A stent graft is disclosed having a tubular graft formed from flexible filamentary members interwoven with a supporting monofilament defining radial corrugations around the graft. The ends of the graft are tapered from a smaller to a larger diameter and have stents attached thereto for engagement with a vascular vessel. The stents are attached to the graft by passing through two rows of slots cut in the graft and arranged in spaced relation to one another. The slots are positioned on a reverse fold of the graft to capture the stent. The stent graft may be modular and have limbs insertable into a base module. The base module has a main central space in communication with branch central spaces defined by a line of attachment between the branch central spaces. The terminus of the line of attachment forms a shoulder for retaining the limbs.

The vascular system is subject to various disorders, among the more serious being occlusive diseases and aneurysms. Occlusive diseases refer to the closing of vessels such as the iliac, carotid, biliary and coronary arteries. Aneurysms are defined as a pathologic dilation of a vessel and can affect the aortic, thoracic, renal and iliac arteries among others.
Effective treatment of many occlusive diseases and aneurysms is possible through the use of an endovascular stent graft. The stent graft comprises a tubular structure (the "graft") which effects a connection between portions of a vascular vessel. The graft is typically flexible and preferably formed of biocompatible filaments or yarns interlaced by weaving, knitting or braiding to form a tube or sleeve. The stent is positioned circumferentially around and supports the graft and is preferably formed from elastic, resilient materials such as nitinol, titanium or stainless steel which have a high yield stress and are also compatible for implantation within the human body.
A particular example of the use of an endovascular stent graft to treat an aortic aneurysm is described below, it being understood that the example is for illustrative purposes only and in no way limits the invention disclosed herein to the treatment of any particular vascular disorder, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art. It is further recognized that the invention is also applicable in the treatment of other occlusive diseases or aneurysms, such as neurological, esophageal and bronchial aneurysms.
An aneurysm, as noted above, is a pathologic dilation of a segment of a blood vessel which constitutes a weakened portion of the vessel. In a fusiform aneurysm 10, such as can occur in the abdominal aorta 12 as seen in FIG. 1, the entire circumference of the vessel is dilated and weakened. The majority of these aortic aneurysms are located in the distal abdominal aorta between the renal arteries 14 and the bifurcation point 16 where the abdominal aorta splits into the common iliac arteries 18.
Abdominal aortic aneurysms are the 13th largest cause of death in the United States. Such aortic aneurysms constitute a serious condition, as an acute rupture of the aneurysm is fatal unless an emergency operation is performed. However, even when such operations are performed in time, the mortality rate is still greater than 50%.
Modern methods of treatment for aortic aneurysms focus on providing an endovascular stent graft which is inserted within the artery at the aneurysm by means of a catheter. As seen in FIG. 1, stent graft 20 comprises a tubular graft 22, which could be woven, knitted or braided, graft 22 having one end 24 which is attached to the inner surface of the artery above the aneurysm 10. The opposite end 26 of the stent graft is split into two tubular grafts 26a and 26b which branch into and are attached to the inside surfaces of the iliac arteries 18 below the aneurysm 10. The stent graft replaces the abdominal aorta in the region of the aneurysm 10, relieving the pressure on the arterial wall and avoiding a potentially fatal rupture.
Stent graft 20 further comprises stents 28 and 30 in the form of continuous wire springs positioned in the ends 24 and 26a and 26b of the graft. Also positioned at the ends are hooks 32, arranged circumferentially around the graft with hook ends 34 facing outwardly.
The stents 28 and 30 are each formed into a plurality of crests and troughs circumferentially of the graft and normally bias the graft ends into a substantially circular, open configuration when the graft is positioned within the artery. The stents are elastically collapsible to a small diameter, however, so as to enable the graft to be advanced through the bore of a catheter which fits within the artery.
To implant the stent graft, the catheter is inserted into the aorta from one of the iliac arteries, the catheter tip being positioned within the artery above the aneurysm. The stent graft is advanced through the catheter, and when the end 24 emerges from the catheter, stent 28 expands radially outwardly under the biasing spring forces of the stent, opening the graft and filling the artery diameter. Ends 34 of hooks 32 positioned at end 24 engage and grip the inner surface of the artery, fixing the stent graft into position. The catheter is then withdrawn as the stent graft is released from the catheter. When the ends 26a and 26b emerge, the respective stents 30 expand radially within the artery, opening the stent graft 20 at ends 26a and 26b. The ends are positioned into a respective iliac artery where hooks 32 engage and grip the interior surface of the iliac arteries, thereby fixing the stent graft 20 into position within the aneurysm 10.
Use of the endovascular stent graft has proved effective at treating fusiform aneurysms, especially aortic aneurysms as described above. However, the manufacture and use of stent grafts is troublesome and expensive for several reasons.
Sutures are a Disadvantage
Normally, the stents 28 and 30 and the hooks 32 are sutured to the graft 22. Suturing is also used to attach other items, such as radiopaque markers to the graft. Suturing is necessarily a hand operation given the small size, delicacy of the components and the precision required to produce a usable stent graft. Hand suturing is done by skilled workers, and each piece takes a relatively long time to complete, resulting in low production rates and high production costs.
Furthermore, sutures can become untied during the operation or after the stent graft is implanted. If the sutures fail during the operation and the stent or hooks separate from the graft (even partially), then all of the pieces have to be retrieved and removed from the artery before another attempt to implant a stent graft can be made.
The consequences of a failure after an operation could, of course, be fatal. For example, if the end 24 of the graft separates from the stent 28 or hooks 32 due to a suture failure and the graft end 24 fails to seal within the artery or collapses into the aneurysm, the stent graft will no longer reinforce the artery, the aneurysm will be subjected to the blood pressure and acute rupture could ensue. The free graft end could also fold and partially block the artery, again with potentially fatal results.
The use of sutures also adds bulk to the stent graft. This is undesirable because it limits the minimum size of the catheter usable to implant the stent graft. The stent graft must fit within and advance along the bore of the catheter during the operation, and the bulkier the stent graft the larger a catheter is required, thereby limiting the size of artery which can be treated by the implantation of a stent graft.
Sutures also tend to snag on the walls or tip of the catheter, thus, making it difficult to smoothly advance the stent graft along the bore or readily release it from the catheter, potentially complicating the operation.
Finally, because sutures are expensive and time consuming to use, tend to increase the bulk of the stent graft and tend to snag the walls of the catheter, they are used sparingly to attach the stent and hooks to the graft. Fewer attachment points means greater potential for failure at some point during or after the operation. Clearly, there is a need for an improved stent graft wherein the stents and hooks are attached to the graft in a way which avoids the disadvantages of sutures.
Delivery and Positioning of the Stent Graft Needs Improvement
As described above, stent grafts are delivered percutaneously by means of a catheter inserted within an artery. The catheter must traverse a significant length of the artery before the catheter tip is positioned so that the stent graft may be released and expanded to attach itself to the artery wall. To accurately and easily position the catheter tip, the catheter must be flexible so as to follow the twists and turns of the artery. Stent grafts positioned within the catheter tend to stiffen it and reduce its ability to bend and easily traverse the artery for accurate positioning of the tip. The longer and more bulky the stent grafts are the more they stiffen the catheter, thereby increasing any disadvantage. Furthermore, stent grafts generally require a sheath within the catheter, thereby further increasing bulk and thus stiffness of the catheter.
Accuracy of placement is of particular importance for treatment of an aortic aneurysm, for example, so that the stent graft is attached to healthy tissue above the aneurysm but below the branch point of the renal arteries. Accurate placement insures that the stent graft will form a strong sealing attachment to healthy tissue without blocking blood flow through neighboring arterial branches.
Different Sizes of Stent Graft are Required
To effectively treat an aneurysm, the stent graft must be sized appropriately to the patient, i.e., the diameters of the attachment points must be such that they form an effective seal with the artery, and the lengths of the various branches must bridge the diseased region without being too short or having significant excess length. The diameter of the stent must match the artery so that there is smooth and substantially continuous contact between the graft and the artery wall around the circumference. Too small a stent diameter will cause one or more folds to occur in the artery, leading to an incomplete seal and leakage into the aneurysm. Too large a stent diameter will result in a fold in the graft, also causing a leak as well as an obstruction within the artery that impedes the flow of blood and which may become a point where clots form and break off to later lodge in the artery and form an embolism. If the length of a branch is insufficient, then the branch may not bridge the diseased region of the artery, placing additional stress on an already weakened artery wall. If the lengths are too great, then the branches may kink and impede blood flow.
Assurance that the proper size stent graft is available requires either that each stent graft be custom made for each patient, or that a large number of stent grafts covering a broad spectrum of sizes be available. The impracticality of both solutions leads to significant expense in the treatment of vascular disorders.
Clearly, there is a need for improved stent grafts for the treatment of vascular disorders.


A communications system employs a HARQ method and, for at least some transmission formats, incremental redundancy (IR) signals. For such formats, the multiple IR signals are derived from a single turbo encoded signal by forming multiple permutations of the encoded signal. The permutations are then converted to the coding rate of the selected transmission format. It is demonstrated by simulation that the present proposal achieves a better performance than the known HARQ techniques, while its implementation is simpler. For certain transmission formats, the transmitted signal in response to a retransmission request is identical to the first transmitted signal.

Many communication systems can be generally described as including a first unit (transmitter) which is to send a message to a second unit (a receiver). Frequently, the transmitter includes an encoder for using the message to generate a signal which is actually transmitted, and the receiver includes a corresponding decoder for reconstructing the message from the signal.
Recently turbo codes have become widely used in such communication systems. FIG. 4 shows schematically the structure of an encoder 20 used to produce a turbo code signal with a coding rate (i.e. the ratio of the number of bits of the message input to the encoder to the number of bits output as the signal) of ⅓. A message enters the encoder 20 from the left of FIG. 4 as a bit stream. Each input bit is output as corresponding "systematic bit" S. The input bit stream is also transmitted to a first convolutional encoder 23. The input bit stream is also transmitted to an interleaver 21, and from there to a second convolutional encoder 25. For each "systematic bit" S output by the encoder, the first convolutional encoder 23 generates a corresponding first parity bit P1, and the second convolutional encoder 25 generates a corresponding second parity bit P2.
There are various ways to modify the encoder 20 of FIG. 4 to get a coding rate of ¼. One is provide an extra interleaver receiving the output of interleaver 21, and an extra convolutional encoder receiving the output of the extra interleaver. Another method is to generate ¼ Turbo codes from ⅓ Turbo codes by rate matching (bits repetition). A third method is to generate ¼ Turbo codes from ⅕ Turbo codes by rate matching (bits puncturing). Note in this case, two convolutional encoders with coding rate of ½ are used to obtain the ⅕ Turbo codes.
The receiver reconstructs the message from this message using a decoder which operates, in a well known fashion, using a forward error correction (FEC) algorithm.
Such communication systems frequently have to operate at multiple coding rates. To do so they frequently employ "rate matching". That is, a rate matching unit in the transmitter processes the output of the encoder to convert its coding rate to a second coding rate. In the case that the second coding rate is higher than the encoder's coding rate, the rate matching is performed by "puncturing" the encoder output (i.e. omitting bits of it). In the case that the second coding rate is lower than the encoder's coding rate, "repetition" is performed (i.e. the encoder output is modified so that one or more of its bits are repeated). The output of the rate dematching unit is then transmitted by a physical signal transmission unit (such as a radio transmission unit in the case that the communication is by radio) to the receiver as a signal (e.g. data packet).
For many communication systems, in the case that the receiver is unable to reconstruct the message from the signal it receives (due to noise) the receiver is able to cause the transmitter to transmit a further signal (also derived from the message) to the receiver. For example, in the case that a certain message not correctly reconstructed, the receiver may send a NACK signal to the transmitter, which responds by transmitting the further signal. As discussed below, the further signal may be identical to the further signal, or may be different. In some systems, this loop can be performed until the receiver correctly reconstructs the message. In other systems, there are a maximum number of transmissions.
To meet the demand for the wideband and high data rate multimedia communications, several advanced technologies have been proposed to achieve high peak data rate. Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) communication is one of them. HARQ is defined as any combined ARQ and forward error correction code (FEC) method in which the receiver stores failed decoding attempts (i.e. received signals which the decoder failed to decode) for future joint decoding. HARQ is an implicit link adaptation technique.
There are two major methods for implementing HARQ—Chase combining and Incremental Redundancy (IR). Chase combining involves the retransmission by the transmitter of the same coded data packet. The decoder at the receiver combines these multiple copies of the transmitted packet weighted by the received signal to noise ratio (SNR). Diversity gain is thus obtained. Incremental redundancy is another implementation of the HARQ technique wherein instead of sending simple repeats of the entire coded packet, additional redundant information is incrementally transmitted if the decoding fails on the first attempt. In this case, there are several different transmission versions of the coded packet.
In general, IR can only provide significant gain for high coding rate (greater than or equal to 0.5) and high order modulation (greater than or equal to 16) compared with Chase combining. Meanwhile, IR is much more complex in terms of memory, processing, and signalling requirements.
Motorola has proposed a HARQ scheme based on block interleaving and bit priority mapping (BMP) [1]. This scheme is quite complex as it employs block interleaving and BMP to generate different IR redundancy versions. Ericsson introduced a HARQ scheme based on rate matching technique [2]. It uses two stages of rate matching to generate IR redundancy versions and only two IR redundancy versions can be generated. The frame error rate (FER) performances of these two methods are quite similar and no significant gain is observed compared with that of Chase combining [3]. In [4], Siemens proposed a HARQ scheme by means of rate matching and symbol mapping based on priority (SMP). This method provides 0.9 dB gain over Chase combining for 16 QAM with coding rate of ½. For 16 QAM with coding rate of ¾, the corresponding gain is 1.7 dB. All these gains are measured at FER with 0.01 in Additive Wideband Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel.
As mentioned previously, the challenges of HARQ implementation for communication systems using Turbo codes are a) how to keep the scheme as simple as possible; b) how to achieve as much gain as possible. The method from Motorola is very complex and provides marginal gain over Chase combining. The method from Ericsson is simple but there is no significant gain over Chase combining. The method from Siemens can provide some gain over Chase combining but it is also complex.

Communication system employing turbo codes and a hybrid automatic repeat request scheme


An arrangement for feeding transport containers of a sorting conveyor with flat mailed items includes a linear conveyor, having a direction of conveyance and a rearward end, for engaging one surface of the respective mailed items in a planar frictional lock and transferring the mailed items in the direction of conveyance to the transport containers at the rearward end of the linear conveyor. A rotary body having a cylindrical surface including a contact region and being rotatable around an axis extending perpendicularly to the direction of conveyance of the linear conveyor is arranged at the rearward end of the linear conveyor for contacting an opposite surface of the respective mailed item in a frictionally locked manner with the contact region of its cylindrical surface during transfer of the mailed items to the transport vehicles.

The invention relates to an arrangement for feeding transport containers of a sorting conveyor with flat mailed items, wherein the arrangement has a linear conveyor which engages one surface of the respective mailed items in a planar frictional lock for the transfer of the mailed items to the transport containers.
Arrangements of this type are used, for example, in post offices for sorting of letters according to their mailing addresses. For this purpose, the letters are fed to the feeding arrangement after their mailing addresses have been captured. After transfer to the transport containers, a sorting conveyor then transports the letters to collection points predetermined by the mailing addresses.
For this purpose, a feeding arrangement of the above-described type has been proposed which transfers flat mailed items deposited on a linear conveyor embodied as a conveyor belt extending downward at an angle to the transport containers circulating below the conveyor belt. The transport containers are embodied as transport pouches which can be opened and are secured to a conveyor chain. The planar frictional lock between the one surface of the mailed items and the conveyor belt, i.e., a frictional lock extending longitudinally as well as perpendicularly to the direction of conveyance, ensures that, during the transfer, the conveyor belt adequately carries along standard mailed items and that, thus, the transported items are transferred to the transport containers in a reliable manner. But during the transfer of light mailed items, such as letters, it is possible that the frictional lock between the mailed item and the conveyor belt is cancelled under the influence of turbulent air flows caused by the transport motion and that a disturbance of the transfer occurs.
To solve this problem, it has been proposed to provide the conveyor belt of the feeding arrangement with ribs between which windows are formed that serve to receive the mailed items. Even after a cancellation of the frictional lock, this arrangement can push the mailed items so that they are transferred in direction of conveyance rearward to the transport containers by means of the limiting rib of the respective window. To ensure a reliable transfer in this arrangement, it is necessary to use a guide wall which extends above and parallel to the conveyor belt. As a result, only a narrow lateral opening of a shaft formed between the conveyor belt, the ribs of the windows and the guide wall is available for the deposit of the mailed items on the conveyor belt. Therefore, malfunctions may easily removed when such an arrangement is used, for example, if the mailed items are not oriented precisely parallel to the conveyor belt when placed into the shaft.
European Patent Application EP-A-0 519 375 discloses a feeding arrangement for the transfer of flat mailed items to transport containers of a sorting conveyor wherein, for transfer to the transport containers, the mailed items are conveyed in a roll gap formed between a rotatable roller and a clamping roller. Here, the clamping roller is only applied to the mailed items after the mailed items have been deposited on a depositing surface through which the rotatable roller extends. This ensures a reliable transfer of the mailed items even when they are not oriented precisely parallel to the depositing surface. On the other hand, a large clamping force is necessary between the rotatable roller and the clamping roller for the conveyance of the mailed items in the roll gap. This may result in damage when delicate mailed items are transferred, for example, packages containing eyeglass lenses or the like.


An image processing system and a method thereof is disclosed. A palette including an N number of index pixel values of a processing target image and corresponding index values is created. N is an integer equal to or smaller than 2. An image indexing process is performed on each processing target pixel. When a pixel value of the processing target pixel is a pixel value of one of the N number of index pixel values, a pixel data on a converted image corresponding to the processing target pixel is set as an index value on the palette corresponding to the pixel value of the processing target pixel. Otherwise, the pixel data on the converted image corresponding to the processing target pixel is set as an exceptional value, and the pixel value of the processing target pixel is stored in an exception buffer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing system and a method of providing the same, and more particularly, to an image processing system and method able to compress an original image, each pixel of which is expressed in RGB, RGBA or YUV, to an index image.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, the amount of data for expressing a single image has significantly increased in response to gradual improvement in image quality. It is difficult to store a large number of images in a storage medium or it takes a long time to transfer image data through the network. Therefore, there is an increasing interest in a variety of methods for decreasing the amount of data related to images in order to decrease network traffics and reduce storage spaces.
A typical method for decreasing the size of an image, i.e. compressing the image, may be an image indexing method.
According to the image indexing method, an index and a pixel value of each pixel of a corresponding image (e.g. an RGB value, a YUV value, a differential value, or a quantized differential value) are stored in a table referred to as a palette or a reference table, and an actual image data is expressed as an index value of the palette. This image indexing method compresses the image by encoding (or storing) the index instead of the pixel value corresponding to the index while maintaining the index and the pixel value in the palette. The pixel value may be a color value of the pixel, or may be a data to be encoded (hereinafter referred to as an "encoding target data"), such as a differential value or a quantized differential value, with which a corresponding image is to be encoded (by, for example, Huffman coding). Although the pixel value stored in the palette may be a value expressing all of three colors, such as RGB values or YUV values, it may express each of R, G and B values.
FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B illustrate an example of an image indexing method using four colors. FIG. 1A illustrates a palette having pixel values consisting of four colors, and FIG. 1B illustrates an image having one index value of the index values of the palette shown in FIG. 1A as a pixel value. For example, referring to FIG. 1B, a pixel 1 shown in FIG. 1B has a pixel value 3. When the index is 3, the RGB values of the pixel 1 illustrated in FIG. 1B are R3, G3 and B3, as illustrated in FIG. 1A.
In the case illustrated in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, for the sake of convenience, the size of the palette is 4. In a typical image indexing method, the size of the palette may be 28(=256), and an image expressed by the image indexing method may have as many number of colors as the size of the palettes, i.e. 256 colors.
When the pixel value of each pixel of an image has RGB values or RGBA values, the size of one pixel ranges from 3 to 4 bytes. In contrast, when the same image is expressed by the image indexing method as above, the size of one pixel is 1 byte. When an image is expressed by the image indexing method, its size can be reduced to be smaller than the size of the image expressed by an RGB method. In addition, the compression efficiency of the image is improved when the image is compressed by the other methods.
However, the image indexing method has a problem in that the number of colors constituting an image is limited to be equal to or smaller than the size of the palette.
By the way, a pixel value corresponding to an index may be a data to be encoded (by, for example, Huffman coding). Therefore, the pixel value may be a differential value or a value obtained by quantizing the differential value. In this case, it is preferable that the pixel value corresponding to the index is expressed by a length (e.g. 1 byte) indicating the color value of the original pixel. Specifically, in the case in which the color value of the pixel is expressed by 1 byte, if the differential value indicating the difference between the color values of two pixels is negative, 9 bits are needed since 1 bit is used to indicate that the differential value is negative. In this case, the compression efficiency of an index image is significantly lowered, which is problematic.
In general, it is known that lossless compression does not require the sign bit of the differential value to be stored. However, lossy compression requires the sign bit of the differential value (i.e. the quantized differential value) to be stored. This will be described as follows with reference to FIG. 2.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an encoding method of the related art.
Referring to FIG. 2, the encoding method of the related art encodes target data, for example, p1 to pv from among a set of data (e.g. an image or a frame of video). The set of data may be an image, and the target data may be pixel values, i.e. data corresponding to pixels included in the image or the frame of the video.
In this case, an encoding system does not encode individual target data, for example, p1 to pv, but encodes a difference data, for example, pv-pred(pv), between a specific target data, for example, pv, and a predicted data, for example, pred(pv), of the specific target data pv in order to encode the specific target data pv. The difference data is also referred to as a differential value. It is well known that the predicted data pred(pv) may be a value corresponding to a pixel (e.g. a left pixel) close to the specific target data when the predicted data is an image, and that the predicted data may be implemented as a variety of forms.
As is well known, in the case of encoding difference data, for example, p1-pred(p1), p2-pred(p2), . . . , and pv-pred(pv), corresponding to the target data p1 to pv instead of directly encoding the target data p1 to pv, the compression ratio is high since there are more data having the same value. In addition, when a target data, for example, pv, is restored through decoding, an encoded difference data, for example, encoded(pv-pred(pv)), is decoded, and the target data pv is restored using the decoded data pv-pred(pv) and a predicted data, for example, pred(pv), for example, by adding the decoded data and the predicted data.
When the difference data p1-pred(p1), p2-pred(p2), . . . , and pv-pred(pv) are encoded, lossless compression is carried out unless the target data p1 to pv are compressed values (e.g. quantized values).
In this lossless compression, when encoded data is restored (like as pv), the value of the restored data is within a predetermined range since the restored data is an original target data. That is, when each of the target data p1 to pv is expressed by n bits (n is a natural number, for example, 8), the value of each target data is in a normal range of from 0 to 2n−1.
I.e. in lossless compression, even the difference data p1-pred(p1), p2-pred(p2), . . . , and pv-pred(pv) which to be encoded, are negative values, when the target data p1 to pv are restored (i.e. acquired) using the difference data p1-pred(p1), p2-pred(p2), . . . , and pv-pred(pv), the values of the data restored through decoding are within the normal range since the restoration data become the target data p1 to pv itself. Thus, even if at least one of the encoding target data, i.e. the difference data p1-pred(p1), p2-pred(p2), . . . , and pv-pred(pv), is a negative number, the values of the target data p1 to pv obtained from the difference data p1-pred(p1), p2-pred(p2), . . . , and pv-pred(pv) are always within the normal range.
It is also known, in this case, that the target data p1 to pv can be normally restored without the sign bits of the difference data p1-pred(p1), p2-pred(p2), . . . , and pv-pred(pv) being stored. Therefore, a lossless compression process in an encoding solution of the related art, such as joint photographic experts group-lossless (JPEG-LS) or portable network graphics (PNG), uses a variety of methods of selectively changing or neglecting some bits of pixel data without storing the sign bits.
However, in the case of lossy compression, the encoding target data should be data which is quantized value of the difference data p1-pred(p1), p2-pred(p2), . . . , and pv-pred(pv), i.e. quantization result data, for example, Q(p1-pred(p1)), Q(p2-pred(p2)), . . . , and Q(pv-pred(pv)). When restoration is performed using the quantization result data, the result of the restoration may differ from the target data p1 to pv itself with a certain error. Due to this error, the solution fails to ensure that the restoration data are within the normal range. Therefore, restoration is not normally performed unless the sign bits of the encoding target data Q(p1-pred(p1)), Q(p2-pred(p2)), . . . , and Q(pv-pred(pv)) are stored. In addition, the encoding solution of the related art also stores the sign bits of the encoding target data in the case of lossy compression.
In the case in which the sign bits are stored as above, at least one bit must be used for storing a sign bit, thereby lowering the compression ratio compared to the case in which no sign bits are stored. This problem still remains in the case in which the index image is used as described above and pixel values corresponding to the indexes are difference data, i.e. differential values (including quantized differential values).
The information disclosed in the Background of the Invention section is provided only for better understanding of the background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this information forms a prior art that would already be known to a person skilled in the art.

Encoding image data with quantizing and inverse-quantizing pixel values


A highly reliable semiconductor device in which a shift in the threshold voltage of a transistor due to deterioration is prevented is provided. The semiconductor device is formed using a sequential circuit including: a first transistor controlling the electrical connection between a first wiring and a second wiring; a second transistor and a third transistor in each of which a source and a drain are electrically connected to each other and which control the electrical connection between the second wiring and a third wiring; and a switch group controlling the electrical connection between a gate of the first transistor and the third wiring or a fourth wiring, the electrical connection between a gate of the second transistor and the third wiring or the fourth wiring, and the electrical connection between a gate of the third transistor and the third wiring or the fourth wiring in response to a control signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sequential circuit that includes transistors having the same conductivity type, and a semiconductor device such as a semiconductor display device that includes the sequential circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor display devices such as liquid crystal display devices and EL display devices preferably include transistors having the same conductivity type rather than CMOS transistors in order to reduce the cost of backplanes (circuit boards). Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose techniques for forming a variety of circuits such as inverters and shift registers that are used in driver circuits of semiconductor display devices and are constituted of transistors having the same conductivity type.
In particular, for a semiconductor display device including oxide semiconductor transistors, a glass substrate of the fifth generation (1000 mm wide×1200 mm long, or 1100 mm wide×1300 mm long) or later can be used. Thus, such a semiconductor display device has advantages of high productivity and low cost. The oxide semiconductor transistors generally have the same conductivity type. Thus, in the case where the oxide semiconductor is used for a semiconductor display device, a driver circuit of the semiconductor display device includes transistors having the same conductivity type. Accordingly, the oxide semiconductor transistors are suitable for transistors included in a semiconductor display device.

Sequential circuit and semiconductor device

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


Manifolds are designed to deliver fluid through multiple orifices of the manifold such that for a given inlet fluid pressure the fluid being output from the multiple orifices has a desired mass flow profile. The desired mass flow profile includes a desired mass flow rate and a desired direction and distribution of flow in three-dimensional space. The manifold is first modeled as a two-dimensional representation to determine manifold parameters necessary to achieve the desired mass flow profile within the two dimensions. Then, the manifold is modeled as a three-dimensional representation based on the parameters previously determined for the two-dimensional representation to determine manifold parameters of the third dimension that are necessary to achieve the desired mass flow profile within the three dimensions.

Manifolds are pipes that deliver fluids through outlets that typically outnumber the inlets. Manifolds have multiple orifices distributed along their lengths that serve as fluid exits. The fluid exiting each of the orifices results in a mass flow profile for a given fluid input pressure to the manifold. The mass flow profile includes a mass flow rate and a direction and distribution of fluid flow exiting from the multiple orifices over the elongated length of the manifold.
Different applications of a manifold call for different mass flow profiles to achieve desired results. For example, one application may require a mass flow profile that is substantially consistent over the length of the manifold, i.e., fluid from each orifice having the same mass flow rate and flow direction. Another application might require an increasing, decreasing, or otherwise fluctuating mass flow profile over the length of the manifold and/or may require a direction of flow to be perpendicular or non-perpendicular to the elongated length of the manifold. Accordingly, it is beneficial to design and manufacture manifolds that have a desired mass flow profile or at least provide substantially the same results as the desired mass flow profile is expected to provide.
Designing manifolds having desired mass flow profiles has heretofore been a lengthy and expensive trial and error process whereby a manifold design is assumed to have a given mass flow profile and the manifold is manufactured and tested to find the actual mass flow profile. Only simple one-dimensional modeling has been used and the predictions of the one-dimensional model are only very loosely tied to the other two dimensions of the mass flow profile. The actual mass flow profile of the manufactured manifold deviates from the desired mass flow profile by some degree. Therefore, the manifold design must be modified according to educated guesses, re-manufactured, and then re-tested to determine whether the actual mass flow profile matches the desired mass flow profile. This process repeats until the actual and desired mass flow profiles adequately match.
It is apparent that the conventional manifold design process is overly burdensome in that each design and manufacture iteration is costly. Accordingly, it may be cost prohibitive to require a specific mass flow profile for a manifold design.

Manifolds for delivering fluids having a desired mass flow profile and methods for designing the same


A data compression method and system replaces pairs of symbols in a string of symbols by a single new symbol. A method for selecting the pairs of symbols to be replaced employs a modified greedy algorithm. The method selects a next best pair of symbols for replacement by considering pairs that have a potential for usurping a current best candidate pair of symbols, due to their frequency of occurrence. A minimum savings threshold is evaluated to further avoid exhaustive searches of all possible pairs of symbols.

Many of today's computing applications require storage of large volumes of data, and the number of such applications is constantly increasing as the use of computers extends to new disciplines. Moreover, the proliferation of computer communication networks is resulting in massive transfer of data over communication links. Reducing costs associated with the storage and communication of data may be obtained through data compression techniques.
A simple characterization of data compression involves transforming or encoding a string of symbols in one representation, such as ASCII, into another string (sometimes called codewords) which may contain the same information as the original string, but whose length is smaller. The aim of data compression is to reduce redundancy in the original string of symbols, and thereby increase effective data density.
A variety of data compression techniques exists today. Such data compression techniques may be categorized as block-block, block-variable, variable-block, or variable-variable. Block-block indicates that the original string of characters and the resulting codewords are of fixed length. Variable-variable data compression techniques encode original strings of symbols of variable-length into variable-length codewords. Huffman coding is one example of a variable-variable data compression technique.
A Huffman encoder typically uses a Huffman statistical model to encode a string of symbols into a series of variable length codewords. The Huffman encoder operates to assign short codewords to symbols in the string that occur most often and longer codewords to the symbols in the string that occur the least often. The construction of Huffman codes is further described in an article by David Huffman, entitled "A Method for the Construction of Minimum Redundancy Codes" in the proceedings of the I. R. E., volume 40, pages 1098–1101, 1952.
While prior art data compression techniques have proven useful, new data compression techniques are always needed in order to reduce storage requirements of computing systems further as well as to improve the speed at which data may be communicated. Thus, it is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.

Method and system for selecting grammar symbols for variable length data compressors


A computer system includes an LCD display part provided with a main housing mounting part in a rear thereof, and a main housing to accommodate a main board and detachably combined with the main housing mounting part of the LCD display part. Different sizes of the LCD display parts are selectively combined with the main housing to be replaced. Thus, the present invention provides a computer system in which different sizes of LCD display parts are replaceable.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer system, and more particularly, to a computer system in which different sizes of LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) display parts are replaced.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a computer system includes a main body having a plurality of hardware components such as a main board equipped with a CPU (central processing unit), a hard disk drive, a graphic card, a floppy disk drive, a CD (compact disk) drive, etc. The computer system also includes a monitor that receives a video signal from the main body and displays a picture, and an input unit such as a keyboard, a mouse, etc., to input a predetermined signal to the main body.
The computer system is classified as a notebook computer system, a desktop computer system, etc. The notebook computer system is relatively slim and light due to its LCD monitor (hereinafter referred to as "LCD display part"), and is typically employed as a portable computer. The desktop computer system is typically designed for use on a desk or a table.
Because the desktop computer system is generally larger in size than the notebook computer system, the desktop computer system occupies a larger space than the notebook computer system. Recently, the LCD display part has been widely used in the desktop computer system instead of a CRT monitor, so that the space occupied by the desktop computer system is decreased. However, the desktop computer system still requires a relatively large space for installation of a main body and a monitor in comparison with that of the notebook computer system. Accordingly, in order to decrease the space occupied by the desktop computer system, there has been proposed a computer in which an LCD display part and a main body are formed as a single body.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional computer 100 system includes a front cover 110, a main housing 130 to form a predetermined space by combining with the front cover 110, an LCD display part (not shown) including an LCD panel (not shown) on which a picture is displayed, a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) assembly (not shown) to transmit a video signal to the LCD panel, and a main board (not shown) to control the computer system 100.
The front cover 110 has an opening through which the LCD panel is exposed, and is placed in front of the LCD panel to cover peripheral edges of the LCD panel. The main housing 130 is backwardly recessed to form an accommodating space to accommodate a main board.
The PCB assembly converts a predetermined signal received from the main board into a video signal, and transmits the video signal to the LCD panel. The main board is mounted with a CPU, a graphic card, a sound card, etc., and operates the computer system 100 depending upon electric power supplied from a power supply (not shown).
In accordance with the configuration as described above, the conventional computer system 100 is assembled as follows. First, the main board is accommodated in the accommodating space of the main housing 130, and fastened to the main housing 130 with screws (not shown). Thereafter, the hardware components including the main board, the LCD display part, etc., are electrically connected to each other, and then the front cover 110 and the main housing 130 are combined by screws 150, thereby completing an assembly of the computer system 100.
However, in the conventional computer system 100, because the LCD display part and the main board are disposed between the front cover 110 and the main housing 130, and the front cover 110 and the main housing 130 are combined by the screws 150, it is not easy to disassemble the computer system 100. Further, it becomes difficult to replace the LCD display part with different sizes of LCD display parts.

Computer system having interchangeable LCDs


An automatic system for personal hygiene following the carrying out of bodily functions, comprising substantially a sanitary bowl (2) connected to a hot-air generator (3) by means of a ventilation circuit (4), and a hot-water generator (5) connected in turn by means of a hydraulic circuit (6) to the water supply mains (7). Said system also comprises a soap storage container (20) linked to the hydraulic circuit (6), and a control device (8) designed to activate, in accordance with programmed operating steps, operation of the system (1). In particular, it also envisages the use of an odor aspirator device (29) connected to the sanitary bowl (2) by means of an air pipe (30, 31) and operated by said control device (8). Advantageously, a sensor (37) for detecting the presence of a person, communicating with the control device (8), is mounted on the seating rim (35) of the sanitary bowl (2). The hydraulic circuit (6) is divided up by a flow distributor (11) into two subsidiary circuits (9, 10), a first one (9) being designed to perform frontal cleaning of a user of the system (1), and a second one (10) being designed to perform rear cleaning of the user. Each subsidiary circuit (9, 10) is connected to the soap storage container (20) by means of a soap-conveying pipe (17) connected to a suction pump (18) and has inserted along it a first delivery pump (14) which is electrically governed by the control device (8).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic system for personal hygiene following the carrying out of bodily functions.
The system in question is intended to be used in any sanitary room in domestic dwellings, communal premises, hospitals, etc., for automatically effecting personal hygiene after the carrying out of one's normal bodily functions. In particular, the system according to the present invention may be advantageously used by persons who are not self-sufficient (for example, elderly people), allowing them to clean themselves in an autonomous manner immediately after (or during) the carrying out of their bodily functions. In view of the low cost, the system in question may advantageously also be used in the sanitary premises of a conventional dwelling in keeping with the standards required for thorough and convenient hygiene.
2. Description of the Prior Art
At present, as is known, there exists an automatic system for personal hygiene, described in Italian Patent Application No. 84119A/82, which envisages the use of a series of fairly complex apparatus connected in accordance with a logic/functional diagram which is not able to satisfy in an optimum manner the operational requirements of the user.
In particular, this system of the known type has the drawback that it does not allow varied cleaning of the front and rear zone of the user. This has a negative effect in terms of the flexibility and versatility of operating performance which, for example, does not allow one to repeat several times washing of the single zone concerned.
It should be noted, moreover, that the use of an automatic system for personal hygiene obliges the user to remain in the premises assigned for this purpose for the whole of the time needed to perform the cycle of cleaning operations. Since this system is particularly suitable for persons who are not self-sufficient and who often need to be helped in their actions by other people (for example, in order to undress or dress themselves), remaining for a long time in an area where the air is inevitably contaminated may be a cause of discomfort. The system of the known type (see patent No. 84119A/82) has the drawback that it does not include any technical contrivance for reducing to a minimum the discomfort due to odours.

Automatic system for personal hygiene following the carrying out of bodily functions

N.T.S. Nuove Tecnologie Sanitarie S.r.l.


Embodiments provide a waistband system including a flap of material coupled to a pair of pants at or near a waistband of the pants. The flap may be rotated (e.g., folded) between an extended position in which at least a portion of the flap rises above a waistline (i.e., top edge) of the pants, and a folded down position in which the flap is substantially or completely disposed in an interior portion of the pants below the waistline. When the flap is in the extended (folded up) position, the flap may provide a user of the pants protection from snow, rain, liquids, and/or debris, above the waistline of the pants. On the other hand, the folded down position may provide more comfort and/or aesthetic appeal.

Outerwear pants are widely used when engaged in activities in the snow or rain, such as skiing, snowboarding, and mountain climbing. The pants are designed to protect the user from outside elements, such as snow, rain, and dirt. Some outerwear pants have special features to prevent outside elements, e.g. snow, from coming in contact with the user's skin or inside layer of clothing. For instance, many outerwear pants have a higher waistband or a bib design that extends the coverage of the pants further up the torso of the user. This added coverage is especially important in the case of a fall, when snow or rain may reach the upper body of the user and enter the interior of the pants. However, the higher waistline and/or bib design in outerwear pants can be uncomfortable and/or aesthetically unpleasant, and the added protection from the elements may not be needed in all situations, such as when the user is not currently engaged in outdoor activities.


A cooling tower water treatment system removes contaminants include chlorine, calcium carbonate as calcite, and microorganisms from water in the system with redox media in a fluidized bed. The treatment system includes a treatment bed, in the form of a column, having a reaction chamber of a first diameter and a retention chamber of a second diameter, the second diameter being greater than the first diameter. Redox media, in the reaction chamber, is fluidized by water flowing in a direction countercurrent to gravity and is held in place, without the use of screens or filters, by a reduction in flow rate of the fluidizing media resulting from the larger diameter of the retention chamber. Preferably, the treatment system includes a physical filtration unit, such as an automatic backwashing sand filter, to prevent entry of particulates and scale into the reaction chamber.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to fluid treatment systems for industrial use, and more particularly, to an improved cooling tower water treatment system using redox media.
2. Description of the Related Art
Water is the most commonly used medium for removing heat from industrial equipment. Water has excellent heat transfer capability which is reversible so that the water can be cooled and reused. Typically, water is recycled by the use of a cooling tower which allows a portion of the water to be evaporated. Since water is rarely pure, contaminants in the water are concentrated during the evaporation process. Concentration of the contaminants leads to multiple problems such as scaling, corrosion and fouling by algae, bacteria, and fungi, the treatment of which require the use of chemicals and/or frequent maintenance.
In the past, water was typically treated with chemical conditioners to control scaling, corrosion and biofouling. Chelators and complexers were added to control the formation of scale, inhibitors were added to control corrosion, and biocides were added to control biofouling. In addition to the foregoing, other additives, such as buffers and pH control additives are frequently used. The use of these chemicals adds expense, increases effort to monitor and maintain appropriate chemical levels, and creates disposal problems. Non-chemical systems have been developed, such as magnetic systems and ozone generators, but these have proven to be expensive and, at best, only marginally effective. Ozone systems, for example, have a beneficial effect on the control of biofouling, but have a limited effect on the control of scale formation and corrosion protection.
A unique oxidation/reduction (redox) media has been discovered for treating water by the galvanic reaction that results when the water contacts bimetallic redox media. The bimetallic alloy used in the media for water treatment is preferably a high purity alloy of copper and zinc in an appropriate ratio. The redox media is described more particularly, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,510,034; 5,433,856; and related patents. Redox potential (ORP) is a measure of the readiness to part with electrons, and is measured in millivolts (mV). Zinc is more reactive than copper and is more electropositive. In the preferred redox filter media, copper is the permanent cathode and zinc is the sacrificial anode. A single pass through copper-zinc redox filter media rapidly changes the redox potential of water from +200 mV to -500 mV. This change has a dramatic effect on most bacteriologic, solubility, and ionic reactions. The redox media can remove dissolved gases such as chlorine, hydrogen sulfide and methane. It can also remove virtually any soluble heavy metal, help prevent mineral scale accumulation and reduce levels of microorganisms.
More specifically, when cooling tower water is exposed to the redox media, the flow of electrons alters the crystalline structure of the scale-forming compounds. The most common scale-forming compound is calcium carbonate or calcite. When combined with carbon dioxide dissolved from the air, and exposed to heat, calcite is deposited in the heat exchangers, pipes, pumps, reservoirs, and towers used in the cooling system. Left uncontrolled, calcite will continue to grow upon itself until a thick layer of scale is formed. A 0.1" thick deposit of calcite, for example, will reduce the heat transfer ability of a heat exchange by about 40%. The modification of ORP produced by the redox media causes the calcium to precipitate as fine particles of a carbonate compound which is spherical or rod-shaped with rounded edges. Unlike the coarse crystalline calcite scale, the carbonate precipitate cannot grow upon itself and can be removed by filtration.
The medium controls biofouling by two mechanisms. The ORP change produced by contact with the media results in an electrolytic field which most microorganisms cannot survive. Second, hydroxyl radicals and peroxides are formed from some of the water molecules which also adversely impact microorganisms. Finally, the corrosion of metallic surfaces is mitigated by the stabilization of pH to non-corrosive alkaline levels of between 8.0 and 8.5 through the generation of hydroxyl radicals by the redox media. Additionally, the negative impact on bacterial growth prevents the generation of organic acids by the bacteria.
Despite these advantages, the use of the aforementioned redox media has been accompanied by the several disadvantages. In typical prior art systems, the redox media is supplied in a form similar to steel wool. This material is formed around a mandrel. Water flows from the outside of the chamber, through the media, and through the mandrel. In another embodiment, the redox media is supplied in the form of a foam-like product which has been formed into discs. The water flows through a series of these discs for the appropriate contact time. The wool and foam products, being held in a static position, become clogged over time with particulate matter which is precipitated out of the water. Not only does this lead to premature replacement of the media, but over time as clogging occurs, the surface area is reduced and flow is restricted. As a result of this deterioration, performance is reduced and the problems relating to scale, biofouling, and corrosion can recur.
In order to overcome the foregoing problem, a granular media has been used with a downflow pattern in a pressure vessel. While this also results in a buildup of trapped particulates, periodic backwashing allows their removal. This system is an improvement over the wool and foam systems described hereinabove where the media is permanently fouled, but results in diminished performance between backwashing cycles. Another disadvantage of this system is the loss of media due to flow rate of backwashing necessary for particle removal.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a cooling tower treatment system which does not rely on chemicals for conditioning the cooling water and is inexpensive and simple to maintain.
It is another object of this invention to provide a cooling tower water treatment system which uses redox media efficiently without significant loss of performance between backwashing cycles.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a cooling tower treatment system which maximizes the life of the redox media and system components.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a cooling tower treatment system which exhibits consistent performance levels over its lifetime.


During communications sessions between an agent in a call center and a customer, it is often desirable that a secondary agent is consulted, the secondary agent perhaps more suited to the particular needs of the customer. It is preferred that the original agent is presented with a list of the best-suited agents with which to consult, if needs be. Accordingly, a system and method for managing a list of contacts for presentation to a user of a computer system (e.g. a call center agent) is disclosed. The system provides for the monitoring of live communications between an agent and a customer, and further provides for the detecting of a pattern of data in the monitored live communications interaction (e.g. utilising speech recognition to recognise use of a particular keyword). The system is then operable to present a list of suggested contacts to the agent, the suggested contacts chosen based on a match between selection criteria for that contact and on the particular data pattern detected.

Contact lists (sometimes referred to as "buddy lists") include details of other parties available for contact by a user of a computer system. The user can select a member of the list and initiate communication with that list member, usually by operation of communications software such as an email client, an instant messaging (IM) client, or voice or video telephony software, or by an interface between the computer and an external piece of communications equipment, such as an external telephone driven by computer telephony integration (CTI) commands from the computer, which causes the external telephone to dial a supplied contact telephone number based on the information in the contact list.
The use of contact lists makes it easier for a user of a computer system to easily and seamlessly initiate contact with third parties, avoiding the necessity of remembering or looking up the contact details of the third party and entering those details into a communications application. Contact lists can be integrated into communications applications such as email, IM or telephony software, or they can be stored in a stand-alone application which manages and interacts with the email, IM or telephony software resident on the user's computer system. It is to be understood that a computer system can be a single computer or can be a distributed system in which different components and different pieces of software are physically separated on different machines.
It is known to employ server-based contact lists which are accessed by client software. The client software typically downloads either a personalised or a generic contact list from the server. Such client-server systems are preferable within large organisations as they allow resources to be concentrated, and allow contact details to be maintained and updated centrally. Users can personalise their own lists by adding members to or removing members from the list to be displayed on their own client application, and the server-based component can store one or more such personalised lists for each user.
Contact lists can also be integrated with a presence service which keeps track of the location, availability and current contact parameters of its users. As an example of a presence service, the session initiation protocol (SIP), widely used in voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony, can be employed as described in Request for Comments No. 3856 issued by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF RFC 3856), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Within contact centers (or call centers) such contact lists are employed to permit the agents who communicate with customers to enlist the assistance of colleagues, supervisors or outside experts. By deploying contact lists to contact center agents within their workstation environment, and thereby providing the agents with access to such expertise, the agents can more readily and easily handle problems presented by the customers with whom they are in communication.
A drawback of current systems is that the default list of contacts presented to the agent, or even the agent's own personalised list, may not provide access to the best expertise which is actually available to deal with a current problem faced by an agent. This is particularly true where an agent has to cover a broad range of queries, or where a customer interaction covers several areas, or where an agent is required to handle an issue outside of her normal experience (since in such cases the agent's usual sources of help may be equally ill-equipped to help). Agents may not know who to ask for help if they are not familiar with the expertise of all available potential contacts.


A compact, cleat-like, device for connecting the ends of a rope together where the rope is in tension. The device is generally planar, with two approximately flat surfaces, two approximately parallel sides and trifurcated ends. A central aperture is provided through the flat surfaces. The channels between the three end fingers are tapered, with the apices extending toward the aperture. In use, rope ends are inserted through the aperture, wrapped around two opposite channels and inserted back through the aperture. The device safely and securely maintains the connection between the rope ends. The rope can be easily removed, even with the rope in tension, by pulling one end of the rope back through the eye and unwrapping it from the channels.

This invention relates in general to a device for connecting the ends of a rope or the like together and, more particularly to a cleat-like device for permitting rapid and easy connection and disconnection of the ends of a rope.
A wide variety of devices and methods have been used to connect two ends of a rope together or to connect a rope to a structure. Typically, the rope may be used to tie down a container to the bed of a truck or the like, with the rope in tension at the connection. The most common method is to use one of many knots to tie the rope ends together or to a structure. While often effective, skill in tieing the knot and proper selection of a particular knot configuration for a particular purpose is required. Poorly tied knots, or the use of an incorrect knot may allow the knot to slip or may the knot very difficult to untie. Also, tieing a knot while maintaining proper tension in the rope is often difficult.
Because of these problems with knots, a number of mechanical devices have been developed to assist in connecting rope ends together or to structures. The most common device for connecting ropes to structures is the conventional cleat, which is firmly attached to the structure at its midpoint and has two ends or horns around which the rope is wound and tied. While very effective when used correctly, cleats are not suitable for connecting the ends of ropes together, where the rope is in tension. Cleats may have eyes for tieing ropes, such as is disclosed by Matthews in U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,203, or may include multiple hooks around which the rope can be wrapped, such as is disclosed by Newell in U.S. Pat. No. 3,715,782. Wires and other projections are sometimes added to cleats to improve capture of the rope by wedging the rope into wedge-shaped openings, as disclosed by Tuttle in U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,090. A particularly effective cleat-like device for connecting a rope to a structure is described in my copending U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 07/686,050, filed Apr. 16, 1991. While generally useful in connecting ropes to a structure, these devices are not well adapted to connecting rope ends together where the rope is in tension.
Generally, rope ends have been secured together with knots, with the disadvantages mentioned above. Attempts have been made to provide simple devices, such as metal plates with a plurality of holes through which the rope ends are threaded in serpentine fashion. These plates, often used with tent lines and the like, rely on friction between the rope and hole edges and often slip. While acceptable where occasional slippage is acceptable, they are not acceptable for such applications as holding cargo to a truck bed where slippage could be disastrous. These devices are also difficult to release where the rope is under considerable tension.
Thus, there is a continuing need for improved devices to aid in connecting the ends of ropes together, overcoming the prior problems of connection slippage, difficulty in making the connection, the requirement for considerable skill in making an acceptable connection and difficulty in releasing the connection when desired with the rope under tension.

Device for releaseably connecting rope ends in tension


An apparatus for detecting a fine magnetic field comprises a DC SQUID which detects and converts a magnetic field to an electrical signal. A flux locked looped circuit drives the DC SQUID. The flux locked loop circuit includes an amplifier for amplifying the electrical signal. A phase detector modulates the amplified electrical signal and an integration circuit outputs a voltage signal corresponding to the detected magnetic field. An oscillator coupled to the phase detector supplies a demodulation frequency signal. A modulator including a first voltage-to-current converter and a second voltage-to-current converter is coupled with the integration circuit and the oscillator for supplying a modulation signal to the DC SQUID. The modulator further includes an external input terminal and a feedback modulation change-over circuit for changing an internal feedback signal to an external test signal inputted to the external input terminal. A bias source having a third voltage-to-current converter is coupled to the DC SQUID and supplies a bias signal. The bias source also includes an external input terminal and a change-over circuit for changing an internal bias signal to an external test signal inputted to the second external input terminal. An external output terminal is connected to the amplifier for supplying a monitoring test output signal from the DC SQUID. The apparatus for detecting a fine magnetic field thus provides a self-testing function for the DC SQUID.

The present invention relates to a highly sensitive magnetic field detecting device using a DC superconducting quantum interference device (i.e., DC SQUID) for use in medical or underground resource searching applications.
The highly sensitive magnetic field detecting device is used for detecting a micro magnetic field. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of a highly sensitive magnetic field detecting device of the prior art. This highly sensitive magnetic field detecting device comprises at least a DC SQUID 2, a bias circuit 1, a signal amplifier 3, a phase detector 4, a feedback amplifier and a modulator, including oscillator 6 and two V/I converters 7 and 8. These elements, except the DC SQUID, constitute a flux locked loop (F.L.L.) circuit. The bias circuit is composed of a voltage source and a voltage-current converter so as to feed an electric current to the DC SQUID. A modulated signal coming from the DC SQUID fed with a bias current is amplified by the amplifier 3 and detected by a phase detector 4.
The detected signal is inputted to the integrator 5, which has its output feedback signal converted into an electric currrent. This current is added to the modulated signal converted into the current and is inputted together to the DC SQUID to fix the total magnetic flux applied to the DC SQUID always at a constant value. As a result, the magnetic field can be detected by monitoring the feedback signal. The detection of a fine magnetic field utilizes the aforementioned method, but the current-to-voltage characteristics and flux-to-voltage characteristics of the DC SQUID are measured by using a SQUID measurement device, as shown in a block diagram in FIG. 6.
The measurements of the current-to-voltage characteristics of the DC SQUID using the SQUID measurement device are accomplished: by sweeping the DC voltage source by the oscillator; by measuring a voltage generated in the DC SQUID; and by displaying the current against the voltage in an oscilloscope. The measurements of the flux-to-voltage characteristics are accomplished: by feeding the DC SQUID with the feedback modulation current swept by the oscillator while feeding the DC SQUID with a bias current equal to a critical current; by measuring a voltage generated in the DC SQUID; and by displaying the magnetic flux against the voltage in an oscilloscope.
Since the highly sensitive magnetic field detecting device of the prior art cannot sweep the bias current and the feedback modulation current by itself, the SQUID measurement device has to be used for measuring the element characteristics of the DC SQUID. According to this method, if it is intended to observe the element characteristics of the DC SQUID when the DC SQUID is driven as the highly sensitive magnetic field detecting device, the DC SQUID has to be disconnected from the F.L.L circuit device and connected with the SQUID element measurement device.

Apparatus for detecting a fine magnetic field with characteristic testing function of a DC squid


An embodiment includes a system for preparing fusion of joints, such as joints in the toes or fingers of an animal such as a human. The system may include one or more of complementary ball and socket joint reamers. A reamer may be separable from an intramedullary fixation rod. The rod may include channels to prevent rotation of the rod once implanted in bone. Other embodiments are discussed herein.

Embodiments of the invention relate to the field of orthopedic surgery where joints (e.g., joints of the fingers and toes) may require surgical fusion. In particular, embodiments of the invention concern a set of devices that can prepare these joints for approximation in a ball-and-socket manner and then secure said joints to achieve fusion.
It is common in the field of orthopedic surgery to perform procedures on the small joints that make up the digits of the hands and feet. Specific disease patterns may affect the joints between phalanges (fingers or toes) causing pain and deformity. These interphalangeal joints, as they are known, can become destroyed from various processes. For example rheumatoid arthritis can cause rapid degeneration of the cartilage on either side of the joint due to repeated and continued inflammatory episodes. Another example is the contraction and subsequent subluxation seen in long standing "hammer toe" deformities, whereby the structures making up the joint permanently adapt to malposition. Once an interphalangeal joint is destroyed, or permanently altered, it is often the case that fusion of the joint is required. Arthrodesis, the fusion of two bones together, involves removing the cartilage or other material between bone ends, and permanently affixing the underlying cancellous bone material of adjacent bones together. This surgical procedure provides the benefit of pain and deformity relief, and prevention of return to the disease (inflammatory or malposition) state.
The optimal result of digital arthrodesis is permanent pain relief and deformity correction. In the course of surgical fusion the joint must be approached, disarticulated, prepared, and affixed. There are common approaches to the digit that are known by those skilled in the art that are essential to avoid neurovascular embarrassment and digit compromise. Generally this includes an incision on the dorsal surface of the affected digit, between the neurovascular bundles and above the tendinous structures. Disarticulation is the process of transection of the tendinous and ligamentous structures that maintain the joint. Sectioning of the collateral ligaments and joint capsule allows the surgeon entry into the joint. Once the joint is disarticulated, the ends of the bones, specifically their cartilaginous surfaces, become evident. It is necessary to then remove the cartilage from the ends of the adjacent bones to expose the underlying vascular or cancellous region. This is done through mechanical means, either by manual instrumentation or high-speed micro-saws. After the cartilage is removed, the bone ends are brought into approximation so the digit is aligned anatomically and affixed through one or more means. Finally, the soft tissue structures of the joint are reassembled. Fusion then occurs as the body forms new vascular channels between the apposed bone over the subsequent six to ten weeks.
Successful fusion of bone ends may depend on three factors: preparation, apposition and stabilization. Any intervening material must be sufficiently removed from the interface between the two bone surfaces without damaging the surface left behind. The ends of the bones may be in direct approximation such that new bone forming cells can bridge the gap. Additionally movement between the bones must be sufficiently below a threshold that delicate blood vessel and ultimately bone tissue formation can occur. This motion restriction may be maintained throughout the period of bone healing. To achieve this result attention must be paid to the manner of joint preparation and apposition.
Micro-surgical saws are high speed instruments designed to cut planar or flat surfaces. The instrument is commonly used in digital arthrodesis since it can rapidly remove the bone ends. There are some drawbacks to use of these machines. For example, excessive heat generation may occur when high speed instrumentation is used, causing bone cell death at the fusion interface. If enough of these cells are compromised the fusion can potentially fail, leading to the development of pseudoarthrosis, or 'nonunion,' as it is known. Additionally, these micro-saws are designed to produce planar (flat) cuts of bone ends. The intent is to then bring these flat surfaces together and have them approximate so that the ends are flush and completely coapted. The user is compelled to create co-planar bone cuts free-hand, since there are no jigs or cutting guides for this type of procedure. It is often difficult to freely make co-planar cuts perfectly such that the bone ends approximate exactly and the digital alignment is anatomic. As a result of imperfect joint apposition, the surgeon must remove additional bone to achieve a flush fit of the bone ends. This may lead to an excessively shortened digit.
Hand instrumentation can be of benefit since the slower process of joint preparation will likely not produce enough heat to cause bone cell death. A rongeur can adequately remove the cartilage from the joint. This instrument consists of two opposing jaws that clamp down on the cartilage and bone, grasping portions and detaching them. Alternatively a surgeon may use a bone nipper, a straight edged forcep designed to cut a planar surface while removing cartilage and bone material. These instruments can be used to remove very small portions of bone so as not to overly shorten a digit.
With repeated use a surgeon may become adept at using these instruments. However the use of hand instrumentation may lead to increased operative times since such procedures require a great deal of dexterity and repetitious movements. Additionally, these types of instruments are designed for multiple uses. However, as with all cutting edges, repeated use can dull the instrument, leading to imperfect cutting surfaces. The user then has to use additional force to remove bone, potentially causing damage to the cells left behind from the crushing effect of a blunt vice across the bone end.
Digital arthrodesis requires fixation to maintain bone approximation throughout the healing process. One example of fixation includes intramedullary stabilization using smooth steel wires, or 'Kirschner wires,' as they are known. These steel wires are introduced from within the arthrodesis site using a variable speed drill and protrude out of the end of the digit after the surgical procedure. They are meant to be removed after several weeks, upon completion of the fusion. They run down the central medullary canal of the bones, maintaining the apposition that the user creates while the bones fuse to one another. The wires stay in position because of friction forces from the bone in which it seats. Being perfectly smooth, often these wires will rotate throughout the healing process. This can create irritation at the skin interface, leading to pain, wire loosening, and possibly infection. Occasionally these wires may be inadvertently disrupted from a pulling force along their axis, such as seen with removing a sock or other dressing. This is because there is no stop measure to prevent axial distraction, such as a locking screw or other mechanism. Additionally, since these wires are perfectly smooth they generally cannot prevent rotation of one bone on another in the several weeks required for fusion.
One other method includes intraosseous loop fixation using fine gauge surgical steel suture. This method provides stability against bone rotation. Since the wires are buried inside the body the problem of inadvertent pulling of the fixation material is alleviated. However the placement of such small loops provides little stability against flexion forces and is often problematic since the procedure is lengthy, requires pre-drilling holes and sturdy bone substance to hold the suture. Consequently this method is less preferred over other methods of fixation.
Yet another method of small bone fixation is seen in devices that achieve bone stability yet are buried inside of the medullary canal of the small bones. These devices are intended to remain implanted permanently. They generally remain in place due to metal relaxation and deformation upon heating (memory-metal alloys), geometric fastening (arrow-head type device), or permanent adjoining (e.g., snap-together.) One skilled in the art of small bone surgery quickly realizes that often there is a need for removal of such devices, such as in cases of infection, inflammation, allergic reactions, malunion, and nonunions. Removal of these devices requires destruction of the surrounding bone to loosen the attachment of the implant. Since these devices cannot be retrieved without significant bone loss it becomes obvious that there is an advantage provided by fixation that is easily removed without additional bone removal.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for preparing and fusion of small joints


An image display apparatus includes a storage portion to store application data and reduced image data thereof, in association with each other, a position detection portion to detect a position designated by the user on a display surface of a display portion, an enlargement operation detection portion to detect an enlargement operation, a first image display portion to display a first display image generated from the reduced image data as a preview image, a process target determination portion to determine process target data from the reduced image data and the application data, based on a magnification set based on the amount of operation in the enlargement operation, a second display image generation portion to generate a second display image based on the process target data, in response to the enlargement operation being detected, and a second image display portion to display the second display image as a preview image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display apparatus, a display control method, and a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium encoded with a display control program. More specifically, the present invention relates to an image display apparatus having a function of previewing an image of data, a display control method performed in the image display apparatus, and a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium encoded with a display control program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image forming apparatuses represented by Multi-Functional Peripherals (MFPs) have increased variety of functions. In particular, some image forming apparatuses have a preview function of displaying data to be imaged to allow the user to check the finished quality before an image is actually formed. In a case where data to be imaged is compressed, the data has to be expanded by launching an application program. The expansion process takes time, causing a waiting time until an image is displayed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-345242 discloses an image display method in an image display system including a memory for storing image data and a thumbnail thereof, an image processor for processing image data to output an image, communication means for exchanging image data between the memory and the image processor, and a display for displaying image data and a thumbnail thereof, wherein when a thumbnail already displayed is selected, first, the thumbnail is enlarged, and thereafter, the enlarged image is gradually detailed, whereby finally, the original image data of the thumbnail is completely displayed.
However, the conventional image display method always displays original image data when a thumbnail is enlarged. Therefore, in the case where data is compressed data, the data is entirely expanded by launching an application program. Thus, a waiting time still exists until the original image data is completely displayed.

Image display apparatus, display control method, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium encoded with display control program

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


Covalent compositions of N,O-carboxymethyl chitosan (NOCC) are disclosed. NOCC can be intra- or intermolecularly linked, either through a direct bond or through a bridging moiety. Also disclosed are methods for preparing and using the covalent NOCC compositions. The NOCC compositions are useful in the administration of therapeutically active compounds and for wound management.

Polymers have enjoyed increasing use in medical applications in recent years. Such polymers, which can be synthetic materials or may be derived from natural sources, have been employed for applications as diverse as delivery of therapeutic agents, e.g., drugs, in time-release formulations; reconstruction of tissue defects (for example, in plastic surgery); protection of damaged tissues; prevention of post-surgical adhesions; and the like.
Post-surgical adhesions are caused by a combination of factors including manipulative trauma and drying of the tissues during the surgery itself. A number of techniques attempting to ameliorate these problems have been described. Highly concentrated solutions of a number of polymers have been used to coat the surgical area before, and during, surgery so as to minimize the drying and act as "cushion" to prevent some of the manipulative trauma. Examples of these techniques are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,617, to Goldberg et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,787 to De Belder et al., and the above-referenced co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/436,770. Among the materials used included polyvinylpyrrolidone, dextrans, carboxymethylcelluloses, and a number of other polymers such as protein or polypeptide solutions. One promising polymer which has been used is hyaluronic acid ("HA"). A series of patents by Goldberg et al., particularly U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,893 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,016, show the use of pretreatment of surgical sites with hyaluronic acid solutions as a means of preventing surgical adhesions.
Hyaluronic acid has several problems associated with its use. One problem with using hyaluronic acid is its cost. Hyaluronic acid can be obtained from rooster combs or human umbilical cords, and requires substantial purification to make pure enough to use in surgical techniques. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,973, to Balazs, which describes methods of purifying hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid can also be obtained in recombinant form, but is expensive. Even if the high cost and/or difficulties in purification can be justified, hyaluronic acid can have proteins associated with it which may cause tainting of the open surgical wound.
A variety of polymers have been employed as drug delivery systems, e.g., for slow release of therapeutic agents. Polymeric drug delivery systems generally are of two types: polymers which physically entrap a drug, and polymers to which a therapeutic agent is chemically linked. In the former case, the drug is released by gradual diffusion from the polymer matrix as the matrix breaks down or is degraded, while in the latter polymers, the drug is chemically released from the polymer. Such slow-release polymers can be administered to a subject, e.g., by injection or implantation, to provide drug therapy for a prolonged period. Slow-release polymers are convenient because depot dosing increases patient compliance with the drug regimen, reducing or eliminating the need for repeated drug administration. In addition, a slow-release polymer formulation can be implanted in a discrete organ or tissue, which in some cases provides localized therapeutic action of the released drug while decreasing systemic side effects.
Chitin, the primary building block of the shells of crustaceans and many insects, has been modified for use as a polymer in medical applications. Chitin can be obtained relatively inexpensively, primarily from waste products which might otherwise be discarded. U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,995, issued on an application by Hayes, describes a novel derivative of chitin, NOCC. NOCC has carboxymethyl substitutes on some of both the amino and hydroxyl sites of the glucosamine units of the chitosan structure and can be used in an uncrossed linked form as a solution; it can be cross-linked or complexed into a stable gel. For example, in the NOCC compositions of Hayes, the degree of substitution was typically less than one, with a distribution of hydroxyl to amino substitution of approximately 2:1. Thus, approximately 50% of the amino groups of the NOCC material of Hayes are not substituted with carboxymethyl groups (see also U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,084 to Elson et al.) Because of its advantageous physical properties, and its relative low cost compared with materials like hyaluronic acid, NOCC presents advantageous properties for use in applications such as surgical techniques.
Previously-described methods for crosslinking NOCC have, however, suffered from certain disadvantages. For example, NOCC has been covalently crosslinked through the use of bifunctional reagents such as glyoxal, in which each of the two aldehyde groups of glyoxal reacts with an amino group of NOCC, resulting in a crosslinked product (see, e.g., the above-referenced U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,995). This product includes the 2-carbon backbone of glyoxal as a covalently-bonded bridging moiety of the crosslinked adduct; this bridging moiety cannot readily be removed from the crosslinked NOCC without destroying the crosslinked NOCC. NOCC has also been ionically crosslinked, e.g., by addition of a cation such as divalent calcium, to form gels. However, ionically cross-linked NOCC gels have only moderate stability, e.g., to heat or solvents, and can dissolve in aqueous solutions.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide covalently linked NOCC in which no bridging moiety is present.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a derivative of NOCC in which a therapeutic agent is releasably bound to, or entrapped by, NOCC, to provide a sustained release compound comprising NOCC and a therapeutic agent.
It is a further object of the invention to provide crosslinked NOCC in which linking occurs through a bond between a carboxyl group of a N,O-carboxymethylchitosan chain and an amino group of a N,O-carboxymethylchitosan chain.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide methods for wound management by administering linked NOCC to a subject.
It is another object of the invention to provide methods for preventing post-surgical adhesions by administering linked NOCC to a subject.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide methods for administering a therapeutic agent to a subject by administering to the subject a composition comprising NOCC and a therapeutic agent.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and claims.

Covalently linked N,O-carboxymethylchitosan and uses thereof


The present invention relates to a building system and a method of making and assembling the building system. In particular, the present invention relates to a footing for a building structure, the footing comprises a plurality of precast concrete layers, each precast concrete layer comprising reinforcement bars and a plurality of apertures. The footing further comprises a base structure comprising a base plate and a plurality of alignment bars protruding from the base plate. The footing is configured such that when the plurality of precast concrete layers are positioned on top of one another, the plurality of alignment bars of the base structure extend through the respective apertures of each precast concrete layer. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a building structure having one or more building modules.

The process of erecting a building structure is typically a costly and cumbersome exercise.
Some building structures include prefabricated components that are manufactured off-site and, prior to the process of erecting the building structure, the prefabricated components are taken to a building site. The components are typically made in a factory and transported to the building site. At the building site, the prefabricated components are assembled together to erect the building structure. However, with conventional prefabricated building structures, there may still be a lot of on-site manufacturing and wet work involved to erect the building structure and make the building structure structurally sound.
The process of assembling the components of a conventional prefabricated building structure on-site typically are a cumbersome process and requires skilled labour as well as specialised machinery. This increases the cost for erecting the building structure.
It would be advantageous if embodiments of the present invention would simplify the process of transporting and assembling the building structure or at least provide an alternative to conventional prefabricated building structures.
One exemplary component of a building structure which may or may not be prefabricated relates to a footing that is part of a foundation connecting the building structure to the ground. Some foundations include multiple footings and respective piles that are arranged to transfer the load of the building structure to the ground.
Conventional footings are typically not prefabricated and made of concrete with reinforcement bars that are poured into an excavated trench on-site. The main function of footings is to support the foundation and prevent settling. Footings are particularly important in areas with troublesome soils, for example due to movement of the soil as a result of moisture changes.
It would be advantageous if embodiments of the present invention would simplify the process of making a footing of a building structure or at least provide an alternative to conventional footings, for example for building structures that include prefabricated building components.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which have been included in the present specification is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.
Throughout the specification the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.