Stream retention in a data storage system is described herein. A method as described herein can include receiving, by a device operatively coupled to a processor, a hold for a portion of a data stream, wherein the data stream comprises respective events indexed by time, and wherein the portion of the data stream is bounded by a first event of the data stream that is associated with a first time and a second event of the data stream that is associated with a second time; generating, by the device, a synthetic stream comprising the portion of the data stream; and preventing, by the device, events of the data stream that are included in the synthetic stream from alteration.

As advancements in computing technology have increased the amount and scope of data that can be processed by a computing system, data storage systems have similarly seen significant advances to keep pace with the technical landscape. For instance, in addition to traditional storage systems that work on the basis of blocks, files, objects, and/or other similar data structures, stream-based data storage systems have been developed that implement data sequences called streams as a mechanism to store and/or serve continuous and potentially unbounded data.
Whereas a data stream as managed by a data storage system can be potentially unbounded, storage resources are normally limited. As a result, a stream-based data storage system can facilitate data expiration, data truncation, and/or other means to purge recorded data after a given length of time to allocate storage resources for new data.


A system for establishing static SVCs (i.e. permanent SVCs) whereby the results of the signaling/routing protocol generated when the network is first brought up are stored in a xe2x80x98permanent SVCxe2x80x99 memory. The results of the signaling/protocol that were previously stored are restored from memory in the event the connections must be re-established again. The connections are restored from memory without the need to execute the signaling/routing algorithms and protocols again. Use of the signaling/routing protocols yields the same connections that were already stored previously in the memory from when the connections were originally established. The system of the present invention is applicable to any connection-oriented network that utilizes signaling to establish connections between network users. The signaling and routing algorithms and protocols would not need to be run for every connection request. Rather, the parameters are retrieved from permanent SVC memory and configured into the switch saving considerable amounts of time.

The present invention relates generally to data communications networks and more particularly relates to a system for establishing static/permanent Switched Virtual Circuits (SVCs) in a connection oriented network such as an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network.
Currently, there is a growing trend to make Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) networking technology the base of future global communications. ATM has already been adopted as a standard for broadband communications by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and by the ATM Forum, a networking industry consortium.
ATM originated as a telecommunication concept defined by the Comite Consulatif International Telegraphique et Telephonique (CCITT), now known as the ITU, and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for carrying user traffic on any User to Network Interface (UNI) and to facilitate multimedia networking between high speed devices at multi-megabit data rates. ATM is a method for transferring network traffic, including voice, video and data, at high speed. Using this connection oriented switched networking technology centered around a switch, a great number of virtual connections can be supported by multiple applications through the same physical connection. The switching technology enables bandwidth to be dedicated for each application, overcoming the problems that exist in a shared media networking technology, like Ethernet, Token Ring and Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI). ATM allows different types of physical layer technology to share the same higher layerxe2x80x94the ATM layer.
ATM uses very short, fixed length packets called cells. The first five bytes, called the header, of each cell contain the information necessary to deliver the cell to its destination. The cell header also provides the network with the ability to implement congestion control and traffic management mechanisms. The fixed length cells offer smaller and more predictable switching delays as cell switching is less complex than variable length packet switching and can be accomplished in hardware for many cells in parallel. The cell format also allows for multi-protocol transmissions. Since ATM is protocol transparent, the various protocols can be transported at the same time. With ATM, phone, fax, video, data and other information can be transported simultaneously.
ATM is a connection oriented transport service. To access the ATM network, a station requests a virtual circuit between itself and other end stations, using the signaling protocol to the ATM switch. ATM provides the User Network Interface (UNI) which is typically used to interconnect an ATM user with an ATM switch that is managed as part of the same network.
Networks that are connection oriented typically have two stages for connecting network users from point to point. The first stage in the establishment of the connection utilizes some form of signaling mechanism and in the second stage, data is transferred via the connection established in the first stage.
An example of such as connection oriented network is an ATM network. In the first stage, virtual connections are created using a complicated signaling/routing protocol such as Q.SAAL, Q.93, IISP, and/or PNNI between peer network nodes along the connection path to provide network users a service for establishing a connection to another network user. This connection is termed a Switched Virtual Connection (SVC) and, once created, is used as the data path between the users that have been connected.
The connection originator uses the signaling protocol to convey the service details it is requesting the network to provide, e.g., destination address (i.e. the called address), calls of service, traffic descriptor, protocol which is to be used by the virtual connection, network transit, etc. In addition, the originator provides information about itself, in particular, its own address (i.e. the calling address).
Once the network receives the request from the originator user, it attempts to find a route to the destination that has sufficient resources to fulfill the specific characteristic requirements of the request as provided by the originating user. If the network finds a satisfactory route with the necessary resources to establish the connection, and if the called user also has sufficient resources to establish the connection, the connection is then established. Once the route is established, data can flow between source and destination over the connection.
Such a network may carry another type of connection known as a Permanent Virtual Circuit (PVC) which is typically established under manual management control. The service provided by PVCs and SVCs are the same, with the difference being their method of establishment.
The signaling/routing protocol used typically consumes a high percentage of computation resources in a node. This makes the connection establishment process slow. PVCs, as an alternative to SVCs are set via management in a manual fashion on each network node along the path. The PVC connections are typically stored in the system memory within the nodes making up the connection and are re-established in the event one or more portions of the connection fail. The connections are re-established and restored automatically, quickly and without the overhead of the signaling and routing protocol.
In the course of network operations, SVCs may be constantly created and torn down. SVC connections may be created very quickly and last for a relatively short lifetime duration, i.e., hundreds of milliseconds, seconds, etc., before being removed. In many networks today, however, SVCs serve to connect well known services located in the network to well known clients also connected to the network. These connections are utilized as permanent connections, as they are established and may not be taken down for days, weeks, and months. In many cases, SVCs are established on a permanent basis, whereby they are never taken down and remain up until a network failure occurs.
For example, in LAN Emulation (LANE) and MPOA protocols, which are client/server based protocols, all clients must connect to the server and, once connected, can connect to each other. The connection to the server, however, is permanent, i.e., it is made once and never taken down for reasons other than a network failure, notwithstanding the fact that it was established as an SVC and not a PVC. If these client/server connections go down, they all must be re-established before clients can communicate with each other.
In many instances, it is necessary to rebuild and re-establish network SVC connections from scratch. Such instances include but are not limited to (1) when the topology of a network changes, (2) when a portion of a network is disconnected and connected again, (3) when clients are disconnected and connected again, or (4) when servers are disconnected and connected again. The re-establishment of these connections may involve hundreds, thousands and even tens of thousands or more connections, depending on he size and topology of the network. In most cases, it involves a very large number of connections to recreate, thus consuming a large amount of resources and a long time to complete. The entire reconnection process may consume from a few minutes or many tens of minutes even for very fast networks. Typically, the bottleneck is the signaling protocol between the switches, while the routing algorithm and associated protocol consumes somewhat fewer resources than the signaling. The hardware configuration of the switching fabric within the switch is the least time consuming and occurs relatively quickly since it is mostly a hardware operation.
It would therefore be desirable to have a connection mechanism that could be utilized by a network to create static SVCs, i.e., permanent SVCs, that would be recreated automatically by the nodes along the path in the event the SVC goes down as during a link or node failure.
The present invention is a system for establishing static SVCs, i.e., permanent SVCs whereby the results of the signaling/routing protocol created when the network is first brought up are stored in a xe2x80x98permanent SVCxe2x80x99 memory. The results of the signaling/protocol that were previously stored are restored from memory in the event the connections must be recreated again. The connections are restored from memory without the need to utilize the signaling/routing algorithms and protocols again. The use of the signaling/routing protocols would, in any event, yield the same results, i.e., connections, which were already stored previously in the memory from when the connections were originally established. Note that the overhead of re-establishment is as if the connections were PVCs, which results in very quick connection restoration times. The system of the present invention is applicable to any connection-oriented network that utilizes signaling to establish connections between network users.
Eliminating the requirement of executing the signaling/routing algorithms and protocols, the static SVC system of the present invention can save as much as 80% of the time that is normally required to establish SVC connections. The signaling and routing algorithms and protocols would do not need to be run for every connection request. Rather, the parameters are retrieved from permanent SVC memory and configured into the switch saving considerable amounts of time.
There is provided in accordance with the present invention, in a connection oriented network, a method of establishing static Switched Virtual Circuits (SVCs) originated from an SVC originator, the method comprising the steps of generating, on the SVC originator, a specific information element directing a next switch along the connection route to create a static SVC, transmitting the specific information element, along with a connection request message to the next switch along the connection route, performing, on the next switch, signaling/routing algorithm and protocol functions so as to yield a set of connection results, storing the set of connection results in a permanent SVC memory in the switch, forwarding the connection request message including the specific information element to the next switch along the connection path and re-establishing a static SVC connection from the permanent SVC memory without the use of the signaling/routing algorithm and protocol in the event the static SVC goes down.
The step of generating comprises the step of generating a permanent SVC reference number associated with a VPI/VCI pair, the permanent SVC reference number included in the specific information element.
The step of storing comprises the step of generating an entry in a table comprising a first permanent SVC reference number, VPI/VCI at the calling port, VPI/VCI at the called port, called port number, next hop called port permanent SVC reference number and one or more hardware parameters, the table maintained per calling port. The SVC originator comprises one or more applications programmed a priori to create one or more SVCs as static SVCs. The step of instructing comprises the step of communicating via an AtoM MIB using the SNMP protocol from the network management station to the switch.
The method further comprises a network management station adapted to instruct the SVC originator or a switch to delete a specific static SVC from the permanent SVC memory thereof. The method further comprises a network management station adapted to instruct the SVC originator or a switch to ignore a specific static SVC previously stored in the permanent SVC memory upon the re-establishment of the specific SVC. The method further comprises a network management station adapted to instruct the SVC originator or a switch to refresh the permanent SVC memory by re-establishing a connection utilizing the signaling/routing algorithm and protocol and storing a set of updated results in the permanent SVC memory.
There is also provided in accordance with the present invention, in a connection oriented network, a method of establishing static Switched Virtual Circuits (SVCs) for an SVC already established by an SVC originator, the method comprising the steps of selecting, by a network manager via a network management station, one or more SVCs to make permanent, instructing, by the network manager via the network management station, each switch along the connection route to make one or more SVCs permanent, storing the set of signaling/routing algorithm and protocol connection results generated previously in a permanent SVC memory and re-establishing a static SVC connection from the permanent SVC memory without the use of the signaling/routing algorithm and protocol in the event the static SVC goes down.

Static switched virtual circuits in a connection oriented network


Phenanthrofuran derivatives and methods of using them to treat angiogenic diseases.

The invention is related to phenanthrofuran derivatives whose properties include anti-angiogenic activity.
Angiogenesis, or neovascularization, is the process of the growth of capillary blood vessels. The disturbances in the regulation of angiogenesis are associated with angiogenic diseases such as arthritis, psoriasis, diabetic retinopathy, hemangiomas, and cancer including tumor growth and metastasis. Endogenous angiogenic factors include basic fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF), vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor, angiogenin, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), heparinases, interleukin 8 (IL-8), platelet derived growth factor (PD-GF), placenta growth factor, prostaglandin E1 (PGE1), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), hepatocyte growth factor, TGF-.alpha., TGF-.beta., TNF-.alpha., and TNF-.beta.. Anti-angiogenic factors include angiostatin, cartilage-derived inhibitor, interferon-.alpha. (IFN-.alpha.), interferon-.beta. (IFN-.beta.), protamine, thrombspondin, and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase (TIMPs).
Ajuforrestine A was isolated from the whole plant of Ajuga forrestii Diels (Wang et al., Chinese Chem. Lett. 5:125, 1994). According to Wang et al., the whole plant is used as a traditional herbal medicine for the treatment of dysentery, laryngitis, and acute and chronic nephritis (brightism).


A new cultivar of Epimedium plant named ‘PINK ELF’ that is characterized by clumping habit, leaflets that are green and russet in color, and purple-pink spurred flowers that are held above two distinct layers of foliage. In combination these traits set ‘PINK ELF’ apart from all other existing varieties of Epimedium known to the inventor.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Epimedium, or bishop's hat, grown for use as an ornamental for container, rock garden, or as a groundcover for the landscape. The new cultivar is referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name 'PINK ELF' and is known botanically as Epimedium sp. since the identity of its pollen parent cannot be known with certainty.
'PINK ELF' is a hybrid that resulted from open-pollination of Epimedium leptorrhizum and presumably Epimedium pubescens. The seed parent is an individual Epimedium leptorrhizum (unpatented). The exact pollen parent is unknown but is presumed to be an individual Epimedium pubescens (unpatented).
The open-pollination occurred in 1992 at the inventor's nursery in Hampshire, England. 'PINK ELF' is readily distinguishable from the seed parent and the presumed pollen parent, by flower shape and flower color. The inventor selected 'PINK ELF' in 1992 based on the distinguishing characteristics of flower shape and flower color. There are no close comparison plants known to the inventor.
'PINK ELF' is semi-evergreen, characterized by clumping habit, heart-shaped leaflets that are green and russet in color, and purple-pink spurred flowers that are held above the leaves. 'PINK ELF' exhibits two distinct layers of foliage due to the difference in length between basal stems and the subsequently basally branching stems. Essentially herbaceous, 'PINK ELF' will retain leaves when winter temperatures are above minus 10° C. Centigrade.
The first asexual reproduction of 'PINK ELF' was conducted in 1993 by the method of division. Division of 'PINK ELF' was accomplished by the inventor, at the inventor's nursery in Hampshire, England. Since that time the distinguishing characteristics of 'PINK ELF' have been determined stable, fixed and reproduce true to type in successive generations.


A method of distinguishing between regions of an image, separating and masking the original image into multiple image planes, and compressing each separated image plane with a compression method that is optimal for its characteristics. From a video stream, separate image streams can be compressed with different methods, and the separate image streams can be stored or transmitted at different rates. Alternatively, frame differencing can be applied to the separated streams.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to data compression, specifically to the compression and decompression of video images that contain portions that can be separated from other portions to optimize compression, storage, or transmission.
2. Description of Prior Art
Moving Pictures
A video or movie is comprised of a series of still images that, when displayed in sequence, appear to the human eye as a live motion image. Each still image is called a frame. Television in the USA displays frames at the rate of 30 frames per second. Theater motion pictures are displayed at 24 frames per second. Cartoon animation is typically displayed at 8-12 frames per second.
Compression Methods
The ZLN and ZLD methods are effective ways to compress video images. Other compression algorithms are known in the prior art, including RLE, GIF (LZW), MPEG, Cinepak, Motion-JPEG, Sorensen, Fractal, and many others.
Each of these methods treats a frame of video as a basic unit of compression applying the compression method uniformly to the entire image.
Color Plane Separation
It is well known in the art that an image can be uniformly separated into color planes based on the red, green, and blue components values for each pixel, based on hue, saturation, and brightness component values for each pixel, or based on ink colors, such as cyan, yellow, magenta, and black. However these color plane separations are not done to reduce data size or to aid compression. They are used to facilitate the display (such as on a RGB or YUV computer monitor) or the printing of the image (for example, four-color printing).
Frame Differencing
MPEG and some other compression methods compare adjacent frames in a stream of frames. Under certain circumstances these methods send only a subset of a frame (namely a rectangular portion that contains a change when compared to the adjacent frame) which is then overlaid on the unchanged data for the adjacent frame.
Doppler Enhancement
Doppler techniques are used to determine the velocities of one or more small objects. Some common uses of Doppler techniques include without limitation:
1. Radar used to detect rain
2. Radar used to determine speed of vehicles or aircraft
3. Ultrasound blood flow analysis
Doppler velocity scales are often incorporated with grayscale images.
In the case of ultrasound blood flow analysis, average velocities toward the sensing probe are encoded as a shade of red and velocities away from the sensing probe are encoded as a shade of blue. Although the image appears to be in color, there are really three monochromic values: a grayscale, a red scale, and a blue scale. The base image plane (grayscale ultrasound) is generated more often (typically 15-30 frames per second) than the overlay plane showing the Doppler red and blue scales (typically 3-10 frames per second).
In the case of rain, the base map of the earth is generated only once and the Doppler colors that indicate the intensity of the precipitation are laid over the base map.

Abstract: One method of distinguishing the region of interest is use of an input device to allow the viewer or broadcaster to dynamically select the shape, size, or position of the region.

Abstract: An alternate method of distinguishing the regions of interest is automated analysis of the characteristics of various regions of an image.


An image capture and transmission system includes first and second imaging devices. A timing signal generator produces a timing signal. A common drive circuit operates for driving the first and second imaging devices at equal timings determined by the timing signal. A first signal processor operates for converting an output signal of the first imaging device into first digital video data. A second signal processor operates for converting an output signal of the second imaging device into second digital video data. The first digital video data and the second digital video data are processed into a stream of packets. The packet stream is transmitted to, for example, a network.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system including an image capturing section and an image-information transmitting section.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is conceivable to provide first and second imaging devices, and to transmit image information pieces from the first and second imaging devices to a common network. Such a conceivable system includes first and second timing signal generators, and first and second drive circuits for the first and second imaging devices respectively. The first drive circuit operates the first imaging device in response to an output signal of the first timing signal generator. The second drive circuit operates the second imaging device in response to an output signal of the second timing signal generator.
The conceivable system also includes first and second signal processors, and first and second transmitters. The first signal processor converts an output signal of the first imaging device into first video data. The first transmitter encodes the first video data into a first stream of packets. The first transmitter outputs the first packet stream to the network while using a first band and a first channel. On the other hand, the second signal processor converts an output signal of the second imaging device into second video data. The second transmitter encodes the second video data into a second stream of packets. The second transmitter outputs the second packet stream to the network while using a second band and a second channel different from the first band and the first channel.
The conceivable system tends to be complicated in structure since there are the two timing signal generators, the two drive circuits, and the two transmitters.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An arrowhead for bowfishing supports pivoting barbs that may refracted rearward to pass through a fish and then extended to retain the fish on the arrow. The barbs provide a truncated stop surface striking a rear of the arrow tip when the arrow tip is tightened on the arrowhead to prevent their forward motion from the extended position when the tip is tightened on the arrowhead and yet to allow such motion when the tip is slightly loosened but not removed. The barbs are offset with respect to their pivot point so that a slight loosening of the arrow tip also allows the barbs to pass forward over the arrow tip for retraction of the fish from the arrow while the tip is retained on the arrowhead.

The present invention relates to arrowheads for hunting and the like and in particular to an improved arrowhead with retractable barbs useful for bowfishing.
Arrowheads for bowfishing may have radially extending barbs that swing rearward as the arrowhead passes through the fish, but then open to prevent the fish from slipping off of the arrow when the arrow is retrieved. In order to remove the fish from the arrow after the arrow is retrieved, the barbs may be folded forward over the arrow tip so that the arrow may be pulled backward through the fish. This forward folding of the barbs normally requires releasing a mechanical stop.
A first type of mechanical stop is released by, loosening the arrow shaft with respect to the arrowhead holding the barbs, for example, by relative rotation of a threaded coupling between the two. Separation of these components may withdraw a stop surface on the front of the arrow shaft from a stop on the barbs that normally operates to limit rotation of the barbs forward. An example of this type of stop system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,360.
In a second type of mechanical stop, a threaded connection between the arrow head holding the barbs and the sharpened arrow tip is employed. This type of stop allows the arrowhead to be permanently attached to the arrow shaft. In this stop system, the rear of the arrow tip provides a stop surface that blocks forward rotation of the barbs. Removal of the tip allows the barbs to swing forward to extract the arrow from the fish. An example of this type of stop system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,311,621.
In this latter design, the arrow tip, after being removed from the arrow, is subject to being dropped or misplaced as the fish is removed.

Bowfishing arrowhead with improved barb release


The present invention provides a simple cell-free protein synthesis method capable of affording synthesis of a protein in a high amount in a short time at a low cost. A method for cell-free protein synthesis using an extract derived from an insect cell, the method comprising removing a component which can pass through a semipermeable membrane through the semipermeable membrane while maintaining synthesis reaction, thereby to continuously synthesize a protein. Preferably, an mRNA is additionally supplied while said synthesis reaction is maintained. Further, said insect cell is preferably an established culture cell derived from Trichoplusia ni ovum cell.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for cell-free protein synthesis. More specifically, the present invention relates to a synthesis method capable of improving an amount of synthesized protein per unit time with a simple method.
2. Disclosure of the Related Art
In recent years, genetic information of many organisms, such as human genome, has been decoded. Under the circumstances, functional analysis of proteins and creation of genomic medicine based on such genetic information have been attracting attention for postgenomic studies. Application and utilization of proteins corresponding to such genetic information for pharmaceutical products and the like requires easy synthesis of extensive kinds of proteins in a short time.
At present, expression systems using viable cells (hereinafter sometimes to be referred to as "cell-system") of yeast, insect cell and the like by the gene recombination technique have been widely utilized as the production methods of proteins. However, viable cells show a propensity toward elimination of exogenous proteins for their functional retention, and there are many proteins that cannot be expressed easily since expression of cytotoxic proteins in viable cells prevents cell growth.
On the other hand, as a production method of protein free of a cell-system, cell-free protein synthesis has been known, which includes adding a substrate, an enzyme and the like to a cell rupture, extract solution and the like to provide a wide choice of genetic information translation systems of organisms in test tubes, and reconstructing a synthetic system capable of linking the necessary number of amino acid residues in a desired order using an mRNA encoding an object protein. Such a cell-free protein synthesis is relatively free of the limitation imposed on the above-mentioned cell-system protein synthesis, and is capable of synthesizing proteins without killing the organism. In addition, because the production of protein does not accompany operations of culture and the like, the protein can be synthesized in a short time as compared to cell-systems. Moreover, inasmuch as the cell-free protein synthesis also affords a large scale production of proteins consisting of amino acid sequences not utilized by the organism, it is expected to be a promising expression method. However, a cell-free protein synthesis system has a problem in that reaction time is shorter and the amount of a synthesized protein is extremely smaller as compared to a cell-system. In order to overcome such a problem of a batch method which is a conventional cell-free protein synthesis method, various studies have been carried out.
For example, there has been reported that a protein can be continuously synthesized by a method of feeding a reaction solution to an ultrafilter (flow method) in A. S. Spirin et al., Science, 242, 1162-1164 (1988) or JP-B-07-110236. However, such a flow method requires large-scale devices, and is therefore disadvantageous in terms of cost.
JP-A-2002-539840 describes a cell-free protein synthesis method by a method of using a dialyzer (dialysis method). In this method, a wheat germ extract is used to synthesize CAT by means of a translation system or a coupled transcription/translation system. Further, Mg+ and NTP concentrations are continuously changed during synthesis to improve the yield of CAT. However, in the case of a translation system, the yield of CAT obtained by this method is about 17 μg/mL. On the other hand, in the case of a coupled transcription/translation system in which Mg+ and NTP concentrations are continuously changed, the yield of CAT obtained by this method is 32 μg/mL at best.
Further, on the other hand, as a cell rupture or extract solution to be applied to the cell-free protein synthesis, use of various substances of biological derivation has been considered and investigations are underway. Of such substances, since insect cells do not require, unlike many mammalian culture cells, culture under a carbon dioxide atmosphere, can be cultured in a serum-free medium, and can express in a large amount in a cell-system while retaining the inherent biological activity with posttranslational modification, they are used for the expression of various proteins. If the insect cell can be used for a cell-free system, posttranslational modification, such as glycosylation and the like, is fully expected to be applicable. Thus, the development of utilization of the insect cell is drawing attention.
As a method for preparing an extract solution for cell-free protein synthesis, a method of extraction from an insect cell has been disclosed in JP-A-2000-325076, JP-A-2004-215651, or the like. JP-A-2000-325076 discloses a method for reducing a pressure applied to an insect cell after pressurization in an inert gas atmosphere, thereby to rupture the insect cell to allow for extraction. JP-A-2004-215651/discloses, as a method for easily preparing an insect cell extract solution which affords synthesis of a large amount of protein, a method for preparing an insect cell extraction solution for cell-free protein synthesis, the method comprising at least a step of rapidly freezing an insect cell suspended in a solution for extraction. In addition, JP-A-2004-215651 also discloses a method for cell-free protein synthesis in accordance with a batch method, using the insect cell extract solution prepared as described above.

Method for cell-free protein synthesis using extract solution derived from insect cell


A computer drive carrier to be removably received within a receiving frame so that a computer drive transported by the carrier can be interfaced with a host computer. A handle is pivotally connected to the computer drive carrier and adapted to be rotated between a closed position when the carrier is received within the receiving frame and an open position when it is desirable to remove the carrier and its drive from the receiving frame to be replaced by a different carrier. A key controlled lock is mounted on the receiving frame and includes a locking pawl that is rotatable from an unlocked position, at which to permit the handle to be rotated from the closed position to the open position so that the computer drive carrier can be removed from its receiving frame, to a locked position, at which to prevent the handle from being rotated to the open position so that the computer drive carrier is locked in place in the receiving frame. A microcontroller is located on the receiving frame and responsive to when a SAS computer drive has been inserted within a SATA receiving frame so as to initiate a LED warning signal to indicate a potential overheating condition. The microcontroller also prevents a manual shutdown of the computer drive when the drive carrier is locked within its receiving frame.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a receiving frame interfaced with a host computer to removably receive a computer drive carrier in which a computer drive is transported and to a locking system to prevent a removal of the carrier from its receiving frame. A microcontroller is located on the receiving frame to be interfaced with the locking system to prevent a manual shutdown of the drive when the drive carrier is locked within its receiving frame and to generate a visual warning signal in the event that a SAS drive has been inserted into a SATA receiving frame.
2. Background Art
With the advent of personal computers and workstations, it is often necessary to remove the medium on which computer data is stored. For example, it may be desirable to remove a storage medium so as to be carried to a different location and/or to a different computer system. It may also be desirable to remove the storage medium to a secure location when the computer data that is stored therein is particularly sensitive or secret. To accomplish the foregoing, computer storage media (e.g., disc drives) are transported by portable carriers that are removably received within a storage enclosure or chassis that is interconnected with a host computer. The removable disc drive carrier is simply pulled out of its chassis on an as-needed basis. Either the original disc drive carrier or a different carrier can be returned to the chassis. This insertion/removal cycle of the carrier usually occurs several times throughout the workday. By way of example only, reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 6,442,022 issued Aug. 27, 2002 for one example of a removable disc drive carrier. Reference may also be made to our earlier filed co-pending patent application Ser. No. 11/229,174 for an example of a locking system that is associated with a removable disc drive carrier and receiving frame.
Because of its removable nature, it is possible for an unauthorized individual to withdraw the computer drive carrier from its receiving frame without being detected. In this case, sensitive computer data could become lost and/or stolen. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a reliable, easy to use locking system by which to prevent the unauthorized or inadvertent removal of a computer drive carrier from its receiving frame.
Occasionally, a computer drive carrier will transport a SAS computer drive that is known to be incompatible with a SATA receiving frame. When such a computer drive is located in a SATA receiving frame, an overheating condition may result. In the event the overheating condition is not corrected early, some or all of the system could be exposed to a thermally induced failure. Therefore, it would also be desirable to provide means at the receiving frame by which to detect a potential drive/receiving frame mismatch and to provide a warning signal in the event such a mismatch is detected. In this same regard, and to prevent possible damage to the computer drive being transported by the computer drive carrier, it is still further desirable to be able to monitor the status of the computer drive and to provide drive status signals to users to indicate when the drive is fully spun up and ready to be accessed by its host, when the drive is fully spun down and safe to be removed with its carrier from the receiving frame, or when the drive is not receiving power.

Receiving frame having removable computer drive carrier and lock


A media holder for securely holding various sizes of data storage media in a single holder. The media holder includes a rear wall, bottom surface and a plurality of spaced parallel flange portions extend inwardly from the rear wall and bottom surface to form compartments. Rear biasing members extend angularly across the rear wall of each of these compartments. Bottom biasing members extend angularly across the bottom surface of each of these compartments in approximately the same direction and same angle as the rear biasing members.. Data storage media, such as optical disk cases, are inserted into the compartments formed by the spaced flange portions. The angled surfaces of the rear and bottom biasing members bias the media against an adjacent flange portion. The line contact between the angled surfaces and media and the surface contact between the media and the adjacent flange portion will securely hold differing widths and sizes of media in the media holder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of data storage media holders, and particularly to the field of holders for optical disks.
2. Statement of the Problem
Information processing systems, such as mainframe computer systems, network computer systems, personal computers, require extensive data storage. This data storage is frequently required to be on media that can be easily transported and stored off-site. Data storage media is available in numerous styles and sizes of floppy disks, tape cartridges and optical disks. Data storage media is often stored in large quantities via rack systems. In order to expedite handling of these data storage media, such as optical disks, tape cartridges and the like, the media is handled by holders which can hold a plurality of media.
Typically, holders for such media are dedicated to a particular size of media. This is particularly a problem with optical disk storage. The packaging for optical disk varies, not only with differing sizes of optical disks, but also with different optical disk manufacturers. This also occurs with tape cartridges as well. Therefore it is very difficult to securely store such data storage media without dedicating particular holders for each size and each manufacturer of the data storage media.
Prior media holders are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,835, issued to Price, Jr. et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,199, issued to Price, Jr. et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,355, issued to Price, Sr. et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,564, issued to Price, Sr. et al. Each of these patents disclose a tape cartridge holder having compartments for storing tape cartridges. These tape cartridge holders all suffer from the above-described problems. Differing widths and sizes of media and associated packaging require either a single size of holder which can loosely hold differing sizes of media or differing sizes of holders each dedicated to a single size of media and/or packaging.
Thus a problem exists in providing secure storage for media having different sizes of packaging.
3. Solution to the Problem
The present invention solves this problem and others by providing a media holder for securely holding various sizes of data storage media in a single holder.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a media holder includes a rear wall and bottom surface. A plurality of spaced parallel flange portions extend inwardly from the rear wall and bottom surface to form compartments for storing media, such as optical disk cases or data tape cartridges. Rear biasing members extend angularly across the rear wall of each of these compartments. Bottom biasing members extend angularly across the bottom surface of each of these compartments in approximately the same direction and same angle as the rear biasing members. In the preferred embodiment, the angle of each of the rear biasing members and bottom biasing members is about thirty (30) degrees.
Mounting hook members extend outwardly from an upper portion of the rear wall of the media holder. These hook members engage slots formed in supports of a rack system to mount the media holders on the rack system. A lower abutment member extends across a lower portion of the rear wall of the media holder. The lower abutment member extends outwardly a greater distance than the mounting hook members. Thus the engagement of the media holders with the supports of the rack system causes the media holders to tilt upward slightly.
Data storage media, such as optical disk cases, are inserted into the compartments formed by the spaced flange portions. Gravity, due to the slight upward tilt of the media holder, will cause the media to slide downward against the angled surfaces of the rear biasing members and the bottom biasing members. These angled surfaces will bias the media against an adjacent flange portion. The line contact between the angled surfaces and media and the surface contact between the media and the adjacent flange portion will securely hold differing widths and sizes of media in the media holder. Thus, almost any media having a width less than the width of the compartments can be stored in a single media holder.
The present invention solves this problem with other embodiments and variations. For instance, the angle and width of the rear biasing members and the bottom biasing members can be varied. Also, one of the rear biasing member or bottom biasing member could be omitted from each of the compartments. Different mounting systems could be used on the media holders to allow use on different storage systems. Additionally, the media holder could be used in a stand-alone configuration. Other embodiments and variations besides these are considered within the scope of the inventive concept.

Data storage media holder system and method therefore


According to this invention, a Ni—Mo—W trimetallic catalyst supported on porous alumina is obtained that shows very high activity for hydrotreating (HDT) of gasoils, particularly deep hydrodesulfurization (HDS) and hydrodesnitrogenation (HDN) of straight run gasoil in conditions of moderate pressure.

Every time environmental regulations require fuels with lower levels of sulfur (15 ppm maximum in Mexico) and nitrogen; moreover, the crude oils that are processed, possess increasingly higher contents of the said contaminating heteroatoms. Consequently, there is a need to increase the activity and efficiency of the catalysts for hydrodesulfurization (HDS), hydrodesnitrogenation (HDN) and hydrogenation to generate clean fuels.
Thus, the development of active catalysts for deep HDS of diesel fuel is a challenge and a global necessity, in order to reach the levels of ultra low sulfur content in diesel.
Commonly, industrial HDS catalysts have a similar composition, in which a metal of Group VIII such as Ni or Co acts as a promoter and a metal of Group VIB such as Mo or W acts as an active component in the catalyst. The catalysts are supported on an amorphous porous or low crystallinity alumina, a silicoaluminate or silica-alumina. Some additives such as phosphorus, fluorine or boron can be integrated to improve catalytic performance.
When the Molybdenum is partially supplemented by Tungsten, an amorphous phase is produced, which after being sulfided generates a catalyst of very high activity for hydrodesulfurization (HDS), hydrodesnitrogenation (HDN) and hydrogenation in comparison with a Nickel-Molybdenum catalyst without Tungsten.
These catalysts can be prepared by successive impregnation of the metals on the porous support, with acidic or alkaline aqueous solutions containing said metal components, drying and calcination. They can also be prepared by co precipitating the support together with the metal components of group VIII and group VIB. Usually, for a process where desulfurization is the main reaction, the preferred combination is Co (Ni)—Mo, while if hydrogenation is the main reaction, such as saturation of aromatics, the preferred combination is Ni—W.
The present invention relates to a catalyst composed of Molybdenum-Tungsten-Nickel with Phosphorus as additive, supported on porous alumina to obtain ultra-low sulfur diesel from straight run gasoil and mixtures of straight run gasoil and light cyclic oil.
The present invention also relates to a procedure for the preparation of a catalyst Mo—W—Ni, with high activity for hydrodesulfurization (HDS), hydrodesnitrogenation (HDN) and deep hydrogenation of straight run gasoil. The straight run gasoil is characterized by the sulfur content of 13,000 to 14,000 ppm by weight and by the total nitrogen content of 360 ppm by weight. The light cyclic oil is characterized by the sulfur content of 13,800 ppm by weight and by the total nitrogen content of 412 ppm by weight. With the use of the catalyst of the present invention, diesel with less than 10 ppm sulfur can be obtained at moderate pressure, temperature and LHSV operating conditions of an industrial hydrotreating unit.
With regard to the foregoing, the following references found within the state of the art, relating to trimetallic catalysts that could be similar to the one of this invention, are provided; however, the analysis of those reveals important differences regarding the preparation procedure, physical form, metallic composition, content of additives and catalytic activity of the catalyst of this invention in the hydrotreatment of fossil fuels.
The patent US20150224481 refers to a catalyst that contains a mixture of metal oxides, among them nickel, molybdenum and tungsten and other metals such as Al, K, Ti and Zn. It is of a very high metallic content: from 70 to 90% of metal oxides and from 10 to 30% of SiO2—Al2O3 and is used for the selective hydrogenation of olefins. It is used to treat FCC gasoline, pyrolysis gasoline and other charges with a high olefin content. The method for preparing the catalyst is carried out by means of an alkaline slurry of the metals salts of the formulation, with an ion exchange step. The solid obtained from that slurry is filtered, washed and calcined before being mixed with a binder of SiO2—Al2O3. Subsequently, it is extruded and calcined again. Before the activity tests in fixed bed reactor, it is activated in-situ.
The patent US 2014/0323779 A1 refers to a procedure for preparing a NiW or NiWMo catalyst supported on a porous alumina or silica-alumina material, starting from a tungsten mononuclear precursor in its monomeric or dimeric form, having at least one function W═O or W—OR or a function W═S or W—SR with many variants of the radical R and a metal precursor of group VIII, preferably Ni. If the catalyst is used in HDS, it must have a precursor of Molybdenum. The catalysts protected in this patent are prepared in a strictly water-free environment, using as tungsten precursors: (oxo) tungsten ethoxide, W(═O)(OC2H5)4 diluted in dichloromethane; hexa tungsten ethoxide, W(OC2H5)6, diluted in dichloromethane; penta tungsten ethoxide, W(OC2H5)5, diluted in cyclohexane, etc. And as a precursor of molybdenum, Mo(OEt)5 is used among others. The metals can be added to the support simultaneously or successively. The catalyst is used after being sulfided and is used in hydrogenation reactions, particularly in hydrotreating and hydrodisintegration reactions. Among several applications, it can be used to obtain ultra-low sulfur diesel.
The method of preparation does not interfere with the procedure of preparation of the NiMoWP catalyst described in this invention.
The patent CA 283 22 47 A1 refers to the process of Hydrodisintegration with the gasoline approach through a Hydrodisintegration or hydrodesulfurization catalyst containing metals with activity. in HDS. They refer to the hydrodisintegration of feedstocks from mineral origin, from vegetable origin, animal, from fish, from pyrolysis and mixtures thereof, it is mentioned that it is convenient to add some sulfur to the feeds of biological origin, in order to keep sulfided the HDS catalyst. The process is carried out in three reactors, where the first one has the most severe conditions. Ample details of the configuration of the reaction system are mentioned. The catalyst used contains sulfided NiMoW. The reactors can use the same catalyst. The support of the catalyst is of acid type. They protect the use of ZSM-48 and ZSM-23 for the second reactor. It is mentioned that a dewaxing catalyst is used in the second reactor using same zeolites and at least one hydrogenating metal such as Pt, Pd or Ni or NiMoW.
It is not mentioned if the catalyst is supported or in bulk; however, it is mentioned that the combination of Ni, Mo and W can provide good desulfurization activity and that this activity can be increased as the molar ratio of molybdenum to tungsten approaches 1:1.
This patent does not mention the NiMoW catalyst preparation procedure and does not contain phosphorus. The diesel mentioned is not a process feedstock, but a hydrocracking by-product, with a sulfur content higher than any specification.
Patent US20090139898 describes the preparation of two catalysts for hydrogenation, which in specific terms means hydrotreating. The firsts catalyst is supported on gamma-alumina or silica-alumina and the second one has a support of gamma-alumina and a zeolite, or molecular mesh, particularly Y-zeolite, beta-zeolite or SAPO-11. Both catalysts are formulated with Ni+Mo+W+P with adjuvant compounds or additives such as phosphorus, fluorine and phosphorus plus fluorine. Fluoride is always added to the support with drying and calcination stage. Phosphorus is added with active metals. The first catalyst Ni+Mo+W, with and without P, supported on gamma-alumina or silica-alumina, is prepared by co-w impregnating all metals, or by first impregnating the Mo with drying at 120° or 200° C. and calcination at different temperatures (250, 300, 400, 430 or 450° C.) and then the Ni+W+P solution is impregnated, with or without calcination; some prototypes are impregnated with citric acid and ethylene glycol on the active metals and no longer calcined. The second catalyst is different because the support contains a zeolite of the aforementioned lines and may or may not have fluorine in the support. The active metals and the P are impregnated under the same criteria of preparation from catalyst one and EDTA is added to the set of organic agents of study. In these catalysts, EDTA is also added after the active metals and is not calcined. The content of metallic oxides in both catalysts is as follows: 1-7% by weight of Ni, 15-45% of Mo+W, 0.4-4% by weight of phosphorus, 1-10% of fluorine and of 0.3-3.5% w of phosphorus+1-10% w of fluorine when both are added to the catalyst. The zeolite content in the second catalyst is 1-55% by weight on the support. The catalysts are used in hydrotreating at the following process conditions: T=220-400° C.; P=2-15 MPa, LHSV=0.3-5 h−1 and rel. H2/Hc=50-4000; the feedstocks to which they are applied are: crude oils, petroleum distillates, oils refined with solvent; deasphalted light oils and deasphalted heavy oils.
The composition and manner of preparation of the catalysts do not interfere with the catalysts of this invention.

Procedure to prepare a supported trimetallic catalyst for production of ultra low sulfur diesel and its application

Abstract: When the catalyst is applied to HDT of diesel, the NiMoW catalyst exhibits high catalytic activity. The content of sulfur and nitrogen in the resulting diesel can be reduced from 13,200 to 10 ppm and nitrogen from 360 ppm to less than 1 ppm, under moderate pressure, temperature and space-velocity (LHSV) similar to those of an industrial unit.

Abstract: The catalytic composition, of trimetallic type, is prepared from an alumina support of high surface area to which a solution containing a metal precursor of an element of group VIB is added, followed by other solution that contains one of the precursors of the active metallic phase, a solution containing another of the precursors of the active metallic phase from group VIB, a metal promoter of group VIII and an additive promoter of acidity from group VB, and finally another solution containing a metal of group VIB, a metal of Group VIII and an organic compound, the used route promotes the preferential formation of well dispersed structures of the used metals on the support of porous alumina, less refractory to sulfidation, with high stacking and short lengths of metal sulfides formed in the resulting hydrodesulfurization catalyst. In the formulation, at least a percentage, but not all the Mo is replaced by W, in a Mo/W molar ratio of 0.6 to 2.0.


An improved method of learning a context of a segment of text input enables facilitated text input on an improved handheld electronic device. In response to a series of inputs, segments and other objects are analyzed to generate a proposed character interpretation of the series of inputs. Responsive to detecting a replacement of a segment of the character interpretation with another segment, a combination object comprising the another segment and a preceding object is stored. In response to another series of inputs, the combination object can be employed by a processing algorithm to ascertain a preference for the another segment in the context of the preceding object of the combination object.

1. Field
The disclosed and claimed concept relates generally to handheld electronic devices and, more particularly, to a method of learning a context for a character segment during text input.
2. Description of the Related Art
Numerous types of handheld electronic devices are known. Examples of such handheld electronic devices include, for instance, personal data assistants (PDAs), handheld computers, two-way pagers, cellular telephones, and the like. Many handheld electronic devices also feature wireless communication capability, although many such handheld electronic devices are stand-alone devices that are functional without communication with other devices.
In certain circumstances, a handheld electronic device having a keypad of Latin letters can be employed to enter text in languages that are not based upon Latin letters. For instance, pinyin Chinese is a type of phonetic Chinese "alphabet" which enables transcription between Latin text and Standard Mandarin text. Pinyin Chinese can thus enable the input of Standard Mandarin characters by entering Latin letters. A "pin" is a phonetic sound, oftentimes formed from a plurality of Latin letters, and each pin is associated with one or more Standard Mandarin characters. More than four hundred pins exist, and each pin typically corresponds with a plurality of different Standard Mandarin characters. While methods and devices for text input such as pinyin Chinese text input have been generally effective for their intended purposes, such methods and devices have not been without limitation.
Generally each Standard Mandarin character is itself a Chinese word. Moreover, a given Standard Mandarin character in combination with one or more other Standard Mandarin characters can constitute a different word. An exemplary pin could be phonetically characterized as "da", which would be input on a Latin keyboard by actuating the <D> key followed by an actuation of the <A> key. However, the pin "da" corresponds with a plurality of different Chinese characters. Moreover, the pin "da" can be a single syllable represented by a character within a Chinese word having a plurality of syllables, with each syllable being represented by a Standard Mandarin character. As such, substantial difficulty exists in determining which specific Standard Mandarin character should be output in response to an input of a pin when the pin corresponds with a plurality of Standard Mandarin characters.
Numerous methodologies have been developed to assist in generating a character interpretation for a series of pins that have been input on a device. For instance, an exemplary algorithm would be the "simple maximum matching" algorithm, which is one algorithm among many, both simple and complex, of the well known Maximum Matching Algorithm. A given device may have stored thereon a number of Chinese words comprised of one or more Chinese characters, and the algorithm(s) executed on the device may employ such linguistic data to develop the best possible character interpretation of a series of input pins.
In response to the inputting of a sequence of pins, the aforementioned simple maximum matching algorithm might generate a character interpretation comprising the largest Chinese words, i.e., the words having the greatest quantity of Standard Mandarin characters. For example, the algorithm might, as a first step, obtain the largest Chinese word having characters that correspond with the pins at the beginning of the pin sequence. As a second step, the algorithm might obtain the largest Chinese word having characters that correspond with the pins in the sequence that immediately follow the previous word. This is repeated until Chinese words have been obtained for all of the pins in the input sequence. The result is then output.
Numerous other algorithms are employed individually or in combination with the objective of providing as a proposed output a character interpretation that matches what was originally intended by the user. It would be desired to provide an improved method and handheld electronic device that facilitate the input of text.
Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the specification.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of learning a context of a segment of text, and associated handheld electronic device


A method for driving an LCD monitor is disclosed. The LCD monitor includes a voltage selection unit used for outputting a plurality of driving voltages according to display data, and a plurality of output buffers each electrically connected to the voltage selection circuit and a corresponding pixel. In the beginning, an output port of each output buffer approaches voltage at an input port. Then, the output ports of the driving units, which approach the same input voltage, are electrically connected to have an average voltage. In addition, the LCD monitor further includes a timing controller for controlling operation of the output buffers. When output ports of the output buffers, which approach the same input voltage, are electrically connected, the output buffers are turned off for saving power.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a related apparatus for driving an LCD monitor, and more particularly, to a method and a related apparatus which can drive pixels located in a row of the LCD panel toward a target level so as to display a uniform gray level.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The advantages of the liquid crystal display (LCD) include lighter weight, less electrical consumption, and less radiation contamination. Thus, the LCD has been widely applied to several portable information products such as notebooks, and PDAs. The LCD gradually replaces the cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors of the conventional desktop computers. The incident light will produce different polarization or refraction effects when alignment of these liquid crystal molecules is different. The LCD utilizes the characteristics of the liquid crystal molecules to generate red, blue, and green lights with different intensities of gray level to produce gorgeous images.
Please refer to FIG. 1 of a schematic diagram of a conventional thin film transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD) 10. The LCD 10 comprises an LCD panel 12, a control circuit 14, a first driving circuit 16, a second driving circuit 18, a first power supply 20, and a second power supply 22. The LCD panel 12 is composed of two substrates and an LCD layer interposed between the two substrates. A plurality of data lines 24, a plurality of gate lines 26, which are perpendicular to the data lines 24, and a plurality of thin film transistors 28 are disposed on one of the two substrates. A common electrode is disposed on the other substrate for providing a constant voltage Vcom via the first power supply 20. For easier description, only one thin film transistor 28 is illustrated in FIG. 1. However, a plurality of thin film transistors 28 are respectively disposed on intersections of the data lines 24 and the gate lines 26 in fact. Thus, the thin film transistors 28 are arranged on the LCD panel 12 in a matrix format. In another words, each of the data lines 24 corresponds to one column of the TFT LCD 10, each of the gate lines 26 corresponds to one row of the TFT LCD 10, and each of the thin film transistors 28 corresponds to one pixel. In addition, the two substrates of the LCD panel 12 can be regarded as an equivalent capacitor 30 according to their electrical performance.
The driving method of the conventional TFT LCD 10 is described as follows. The control circuit 14 is used to control driving process of the TFT LCD 10. When the control circuit 14 receives horizontal synchronization 32 and vertical synchronization 34, the control circuit 14 inputs corresponding control signals to the first driving circuit 16 and the second driving circuit 18 respectively. Then, the first driving circuit 16 and the second driving circuit 18 generate input signals for each data line 24, for instance DL3, and each gate line 26, for instance GL3, according to the control signals so as to control conductance of the thin film transistors 28 and voltage differences between two ends of the equivalent capacitors 30 and to rearrange the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules and the corresponding light transmittance in advance. For example, the second driving circuit 18 inputs a pulse to the gate lines 26 so as to make the thin film transistors 28 conduct. Thus, the signals from the first driving circuit 16 to the data lines 24 can be input to the equivalent capacitors 30 via the thin film transistors 28 so as to control the gray levels of the corresponding pixels. In addition, different signals input to the data lines 24 from the first driving circuit 16 are generated based on the voltages V0˜V″m transmitted by the second power supply 22. The first driving circuit 16 has a voltage divider 17 for generating a plurality of voltages V0, . . . , Vn based on the voltages V0, . . . , V″m. For example, the second power supply 22 is capable of outputting 10 different voltages V0, . . . , V″9. Therefore, the voltage divider 17 is capable of dividing each of the 10 different voltages V0, . . . , V9 to generate 256 different voltages V0˜V255. Then, the first driving circuit 16 drives the thin film transistors 28 by selecting one adequate voltage out of the voltage V0, . . . , V255 according to the display data 36. Generally speaking, different voltages correspond to different gray levels. A display related to the display data 36 will be shown on the LCD panel 12 in the end.
Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the first driving circuit 16 shown in FIG. 1 . The first driving circuit 16 further comprises a voltage selection module 56 and an operational amplifier circuit 37 for driving the corresponding thin film transistors 28 respectively according to the different voltages V0 to Vn generated by the voltage divider 17. The operational amplifier circuit 37 comprises a plurality of operational amplifiers 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 and 49. Each of the operational amplifiers 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 and 49 is used to form an output buffer that has a unity gain. In addition, each operational amplifier 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 in the operational amplifier circuit 37 is electrically connected to a corresponding multiplexer (MUX3 to MUX8 shown in FIG. 2) positioned within the voltage selection module 56. It is noteworthy that only six operational amplifiers and related multiplexers are shown in FIG. 2 for simplicity. According to the control signals D3 to D8 outputted from the control circuit 14, the corresponding multiplexers will select one specific voltage level from the different voltages (V0 to Vn) generated by the voltage divider 16. Each of the multiplexer (MUX3 to MUX8 for example) functions as an analog-to-digital decoder (DAC) to decode the corresponding display data 36. After decoding the display data 36, the multiplexer is capable of selecting one of the voltages V0, . . . , Vn. In other words, the first driving circuit 16 is used for selecting one of the voltages V0, . . . , Vn and outputting the selected voltage to a corresponding pixel according to the display data 36. It is noteworthy that each voltage level V0, . . . , Vn is individually transmitted via a power transmission line such as a metal wire 66 shown in FIG. 2. When the control circuit 14 receives the horizontal synchronization 32 and the vertical synchronization 34, corresponding signals are then generated and are inputted to the first driving circuit 16, and the second driving circuit 18. For example, when the second driving circuit 18 generates a pulse to make all thin film transistors located in one row conducted, that means thin film transistors 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 and 43 are conducted. The first driving circuit 16 determines that DL3, DL4, DL5, DL6, DL7, and DL8 in the data lines 24 should be driven under the voltage V1 according to the display data 36 so as to drive the thin film transistor 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 and 43 toward the target voltage V1 via the operational amplifier circuit 37. Therefore, the multiplexers MUX3, MUX4, MUX5, MUX6, MUX7, and MUX8 related to the operational amplifiers 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, and 49 are controlled to select the required voltage level such as V1. The operational amplifiers 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, and 49 take the voltage level, for instance V1, as an input voltage to drive the thin film transistor 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, and 43 later. However, the operational amplifiers 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 and 49 have different offsets affecting the actual output voltages so that the voltage differences of the capacitors 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55 are different. According to the display data 36, the pixels corresponding to DL3, DL4, DL5, DL6, DL7, and DL8 in the data lines 25 should display the same gray level. However, the gray levels in the display screen are not uniform because different offsets of the output voltages are made by the operational amplifiers 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 and 49, which therefore deteriorates the display quality.

Method and related apparatus for driving an LCD monitor


A dental post is provided comprising a bottom section with cutting projections and a stem section. The cutting projections cut paths into the root canal walls to provide retention and anti rotation. A disk may be included which has projections on the bottom which cut pathways into the top of the root for optimal post support and root fracture resistance.

This invention relates to a dental post construction which can be inserted into a tooth stub and which is utilized to improve retention of a dental restoration built onto the tooth stub.
It is present dental procedure to form a dental prosthetic structure onto a tooth stub for replacement of missing dentition. In this procedure, a tooth stub is initially prepared by removing the diseased or damaged top portion of a tooth to form a tooth stub. A base is formed by drilling into the root canal portion of the tooth stub to form a space into which a dental post can be inserted. Presently available dental post include grooves on their surface designed to improve retention of the post within the tooth stub. Dental cement is employed in the bore in conjunction with the dental post to secure the post in the tooth stub. A portion of the post extends above the tooth stub upper surface so that a dental prosthesis formed on the tooth stub can be retained. Presently, the implantation of a dental post relies either upon the adherent strength of an adhesive or on lateral stress forces between the dental post and the canal wall of screw type posts.
Preformed posts are posts which are premade to specific dimensions with matching burs having cutting surfaces. The burs have a matching diameter to the post and prepare the root to accept a post. A post is then tried in the root and cut to the appropriate length. Cement is spun into the canal with a device referred to as a lenticulo spiral, placed directly with a syringe and/or placed directly on the post. The post is placed in the canal and held in position until excess cement extrudes and the cement hardens. Most preformed posts require placing filling material around the top of the post to transfer strength from the post to the crown. This procedure is referred to as the core build up or post and core procedure.
There are many problems which are encountered when utilizing preformed posts. These include:
An inaccurate fit develops with present bur technology.
Potential for perforation of the root is great with present burs.
There is inadequate resistance to rotational forces on the post.
Root fracture caused by lateral stresses occurs.
There is weak transfer of strength from the post to the crown positioned on the post.
An accurately drilled hole results in good proximity of the post to the canal walls with a thin cement layer to provide greater success in properly positioning the post. The hole is inaccurate if tipping or vibrating of the bur occurs during root preparation as occurs with present drilling systems. This adds to the failure rate of preformed post systems. Drilling a straight hole for a straight post in a curved canal or drilling a hole which does not align with a canal can lead to perforation of a root and loss of a tooth. All posts must resist normal rotational forces which occur during normal or abnormal functions if there is not sufficient tooth structure to provide resistance. In general, preformed posts do not provide good stability against rotational force because they are round and rotate easily when placed in a round hole such as that provided by present bur systems. Presently, to compensate for this, a separate pin may be placed into the tooth, however, screw pins increase the likelihood of root fracture. Some systems try to make posts oval or non-symmetrical at the top but do not supply dependable resistance and retention form. Cement merely provides suction to hold a post in position. The strength of the cement becomes a weak point to the root-post-crown relationship. Constant repeated forces of chewing causes potential breakdown on the tooth-cement-crown interface with subsequent cement wash out and crown post failure. An uneven or excessive amount force can cause root fracture and tooth loss. Screw type posts can exert large lateral stresses which leads to potential root fracture and tooth loss. In addition, forceful placement of cement type posts without proper venting of cement can cause root fracture and tooth loss. Filling material is placed around a preformed post above the root to accept a crown after the post is cemented. The strength and long term stability of this material becomes a weak link in long term success of the crown. In addition, proper design of the post above the root is critical to resist rotation or dislodging of the filling material from the post.
A cast post is inducted for root canalled teeth with no clinical crown (no tooth above the height of the gums) and/or teeth with root canal spaces which are shaped in such a manner that a preformed post can not fit properly. For example, a canal may be narrow at its bottom half and diverge rapidly in the top half or it may be too oval shaped. The preformed post which is of the same diameter throughout can not accommodate these situations. When utilizing a cast post, root preparation is done by drilling to remove undercuts and obtain slight divergence from the bottom upward. The cast post technique takes an impression of a prepared root canal space. In indirect methods, an impression of the root is taken with a dental impression material. In direct methods, an acrylic pattern of the prepared root and the desired shape above the gums is achieved in the mouth. Laboratory procedures which include casting in a lost wax technique are then necessary to construct the cast post. There are many problems which are encountered when utilizing casts posts. The problems include: An increased chance of root fracture. The cast post is expensive. There is an increased possibility of root perforation. The cast post may not provide good resistance to rotational forces.
All posts need to provide venting of cement as a post is placed. A cast post is very precise fitting so it is difficult for cement to vent, lateral forces can fracture the root and/or the post will not be fully seated as excess cement remains in the bottom. In addition, any bubbles or inaccuracies from the casting process can cause a poor fit and root fracture. Cast posts dramatically increases cost as compared to preformed posts because there are laboratory fees and increased time required to treat the patient. For a cast post, an appointment is needed for an impression in addition to an appointment for post placement. The patient cost of a cast post is double the cost of a preformed post. The doctors laboratory cost may be five to ten times the cost to buy a preformed post.
Preparation of a root canal space must be free of any undercuts or removal of a cast post in its plastic or wax phase of construction will be impossible. It is often difficult to attain this as root canals tend to be complex systems of lateral canals, ribbon shapes, multiple canals, etc. Often, excessive drilling is done which removes important tooth structure and leads to a weaker root and increased chance of root fracture or perforation.
It has been proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,480,997; 4,490,116 and Re 31,948 to utilize a threaded dental post which is introduced into the bore of a tooth stub by being rotated to thread the post into position. The dental post includes a stem portion having a slot extending through the stem thickness and along its length which renders the stem being formed of two legs each having its outside surface threaded. The outside surface of the legs intimately contact the walls of the bore so that the threads on the legs can engage the walls. In addition, a spring-like connection for the two legs is provided so that a radial outward spring force is applied to the legs to force them against the bore walls. These dental posts are undesirable since a rotational force must be applied to the post to position it properly into the bore. This positioning process is undesirable since it is time consuming and causes the patient discomfort. In addition, the possibility exists that the post will be threaded too far into the tooth stub which will result in fracture of the tooth stub. Furthermore, the radially outward forces of the legs on the tooth stub can result in fracture of the tooth stub over time.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,534,409 discloses a two legged post having corrugated surfaces which fit into a root canal having generally parallel walls. This surface design materially reduces the post surface area which contacts the canal walls and thus post retention relies primarily upon cement adhesive strength.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a dental post which can be inserted into the bore of a tooth stub while eliminating the need for sole reliance upon lateral stress forces with the canal wall or upon the adhesive strength of an adhesive. In addition, it would be desirable to provide a dental post which interacts with indentations in the walls of the bore by mechanical interaction in order to retain the post in the bore while minimizing or eliminating forces on the walls exerted by the post. In addition, it would be desirable to provide a system for forming a mating bore in a tooth stub for such a dental post by utilizing the dental post as the bur for forming the means for mechanical interaction between the post and the tooth stub and for properly positioning the post manually within the bore. Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide a system for utilizing such a dental post which facilitates the placement of a core and a crown.


A patient health record system uses knowledge bases to dynamically build visit templates and suggest content based on the user's profile and current patient information. The visit template is available to the health care provider using the system, and is presented within an easy-to-use graphical interface comprising a navigation pane for moving from one section of the template to another, and a visit information window that displays current visit information and allows the user to add and edit that information.

The provision of quality health care depends critically on timely and easy access to information that is most relevant to the patient's current condition. Computer-based clinical documentation systems have helped health care providers overcome many of the shortcomings of a paper-based system, including accessibility, portability, security and usability. However, as with any technological advance, the implementation of computer-based patient records has not only created new problems, but has also raised expectations about how health care information can be used in such a way that many of the known solutions and approaches are now seen as problematic.
The successful implementation of computer technology by health care providers demands that they acquire computer skills that many providers view as an infringement upon their primary purpose in seeing and treating patients. The demand for new skills and corresponding frustration is exacerbated by the increased expectations about the amount of patient information that should be recorded and available for use during any given patient encounter. The fact that a computer-based patient record presents a health care provider with a much larger set of potential information creates a corresponding imperative to both record and review more information while providing a patient's care. The problem is that eventually, the computer interface for accessing this wealth of information becomes nearly as cumbersome to deal with as a paper chart. Typing to enter information while clicking or scrolling through a myriad of windows, forms or screens can be as distracting and nearly as inefficient as flipping through pages of paper.
Existing computer-based record systems have partially resolved this problem by limiting the amount of manual typing and navigation required to access and record information for a given patient visit. A typical solution is to provide a summary of key data elements in a single window and to collapse access to the underlying data into a hierarchical navigation interface. The interface allows users to drill down to a specific data element by pointing and clicking within the interface, and to enter data by the same means. By presenting users with rapid access to information that is most relevant to their current patient visit, these solutions make it easier for health care providers to use and add to the information available within a computerized patient record. In order to ensure that these ease-of-use features remain flexible for use among diverse health care providers with even more diverse patient populations, it is even more desirable to embed these features as templates within the user interface. A template-based approach allows providers to choose from a number of different summary/navigation views and use the one that is most appropriate for the given circumstances.
However, this solution is ultimately unsatisfactory, because of the frequency with which health issues will arise that a template was not designed to address. The obvious attempts to resolve this difficulty also prove unsatisfactory. First, simply creating more templates means that the provider will face the problem of knowing the differences between each template in advance, and the choice may ultimately prove unsatisfactory anyway. For example, you could create a number of different variations of each standard template, but in order to use this set of variations efficiently you would have to be familiar with the specific differences between each template. And even if you choose what looks to be the right template at the start of a visit, you may uncover information in the course of that visit that is no longer easy to capture with the original template. Second, building more complexity into a smaller set of templates tends to defeat the purpose for having templates in the first place. The more complexity you add to a standard template, the more it looks like the complex system that the template is intended to simplify. Third, allowing a user to embed dictated notes to extend the usefulness of any given template undermines some of the advantages afforded by using a computerized record in the first place. Dictated notes must be transcribed if they are to be viewable online, and the elimination of transcription costs is one of the major benefits associated with implementing a computerized health record system. Even if you manage to successfully automate the transcription process, you lose the benefits associated with storing visit information as structured data. Dictation blocks of text, because they are unstructured (i.e., are filed in the database as free text rather than as discrete data items such as diagnosis codes), are unavailable for use in decision support, data mining and reporting.
So even with the above-listed improvements, the tension between ease-of-use and flexibility for recording patient encounter information persists within existing solutions to providing a computerized patient record. The objective of the present invention is to provide a computerized patient record system that takes full advantage of an easy-to-use navigation interface and summary view but which does so without sacrificing the flexibility and power associated with a robust database of information.

Intelligent patient visit information management and navigation system


An information handling system includes one or more work stations, each work station including one or more processing units, a memory system, and one or more I/O controllers all connected to a system bus, the I/O controllers controlling various input/output devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, a display device, communications adapters and the like, an operating system control means employing object oriented technology, and means for providing a persistent, distributed object name service. An object class is modeled as a set of relationships. One or more files are constructed which exist in the file system, each of the files capturing the semantics of the naming context objects.

A related copending application (Ser. No. 08/537,648) teaches and claims an information handling system, method and article of manufacture for automatically inserting object services such as persistence, concurrency, recoverability, security and distribution into binary classes in an information handling system employing object oriented technology. The related invention includes registering a description of a class in a name service context, and searching the name service context for a class object referred to as a factory, among other elements of the invention.
Another related copending application (Ser. No. 08/554,063) teaches and claims an information handling system, method and article of manufacture for supporting properties (data about bindings), searching (finding bindings given constraints on properties) and indexing (for speeding up the search on certain property names).
To accomplish the goals of the related inventions, an object name service is needed. The name service should have the following characteristics:
1. Support binding objects to names;
2. Support associating properties with an object binding;
3. Support properties per binding or properties across bindings for an object;
4. Support searching for objects based on object properties;
5. Support multilevel searches; and
6. Support indexing to permit scaling to large numbers of objects and properties.
Additionally, a distributed object name service should allow users to resolve a name when it needs to access the object. Consequently, it is important that the name space implemented by a name server not disappear even if the server which implements the name space terminates and restarts. Also, it is desirable that any mechanism that provides persistence be simple, scalable, and efficient.
An object name server must implement one or more Naming Context objects. Naming contexts offer users a mechanism to map names to objects to properties, where names are strings and properties are name value pairs. Since a context is like any other object, it can also be bound to names in a naming context. These contexts create a naming graph, which is a directed graph with nodes and labeled edges where nodes are contexts. Naming contexts offer a variety of ways to register or unregister objects and their properties, add or remove individual properties, look up properties of an object, and search for objects based on constraints on the properties. Name bindings and the properties attached to the name bindings represent the state of naming contexts. Naming contexts also allow local owned properties, shared properties, soft links, and hard links.
Systems that merely hold the name object bindings in memory implement a transient name space which disappears when the server process terminates. Such a system lacks persistence and is not acceptable. A naming system should have a relatively small storage requirement, for example, less than 5 megabytes and moderate update rates.
Although commercial databases satisfy the above criteria, engineering such a system is a major task and requires a large investment in time and money. Rather than architecting a new database which satisfies the constraints, if existing databases can be used to act as datastores, dramatic savings in time and money can be achieved.
Storing contexts as persistent objects has several drawbacks. First, the context objects must be decomposed into sub-objects in order to make some of the dynamic state persistent. Externalization stream out and stream in operations have to be provided in order to flatten and unflatten the object. Data would then have to be stored in record files. This representation makes searches based on constraints on properties extremely slow and inefficient. Updates have to be done in memory and checkpointed to disk periodically which leads to synchronization problems. It is not practical to produce good performance with such a technique, and its applicability is restricted to naming implementations with very low rate of inquiries and updates.

Information handling system, method, and article of manufacture including persistent, distributed object name services including shared properties

International Business Machines Corporation


An electrical card connector includes: a plastic base having one row of first terminals and a first slot; and an upper cover, which has a top surface and covers over the plastic base. A partition baffle is disposed below the top surface of the upper cover. Each side of the partition baffle is formed with a side portion. A first inserting port is formed below the partition baffle. A second inserting port is defined and enclosed by the partition baffle, the two side portions and the top surface of the upper cover. When a first card is inserted into the first slot from the first inserting port, connection points of the first card are in direct contact with the first terminals. When a second card is slantingly inserted from the second inserting port, connection points of the second card are lowered and thus in direct contact with the first terminals.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector to be connected to an electrical card.
2. Related Art
Electrical cards for computers include multimedia storage cards or memory cards. The available memory cards, such as the Secure Digital Card (SDC), MultiMedia Card (MMC), Smart Media Card (SMC), Memory Stick Card (MSC), Compact Flash Card (CFC), and the like, in the market have various specifications. Because the positions of connections points of the memory cards with different specification are not the same, electrical connectors to be connected to the memory cards with different specifications are not the same.
In order to facilitate the usage, the manufacturers try to integrate different electrical connectors into an electrical connector assembly suitable for various memory cards with various specifications.
As shown in FIG. 1, the MSCs have two specifications of size, and will be referred to as a big card and a small card. First ends of the big card 10 and the small card 15 are respectively formed with connection point 11 and 16 arranged in the same manner. The big card 10 is thicker and wider than the small card 15. Thus, it is very difficult to make the same terminals be electrically connected to the big card and the small card inserted into the multi-card connector, and to make the big card and the small card be firmly engaged. This is because a slot of the connector for engaging with the small card may stop the inserted big card or other cards. So, the conventional connector only has the slot for engaging with the big card, and the small card is engaged with elastic sheers disposed on two sides and a top side. The elastic sheets press against the small card elastically. However, such a design cannot make the small card be firmly positioned and has the complicated structure.

Electrical card connector for different size cards


An electrically conductive polyacetal composition having improved toughness and flexibility, as well as good fluidity and processability. The composition includes an oxymethylene polymer, an elastomeric polyurethane, and an electrically conductive carbon black having a lower structure level (DBP absorption) and larger particle size (lower surface area) than conductive carbon blacks heretofore used in these compositions. The composition includes between about 65 and about 85 percent, by weight, of the oxymethylene polymer, between about 10 and about 20 percent, by weight, of the electrically conductive carbon black, and between about 10 and about 20 percent, by weight, of the elastomeric polyurethane. The electrically conductive carbon black has a surface area BET (N.sub.2) of between about 40 and about 100 m.sup.2 /g, and a pore volume, DBP absorption, of between about 150 and about 350 ml/100g. The electrically conductive carbon black used in the present compositions is more easily dispersed in the composition polymers and lessens any increase in melt viscosity during compounding.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a conductive polyacetal composition and, more particularly, to a conductive polyacetal composition characterized by improved toughness and flexibility, as well as electrical conductivity, low viscosity and low moisture pick-up.
2. Description of the Related Art
Polyacetal resins, also known as polyoxymethylene (POM) resins, are engineering thermoplastics that have broad use, for example, as replacements for metals in a wide variety of applications. Polyacetal resins typically exhibit excellent mechanical properties, fatigue resistance, wear, abrasion and processability. In some of the resin applications, electrical conductivity is required.
Compounding polyacetal resin with a sufficient amount of an electrically conductive carbon black has been practiced as a method for imparting electrical conductivity to the resin. For example, electrically conductive polyacetal resin compositions are disclosed by Masarnoto et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,741; and by Kausga et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,357. One commercially available electrically conductive carbon black, which has been used to form electrically conductive polyacetal resins is KETJENBLACK.RTM. EC carbon black (a trademark of Akzo Nobel Chemicals, Inc., Chicago, Ill.). Typical conductive polyacetal compositions include an oxymethylene copolymer and about 6 percent, by weight, of the KETJENBLACK.RTM. EC electrically conductive carbon black. While these compositions provide excellent conductivity, the addition of the carbon black reduces the toughness and flexibility of the final molded product. In applications where higher flexibility is required, breakage can occur because of poor elongation and low practical impact strength. Moreover, the electrically conductive carbon black can increase the melt viscosity of the polyacetal resin and degrade the melt flow, which can make processing of the resin by injection molding techniques difficult. In addition, it is known that if the melt viscosity is too high, polyacetal degradation and associated formaldehyde emission during processing (such as compounding or injection molding) can result.
In the view of the above-noted problems associated with the use of electrically conductive carbon blacks in polyacetal resin compositions, lower quantities of generally superconductive types of carbon blacks such as, for example, KETJENBLACK.RTM. EC 600 JD carbon black (a trademark of Akzo Nobel) have been used. As disclosed by Kusumgar et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,755, which is incorporated herein by reference, the lower quantities of superconductive carbon black provide the composition with adequate electrical conductivity with less impact on the resulting processing and mechanical properties. A typical conductive polyacetal composition loading of KETJENBLACK.RTM.EC 600 JD carbon black is between about 3 and about 5 percent, by weight. It is noted, however, that the superconductive carbon blacks are generally characterized by a high structure level (high DBP absorption) and a small primary particle size (high surface area, BET N.sub.2). Dispersion and processing of the superconductive carbon blacks in the polyacetal composition is difficult, therefore, because of the small primary particle size, and the so obtained final polyacetal composition viscosity can be high due to the carbon black's high structure level and small primary particle size.
It is known to improve the impact strength and flexibility of polyacetal resins containing an electrically conductive carbon black by incorporating a polyurethane into the composition. For example, Kusumgar et al., in U.S. Pat .No. 4,828,755, disclose conductive oxymethylene polymer compositions having enhanced flexibility and toughness by the incorporation of elastomeric polyurethanes.