longitudinally relative to the boat trailer frame, connected at ends to the two cross members such that the cross members are linked together by the elongated bunk members. A pair of elongated yokes are mounted at yoke pivots to the rearward cross member and extend longitudinally between forward and rearward yoke ends. A pair of short bunk members are mounted to the pair of elongated yokes on a transverse short bunk pivot axis that are transverse to the boat trailer frame.

Numerous boat trailers have been developed in the past with specific accommodations for receiving and distributing the weight of a boat between rollers or elongated flexible "bunks" engaging the boat hull.
The keel area of a boat is typically designed to be relatively strong, while the hull areas are much more fragile. It is therefor desirable for the support devices in a boat trailer to engage the boat hull over a fairly large surface area to provide partial support and to support the remainder of the boat along the keel area.
It is desirable to provide a share of support along the keel, because the keel is typically the strongest area on a boat. However, it represents only a small fraction of the total surface area for potential support. When only keel support is provided, stability of the boat on the trailer is minimal. An "ideal" support will proportion the received weight of the boat in a desired relationship between keel supports and hull supports.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,933 granted to the present applicant discloses a much needed solution to the above problem by provision of a boat hull support arrangement that will automatically adapt to individual hull configurations while maintaining a desired weight support ratio between the hull and keel engaging members thereof.
A need remains, however, for such a trailer with the above qualities, but with improvements that will facilitate loading and unloading of boats in relatively shallow water, or in areas where the trailer cannot be backed far into the water for loading or unloading purposes.

Weight distributing hull and keel support for boat trailer frames


A power switching circuit includes a power switching NPN transistor (1) having its collector electrode coupled to a reference potential terminal (17) and its emitter electrode coupled to an output terminal (7). A driver circuit (5) is provided having an input coupled to a supply terminal (6) and a driving current output coupled to the base electrode of the power transistor (1). A PNP transistor(4) has its emitter electrode coupled to the output terminal(7), its base electrode coupled to a reference voltage terminal (9) for receiving, in operation, a voltage which is positive relative to the reference potential and its collector electrode coupled to the base electrode of an NPN transistor (2). The NPN transistor (2) has its collector electrode coupled to the collector electrode of the power transistor (1) and its emitter electrode coupled to the base electrode of the power transistor (1).

In many applications, for example in light ballast circuits having inductive loads, it may be necessary to switch the power transistor on and off when the load is operating with either positive and negative voltages. With common bipolar switches, i.e. NPN transistors, negative voltage spikes cause parasitic injection to the substrate. Therefore, common bipolar switches cannot be switched off when there is negative voltage on the load.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a power switching circuit which overcomes, or at least reduces, the problems of known bipolar switches.


Provided herein are methods for treating cancer relating to inhibition of PI3K, as pharmaceutical compositions comprising a PI3K inhibitor and a PAK1 inhibitor.

Cancer arises in many forms from many different cellular origins, such as cells of the central nervous system, bone, breast, skin, thyroid, lung, liver, pancreas, prostate, soft tissues, and blood. But even among patients with histologically similar malignancies, researchers and clinicians have long recognized distinct heterogeneity in terms of clinical course and response to particular therapies, which has greatly complicated traditional treatment efforts. More recently, however, genetic and molecular analyses have begun to reveal the underpinnings for that heterogeneity. Through such studies, it has become clear that individual cancers classified under the same diagnostic umbrella often exhibit striking diversity in terms of their particular genetic alterations and gene expression patterns, and that those molecular differences frequently correlate with outcomes observed during treatment.
Efforts have thus begun aimed at identifying molecular traits that will predict responsiveness and/or resistance to available treatment options for a given subject. With such knowledge, a doctor attending to different patients diagnosed with nominally similar tumors could tailor individual treatment plans for those patients based on detectable molecular differences between their cancer cells—an approach often referred to as "personalized medicine." The development of robust methods for the targeted treatment of patients suffering from cancer and other disorders holds great promise for improving standard medical care.

Methods and compositions for treating cancer through inhibition of PI3K


A film feeding apparatus of a camera using a film having two perforations in each frame. A perforation detecting lever has claws spaced at a predetermined distance apart from each other so that the distance therebetween is equal to the distance between the two perforations which are adjacent to each other across the boundary between frames. The perforation detecting lever engages the perforations and disengages therefrom in unison with an operation for feeding one frame to be performed after the proceeding frame is exposed to light. As a result, film feeding is allowed to proceed until both claws simultaneously engage two respective perforations in the film which occurs after the film has advanced one frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a film feeding apparatus of a camera and more particularly to the construction of the mechanism for stopping the feeding of the film each time one frame of the film is fed.
The present invention also relates to a film feeding apparatus of a camera having an automatic initial loading function for feeding out the film from a cartridge after the cartridge is installed in a cartridge chamber of the camera and winding the film round a spool provided in the camera.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Normally, the film feeding apparatus of a camera automatically stops the operation for feeding the film each time the film is fed by one frame, by utilizing perforations formed in the film. In a camera using an ordinary 35 mm film having perforations formed therein at small regular intervals, the film feeding is stopped when the rotational angle of a sprocket engaging perforations reaches a predetermined value. For example, a camera for use with 110 type film having one perforation formed in each frame at regular intervals has a mechanism comprising a perforation detecting lever having a claw which penetrates into each perforation and a spring for urging the lever in the direction in which the claw presses against the film surface. In this mechanism, the claw penetrates into one perforation and engage with it while the film is being fed. Thus, the film is prevented from moving. In using the film having one perforation formed for each frame, the mechanism for stopping the feeding of the film by means of the lever can be constructed comparatively easily.
In the meantime, the present applicant proposed a camera which uses a film having two perforations formed in one frame in Japanese Patent Application 2-092579. If the lever mechanism of the camera for use with 110 type film is applied in the camera using the film having two perforations formed for one frame, it is difficult to distinguish whether the claw of the lever has penetrated into the front perforation or the rear perforation in each frame, which causes the control system and the construction of the camera to be complicated.
In using film having two perforations formed for one frame, it is considered that the claw of the lever is allowed to penetrate into only the front perforation. More specifically, the lever is interlocked with a shutter charging mechanism so as to move the lever away from the film surface when the rear perforation passes the position corresponding to the claw of the lever. However, a mechanism in which the operation timing of the lever is controlled by interlocking the lever mechanism with a different mechanism leads to a limitation in designing or assembling the camera. In addition, if the lever is operated at an inappropriate time, the control for winding the film cannot be appropriately accomplished. These problems may occur when one frame has more than two perforations.
The following initial loading function is known. That is, a film is automatically fed out from a film cartridge after a user installs it in a cartridge chamber of a camera and the film is automatically wound round a spool of the camera. In this initial loading mechanism, when the film fed out from the cartridge advances toward the spool, the film is prevented from proceeding if there is an obstacle on the film feeding path. In the mechanism of the camera for use with 110 type film, the lever described above is urged so that the claw presses against the film surface. That is, if the lever mechanism of the camera for use 110 type film is employed in a camera having the initial loading mechanism, the claw of the lever prevents the feeding of the film during the initial loading operation.
In order to adopt a mechanism equivalent to the lever mechanism of the camera for use 110 type film in the camera having the initial loading mechanism, it is necessary in initial loading to move the claw of the perforation detecting lever away from the film feeding path by interlocking the operation of the perforation detecting lever with that of the film feeding mechanism or by a user's manual operation. However, in the former, the construction of the film feeding apparatus and the control system thereof because complicated. In the latter, it is necessary for the user to perform an operation, which may lead to an operation mistake.

Apparatus for feeding photographic film having two perforations per frame


A single facer machine for making a corrugated web is provided with a vacuum means for retaining a corrugated medium on one of the corrugating rolls. Said one corrugating roll has a core through which a heated fluid may flow. The core is surrounded by a sleeve which contains peripheral longitudinally extending flutes and valleys meshed with corresponding flutes and valleys on the other corrugating roll. A plurality of suction hoods are juxtaposed to and sealed to the outer periphery of said sleeve.

Single facer machines for making corrugated paperboard webs are well-known to those skilled in the art. In a typical modern single facer machine, a web of medium passes between meshing corrugating rolls and thereafter is held in the flutes of one of the corrugating rolls by fingers. For example, see Finger 54 in U.S. Pat. No. 3,390,040.
It is known to use vacuum in connection with one of the corrugating rolls to eliminate the fingers. Generally, fingers are objectionable in that they result in non-adhered streaks in the laminated singleface web. U.S. Pat. No. 657,100 discloses suction shields designated I, ID' juxtaposed to corrugating rolls for drying the web. U.S. Pat. No. 1,981,338 discloses circumferential grooves in a corrugating roll for receiving a suction tube which has holes for causing the web to adhere to the corrugating roll. U.S. Pat. No. 2,068,155 discloses two suction tubes interconnected by a groove in the corrugating roll for causing the web to adhere to the corrugating roll. British Published Application No. 2,005,595 discloses a single housing in place of the two suction tubes in the last mentioned patent and grooves in the corrugating roll for causing the web to adhere to the corrugating roll.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,206 teaches the utilization of longitudinal conduits connected to an external manifold to introduce suction through radial holes to the corrugated medium. U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,102 discloses guides which enter peripheral grooves in a corrugating roll.
A typical single facer machine has first and second corrugating rolls for corrugating a web passing therebetween. The rolls have mating longitudinally extending flutes. In connection with such a machine, it is known to eliminate fingers and provide a means for applying suction to the second corrugating roll for retaining the corrugated web on approximately one-half of the perimeter of the second roll. Over said approximate one-half perimeter of the second corrugating roll, suction retains the corrguated web in the longitudinally extending flutes. The one-half perimeter of the second corrugating is that portion of the circumference between the nip of the corrugating rolls and the nip between the lower corrugating roll and the pressure roll adjacent the glue mechanism.


A process for minimizing breaking of an emulsion type drilling fluid system comprising one or more fibrous lost circulation material, the process comprising: determining the water retention value of one or more candidate fibrous lost circulation materials; and, formulating the emulsion type drilling fluid system to comprise fibrous lost circulation material consisting of one or more of the candidate fibrous lost circulation materials having a water retention value of about 1 or less.

Certain subsurface conditions encountered during drilling operations can cause, or lead to, "loss of circulation," or the loss of whole drilling fluid in quantity to the formation. Examples of such subsurface conditions include, for example: (1) natural or intrinsic fractures, (2) induced or created fractures; (3) cavernous formations (crevices and channels), and (4) unconsolidated or highly permeable formations (loose gravels).
Lost circulation materials are used to minimize loss of circulation. The lost circulation material forms a filter cake that effectively blocks voids in the formation. Lost circulation materials include fibrous materials, such as cedar bark and shredded cane stalk, flaky materials such as mica flakes, and granular materials such as ground limestone, wood, nut hulls, corncobs, and cotton hulls. U.S. Pat. No. 6,399,545 to Rose describes "tannin-containing organic waste products," including "grape pomace, tomato pomace, beet pomace, yellow pine bark, yellow pine, wood bark and the like." Rose, col. 2,II. 64-66.
Unfortunately, low electrical stability values have been reported for invert emulsion drilling fluids containing fibrous cellulosic lost circulation material. If the electrical stability value of a drilling fluid becomes too low, water wetting of solids occurs, which may cause the rheological properties of the fluid to break down, rendering the drilling fluid ineffective and even resulting in a shutdown of drilling operations. For example, Rose acknowledges that the "use of certain cellulose materials is known to 'break' emulsions." Rose, col. 2, II. 11-12. Nevertheless, Rose does not describe a method for minimizing breaking of an emulsion type drilling fluid system comprising one or more fibrous lost circulation material.
Processes are needed to minimize breaking of emulsion type drilling fluid systems comprising one or more fibrous lost circulation material.

Process for minimizing breaking of emulsion type drilling fluid systems, emulsion type drilling fluid systems, and spotting fluids


Compositions relating to a combination of two types of separation matrix; and to variant host cells which contain at least one essential host protein that is fused to an affinity binding tag or has been mutated to replace at least two of a plurality of histidines or basic amino acids are provided. Methods are also provided that relate to isolating a recombinant protein from a lysate.

Production of proteins of interest is commonly achieved in transformed competent host cells. A problem that arises during purification of such proteins is that contaminant host proteins co-purify with the protein of interest. One approach to tackling this problem is to form a fusion protein between the protein of interest and a protein tag that has an affinity to a matrix. It is intended that the contaminant proteins are washed away and a pure protein is recovered. An example of a protein tag that is widely used is a histidine tag (His-tag). This binds to a metal containing column. The method is called immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,663).
Unfortunately, contaminating host cell proteins which do not carry any form of tag may contain non-consecutive histidine residues or other metal binding motifs exposed to the surface of their ternary structure. These contaminating proteins also bind to nickel and/or cobalt containing purification resins to which the His-tagged protein of interest binds (see Bolanos-Garcia and Davies, BBA 1760: 1304-1313(2006), and Edwards, et al., Nature Methods 5: 135-146(2008)), resulting in co-purification of these contaminants and failure to obtain a purified preparation of the protein of interest.

Composition, method and kit for obtaining purified recombinant proteins


A vent valve device having a pair of diaphragm-type piston members forming a pilot chamber therebetween. The one piston controls a vent valve via which brake pipe pressure is vented locally, while the other piston controls a pilot valve a control venting of the pilot chamber. A breather choke between the pilot chamber on one side of the other piston and a control chamber on the opposite side establishes a predetermined pressure differential thereacross only when brake pipe pressure supplied to the pilot chamber is reduced at an emergency rate to thereby actuate the other piston to a position opening the pilot valve. In addition, this other piston operates a cut-off valve to isolate the pilot chamber from brake pipe pressure so that the pilot valve quickly exhausts pilot chamber pressure. The one piston controlling the vent valve is in turn actuated by the exhaust of pilot chamber pressure to positively effect an unrestricted, local reduction of brake pipe pressure via the vent valve when this one piston is actuated.

Typically, vent valve devices are employed in modern day freight car brake systems because of the ever increasing length of brake pipe resulting from longer cars, such as "piggy-back" cars, articulated cars, and other inter-modal specialty cars. While freight car control valve devices also include an integral vent valve device, the fact that one or more cars in succession along the train may have their brake systems cut out of operation makes the emergency reduction wave of brake pipe pressure through the entire train difficult to sustain without auxiliary means of venting the brake pipe pressure.
It will be understood, of course, that failure of a brake pipe pressure reduction wave to be propagated through the train at a sufficiently fast rate will preclude attainment of an emergency brake application. It is important, therefore, that a vent valve device be positive in its operation to assure that propagation of an emergency brake pipe pressure reduction wave is sustained through the entire length of the train.
It is also important that, in assuring positive operation in response to an emergency rate of reduction of brake pipe pressure, a vent valve device must have sufficient stability as to not respond to service rates of brake pipe pressure reduction.
Finally, the vent valve device should be insensitive to different train "running" pressures, i.e., the normal pressure at which the train brake pipe is charged. Trains can be operated at pressures of 70 psi to 110 psi.
Vent valve devices, such as shown and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,165,115, generally operate by sensing a pressure differential across a piston valve assembly that only arises when the rate of reduction of brake pipe pressure on one side of the piston assembly is at an emergency rate.
Two principles of operation are well known for preventing such a pressure differential from arising when a service rate of brake pipe pressure reduction is in effect. In one case, a reference pressure on the other side of the piston assembly is vented directly to atmosphere and in the other case the reference pressure is vented via the evacuated brake pipe. In each case a choke limits the rate of venting of this reference pressure to a service rate, so that only when the brake pipe pressure is reduced at an emergency rate is a predetermined pressure differential developed across the piston assembly. When this occurs, the piston assembly is actuated to operate a valve device that exhausts brake pipe pressure locally. The principle of operation discussed in the first case, i.e., venting the reference pressure directly to atmosphere, requires, for optimum performance, the use of a special valve to throttle the exhaust of the reference pressure during service braking in accord with the actual rate of brake pipe pressure reduction in effect.
When employing the principle of venting the reference pressure via the brake pipe, as noted in the other case mentioned above, the brake pipe pressure influences the rate via which the reference pressure is vented, thus making operation of a vent valve device according to this principle of operation intrinsically sensitive to the different pressures carried in the train brake pipe. While this characteristic is disadvantageous, a vent valve device having this principle of operation does not require a special valve to obtain maximum efficiency and thus can be considerably less costly to build and maintain.
Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,604 shows and discloses a vent valve/emergency valve device in which a differential area piston assembly is employed to compensate for different brake pipe pressures, as a means of overcoming the pressure sensitivity of vent valve devices that operate on the principle of venting a reference pressure via the brake pipe.


A drain stopper including an inverted conical head fixedly and coaxially mounting a single shaft extending upwardly of the head terminating in a shaft head for ease of insertion and removal of the apparatus relative to an associated drain. A modification of the invention includes a stepped conical head to accommodate various diameters of drains, as well as a fluid port structure to project soap and the like within a water environment to enhance amusement and enjoyment of the organization by children.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to drain stopper apparatus, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved drain stopper apparatus wherein the same is arranged and formed of a resilient polymeric material to accommodate in a fluidsealed relationship an associated fluid drain.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Drain stopper apparatus of various types have been utilized throughout the prior art. Such apparatus may be of a complex construction, such as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,500 to Thompson wherein a bathtub stopper includes telescoping portions to permit selective lifting and receding of a central portion relative to a surrounding member to effect selective plugging of the associated drain.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,035 to Felder sets forth a drain stopper structure including a cylindrical head member and projecting flange to be received within a drain.
As such, it may be appreciated that there continues to be a need for a new and improved drain stopper apparatus as set forth by the instant invention which addresses both the problems of ease of use as well as effectiveness in construction and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


An interlocking block pier assembly is disclosed including a plurality of blocks for stacking in a generally vertical column to support a load thereon. Each pair of adjacent blocks is interlocked by a key formed generally radially in a first block of the pair and a complementary keyway formed generally radially in the other block of the pair for receiving the key to prevent the blocks in the pair from rotating or moving laterally relative to each other.

To date, manufactured homes and similar structures have been supported above the ground by conventional 8".times.16" masonry blocks. Such blocks are generally satisfactory for supporting structures at relatively low heights of approximately 1-2 feet. Recently, however, federal regulations have mandated that, in a flood zone, manufactured housing must be supported at a minimum elevation of 3 feet above the existing grade. Conventional masonry blocks are unsuited to meet this requirement. When stacked to a height of 3 feet, conventional blocks tend to be quite unstable. They may unexpectedly slip or shift and, under the weight of the structure, are liable to collapse.
Although interlocking masonry construction block designs have been previously employed, these systems generally exhibit a number of deficiencies. Typically, they employ an excessive amount of masonry material, e.g. concrete, which makes them rather heavy and expensive. Additionally, most interlocking blocks require very precise tolerances. Blocks that are not manufactured within such tolerances cannot be stacked securely and are unacceptable for use. Additionally, conventional block systems typically require the use of supplemental grout or fill to fasten adjacent blocks. None of the blocks which are currently known is suited for providing secure, slip-resistent support for manufactured homes and similar structures.


To improve computerized tomography (CT) imaging quality, a priori information of the test object is developed by probing the surfaces thereof at a multiplicity of points sufficient to spatially locate and define the envelope of the test object cross section to be imaged. A CT scan of the test object is then performed, and the CT image reconstructed therefrom is corrected with this a priori information. To expedite a priori information development, the convex hull of the test object is constructed from X-ray projection data and fitted with the probe developed measurement data to define the cross section envelope.

The present invention relates to industrial computerized tomography (ICT) and particularly to the construction of two-dimensional, cross sectional, computerized tomography (CT) images of objects with the aid of a priori information regarding the objects.
ICT inspection of industrial products is a powerful quality assurance tool for determining if the internal characteristics of the manufactured products are in accordance with design specifications and for detecting any internal flaws. For example, in the manufacture of gas turbine engines, there are certain critical parts, such as turbine blades that are intricately cast with internal passages, whose internal characteristics are of paramount importance if safe, long term engine Performance is to be achieved. The passage walls must be of design thickness and the existence of internal flaws, such as cracks, voids, microshirks, porosities, coldshuts, passage blockages, etc., must be within design tolerances if the part is to withstand the rigors of an engine operating environment.
To perform an ICT inspection, the part is positioned between an X-ray source and a detector typically consisting of an array of detector elements aligned with a highly collimated, fan-shaped beam of X-rays projected by the source at a transverse slice of the part. The part is rotated in steps through an angle of at least 180.degree. plus the fan beam included angle, if possible, and the part slice is irradiated from a multiplicity of different projection angles. The attenuation of the X-ray flux is detected by each detector at each projection angle, and a computer reconstructs an image of the slice cross section from the X-ray attenuation signals generated by the detector elements at each projection angle. For certain part geometries, the X-ray path length through certain slices thereof can be so great at some projection angles that X-ray penetration is insufficient to generate meaningful attenuation data. In other cases, certain projection angles may be obstructed by the presence of associated objects. Obviously, the inability of obtaining meaningful X-ray attenuation data throughout the complete scanning range degrades the quality of the reconstructed slice cross section image. The image is marred by artifacts, and the internal characteristics of the part become ill-defined and blurred to the point that internal flaws become difficult to detect.
To improve CT image quality, resort to a priori or known information about the object under inspection has been proposed. In the commonly assigned application of K. C. Tam entitled "Method to Obtain Object Boundary Information in Limited-Angle Computerized Tomography", Ser. No. 032,804, filed Apr. 1, 1987, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,693 the disclosure of which is specifically incorporated herein by reference, the exterior boundary of the test object is estimated. This is accomplished by performing a low energy X-ray exposure of the test object at each CT projection or scanning angle to determine the object edges in each instance. The low energy X-ray data generated by the detector elements are computer processed as a succession of curve fittings at the object edges to construct a polygon-shaped region approximating the convex hull of the object. If the object is basically convex in shape, such as cylindrical, the convex hull corresponds quite closely to the object boundary. This convex hull information is then used to correct the CT image reconstruction process by setting to zero those pixels known to be beyond the object boundary, thereby achieving a high quality image of the slice cross section.
Unfortunately, not all test objects are convex in shape. Many have significantly concave boundary features. Consequently, the convex hull then becomes merely an approximation of the object boundary, which diminishes in value as the degree and number of concave boundary features increases.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a method for improving the quality of CT image reconstruction.
A further object is to provide a method of the above-character, wherein more precise a priori information regarding the test object is utilized in CT image reconstruction.
An addition object is to provide a method of the above-character, wherein physical measurements of the test object boundary are utilized as a priori information in the reconstruction of CT images.
Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and in part appear hereinafter.

Method of using a priori information in computerized tomography


A frequency controlled clock circuit for use in a television receiver utilizes a detected sound intermediate frequency (IF) signal for use in controlling a voltage controlled oscillator and thereby provide immunity from ghost signals in the transmitted video signal. A phase locked loop responds to phase errors detected from the voltage controlled oscillator and a reference signal from the sound IF signal to control the frequency of the voltage controlled oscillator.

This invention relates generally to frequency locking systems for television signal reception and demodulation, and more particularly the invention relates to circuitry which is immune to ghost signals which interrupt a transmitted television signal.
Echo signals or ghost signals have been one of the major problems in modern television transmission. When a transmitted signal is received from the air, ghosts can be caused by reflections from mountains, buildings, and the like. In a television signal received through cable, the ghost can be due to discontinuities of the connectors. Although the ghosts are generated in a radio frequency spectrum, the process in which the ghost is created can be accurately modeled as a linear distortion in a baseband signal. Therefore, cancelling the ghost can be accomplished by passing the baseband signal through a linear filter which is an inverse of the linear model of the ghosting process.
In a television equipped with a ghost cancellation system, one needs to run a digital or analog filter with a system clock whose frequency is locked to the video signal. Some ghosts can cause conventional line locked or burst locked systems to fail to acquire steady and clean lock. Usually, the sync separator can be confused by some ghosts, making the horizontal sync or burst gate unusable.
In conventional frequency lock system clock generators, the reference used is either a line locked (usually horizontal sync from a sync separator) or a color burst locked using the color burst and a burst gate signal derived from the sync separator. However, as noted above severe ghosts can cause the sync separator to fail thus producing jittery or missing reference horizontal sync or badly or missing burst gate timing. Further, the color burst may have colored ghosts from a previous line which cause contamination.

Frequency locking system using sound intermediate frequency (IF) carrier in a television signal


Systems, methods and computer-readable media are provided for tracking a moving sports object. In one example, a method of tracking a moving sports object includes calibrating a perspective of an image of a camera to a perspective of a Doppler radar for simultaneous tracking of the moving sports object, and tracking the moving sports object simultaneously with the camera and Doppler radar. The method may further comprise removing offsets or minimizing differences between simultaneous camera measurements and Doppler radar measurements of the moving sports object. The method may also include combining a camera measurement of an angular position of the moving sports object with a simultaneous Doppler measurement of a radial distance, speed or other measurement of the moving sports object.

Current camera based systems used to track or trace the trajectories of sports objects suffer from all the known shortcomings of image processing. For example a golf ball may be difficult to detect or measure in a camera image due to contrast, ambient light conditions, and camera resolution. Current systems that provide traces of ball flight on television feeds or tennis ball trajectories for line calling decisions use image processing techniques to find the ball in successive images and to construct a trace or trajectory from such finds. Apart from being able to animate the television images with traces of the ball flight, accurate data such as positions, speeds or spin rates are not readily available from such systems.
Current radar based systems used to track sports objects suffer from other shortcomings unique to radar technology. For example the vertical angular position or height of an object at low elevation can be severely affected by multipath effects.
There is a need to improve both camera and radar tracking systems for sports objects.


An on-chip voltage controlled oscillator for use in an analog phase locked loop receives power from a voltage regulator which greatly reduces the noise seen by the voltage controlled oscillator. The voltage controlled oscillator has a DC bias section which supplies a relatively constant current to the multivibrator to assure a minimum operating frequency. A control signal is used to provide additional current which increases the speed of oscillation. The bias current reduces the transfer characteristics (MHz/volt) of the voltage controlled oscillator making it more immune to noise in the control signal.

The present invention relates to a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) circuit suitable for use in a phase locked loop to create an analog phase locked loop with high noise rejection.
On chip VCO's are usually implemented using a multivibrator circuit where the oscillation is controlled by charging and discharging an on-chip capacitor. A common application for such a circuit is in an optical high speed data link, which usually house a serializer VCO and a deserializer VCO on the same module. These VCO's are especially sensitive to power supply noise, other VCO's and data patterns which have the same frequency component as the VCO operating frequency but are asynchronous with each other. This type of noise is referred to as near frequency noise. Enough noise of this kind can override the control voltage input to the VCO and cause the phase locked loop, of which the VCO is a part, to lose phase lock. Noise which contains odd harmonic frequencies of the fundamental will also affect the VCO although the sensitivity is not as dominant as the fundamental frequency.
A previous approach to reduce noise sensitivity was to use passive filtering techniques to filter the high frequency noise using R,L,C networks on the module or external to the module. This approach does not have full frequency band rejection and uses a large number of components.
Another approach is to use a digital phase locked loop, which inherently has better noise immunity. For applications such as high speed (gigahertz) clock recovery the digital phase locked loop cannot be implemented at the speeds desired with present CMOS technology.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a noise immune VCO that can be implemented on-chip and which can supply sufficient transient current and unimpaired AC performance.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a VCO for use in an analog phase locked loop which is tolerant of near frequency noise.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a VCO for use in an analog phase locked loop which is more tolerant of harmonic noise injected into the power supply of the VCO from other external circuits, acting as noise sources.

International Business Machines Corporation


A saddle-straddling type motor vehicle on which an object is loadable for traveling with the motor vehicle. The motor vehicle includes a main body having a wheel, a motor that generates driving force for moving the main body, a wheel force calculator configured to calculate wheel force exerted between the wheel and a surface of a road on which the motor vehicle is traveling, and a wheel force corrector configured to correct the wheel force calculated by the wheel force calculator based on a condition of the object loaded on the motor vehicle.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a saddle-straddling type motor vehicle and a wheel force acquisition device.
Description of Related Art
There is a technique that controls the travel of a vehicle based on the force exerted between a wheel and a road surface. In a motorcycle described in WO 2013/014945 A1, skid motion acceleration is detected based on a vehicle speed, a bank angle, acceleration in a transverse direction and a yaw rate. When the detected skid motion acceleration is not less than a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that a skid motion is taking place at the wheel. In this case, the driving force or the braking force of the motorcycle is controlled such that the longitudinal force exerted on the wheel decreases.

Saddle-straddling type motor vehicle and wheel force acquisition device


A high pressure roller press formed between opposed cylindrical rollers mounted to perform interparticle crushing or product bed comminution in the nip and having pockets in the surface of a size to retain compressed fine grained material which is pressed in the nip with the compressed material in the pockets being retained for full revolutions of the rollers and coacting with hard portions between the pockets to form the product bed comminution against material passing through the nip and drawing material into the nip.

The invention relates to an improved mechanism and improved methods for pressing by product bed comminution.
In the operation of roller crushing, a new and unique form of crushing which has been referred to as product bed comminution or interparticle crushing has been discovered such as disclosed in Schoenert U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,287 and Beisner et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,897. This art, as described and claimed in these patents, involves an operation wherein the gap width and force applied between the rollers is such that a crushing fineness is attained by the particles entering the nip mutually crushing one another and forming incipient cracks in the grains. This process and this equipment has resulted in new and unforeseen energy conservation with improved crushing.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to improvements in the art of interparticle crushing or product bed comminution to utilize the advantages of the development and to improve on the process to the extent of having improved draw-in qualities in the nip, of protecting the roller surfaces which are exposed to extraordinarily high stressing and wear and to provide an overall improvement.
In roller crushers and roller mills, brittle grinding stock is drawn into the nip between two rotatable rollers rotating in opposite directions. In interparticle crushing, the individual particles of the grinding stock are drawn into the nip by friction crushing one another therein in a product bed comminution and the material is compressed between the roller surfaces with the application of an extremely high pressure such as disclosed in European Patent 0 084 383.
In this operation, the roller surfaces are exposed to extraordinarily high stressing and high wear. An improvement which has been done is to armor the roller surfaces such as welding layers of hard metallic materials of welding beads welded side-by-side onto the base roller. Another structure which has been adopted is that a wear-resistant cladding of cast or rolled material is applied to the base roller to provide a hardened outer surface. These structures, such as the roller armoring, require a time consuming surface layer welding of annular plies or involve helical welding and increase the cost of the machine.
In order to improve the product draw-in capability of the pressing rollers that must draw the product into the nip by friction and compress it, it is known to provide the armored roller jacket with a plurality of profiles having the shape of welding beads arranged V-shaped on the closed hard cylindrical surface in an additional manufacturing step as disclosed in the aforementioned European Patent 0 084 383. In interparticle crushing of especially abrasive materials such as ores, it has been shown that the risk is not excluded that the roller surface will wear relatively quickly during operation due to the creation of trough-shaped erosion or, excavations in the regions between the profiling welding beads that are welded on at a distance from one another.
The closed, hard outside shell of the armored roller jackets can be over-stressed due to the formation of pressure islands in the nip filled with product material to be pressed with high localized point stressing of the rollers. Surface cracks can lead to the progression of cracks into the base roller member and the hard profile parts that are welded onto the roller can be laterally pinched off given a soft underlayer. The risk is thereby present that the outwardly salient, welded-on profiling welding beads can at least partially break off given high point stressing.

Wear-resistant surface armoring for the rollers of roller machines, particularly high-pressure roller presses


A device and method for monitoring pain of a user (50) are presented. The device (10) comprises a receiving unit (12) for receiving an accelerometer signal (38) from an accelerometer sensor (30) worn by the user (50), wherein the accelerometer signal (38) comprises components of a pulse signal (20) and a respiration signal (22); and a processing unit (14) configured to: derive the pulse signal (20) and the respiration signal (22) from the accelerometer signal (38); adapt the pulse signal (20) based on the respiration signal (22) in order to obtain a corrected pulse signal (40); and derive a pain descriptor based on the corrected pulse signal (40).

Pain is a feeling triggered in the nervous system that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pain has both physical and emotional components. Its physical part results from nerve stimulation. Pain may be contained to a discrete area, as in an injury, or it can be more diffuse, as in disorders like fibromyalgia. It is mediated by specific nerve fibers that carry the pain impulses to the brain where their conscious appreciation may be modified by many factors. Stress is the feeling of being under too much mental or emotional pressure. Common signs of stress include sleeping problems, sweating, loss of appetite and difficulty of concentrating. The identification of pain and stress periods may be helpful in diagnosing health issues. Pain in unconscious patients is different, since patient feedback cannot be retrieved.
According the definition by the International society for the study of pain the term "pain" may relate to "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage". According to the definition of The American Institute of stress the expression "stress" may describe a highly subjective phenomenon which can be thought of "the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change". "Discomfort" is also a subjective phenomenon and may relate "to the opposite of feeling comfortable".
Due to the very similar nature of the terms "pain", "discomfort" and "stress", the term "pain" as used in this document is for simplicity reasons used as a generic term which shall also encompass discomfort and stress.
Due to the subjective nature of feeling or experiencing pain, monitoring is usually based on self-reporting and observational/behavioral data. It is clear that such subjective measures are difficult to evaluate and to generalize. Accordingly, there are several efforts to measuring pain using physiological data which are related to the sympathetic/parasympathetic balance, and which are comparatively easy to collect and to quantify.
Physiological data indicative of pain may be obtained when a person/patient is subjected to pain. Accordingly, the effect of pain (including discomfort and/or stress) may cause the physiological parameters, such as blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration rate, respiration effort, or other parameters, alone or in combination, to change and often to increase. These changes of physiological parameters may be used as a basis for determining to which degree a patient/person experiences pain.
Pain monitoring and also stress monitoring may be performed by employing a visual analog scale that requires the patient to estimate the level of pain, discomfort and/or stress. The required attention of the patient towards feeling pain may bias this estimation, making the assessment unreliable. Reliability can be increased by unobtrusively measuring a parameter that reflects the level of pain, discomfort and/or stress and does not require the attention of the patient.
The quantification of pain and stress has been a clinical need for a long time. Different approaches have been used for this purpose including, for example, pulse transit time (PTT) which has been employed for measuring arousal and stress. Electrocardiogram (ECG) electrodes and photoplethysmography (PPG) have been used to estimate PTT from heart to hand. Increasing in PTT hereby indicates stress and pain. Alternative methods rely on a combination of PPG with galvanic skin response (GSR) for pain monitoring. Frequency features of heart rate variability obtained from ECG may be also employed. All these approaches are a function of sympathetic or parasympathetic activity.
US Publication No. 2011/0112420 A1 to Nagata (patented) discloses a device for objectively judging pain. The device comprises an electrocardiographic information acquiring unit which acquires a peak-relevant value such as the peak value of an R-wave for every cycle from an electrocardiogram. Pain is judged based on fluctuation related to the peak-relevant value and output.
WO 2007/052108 A2 discloses a method and system for monitoring vital signs for the prediction and treatment of physiological ailments. The system may detect changes in respiration rate, heart rate, and body motion indicating that a patient is suffering from pain. A motion sensor may be provided from which signals resulting from respiratory motion and heart beat may be derived.
US Publication No. 2014/0123912 A1 to Menkes (patented) discloses a system for monitoring vital signs of a pet animal. A suspicion of seizure may be determined based on sound, pulse, and respiration. Accelerometers may be used for measuring bioparameters of the pet animal including resting patterns, activity patterns, moving patterns, and position patterns.
Although the above mentioned approaches take use of vital signs, none of them are actually unobtrusive as they are all based on a use of current modalities which are usually derived from an ECG with a functional heart, i.e. a heart producing output upon contraction. For instance sticky ECG electrodes, a SpO2 sensor at the finger, and heavy blood pressure cuffs are used. Alternatively, GSR patches at the hand/wrist are employed. There is a need for an unobtrusive means of pain, stress and arousal monitoring which may have a wide range of applications, on post-operative recovery to chronic pain monitoring at home. Other problems of the known systems for measuring pain/stress reside in the usage of a large number of sensors which is burdensome to the patient, cumbersome as well as inconvenient during normal daily activity.

Wearable pain monitor using accelerometry


To provide a polypeptide having heparosan-glucuronate 5-epimerase activity, whereby means for producing a polysaccharide in which hexuronic acid residues has been epimerized is provided. Through screening of Achatina fulica cDNA library, a DNA encoding a polypeptide of heparosan-glucuronate 5-epimerase is obtained. The epimerase acts on glucuronic acid residues of N-acetyl heparosan and/or iduronic acid residues of completely desulfated N-acetylated heparin. The polypeptide encoded by the DNA is expressed by insect cells, to thereby yield the polypeptide having heparosan-glucuronate 5-epimerase activity. By bringing the polypeptide into contact with N-acetyl heparosan or completely desulfated N-acetylated heparin, a polysaccharide in which hexuronic acid residues has been epimerized is yielded.

The present specification may employ the following abbreviations.
GAG: glycosaminoglycan
PG: proteoglycan
GlcNAc: N-acetyl glucosamine
GlcNS: N-sulfated glucosamine
GlcN: glucosamine
GlcA: glucuronic acid
IdoA: iduronic acid
IdoA(2S): 2-O-sulfated iduronic acid
HexA: hexuronic acid
aMan: 2,5-anhydromannose
AS: acharan sulfate
ACH: acharan (2-O-desulfated AS)
NAH: N-acetyl heparosan
NSH: N-deacetylated N-sulfated heparosan
HEP: heparin
CDSNAc-HEP: completely desulfated N-acetylated heparin
CDSNS-HEP: completely desulfated N-resulfated heparin
HS: heparan sulfate
C5-epi: heparosan-N-sulfate-glucuronate 5-epimerase
HG-5epi: heparosan-glucuronate 5-epimerase
It is known that acharan sulfate (AS) is a type of glycosaminoglycan (GAG), which is isolated from Achatina fulica and is known to be a linear GAG having a structure in which disaccharides formed of GlcNAc and IdoA(2S) (-[4GlcNAcα1-4IdoA(2S)α1]-), represented by the following structural formula (1), are repeatedly polymerized (Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2). Also, AS is known to have physiological activities similar to those of heparin (HEP) and heparan sulfate (HS), which are GAG having the carbohydrate backbone common to AS. Specifically, such activities include angiogenic inhibitory activity (Non-Patent Document 3), immunostimulatory activity (Non-Patent Document 4), hypoglycemic activity (Non-Patent Document 4), anti-coagulation activity (Non-Patent Document 5), anti-tumor activity (Non-Patent Document 6), and adhesion inhibitory activity against Helicobacter pylori (Non-Patent Document 7).

Biosynthesis of HEP and HS has been elucidated through analyses of carbohydrate structures provided by knock-out mice or mutant cells, and experiments evaluating substrate specificity of enzymes. The elucidated mechanism of the biosynthesis includes synthesis of N-acetyl heparosan (NAH), which is a GAG having a structure in which disaccharide units being formed of GlcNAc and GlcA (-[4GlcNAcα1-4GlcAβ1]-) are repeatedly polymerized; N-deacetylation and N-sulfation; epimerization of GlcA residues to IdoA residues; and O-sulfation, in this order (Non-Patent Documents 8 and 9). Among these steps, epimerization of GlcA residues to IdoA residues is catalyzed by a heparosan-N-sulfate-glucuronate 5-epimerase (C5-epi, EC: 184.108.40.206). Thus, all the known members of C5-epi involved in biosynthesis of HEP and HS are known to act on, as a substrate, N-deacetylated N-sulfated heparosan (NSH), which is a GAG generated through N-deacetylation and N-sulfation of NAH, and to not act on NAH itself (Non-Patent Documents 10 to 14 and Patent Documents 1 and 2).
Regarding Achatina fulica, proteome analysis has been carried out to collectively identify a group of enzymes involved in biosynthesis of proteoglycan (PG). The analysis has revealed a variety of enzymes involved in biosynthesis of PG core protein or GAG, based on the homology to a known protein (Non-Patent Document 15). Regarding synthetic pathway of HEP and HS, proteins, which are thought to serve as NAH synthase, N-deacetylase/N-sulfotransferase, and O-sulfotransferase have been found. However, no protein having a homology to C5-epi, which is a known epimerase, has been identified. In addition, regarding Achatina fulica, the enzymatic cascade in biosynthesis of AS has not been elucidated. Thus, the substrate on which an IdoA synthase acts and the product obtainable by the synthase reaction have not been identified.

Heparosan-glucuronic acid-5-epimerase, and method for producing polysaccharide using same


A method and system of reducing the permanent accumulated deformation of a deflectable member of a micromechanical device through thermal stabilization. The accumulated deformation is due to the repeated bending or twisting of a flexible component of the micromechanical deice typically the repetitive deformation of a flexible hinge connecting a rigid member to substrate. After the device is fabricated, passivated (316), and packaged (322), the packaged device is baked (326) at a temperature of at least 120.degree. C. A 150.degree. C. bake for 12 to 16 hours is preferred. Lower temperatures required longer baking periods.

Micromechanical devices are small structures typically fabricated on a semiconductor wafer using techniques such as optical lithography, doping, metal sputtering, oxide deposition, and plasma etching similar to those developed for the fabrication of integrated circuits.
Digital micromirror devices (MDs), sometimes referred to as deformable micromirror devices, are a type of micromechanical device. Other types of micromechanical devices include accelerometers, pressure and flow sensors, gears and motors. While some micromechanical devices, such as pressure sensors, flow sensors, and DMDs have found commercial success, other types have not yet been commercially viable.
Digital micromirror devices are primarily used in optical display systems. In display systems, the DMD is a light modulator that uses digital image data to modulate a beam of light by selectively reflecting portions of the beam of light to a display screen. While analog modes of operation are possible, DMDs typically operate in a digital bistable mode of operation and as such are the core of the first true digital full-color image projection systems.
Micromirrors have evolved rapidly over the past ten to fifteen years. Early devices used a deformable reflective membrane which, when electrostatically attracted to an underlying address electrode, dimpled toward the address electrode. Schieren optics illuminate the membrane and create an image from the light scattered by the dimpled portions of the membrane. Schlieren systems enabled the membrane devices to form images, but the images formed were very dim and had low contrast ratios, making them unsuitable for most image display applications.
Later micromirror devices used flaps or diving board-shaped cantilever beams of silicon or aluminum, coupled with dark-field optics to create images having improved contrast ratios. Flap and cantilever beam devices typically used a single metal layer to form the top reflective layer of the device. This single metal layer tended to deform over a large region, however, which scattered light impinging on the deformed portion. Thin hinge structures, which restrict the deformation to a relatively small region of the device, limit the amount of light scattered and improve image quality.
Torsion beam devices enabled the use of dark field optical systems. Torsion beam devices use a thin metal layer to form a torsion beam, which is referred to as a hinge, and a thicker metal layer to form a rigid member, or beam, typically having a mirror-like surface. The rigid member or mirror is suspended by, and typically centered on, the torsion hinge-allowing the mirror to rotate by twisting the torsion hinge. Address electrodes are formed on the substrate beneath the mirror on either side of the torsion hinge axis. Electrostatic attraction between an address electrode and the mirror, which in effect form the two plates of an air gap capacitor, is used to rotate the mirror.
Recent micromirror configurations, called hidden-hinge designs, further improve the image contrast ratio by using an elevated mirror to block most of the light from reaching the torsion beam hinges. The elevated mirror is connected to an underlying torsion beam or yoke by a support post. The yoke is attached to the torsion hinges, which in turn are connected to rigid support posts. Because the structures that support the mirror and allow it to rotate are underneath the mirror instead of around the perimeter of the mirror, virtually the entire surface of the device is used to fabricate the mirror. Since virtually all of the light incident a hidden-hinge micromirror device reaches an active mirror surface-and is thus either used to form an image pixel or reflected away from the image to a light trap-the hidden-hinge device's contrast ratio is much higher than the contrast ratio of previous devices.
Images are created by positioning the DMD so that a light beam strikes the DMD at an angle equal to twice the angle of rotation. In this position, the mirrors fully rotated toward the light source reflect light in a direction normal to the surface of the micromirror device and into the aperture of a projection lens-transmitting light to a pixel on the image plane. Mirrors rotated away from the light source reflect light away from the projection lens-leaving the corresponding pixel dark.
Full-color images are generated either by using three micromirror devices to produce three single-color images, or by sequentially forming three single-color images using a single micromirror device illuminated by a beam of light passing through three color filters mounted on a rotating color wheel.
Micromirror devices are generally operated in one of two modes of operation. The first mode of operation is an analog mode, sometimes called beam steering, wherein the address electrode is charged to a voltage corresponding to the desired deflection of the mirror. Light striking the micromirror device is reflected by the mirror at an angle determined by the deflection of the mirror. Depending on the voltage applied to the address electrode, the cone of light reflected by an individual mirror is directed to fall outside the aperture of a projection lens, partially within the aperture, or completely within the aperture of the lens. The reflected light is focused by the lens onto an image plane, with each individual mirror corresponding to a fixed location on the image plane. As the cone of reflected light is moved from completely within the aperture to completely outside the aperture, the image location corresponding to the mirror dims, creating continuous brightness levels.
The second mode of operation is a digital mode. When operated digitally, each micromirror fully deflects in either of the two directions about the torsion beam axis directing the entire cone of reflected light either inside or outside the aperture of the projection lens. Thus, the digital mode either creates a maximum-brightness pixel or a minimum-brightness pixel. Intermediate brightness levels are created by pulse width modulation techniques in which the mirror is rapidly and repetitively rotated on and off. The duty cycle of the mirror determines the quantity of light reaching the image plane. The human eye integrates the light pulses and the brain perceives a flicker-free intermediate brightness level.
Digital operation uses a relatively large voltage to ensure the mirror is filly deflected. Since it is advantageous to drive the address electrode using standard logic voltage levels, a bias voltage, typically a negative voltage, is applied to the mirror metal layer to increase the voltage difference between the address electrodes and the mirrors. Use of a sufficiently large mirror bias voltage-a voltage above what is termed the threshold voltage of the device-ensures the mirror will deflect to the closest landing electrodes even in the absence of an address voltage. Therefore, by using a large mirror bias voltage, standard logic level address voltages may be used.
Typical images do not result in a 50/50 on/off duty cycle for the average micromirror. The unequal loading of the on and off states of a pixel results in a time average angle which produces a permanent deformation of the hinge. This deformation is seen as a permanent torsion, or twist, in the micromirror hinges. In the worst case, the hinge twist, or hinge memory, becomes so large that the force created by the address electrodes is insufficient to overcome the permanent twist. Long before the hinge twist is able to overcome the force generated by the address electrodes, however, the hinge twist degrades the image quality by occasionally overcoming the force generated by the address electrode.
When creating an image with the micromirror device, the micromirrors are rapidly switched on and off. Due to the resonant reset process used to ensure the micromirror releases from the surface of the landing electrodes, un-addressed mirrors tend to flutter about the neutral, or flat, position. Likewise, an addressed mirror flutters about the position determined by the address voltages-a position also influenced by hinge memory. Therefore, the hinge memory and the mirror flutter combine to overcome the force generated by the address electrodes and, depending on the timing of the mirror bias signal relative to the position of the fluttering micromirror, can intermittently cause improper device operation long before the hinge memory becomes large enough to consistently limit mirror rotation. Current micromirror designs are unacceptable when the hinge deformation produces a 4 degree deviation from the flat state.
The effects of hinge memory can be mitigated by the use of larger address voltages and by allowing the fluttering micromirror to settle before applying the mirror bias voltage. Unfortunately, each of these alternatives has a detrimental impact on the design and operation of micromechanical devices. Therefore, a method of eliminating or reducing hinge memory is needed.

Reduced deformation of micromechanical devices through thermal stabilization


With the advent of this new and unique spring-loaded slot door latching bar the individuals involved in the operation of removing the contents of the moneyboxes and the like will have at their disposal a device that by inserting and pushing down on the bar handgrip, the latching mechanism will be set and then, by turning the three separate keys the latches will be relocated in place holding the door mechanism. This rapid and safe operation will easily speed up the operation and eliminate a lot of skinned knuckles.

At gaming tables and the like, when a player desires to purchase playing chips, they give the dealer currency, normally bills to pay for the chips. The bills are then placed over a slot in a concealed container and then the dealer uses a blade tool to insert the bill through a slot into the container, hereinafter referred to as the "moneybox." The moneybox typically has three compartments with a slot formed in each compartment for each of the three shifts of the working day. At the start of the first shift, the first dealer releases the first slot door by turning the first dealer key on the first latching mechanism. When the shift change takes place, the second dealer releases the second slot door by turning the second dealer key on the second latching mechanism. The third dealer performs the same task of turning the third dealer key to open the third slot door. At the end of the third shift a shift supervisor replaces the moneybox and the full moneybox is taken to a safe room to be emptied. To empty the moneybox it must be turned up side down to reveal three separate doors, each door having separate locking mechanisms which may be unlocked using a single universal or "supervisor" key. After the compartments have been emptied the slot doors must be re-latched prior to re-use. The act of latching the mechanism has in the past required that an individual first insert their hand down into the central compartment, then push a pressure plate on the spring-loaded door mechanism while at the same time turning the three dealer keys so as to latch the mechanism into position. The inside of these central compartments are comprised of sheared metal with some relatively sharp edges. Further, the spring-loaded mechanism is at the opposite end of the compartment from the door and at a difficult angle to get enough leverage on to conveniently push the pressure plate thereby latching the mechanism.
Thus this invention describes a new and unique moneybox spring-loaded slot door-latching bar that simplifies the arduous task of latching the spring-loaded slot doors on this style of moneyboxes or other similar containers using similar spring-loaded latching mechanisms where currency or other similar material have been stored.


An electronic device may include an optical proximity sensor system. The optical proximity sensor system may be a transreflective optical proximity sensor system having a light emitter that emits light into a light-emitting region and a light detector that detects light in a light-detecting region. Control circuitry in the device can use the transreflective optical proximity sensor system to detect objects in an object detection region formed where the light-emitting region and light-detecting region overlap. The electronic device may be a pair of headphones in which housing structures such as housing walls define ear cup cavities. Speakers may be provided in the ear cups of the headphones to provide sound to the ear cup cavities. The transreflective optical proximity sensor system can detect the presence of a user's ear in an ear cup cavity.

Electronic devices often include sensors. For example, an optical proximity sensor may be used in a device such as a cellular telephone to monitor for the presence of a user's head adjacent to the cellular telephone. The optical proximity sensor may have an infrared light-emitting diode that emits infrared light and an infrared light detector that measures a portion of the emitted light that has been reflected back towards the infrared light detector from nearby objects.
It can be challenging to form a satisfactory optical proximity sensor for an electronic device. If care is not taken, light that is emitted by an optical proximity sensor may be reflected from static portions of the electronic device in which the optical proximity sensor system is being used rather than external objects. These static reflected signals represent a source of noise and can make it difficult to gather accurate optical proximity sensor measurements.

Electronic device having transreflective optical sensors


Provided is a tetraphenylbacteriochlorin derivative represented by the formula (I): [wherein R1, R2, R3 and R4, independently from each other, are a residue of a monosaccharide represented by the formulae: (wherein, R is a hydrogen or a protecting group)], or its salt. The tetraphenylbacteriochlorin derivative or its salt has a large molar extinction coefficient at long wavelengths which are expected to have a high tissue-penetrating property, and exhibits high selectivity to tumor cells and hydrophilicity.

The photodynamic therapy (PDT), according to which photosensitizers having a specific affinity for tumor cells are administered to patients before irradiation by laser beams of various wavelengths for treatment of cancers, is now attracting attention as a non-invasive therapy of cancers. Known photosensitizers usable for the PDT include various derivative compounds having a porphyrin skeleton, some of which are used clinically.
Desirable photosensitizers usable for PDT are required to be hydrophilic and highly selective to tumor cells and to have a large molar extinction coefficient at a long-wavelength range. Long wavelength light shows a good penetrating property to tissues and allows the use of an inexpensive laser irradiator. However, the porphyrin derivatives proposed so far have problems such as their hydrophobicity that causes side effects and their small molar extinction coefficient for long-wavelength light range. Therefore, the development of superior photosensitizers is desired.
For the purpose of solving these problems, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-7693 generally discloses hydrophilic tetraphenylchlorin derivatives and bacteriochlorin derivatives with saccharide residues on phenyl groups which have a larger molar extinction coefficient to the long-wavelength light compared to the porphyrin derivatives. However, the publication does not actually disclose the synthesis of the bacteriochlorin derivatives and their effects as photosensitizers.

Tetraphenylbacteriochlorin derivatives and compositions containing the same


Various methods and systems for autonomously upgrading deployed resources in a distributed computing environment are provided. An autonomous upgrade system identifies updates such as operating system image updates and virtual machine extension updates for deployment in the distributed computing environment. The autonomous upgrade system identifies eligible tenants, identifies deployed resources that may be impacted by the identified update, batches the resources and upgrades the batched resources. The autonomous upgrade system performs a diagnostic test on upgraded resources to determine whether an upgrade was successful. In some embodiments, the diagnostic test is performed by executing a diagnostic script that can be provided by a tenant. The autonomous upgrade system can stop or pause the upgrade if various success metrics are not satisfied. In some embodiments, the autonomous upgrade system tests and certifies newly published updates for deployment to the distributed computing environment.

Large-scale networked systems are commonplace platforms employed in a variety of settings for running applications and maintaining data for business and operational functions. For instance, a data center (e.g., physical cloud computing platform) may provide a variety of services (e.g., web applications, email services, search engine services, etc.) for a plurality of customers simultaneously. These large-scale networked systems typically include a large number of resources distributed throughout the data center or throughout multiple data centers in a region or multiple regions across the globe. Resources can resemble a physical machine or a virtual machine (VM) running on a physical node or host. In this regard, data centers provide computing systems and associated components that can support compute and storage operations for a variety of compute workloads and operations.
In general, customers of a distributed computing environment (tenants) use the resources of the distributed computing environment. Such resources may include one or more physical or virtual computing machines that include various computer files such as operating system images and virtual machine extensions that support various software applications. For example, tenants may deploy virtual machines to the distributed computing environment using a particular operating system image. Over time, publishers of these computer files may implement version updates, security updates and other fixes. As such, processes to support updates to operating system images and other computer files relied upon by tenants are integral to the provision of distributed computing resources.

Autonomous upgrade of deployed resources in a distributed computing environment


A device for determining a contour of a dental treatment area during treatment thereof includes a laser beam guidance system and an imaging system. The laser beam guidance system can guide a laser beam and, optionally, a scanning light to a dental treatment area, and the imaging system, which can include an adjustable focus image sensor, can obtain an image of the dental treatment area based on light rays reflected therefrom. The device also includes a computation system to compute a contour, e.g., a 2D contour, of a surface of the dental treatment area based on the image obtained by the imaging system and, optionally, geometries of one or more components of the laser beam guidance system and/or optical components associated with the imaging system.

In dentistry, 3D scanning and imaging are rapidly replacing older techniques that use castings and impression materials. Scanning is typically fast relative to the older methods, can instantly provide a digital file, and can eliminate substantially all shrinkage and handling issues associated with castings and impressions. Additionally, the digital images can be easily transmitted to a dental laboratory or dental computerized numerical control (CNC) milling machine, for generating a suitable dental restoration component such as a dental crown.
Scanners, in general, are devices for capturing and recording information from the surface of an object. The use of scanners to determine a 3D surface contour of an object, e.g., to create a 3D model thereof, using non-contact optical methods is important in many applications including in vivo scanning of dental structures. Typically, a 3D surface contour is formed from a collection of points (often called a cloud of points) where, at a particular time, the relative position of each point in the collection/cloud represents an approximate contour of the scanned object's surface.
In these optical methods, a common principle underlying contour measurement using the collection of point position data is triangulation. Given one or more triangles where the baseline of each triangle includes two optical centers and the vertex of each triangle is a particular point on or near a target object surface, the range of that particular point on or near the target object surface from each of the optical centers can be determined based on the optical separation and the angle of light transmitted from and/or received at the optical centers to/from the particular point. If the coordinate positions of the optical centers in a specified coordinate reference frame (e.g., a Cartesian X, Y, Z reference frame), are known, the relative X, Y, Z coordinate position of the vertex, i.e., the point on or near the target surface, can be computed in the same reference frame. Typically, the light rays from an illumination source to a point on the target form one leg, i.e., edge, of the triangle, and the rays reflected from the target point to an image sensor form the other leg, i.e., edge, of the triangle. In a system using a single image sensor, the angle between the two legs can be determined because the positions of the illumination source and the sensor and the angle at which a beam of illumination light is directed to the surface to be scanned are known. Using these known parameters and the computed angle of reflection, the expected position of the point of reflection on the surface to be contoured can be determined. By repeating this procedure to determine the respective positions of a number of points of reflection a curvature of the reflection surface, i.e., the 3D contour thereof, can be determined.
Triangulation methods can be divided into passive triangulation and active triangulation. Passive triangulation (also known as stereo analysis) typically utilizes ambient light and the two optical centers along the baseline of the triangle include two cameras/image sensors. In two sensor passive systems, knowledge of the angle of illumination light incident upon the object to be scanned is not required. In contrast, active triangulation typically uses one camera as one optical center of the triangle along the baseline and, instead of a second camera at the other optical center, active triangulation uses a source of controlled illumination (also known as structured light). One optical center is a source of light and the other optical center is the imaging device, as described above.
Stereo/passive analysis, while conceptually straightforward, is not widely used, e.g., due to the difficulty in obtaining correspondence between features observed in different camera images. The surface contour of objects with well-defined edges and corners, such as blocks, can be relatively easy to measure using stereo analysis. Objects that have smoothly varying surfaces, such as skin, tooth surfaces, etc., have relatively fewer easily identifiable points of interest, such as corners, edge points, etc. This can present a significant challenge to the stereo analysis techniques. Active triangulation is therefore often preferred in generating 3D contours of such objects having smoothly varying surfaces.
Active triangulation, or structured light methods, can overcome or at least minimize the stereo correspondence problems by projecting one or more known patterns of light onto an object to determine the shape thereof. An example structured light is a spot of light, typically produced by a laser. Accuracy of contour determination can be increased by moving a fine spot in a specified pattern, e.g., along a line, in a zig-zag pattern, and/or a spiral pattern. One large spot can also be used, however. The geometry of the setup of the light projector and the camera observing the spot of light reflected from a surface of the target object can enable, e.g., via trigonometric calculations, the determination of a range of the point from which the light spot is reflected from one or both optical centers (i.e., the light projector and camera), as described above. Light projection patterns such as a stripe or two-dimensional patterns such as a grid of light dots can be used to decrease the time required to capture and/or analyze the images of the target surface.
The resolution of the measurement of the surface of a target object using structured light generally depends on the fineness of the light pattern used and the resolution of the camera used to observe the reflected light. Typically, the overall accuracy of a 3D laser triangulation scanning system is based on the ability thereof to meet two objectives, namely: (i) accurately measuring the center of the illumination light reflected from the target surface, and (ii) accurately measuring the position of the illumination source and the camera at each of the positions used by the scanner to acquire an image.
Commercially available 3D scanner systems have been developed for the dental market that accommodate the variety of human dentitions by incorporating an operator held, wand type scanner. In these systems, the operator typically moves the scanner over the area to be scanned and collects a series of image frames. In this case, however, a positional correspondence between image frames is typically not maintained; instead each frame is captured from an unknown coordinate position that is independent of the position and orientation of the wand at the instant the previous one or more frames of images were captured. In addition, all orientation information about the illumination sources and imaging devices and references thereto from scanning prior to treatment are generally not available to a scan after the treatment, because the scanner cannot be continuously located in the mouth during treatment with other instrumentation used for treatment.
These handheld systems must therefore rely on scene registration or the application of an accurate set of fiducials over the area to be scanned. But, for 3D structures such as teeth, the use of pattern recognition or fiducials for frame registration can be error prone, because tooth surfaces do not always provide sufficient registration features to allow for high accuracy scene registration. Accurate placement of fiducials to a resolution that is often required is generally impractical over the size of a typical tooth.
Another 3D measurement method includes auto-focus depth measurement with image recognition. With a short depth of field, the camera is focused at predefined depth (e.g., Z1), and an image is captured. The image is then processed, e.g., using an image recognition software, so that the "in-focus" sections of the image can be determined. Another image is then captured at a second predefined depth (e.g., Z2), and the "in-focus" sections in the second image are identified. The Z depth positioning, image capture, and image recognition are repeated according to a required resolution. Once all of the images are captured, the individual image slices can be stacked together to create a 3D image of the object.
In connection with scanning and modeling a treatment area, this method often produces 3D scans lacking the required level of accuracy. This is largely because the images are captured before and after the treatment only, and no images are captured during treatment because that requires interchanging treatment and imaging devices, which cause delay in treatment, inconvenience to the patient, and may also pose safety risk to all those involved in the treatment, particularly when lasers are used in the treatment. Therefore, improved systems and methods are need for scanning areas/regions to be treated.

System and method for imaging in laser dental treatment


A building information system and method processes building-related data associated with a building. The building-related data, including building management system data and configuration data associated with the building, is associatively stored in a database. A building management system service manages the building subsystem and provides the building management system data stored in the database. A data interface communicates the building-related data to the database. A client interface communicates the building-related data between a client application and the data interface. Other services includes a polling service for periodically detecting point data, a metering service for periodically detecting meter data, and a rates service providing real-time price control. A client/server architecture and consistent procedural interfaces facilitate integration of additional tools and devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrical communications systems, and more particularly to systems and methods for monitoring and controlling building information systems.
2. Description of Related Art
In a large modem building, such as a manufacturing plant, a building operator can use a dedicated Building Management System (BMS) to manage different building subsystems coupled to the building, including boilers, thermostats, electrical subsystems, controllers, meters, and other equipment. The dedicated BMS typically monitors and controls the building subsystems using a communications network coupling each of the building subsystems. For example, the building operator can use a dedicated BMS to monitor the temperature in a specific zone of the building and to increase or decrease the heat provided to that zone. Typically, a dedicated BMS is executed in a personal computer or workstation located in the building, although such systems can also be operated remotely via a dial-up connection, a local-area network (LAN) or wide-area network (WAN). The data recorded by a dedicated BMS, however, is not readily available to other BMSs or to other applications that would benefit from such data. Furthermore, older dedicated BMSs have typically managed building components using a proprietary channel, which presents an obstacle to adding new service components, interfaces, or clients from different vendors.
Modem BMSs, however, have moved away from the proprietary systems of the late 1980s with the intent of improving a building operator""s ability to integrate different vendors"" subsystems. Such systems, facilitated by industry standard communication protocols such as xe2x80x9cBACnetxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cEchelonxe2x80x9d, are typically characterized as xe2x80x9copen-systemsxe2x80x9d and provide non-proprietary communication interfaces among building subsystems marketed by different vendors. Generally, BACnet and Echelon refer to different types of open-system building network protocols, which allow other BACnet-compliant or Echelon-compliant BMSs and building subsystems to communicate together. In contrast to dedicated BMSs that communicate over proprietary channels, open-system BMSs can provide ready, automatic access to disparate building subsystems without the need for specially developed, vendor-specific interfaces to each vendor""s building subsystem. In other words, an open-system BMS can seamlessly communicate among the building subsystems of different vendors by providing an open-system interface supporting an open-system building network, like BACnet or Echelon.
While open-system BMSs address customer demands for choice and interoperability for managing building subsystems, modem BMSs do not fully address the complex requirements of modem building operators. The EXCEL BUILDING SUPERVISOR (XBS) v.1.4.2, marketed by Honeywell, Inc., is an example of a BMS, which is typically used to locally manage and control a building, including accessing dynamic data detected from points and meters within the building, viewing historical dynamic data, setting schedules for turning specific points on or off, viewing alarms when the dynamic data fails to satisfy an acceptable condition, and issuing control commands to points in the building. The term xe2x80x9cpointsxe2x80x9d refers to sensors and actuators on various building subsystems.
The BMS data provided by a typical BMS is severely limited in quantity and scope, consisting essentially of dynamic data and attributes. The dynamic (or time-varying) data is detected from or provided to points and meters within one or more buildings and stored within the BMS controller itself. The attributes typically include an 8-character identifier of the point or meter, a type characteristic (e.g., digital input, digital output, analog input, analog output), alarm conditions, priority characteristics, and status flags. The data provided by a BMS is not stored in a relational database and is not readily available for use by other non-BMS applications. Furthermore, the BMS does not provide or store configuration data (e.g., describing a particular site, a building, a piece of equipment, and/or a point (or meter) on that equipment) that is also of interest to a building operator. As such, a BMS does not facilitate integration of other needed data and services, such as remotely sending alarms to an email address of a building operator or owner to warn of detected problems with a particular piece of equipment in a particular building. This exemplary functionality is generally outside the scope of a BMS.
Because it is desirable to integrate the data and functionality from a BMS with data and functionality available from other systems, additional data, tools and services are needed to more fully meet these requirements. Furthermore, in some circumstances, a building operator may manage a building remotely or contract with a third party building management company to manage multiple buildings at different geographical locations. A need exists for a remotely accessible building information system that supports the integration of new data, tools and services with a BMS.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment, a method for processing building-related data associated with a building on a building management system network is provided. A request is received by a server process from a client application through a client interface. A database storing the building-related data including building management system data and configuration data associated with the building is accessed in accordance with the request. An acknowledgment of the accessing operation is issued to the client application, the acknowledgment including at least one element of the building-related data.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment, a building information system for processing building-related data associated with a building is also provided, including a database storing the building-related data including building management system data and configuration data associated with the building. A building management system service manages the building subsystem and provides the building management system data stored in the database. A data interface communicates the building-related data to the database. A client interface communicates the building-related data between a client application and the data interface.

Remotely accessible building information system