A radiographic imaging apparatus includes a radiation detection circuit with elements arranged two-dimensionally to convert radiation into an electrical signal, a driving mechanism which changes a positional relationship between the components, a memory which stores that electrical signal, an imaging controller to control the radiation source so as to emit a first radiation pulse at a first energy for a first frame and to emit a second radiation pulse at a second energy for a second frame, controlling the driving mechanism to maintain the positional relationship during the first radiation pulse and the second radiation pulse and to change the positional relationship in a period between the first period and the second period. The frames are different and sequentially imaged, and an image processing unit for subtraction processing of the first and second frames in memory to generate a processed image, then generate a tomographic and a 3D image.

Conventional X-ray imaging systems installed in hospitals are classified into film radiography and digital radiography. In film radiography, a patient is irradiated with X-rays, and the X-rays that have passed through the patient are exposed to a film. In digital radiography, X-rays that have passed through a patient are converted into an electrical signal, and the electrical signal is detected as a digital value by using an A/D converter and stored in a memory.
An example of the current mainstream of the latter digital radiography is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-224322. In this scheme, an X-ray image is formed on a photostimulable phosphor called an imaging plate (IP) using BaBr:Eu as a typical material. Then, the IP is scanned with a laser beam, and visible light from the IP is converted into an electrical signal, i.e., digitized by using, e.g., a photomultiplier.
According to a scheme disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-116044, a phosphor is irradiated with X-rays. Visible light emitted in proportion to the X-ray dose is converted into an electrical signal, i.e., digitized by a photosensor made of amorphous silicon. The typical materials of the phosphor are Gd2O2S:Tb and CsI:Tl. This device is called an FPD (Flat Panel Detector). Some FPDs use, as the material, Se or PbI2 that directly absorbs X-rays and converts them into an electrical signal instead of using the phosphor.
There is also a device which irradiates a primary phosphor with X-rays. Photoelectrons from the phosphor surface are accelerated and focused by an electron lens, and a phosphor image (X-ray image) on a secondary phosphor surface is converted into an electrical signal by a camera tube or CCD. This is a general scheme called an image intensifier (I.I.) and used for fluorography. It is a digital radiographic scheme capable of detecting an electrical signal as a digital value.
As described above, there exist a variety of devices for digitizing an X-ray image, and a demand for them is increasingly growing in recent years. When image data can be digitized, radiographic data can easily be recorded, displayed, printed, and stored. Hence, the need for digitization in the medical field is increasing.
In the recent medical field which is shifting from film radiography, i.e., so-called analog radiography to the above-described digital radiography, plain X-ray imaging is performed as the first step of X-ray imaging. For, e.g., a chest part, the imaging is called chest plain X-ray imaging, and X-ray imaging of the front (or side) of the chest part of a human body is done. To cover the whole chest part (upper part) of a human body, a radiography area of 14″×17″ size (35 cm×43 cm) or more and, more preferably, an area of 43 cm×43 cm or more is necessary. In the chest plain X-ray imaging, the FPD is a more promising digital radiography scheme than I.I. which has a problem of distortion of a peripheral image.
When plain radiography is executed as the first step of X-ray imaging, the doctor diagnostically reads the radiographed image. If a shadow is recognized, CT is generally executed as the second step of X-ray imaging. CT is performed to obtain a tomographic image of the part recognized by plain radiography. The radiation dose of CT is generally larger than that of plain radiography. For this reason, CT is executed only after plain radiography or equivalent tests except a few cases such as emergency.
In the CT, normally, X-rays from an X-ray tube are focused by a collimator, and a patient is irradiated with X-rays called a fan beam having a fan shape. Transmission light is detected by using X-ray detection elements which are arranged on the opposite side of the patient to detect the X-rays. The CT is executed while making the set of the X-ray tube and X-ray detection elements helically rotate around the radiographic part of the patient. Obtained image data is reconstructed to 3D image data by using a computer.
In the CT using the fan beam, X-ray detection elements arranged in a liner array direction or in several lines are used, and much time is required from the start to the end of radiography. For this reason, the burden on the patient who is fixed to restrict motion and let stand in a closed space called a gantry for a long time becomes heavy. There are also a problem of high power consumption and a problem of the life of the X-ray tube (a problem of replacement frequency). To solve these problems, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-343836 uses a large-area X-ray detection element including X-ray detection elements arranged two-dimensionally. This prior art also proposes a method of obtaining a CT image by executing helical scan while irradiating a patient with cone-beam X-rays.
In the chest plain X-ray imaging, internal information near the lung field of the upper body, including the gullet, trachea, pulmonary vessels, alveoli, heart, cardiac vessels, diaphragm, ribs, and collar bones, can be radiographed in one image by X-ray imaging of one cycle. Hence, the chest plain X-ray imaging is frequently used as a useful radiographic method to screen a lesion (morbid portion).
In the conventional chest plain X-ray imaging, a fluoroscopic image is observed because of its principle. Hence, if the morbid portion to be observed is located, e.g., behind a rib, cardiac vessel, or diaphragm, the fluoroscopic images overlap, and the shadow of the morbid portion is hard to find out. This decreases the morbid portion screening efficiency and delays finding of the morbid portion.
The same problems as described above also arise in the conventional X-ray CT. For example, when a to-be-detected morbid portion having a very low contrast is present near an internal structure such as a bone with a very high contrast, even a specialist in diagnostic reading can hardly perceive the morbid portion. Additionally, the conventional CT apparatus executes radiography while making a patient pass through a large special rotation mechanism called a gantry incorporating X-ray detection elements and an X-ray source. Since the arrangement itself is different from general radiographic apparatuses, there is a possibility that the CT apparatus is located in another room. This decreases the radiography efficiency.

Radiographic imaging apparatus, control method thereof, and radiographic imaging system


An access method is disclosed. The method includes: a mobile intelligent access point accesses a network through at least two wireless technologies; a User Equipment (UE) establishes a connection with the mobile intelligent access point; and the UE acquires access authentication from the network through the mobile intelligent access point. An access system and a mobile intelligent access point are further disclosed. With the disclosure, network authentication can be implemented to facilitate an operator to control the number of access users and to guarantee the network of the operator. Furthermore, a broadband mobile network is taken as a backhaul network, so as to reduce the reliability on a fixed network and improve the utilization of the broadband mobile network.

During the development course of packet data, a Packet Switched (PS) network includes a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN) and a Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), and a core network includes a Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) and a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN). The SGSN, which is a service support point for a GERAN User Equipment (UE) and a UTRAN UE to access an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network, is responsible for the location updating, paging management, bearer management and other functions of the UE; while the GGSN supports the edge routing function of the GPRS network, namely, the GGSN is responsible for routing forwarding of data of the GPRS network, and further protects the integrity of the data of the GPRS network via a firewall and a filtering function. The GGSN further has a charging function.
In order to remain the strong competitiveness of the 3rd Generation (3G) mobile communication system in the field of mobile communications, it is necessary to improve its network performance and reduce the network construction and operation costs. Therefore, a standard working group of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is now dedicated to study the next generation evolution of a core network system, i.e., an EPC network, in order to provide the UE with a higher transmission rate and a shorter transmission delay. The EPC system supports the access of an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), and supports the access of a non-3GPP access network, for example, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), such as Wireless Fidelity (WiFi).
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the system architecture of an Evolved Packet System (EPS) in the related art. As shown in FIG. 1, the EPS consists of an access network and an EPC network. The access network may be an E-UTRAN or the like. The EPC network includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Serving Gateway (S-GW), a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW), a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), a 3GPP Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (3GPP AAA) server, a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) and other support nodes.
The MME is responsible for mobility management, signalling processing of a non-access-stratum, management of user contexts, and other works related to a control plane. The S-GW, which is an access gateway device connected with the E-UTRAN, forwards data between the E-UTRAN and the P-GW, and is responsible for caching paging waiting data. The P-GW, which is a border gateway between a 3GPP EPS and a Packet Data Network (PDN), is responsible for accessing a UE to the PDN and forwarding data between the EPS and the PDN. Furthermore, the existing P-GW can further support the access of a conventional PSN, namely, the P-GW has the function of the GGSN. The PCRF, which is a PCRF entity, is connected with an operator Internet Protocol (IP) service network through a receiving interface Rx and acquires service information. In addition, the PCRF is further connected with a gateway device in the network through a Gx/Gxa/Gxc interface and is responsible for initiating the establishment of an IP bearer, ensuring the Quality of Service (QoS) of service data and controlling charging.
The EPS also supports the access of UE via other non-3GPP systems besides the E-UTRAN. The access of the non-3GPP systems is implemented through an S2a/b/c interface, and the P-GW serves as a data anchor point for the access of a 3GPP system and a non-3GPP system. In the system architecture of the EPS, the non-3GPP system is divided into a trusted non-3GPP IP access network and a non-trusted non-3GPP IP access network. The trusted non-3GPP IP access network can be connected with the P-GW directly through the S2a interface, while the non-trusted non-3GPP IP access network needs to be connected with the P-GW through an Evolved Packet Data Gateway (ePDG) and an interface between the ePDG and the P-GW is the interface S2b. The interface S2c, which is an interface between the UE and the P-GW, provides control and mobility management through a Mobile IPv6 Support for Dual Stack Hosts and Routers (DSMIPv6) protocol.
Existing wireless access network users access a fixed access network through a wireless access point and then access an external network server to implement the corresponding data services. The fixed access adopts a fixed optical fiber/coaxial cable and other technologies to complete a backhaul network and to implement a network transmission function. The authentication for a wireless access user is controlled at the wireless access point, which controls the access of the wireless access user specifically by setting a password. A network operator cannot control the access a user at a the wireless access point deployed by the user, namely, the network cannot identify the corresponding users so as to fail to charge the user; Furthermore, the operator can acquire a verification password and a user name via other mobile devices instead of directly verifying and authenticating the access user.
Therefore, all existing backhaul networks adopt a fixed technological network optical fiber to lay a fixed network, which has a high requirement on the geography and is very difficult in laying. Both the existing 3G network and the existing Long Term Evolution (LTE) network belong to a high broadband network and can provide the same services as those provided by the fixed network, but there is still no related technologies for a mobile operator network to directly authenticate an access user in such scenario.

Access method and system, and mobile intelligent access point


A gas discharge illumination device is prepared by encapsulating ionizable gas within microporous or nanoscale sealed cavities created within a matrix material. Upon exposure of said matrix material to an electric field, the ionizable gas becomes ionized and emits light. By incorporating several different ionizable gases into one matrix material, a display with different colors of light can be produced. The gas discharge illumination device can be fabricated by a variety of techniques including selective cavity formation with overcoating taking place in an ionizable gas ambient, and bubbling ionizable gas through the matrix material while it is in viscous form. The gas discharge illumination device can be used to form either active or passive displays, as a sensor for detecting electric fields, and in other applications.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to nanoscale illumination devices and, more particularly, to a simple and inexpensive nanoscale illumination device which utilizes gas discharge illumination.
2. Background Description
A simple and inexpensive nanoscale illumination device has not been previously described outside of light emitting diode (LED) technology. LED's typically are restricted by their range of color and the need for electrodes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,577 to Hoehn et al. discloses a gaseous discharge display panel having a pair of films separated by a thin volume containing a gaseous discharge medium. Light is produced during discharge and terminates upon the build up of electrons on the opposed pairs of elemental areas. A tubular region allows exhausting the space between dielectric layers and filing the space with ionizable gas.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,021 to Lepselter discloses a gas discharge flat-panel display which employs a set of criss-crossed conductors with a gas contained in the space between the conductors at each crosspoint. Light emissive discharge occurs at a selected crosspoint when a voltage is applied to the pair of crossed conductors for the selected crosspoint.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,754 to Pfaender discloses a gas discharge display assembled from a plurality of capillary sized gas tubes. A criss-crossed network of electrodes is formed on either side of the layer of capillary sized gas tubes for selective creation of illuminating discharges.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,095 to Shinoda discloses a three component gas mixture of neon, argon, and xenon for a fluorescent gas-discharge color display panel. In operation, a fluorescent material is excited by a gas-discharge formed from the gas mixture which is positioned within a channel volume in the display. Excitation of the gases results from selective activation of crisscrossed electrodes.
All of the above described gas-discharge devices employ large volumes of trapped gas, and an elaborate network of criss-crossed conductors for selective activation or discharge of the gas. What is needed is a less expensive design and process for forming gas discharge illumination devices

Gas discharge devices including matrix materials with ionizable gas filled sealed cavities

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention is directed to preferred repeat sequences of Neural Thread Protein (NTP), peptides, mimetics, antibodies, and nucleic acids of the preferred sequences, and diagnostic and therapeutic methods of using such preferred NTP sequences.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a presently incurable neurodegenerative disease affecting at least 12 million people worldwide. AD is predominantly a disease of the elderly, with a rate of incidence of about 1% of those aged 65 and rising to an estimated 40% by age 85. As the population as a whole grows older, because of medical advances, increasing life expectancies, and aging of the baby boomer generation, the overall incidence of AD is expected to rise and present even more of a burden to heath care systems and to patients and their caregivers and family.
No effective treatment of AD exists today. Currently available treatments such as Aricept® (donepezil HCl; Pfizer Corp.), Exelon® (rivastigmine tartrate; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.) and Cognex® (tacrine; Warner Lambert Corp.) are intended to provide a measure of symptomatic relief for patients with mild to moderate AD and do not address the causes of the disease.
Clinical diagnosis of AD is also imperfect; accuracy varies from roughly 50-60% for general practitioners to 80-90% for Alzheimer's disease specialists at referral centers (Molsa et al., J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, 48 (11):1085-90 (1985); Rocca et al., Ann. Neurol., 19:415-424 (1986); Burns et al., BMJ, 301(6759):1026 (1990); Risse et al., Am. J. Psychiatry, 147(2):168-72 (1990); Gilleard et al., Acta Psychiatr. Scand., 85(4):264-9 (1992); Mendez et al., Alzheimer Dis. Assoc. Disord., 6:35-43 (1992); Fleming et al., Mayo Clin. Proc., 7:1093-1107 (1995); Corey-Bloom et al., Neurology, 45:211-218 (1995); and Bowler et al., J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, 64(1):18-24 (1998). There is an average delay of nearly three years from initial symptoms to when the diagnosis of AD is made (Jorst et al., J. Am. Geriatr. Soc., 43(11):1248-55 (1995)).
It has been recognized that a reliable biomarker would be of significant help in the accurate and early diagnosis of AD (Growdon et al., Neurobiol. Aging, 19:109-116 (1998)). Although several biochemical and genetic markers are currently available, their clinico-pathologic correlations are generally considered too low for routine clinical use. For example, apolipoprotein E ε4 allele is a genetic risk factor which is found only in 50% of AD cases (Myers et al., Neurology, 46(3):673-7 (1996)), and tau and β-amyloid protein measurements in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum Aβ have significant overlap between AD and non-AD levels, limiting their usefulness (Pirttila et al., J. Neurol. Sci., 127(1):90-5 (1994); Arai et al., Ann. Neurol., 38:649-652 (1995); Jensen et al., Neurosci. Lett., 186(2-3):189-91 (1995); Motter et al., Ann. Neurol., 38(4):643-8 (1995); Munroe et al., Ann. Clin. Lab. Sci., 25(3):207-17 (1995); Tata et al., J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr., 59:280-283 (1995); Vigo-Pelfrey et al., Neurology, 45(4):788-93 (1995); Iwatsubo T., Neurobiol. Aging, 19:161-163 (1998); Nitsch et al., Ann. Neurol., 37(4):512-8 (1995); van Gool et al., Ann. Neurol., 37(2):277-9 (1995); Tamaoka et al., J. Neurol. Sci., 151(1-2):65-8 (1996); and Pirtilla et al., Arch. Neurol., 53(2):189-93 (1996)). Other proposed markers, such as pupillary response to tropicamide (Scinto et al., Science, 266:1051-1054 (1994); and Growdon et al., Arch. Neurol., 54(7):841-4 (1997)) and serum factors such as p-97 (Kennard et al., Nat. Med., 2(11):1230-5 (1996)), have not yet been validated in repeated controlled clinical studies. The major drawbacks of most proposed AD markers are that they are usually not brain-specific molecules associated with AD pathology and that they are not reliably measurable in peripheral fluids.
Neural thread proteins (NTP) are a novel family of recently characterized brain proteins. NTP is a ˜41 kD membrane associated phosphoprotein with functions related to neuritic sprouting and cell death (de la Monte et al., J. Clin. Invest., 100:3093-3104 (1997); and de la Monte et al., Alz. Rep., 2:327-332 (1999)). There is compelling evidence linking NTP with AD. NTP mRNA is upregulated in AD brain compared to controls; NTP protein levels in brain and in CSF are higher in AD than controls; and NTP immunoreactivity is clearly found in senile plaques, in neurofibrillary tangles (NFT), in degenerating neurons, neuropil threads, and dystrophic neuritic sprouts in AD and Down syndrome brains (Ozturk et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 86:419-423 (1989); de la Monte et al., J. Clin. Invest., 86(3):1004-13 (1990); de la Monte et al., J. Neurol. Sci., 113(2):152-64 (1992); de la Monte et al., Ann. Neurol., 32(6):733-42 (1992); de la Monte et al., J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol., 55(10):1038-50 (1996), de la Monte et al., J. Neurol. Sci., 138(1-2):26-35 (1996); de la Monte et al., J. Neurol. Sci., 135(2):118-25 (1996); de la Monte et al., J. Clin. Invest., 100:3093-3104 (1997); and de la Monte et al., Alz. Rep., 2:327-332 (1999)). NTP accumulation in neurons occurs early in AD neurodegeneration (before NFT formation). NTP has also been identified Down's Syndrome brain tissue (Wands et al., International Patent Publication No. WO 90/06993; de la Monte et al., Alz. Rep., 2:327-332 (1999)). Most patients with Down's Syndrome exhibit neuropathology similar to that of AD after middle age and develop many cognitive defects similar to those of AD later in life.
NTP levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of AD patients and controls were shown to be consistently elevated in AD (Chong et al., J. Clin. Lab. Anal., 6(6):379-83 (1992); de la Monte et al., Ann. Neurol., 32:733-742 (1992); de la Monte et al., J. Clin. Invest., 100:3093-3104 (1997); Ghanbari et al., J. Clin. Lab. Anal., 12(4):223-6 (1998); Ghanbari et al., J. Contemp. Neurol., 1998:2-8 (1998); Kahle et al., Neurology, 54(7):1498-504 (2000)). Specificity of NTP elevation in AD was shown in comparison to non-AD neurological disease controls, and NTP elevation was positively correlated with degree of dementia (de la Monte et al., J. Clin. Invest., 100:3093-3104 (1997); and de la Monte et al., Alz. Rep., 2:327-332 (1999); and Kahle et al., Neurology, 54(7):1498-504 (2000)). In one major study, 89% of patients with early AD had NTP levels of above 2 ng/mL of CSF and 89% of non-AD controls below 2 ng/mL of CSF (de la Monte et al., J. Clin. Invest., 100:3093-3104 (1997)).
Subsequently, the NTP protein was identified in urine by high performance liquid chromatography, capillary electrophoresis, and ELISA (Ghanbari et al., J. Clin. Lab. Anal., 12(4):285-288 (1998); and de la Monte et al., Alz. Rep., 2:327-332 (1999)). Urinary NTP levels were found to correlate with CSF levels in AD patients and controls and to be significantly elevated in AD patients as compared to non-AD patients (Ghanbari et al., J. Clin. Lab. Anal., 12(4):285-288 (1998)). An assay using gold particles with bound monoclonal anti-NTP in the liquid phase was developed for urine samples and demonstrated to be both highly sensitive and specific for AD (Fitzpatrick et al., Alzheimer's Reports, 3(3):155-159 (2000)).
There is a need to improve upon the existing assays for NTP, including a need to develop point-of-care assays for NTP which can be conducted in a general medical laboratory or a doctor's office. Technical advances such as methods to routinely purify native NTP from urine in a cost-effective manner or the development of easily manufactured analogs to NTP would also improve any such assays
There is evidence showing that NTP may play a direct role in the pathogenesis of AD, thereby making it a target for drug development for the treatment of AD. NTP is associated with neuritic sprouting; abnormal neuritic sprouting is associated with AD. Over-expression of NTP can cause cellular accumulations of phospho-tau, which in turn precedes the formation of NFT, an important neuroanatomical correlate of dementia in AD (de la Monte et al., Alz. Rep., 2:327-332 (1999)). In addition, over-expression of NTP can cause increased cell death of an apoptotic nature linked to oxidative stress (de la Monte et al., 1999). Inhibiting the expression or the biochemical action of NTP offers one promising route to an effective treatment for AD.
The gene and predicted protein sequence for NTP has been identified and described (de la Monte et al., J. Clin. Invest., 100:3093-3104 (1997)). Neural thread protein was first described and claimed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,948,634; 5,948,888; and 5,830,670, all for "Neural Thread Protein Gene Expression and Detection of Alzheimer's Disease."
Other species of neural thread protein (˜26 kD, ˜21 kD, ˜17 kD and ˜15 kD) have been identified and associated with neuroectodermal tumors, astrocytomas, and glioblastomas and with injury due to hypoxia, ischemia, or cerebral infarction (de la Monte et al., J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol., 55(10):1038-50 (1996), de la Monte et al., J. Neurol. Sci., 138(1-2):26-35 (1996); de la Monte et al., J. Neurol. Sci., 135(2):118-25 (1996); de la Monte et al., J. Clin. Invest., 100:3093-3104 (1997); and de la Monte et al., Alz. Rep., 2:327-332 (1999)).
There is a need in the art for improved NTP compositions, useful in therapeutics and diagnostics related to AD and Down's Syndrome, and for compositions relating to the other species of neural thread protein useful in threapeutics and diagnostics for neuroectodermal tumors, astrocytomas, glioblastomas, and other neurodegenerative disorders and for injury due to hypoxia, ischemia and cerebral infarction. The present invention satisfies these needs.

Preferred segments of neural thread protein


Techniques for host to host transfer of media and the use of persistent reservation to protect media during host to host transfer is disclosed. Exemplary embodiments may be realized as methods and systems for transferring a sequential media loaded in a drive from a first host to a second host without physically unloading the media. The first host may have a persistent reservation or non-persistent reservation of the drive. Likewise, the second host may have a persistent reservation or non-persistent reservation of the drive. Logical unload, logical load and preemption commands are utilized as is error recovery from a failed reservation.

A network data storage device is a device or system used for centrally storing or retrieving large amounts of data for multiple network nodes. While there are various types of conventional network data storage devices, one exemplary type is a sequential media network data storage device. A sequential media network data storage device is implemented with one or more drives that are operable with at least one removable media element, such as an optical or magnetic media. Optical media is typically formed as a disk whereas magnetic media is typically formed as a tape on a spool or in a cartridge.
In the enterprise arena, sequential media network storage devices implemented with libraries of magnetic media are widely used. Their degree of market penetration is attributable to their large capacities and low cost per unit of storage. However, sequential media network data storage devices do have drawbacks, namely access time delays, susceptibility to data loss and underutilization.
There are several time delays that may occur when accessing a magnetic media. Typically, a drive is able to load only one magnetic tape at a time. Accordingly, there is time delay associated with retrieving the magnetic tape from the library and loading the magnetic tape in the drive. Further, if another magnetic tape is loaded in the drive, that magnetic tape must be rewound and unloaded. Thus, there is an additional time delay experienced that is equal to the amount of time it takes to rewind and unload magnetic tape from the drive. Still further, once magnetic tape is loaded in a drive, it may have to be located to the appropriate position, thereby adding to the time delay. In it not uncommon for the aggregate of the above time delays to be in excess of five minutes. Accordingly, sequential media network storage devices implemented with libraries of magnetic media experience significant time delays when accessing magnetic media. Conventional implementations fail to address the problem of time delay and, as describe below, actually perpetuate it.
Magnetic tape is highly susceptible to data loss due to positional changes and the overwriting of data. In a typical network scenario, there are multiple entities that could access and write data to a drive. Accordingly, without a mechanism in place to control drive access, data may be overwritten. The solution in the conventional art, as described in detail below, is to have a centralized entity manage access to a drive by coordinating an exclusive reservation of the drive. While a network entity posses an exclusive reservation to a drive, other network entities are prevented from accessing the drive. Thereby, data loss is mitigated. However the conventional solution is only partly effective in that the drive is venerable to data loss at times between reservations. Further, the conventional art perpetuates access time delay in that the conventional reservation mechanism requires the loading and unloading of the magnetic tape in order to transfer hosts. Still further, the conventional solution leads to an underutilization of the magnetic media in a media library.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an exemplary conventional method for a host to host transfer of media. In step 201, a controlling server manages client storage tasks. The management includes making the selection of the host/drive/media combination for the next storage task based on information obtained from a master server. Herein, the controlling server selects a drive/media combination that is coupled with a non-selected host. In other words, the controlling server has selected a media to use with the selected host that is exclusively reserved by a non-selected host.
To initiate the transfer, the controlling server, in step 203, issues a release command instructing the non-selected host to physically rewind and unload the media, and release the exclusive reservation. In step 205, the non-selected host responds by controlling the selected drive to physically rewind and unload the media. After which, in step 207, the non-selected host releases the exclusive reservation of the selected drive. The host then reports the release of the exclusive reservation to the controlling host in step 209. At this time, both the drive and media are vulnerable to acquisition by another host acting outside the control of the controlling server. In step 211, the controlling server issues a reserve command instructing the selected host to establish a reservation with the selected drive and to load the selected media.
In step 213, it is determined if the selected host successfully establishes the reservation. Such determination is typically made by the selected host and reported to the controlling server. However, the controlling server may make this determination itself or via another intermediary. If the exclusive reservation was not successful, the method returns to step 201. If the exclusive reservation is established, the selected host loads the selected media in the selected drive in step 215. The selected host then performs the client storage task using the selected media in the selected drive. The selected host reports the completion of the storage task to the controlling server in step 219. After which, control returns to step 201.
Accordingly, the above described conventional method for host to host transfer of media requires that even if the media is to be used in the same drive it is loaded in, it has to be physically unloaded and reloaded which results in time delay and additional wear and tear on the loading/unloading mechanism. Further, the releasing and subsequent establishment of the reservations by the hosts leaves the drive and media vulnerable to acquisition or data loss. In addition, when a reservation error occurs there is no mechanism in place by which to recover the drive.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide techniques for host to host transfer of sequential media and the protection of sequential media during host to host transfer which overcomes the above-described inadequacies and shortcomings.

Techniques for host to host transfer of sequential media and use of persistent reservation to protect media during host to host transfer


A method of selecting and controlling devices based on wireless communication technology. The wireless controller sends a probe message to one or more devices; each device receives the probe message, obtains information in respect of its relative position with respect to the wireless controller, determines a response time to respond according to a first predefined rule, based on its relative position information: detects response signals from other devices before expiration of the response time; decides whether to send or not to send its response signal according to a second predefined rule and the detecting procedure of response signals from other devices; the wireless controller receives response signals sent by the devices after the comparison of the relative position information of each device with respect to the wireless controller, and selects the target devices from the devices. Embodiments of the present invention reduce the complexity, delay and energy consumption of the selection for wireless devices, and are especially applicable for wireless lighting systems.

In the indoor and outdoor environments where people live and work, various kinds of electronic and electrical devices are deployed, such as multiple luminaires located at different locations. A user selects and controls these devices to satisfy his working and living requirements. Currently, people usually use immobile controllers, such as a control panel mounted on the wall to control these devices. In this case, if a user wants to control a device, he must go to the control panel to manipulate the button or knob corresponding to the device. As the number of devices increases, the control panel would become more complex with lots of buttons or knobs corresponding to the plurality of devices, and the user has to memorize which button controls the corresponding device. Although wireless communication technology has been used to shorten the distance between the user and the control panel, for example a remoter to control each device remotely, the remoter is still complex because of lots of buttons, menus or options for each device. So, the remoter is voluminous and its user interface is not very user-friendly.
In everyday working and living conditions, among a plurality of devices located in the same control area, a user usually just wants to select and control the device that is in a specific position with respect to him, such as at a specific distance from him or in a specific direction with respect to him. For example, when a user leaves the living room and enters the bedroom, he wants to turn on the luminaires in the bedroom, or turn off the luminaires in the living room; or he wants to turn on the luminaires at which his hand-held remoter is pointing, and maintain other luminaires unchanged. In the prior art, the wireless controller sends a probe message to detect all devices in its control area, and each device sends a respective feedback signal to the wireless controller according to protocols such as Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA). After the wireless controller has received feedback signals from all devices, it selects the target device located in the specific relative position by comparing the radio transmission information of the probe message or the feedback signals, such as Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) or time of flight, and sends a control signal to the target device to control it. It is obvious that the existing system needs the feedback from all devices, and selects the target device in dependence upon all the various feedback received, even if the system just wants to select one target device in a specific distance or direction. As the number of devices increases, the amount of feedback signals also increases, thus the wireless controller needs more time to process and a higher processing capability; meanwhile, a large amount of feedback would increase the collision probability of the channel due to the random access method such as CSMA/CA, thus the wireless controller needs more time to collect all feedback signals from all devices. These drawbacks result in a longer delay before selecting and controlling the target device via the wireless controller, and in an unsatisfactory user experience.

Methods for selecting and controlling devices


A multiple cap arrangement is provided to seal the open end of a container. The multiple cap seal includes a sealing cap and locking cap which are hingedly coupled to the open end of a container such as a disposable centrifuge container. The sealing cap is lodged in the open end of the container and the locking cap coupled to the sealing cap by a mechanism that retains the caps essentially fixed relative to one another. With the caps coupled in this way, stress, resulting from pressure in the container, is transferred through the caps to the hinges. The hinges are sized to prevent axial movement of the interlocked sealing and locking cap structure away from the container. Since the hinges resist stretching even under substantial tension, the container remains reliably sealed even when the pressures in the container are very high.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a sealing device or closure for a container, and more particularly, to a sealing device having a releasable lock.
2. Background
Containers such as test tubes have been used for many years to store sample materials such as liquids. There is often a need to seal the open end of a test tube with a removable cap to prevent contamination or loss of the sample while allowing for subsequent re-access to the sample. Also, when material has been placed in test tubes, it is sometimes necessary to remove from or add to the material without removing the cap. This can be done by using a syringe to puncture the cap. However, some caps are difficult to puncture because of their wall thickness. After a typical container cap is punctured with a syringe, the punctured cap cannot reseal the container.
A typical removable cap relies on a frictional fit between the cap and the inside surface of the test tube to seal the test tube and to retain the cap. Sometimes the cap and test tube are molded together from a plastic material, with the cap attached to the test tube by a hinge. There are disadvantages to frictional cap seals. If the test tube is dropped, the cap has a tendency to pop off, thus spilling or contaminating the sample. Heating and cooling cycles can loosen the cap, allowing it to come off the test tube. Evaporation of a sample will often occur unless the cap makes a hermetic seal with the test tube. The seal and the retention of a friction fit cap can be heightened by increasing the friction fit between the cap and test tube. However, increasing the friction between cap and container makes installation and removal of a cap much more difficult. Such difficulty can cause user fatigue when the user must cap or uncap many test tubes. Furthermore, it may be costly to achieve a precise friction fit due to tight dimensional constraints required for the inside surface of the tube and the outside surface of the cap.


The invention concerns and ultrasound flow rate measurement method by means of a measuring tube and at least two pairs of ultrasound transducers located on the measuring tube, in each case forming a measuring path, whereby the radial components of at least two measuring paths deviate from each other with respect to the axis of the measuring tube and in the case of which the measured value for the rate of flow of a flowing medium is determined from the velocity of the medium along at least two measuring paths. In accordance with the invention an ultrasound flow measuring method of this kind is further developed in that the eddy intensity in the medium is determined from the velocities of the medium along the measuring paths, the relation between angular momentum and axial momentum enters into the determination of the eddy intensity at least approximately, and the measured value for the rate of flow is corrected by means of the eddy intensity.

The starting point for the present invention is the fact that the flow conditions in pipelines of industrial facilities in all cases are far from ideal, rather they are more or less highly disturbed. Disturbances in the flow conditions are generally in the form of asymmetries of the axial flow velocities of the medium over the cross-section of a pipeline, eddies, i.e. radial velocity components of the medium, and pressure waves within the medium. The asymmetries are caused, for example, by half-closed valves or other components in the cross-section of the pipeline, the eddies arising essentially as a result of bends, in particular sequential bends in different planes, but also on T-junctions within the pipeline system. Pressure waves within the medium are triggered above all by pumps, and also, for example, by changes in the degrees of opening of valves within the adjacent pipelines.
The simplest methods for ultrasound flow rate measurement operate only by means of a pair of ultrasound transducers located on the measuring tube, forming a measuring path. In the case of this ultrasound flow rate measurement method, the measured value for the rate of flow of the medium is determined from the differences in the propagation time of the ultrasound signals along the measuring path upstream and downstream. The measured value for the rate of flow in this case is determined via a constant correction factor, or via a correction factor dependent on the velocity of the medium along the measuring path, from the velocity of the medium along the measuring path. In the case of an ultrasound flow measuring method of this kind, it is not possible to take account of the above-mentioned disturbances of the flow conditions.
The published application PCT/EP 96/05082 discloses an ultrasound flow rate measurement method which compensates for the disturbance of the flow conditions by means of asymmetries of the axial velocities of the medium over the cross-section of the measuring tube essentially by mounting at least two pairs of ultrasound transducers forming a measuring path on the measuring tube, by determining the Reynolds' number along the measuring path from the values for the velocity of the medium along the measuring path, and by correcting the measured value for the rate of flow by means of the value for the Reynolds' number. However, this method also allows the measuring accuracy to be impaired by eddies within the medium.
However, the degree of influence of eddies within the medium represents a very considerable problem with respect to the measurement accuracy of the ultrasound flow measuring method. The disturbances of the flow conditions caused by eddies are particularly troublesome because, on the one hand, eddies present also influence the flow profile of the medium in the axial direction and, on the other hand, die out very slowly. These above-mentioned properties of the eddies are shown particularly clearly from the experimentally determined measurement curves in FIG. 1 of the drawing. FIG. 1 shows the flow conditions of flowing media with Reynolds' numbers of 50,000 and 300,000 in relation to the length of the inlet section, with respect to the diameter with the pipeline. Here, U designates the axial velocity of the medium, while W designates the tangential velocity of the medium, depending on the distance from the measuring tube axis. It is also seen clearly that the eddies have not died down completely after an inlet section with a length corresponding to around 80 times the diameter of the pipeline. Depending on the respective conditions, eddies can also clearly still impair the measurement accuracy even after an inlet section with a length which corresponds to 100 times and more of the pipeline diameter (cf. also the publication "Turbulent Pipe Flow with Swirl", Wendelt Steenbergen, Eindhoven, Eindhoven University of Technology, 1995).
In order to reduce the influence of eddies on the measurement of the rate of flow of a medium, among other things, it has been proposed that a flow equalizer be inserted into the pipeline. However, a flow equalizer of this kind entails problems in that, on the one hand, it causes a clear pressure loss, and, on the other hand, it does not completely eliminate the eddies. Also, flow equalizers cannot be used in connection with flowing media which have a certain portion of solids, since in such a case the flow equalizer would be obstructed within a short time.
EP 0 639 776 A1, on which the invention is based, concerns an ultrasound flow measuring method in the case of which the influence of eddies within the medium on the measured value for the rate of flow is reduced by the fact that the velocities of the medium are measured along two measuring paths with different sensitivities with respect to the eddies. The different sensitivities are provided by the fact that radial components of the measuring paths deviate from one another with respect to the measuring tube axis. In this case the measuring paths pass in such a way that the velocities along the measuring paths are identical when there are no eddies present within the measuring tube, while the difference of the velocities along the measuring paths does not disappear when the flow includes eddies. In the case of the known method, the measured value for the rate of flow of the medium through the measuring tube is corrected by means of this difference in the velocities. The known method is problematic in two regards. On the one hand the difference of the velocities of the medium along the two measuring paths with different sensitivities to eddies has a very considerable cross-sensitivity to disturbances as a result of pressure waves within the medium, as was determined experimentally. Here also the increase in the measurement frequency proposed in EP 0 639 776 A1 does not solve the problem. Since disturbances as a result of pressure waves of course require a different correction of the measured value for the rate of flow than disturbances for eddies, the measured value for the rate of flow cannot be corrected satisfactorily by means of the difference determined in the prior art, if, as is regularly the case, pressure waves impair the flow conditions. On the other hand, eddies, as shown in FIG. 1, are regularly asymmetrical. Such an asymmetry is not taken into account in the case of the known method for ultrasound flow rate measurement.


A low noise amplifier structure based on a Differential Difference Amplifier (DDA1) having a differential output (outp, outn) and two differential pairs of input terminals (N1, P1; N2, P2). The input signal (V.sub.IN) is applied to terminals (N2, P1) which belong to different differential pairs. In this way, none of the differential pairs receives a high input signal, and hence none of them cause unacceptable harmonic distortion. The dynamic input range is thus high. The gain of the structure is determined by a resistive circuit (R2a, R2a'; R2b, R2b') coupled to the remaining terminals (N1, P2) of the differential pairs. The common mode of these remaining terminals (N1, P2) is, independently from the output common mode, biased at the input common mode via a common mode feedback circuit (DDA2; GL1, GH1, GH3, R2a, R2a'; GL2, GH2, GH4, R2b, R2b') based on a second differential difference amplifier (DDA2). Some switching elements (GL1, GH1, GH3; GL2, GH2, GH4) allow the gain to be programmed and prevent the common mode feedback circuit from injecting differential noise if the gain is high. The structure is adapted to amplify signals of 1 Vpp with acceptably low distortion.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a low noise amplifier structure dapted to amplify an input signal applied to input terminals thereof to thereby generate an output signal at an output thereof, said structure including:
a differential difference amplifier having said output and a plurality of input terminals arranged in a first and in a second differential input pair, said first differential input pair comprising a first input terminal of a first polarity type and a second input terminal of a second polarity type opposite to said first polarity type, and said second differential input pair comprising a third input terminal of said first polarity type and a fourth input terminal of said second polarity type; and PA1 a feedback structure including first feedback means (R1a, C1a; R1b, C1b) coupled between said output and at least one input terminal among said plurality and second feedback means (R2a, R2a'; R2b, R2b') coupled between said one input terminal and a common node, said input signal being applied to a set of two input terminals among said plurality and different from said one input terminal. PA1 that said second feedback means comprises a third feedback circuit coupling said first input terminal to said common node, and a fourth feedback circuit coupling said fourth input terminal to said common node. PA1 a first pair of switches adapted to connect said third and fourth output terminals of said second differential difference amplifier to said first and fourth input terminals of said first differential difference amplifier; PA1 a second pair of switches adapted to connect said third and fourth output terminals of said second differential difference amplifier to said common node of said third and fourth feedback circuits; and PA1 at least a third pair of switches, each switch of said third pair being connected across a resistor of a distinct one of said resistive means.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Such a low noise amplifier structure is already known in the art, e.g. from the article "A 3.3-V 800-nVrms Noise, Gain-Programmable CMOS Microphone Preamplifier Design Using Yield Modeling Technique" by G. Nicollini et al. of SGS-Thomson Microelectronics, and published in the IEEE JOURNAL OF SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS, VOL. 28, NO. 8, Aug. 1993, pages 915 to 921. Therein, different amplifier arrangements are compared in order to obtain a low noise amplifier structure with a high resistive input impedance and a wide input common mode range. It has been proved that the best structure is based on the use of a "Differential Difference Amplifier" (DDA). In this best known structure, the input signal is applied to the first differential input pair of the amplifier. The first feedback means of the feedback structure which controls the gain of the amplifier, is constituted by a first resistor connected between the output and an input terminal of the second differential input pair, while the second feedback means is constituted by a second resistor connected between the latter input terminal and the common node which, in this case, is the ground. The other input terminal of the second differential input pair is also connected to the common node, i.e. to the ground.
A problem with this known low noise single ended amplifier structure is that an unacceptable distortion appears in the output signal when the amplitude of the input signal becomes relatively high, e.g. in the range of 1 Vpp. In the article, the amplitude of the input signal is limited to 100 mV.
The reason thereof is that the dynamic range of a single differential input pair is insufficiently high. This dynamic range can for instance be enlarged by decreasing the Width-to-Length ratio (W/L) of the input transistors of the differential input pair. However, smaller transistors result in more input referred noise which is not recommended for low noise amplifiers.

Alcatel Alsthom Compagnie Generale d'Electricite


A turbine engine component, such as a turbine blade, has an airfoil portion having a pressure side wall and a suction side wall, a first cooling circuit embedded within the pressure side wall, which first cooling circuit has at least two passageways embedded within the pressure side wall, a second cooling circuit embedded within the suction side wall, which second cooling circuit has at least two passageways embedded within the suction side wall, at least one cooling fluid supply cavity located between the pressure and suction side walls, each cooling fluid supply cavity having at least one projecting portion extending between adjacent ones of the embedded passageways in the first cooling circuit or adjacent ones of the embedded passageways in the second cooling circuit, and each projecting portion communicating with at least one film cooling hole. A method for forming the turbine blade component is also described.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a turbine engine component, such as a turbine blade, having modifications which minimize thermal gradients, allows for film cooling, and avoid back flow margin problems as the film holes are fed with a flow of cooling fluid from the main supply cavities.
(2) Prior Art
The overall cooling effectiveness is a measure used to determine the cooling characteristics of a particular design. The non-achievable ideal goal is unity. This implies that the metal temperature is the same as the coolant temperature inside an airfoil. The opposite can also occur where the cooling effectiveness is zero implying that the metal temperature is the same as the gas temperature. In that case, the blade material will certainly melt and burn away. In general, existing cooling technology allows the cooling effectiveness to be between 0.5 and 0.6.
More advanced technology, such as supercooling, should be between 0.6 and 0.7. Microcircuit cooling can be made to produce cooling effectiveness higher than 0.7. FIG. 1 shows a durability map of cooling effectiveness versus the film effectiveness for different lines of convective efficiency. Placed in this map is a point related to the advanced serpentine microcircuits of FIGS. 2A and 2B. FIG. 2A illustrates a suction side cooling circuit 22, while FIG. 2B illustrates a pressure side cooling circuit 20.
Dimensionless Parameters forserpentine microcircuitBeta2.898Tg2581 [F.]Tc1365 [F.]Tm2050 [F.]Tm_bulk1709 [F.]Phi_loc0.437Phi_bulk0.717Tco1640 [F.]Tci1090 [F.]Eta_c_loc0.573Eta_f0.296
Table I provides the dimensionless parameters used to plot the design point in the durability map. It should be noted that the overall cooling effectiveness from the table is 0.717 for a film effectiveness of 0.296 and a convective efficiency (or ability to pick-up heat) of 0.573 (57%).
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the corresponding cooling flow for a turbine blade having this serpentine configuration is 3.5% engine flow. Most traditional high pressure turbine blade designs use about 5% engine flow. As a result, this design leads to significant cooling flow reduction. This in turn has positive effects on cycle thermodynamic efficiency, turbine efficiency, rotor inlet temperature impacts, and specific fuel consumption.
It should be noted from FIG. 3 that the flow passing through the pressure side serpentine microcircuit is 1.165% WAE in comparison with 0.428% WAE in the suction side serpentine microcircuit for this arrangement. This represents a 2.7 fold increase in cooling flow relative to the suction side microcircuit. The reason for this increase stems from the fact that the thermal load to the part is considerably higher for the airfoil pressure side. As a result, the height of the microcircuit channel should be 1.8 fold increase over that of the suction side. That is 0.022 vs. 0.012 inches.
Besides the increased flow requirement on the pressure side, the driving pressure drop potential in terms of source to sink pressures for the pressure side circuit is not as high as that for the suction side circuit. In considering the coolant pressure on the pressure side circuit, at the end of the third leg, the back flow margin, as a measure of internal to external pressure ratio, is low. As a consequence of this back flow issue, the metal temperature increases beyond that required metal temperature close to the third leg of the pressure side circuit.
Since the thermal load to the part is high on the pressure side, particularly toward the aft end of the airfoil, it is desirable to introduce film cooling on that side of the airfoil. However, a low back flow will likely develop when cooling is extracted out of the peripheral circuit. An alternative way around this problem is to introduce film fed from the main cavities. As shown in FIG. 4, there are regions A, B, and C with low heat transfer that define the walls of the cooling channels used in the airfoil. This allows for space between the two legs to increase. This in turn permits EDM hole drilling for film hole cooling the airfoil as shown by the location of the shaped holes D in FIG. 4.
As the peripheral circuits are imbedded in the airfoil wall, regions of high temperature gradients or high heat flux vectors can develop between the legs of the circuit. Thus, it is desirable to reduce these regions of high thermal gradients.

High aspect ratio blade main core modifications for peripheral serpentine microcircuits


A transducer positioning apparatus includes a frame, a flexible member attached to the frame, and a guide member suspended from the frame by the flexible member. A carriage with a transducer mounted thereon is movable with respect to the guide member between multiple positions relative to the guide member. The apparatus further includes an actuator associated with the carriage. The actuator is operative to move the carriage with respect to the guide member to a selected position of the multiple positions and to move the carriage and the guide member relative to the frame to locate the transducer in a desired position. Furthermore, the flexible member is configured to allow axial movement of the guide member while inhibiting rotational movement of the guide member.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to transducer positioning devices for media drives.
2. Background Art
Transducer positioning devices are used in media drives to align a transducer with respect to a media track or tracks. Examples of transducer positioning devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,437,946.

Transducer positioning device utilizing a guide member mounted with flexible members


The high speed rotary cutter bed of a harvester or other mowing machine has a rubberized deflector curtain that wraps around opposite ends and front extremities of the cutter bed to guard against thrown objects, yet permit the ingress of standing crop materials as the machine is advanced. The curtain is divided into a series of discrete sections which mutually overlap along their upright marginal edges so as to permit independent raising and lowering of the curtain sections with their respective, overhead rigid covers into positions permitting access to the cutter bed for maintenance or other purposes. Self-actuating retainer means in the form of magnetically attracted components on the marginal overlapping portions of the curtain sections cause the sections to be automatically readhered together into an effective single deflector curtain around the cutter bed when the curtains are down in their operating positions, yet allow the curtain sections to automatically release from one another when their respective cover sections are raised to their access positions.

It is well known in the industry to provide rubberized deflector curtains or skirts around the high speed, rotary cutters of agricultural mowers and harvesting machines to guard against the risk of thrown objects. Typically, such curtains are formed by a plurality of separate, individual hanging sections that are attached to respective rigid covers or shields that may be swung individually up into raised positions for access to the cutting mechanism therebeneath. When the shields are down in their normal covering positions, the curtain sections overlap one another to a slight extent along their lateral margins to avoid the formation of gaps through which thrown objects would pass.
However, as the machines move through standing crops, the individual curtain sections are engaged and pushed rearwardly by the crops such that there is a tendency for the sections to come open as they deflect and separate from one another. Thus, a common practice has been to provide various snaps, buckles and other fasteners that prevent the sections from separating from one another during actual field operations. When the farmer then wants to lift one or more of the rigid shields to gain access to the cutting mechanism for repair or replacement purposes, he must first release the appropriate fasteners.
Of course, for optimum safety, the farmer should then rebuckle or resecure the fasteners once the raised shield is lowered back down into operating position. However, as a practical matter, this extra step is sometimes ignored by the user such that the curtain sections become free to swing open relative to one another during actual field operation.

Self-latching shield curtain for crop harvesters


An application management system for achieving a common user access (CUA) interface throughout multiple applications of a computer system is described. The system includes an operating environment having an application control module (ACM) that is run-time bound and executable by the applications. The ACM furnishes generalized procedural codes for each application. The application uses data structures to define the appearance and operation of the application to the ACM. The system also integrates the application program interfaces (API's) of an operating environment graphic user interface (GUI) system and a database management system (DBMS) within the ACM. The invention reduces the programming required for applications and improves consistency in programming across multiple applications.

In order to program a computer effectively, a computer programmer must master a number of commands, application program interfaces (API's), and data structures. This usually requires a large investment of time learning specific techniques to code common basic functions for a specific operating environment. These common basic functions include presentation of data graphically on the screen, presentation of data on the printer, and storage and retrieval of data via a database management system. The requirement for generating and testing primitive code to build these common basic functions reduces the productivity of the programmer whose primary focus is to develop the specific functionality of the application.
Another important aspect of programming is consistency in the user interface where multiple applications are developed for use in a particular operating environment. A graphic user interface (GUI) is a means through which a computer system communicates with users. The GUI provides an assortment of controls or graphic user interface (GUI) components that are available for use by applications in the presentation and gathering of data. A GUI component is a graphic element that is used to display and accept information from the user. An application may define additional user interface components. Application defined components characteristically behave similar to GUI components.. Common user access (CUA) is the definition of GUI components that should be the same across all applications. The definition is based on a set of generally accepted user interface design principles. It is optimized for ease of use and encourages learning by exploring. CUA is helpful to the user because once the user learns the procedures to implement commands for achieving particular results in one application, he can expect the same procedures to apply in other applications.
In a programming environment, the framework, interaction techniques and other characteristics for defining a CUA interface are determined by procedural code written by the application programmer to implement various responses to user actions. Differences in coding techniques and style from one programmer to the next make it difficult to insure consistency in a CUA. In addition, even if CUA is accomplished, the procedural codes developed by one programmer will differ from another thereby requiring individual testing of the same characteristic of the CUA in multiple programs.
Consistency in coding of CUA procedural code and common basic functions is therefore desirable to ensure thorough testing and quality control where multiple program authors with individualized coding styles each contribute to a package of applications. In order to achieve this consistency, procedural codes to maintain a CUA may be coded one time, then shared between multiple applications. Similarly, many common basic functions of each application may be coded once and shared. This increases the productivity of the programmer and also avoids duplication of effort in programming. In the past, sharing of common basic functions has been done by the use of code libraries. Code libraries have the advantage that a piece of code can be developed, tested and maintained "outside" of the application program. The program then links to this library and at link time the code is placed into the application's executable file. The disadvantage of this method is that all the programs that require this code will have it contained in their executable file. This increases the size of each application file and may present a problem where multiple applications are desired for use on computers with limited disk and/or memory space.
Runtime loadable control modules have been developed to provide shared code that can be used by a variety of applications. The shared code contains routines to aid the programmer in code development. These modules generally deal with one specific area of programming. One such runtime loadable control module is a database management system module that handles the reading and writing of data in a record oriented input/output method. Another runtime loadable control module is an operating environment module that provides the GUI of the particular operating environment for interaction with the user via the computer keyboard, pointing device, screen or printer. For example, in the Tandy DeskMate operating environment, the database management system module is referred to as the DeskMate Database Management System (DMDB) and the operating environment GUI module is referred to as the DeskMate Core Services Resource (CSR).
The advantage of using runtime loadable control modules is that they allow for the storage of code in one location that may be accessed and shared among multiple applications without the necessity for duplicating the code in each application program. However, runtime loadable control modules traditionally do not incorporate procedural code that wholly contains a CUA. Such code governing reactions between components on a screen in response to user action or input tends to be application specific.
In addition, runtime loadable control modules associated with the respective GUI and database management systems have historically been disjoint. Each of the GUI and database management systems of an operating environment are defined through separate and distinct API and data structures. In order to utilize both the GUI and database management systems, an application must contain code that separately manages each of the GUI and database management system's unrelated data structures. The application must also contain code to translate data from one set of data structures to the other set of data structures. The application must further contain code that defines the relationship between data that is stored on the disk and data presented to the user via the GUI common basic functions.


The invention relates to a system (10) adapted to measure multiple biophysical characteristics of cells, the system (10) comprising: a microfluidic chip (12) provided with a microfluidic channel (14) which allows cells to flow through, the microfluidic channel (14) having an inlet (14a), an outlet (14b), and a lateral opening (14c) situated between the inlet (14a) and the outlet (14b); and a capacitive sensor (30) integrated in the microfluidic chip, adapted to obtain biophysical characteristics of a single cell in the microfluidic channel (14) by directly manipulating the single cell by sensor elements (31, 32) through the lateral opening (14c) of the microfluidic channel (14), the sensor (30) comprising a stationary part and an electrostatically driven movable part which is movable relative to the stationary part, the stationary part being fixed to the microfluidic chip (12), the movable part being arranged in the lateral opening (14c) of the microfluidic channel (14), wherein a portion of the sensor elements (31, 32) provides an interface between fluid and air in the system.

In the field of biomedical sciences, there has been a great demand for solutions to determine biophysical characteristics of individual cells. The biophysical characteristics of cells provide useful information to identify a relationship between the cell and a certain disease, such as cancer.
On the other hand, a mixture of cells having different biophysical characteristics only produces the averaged results, making it difficult to identify disease specific changes found only in specific subanatomical regions or cell types.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2016-099219 discloses a detection system for detecting a reaction of a molecule within a microfluidic channel under the influence of a certain reactant. According to this system, the reaction of a molecule can be observed through direct manipulations of the molecule by using a pair of tweezers.
Tweezers designed to capture a single cell between their flat tips have also been known. See Nicolas Lafitte, Hervé Guillou, Momoko Kumemura, Laurent Jalabert, Teruo Fujii, Hiroyuki Fujita, and Dominique Collard, "Integrated MEMS platform with silicon nanotweezers and open microfluidic device for real-time and routine biomechanical probing on molecules and cells," 35th Annual International Conference of the IEEE EMBS, Osaka, Japan, 3-7 Jul. 2013, pp. 148-151.
These tweezers are introduced into the microfluidic channel through an opening formed in a side wall of the microfluidic channel to capture and directly manipulate a cell or molecule between the tweezers. In order to do so, however, the existing tweezers require accurate positioning relative to the microfluidic channel. This positioning process can be very difficult and considered to be a burden when it is desired to increase the throughput of the system (the number of objects which can be characterized by the system during a certain period of time).
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a measuring system which provides efficient characterizations of individual cells and makes it possible to easily increase the throughput of the system.

Measuring system and manufacturing process of such a measuring system

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

The Foundation for the Promotion of Industrial Science


A manufacturing method of organic flat light-emitting devices includes the following steps. First, a transparent substrate is provided, which has several microstructures on its first surface and the microstructures have a maximum height of 100 μm from the first surface. Second, a transparent anode is formed on the second surface of the transparent substrate that is opposite to the first surface. Thirdly, at least one organic electro-luminescent layer is formed on the transparent anode. Finally, a metal cathode is formed on the organic electro-luminescent layer. Another manufacturing method of organic flat light-emitting devices includes the steps of: forming a transparent thin film on a first surface of a transparent substrate, the transparent thin film having a plurality of microstructures with a maximum height of 100 μm; forming a transparent anode on a second surface of the transparent substrate opposite to the first surface; forming at least one organic electro-luminescent layer; and forming a metal cathode on the organic electro-luminescent layer.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a manufacturing method of organic flat light-emitting devices and, in particular, to a manufacturing method of organic flat light-emitting devices that use microstructures in their manufacture.
2. Related Art
In organic flat light-emitting devices, the refraction index of the organic electro-luminescent layer n1 (≈1.7) is very close to that of the transparent anode n2 (≈1.8–2.0), and the refraction index of the transparent substrate n3 (≈1.4–1.5) is smaller than n1 but larger than that of air (≈1). According to Snell's Law, when a beam of light goes through an interface, the product of the refraction index and the sine of the incident angle in the incident medium are equal to that in the refractive medium. When a beam of light goes from the transparent anode into the transparent substrate and the incident angle is greater than sin−1(n3/n2), total reflection occurs and the light is limited to propagation within the organic electro-luminescent layer and the transparent anode. This results in the transparent anode/organic electro-luminescent layer waveguide phenomenon. If the beam of light propagates out from the transparent substrate and the incident angle is greater than sin−1(1/n3), the light will be totally reflected. The light is restricted to propagate within the transparent substrate, resulting in the substrate waveguide phenomenon. However, when the incident angle is smaller than sin−1(1/n3), light will propagate out of the element. One thus sees that only part of the light generated by the organic flat light-emitting device that can propagate out of the element. The rest results in the substrate waveguide phenomenon inside the substrate. From actual measurements, one discovers that the light flux emitted from the organic flat light-emitting device is roughly 20% to 30% of that generated by the organic electro-luminescent layer.
The conventional manufacturing method of organic flat light-emitting devices often uses a substrate with a high refraction index and attaches convex lenses on the light-emitting surface to increase the external quantum efficiency. As shown in FIG. 1, convex lenses 31 with a diameter between 2 mm and 3 mm are attached on the light-emitting surface. If the material of the convex lenses 31 is the same as that of the transparent substrate 32, the light flux of the light-emitting element can be increased by 60% to 100%. If lenses with a higher refraction index are used, the light flux of the element can be increased by 200%. When making the light-emitting element 3, a refraction index matching oil is employed to attach the convex lenses 31 to the light-emitting surface. This is not suitable for long-term use. Another commonly used technique is that disclosed in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,936,347 and 6,080,030. The semi-convex lenses or semi-concave lenses are directly formed on a glass substrate by hot-embossing method, thereby increasing the external quantum efficiency of the element. However, the operation temperature for glass hot-embossing method is very high and is likely to make the glass locally deformed. Furthermore, the operation time (for increases and decreases in temperature) is too lengthy for use in mass production.
The elements made using the above-mentioned two manufacturing methods have the drawback of being too thick. It is not suitable for the trend of developing compact light-emitting devices. Moreover, the first conventional method uses a refraction index matching oil to attach the lenses on the light-emitting surface. Elements made in this method are not suitable for long-term use. The other method, however, can easily locally deform the glass substrate. The product yields in the prior art are thus not reliable for commercialization. Furthermore, the manufacturing process requires a longer time. It is therefore highly desirable to create a better method to improve the manufacturing process and product yield.

Manufacturing method of organic flat light-emitting devices


Methods, devices, and products restore damaged or corrupt media files. A user's media catalog is received and stored in a database of media catalogs. When restoration is desired, the user's media catalog is retrieved that describes an identity of a media file to be restored. The database of media catalogs is queried for another media catalog that describes the same identity of the media file. A communications address associated with the another media catalog is retrieved.

This application generally relates to interactive multimedia distribution systems and, more particularly, to restoring stored media.
Hard drives, and other memory devices, sometimes fail. The fear of failure haunts anyone who stores business data, precious home movies, pictures, and any other media content. As digital video recorders grow in popularity, for example, more and more users have a significant investment in a library of media stored to their recorder. Should the digital recorder experience a memory or other hardware failure, and some or all of that library is lost, the user may lose media of significant value. What is needed, then, are methods, systems, and products that provide a restoration service for recorded media.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods, systems, and products for restoring media


A cyclic prefix is configured for transmissions on a cellular network using a Radio Access Technology based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). At a User Equipment (UE) of the cellular network, information is determined for calculating a delay spread for transmission symbols from a base station of the cellular network to the UE. A cyclic prefix for the transmissions is identified based on the determined information. A delay spread can be established from received transmission symbols by: determining a coherence bandwidth based on whether a channel coefficient for each of the transmission symbols varies more than a predefined threshold, the delay spread being established using the determined coherence bandwidth; and/or determining a relationship between a cyclic prefix associated with the transmission symbols and a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, SINR, for the received transmission symbols, the delay spread being established using the determined relationship.

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a well-known Radio Access Technology (RAT), especially in cellular networks. The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has standardised the Long Term Evolution (LTE) architecture using an OFDM RAT. It has further been working on a fifth generation (5G) architecture, which also intends to use an OFDM RAT, as identified in 3GPP RP-160671.
However, the 5G radio structure is intended to work at frequency bands higher than 6 GHz, such as 30 GHz or 70 GHz. Such frequency bands have poor radio propagation properties, making it more difficult to achieve macro cellular coverage and to be able to serve devices far away from a base station site, in comparison with earlier architectures using lower frequencies. In view of this issue, it is understood that large antenna arrays will likely be needed in both the Base Station and user terminal (User Equipment or UE). Beamforming may also be required, such that the downlink signal is directed towards the device, and vice versa in uplink.
A key implementation detail in OFDM is the use of a Cyclic Prefix (CP) after each transmitted signal in time, to prevent Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI). It is known that ISI is affected by the delay spread over the channel, which depends on the presence of reflections of the signal. Hence, the length of the CP required depends on the delay spread. In LTE, the CP is set to a fixed value, but it has been assumed that 5G systems will scale the CP with the symbol period. At higher frequency bands, it is likely that a shorter symbol period will be used, because properties of the RF receiver in devices mean that the spacing of the OFDM subcarriers will likely need to be increased. A shorter CP is advantageous, if possible, because it would reduce the overhead in the system and higher spectral efficiency could then be achieved.
International (PCT) patent application No. WO-2013/010247 suggests that the length (time duration) of the CP should be chosen to be longer than the multipath delay spread. However, uplink channels may have different respective multipath delay spreads. Rather than setting the same CP for all uplink channels, which is longer than the largest multipath delay spread, the multipath delay spread for each uplink channel is identified at the base station and a CP for each uplink channel is set accordingly. In practice, this method considers any pre-equalization to be part of the channel, as it may have an effect to reduce the length of the multipath delay spread. Thus, channel estimation at the base station receiver is used to determine the CP and a specific delay spread need not be calculated.
This specific approach may be an improvement over the use of a fixed CP. Nevertheless, it is specific to uplink channels and only a particular solution is suggested. Finding other approaches to address this issue in a broader context is therefore desirable.


A method for establishing a path between nodes in a wireless network system. A source node broadcasts a route request (RREQ) packet for a destination node. A mobile node between the source node and the destination node, upon receiving the RREQ packet, appends a redundancy degree with respect to an adjacent node to the RREQ packet and broadcasts the RREQ packet. The destination node selects an optimal path by checking the redundancy degree received along each path when the RREQ packet is received along multiple paths, and the destination node establishes an optimal path to the source node by transmitting a route reply (RREP) packet along the optimal path. Accordingly, the path is established suitable for the quality of service of data to be transmitted and a lost path is promptly recoverable by reference to information stored at each mobile node identifying redundant paths available to the mobile node.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a path establishing method in a wireless network environment and a wireless network device therefor. Particularly, the present invention concerns a wireless network device for establishing an optimal path by calculating and using information on a redundant path and recovering a lost path by using the redundant path and a method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Development of Internet and wireless communication technologies has contributed to delivery of diverse multimedia services beyond time and location, to thus give rise to significant changes to life environment of users. Recently, as compact handheld electronic devices, such as a notebook computer and a personal digital assistant (PDA), have come into wide use, more efforts are made toward implementation of Internet-based data communication in a wireless network as well as in a wired network.
A representative of the wireless network is an ad-hoc network. The ad-hoc network has no integrated central management device, does not use existing communication infrastructure, and has no fixed controller (such as a router, a host, and a radio base station) for connecting mobile nodes. A mobile node serves as a router in the ad-hoc network. If a certain mobile node intends to communicate with a correspondent node, the certain node needs to establish a communication path via several nodes located between the certain node and the correspondent node.
For example, such an ad-hoc network may be a sensor network including a plurality of sensors. Progress of wireless communication enables development of a sensor node with low cost, low power, and multifunction. Operations such as sensing, data processing, and communicating, can be performed by implementing a sensor network including such compact sensor nodes. The sensor network includes a plurality of the sensor nodes, densely distributed. Implementation of a routing protocol is required among the sensor nodes having only an air interface to collect and deliver required information using the sensor nodes. It is required to suitably deal with situations due to free movement of the sensor nodes.
FIG. 1 illustrates a path establishment in a conventional wireless network including the plurality of the mobile nodes. Referring to FIG. 1, when a source node N1 of the mobile nodes intends to transfer information to a destination node N11, the information may be transferred via the other nodes located between the source node N1 and the destination node N11 when it is impossible to deliver the information directly from the source node N1 to the destination node N11. That is, the information may be transferred along a path established via the other nodes. The path is established by switching a route request (RREQ) packet and a route reply (RREP) packet. Concretely, if the source node N1 transmits a RREQ packet to adjacent nodes N2 and N3, the nodes N2 and N3 register the source node N1, which transmits the RREQ packet as an upstream node, and transmits the received RREQ packet to adjacent nodes N4 and N6. The RREQ packet contains an ID of the destination node N11. Each intermediate node receiving RREQ packets determines whether the receiving node is the destination node N11. If the receiving node is not the destination node, the intermediate node forwards the RREQ packet to a next hop node, or if the receiving node is the destination node, the intermediate node selects an optimal path by checking information on the intermediate nodes contained in the received RREQ packet and forwards a RREQ packet in an inverse direction of the RREQ packet transmission. In the conventional arrangement, a shortest path, namely a path having a smallest number of the intermediate nodes is selected as the optimal path for the swift information delivery. That is, the destination node N11 transmits the RREP packet toward an upstream router transmitting the RREQ packet via the smallest number of the intermediate nodes. When the source node N1 receives the RREP packet, the path is established between the source node N1 and the destination node N11.
However, the conventional arrangement has a disadvantage that quality of service (QoS) is not provided selectively depending on characteristics of data to be transferred. The selected optimal path is advantageous for the swift information delivery, but is not suitable for data requiring stable delivery rather than the swift delivery.
Referring again to FIG. 1, if the node N4 has a failure, or, if the established path is lost due to the node movement to other directions, a new path has to be established between the source node N1 and the destination node N11, thus requiring more time for path recovery and node rediscovery.

Network system for establishing path using redundancy degree and method thereof


Methods and systems are provided for a microfluidic cartridge including a high performance actuator useful for analyte detection, labeling and analysis. Microfluidic processing systems are to carry out chemical or biochemical reactions, or sequences of reactions, with small volumes (typically between 1 microliter and 10 milliliters) of reactants and products. A microfluidic processing system can comprise a network of tubes interfaced with discrete components such as valves and sensors, or an integrated device made of plastic, glass, metal, or other materials, or a combination of materials, with components such as valves and sensors built into the device and connected by flow passageways formed in the material.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods and systems for moving and processing fluid through an assay system.
Description of the Related Art
Microfluidic processing systems are to carry out chemical or biochemical reactions, or sequences of reactions, with small volumes (typically between 1 microliter and 10 milliliters) of reactants and products. A microfluidic processing system can comprise a network of tubes interfaced with discrete components such as valves and sensors, or an integrated device made of plastic, glass, metal, or other materials, or a combination of materials, with components such as valves and sensors built into the device and connected by flow passageways formed in the material.
Conventional microfluidic processing systems use reciprocating displacement pumps, peristaltic effects, syringe pumps, surface tension effects, body forces on magnetic beads from external or internal magnetic field sources, vacuum manifolds, electrokinetic effects, electrochemical effects, or a combination of these to carry out chemical or biochemical reactions or sequences of reactions.
Flows in microfluidic processing systems are typically associated with dominance of viscous effects over inertial effects, referred to as a low Reynolds number regime. Many applications of microfluidic processing systems involve one or more high-molecular-weight reactants with correspondingly low binary diffusivities. For example, molecular dynamic simulations indicate that the ribonucleic acid chain of approximately 9800 bases which constitutes the genomic material of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), with a molecular weight of 3.1×106 daltons, has a diffusivity in water of approximately D=2×10−12 m2 s−1, such that, in 10 minutes, one-dimensional diffusion is associated with displacement of only 50 microns. The combination of the dominance of viscous effects over inertial effects and the relatively slow diffusivities of reactants of high interest imposes a need for fluid mechanical mechanisms for macroscopically mixing two or more solutions in microfluidic systems.
Small volumes of gases are often found in microfluidic systems, having been either introduced as part of the process to be carried out or arising inadvertently, such as when an expansion or contraction of a fluid passageway in the direction of flow tends to trap bubbles during filling. A volume of gas in a microfluidic system can act as a low-pass filter with respect to mechanical forcing functions acting on the system. This is sometimes referred to as fluidic capacitance. Tubing can also be a source of fluidic capacitance.
The tendency of trapped air to act as a low-pass filter creates an incentive to locate a fluidic actuator in close physical proximity to the fluid volume on which said actuator is to apply force and do mechanical work.
In some applications of microfluidic systems, there is a need for the reactions to take place within fluid passageways which can be discarded after a single use. For example, in infectious disease diagnostics, a microfluidic system used to process a body fluid sample can be considered a biohazardous waste after completion of the assay. The very high negative impact of contamination between production runs creates an incentive for microfluidic systems used for antibody purification to be fully disposable after a single use. Many types of microfluidic actuators, such as piezoelectric actuators and electromagnetic actuators, are too expensive to include in a microfluidic cartridge for a single use. Piezoelectric actuators and electromagnetic actuators require mechanical energy transfer into the cartridge and can be prone to failure associated with misalignment of the actuator and the cartridge. Actuation mechanisms, such as electrochemical gas generation and surface tension-based actuation, can be economically built into cartridges, but are associated with slow response times, low power output, lack of range, and other limitations.
There is a need for microfluidic systems which can carry out rapid macroscopic mixing of one or more reactants. A fast response time and high power of a fluidic actuator are important for mixing two or more fluids or for reacting two or more species in a mixture in the cartridge. Current microfluidic actuators have limitations of low fluid power generation capacity, sustaining power and slow response times. While electroosmotic flow generation can be associated with high power and fast response times, in some cases, samples cannot be transported through an EO microfluidic device because particles in the sample could block the EO device, and the fluid would be adversely affected by the high electric fields inside the EO device.
The present invention addresses these and other shortcomings of the prior art.

Methods and systems for enhanced microfluidic processing