A method for processing a silver halide light sensitive photographic material comprising a support having thereon hydrophilic colloid layers including a silver halide emulsion layer, wherein a dextran and a leuco dye compound each are independently contained in the hydrophilic colloid layer(s), the photographic material being processed with a developer containing a reductone as a developing agent.

Silver halide light sensitive photographic materials for use in medical diagnosis are conventionally developed using, as a developing agent, dihydroxybenzenes such as hydroquinone. In a developer containing the dihydroxybenzenes, however, a preservative such as sulfites must be included to maintain storage stability, and it is undesirable in terms of worker's safety. There is also a disadvantage such that the developer causes color change upon aerial oxidation, leading to color staining.
There is known a technique of using reductones as a developing agent in place of the dihydroxybenzenes. The reductones cause no color stain due to oxidation, and ascorbic acid or erythorbic acid is generally employed as a food additive, having advantages such that it is safe for living organisms.
However, a developer containing reductones is easily oxidized under alkaline conditions and is hydrolyzed to give off an acid, which lowers the pH of the developer and disadvantageously results in large variations in processed photographic materials.
Since 1995, open sea disposal of photographic processing effluent has been prohibited, resulting in effluent being incinerated. Such a land-based treatment of the processing effluent results in a rise in energy and cost. Further, the processing effluent itself is limited so that reduction of a replenishing rate is desired. However, the reduction of the replenishing rate prolongs the time of the processing solution in a processing bath, causes oxidative exhaustion of processing solutions, and lowers the density or contrast of processed photographic materials, leading to deterioration of processing stability.
In terms of emergent medical treatment, rapid access to image information is required to quickly diagnose the patient's state and prompt treatment so that rapid processing of photographic material is strongly desired.
As a means for meeting these desires is a technique known of increasing covering power of developed silver to reduce the silver coating amount by means of, e.g., decreasing the average grain size or using tabular grains with a high aspect ratio and small grain thickness. However, such grains capable of providing high covering power tend to produce yellowish developed silver images, leading to deteriorated silver image tone. This is due to the fact that the developed silver decreases in size and thickness with a decrease of the grain size and thickness, resulting in increased scattering of blue light.
As another means for responding to the desire for rapid processing is a technique known of incorporating a dextran into the binder. However, it has the problem of incorporation of the dextran which deteriorates silver image tone. To improve deterioration of the silver image tone, there is known a technique of incorporating a dye capable of remaining in a photographic material after processing. In this case, however, unnecessary dye remains in unexposed portions, resulting in deterioration in residual color. There is further a technique in which a support is previously tinted with a blue dye. Taking account of deterioration of diagnosis due to an increase of fog density, in this case, it is impossible to tint to an extent sufficient for improving silver image tone. In view the foregoing, further means for solving these problems are desired. Furthermore, medical diagnostic photographs are obligated to be retained over a long period of time (at least five years) from requirements to observe the course of disease so that storage stability without image deterioration over a long period of time is essential.

Processing method of silver halide light sensitive photographic material


A method of separating bead substrates includes applying an emulsion to an emulsion-breaking solution. A dispersed phase of the emulsion includes an unbound polynucleotide, a first set of bead substrates and a second set of bead substrates. The unbound polynucleotide includes a segment complementary to a coupling oligonucleotide. The first set of bead substrates includes the coupling oligonucleotide extended to include a segment complementary to a portion of the unbound polynucleotide. The second set of bead substrates includes the coupling oligonucleotide. The emulsion-breaking solution includes an interference probe having a sequence similar to the coupling oligonucleotide or complementary to the coupling oligonucleotide. The method further includes binding beads of the first set of bead substrates to separation substrates and separating unbound beads of the second set of bead substrates from the beads of the first set of bead substrates bound to the separation substrates.

As biological and chemical sciences advance, scientists increasingly turn to separation techniques to isolate and analyze analytes. In particular, the chemical sciences are turning to enrichment methods to isolate and analyze ever smaller concentrations of compounds. In the biological sciences, scientists seek to isolate and analyze increasingly complex molecules, such as DNA, RNA, and proteins, such as enzymes.
In particular, compounds can be bound to dispersed substrates, such as particles or beads, and then isolated for analysis. In an example, a substrate bound to compounds can be applied to a sensor for analysis. In another example, the compounds can be separated from the substrates following isolation and can be analyzed separately. Such isolated substrates bound to compounds or analytes can be used for detecting trace amounts of chemical agents, biologically active reagents, or can be used in analyzing molecules, such as DNA or RNA. In particular, such dispersed substrates bound to polynucleotides or proteins can be used for sequencing.

Systems and methods for substrate enrichment


A dual function wrench includes two function ends and the two different function ends are overlapped with each other. Each function end includes a clamping space and the two respective clamping spaces are in communicating with each other. The first function end includes two fixed jaws which have two respective flat clamping surfaces facing with each other. The second function end is a quick release function end so as to rotate an object without removing the second function end from the object.

U.S. Pat. No. 37,865 to Griswold, U.S. Pat. No. 916,951 to Jeffery, U.S. Pat. No. 1,088,786 to Lukowski and U.S. Pat. No. 1,297,846 to Herrman disclose an overlapped function end that includes at least two pairs of flat clamping surfaces in the function end so as to clamp objects of different sizes. The opening between two jaws is designed very close to the size of object to be clamped so that the object is rotated with the wrench. Nevertheless, the user has to remove the wrench from the object and re-clamp the object again to rotate the object if the space for rotation of the wrench is limited. This spends too much time on removing and re-clamping the wrench.
The present invention intends to provide a wrench that has a dual function driving head which includes two fixed jaws on one side and a quick release wrench head on the bottom side so that the users need not to change tools frequently.


A receptacle connector includes a body, a cover assembled outside the body and a terminal module received in the body. The terminal module comprises a plurality of terminals and a pedestal. Each terminal defines a fixing portion. The fixing portion stretches sideward and forms a pair of locating projections. The pedestal further comprises an upper and a lower board. Both the upper and the lower board define a plurality of terminal channels and locating cavities. The fixing portion of the terminal is received in the terminal channel. The locating projection of the terminal is received and fixed in the locating cavity. The sides of the pedestal protrude sideward to form a pair of inserting portion. Accordingly, the body defines a receiving cavity to receive the terminal module. The body also defines a pair of receiving channels in sides of the receiving cavity for receiving the inserting portion of the pedestal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a receptacle connector, and particularly to a receptacle connector with mechanisms for easily assembling the terminals.
2. The Related Art
A receptacle connector is commonly used in electronic devices such as network equipments and telephones. The receptacle connector usually includes a terminal module to communicate with a plug connector.
A conventional receptacle connector includes a body and a plurality of terminals fixed in the body. The conventional receptacle connector usually uses an inserting mold to fix the terminals into the body. That is to say, in order to fix the terminals in the body, a plurality of terminals should be firstly fixed in the mold before the body is formed. And then, the terminals are formed in the body and can't be taken apart from the body.
However, while the terminals are fixed in the mold, the precise position of the terminal is difficult to control. This usually causes further a trouble in assembling or using of such receptacle connector, such as a disconnection between the terminals of the receptacle and plug connector.

Receptacle connector having terminals with locating projections extending in opposite directions


A surge absorber in which a thermal response switch is inserted in an input line at the input side of a surge absorbing element. The switch includes a conductive spring piece and a conductive hook piece. The base end of the conductive spring piece is fixed on either the first lead or the second leads and the tip of the conductive spring piece is provided with a pawl. The base end of the conductive hook piece is fixed on either the first lead or the second leads and the tip of the conductive hook piece is engaged with the pawl. At least one of the conductive spring piece and the conductive hook piece is made of a thermal response piece. Upon stopping of the applied continuous overvoltages or overcurrents, the switch can automatically be restored depending on an extent of the overcurrent by a manual operation.

This invention relates to a surge absorbing circuit suitable for an electronic device of communication equipment such as telephone sets, facsimiles, telephone switch-boards, modems, and the like and to a thermal response switch used for such surge absorbing circuit. More particularly, it relates to a surge absorbing circuit capable of protecting electronic devices from continuous overvoltages or overcurrents and to the thermal response switch used therefor.
It is known to connect a surge absorbing element to a pair of input lines of an electronic device in parallel with the electronic device, the surge absorbing element is designed to operate at a higher voltage than the operating voltage of the electronic device. Such a surge absorbing element is a resistor having a high resistance value when the voltage applied thereto is lower than the discharge starting voltage thereof, but its resistance value is equal to as low as several tens of ohms or less when the voltage applied thereto is equal to or higher than the discharge starting voltage thereof. Accordingly, when surge voltages, such as, lightning surges, etc., are instantaneously applied to an electronic device, the surge absorbing element discharges to absorb the surge voltages, and serves to protect the electronic device from the surge voltages. Thus, when an overvoltage or overcurrent due to an accident is continuously applied to the electronic circuit including the electronic device, a certain amount of current continuously flows through the surge absorbing element. This results in the surge absorbing element being heated to high temperatures. The heat radiating from the surge absorbing element can cause the electronic equipment surrounding the surge absorbing element to catch fire.
While it does not usually happen that such accidental overvoltages or overcurrents are continuously applied to the circuit, it has recently become desirable in more fields to take the maximum safety measures to avoid such accidental problems. As an example, UL (Underwriter's Laboratories Inc.) of the U.S.A. prescribes a safety standard for surge absorbers so that they do not cause fire or electrical shock in communication equipment when continuous overvoltages or overcurrents are applied.
A known surge absorber (1) capable of preventing fires of the communication equipment due to continuous overvoltages or overcurrents includes a fuse or a lower melting point metallic member adhered on the surface of the surge absorber element, and the resultant fuse or lower melting point metallic member is connected in series with the surge absorbing element (Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Applications No. 63-11022 and 63-18923).
We have also disclosed a surge absorbing circuit (2) wherein a surge absorbing element is connected to a pair of input lines of an electronic device in parallel with the electronic device and having a thermal response switch which is open by heating and closed by cooling connected to one side of the input lines at an input side of the surge absorbing element (Japanese Patent Application No. 3-28066, corresponding to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/827,375, filed Jan. 29, 1992). The thermal response switch is provided in the vicinity of the surge absorbing element and uses a thermal response piece, such as, a bimetal as a movable contact point.
We have also disclosed a thermal response switch (3) comprising a conductive movable body, a pair of thermal response pieces for holding the movable body upon non-heating and releasing it upon non-heating, a spring for separating the released movable body from the thermal response piece, and a reset pin for restoring the separated movable body (Japanese Patent Application No. 3-188027, corresponding to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/906,272, filed Jun. 26, 1992).
However in surge absorber (1) in which the fuse or the low melting point metallic member is connected in series with the surge absorbing element, if the fuse or the low melting point metallic member blows due to an applied overvoltage or overcurrent, the surge absorbing circuit is in the "open state", and it is troublesome to replace the surge absorber with a new one. In particular, if the surge absorbing element together with the fuse or the like is covered with a housing, a problem arises because it may be difficult to visually check the melting state of the fuse.
A problem with surge absorbing circuit (2) is that after the circuit is in the "open state" with the overvoltages or overcurrents imposed thereon, an automatic restoration function is available when the applied overvoltages or overcurrents cease. However, the thermal response piece of the movable contact point has only a slight contact pressure with the fixed contact point piece. As a result, vibration of the unit or thermal response switch causes temporary separation of the thermal response piece from the fixed contact point piece, which, in turn, results in the circuit disadvantageously being in "open state".
In thermal response switch (3), while the movable body securely contacts the thermal response piece due to the spring bias of a pair of the thermal response pieces during non-heating, and thus avoids any problem due to vibration, the structure of the switch is complicated resulting in higher costs because of larger housing size.


A baluster is provided. The baluster includes a body portion. A width of an end portion of the body portion is less than a width of a central portion of the body portion.

Manufacturing and installation of railing systems, for example, in connection with stair systems (e.g., outdoor stair systems such as deck stair systems, etc.) continues to be labor intensive and time consuming. Particular challenges exist in connection with the alignment and installation of balusters of the stair systems.
For example, it is desirable to have substantially uniform spacing between adjacent ones of the plurality of balusters in a railing system. Further, the interconnection between the plurality of balusters and the associated rail portions creates challenges, including issues related to the appearance of such interconnections (e.g., issues related to a desirable tight fit between each of the plurality of balusters and the associated rail portions).
Thus, it would be desirable to provide improved balusters, railing systems, and methods of installing the same.

Balusters, railing systems, and methods of assembling and installing the same


Described herein are apparatus, system, and method for providing memory access control to protect software (e.g., firmware backup) and other data. The method comprises providing, by a processor, a protected storage area in a memory for storing backup image of software; detecting corruption in the software; accessing the backup image of the software from the protected storage area; and updating the corrupted software using the backup image, wherein the protected storage area is a reserved storage area of the memory.

Computer platforms (or simply platforms) incorporate multiple components (e.g., CPU processor, chipset, video processor/card, etc.) that run dedicated software called firmware (also referred to as platform firmware). The portion of firmware that is hardcoded or stored in a Read Only Memory (ROM) is considered immutable and therefore is expected not to vary over time. Platform firmware includes the first set of instructions that are executed by a computer system. To protect this important set of instructions from attacks or unintentional corruption, current solutions guard an image of the firmware by making it part of the root of trust. The root of trust that originates from the platform hardware passes from the hardware to the software through the firmware of the platform, and thus the firmware becomes a critical part of the chain of trust.
In order to correct bugs and/or add features to the firmware, there is generally another portion of the platform firmware that is programmable and updatable. Methods of compromising platform firmware are continually being developed. Compromising platform firmware enables an arsenal of very useful tools to attack a computer system. Unlike software attacks, compromised firmware is both hard to detect and difficult for a computer system to recover from. Compromised firmware is mostly invisible to the software layer of a computer system, including most anti-virus and spyware tools. The invisible nature of firmware makes it ideal for rootkits. Rootkits are compact and dormant malicious hooks in the platform that attain highest possible privilege and lowest visibility to running software. Their primary function is to provide an application programming interface (API) to viruses and worms on an infected system.
Furthermore, the potential damage from a malicious firmware attack is far worse than a software attack due to the persistent nature of the firmware. For example, a denial of service Disk Operating System (DOS) attack on the system software stack may result in a corrupted Operating System (OS) stack that would need to be reinstalled. In contrast, a compromised firmware DOS attack may result in a completely unbootable and unusable platform. A recovery solution to such firmware corruption may require reinstalling a backup image of firmware.
Contents on a non-volatile memory (e.g., hard disk drive, solid state drive) can be protected at the host end by the operating system or ring-0 software. However, any ring-0 malware can get access to the non-volatile memory and therefore corrupt any data on the non-volatile memory, including backup images of the firmware or any software that needs protection. Enabling a non-volatile memory password to protect the data in the non-volatile memory is also prone to malicious attacks. For example, when a user is prompted to enter the password for the non-volatile memory at boot time, the contents of the password are no longer protected from external/internal software attacks. Additionally, partitioning of memory areas on a non-volatile memory does not provide meaningful security of data in the hard dive by itself.
Current technologies have very poor, if any, mechanisms for providing a protected storage for the backup image of platform firmware or for any other software that needs protection.

Apparatus, system, and method for providing memory access control


The present disclosure is directed toward systems and methods for identifying contributing factors associated with a metric anomaly. One or more embodiments described herein identify contributing factors based on statistical analysis and machine learning. Additionally, one or more embodiments identify sub-factors associated with each contributing factor. In one or more embodiments, the systems and methods provide an interactive display that enables a user to select a particular anomaly for further analysis. The interactive display also provides additional interfaces through which the user can view informational displays that illustrate the factors that caused the particular anomaly and how those factors correlate with each other.

1. Technical Field
One or more embodiments described herein relate generally to enhancing analytical performance. More specifically, one or more embodiments relate to identifying contributing factors associated with a metric anomaly.
2. Background and Relevant Art
Network users access millions of websites daily for a variety of purposes. Network users access websites for purposes such as commerce, information, and entertainment. In fact, it is not uncommon for network users to conduct a large portion of their daily tasks (e.g., shopping, news, recipes, exercise) via various websites. Additionally, users access networks to transfer files, submit search queries, upload pictures and other electronic media, send social network posts, or to utilize various "web-enabled" devices. Users utilize various network connections and servers to perform these tasks in addition to countless other tasks.
In light of widespread and daily network usage, administrators and marketers generally perform data analytics in association with actions performed by various network users in connection with one or more websites or client applications. Occasionally, data analytics reveals anomalies associated with a particular type of user action performed in connection with a website, web page, or client application. For example, an anomaly can be an unexpected increase or decrease associated with a particular type of user action performed in connection with a website or application. To illustrate, a webpage may include an embedded video that, for the last month, web page visitors have played an average of 10 times a day. Then, one day, web page visitors play the embedded video 50 times. This increase in the number of times web page visitors play the embedded video is generally considered an anomaly because it is an outlier compared to the expected number of plays.
While administrators and marketers can generally identify an anomaly with ease, determining why the anomaly occurred is typically a complex and time consuming task. For example, in response to identifying an anomaly associated with a decrease in the number of website visitors who land on a particular web page within the website, a website administrator generally has to run dozens or even hundreds of reports and queries in order to identify the factors that contributed to the decrease. It may take days if not weeks for the website administrator to run and review the results of these reports and queries in order to determine that, for example, the decrease in the number of website visitors who land on the particular webpage was due to factors including a loss of website traffic from a particular search engine (e.g., perhaps due to a change in the website's search engine optimization related to that search engine), and a loss of web traffic from a particular geographic region (e.g., perhaps due to a change in a marketing campaign focused on that particular geographic region). Accordingly, the process of determining an anomaly's contributing factors is typically compared not just to finding a needle in a haystack, but to finding a needle in hundreds of haystacks. While the end result is somewhat informative, the process of determining an anomaly's contributing factors is generally considered too exhausting, time-consuming, expensive, and complicated for most administrators and marketers.
Thus, there are several disadvantages to current methods for identifying factors that contribute to anomalies related to user actions across a network.

Identifying factors that contribute to a metric anomaly


This illustrative embodiments provide a mechanism for correcting a phonetically sourced spelling mistake. The mechanism receives a language text string comprising at least one spelling mistake word and transcribes the at least one spelling mistake word into a phonetic form of the spelling mistake word using a phonetic dictionary. The mechanism locates a correctly spelled phonetic form from a phonetic form dictionary having shortest edit distance between characters of the correctly spelled phonetic form word and the phonetic transcription whereby the phonetic form dictionary comprises correctly spelled words and associated phonetic forms of the correctly spelled words. The mechanism substitutes the correctly spelled word for the spelling mistake word in the text string.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for orthographic error correction using phonetic transcription.
An existing algorithm that has proven very successful in spell correction of natural language text is edit distance, which involves changing the text of an incorrectly spelled word using a minimal number of possible modifications, in order to find a correctly spelled alternative. The correctly spelled word with the lowest conversion cost, based on the number of types of modification applied, is typically considered the most likely correction.
In addition to edit distance, many spell correction approaches try to correct phonetically sourced spelling mistakes, usually by substituting portions of the incorrect word with a phonetically equivalent sequence of characters, until a correct spelling is located. For example: "ee"=="ea" as in "seen" not "sean"; "ay"=="ae" as in "say" not "sae"; "uff"=="ough" as in "scuff" not "skough"; and "ow"=="ough" as in "now" not "nough". Other methods have used acoustic hidden markov models with the similar data.
This type of processing is performed using a set of well-documented phonetic pairs, similar to those described above, which map sequences of letters that have a similar phonetic quality, or which may be described by the same phonemes in certain words. While this can be helpful in correcting errors produced by speakers who perform a similar but erroneous substitution in converting from spoken to written form (as when 'photograph' in English is misspelled as 'fotograf'), these methods are severely limited by the dependence on the knowledge of language-specific pairs of common phonetic mistakes by human authors.
While these methods have been relatively successful, there are an increasing number of cases that require a more robust method for recognizing and correcting phonetically sourced spelling errors. Scenarios such as a single piece of text combining multiple languages, or errors in output from speech to text systems, have provided a much more challenging environment for spell correction, and methods that focus on common language-specific phonetic error patterns, in human authored text, are simply not good enough.
Phonetic alphabets that allow the transcription of the sounds of human language have been developed in order to allow linguists to document human utterances in a consistent fashion. In these alphabets a single character or symbol represents a single phoneme or phonetic unit of sound. An example of such an alphabet is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
In rare cases this type of alphabet is used to write down the utterances of languages that do not have an alternative written form. There are distinct advantages in considering such resources as an alternative writing system for the purposes of NLP, and particularly for spell correction.

Orthographic error correction using phonetic transcription

International Business Machines Corporation


A tissue connection device is provided for use on a patient at a treatment site. The device comprises an elongate member having a distal end and a proximal end. The elongate member has a first, substantially linear configuration during delivery through an elongate delivery device, wherein the first configuration is sufficient to allow said member to be delivered percutaneously into the patient to the treatment site. The elongate member has a second, substantially circular configuration when said member disengages from the delivery device, wherein the second configuration is sufficient to support tissue at the treatment site. The elongate member in the second configuration defines a single ring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to valve tissue repair or reshaping. More specifically, the present invention relates to minimally invasive devices and methods for repair or reshaping of improperly functioning heart valves.
2. Description of Related Art
The human body has a plurality of valves for regulating fluid flow and, due to disease or genetic abnormality, these valves may become dysfunctional over a patient's lifetime. The majority of these valves are located in the heart, but valve structures are also located in the digestive track above the stomach and at other locations. One of the main problems associated with diseased or dysfunctional valves, particularly in the heart, is undesired valve dilation due to weakening of the valve leaflets or valve support structure. This valve leakage is commonly described as valve regurgitation and may be characterized by retrograde flow of fluid through the valve. In the heart, such valve regurgitation may seriously compromise the pumping efficiency of the heart and, if left unchecked, can result in extreme fatigue and the inability of the patient to lead a normal life.
Various surgical techniques have been developed to repair a diseased or damaged valve. These typical treatments for valve regurgitation or other valve repair involve conventional, open surgical techniques. For repair of coronary valves, the chest of the patient is usually opened, at least in part, to allow enough room for the surgeon to perform a repair or replacement of the damaged valve. This usually requires that the patient be placed on a bypass machine to pump the blood while the surgeon operates on the stopped heart muscle. For obvious reasons, this open-type of surgery can be very traumatic on the patient and recovery may take many months. Additionally, surgery may not be an option for some patients due to limited possibility for recovery, concurrent disease, or age.
For these reasons, it would be desirable to provide an alternative to open-type surgery to modify or repair a damaged valve that minimizes the need for the patient's chest to be opened and/or the patient to be placed on bypass during the procedure


A fly fishing reel having a hidden counterweight system, reversible crank knob, mounting seat, and/or sealed spool and drag system.

Modern fishing reels offer many advantages over previous reel designs, with many of the advantages targeted to providing features that are desirable to the modern reel user. Modern fly fishing reels, for example, are lighter weight, offer robust drag systems, and provide a smoothness of action that traditional reel designs could not provide. Modern users demand reels that are waterproof, offer flexibility in changing spool sizes, and allow for different configurations of handles and knobs.


A system and method for content creation based on a mixed-initiative approach includes an interface configured to allow a user to access and interact with a generation module to assist in the creation of a media project based on media from a media database. The generation module is configured to receive user-selected media and retrieve a set of related media and populate and organize the media project with the user-selected media and related media. For example, in the case of a photo book project, the generation module is configured to automatically identify a set of images associated with a user-selected image and populate a corresponding page of the photo book with the user-selected image and set of associated images in a corresponding layout, having the user-selected image most prominently depicted. The generation module provides the user with a preview of a generated page for evaluation and manual user editing.

With ongoing advances in technology, digital media has become the dominant and preferred form of media. Accordingly, personal media libraries are increasingly becoming a major part of daily life for many individuals. Many users amass music, photos, and videos in digital form for use on their electronic devices, such as smartphones, computers, and personal media players. One common user task is collecting items from such personal media libraries for a specific purpose. For example, users may desire to curate and share photographs with friends, family, and colleagues. In another example, users may compose video-clips and photographs into a video presentation.
There currently exist software applications that allow a user to edit and organize one or more images into an organized format for presentation. For example, some applications allow a user to create slideshows, albums or photo books from digital images from the user's personal media library.
Some applications assist the user in the manual creation of digital slideshows, albums or photo books. Generally, these applications provide the user with a straightforward means of accomplishing the basic task of image organization and slide/page layout. For example, a user may be able to manually configure most, if not all, aspects of the slideshow or photo book, such as selecting suitable images, selecting the desired layout and theme for each slide/page, selecting specific images for each slide/page, adding text within any desired slide/page and rearrange the images and text within each slide or page. Although these applications allow a user to create and configure a slideshow or photo book to their exact specifications, manual creation of the slideshow or photo book may be difficult and may generally require a large amount of user time and interaction. Therefore, the task is less likely to be completed due to the significant amount of time and effort required to accomplish it.
Some applications offer automated functions for assisting the user in the creation of slideshows or photo books with minimal input from the user. Some automated applications still allow a user to manually select images to include in certain slides/pages and annotate the images by entering text, or other data, describing the images. Furthermore, some automated applications may only require a user to select a collection from which desired images are to be retrieved, and the application will automatically select and format images to include in the slideshow or photo book. One common approach to automated layout is the use of templates. In this approach, predefined layouts with empty areas are filled in with user images. Thus, the size, placement, rotation, and framing of the images on the page are predetermined. A user merely needs to specify which images should be placed in which empty area to complete a slide/page. Templates may provide a straightforward and working solution to the layout problem. However, this solution is somewhat limiting as the choice of layouts is bounded by the collection of available templates. Generally, variation in page layout design can only be achieved by the addition of new templates.
Although automated applications generally provide a simplified means of creating a slideshow or photo book with minimal input from the user, automated applications have some associated drawbacks. For example, one challenge in automated generation of slide/page layouts is allowing a level of creativity in the layouts produced. In particular, automated applications are limited in that such applications do not allow user input during creation of certain aspects of the slideshow or photo book, thus resulting in a slideshow or photo book that fails to meet a user's desired configuration or design and may further require user editing. Additionally, automated creation of slideshows and photo books may not provide users with a sense of accomplishment based on the fact that the slideshow or photo book is not tailored to the user's desired configuration and layout.


A pouring ladle (12) includes a horizontal chamber (22) having an inlet (24) at one end thereof for admitting molten metal into the chamber (22) and a bottom-poured nozzle (28) at an opposite end for discharging the metal into an underlying mold (30). A coreless induction heater (56) surrounds the chamber (22) for heating metal as it flows from the inlet (24) to the outlet nozzle (28). The induction heater (56) may be operated simultaneously with the pouring of metal and be used to pour treated ductile iron without plugging the inductor (56).

1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to a metal pouring apparatus and more particularly to such apparatus equipped with an induction heater.
2. Prior Art
Automated pouring devices have been used for many years to produce metal castings. Such devices typically include a pouring vessel having an inlet for admitting molten metal into a main holding chamber within the vessel and a bottom nozzle outlet for discharging the metal into underlying casting molds. Such vessels are commonly equipped with an automated stopper rod mechanism for regulating the discharge of metal from the nozzle.
The earliest of these pouring vessels was unheated. Consequently, when the metal temperature fell below a minimum pouring temperature, the metal in the ladle had to be pigged or else scrap castings would be produced.
Subsequent pouring vessels were equipped with a cored channel induction heater. The metal in this vessel is heated by withdrawing it from the vessel's main chamber, passing the metal through the induction heated channel for heating and then back into the main chamber for mixture with the remaining metal in the vessel. While this type of heated pouring vessel performs well when pouring most types of ferrous metals, including gray and malleable iron, it is not well suited for pouring magnesium-treated ductile iron, since MgO deposits quickly plug the channel inductor and render it useless. There have been recent efforts by those skilled in the metal pouring industry to overcome the plugging problem, however, most producers of cast ductile iron products have reverted to using unheated pouring vessels.
Various other induction heating arrangements have been proposed as alternatives to channel inductors. One such alternative utilizes a coreless induction coil extending vertically about a bottom poured holding vessel having a vertical holding chamber. This vessel, however, is open at the top to the atmosphere and is unsuitable for pouring treated ductile iron since atmospheric exposure depletes the magnesium content of the iron. A similar known pouring system uses the same type of vertical pouring vessel but is fitted with a horizontal coreless inductor extending from a side of vessel and forming an auxiliary horizontal heating chamber into which metal is withdrawn from the main chamber of the vessel for heating before being returned to the main chamber. This vessel is also open to the atmosphere at the top and as such is not suitable for pouring treated ductile iron. Furthermore, this system is not known to be successful in pouring treated ductile iron since the inductor tends to plug with deposits, like the cored induction heater. Its known usage has been limited to nonferrous applications.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,692 to Wilford et al., granted Oct. 15, 1991, discloses still another alternative whereby a horizontal flow-through bottom poured vessel is equipped with a vertical tower coupled to a vacuum for withdrawing molten metal from the vessel upwardly into the tower to establish a metal pressure head. Vertically extending coreless induction coils surround the tower for heating the metal during downtimes or pour stoppages. This type of induction heater, however, detracts from the inherent flow-through pouring capability of the vessel by requiring metal to be withdrawn from the vessel for heating prior to pouring. Metal thus can not be heated simultaneously with the pouring of the metal.
Coreless induction heaters have found many applications in various industries, including incorporation in an induction melting furnace developed previously by William J. Duca, one of the inventors herein, forming the subject matter of U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,625, granted Aug. 31, 1971. This furnace includes a U-shaped chamber and a surrounding coreless induction heating coil for melting and heating the metal as it flows through the chamber. Such a furnace, however, is limited to melting and heating metal and is not suited for dispensing metal into molds.
In the metal casting industry, melting and pouring are considered and treated as separate, nonanalogous arts. This is evidenced by the fact that for over 20 years nobody in either industry, including Duca himself, thought to use an induction heater like that disclosed in the Duca '625 patent in combination with a pouring vessel as a means of possibly overcoming the plugging problems associated with pouring treated ductile iron through an induction heated vessel. In fact, during this 20 year time period, much of Duca's efforts involved redesigning existing channel-type inductors to accommodate treated ductile iron.
It was not until the joint inventors herein collaborated that they discovered using an induction heater of the type previously developed by Duca for melting furnace applications in combination with a modified existing flow-through pouring vessel as a means of solving the plugging problems associated with pouring treated ductile iron without interfering with the continuous pouring cycle of the vessel.

Induction heated metal pouring apparatus


A fishing jig lure has a fish hook mounted on a glass body with an epoxy resin. Light emitting particulates mixed with the epoxy resin emit visible light when subjected to an external light source.

A conventional fishing jig head has a fish hook joined to a lead head. The lead head surrounds the shank of the fish hook adjacent the eye. The head is coated with colored paint. Jigs are bottom fish lures which snag on rocks, water plants and roots. They detach from the fish line and settle on the bottom of the lake or river beds. Lead heads that remain in the lake and river beds are not environmentally compatible with wild water birds, such as ducks, geese and loons. A number of states have prohibited use of lead fishing weights and lures.
Examples of fishing lures are disclosed in the following U.S. patents.
Comisky in U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,783 discloses a fishing jig having a glass head connected to the shank of a fish hook. The head has a spherical shape with a longitudinal groove accommodating a section of the shank of the fish hook. A glue-like material including adhesive resins located in the groove secure the fish hook to the head.
Hirahara et al in U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,239 disclose a soft bait fishing lure having glass materials mixed in a lower section of the body of the lure. The glass materials reflect light.
Ellig in U.S. Pat. No. 6,318,016 describes and shows a luminous fishing lure. The lure has elongated fiber optics located in grooves in opposite sides of the body of the lure. The fiber optics are exposed to receive energy from material or artificial light sources. The forward ends of the fibers form a bulbous lens that focus the light to simulate eyes of a fish.


A method of preventing and/or delaying the onset of Alzheimer's disease in an animal comprises administering to the animal a phytosterol composition. A composition useful for preventing and/or delaying the onset of Alzheimer's disease in an animal comprises a phytosterol composition.

Alzheimer's disease ("AD") is an immutably progressing dementing disorder. It's major pathologic hallmark is the development of cytoskeletal changes in a few susceptible neuronal cells. These changes do not occur inevitably with advancing age, but once the disease has begun, spontaneous recovery or remissions are not observed.
The initial cortical changes, described further below, develop in poorly myelinated transentorhinal region of the medial temporal lobe. The destructive process then follows a predictable pattern as it extends into other cortical areas. Location of the tangle-bearing neurons and the severity of the changes allow the distinction of six stages in disease progression from stages I-II which are clinically silent to stages V-VI which mark fully developed AD. A relatively small number of patients display particularly early changes, indicating that advanced age is not a prerequisite for the evolution of the lesions. Accordingly AD is thus an age-related but not an age-dependent disease.
There are a number of current theories as to the cause and mechanism of AD progression, many associated with genetic defects. A very small percentage of AD patients have a defect on chromosome 21 relating to the gene for the production of amyloid precursor protein ("APP"). APP is a large protein involved in cell growth and repair, which, when cleaved into the small indigestible protein beta-amyloid ("B-A"), can accumulate in plaques within the brain.
Further interesting studies have focused on the relationship between late-onset familial AD and a polymorphic gene on chromosome 19 encoding for apolipoprotein-E ("apo-E"), a 34,000 molecular weight protein involved in movement of cholesterol and other lipids in and out of cells throughout the body. The role of apo-E in lipid transport and metabolism is critical and is discussed further below. The neurobiological role of apo-E has been borne from a number of observations over the years. Firstly, apo-E mRNA is abundant in the brain, where it is synthesized and secreted primarily by astrocytes (Elshourbagy et al. 1985). Secondly, apo-E containing lipoproteins are found in the cerebrospinal fluid and appear to play a major role in lipid transport in the central nervous system (Pitas et al. 1987). Thirdly, apo-E plus a source of cholesterol promotes marked neurite extension in dorsal root ganglion cells in culture (Handelmann et al. 1992). Fourthly, apo-E levels dramatically increase after peripheral nerve injury (Muller et al. 1985). Accordingly, apo-E appears to participate both in the scavenging of lipids generated after axon degeneration and in the redistribution of these lipids to sprouting neurites for axon regeneration and later to Schwann cells for remyelination of the new axons (Boyles et al. 1989).
The implication of a role for apo-E, which exists in three different isoforms encoded by three separate allelles (E-2, E-3, E-4) that are inherited in a co-dominant fashion at a single genetic locus, in the pathogenesis of AD specifically stems from the association of apo-E with the two characteristic neuropathologic lesions of AD-extracellular neuritic plaques (representing deposits of B-A) and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (representing filaments of a microtubule-associated protein called tau). For a review, please refer to Weisgraber et al. 1994).
In particular, there has been found a genetic association between the apo-E4 isoform and AD. E4 homozygous individuals display a greater risk of developing AD than E4 heterozygotes, who in turn, display a greater risk than individuals with no E4 allelle. Although the precise mechanism by which this correlation exists remains elusive, researchers have provided some possible answers. It may involve a biological effect of the protein produced by this allelle, analogous to manner by which the decrease in the avidity of the binding of apo-E2 to the LDL receptor results in an increase in plasma cholesterol levels in E2 homozygotes. Strittmatter et al (1993) demonstrated that apo-E4 binds more effectively to the B-A peptide leading to the enhanced formation of senile plaques as compared to other two isoforms and have thereby proposed that it is not the presence of apo-E4, but the lack of the other apo-E isoforms that results in the increased predisposition to AD (Strittmatter et al. 1994a),
Similarly, with respect to the isoform-specific interaction of apo-E with tau protein, whose phosphorylated forms are the major constituent of neurofibrillary tangles, apo-E3 but not E4 has been shown to bind with tau with high avidity (Strittmatter et al. 1994a). This differential effect has led to the hypothesis that the apo-E3 normally allows tau protein to stabilize microtubules and that its decrease or absence in patients with one or two apo-E4 allelles leads to a dissociation of tau from microtubules and its enhanced phosphorylation and polymerization into the pathological paired helical filaments (Strittmatter et al. 1994b).
Despite the enormous research in the area of AD progression, treatments are scarce and methods of prevention and/or delaying the onset of this debilitating illness are virtually non-existent.
It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate the above disadvantages.

Method of preventing and delaying onset of Alzheimer's disease and composition therefor


A windshield wiper includes a wiper arm, which is driven via a drive shaft and to which a wiper blade is pivotably connected, in which at least one spray nozzle (10) is disposed on a pivotable part (14), the spray nozzle being composed of a plurality of parts and its housing (16) communicating disconnectably via a water line (18) to a water pump (118). In the housing (16) or in a nozzle body (12) communicating with it, a continuous water conduit (20) connected to the water line (18) is provided, from which a connecting conduit (22) branches off that leads to a spray conduit (24) that is approximately parallel to the water conduit (20) and has a nozzle opening (26), the water conduit (20) being closed on its free end (38).

The invention is relates generally to a windshield wiper having a wiper arm, which is driven via a drive shaft and to which a wiper blade is pivotably connected.
Known windshield wipers have a wiper arm, which is made up of a fastening element and a hinge element, which is pivotably connected to it via a swivel joint and has a wiper rod. A hooklike end of the wiper rod engages a suspension box of a wiper blade, which is formed by two side cheeks of a middle bracket and includes a hinge bolt. The hinge thus formed guides the wiper blade over the vehicle window during the swiveling motion. The wiper blade has what is as a rule a multi-member support bracket system, with subordinate brackets pivotably connected to the middle bracket, at least some of which subordinate brackets, with claws on their ends, retain a wiper strip by its head strip. The multi-member support bracket system and spring rails placed in the head strip make it possible during wiping for the wiper strip to adapt, with a uniform contact pressure, to a curved windshield. To that end, a tension spring prestresses the swivel joint. The wiper arm is secured with its fastening element on a drive shaft and is driven by it in the wiping motion. Such windshield wipers are known, for instance from German Patent Disclosure DE 37 44 237 A1. In simple versions, subordinate brackets, also known as intermediate brackets and claw brackets, can be dispensed with. In the simplest case, the middle bracket itself has claws, with which it retains the wiper strip.
Windshield washing systems for vehicles are as a rule used in conjunction with windshield wipers. They are actuated if the moisture from precipitation does not suffice to clean the vehicle window. They include a water container, spray nozzles, and a pump which pumps water, sometimes admixed with cleaning and antifreeze agents, under pressure out of the water container to the spray nozzles. As a rule, the spray nozzles are secured to some part of a vehicle body, such as a hood, window frame, or the like. To prevent the spray nozzles from freezing at temperatures below the freezing point, heating elements are integrated into the spray nozzles and communicate with a power supply via plugs located on the outside. The heating elements require relatively great effort and expense for producing the spray nozzles and great effort and expense for assembly for laying the electric lines and contacting the plugs. Furthermore, the highly volatile antifreeze agents rapidly evaporate, and the nozzle openings become plugged with the residues.
It is already known to secure spray nozzles as additional components on the wiper blade and thus to distribute the spraying water over the wiping region directly with a short stream length. Since the spraying water is concentrated on a region in the vicinity of the wiper blade and is wiped off again in the briefest time by the wiping motion, the view is hindered only briefly by the spraying water applied. A disadvantage of such systems is that the effects of weather, especially hail and extreme sunshine, have a major effect on the flexible parts of this arrangement, which are required for spanning the jointed regions between the wiper arm and the wiper blade. The spray nozzles and water lines that are exposed to the relative wind also freeze up quickly at temperatures below the freezing point, unless enough antifreeze is added to the water. As a rule, thawing the frozen water lines and spray nozzles again can be done only with major effort.
In an earlier German patent application, DE 198 15 171.3, a wiper arm is described, on whose hinge element, or on a wiper rod integrally joined to the hinge element, spray nozzles are disposed. These nozzles have a nozzle body, which is accommodated in a bulge of the hinge element with an opening for the spray stream, or is clipped, protruding downward, in a lateral mount on the wiper rod. It is also possible for two nozzle bodies to be provided, which are joined together by a rigid or flexible connecting piece. The nozzle bodies can be replaced easily and are well protected against environmental factors.
Expediently, the spray nozzle has an outward-opening check valve, which prevents the water line from running empty if the washer system goes unused for relatively long periods, or if water escapes during wiping operation without any washing function, especially at high wiping frequencies and/or with stroke-controlled wiper arms. Furthermore, washing water and antifreeze is prevented from evaporating in the region of the spray nozzle, especially in the case of a heated spray nozzle, and narrowing or plugging up the spray nozzle with deposits.
A heater which is passed in the form of a wire through a water supply lead and is embodied as a heating coil in the nozzle body is integrated with the wiper system. The heater fits only one type of windshield wipers, so that a large number of different heating devices must be kept in stock. Furthermore, there are simple versions in which the nozzle bodies are integrally joined together and produced as a plastic injection-molded part. By means of the nozzle bodies distributed on the wiper arm, the spraying water is well distributed over the wiper region, especially if a spray stream is aimed at a lower region directly in front of the wiper blade. Since short stream lengths result from this arrangement, even at relatively high vehicle speed the relative wind can have only little effect on the distribution of spraying water.


A free fall stroker for raising and dropping a drop hammer for soils bearing testing or the like includes a housing through which a drop hammer cable extends from one side to the bottom thereof. A pair of guide pulleys guide the cable through the housing and a movable sheave operates within a parallelogram-shaped track with four legs, and is attached to a telescoping arm of a hydraulic stroking cylinder. When the arm is retracted, the sheave is moved in a first leg of the track and engages the cable, pulling it between the guide pulleys. When the sheave reaches the end of the first leg, it moves in a second leg in a second direction away from the guide pulleys. This causes the cable to be released, thus dropping the drop hammer and letting it free fall. Extension of the telescoping arm then returns the sheave to the point of origin via the third and fourth legs of the track. A winch is provided on top of the housing to adjust the cable length and a stroke counter counts the number of hammer strokes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a free fall stroker for raising and releasing a drop hammer attached to a cable, and in particular to a compact, hydraulically driven, horizontally movable pulley assembly for engaging, raising and releasing a cable attached to the hammer for precisely controlling the hammer movement in a soil testing apparatus.
2. Description Of the Related Art
An established procedure for testing soils density and composition involves taking a core sample every five feet for analysis. To accomplish this, first a drilling rig drills a five foot deep hole using a hollow bore auger. A core sampler, which comprises a pipe section, which may be 16", 24" or 30" long and which has a 2" outside diameter and a 1.5" inside diameter and an attached 140 lb. drop hammer which is dropped 30". The density of the soil being tested is determined based upon the number of drop strokes required to drive the sampler a set distance into the soil. In order to operate within the drilled holes, the weights used generally take the form of a cylindrical drop hammer. For accurate testing, the drop length must be precisely controlled.
Typical prior art drop hammers include a hammer head attached to a cable which is reeled onto a winch spool. Once the hammer is raised to the desired height, the spool is released, thus dropping the hammer.
In such systems, a number of problems can occur. For example, the cable can bind as it is wound onto the winch spool, which prevents the hammer from dropping when the spool is released. Furthermore, winch release mechanisms are not always reliable, can inadvertently trip, and tend to slow the descent of the hammer due to friction within the spool itself. While these problems are not necessarily critical in a drop hammer used for pile driving or chiseling, for example, they are completely unacceptable in a soil testing apparatus which requires precise control.
It is clear then, that an improved apparatus and method for raising and releasing a drop hammer is needed. Such an apparatus should be compact and inexpensive, extremely reliable and rugged, should permit the drop hammer to drop in a virtual free fall, with little or no retarding action due to friction within the apparatus, and should allow repeated identical hammer drops to achieve precise soil bearing capacity measurements.


An outboard motor comprises an engine disposed inside an outer cover, an intake unit provided for the engine and including a throttle body disposed in a vicinity of a crankcase of the engine and an intake manifold disposed on a side of the engine so as to extend from the throttle body, the intake manifold having a plurality of intake pipes extending towards intake ports formed in a cylinder head of the engine, and a fuel injectors disposed in substantially intermediate portions of the respective intake pipes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates an outboard motor especially having an improved structure of an intake system and a fuel supply system for the outboard motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A certain type of an engine, i.e., internal combustion engine, utilizes a carburetor as a device for supplying a fuel-air mixture into the internal combustion engine. The carburetor is designed to achieve the maximum performance through a combination of several jets in order to meet the requirements in performance and operation of the engine. Such a carburetor is therefore inappropriate for adaptation to variation of driving conditions of the engine and surroundings, according to circumstances.
Therefore, there have recently been widely used internal combustion engines provided with a fuel injection device in place of the carburetor. The fuel injection device directly injects fuel through a fuel injector into an intake passage of the engine in an amount. This amount is judged as the most appropriate amount required currently, based on a correction value therefor, which is determined by obtaining internal and external information on the engine with the use of various sensors, and then processing the thus obtained information by a computer. Such a fuel injection device can contribute an improvement of a combustion efficiency and capacity of the engine and can achieve a reduced fuel-consumption due to the injection of the fuel in the minimum amount as required, thus providing many advantageous effects.
With respect to an example of arrangement of the fuel injectors in the engine for an outboard motor, which is provided with the fuel injection device, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. HEI 8-310487 discloses the fuel injectors, which are mounted on a connection of an intake manifold to a cylinder head of the engine so as to inject fuel to an intake port formed in the cylinder head.
The engine for an outboard motor is surrounded with a cowl, and an intake operation is carried out within the cowl so as not to suck water during the intake operation.
According to the above-described setting position of the fuel injectors and the injection direction of fuel, there is a short distance between the fuel injector and the combustion chamber formed in the cylinder head, and it takes merely a short period of time for the injected fuel to reach the combustion chamber, with the result that the fuel is sucked into the combustion chambers in a completely atomized state (i.e., a fully mixed state).
As a result, a HC (hydrocarbon) content in an exhaust gas increases, and the fuel, which has still been kept in a liquid state, passes through a gap around a piston ring to enter a crankcase, thus leading to declination in concentration of engine oil and being inconvenient or disadvantageous.
Especially, the internal combustion engine for an outboard motor has a cooling system in which cooling water is taken from the outside the engine to cool the same, thus leading to a relatively low temperature of the cooling water. In addition, a low speed driving operation such as a trawling operation or an idling operation of the engine is carried out with high frequency, thus leading to a relatively low temperature of the engine itself. These characteristics of the internal combustion engine for an outboard motor cause an easy occurrence of the inconveniences or disadvantages mentioned above.
On the other hand, the temperature of air existing in the cowl, with which the internal combustion engine is surrounded, increases by heat of the engine, and the thus heated air is taken into the engine. In these circumstances, increase in temperature of the air may lead to reduction of intake efficiency and deterioration of engine capacity.


A recess portion in a bowl-like shape is formed at the center of a silicon substrate, and plural cathodes are formed in a matrix with a predetermined distance therebetween on the bottom of the recess portion. Around each cathode on the silicon substrate, a withdrawn electrode is formed with an insulating film disposed therebelow. A first wire layer connected with the withdrawn electrode at one end extends along a slant side face of the recess portion and on the top face of a protrusion portion. A sealing cover in the shape of a flat plate of a transparent glass plate or the like is integrated with the silicon substrate with a circular sealing material disposed therebetween. A space formed among the silicon substrate, the circular sealing material and the sealing cover is retained to be vacuated.

The present invention relates to a field-emission electron source having prospective applications to an electron-beam-induced laser, a flat solid display device and a ultra-high-speed extremely small vacuum element. More particularly, it relates to a vacuum-sealed field-emission electron source, for use in a compact flat display device, in which a space formed between a semiconductor substrate and a sealing cover is retained to be vacuated, and a method of manufacturing the vacuum-sealed field-emission electron source.
In the field of a field-emission electron source, since development of a semiconductor micro-fabrication technology has enabled the formation of a refined cathode, the technology of vacuum microelectronics has been more and more vigorously developing.
In order to realize a high-performance electron source operable at a lower driving voltage, various attempts have been made to decrease the diameter of the opening of a withdrawn electrode and to manufacture a sharply pointed cathode by utilizing a semiconductor substrate and adopting the LSI technology.
In considering the application of an electron source to a flat display device, it is significant to attain the structure of a vacuum vessel for holding a cathode array portion in a highly vacuum atmosphere capable of electron emission and also to attain a definite vacuum sealing technique.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a conventional vacuum-sealed field-emission electron source disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 6-342633. As is shown in FIG. 6, an n-type impurity diffused region 101 is formed in a part of a p-type silicon substrate 100, and on the other part of the p-type silicon substrate 100 not bearing the n-type impurity diffused region 101, plurality of cathodes 102 each in the shape of a spine, together corresponding to a cathode array portion, are formed. Around each of the cathodes 102, a withdrawn electrode 104 is formed with an insulating film 103 disposed therebelow. Each withdrawn electrode 104 is electrically connected with the n-type impurity diffused region 101 through a wire layer 105.
Above the silicon substrate 100, a sealing cover 110 having a recess portion 110a at the center and made from a transparent and insulating material such as glass is provided. A peripheral portion 110b of the sealing cover 110 is positioned substantially at the center of the n-type impurity diffused region 101 of the silicon substrate 100. On the bottom of the recess portion 110a of the sealing cover 110, an anode 111 of a transparent conductive material for converging electrons emitted by the cathodes 102 is disposed. Below the anode 111 is formed a fluorescent thin film not shown.
At the outer side on the n-type impurity diffused region 101 of the silicon substrate 100, an outer electrode connection terminal 106 is provided. The outer electrode connection terminal 106 is electrically connected with the wire layer 105 through the n-type impurity diffused region 101.
In this conventional vacuum-sealed field-emission electron source, the withdrawn electrode 104 is electrically connected with the external electrode connection terminal 106 through the wire layer 105 and the n-type impurity diffused region 101 formed in the silicon substrate 100. Therefore, there is no need to form a wire layer on a portion of the silicon substrate 100 opposing the peripheral portion 110b of the sealing cover 110. As a result, no step is formed by a wire on the portion of the silicon substrate 100 opposing the peripheral portion 110b of the sealing cover 110. Accordingly, this field-emission electron source is good at airtightness between the silicon substrate 100 and the sealing cover 110.
In the vacuum-sealed field-emission electron source, under application of a bias voltage of, for example, approximately 60 V to the withdrawn electrode 104, a control voltage of approximately .+-.10 V is applied to the withdrawn electrode 104, so as to control the on/off operation of the electron emission from the cathodes 102. Specifically, it is necessary to apply the control voltages generally having a potential difference of several tens volts, for example, approximately 20 V, to the withdrawn electrode 104. Also, there is a pn junction in the interface between the p-type silicon substrate 100 and the n-type impurity diffused region 101, and the pn junction has a stray capacitance depending upon a junction capacitance. In order to electrically connect the external electrode connection terminal 106 with the wire layer 105 through the n-type impurity diffused region 101, the area of the n-type impurity diffused region 101 is unavoidably enlarged, resulting in increasing the stray capacitance of the pn junction.
As power consumption is in proportion to a product of an applied control voltage and a stray capacitance, in order to control the on/off operation of the electron emission from the cathodes 102, the power consumption is unavoidably increased for the aforementioned reason.
Furthermore, when an impurity is ununiformly diffused in forming the n-type impurity diffused region 101, a junction defect is caused in the pn junction under application of a high voltage. Therefore, the characteristic of the resultant field-emission electron source can be disadvantageously degraded in its reliability.
Moreover, in the conventional vacuum-sealed field-emission electron source, it is necessary to converge the electrons emitted by the cathodes 102 onto the anode 111 through the fluorescent thin film under application of a voltage of 100 V or more to the anode 111. However, when the field-emission electron source is to be applied to a small and refined display panel, in view of the pitch between wire layers, it is very difficult to take the electrons converged onto the anode 111 out of the sealing cover 110 through the wire layers. This problem will now be described in detail.
FIG. 7 shows a circuit configuration for line control in a matrix display panel. In FIG. 7, a reference numeral 130 denotes the matrix display panel, a reference numeral 131 denotes an X line controller for controlling lines in the X direction, a reference numeral 132 denotes a Y line controller for controlling lines in the Y direction, X.sub.1, X.sub.2, X.sub.3, . . . and X.sub.n respectively indicate wires extending in the X direction controlled by the X line controller 131, and Y.sub.1, Y.sub.2, Y.sub.3, . . . and Y.sub.n respectively indicate wires extending in the Y direction controlled by the Y line controller 132.
For example, in the case of realizing a display of the VGA standard with a panel size of 1 inch or less, the pitches between the wires in the X direction and between those in the Y direction are both 30 .mu.m or less, and hence, a very refined wiring technique is required. According to the current semiconductor processing technology, it is possible to form wires with such a refined pitch on a flat plane but is difficult to form them on a solid structure. Accordingly, in the aforementioned conventional vacuum-sealed field-emission electron source, it is difficult to form the wires with a refined pitch extending from the anode 111 so as to extend windingly along the bottom and the side face of the recess portion 110a of the sealing cover 110 and to pass between the n-type impurity diffused regions 101. Also, the switching operation of the anode 111 requires anode wires in plural layers, but it is very difficult to form the plural wire layers along the bottom and the side face of the recess 110a of the sealing cover 110.
Although it is possible to consider a special wire configuration, for example, in which the sealing cover 110 is provided with through holes for the connection of the wires extending from the anode 111 with the outside of the sealing cover 110, other problems such as an increased number of manufacturing procedures and an increased manufacturing cost can occur when such a special configuration is adopted.

Vacuum-sealed field-emission electron source and method of manufacturing the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An anchor bolt for an adhesive anchor or the like that can be caused to exert substantial tensile strength at a relatively shallow embedding depth. An anchor bolt for an adhesive anchor that is fixed via adhesive to an anchor hole formed in a fixed body includes: a head part that is inserted into a hole back part of the anchor hole; a shank part that is continuous with the head part and formed to have a diameter smaller than the diameter of the head part; and a sleeve part into which the shank part is inserted, the sleeve part extending from an opening part to the hole back part of the anchor hole and having a tip end thereof abutted onto the head part.

Conventionally, a known adhesive anchor is of a type including a chemical anchor rod having an indicator to indicate an embedding depth in its rod body and adhesive filled in the gap between the rod body and the inner wall of an embedding hole (see Patent Document 1).
The chemical anchor rod includes the rod body of a full thread inserted into the embedding hole bored in a base material, and the head part of an exposed portion of the rod body is provided with a fastening end having a polygonal shape in a plan view, the maximum length of the fastening end being the same as the length of the diameter of the rod body at most. Further, the indicator to indicate an embedding depth is cut into the barrel part of the rod body over the outer periphery of the rod body. By adapting a hammer drill or the like to the fastening end, it becomes possible to easily embed the rod body in the embedding hole and embed the rod body in the embedding hole at a proper embedding depth with the indicator as a guideline.
[Patent Document 1] JP-U-5-66103

Anchor bolt for adhesive anchor, adhesive anchor, and method for constructing adhesive anchor


A system and method for dynamically updating service information from a service provider to a data terminal in an access point network wherein an access point requests service information from a local server; in response, the access point receives service information from the local server. Subsequently, the access point maps the service information to a link-level communication Service Discovery Protocol (SDP). The access point then sends the mapped service information to a data terminal.

In a typical access point network, when a user of a mobile data terminal wants to use a network service such as a network printer via his data terminal, it is necessary for him to first install a driver corresponding to the service onto the data terminal. In addition, the user must detect information related to the service such as an IP address before being able to use the service. These time consuming configuration processes are typically done manually by the user or by a network administrator. Likewise, in dynamic networks where services are constantly being added and removed, a network administrator must be employed to maintain and reconfigure the network. As a result, a user must wait until the network is reconfigured before he can take advantage of newly offered network services.
Recently, various IP-level service discovery protocols (SDPs) have been developed that enable users to obtain access to network services automatically without requiring the user or network administrator to install a driver and search for the IP address of the desired service. Examples of such SDPs include Service Location Protocol (SLP) by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), Bluetooth SDP by Bluetooth SIG, JINI by SUN Microsystems, Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) by Microsoft, or Salutation by Salutation Consortium. Although these SDPs may offer some kind of automatic service updates, they are nevertheless incompatible with each other, absent additional configuration by a network administrator or a user, and are not capable of providing service information to a wireless data terminal user communicating in a wireless short range access point network.
Thus, there is a need for a mechanism that enables IP-level SDPs to communicate with one other and permits wireless data terminal users to obtain access to network services automatically, without requiring any additional network configuration.

Automatic and dynamic service information delivery from service providers to data terminals in an access point network


A control device that includes an electronic control unit that is configured to perform, when specific control that causes a change in a state of a hydraulic circuit in the hydraulic control device that involves an increase in hydraulic pressure at the discharge port is performed in a state in which a rotational speed of the electric motor is a first rotational speed, torque increase control that controls drive of the electric motor such that torque of the electric motor starts to increase before hydraulic pressure at the discharge port increases by the specific control.

The present disclosure relates to a control device whose control target is an oil supply device including a motor-driven oil pump and a hydraulic control device.
As a control scheme for an electric motor, there is known a sensorless control scheme performed based on an estimated rotational position or an estimated rotational speed. JP 2004-166436 A discloses a technique for preventing, when such sensorless control scheme is applied to control of an electric motor that drives a motor-driven oil pump, loss of synchronism of the electric motor. Specifically, JP 2004-166436 A describes a problem that when a change in load due to foreign matter, an instrumental error, etc., occurs in a situation in which an electric motor is driven by current feedback control, motor terminal voltage decreases and thus the rotational speed decreases, by which induced voltage decreases and the electric motor loses its synchronism (paragraphs 0006 and 0007). To solve such a problem, a control device described in JP 2004-166436 A is configured such that when the rotational speed of the electric motor has reached lower than or equal to a predetermined rotational speed in a situation in which the electric motor is driven by current feedback control, the control device switches control from the current feedback control to rotational speed control. By performing such switching, even when the rotational speed decreases due to a change in load, a drop in the rotational speed of the electric motor is prevented, enabling to prevent loss of synchronism of the electric motor (paragraphs 0045 and 0046).


An organic laser according to the invention comprises an electrically pumped source of incoherent radiation with organic active region, and further comprises a waveguide structure that receives the incoherent radiation. The core of the waveguide comprises organic material that absorbs the incoherent radiation and emits coherent radiation of longer wavelength. The laser forms a unitary structure, with the source of incoherent radiation being close to the waveguide core, exemplarily less than 10.lambda. from the core, where .lambda. is the laser wavelength. Exemplarily the laser is embodied in a planar waveguide laser, in a microdisk laser, or in a laser comprising a photonic bandgap structure.

A number of conventional solid state lasers are based on inorganic semiconductors (e.g., GaAs) and typically are electrically driven. That is to say, the lasers (generally referred to as diode lasers) utilize recombination of injected electrons and holes in a laser cavity. This necessitates a design which has to meet both electrical and optical requirements. The requirements are relatively easily met in the case of inorganic semiconductors, where high carrier mobility allows utilization of relatively thick layers without too large penalties in terms of voltage drop and ohmic losses. Furthermore, the availability of closely related semiconductor materials with significant difference in refractive index facilitates easy fabrication of planar waveguides or distributed Bragg reflector-based vertical cavity lasers. These favorable properties have led to the rapid evolution of inorganic semiconductor lasers. For background on semiconductor lasers, see for instance, G. P. Agrawal et al., "Long-Wavelength Semiconductor Lasers", Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York 1986.
Despite the widespread use of inorganic semiconductor diode lasers, it would be of interest to have available lasers based on organic materials, since at least some organic materials have properties which could make them suitable as, for instance, gain media in very low threshold lasers. These properties include a Stokes shift between the absorption and emission bands, and the ability to easily realize guest-host systems in which a small volume fraction of the emitting species is embedded in a suitable host. However, while it is possible to realize low threshold organic lasers by optical pumping with radiation from a suitable external source (see, for instance, M. Kuwata-Gonokami et al., Optics Letters, Vol. 20 (20), p. 2093 (1995)), a number of factors have, to the best of our knowledge, so far prevented successful design of an electrically pumped organic laser. On the other hand, electrically pumped lasers generally are more convenient than optically pumped lasers. For instance, electrically pumped semiconductor lasers are generally more compact and easier to modulate than optically pumped semiconductor lasers. Thus, it would be desirable to have available organic lasers that do not require exposure of the laser to externally-created pump radiation.
By "conventional" electrical pumping we mean herein pumping by injection of electrons and holes into a diode structure, with recombination in a substantially undoped active region.
Regarding the use of organic materials in electrically pumped lasers, there are a number of difficulties that would have to be overcome. Among these are the very low carrier mobility in relevant materials, and the present unavailability of suitable combinations of materials with appropriately large refractive index difference and requisite carrier transport properties. These difficulties for instance make the design of a low-loss cavity (a prerequisite for low threshold lasing) a formidable task.


An apparatus comprises a pair of bone attachment devices and a crosslink device for a spinal fixation system or other implant arrangement. The bone attachment devices include a head with socket to receive a spinal rod or other elongate element and the crosslink device includes a pair of bridging members each having an end section for connecting with the bone attachment devices. An interconnection device situated between the bridging members receives the bridging members and allows translational and rotational freedom therebetween while being operable to secure the bridging members in position relative to one another. A pair of engaging members are structured to engage the head of the respective bone attachment device and bear against the respective adjacent end of crosslink device to lock the crosslink and the bone attachment device in a rigid construct are also included.

The present invention relates to a prosthetic device and a manner of using the same, and more particularly, but not exclusively, relates to the interconnection of components to assemble an orthopedic construct for treatment of a spinal deformity.
The use of prosthetic implants to address orthopedic injuries and ailments has become commonplace. In this arena, it is often desired to decrease the invasiveness of the procedures, improve implant integrity, and provide more positive patient outcomes. Some of these implants depend on interconnection between various system components. Unfortunately, current interconnection devices can be limiting in certain applications. Thus, there is a need for additional contributions in this area of technology.

Crosslink interconnection of bone attachment devices


A colorant for ocular lenses represented by the formula (I) defined herein or a colorant for ocular lenses represented by the formula (II) defined herein.

There have been known colored intraocular lenses in which transmission of rays in the blue region of about 400 nm to 500 nm is regulated for relieving retinal light damage or as a countermeasure against cyanopsia. In these colored intraocular lenses, materials for intraocular lenses are colored in yellow, orange, etc. by kneading a yellow colorant, a red colorant, an orange colorant, etc. into hard intraocular lens materials such as PMMA. There is also proposed an invention providing a soft intraocular lens for treating cyanopsia which is obtained by adding a small amount of a colorant to a flexible and soft intraocular lens material to give a colored soft intraocular lens (see, JP-A-7-24052).
Because of having dense molecular structures, hard intraocular lens materials such as PMMA scarcely suffer from the elution (bleeding) of the colorants having been kneaded thereinto. In the case of adding a colorant to a soft intraocular lens material to be used in soft intraocular lenses, however, there arises a problem that the colorant would be eluted from the soft intraocular lens material due to the coarse molecular structure thereof.

Colorant for ocular lenses and material for colored ocular lenses using the colorant


Inspection devices include a nozzle portion having at least one opening and a transducer disposed in a rear chamber of a housing. The housing has at least one fluid channel defined in the housing and extending along at least a portion of the rear chamber. The at least one fluid channel is configured to supply a fluid into a forward chamber of the housing proximate the transducer. Related methods include operating an inspection device.

Nondestructive inspection (NDI) of structures involves thoroughly examining a structure without harming the structure or requiring significant disassembly of the structure. Nondestructive inspection is typically preferred to avoid the potential for damaging the structure. Nondestructive inspection is advantageous for many applications in which a thorough inspection of the exterior and/or interior of a structure is required. For example, non-destructive inspection is commonly used in the aircraft industry to inspect aircraft structures for any type of internal or external damage to, or flaws in, the structure. Inspection may be performed during manufacturing of a structure and/or once a structure is in service. For example, inspection may be required to validate the integrity and fitness of a structure for continued fitness for use in subsequent manufacturing and/or assembly processes, as well as for future ongoing use in service, either periodically or subsequent to an event potentially causing damage to the structure.
Among the structures that are routinely nondestructively tested are composite structures, such as composite sandwich structures and other adhesive bonded panels and assemblies. In particular, composite structures are commonly used throughout the aircraft industry because of the engineering qualities, design flexibility and low weight of composite structures, such as the stiffness-to-weight ratio of a composite sandwich structure. It is frequently desirable to inspect composite structures to identify any flaws, such as cracks, voids or porosity, which could adversely affect the performance of the composite structure. For example, typical flaws in composite materials or composite sandwich structures, which are generally made of one or more layers of lightweight honeycomb or foam core material with composite or metal skins bonded to each side of the core, may include defects in bonds that occur at the interfaces between layers of the composite materials or between the core and the composite skins.
Various types of sensors may be used to perform nondestructive inspection. One or more sensors may be moved over or along the portion of the structure to be examined, and receive data regarding the structure. For example, a pulse-echo, through-transmission, or shear wave sensor may be used to obtain ultrasonic data regarding the structure, such as for thickness gauging, detection of laminar defects and porosity, and/or crack detection in the structure. Resonance, pulse echo, or mechanical impedance sensors may be used to provide indications of voids or porosity, such as in adhesive bond lines of the structure. High resolution inspection of aircraft structure are commonly performed using semi-automated ultrasonic testing (UT) to provide a plan view image of the part or structure under inspection. While solid laminates may be inspected using one-sided pulse echo ultrasonic testing, composite sandwich structures typically require through-transmission ultrasonic testing to achieve high resolution inspection. In through-transmission ultrasonic inspection, ultrasonic sensors such as transducers, or a transducer and an associated receiver sensor, are positioned in mutually facing relationship, contacting opposite sides of the structure to be inspected such as opposite surfaces of a composite material. An ultrasonic signal is transmitted by at least one of the transducers, propagated through the structure, and received by the other transducer or receiver sensor.
Ultrasonic testing generally requires a coupling material (e.g., a fluid, such as water) to aid transmission of the ultrasonic energy to the test specimen because the acoustic impedance mismatch between air and solids (i.e., the test specimen) is unacceptably large. This mismatch causes reflection of the sound waves and a loss in scan quality if a coupling material is not used. In order to effectively pass the ultrasonic signal to the structure to be inspected, the coupling material is generally required to be uniform to successfully pass the signal through the coupling material without altering the signal. For example, when a flowing fluid, such as water, is utilized as a coupling material, flow of the fluid should be in a substantially laminar regime in order to effectively pass the ultrasonic signal to the structure to be inspected without substantially altering the ultrasonic signal.
Furthermore, ultrasonic testing may be limited in terms of inspection speed as many sensors scan only one point or one small area at a time. In an ultrasonic inspection involving scanning only one point or one small area at a time, the amount of time and resources spent to inspect relatively larger structures, such as aircraft structures, may be undesirable or impractical.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Inspection devices and related systems and methods


Channel assignment is performed by utilizing a base station controller (BSC) or a base station depending upon a mobile unit's RF environment and/or the type of call being made. By performing call setup in this manner, mobiles that access with no soft handoff requirement (approximately 50% of mobile in IS-2000 systems) will have faster setup times.

Push-to-talk (PTT) services are becoming more popular with cellular consumers. Standard PTT services utilize an individual's cellular telephone to place a call to another cellular telephone by pressing a single button. For such a walkie-talkie like feature to be accepted by consumers, the time between when an individual pushes the button, and when the call is connected, must be small. Therefore, it becomes essential to have a fast call setup time for cellular systems offering PTT services. Current technology in a communication system employing the Code Division, Multiple Access (CDMA) system protocol requires around 600 milliseconds for a PTT call to be set up. Reducing this time is desirable. Therefore a need exists for a method and apparatus for call setup that minimizes the amount of time necessary to establish the call.


A loom having an optical weft detector which includes a light emitter and a light detector for picking up light reflected by a weft thread in a guide duct formed by blades of the reed, is mounted on the side of the reed which faces away from the guide duct and outside the blades, the detection zone of the light detector being spatially limited to the light reflected by the weft thread in the guide duct.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a loom having a reed which includes a plurality of blades forming a guide duct for a weft thread, and an optical weft detector containing a light emitter and a light detector for picking up light reflected from the weft thread.
2. Description of the Related Art
A loom having a reed which includes a plurality of blades forming a guide duct for a weft thread, and also an optical weft detector, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,284. The light emitter and light detector of the weft detector are mounted in the vicinity of the open side of the substantially U-shaped guide duct. They are affixed to the batten and have a needle-like shape similar to that of accessory blow nozzles, so that they are able to enter the shed jointly with the batten. In this design, the light from the emitter is reflected not only by a weft thread passing through the duct but by the blades forming the guide duct. As a result, it is difficult to detect the incoming weft thread because the amount of light picked up by the light detector also depends on the soiling of the guide duct, and it is especially difficult to detect a weft thread which does not reflect a large amount of light.
Optical weft detectors are also used in the looms disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,716,942, and European patent documents A 137,380 and A 290,706. In these looms, a light emitter and a light detector are mounted on the side of the reed which faces away from the guide duct, outside the blades and offset in height. Light deflecting components such as mirrors or prisms are mounted between the blades to deflect the light beam from the light emitter to the light detector, and the presence of a weft thread is determined when the light beams are interrupted. Such a weft detector suffers from the drawback that thin weft threads can be detected only with great difficulty. Furthermore, this design is disadvantageous in that the light deflecting means are mounted between the blades of the reed and therefore may damage the reed, and also in that it is cumbersome to weave narrow or wide cloths on the same loom because the light deflecting means must be reassembled each time the width is changed. Furthermore, there is a danger that, in the case of air jet looms, these light guides will interfere with the air flow in the guide duct and may lead to weaving defects.


A printing device runs a process that uses resources efficiently and is compatible with configurations having multiple reception units. The printer 11 has a first immediate execution command manager 202 that monitors if an immediate execution command was stored in a first receive buffer 24, and if an immediate execution command was stored, reads and runs the immediate execution command; and a second immediate execution command manager 203 that monitors if an immediate execution command was stored in a second receive buffer 26, and if an immediate execution command was stored, reads and runs the immediate execution command.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a printing device, a control method of a printing device, and a printing system.
2. Related Art
JP-A-H10-312250 describes a printing device (image forming devices) that has multiple reception units (interfaces) and uses a separate processing program for each reception unit to process data received from plural external devices through the plural reception units.
As in the above printing device, there is a need for a device having plural reception units to execute a process compatible with a configuration having multiple reception units and use storage resources and computing resources effectively.

Printing device, control method of a printing device, and printing system


According to one aspect of this invention, there is provided a medical facial mask having intubation port to insert an endotracheal tube; air ventilation port to perform artificial ventilation during intubation procedure; and a display device to display image of a patient's airway, wherein the image is transmitted from an image acquisition device which is inserted in the patient's airway.

When a person's respiration suddenly stops, artificial ventilation may be necessary. One of generally used techniques (practices) is bag mask ventilation, which utilizes Ambu bag and a facial mask. But in order to continue artificial ventilation, endotracheal intubation (or "intubation") is usually necessary. One of common techniques (practices) utilizes direct laryngoscope to visualize patient's airway and insert endotracheal tube ("ETT") into trachea. Another technique (practice) utilizes an ETT with image capture device (image acquisition device) embedded at the tip of the ETT. Medical personnel can easily visualize patient's airway by viewing image (video) displayed on a monitor which is transmitted from the image capture device, such as, for example, a camera.
However, during this intubation process, a patient is in apnea state (i.e., not breathing). And serious brain damage or death could take place if the intubation process is not successfully completed within several minutes.

Facial mask and endotracheal intubation system