A method of reading a radiographic image on a stimulable phosphor sheet includes a step of obtaining correction data in which a spatial frequency processing is conducted so as to reduce a predetermined spatial frequency component of an image information which is irradiated with radiation without placing a subject. The predetermined spatial frequency component corresponds to an irregularity with poor reproducibility in terms of its position on the image information. The correction data is made so as to eliminate an irregularity which is reproducible of its position on the image information.

The present invention relates to a radiographic image information reading method and a radiographic image reading apparatus, and in particular, to correction of an image to be read.
Recently, there has been devised a method for obtaining radiographic image information without using a radiographic film composed of a silver halide light-sensitive material. According to one such method, radiation transmitted through a subject is absorbed in a phosphor of a certain kind, and then the phosphor is excited by light or heat energy, for example, so that radiation energy accumulated in the phosphor through the aforesaid absorption is emitted as a fluorescence which is detected to be an image. To be concrete, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,859,527 and Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection No. 12144/1980 (hereinafter referred to as Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication) disclose methods employing a radiographic image conversion panel and showing a radiographic image conversion method with excitation light of visible light or infrared radiation wherein a radiographic image conversion panel in which a stimurable phosphor layer is formed on a support is used. Radiation transmitted through a subject is projected on the accelerating phosphor layer of the radiographic image conversion panel so that radiation energy corresponding to radiation transmittance on each part of the subject is accumulated to form a latent image. Then, the accelerating phosphor layer is scanned by the aforesaid exciting light so that radiation energy accumulated on each part of the panel is emitted to be converted to light, and then, its intensity is detected by a photoelectric transfer element such as a photomultiplier or a photodiode to obtain a radiographic image.
FIG. 19 is an illustration showing how an image is recorded on a stimurable phosphor like that explained above. In the drawing, X-rays emitted from X-ray source 1 are narrowed down by diaphragm 2, and then are projected on subject 3. X-rays transmitted through the subject 3 enter accelerating phosphor 4 wherein a latent image of an image of the subject 3 is formed.
FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing a structural example of a conventional radiographic image information reading apparatus which reads radiographic images recorded on an accelerating phosphor in the manner explained above. The numeral 101 is a semi-conductor laser light source for generating exciting light, and the semi-conductor laser light source 101 is driven by laser driver circuit 102 in the form of pulses in synchronization with an image clock signal from image clock generator 125. Laser beam LB generated from the semi-conductor laser light source 101 arrives at deflector 107 through monochromatic light filter 103, mirror 104, beam-forming optical system 105 and mirror 106. The deflector 107 is equipped with polygon mirror 109 driven by deflector driver 108, and it deflects the laser beam LB to cover a certain angle in the scanning area. The deflected laser beam LB is adjusted to be at a constant speed on a scanning line, and it scans on radiographic image conversion panel 111 employing a stimurable phosphor as a radiographic image information recording medium in the direction of arrow "a" through mirror 110. The radiographic image conversion panel 111 moves simultaneously in the sub-scanning direction (direction of arrow "b"), and thereby an overall surface can be scanned. Light emitted from the radiographic image conversion panel 111 after scanning by the laser beam LB are converged by converging means 112 and arrive, through filter 113 transmitting only a wavelength range of the light, at light detector 114 provided with a photomultiplier where the light are converted to analog electric signals (image signals).
The numeral 115 is a power supply which supplies high voltage to the light detector 114 (photomultiplier). An image signal outputted as an electric current from the light detector 114 passes through front end amplifier 116 to be voltage-amplified, and further passes through logarithmic amplifier 118 that converts radiation intensity signals into image density signals, filter 119 and sample hold circuit 120 that holds signals for a certain period in synchronization with image clock signals, and then is converted into a digital signal by A/D converter 121 to be sent to an external data processing apparatus through interface 124.
In the case of reading radiographic image information, however, there have been problems such as sensitivity irregularity of radiations and accelerating phosphors (irregularity in both main- and sub-scanning directions), irregularity of exciting light scanning system and light converging system (irregularity in main-scanning direction) and an influence of a change with age of a stimurable phosphor (irregularity in the sub-scanning direction). As a technology for overcoming the aforesaid problems, there has been a correction technology described in Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 234643/1985.
However, in the technology described in the aforesaid patent, correction data for correcting the data read have been needed to be prepared for all pixels of a radiographic image conversion panel. Therefore, the capacity of a memory for the storage of correction data needs to be increased. When using a plurality of radiographic image conversion panels, in particular, memory capacity is increased in proportion to the number of panels, which is not preferable in practical use.
For solving the problems mentioned above, the present inventor proposed a novel method and a novel apparatus for reading radiographic image information (Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 158536/1988). According to this invention, correction data in a form of a line in the main-scanning direction and/or the sub-scanning direction are obtained from a solid image obtained through photographing without a subject and stored, and they are used for correcting image data in the case of photographing an image with a subject arranged. It is possible to save memory capacity greatly by having at least one list of correction data in the form of a line or a row without having correction data with total pixels two-dimensionally. Further, when obtaining correction data in the main-scanning direction or in the sub-scanning direction, it is possible to eliminate an influence of noise by averaging data of plural lines or rows.
In the invention, however, when streak-shaped noise (irregularity without position repeatability or an irregularity with poor reproducibility in terms of its position on an image) caused by vibration or irregularity of intervals on a polygon mirror appears on an image without a subject in the case of preparing correction data, the correction data can not be free from this influence. When image data is corrected by the use of correction data having the noise, the noise appears on the corrected image. As a cause of irregularity without position repeatability, there are irregularity in a light converging system and irregularity in an exciting light scanning system (defect and dust) for the main-scanning direction, and there are relative displacement (stationary vibration and shock from the outside) between a radiographic image conversion panel and a reading system, irregularity in an inclination angle of a polygon mirror and irregularity of reflection factor in mirror surfaces for the sub-scanning direction. With regard to such irregularity without repeatability, there have been some cases where the irregularity was increased when it was corrected.
FIGS. 24(a-1) to 24(c-2) are illustrations of some problems in conventional technologies. In the drawing, f1 in FIG. 24(a-1) represents correction data, FIG. 24(a-2) is a frequency spectrum of f1, f2 in FIG. 24(b-1) represents image data, FIG. 24(b-2) is a frequency spectrum of f2, and f3 in FIG. 24(c-1) represents image data after correction and FIG. 24(c-2) is a frequency spectrum of f3. The axis of ordinate for f1-f3 represents a size of image data, the axis of abscissa represents a position, and the axis of ordinate for a frequency spectrum represents intensity, and the axis of abscissa represents a spatial frequency. An example shown in the drawing indicates an occasion wherein irregularity having position repeatability at a relatively gentle change and irregularity having no position repeatability appearing at a constant cycle at a relatively abrupt change are mixed. Since the irregularity having position repeatability appears similarly on correction data f1 and image data f2, effective correction is made on image data f3 after correction. On the other hand, irregularity having no position repeatability appears differently in terms of position between correction data f1 and image data f2. Therefore, effective correction can not be obtained, and irregularity is rather increased on the corrected image data f3. This is clear from the frequency spectrum shown in FIG. 24(c-2), wherein a peak of a specific frequency component is increased.

Radiographic image reading apparatus and a radiographic image information reading method


The present invention relates to A microfabricated tip and post structure comprising a post having a rough top surface that diffuses incident light and a cross-section, and a tip, lithographically plated on the rough top surface of the post, having a smooth reflective surface appropriate for automatic vision recognition, and having a cross-section that is less than the cross-section of the post.

The present invention relates generally to the testing of semiconductor chips, and specifically to the design of probe contactors for such testing prior to packaging.
Typically, semiconductor chips are tested to verify that they function appropriately and reliably. This is often done when the semiconductor devices are still in wafer form, that is, before they are diced from the wafer and packaged. This allows the simultaneous testing of many chips at a single time, creating considerable advantages in cost and process time compared to testing individual chips once they are packaged. If chips are found to be defective, then when the chips are diced from the wafer, the defective ones can be discarded and only the reliable chips are packaged. It is an axiom then that the larger a wafer that may be reliably tested at a time, the more savings can be incurred in cost and process time.
Generally, when performing wafer testing, a chuck carrying a wafer is raised to a probe card to which thousands of probes are electrically coupled. To test larger wafers, small, high performance probes are needed. The probes must be able to break through the oxide and debris layers on the surface of the contact pads of the chips on the wafer in order to make a reliable electrical contact to each pad. Additionally, the probes must be able to compensate for the fact that the contact pads may be of different heights (i.e., not all the contact pads on a wafer may reside in the same plane). Furthermore, the chuck and the probe card mechanical mount may not be precisely parallel and flat, introducing further height variations which the probes must accommodate.
Conventionally, cantilever wire probes have been used to test wafers in this regard. However, cantilever wire probes are too long and difficult to accurately assemble to allow reliable simultaneous contact to all of the chips on a conventional wafer. Additionally, cantilever wire probes have high self and mutual inductance problems which do not make them good candidates for testing of high-speed devices. These problems are exaggerated when they are used to test larger wafers. Cantilever (or bending) probes can also be fabricated at a small physical scale by various mircofabrication techniques known in the art. These cantilever springs lack the mechanical energy density (for controlled scrubbing of the oxide layer) and spatial efficiency to be ideally effective for reliable testing of large wafers.
A number of attempts have been made to overcome the deficiencies of cantilever probes, all with varied levels of success. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,951, assigned to Form Factor, Inc., describes methods of producing spring probes by coating a ductile metal with a spring metal (as seen in FIG. 4). These springs are bending mode springs similar to cantilever springs. Moreover, they are elongated and poorly supported in lateral directions at the contactor causing problems with controlled scrubbing of the contact pads. Furthermore, probes that require a long spring length such as these have relatively poor electrical performance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,638, assigned to Decision Track, describes a torsion spring design, see FIG. 1, which is more mechanically efficient than other spring designs, and more effective than cantilever designs. U.S. Pat. No. 6,771,084, also assigned to Decision Track, describes the fundamental principle of a single footed torsion spring probe contactor, see FIGS. 2A and 2B. However these designs too, have their limitations. The particular incarnations considered and contemplated by these patents do not address or solve many of the practical requirements for a spring probe contactor such as: range of motion, optical characteristics required for vision recognition, practical production means, requirements for high lateral stability of the contact tip in response to scrubbing forces to name a few.
Improvements in the design of probe contactors have come with advances in photolithography and associated micromachining techniques. U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,637 to Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation describes the basis of multi-layer build up fabrication through lithographic electro-forming techniques of three-dimensional metal structures including springs and spring contactors. The present applicants have created a micro-formed torsion bar probe contactor which overcomes many of the deficiencies of the prior art and is a subject of the instant application.
Another aspect of the present application is the formation of the tip at the end of the probe. Older pin based contactors, such as cantilever needle probes or vertically buckling beam probes, are typically built from wire with a sharpened or shaped tip. This type of geometry provides for adequate electrical contact only if substantial contact force is applied. High contact force is deleterious to the semiconductor devices under test which often include active devices under the I/O pads. Furthermore, pin based contactors cannot be built at the fine pitches and high pin counts required for modern large wafer test. For these and other reasons, microfabricated probe contactors are an attractive alternative to pin based probe cards.
Microfabricated probe contact tips for use on contactor probes have been proposed in a variety of configurations and are plentiful in the art. In most of these configurations, provision is made for the creation of a tip with a well defined and controlled surface shape, size, material, and texture. Each of these elements is important for achieving the required consistent electrical contact to common IC pad metals such as Al, AlSiCu, Cu, Cu alloys, Au, or solder. Each of these parameters has a bearing on the contact performance but control over the geometry is among the most significant and is a function of the fabrication technology employed.
Another factor that is often overlooked is the optical characteristic of the tip and adjacent structures. Typically, probe cards are used in conjunction with wafer probers equipped with machine vision systems for automatic identification of probe tip locations and alignment of those to the I/O pads on the wafer, such as that described by U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,352, assigned to Tokyo Electron Labs. Basically, a machine vision system includes a camera that is positionable and looks at the tips of the probe needles. The camera has some magnification appropriate for viewing the geometry of the tip. It also includes a light source such as an LED ring light or a co-axial light. The image from the camera is processed by computer so as to determine the location of the tip relative to the camera's image area. This location information is used by the prober's computer control algorithm to position the device-under-test (DUT) bond pads accurately under the probe tips. Thus the probe tip must be designed with the vision systems requirements in mind. In particular, vision systems require a good optical contrast between the tip and adjacent structures, particularly in the case of microfabricated contactors with small physical dimensions between adjacent surfaces. Typical microfabricated spring contactors have smooth planar surfaces in close proximity to the contact tip surface, creating difficulty with regard to the vision recognition systems due to reflections from surfaces other than the tip, as seen in FIG. 5A. Thus, these vision systems often mistake unrelated structures for the tip causing vision rejections or errors in the captured tip position.
Various attempts to overcome this problem have been suggested, but each have had their own problems. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,255,126, assigned to Form Factor, Inc. and shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, discloses a pyramid shaped contactor tip for use with a cantilever probe structure. The pyramid is formed by replicating an anisotropically etched cavity in silicon and bonding the replicated tip to a spring structure. While this technique may produce a tip with a good mechanical strength due to its wide base, and the sides of the pyramid reflect light off-axis and appear dark under the normal illumination used for machine vision recognition, this design has at least two significant drawbacks. The fabrication sequence is driven by a mold replication technique and requires a separate bonding step in order to assemble the tip to the spring. This extra bonding step adds significant complexity, yield loss, and cost to the manufacturing process. Furthermore, the pyramid shape produces a contact geometry that is limited to a square or rectangular contact surface which grows in size as it is abraded or re-surfaced as is often done in practical application as a result of abrasive cleaning. Any change in surface shape or size results in a change in contact area and hence electrical contact characteristics as well as scrub mark.
Another way of solving machine vision problems is to create the tip significantly tall (approximately 50 um tall). In this embodiment, the next underlying planar surface (the post) would be far enough away from the focal plane of the vision microscope so that the post surface would be out of focus and only the tip would be in focus. However, this is not a practical solution for tips that are produced by lithographic imaging and electroforming. Such processes have practical limits in aspect ratio (height to width ratio). Furthermore, even if the aspect ratios of a taller tip were practical (typical tips are about the same height as or slightly higher than their smallest dimension which is on the order of 5 um to 20 um), a taller tip would be prone to breakage from the lateral scrubbing forces present in use.
Another proposed alternative is to remove part of the post structure, creating a sloped surface around the tip, see FIG. 5B, that cannot reflect illumination back to the vision system. However, a problem with this design is that it is very difficult to align a tip on the flat top of the now tapered post. Any slight misalignment provides a planar reflective surface near the tip base and causes a bright "crescent" to appear around the tip. The crescent effect interferes with proper tip-position recognition causing vision "rejects" or errors in the captured visual centroid.
Thus a new design is needed for creating a tip and post structure that will resolve the issues of vision errors when a tip is lithographically formed on a probe structure.


An airbag, which is folded and assembled elongatedly, is deployed along a side window. The airbag has a folded portion and a pleated portion which wraps the folded portion under the assembled condition. The airbag also has an inner tube which is provided from the inside of an infusion portion to the inside of an upstream portion of an inflating portion. The inner tube prevents that the airbag is damaged by heat of inflation gas. When the airbag is assembled, the inner tube is positioned along a first fabric, which is developed so that the surface of the first fabric faces an inside of a vehicle compartment, by the infused fluid. Deployment performance of the airbag (curtain airbag deploying along a side window of an automobile) is improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an airbag which deploys, for example, along a side window inside a vehicle compartment, an airbag apparatus having the airbag, and a method for folding the airbag.
2. Description of the Related Art
With regard to an airbag apparatus having an airbag which is inflated and deployed by inflation gas, a curtain airbag apparatus has been known. The curtain airbag apparatus has an airbag which deploys planarly along side windows inside a vehicle compartment. In this kind of the airbag apparatus, an airbag is folded and assembled elongatedly and installed along an upper edge of the side windows inside the vehicle compartment. When the vehicle receives impact by side impact or rollover, an inflator infuses gas into the airbag. The gas is infused into a bag-shaped inflating portion via a tubular infusion portion of the airbag. Then, the airbag is inflated and deployed downwardly along the side windows.
In this kind of airbag, a separated fabric (flow control fabric) is attached from a gas infusion portion to an inflating portion to protect the gas infusion portion from heat of gas (see Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2003-146174 [page. 5, FIGS. 4 and 6]).
Furthermore, method for folding a curtain airbag is also known (see U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0110256 [FIGS. 1 and 2D]). In the above method, the airbag is rolled from the lower edge and the upper potion of the rolled potion is formed as a pair of flattened pleats. The pair of pleats wraps the rolled potion. With this folding pattern, the pair of flattened pleats is quickly inflated, and then the rolled portion is deployed.

Airbag, airbag apparatus, and method for folding airbag


Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are disclosed for dynamically determining highlights of media content based on user interaction metrics and/or social media metrics. In one embodiment, an example method may include determining media content streamed to user devices over a time period and corresponding to a live event, determining user interaction data associated with the media content and indicative of user interactions with the user devices, determining, using the user interaction data, a quality score for a time interval during the time period, the quality score indicative of user engagement in a segment of the media content, determining, using the time interval and segment-by-segment metadata, a stream start time and a stream end time for the segment, generating, using the stream start time and the stream end time, a clip of the segment, and determining, using the quality score, that the clip is to be included in a highlight.

Media content, such as video content or audio content, may be presented at electronic user devices such that users can consume or interact with the content. In many instances, media content corresponding to a live event may be streamed to user devices in real time or close to real time as may occur due to slight delays in delivery of the content to the user devices. For example, media content for a live sporting event may be streamed to user devices such that users may watch and/or listen to the event or commentary on the event in real time or close to real time. In some instances, certain entities, such as content providers, content publishers, or third parties, may create highlight replays of media content to allow to users to watch and/or listen to certain segments of the media content. For example, in the sporting event context, a highlight reel may be generated, which may include segments covering certain plays or other actions that occurred during the live event. Existing techniques for creating highlight replays may rely on static metrics and/or manual selection of segments of media content to be included in a replay. For example, a highlight reel for a sporting event may include only segments covering scoring plays or other types of plays that satisfy a static metric or may include only segments deemed significant by a human operator. As a result, such techniques may fail to include certain segments of the media content that may be of particular interest to users desiring to watch highlights of the live event and may require significant human resources in generating the highlight replay.
The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merely depict example embodiments of the disclosure. The drawings are provided to facilitate understanding of the disclosure and shall not be deemed to limit the breadth, scope, or applicability of the disclosure. The use of the same reference numerals indicates similar, but not necessarily the same or identical components. Different reference numerals may be used to identify similar components. Various embodiments may utilize elements or components other than those illustrated in the drawings, and some elements and/or components may not be present in various embodiments. The use of singular terminology to describe a component or element may, depending on the context, encompass a plural number of such components or elements and vice versa.

Dynamically determining highlights of media content based on user interaction metrics and/or social media metric


A dielectric filter is provided which permits one to obtain desired external coupling easily without lowering Qo of resonators. The filter comprises a dielectric block having an open end surface and a shorted end surface and provided with resonator holes. Excitation holes are formed in the block outside the resonator holes, respectively. Input/output electrodes are formed on the open end-surface. The electrodes are electrically connected with conductors formed inside the excitation holes but isolated from an outer conductor. The conductors inside the excitation holes are electrically connected with the outer conductor on the shorted end surface. The excitation holes are electromagnetically coupled to the respective adjacent resonator holes, thus providing external coupling.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dielectric filter for use in a mobile communication device such as a cellular telephone or other portable telephone.
2. Description of the Related Art
The structure of a prior art dielectric filter comprising a dielectric block is shown in FIG. 14. In the following figures, the shaded portions indicate visible portions of the dielectric material of the dielectric block. On these visible portions, no conductor is formed.
As shown in FIG. 14, this dielectric filter has, for example, two resonator holes 2 extending between a pair of opposite end surfaces of the dielectric filter, indicated by reference numeral 1. Inner conductors 3 are formed on the inner surfaces of the resonator holes 2. An outer conductor 4 is formed on the outer surface of the block 1. A pair of input/output electrodes 7 are formed at desired locations on the outer surface of the dielectric block. No inner conductors 3 are not formed at portions (hereinafter referred to as nonconductive portions) close to one end surface 1a (hereinafter referred to as the open end surface) of the openings of the resonator holes 2. These nonconductive portions are isolated from the outer conductor 4. At the opposite surface 1b (hereinafter referred to as the shorted end surface), the nonconductive portions are electrically connected or shorted to the outer conductor 4. This dielectric filter consists of two resonators stages each of which is formed in one of the resonator holes 2. These resonators are interconnected in a so-called comb-line connection (coupling) by stray capacitance created in the nonconductive portions.
In this structure, an external coupling capacitance Ce is produced between each input/output electrode 7 and the corresponding inner conductor 3, as shown in FIG. 14. This external coupling capacitance Ce provides external coupling.
When an antenna filter is constructed by using two such dielectric filters, a phase-adjusting circuit is inserted between one end of each filter, and an antenna terminal acting as the common input/output to and from both filters, so that the phase of reflected waves in the passband of one filter will cause the opposite filter to appear as an open circuit. A lumped constant device such as a capacitive device or an inductive device or a distributed constant line such as a cable or stripline is used as the phrase-adjusting circuit.
In the above-described prior art filter which makes use of the external coupling capacitance Ce to obtain external coupling, if a wide passband or strong external coupling is needed, the area of the input/output electrodes may be increased. Alternatively, the resonator holes may be positioned in eccentric positions to shorten the distance between each input/output electrode and the corresponding inner conductor. In this way, adequate external coupling is derived.
However, the foregoing technique requires use of input/output electrodes having a different shape or different dimensions, whenever a desired external coupling is to be obtained. This makes it difficult to standardize the input/output electrodes.
Furthermore, when the area of the input/output electrodes is increased or the resonator holes are positioned in eccentric locations, the unloaded Q (or, Qo) of each resonator drops. In addition, an increase in the area of the input/output electrodes reduces the effective dielectric constant, thus increasing the resonator's electrical length.
Moreover, when an antenna filter or the like is made, using the prior art dielectric filters as described above, phase-adjusting components such as capacitors, coils, or striplines are required in addition to the dielectric filters. Additionally, an operation for mounting and soldering them to a substrate or for forming them on a substrate is required. Consequently, it is difficult to miniaturize the antenna filters. Hence, the cost of the components or fabrication cost is increased.
In particular, in the prior art dielectric filter, once the degree of external coupling at the input and output portions is determined, its phase is also determined. This makes it impossible to set external coupling and phase independently In consequence, it is difficult to obtain a desired external coupling and a desired phase simultaneously. Where a desired phase is associated with a connection to another filter or external circuit, it is necessary to add a separate part for adjusting the phase.


An adjustable nasal cavity dilation device includes a first deformable body having a shape corresponding to the nasal cavity. Top and bottom frame ends of the body are interconnected by a flexible wall structure that undergoes deformation in response to movement of one frame end relative to the other. A releasable holding member includes a ring that engages the bottom frame end and an upstanding central member that engages the top frame end. The ring and the upstanding central member are coupled by a plurality of radial arms. The flexible wall structure is deformed and effective for urging against nasal cavity walls to increase air flow through the nasal passage when the top and bottom frame ends are maintained in a holding condition by the ring and the upstanding central member. The ring and radial arms define openings that permit passage of air into and out of the nasal cavity through the releasable holding member.

Snoring and general breathing dysfunctions are common ailments that affect a significant proportion of the world's population. People who are disposed to such conditions can be subject to feelings of general tiredness, shortness of breath, fatigue, sleep deprivation, snoring, and even sleep apnoea, which can increase the risks of cardiac arrest.
Attempts have been made to address the above conditions. For instance one option available to sufferers involves a surgical procedure. Apart from requiring a sufferer to endure invasive surgery and the relatively high costs associated therewith, it is documented that surgical procedures are only temporarily successful, sufferers requiring repeated surgery to obtain ongoing relief.
Other methods of addressing snoring, related breathing difficulties and the like have included nasal sprays. The problem with spray formulations, however, is that they often contain steroidal or vasoconstrictors active agents that cause side effects and can lead to a chronic addiction problem or withdrawal difficulties.
Alternatives to surgical procedures and sprays have included a range of contraptions that can be worn like a mask on the face of a sufferer to help maintain airways in an open condition. These types of devices involve complex designs that are very conspicuous on a wearer. Other types of devices that are worn externally include a resilient plaster applied over the bridge of the nose to externally expand the nostrils. A problem associated with this type of approach is that the plaster is not aesthetically pleasing, and is limited by both the inherent resiliency of the plaster and its ability to exert a sufficient outward force to expand and maintain a nostril cavity in an open condition. In addition the plaster requires painful removal that could result in the tearing of skin.
Other devices are disclosed in patent documents such as a device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,409 that can be inserted within the nasal cavity. This device has a rigid structure and requires manufacturers to make different sized devices to cater for a range of cavity sizes. Also problems frequently arise in a nasal application when a wearer exhibits a deviated septum. A deviated septum is a curvature in the septum, the cartilage and bone that separates the nostrils. A curved septum often renders one nasal cavity a different shape and size to its neighbour and inhibits airflow through one side of the nose and can result in airflow blockage through one nostril. Prior art devices, of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,409 that are insertable within the nasal cavity, suffer the drawback that if one dilator of a symmetrical pair, to be inserted, is of a sufficiently small size to enter one nostril then the remaining dilator of the pair is too small to be effective in dilating the other nostril. Conversely, if one device of a symmetrical pair is sufficiently large to effectively dilate one nostril, its pair is often too large to be inserted in the other nostril.
A similar device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,710,799, which describes a pair of open cages joined together by a flexible chain of inter-locked links, the cages being slightly larger than the nostrils but insertable therein so that the nose holds the cages in place. This device confers a deal of discomfort for a wearer upon insertion because the device is generally larger than the corresponding orifice in which it is to inserted. Other devices are available that include a resilient plastic strip with widened ends. This type of device is usually bent prior to insertion to conform to a U-shape with the wide ends being inserted into the nostrils. The extent of dilation of the nostril cavity depends on the resiliency of the plastic to return to its normal configuration. These type of dilators are very uncomfortable for a wearer and the force generated by the resilient plastic often causes irritation to the inside lining of the nose not to mention that the article is conspicuous.
It should be understood that any reference to prior art does not constitute an admission of common general knowledge.
Hence it is an object of the present invention to provide a device, which addresses at least one of the difficulties of the prior art.
A preferred object of the invention is to provide a device which is adjustable by a wearer to fit most nasal cavities as well as each nasal cavity independently and to urge dilation of the cavity to enable passage of air/fluid through the cavity.


Disclosed is a color printer including an image bearing member having an imageable surface for movement along a preselected path, at least a first imaging assembly for forming sets of multiple black toner registration marks on different areas of the imageable surface, and for forming second sets of multiple non-black toner registration marks corresponding respectively to black marks in each set of the first sets of black marks so as to create a series of sets of multicolor registration marks. Each of the second sets is formed thus in accordance with a predetermined different condition of image misregistration relative to the corresponding first set of black toner marks. The color printer also includes a light source for producing a wide area beam (WAB) to illuminate each set of the series of sets of multicolor marks, and a wide area beam (WAB) sensor for measuring scattered or diffuse light reflected from each set of the illuminated series of sets of multicolor marks, and for producing an actual light reflectance measurement value from each such illuminated set. The printer further includes a comparing device for determining a degree of actual image misregistration by comparing each of the actual light reflectance measurement values with a stored predetermined registration offset value corresponding to a predetermined condition of image misregistration for each illuminated set of multicolor marks. Mechanisms are included in the printer for adjusting an imaging parameter of an imaging assembly responsively to the determined condition of actual misregistration so as to correct for the determined actual misregistration.

This invention relates generally to multicolor image printing, and more particularly to a wide area beam sensing method and apparatus for image registration calibration in a full color printing machine.
In a typical electrophotographic printing process machine, a photoconductive member is charged to a substantially uniform potential so as to sensitize the surface thereof. A portion of the charged photoconductive member is irradiated or exposed to a light image of an document being reproduced, thereby selectively dissipating charges thereon in the irradiated areas. This records an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductive member corresponding to the informational areas contained within the document. The latent electrostatic latent image recorded on the photoconductive member is then developed by bringing a developer material into contact therewith. Generally, the developer material comprises charged toner particles in a liquid, or adhering triboelectrically to dry charged carrier granules or other suitable toner supporting material. During such development, the charged toner particles are attracted to the latent image forming a toner image on the photoconductive member. The toner image is then transferred from the photoconductive member to a copy sheet, and then heated to permanently affix it to the copy sheet. The foregoing generally describes a typical monochrome, for example, black and white electrophotographic printing process machine.
Several methods representing variations from the monochrome or single color process are known for producing multicolor images. In general, to produce multicolor images, different color components of a composite color image are formed and then put together in registration to achieve the composite color image. One multicolor image production method, for example, involves a process utilizing a plurality of different color toner development units, a single photoreceptor, and a multiple image frames single pass approach in which the monochrome or single color process is repeated for three or four cycles. In each cycle a component latent image of a composite multicolor final color is formed, and a toner of a different color is used to develop the component latent image. Each developed component image as such is transferred to the copy sheet. The process is repeated, for example, for cyan, magenta, yellow and black toner particles, with each color toner component image being sequentially transferred to the copy sheet in superimposed registration with the toner image previously transferred thereto. In this way, several toner component images, as are in the composite image, are transferred sequentially to the copy sheet, and can then be heated and permanently fused to the sheet.
A second method for producing color copies involves what is referred to as the tandem method which utilizes a plurality of independent imaging units for forming and developing latent component images, and a moving image receiving member such as an intermediate transfer roller or belt. In this method, the toned or developed component images from the imaging units are transferred in superimposed registration with one another to the intermediate roller or belt, thereby forming the multicolor composite image on the belt or roller. The composite image then can be transferred in one step to a sheet of copy paper for subsequent fusing.
A third method for producing color copies involves a single frame, single pass Recharge, Expose, and Develop (REaD) process. The REaD process uses a single photoreceptor, a single image frame thereon, and four imaging units each including imagewise exposure means and a development station containing a different color toner of cyan, magenta, yellow or black. A composite subtractive multicolor image can thus be produced in a single pass, and on the single frame by charging, exposing and developing, then recharging, exposing and developing again utilizing this Recharge, Expose, and Develop (REaD) process architecture. In this process, digital version of the original or document is created pixel by pixel at a computer workstation or by a scanner. When created by scanning, light reflected from the original or document is first converted into an electrical signal by a raster input scanner (RIS), subjected to image processing, then reconverted into a light, pixel by pixel, by a raster output scanner (ROS). In either case, the ROS exposes the charged photoconductive surface to record a latent image thereon corresponding to the subtractive color of one of the colors of the appropriately colored toner particles at a first development station. The photoconductive surface with the developed image thereon is recharged and re-exposed to record a latent image thereon corresponding to the subtractive primary of another color of the original. This latent image is developed with appropriately colored toner. This process (REaD) is repeated until all the different color toner layers are deposited in superimposed registration with one another on the photoconductive surface. The multi-layered toner image is transferred from the photoconductive surface to a sheet of copy paper. Thereafter, the toner image is fused to the sheet of copy paper to form a color copy of the original. The REaD process can also be performed as a multiple pass process.
In each of the color printing methods involving forming and transferring color component images in superimposed registration with one another, proper or precise registration of the images is usually an important and difficult problem. In order to deliver good quality color images, strict specifications are imposed on the accuracy with which a color image output terminal superimposes the various color separations.
Registration errors, for example, can arise from motion errors of the image receiving members, and from any mismatch between individual color separations. With respect to the motion of an image receiving member, such as that of an intermediate transfer member, good registration goals are attainable if the member is designed such that its kinematic errors are made synchronous with the spacing distance between successive points of image transfer to the member. In this manner, the modulation of its surface motion is repeatable (synchronous) with the imaging pitch and color-on-color separation errors are minimized. In such a case, even though the absolute position error of each color may be significant, the relative position error between colors can usually be held to an acceptable limit.
In tandem color image printers or output terminals, where the component color images or color separations are generated and developed on individual photoreceptors before being transferred to an intermediate belt, a mismatch in the motion errors of the photoreceptors can in addition also contribute to misregistration. A further cause of misregistration in such printers is associated with any eccentricity and wobble of the any of the photoreceptors. Motion mismatch errors for example contribute to misregistration in the process direction. Photoreceptor eccentricity contributes to variable lateral magnification errors which show up as misregistration, and wobble contributes to perceivable variations in lateral registration. Usually however, the eccentricity and wobble contributions exist only in machines where the latent image formation is performed through a finite angle by a light beam scanning system (usually called a ROS or Raster Output Scanner).
One known technique for improving registration is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,067 to Murayama et al. and involves the use of a marking system and a detector for measuring alignment errors and mechanically moving individual color separation imaging units to correct misalignment. According to this technique, color printers that employ marks produced by each of the component or separation color imaging units in juxtaposition with each other, are thus enabled and able to correct lateral and longitudinal relative position, skew and magnification misregistration of the component images. The marks may be machine readable, and data may be processed to measure registration errors for the purpose of automating registration error correction. However, such corrections cannot compensate for the errors introduced by mismatch in the velocity variations of the photoreceptors because these errors differ both in phase and magnitude and are in no way steady or synchronous with the image transfer pitch. For example, a photoreceptor drum characterized by an eccentricity and wobble may rotate with an instantaneous rotational velocity that repeatedly varies as a function of the rotational phase angle such that an average rotational velocity over a complete rotation would inaccurately characterize the instantaneous rotational velocity at any single rotational phase angle.
The conventional detection system measures alignment errors in both the process direction and in a lateral direction, transverse the process direction, by detecting the position of, and determining the alignment error from the times of passage of, the centroids of registration indicia marks, such as lines, chevrons or other geometric shapes, past the centers of optical detectors, for example optical detectors. Detection and measurement of the position of each of the registration indicia marks may be accomplished by illuminating the marks and employing an optical system in an attempt to collect diffusely reflected light from the mark or transmitted light through the mark. The illumination may be in the visible wavelength or at near infrared (IR) wavelength.
The detection of color to color registration or misregistration, and the ability for correcting for detected misregistration, are very important in multicolor printing. Several techniques for doing so have been suggested and include the sensing of registration or misregistration between different color toner registration marks on a belt. One example of such techniques utilize a MOB mark or mass on belt! sensor as a first position sensor for sensing a mark or mass of toner on a moving image carrying belt. The sensor does so by detecting the position or timing of individually colored toner mass developed lines on the moving belt. A controller connected to the output of the sensor determines the differences in the timing of the sensing of each line, and from such timing information determines the relative positions of the various lines.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,979 issued Feb. 14, 1989, to Kamas et al., for example, a single pass color printer/plotter including a precise registration method is disclosed in which each print station monitors registration marks to detect variations of the media during printing, and corrects for such variations. The system includes a light source, an optical sensor array comprising a pair of sensors, and an optics control unit for detecting registration marks.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,067 issued Feb. 20, 1990, to Murayama et al., discloses a multi-image forming apparatus including CCD array detectors for detecting the recording positions of registration marks on a belt.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,547 issued Apr. 10, 1990, to Katsumata et al., discloses a color image forming apparatus including reflection sensors comprising light emitting diodes and phototransistors having circuits for producing rectangular output wave signals.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,899 issued Oct. 16, 1990, to Resch, III, discloses a method and apparatus for image frame registration utilizing line indicia marks on an intermediate transfer belt, and bi-cell sensor arrays including photoemitter/photosensor pairs for detecting the indicia marks.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,597 issued Oct. 23, 1990, to Ohigashi et al., discloses a color image recording apparatus that superimposes a plurality of images having different colors to form a composite color image on a recording medium. Registration marks are formed on the recording medium at equal pitches. This occurs when it is transported through an image formation device in the apparatus. The apparatus also includes a sensor for sensing the registration marks and an edge sensor for sensing one edge or both edges of the recording medium. The mark sensor includes a source of light and a light receiving photosensor comprising a phototransistor, amplifiers and control circuits.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,587 issued Jan. 11, 1994, to Strauch et al., discloses a method and apparatus for color image on image registration utilizing a detector placed beneath the photoreceptor belt to provide a signal representing the exposure level of each scanning beam. Timing information derived from the detectors is used to control registration of the first scan line of each image sequence.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,162 issued Feb. 15, 1994, to deJong et al., discloses a method and apparatus for sensing and correcting image on image registration errors. The method and apparatus include use of bi-cell detectors or CCD array detectors for determining the timing of the passing of toner marks under the sensors.
Pending U.S. application Ser. No. 07/354,305 (Attorney docket D/92054) entitled "METHOD TO PROVIDE OPTIMUM OPTICAL CONTRAST FOR REGISTRATION MARK DETECTION" and Ser. No. 08/168,300 (Attorney docket D/94529) entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS TO IMPROVE REGISTRATION IN A BLACK FIRST PRINTING MACHINE" each disclose a color image on image registration method and apparatus utilizing a bicell detector comprising a photoemitter photosensor pair for detecting toner registration marks on a photoreceptor belt.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,223 issued Feb. 28, 1995 to Hart et al, and commonly assigned, discloses a printing device for providing color prints of the type having a semi-transparent imageable surface adapted to move along a preselected path. The printing device also has at least one image processing station for forming a composite image on the imageable surface; means for marking indicia on the imageable surface; means for sensing the indicia to detect registration deviations from the preselected path of movement of the imageable surface; and means, responsive to the sensing means, for adjusting the image processing station to compensate for the detected registration deviations, thereby enhancing the registration of the composite image on the imageable surface. The sensor disclosed is a fixed position sensor that is located on the back side of a translucent moving image carrying belt, and directly opposite the point of ROS exposure of the charged front side of the moving belt. As such, at a non-black ROS/Imaging station (in a black first REaD printer), a previously developed black image on the front side of the belt will occlude or block the ROS exposure light from the backside sensor, thus providing timing information for proper registration of the black image and the non-black image of the particular imaging station.
Unfortunately, the MOB sensor and Eclipse sensor techniques as disclosed in the above references are based on a timing parameter, and therefore each requires exact and precise timing measurements. For such measurements, each therefore requires that the marks, lines or image edges being sensed be formed precisely, and be of high quality development. Such all around required precision necessarily demands high precision and costly sensors as well as costly electronics or controllers.

Wide area beam sensor method and apparatus for image registration calibration in a color printer


In one embodiment, a method includes rendering, for one or more displays of a VR display device, a first output image of a VR environment. The VR environment includes a personal UI associated with a first user. The personal UI has a first form factor and a first pose with respect to the first user, is a virtual object comprising one or more 2D virtual displays, and is operable to execute a plurality of applications. The method includes determining whether to adapt the personal UI based on a detected change in a context of the first user with respect to the VR environment. The method includes rendering a second output image of the VR environment, where the personal UI is adapted to have a second form factor and a second pose with respect to the first user responsive to determining to adapt the personal UI based on the detected change in the context of the first user.

Traditionally, a user in a virtual reality (VR) experience may have user interface (UI), like a dashboard or menu, that a user can access while in the VR experience. The UI may appear as a 2D menu or window that is overlaid on a field of view of a user in a VR setting. The UI may have a uniform appearance across different VR settings, thus running the risk of obstructing the user's view in certain VR settings. The UI may be hidden from view and pulled up following a prompt or command by the user. However, the user may lose UI functionality in such situations.

Adaptable personal user interfaces in cross-application virtual reality settings


A modem which is to be included in a badge or mobile station, in a system for the exchange of data by microwaves with a fixed station or beacon. The modem has at least one transistor that works as a detector in reception or as an amplifier for the transmission of a reflection signal, according to gate bias voltages (V.sub.gs0, V.sub.gs1) that are applied to it, and drain currents (I.sub.ds) that result therefrom. The transmission-reception switching is done by transistors that switch over loads, and hence currents, on an amplifier transistor, with amplitude or phase modulation. Such a modem may find particular application in short-distance telecommunication systems.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system of transmission by modulation-demodulation of a microwave, for two-way communication between a fixed station, called a beacon or reader, and a mobile station, called a badge or responder. More precisely, the invention relates to the active circuits of the modem (modulator-demodulator) of the portable badge. In order to be capable of transmitting, or more precisely, in order to be capable of responding to an interrogation sent by the fixed station, the badge has a circuit in which there is at least one reflection amplifier. Depending on the biases applied, the active element, namely a field-effect transistor, behaves either as a detector for reception or as a reflection amplifier for transmission.
This type of data exchange can be applied to the control of moving bodies, for example in the identification of wagons on a railroad, automobiles at a toll-gate or pedestrians at the entrance to a building. The mobile station or badge takes the form of a chip card, and it has to be extremely economical in energy for it is supplied by small cells known as "buttons".
2. Description of the Prior Art
The general diagram of a system for the exchange of data by microwave electromagnetic radiation, according to the prior art, is fairly simple and FIG. 1 which represents it enables its elements and the abbreviations used to be specified.
A mobile station or badge 1 includes a microwave part 3, an information processing part 4 and a supply 5. The exchanges between these two parts relate to the operation of modulation/demodulation and to the transmission/reception commands.
The fixed station or beacon 2 includes a microwave source, a microwave part 6, an information processing part 7 and a computer 8 which enables the management of all the radioelectrical exchanges carried out with the badges, by means of an antenna 9 for each badge and an antenna 10 for each beacon or reader.
The following values will be used:
- d =distance between the antennas 9 and 10, PA0 - G.sub.1 =gain of the antenna 10 of the reader 2 PA0 - G.sub.b =gain of the antenna 9 of the badge 1 PA0 - P.sub.li =power transmitted at the antenna of the reader 2 PA0 - P.sub.lr =power received by the antenna of the reader PA0 - P.sub.bi =power transmitted at the antenna of the badge 1 PA0 - P.sub.br =power received by the antenna of the badge.
The modulations used in these systems are generally of the OOK (on-off keying) type in amplitude modulation or of the PSK (phase-shift keying) type in phase modulation or of the FSK (frequency shift keying) type in frequency modulation.
The working of the modem differs according to whether the beacon interrogates the badge or whether the badge responds to the beacon.
In the mode in which the badge 1 is interrogated by the reader 2, the reader 2 generates (P.sub.li) a modulated microwave signal. The badge receives this signal (P.sub.br) and demodulates it: this is a step that enables the activation of the badge that has been in the vigil state.
In the mode in which the badge 1 is responding to the reader 2, the reader generates a non-modulated microwave signal. The badge receives this signal, modulates it, i.e. loads it with the information on which it has been interrogated, and re-transmits a signal comprising, as the case may be, either losses or gain.
The electrical circuits used to perform the microwave function (modem) of the badge may be of different types.
The active circuits comprise the specific feature of giving power at the microwave frequencies of the carrier (of the order of 1 to 100 GHz). They therefore have gain at these frequencies, and use a biased transistor. These circuits are generally used during the retransmission of a signal from the badge towards the reader.
The semi-active circuits give no power at the microwave frequencies of the carrier, for which they have no gain, but nevertheless have gain at the demodulation frequencies of the order of 40 kHz to 1 MHz or several MHz, but not in the GHz range. These circuits are valuable for increasing the detection sensitivity of the badge.
There also exist passive circuits, using diodes, switches etc . . . which have no gain, whether at the microwave frequencies of the carrier (>1 GHz) or at the demodulation frequencies (<1 GHz). These circuits have low sensitivity for controlling the information processing circuit 4, at least in the case of a portable badge, since there is a problem of energy provided by the small "button" cells: these circuits therefore perform less well in detection.
It has been stated that the badge has only low energy sources and that it is necessary to achieve economy by limited consumption. This is why the most promising approach for communication in the badge-to-beacon direction consists in modulating the echo of a monotonous carrier wave transmitted by the beacon. It is the beacon that gives all the energy of the microwave beam, and the badge has to give only low energy, limited to the changes in the state of its circuits which cause the antenna to be matched or not matched in impedance to the frequency of the carrier (between 1 and 10 GHz). In other words, the badge modulates the echo that it sends back to the beacon, or reader.

Modem for telecommunication system with a reflection amplifier function


A pressure generating system uses a shock wave chamber filled with a liquid pressurized to a static pressure different from ambient atmospheric pressure. Once a a preferred location is established in the chamber, a pulsed compressional acoustic shock wave introduced into the liquid is reflected from a free surface of the liquid as a dilatation wave focused on a point at which a bubble forms and expands about an object. The static pressure causes the bubble to collapse around the object to generate a high pressure thereat.

It is generally known in the art as explained in U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,796 to Flynn, that bubbles of gas and vapor in a liquid medium expand to a maximum size and then collapse with great violence as part of a cavitation phenomenon. When such cavitation phenomenon is properly controlled, high energy densities occur within the bubbles formed in the surrounding liquid medium. According to the Flynn patent, the surrounding liquid medium in the cavitation zone is liquidfied metal to which energy is applied, including acoustical waves.
The creation of bubbles within a liquid medium such as a mixture of glycerin and water to which energy is applied through a transducer to control periodic collapse and reformation of the bubbles, is known in the art as "sonoluminescence". Such "sonoluminescence" phenomenon involves the cyclic emission of energy in the visible spectrum from the collapsing bubbles. It is also generally known that bubbles exist long enough to allow development therein of a significant vapor pressure influencing the dynamics of bubble oscillations within sinusoidally varying acoustic fields, limiting the extent of bubble collapse.
It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide a method of developing extremely high pressures within the small volume of a single bubble, cavitationally induced within a liquid medium by minimizing the delay in bubble formation and collapse during development of vapor within the bubble.

System for focused generation of pressure by bubble formation and collapse

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


The present invention provides a variety of methods for an M2M terminal reporting a power outage when an abnormal power outage occurs, and apparatuses for supporting same. A method for performing a random access procedure for reporting the abnormal power outage in the wireless access system supporting an M2M environment, according to one embodiment of the present invention, comprises the steps of: an M2M device receiving a message comprising an abnormal power outage ranging backoff starting parameter and an abnormal power outage ranging backoff ending parameter, which are used for reporting the abnormal power outage; entering an idle mode; and performing the random access procedure for reporting the abnormal power outage using the abnormal power outage ranging backoff starting parameter and/or the abnormal power outage ranging backoff ending parameter, when the abnormal power outage occurs in the idle mode.

Hereinafter, a machine-to-machine communication environment in the present invention will be described in brief.
Machine-to-machine (M2M) communication refers to communication between electronic devices as the name implies. In a broad sense, M2M communication means wired or wireless communication between electronic devices or communication between a device controlled by humans and a machine. Recently, M2M communication generally refers to wireless communication between electronic devices without human intervention.
In the early 1990s when the concept of M2M communication was first introduced, M2M communication was recognized as remote control or telematics and the market therefor was very limited. However, M2M communication has rapidly advanced in the past few years and the market therefor has vastly expanded, attracting worldwide attention. In particular, M2M communication has exerted a significant influence on the fields of fleet management in a point-of-sale (POS) system and security-related application markets, remote monitoring of machines and facilities, and smart metering of measuring operating time of construction equipment and automatically measuring heat or electricity use. Future M2M communication will be extended to various applications in association with existing mobile communication, ultra-fast wireless Internet, or low-output communication solutions such as Wi-Fi and ZigBee. That is, M2M communication will evolve from a business-to-business (B2B) application to a business-to-consumer (B2C) model.
In an era of M2M communication, all machines equipped with a subscriber identity module (SIM) card are able to transmit and receive data so that they can be remotely managed and controlled. For example, M2M communication technology may be used in a wide range of devices and equipment such as automobiles, trucks, trains, shipping containers, vending machines, gas tankers, etc.
Conventionally, terminals were managed individually for one-to-one communication between a base station (BS) and a terminal Assuming that numerous M2M devices communicate with the BS through one-to-one communication, network overload is likely to occur due to signaling generated between each of the M2M devices and the BS. As M2M communication rapidly spreads and expands, overhead may be problematic due to communication between the M2M devices or between the M2M devices and a BS.
Further, since a human does not participate in operations of M2M devices in an M2M system, an abnormal/involuntary power outage event may occur in the M2M devices. Such power outage may also occur in most M2M devices in a region to which the M2M devices of a power outage state belong.
If an involuntary power outage event occurs, M2M devices should report the power outage event to the BS. For example, M2M devices in an idle-mode state will perform a ranging procedure in order to report the power outage event and then collision may occur between M2M devices. Moreover, M2M devices in a normal-normal state will perform a bandwidth request procedure to report the power outage event and then there is a high possibility of collision between M2M devices.
If collision occurs between M2M devices, the M2M devices perform a collision resolution procedure. In this case, if the M2M devices perform random access by applying an initial backoff window size defined for network re-entry to existing terminals in normal mode and normal terminals, a probability of collision between the M2M devices and normal terminals increases and power outage reporting may be delayed.
In addition, such a random access procedure may consume unnecessary power in M2M devices and deteriorate efficiency of system resource use. Furthermore, if an additional ranging channel for M2M devices is not used in a system, the random access procedure may affect even a random access procedure for existing terminals.

Method for performing random access procedure for reporting abnormal power outage in wireless access system supporting M2M environment


A stent is constructed using interconnected links having micro-mechanical latching mechanisms. The micro-mechanical latching elements allow relative rotational movement of interconnected links in one rotational direction but restrict relative rotational movement of the two links in the opposite direction. The micro-mechanical latch surface features are formed using microelectronic mechanical systems (MEMS) manufacturing methods. The male surface of the latching components contains an array of ridges or protrusions, and the receiving surface contains a matching array of recesses. The array of ridges or protrusions and the corresponding recesses have uniformly dissimilar slopes that result in a substantially greater frictional force in one direction than in the opposite direction. The separation distance between the two surfaces is such that the male latch surface is engaged with the receiving surface recesses in the low stress “locked” state, preventing motion in the undesired direction. Each male ridge or protrusion can be underlined by a void that promotes elastic deflection when sliding in the desired direction and recovery into the ‘locked’ state when aligned with the recesses.

Stents are generally tubular devices used to prop open a segment of blood vessel or other anatomical lumen. They are useful in the treatment of atherosclerotic stenosis in blood vessels, maintaining blood perfusion to downstream tissue after opening of a flow restriction.
Various different types of stent designs have been developed for treating diseases of the blood vessels and other tubular structures inside the body. The currently available stents can be classified into two broad categories: balloon-expandable and self-expanding.
A balloon-expandable stent, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,337, is crimped down onto a folded balloon on the end of a balloon dilatation catheter. When the stent has been properly positioned within the vessel lumen, the balloon is inflated to an appropriate pressure, opening the stent to the desired diameter. The balloon is deflated and the stent remains in its expanded state, due to the plastic deformation that was imparted to its structural elements during expansion.
A balloon-expandable stent has many attractive attributes. Its diameter and outward force to the vessel wall can be adjusted by the inflation pressure of the balloon. After deployment, the stent is a semi-rigid structure that can conform to some extent longitudinally, but maintains a rigid scaffolding that prevents vessel collapse in the radial direction. However one disadvantage to balloon-expandable stents is that there is typically some component of elastic recoil after expansion as long as the mechanism for change between the crimped state to the expanded state is through deformation of the structural elements. This usually means that there is a reduction in diameter after the balloon is deflated. The degree of reduction in diameter is related to the material selection, structural design, and degree of inward force from the vessel wall. These factors vary from stent to stent and situation to situation, presenting a challenge for the practitioner to achieve the desired outcome in repeatable manner.
Traditional balloon-expandable stents change configuration from the crimped to the expanded state through the opening of the angle between radial support members during balloon expansion. In the process, cold work is imparted at the intersections of the structural radial expansion units. Once the expansion is complete, the crystalline structure of the bulk material at the intersections remains in the expanded configuration, minus the minimal elastic recovery.
Achieving this described effect is entirely dependent on the bulk properties of the stent material. For this reason, the material selection is limited to a material that plastically deforms at relatively low strain levels, with a minimal degree of elastic recovery. Materials that fit this description are typically metals. These material requirements are directly in conflict with other secondary desirable attributes of a stent, such as flexibility, biodegradability, and the ability to serve as a platform for drug delivery.
For these reasons, metal is a sub-optimal material selection for these secondary performance categories. However, expandability and radial strength are both primary requirements of a stent, and so metals have been the most viable material option in present day balloon-expandable stents.
Balloon-expandable and self-expanding stents are known that employ ratcheting or latching means for expansion and retaining the expanded configuration. One purported benefit of stent designs that contain latching elements is the capability for more precise lumen sizing. In the balloon-expandable latching stent designs, a latch allows radial expansion but limits post deployment reduction in diameter. In the self-expanding case, a latch can be employed to prevent over-expansion. The latch also provides an upper limit to the chronic outward force on the vessel.
Perhaps the most important benefit of a latching stent design is that the expansion mechanism is not entirely dependent on the bulk deformation of the stent material. This benefit makes possible the use of non-metallic materials in the construction of a latching stent and potentially enables the use of a material that would be better suited to optimize the more secondary performance attributes, such as flexibility, biodegradability, and drug delivery.
However, an important distinction between this prior art and the present invention is that the previously described latching mechanisms are on the same order of scale as the other stent design elements. Furthermore, no specialized micro-fabrication method is specified in order to create the latching elements. There are several undesirable characteristics that result from these important differences.
In practice, one of the general drawbacks to stent-latching mechanisms has been that the latching mechanisms themselves add an additional element that provides additional bulk to the device. For this reason the inclusion of a conventional latch presents reduced flexibility and a larger undeployed profile, i.e., diameter. These characteristics are important because they relate to the ability for the stent to be able to reach a desired delivery site. The flexibility of the stent is a major factor in how well the stent is able to navigate turns in the vessel, and the diameter of the stent determines the minimum cross-sectional restrictions in the vessel that can be traversed by the stent prior to reaching the delivery site. Additionally a larger profile stent requires that larger accessory devices be used to introduce the device. This means that the puncture site to the vessel for introducing the stent must be larger as well, leading to longer post-procedure patient recovery times.
Another drawback to standard stent-latching mechanisms has been that the sizing increment is not continuous. Thus if a desired stent diameter falls between two latch states, the stent must be adjusted to a size which is either too large or too small for the intended application. The sizing increment that is available to the user is typically a function of the size and spacing between latching mechanisms. So the expanded stent diameter increment of adjustability is restricted, when compared to non-latching, balloon-expandable stents. This effect becomes more significant as the size of the target vessel becomes smaller, and so the use of the previously proposed ratcheting stents are practical only with larger, non-coronary vessels.
Thus there is a need for a stent with a latching mechanism which does not appreciably add to the size of the stent or reduce the interior diameter of the stent.
There is a further need for a stent with a latching mechanism which provides virtually continuous adjustment, that is, the increment between adjacent latch states is minimal.


The present invention provides a heat-resistant material for a low-melting metal casting machine, which comprises calcium silicate and a fluoride.

In the casting machine, processed goods of various heat-resistant materials are used as lining materials for a teeming box, a trough and a retaining furnace for transferring, supplying and retaining the molten metal as described above, or as attached members such as a float, a spout, a hot-top ring and a transition plate. Above all, heat-resistant materials in which calcium silicate matter is reinforced with carbon fibers have been widely used because of good heat resistance, high strength although lightweight and further excellent processability (for example, see patent document 1 and patent document 2).
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 1577427
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent No. 1638119
On the other hand, also in mobile equipment such as digital cameras, digital video cameras, mobile phones and notebook personal computers, or heavy loads such as automobiles, frames and case bodies tend to be formed by magnesium alloys for weight saving. However, magnesium or a magnesium-containing alloy is very high in activity, and extremely strong in the function of corroding a material that comes into contact with a molten metal thereof. Accordingly, conventional parts comprising calcium silicate matter or an alumina-silica-based material have the problem that only several uses, or only one use in some cases, force them to be exchanged.
In order to enhance corrosion resistance, it has been tried to apply heat-resistant coating materials. However, the existing heat-resistant coating materials are less effective in improving corrosion resistance against the molten metal of magnesium or the magnesium-containing alloy. Further, due to stress applied to a coated portion by the movement of the molten metal and the difference from a base material in the coefficient of thermal expansion, there has also been a problem that the coated portion is separated to entirely lose its effect.

Heat-resistant material for low-melting metal casting machine


A system for setting and adjusting a frequency of electrical output pulses derived from an oscillator in a network is disclosed. The system comprises an accumulator module configured to receive pulses from an oscillator and to output an accumulated value. An adjustor module is configured to store an adjustor value used to correct local oscillator drift. A digital adder adds values from the accumulator module to values stored in the adjustor module and outputs their sums to the accumulator module, where they are stored. The digital adder also outputs an electrical pulse to a logic module. The logic module is in electrical communication with the adjustor module and the network. The logic module may change the value stored in the adjustor module to compensate for local oscillator drift or change the frequency of output pulses. The logic module may also keep time and calculate drift.

Clocks have been used for centuries as tools for a wide variety of tasks. Generally, clocks rely on some type of device that oscillates at a given frequency known as a clock source or an oscillator. Oscillations from the oscillator may incrementally measure the passage of time. The most common oscillators known in the art are crystal oscillators. A crystal of a substance such as quartz may be cut in such a way that when it is excited by an electric current it oscillates at a given frequency.
In some undertakings, such as downhole seismic measurements, precise time-sensitive measurements are desirable, requiring very accurate clocks. Typically, oscillators are only accurate to a certain level, and are subject to varying degrees of error. In addition, changes in temperature and pressure also affect the frequency of an oscillator and may introduce error into clock measurements. Typically, crystal oscillators are stabilized by controlling the environment in which the crystal is placed
Another device which uses the pulses from an oscillator is a baud rate generator. In many situations dealing with network communications, a baud rate generator is required. A baud rate generator relies on regular pulses received from an oscillator in order to produce pulses at a rate at which a network device may read symbols on a line of code or write symbols to a line of code. Generally, baud rate generators are equipped with a prescaler that divides the number of pulses produced by the oscillator by some integer for every pulse emitted by the generator. However, selecting baud rates from a fixed oscillator may be difficult if only integer divisors are allowed. Often in order to change the baud rate, the oscillator must be exchanged for one that has pulses which may be divided by an integer to produce the correct rate. A baud rate generator may also be subject to the effects of oscillator drift.
Several attempts have been made in the art to adjust the frequency of clock or baud rate generator pulses. For instance, U.S. Pat No. 4,868,514 to Azevedo discloses an apparatus and method for digital correction of oscillator drift by providing phase alignment between two clock signals running at nearly the same frequency. Phase alignment is provided by fashioning a delay for one of the clock signals through selection of various lengths of a variable delay path formed from a series of logic circuits.
U.S. Pat No. 4,602,375 to Inukai discloses a method and system for onboard clock correction in a satellite by means of drift prediction. Clock drift is predicted by a polynomial function and corrected by sending a clock correction value to the satellite.
U.S. Pat No. 6,711,230 to Nicholls discloses an apparatus in which an input reference timing signal oscillator of a phase-locked loop has a computer algorithm which adaptively models the multiple frequencies of an oscillator following a training period. The oscillator is part of a phase-locked loop and the oscillation frequency thereof is controlled in response to the phase detector output.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/878,147 to Hall et al. filed on Jun. 28, 2004, and herein incorporated by reference, discloses an apparatus and method for compensating for clock drift wherein a number loaded into a prescaler is adjusted according to clock drift. The apparatus is designed for use in a downhole network with an oscillator whose pulses can be divided by an integer in a prescaler in order to obtain the correct frequency of clock pulses. Using information received over the network, clock drift may be corrected using the apparatus.

System for adjusting frequency of electrical output pulses derived from an oscillator


In a reference signal distribution system, a first subsystem is configured to distribute a reference signal to a second subsystem. The first subsystem includes multiple diode-connected devices biased by a reference current and configured to establish a differential voltage between a first node and a second node. The second subsystem includes multiple diode-connected devices driven by the differential voltage and configured to generate a copy current associated with the reference current.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Reference signals are mostly required in integrated circuit (IC) subsystems, either for the purpose of analog signal processing computations (e.g., A/D conversion, thresholding, offset shifting, measurement reference, etc.), or to determine the bias level of analog circuits.
Accurate distribution of reference signals to multiple subsystems on a large or complex integrated circuit is a frequent challenge to designers, especially in the modern "system on a chip" approach. Due to the inaccuracy of the absolute values of IC component parameters (e.g., capacitance, resistance, transistor threshold and gain), it is difficult to generate precision reference voltages or currents on integrated circuits. Circuit designs, that are commonly used to generate precision reference currents or voltages, often occupy large space, consume much power, have special start-up requirements and may require active trimming during IC production. For these reasons, when precision referencing is needed in any IC system, it is usually preferable to generate only one such reference signal centrally, either on the chip, or by an external component. "Copies" of this reference signal are then distributed to the subsystems where it is needed.
Conventional approaches of distributing either reference voltage or reference current to various subsystems in a large integrated circuit are inadequate. For example, distribution of multiple copies of a current signal can lead to unwanted circuit complexity (the signal distribution to each destination requires an individual signal wire) and power consumption (due to centrally generating multiple copies of a current signal at a subsystem).

Differential reference signal distribution method and system


A solid medium of Antrodia cinnamomea comprises 20 to 50 wt % soybean; 30 to 50 wt % coixseed; and 20 to 50 wt % sorghum. A culturing method of Antrodia cinnamomea, comprises providing a solid medium comprising soybean, coixseed and sorghum; preparing a solution of Antrodia cinnamomea, inoculating the solution of Antrodia cinnamomea on the solid medium in a concentration of 1×103 to 1×106 cfu on per 100 g of solid medium, and statically culturing the solution of Antrodia cinnamomea on the solid medium till obtaining hyphae adhered on the solid medium; and culturing the solution of Antrodia cinnamomea by intermittent shaking in a frequency of every 5 to 7 days shaking 5 to 10 minutes, with a period of the culturing by intermittent shaking being more than 40 days.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid medium and a culturing method of Antrodia cinnamomea and, more particularly, to a solid medium of Antrodia cinnamomea which is capable of promoting the content of triperpenoids in obtained Antrodia cinnamomea thereon and a culturing method thereby with said solid medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Antrodia cinnamomea is a genus of fungi in the family Fomitopsidaceae, and which is found on Cinnamomum kanehirae in temperate and boreal forests. Antrodia cinnamomea is a precious and endemic medical material in Taiwan, being rich in active substances, such as triterpenoids being effective on anti-cancer, hepatoprotection and lowering blood pressure and polysaccharide as inflammation modulator.
Due to the scarcity of Antrodia cinnamomea, it is not easy to obtain Antrodia cinnamomea, as well as the active substances therein. In conventional art, the Antrodia cinnamomea is generally planted by (a) basswood cultivation method; (b) solid cultivation method; and (c) liquid fermentation method, so as to obtain hyphae of Antrodia cinnamomea and to further extract the active substances from those hyphae.
The basswood cultivation method uses dead basswood of Antrodia cinnamomea as a matrix, by implanting and culturing the Antrodia cinnamomea in the basswood of Antrodia cinnamomea, and then, collecting grown fruiting bodies of Antrodia cinnamomea thereon. However, the basswood cultivation method has to be carried out in a time-and-cost-consuming process, since a preferable temperature and a longer culturing time are required to the Antrodia cinnamomea in the basswood cultivation method. Hence, the basswood cultivation method is inconvenient in industrial manufacture of the Antrodia cinnamomea.
In the solid cultivation method, the Antrodia cinnamomea is implanted and culturing in a space package comprising nutrients, particular in a matrix (generally consisted of sawdust, humus and other organic ingredients) of the space package. With such, it is capable of obtaining fruiting bodies of the Antrodia cinnamomea, in a similar shape to wild Antrodia cinnamomea. However, obtained fruiting bodies of the Antrodia cinnamomea in the solid cultivation method is poor in fermentation, with said obtained fruiting bodies containing only a small amount of triterpenoids.
The liquid fermentation method is performed by using a liquid medium, so that liquid fermentations of the Antrodia cinnamomea can be conducted in the liquid medium. Accordingly, a significant amount of fermentation produces can be provided in a short time. However, the liquid fermentation method only contributes to promote first metabolite (such as polysaccharide) but secondary metabolite (triterpenoids), since a shorter fermentation time and a worse fermentation condition thereof. Therefore, the liquid fermentation method is limited in producing Antrodia cinnamomea being rich in triterpenoids.
In summary, said conventional cultivation methods all have problem in obtaining Antrodia cinnamomea that is rich in triterpenoids. Also, said conventional cultivation methods have to be performed in a time-and-cost-consuming process. Thus, it is a need to improve the conventional cultivation method.