Capacitive coupling adapter (40) associated with a shielded electrical connector (12) and including at least one capacitive subassembly (54). Each capacitive subassembly (54) includes a capacitor (46) and a pair of contacts (50,52) engaged with respective electrodes thereof. One contact section (68) of a contact (52) extends from a surface (58) of the adapter housing (42) to engage a shell of a connector (12), and one contact section (64) of a contact (50) extends from an outer surface of housing (42) to engage a cutout peripheral surface (14) of a conductive panel (16) when the adapter/connector (40,12) is mounted in the cutout. The connector shell (22) is thus capacitively coupled to the panel.

Electronic devices such as computers and peripheral equipment generally have at least one onboard electrical connector that serves as an input/output (I/O) port for the device. The I/O connector typically has a shield or shell that is grounded to the chassis of the electronic device for protecting the device against electromagnetic interference and against electrostatic discharge when the device is interconnected with another device by an interconnect cable. However, one of the devices to be connected may be at an elevated ground potential with respect to the other device. Therefore, the devices need to be protected against low frequency current that would flow therebetween due to the unequal ground potential during mating and unmating of the interconnect cable. Each device can be protected by a capacitive coupling between the I/O connector and the chassis of the device that would block passage of low frequency current.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/949,668 filed Oct. 14, 1997 and assigned to the assignee hereof, there is disclosed a capacitive coupling assembly for an electrical connector, where the connector comprises a dielectric housing holding a plurality of contacts and a conductive shell on the housing. The capacitive coupling assembly is electrically coupled to the shell, and comprises a dielectric member that is sandwiched between conductive sheets, the dielectric member holding a plurality of capacitors that are operably connected to effect a capacitance between the conductive sheets, to block low frequency current from electrical potential between the connector shell and a conductive panel to which the connector is to be mounted, at a cutout thereof. One of the conductive sheets engages the panel and first electrodes of the capacitors, and the other conductive sheet engages the connector shell and second electrodes of the capacitors. Both conductive sheets selfsecure to the dielectric member.
It is desired to provide for capacitive coupling of an existing connector with only minimal modifications thereto.

Capactive coupling adapter for an electrical connector


The embodiments of the present invention provide a method for detecting an etching residue and relate to the field of display technologies, with the purpose of detecting an etching residue so as to improve product yield. The method comprises: fitting the boundary of a pattern in a position to be detected by film color difference, and positioning the pattern in a position to be detected, thereby acquiring the pattern in a position to be detected; testing an infrared spectrum of the pattern in a position to be detected, and obtaining an infrared spectrogram; determining whether the residue exists according to the infrared spectrogram. The method of the invention may be applicable for the detection of an etching residue during the process of preparing an array substrate or a cell substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of display technologies, and in particular, to a method for detecting an etching residue.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During the process of producing an array substrate and a cell substrate, a patterning process is an indispensable step. Generally, the patterning process includes coating of photoresist, exposing, developing and etching. During an etching process, poor etch uniformity will often cause a problem of etching residues, wherein the etching residues refer to some residues existing after the patterning process. In other word, the film layer which should be fully removed is not totally removed.
For example, for a bottom gate-type array substrate, the production process may include: forming a gate, a gate insulating layer, an active layer, a source electrode and a drain electrode, and a protective layer and a pixel electrode in turn on a substrate, wherein the active layer may include an amorphous silicon layer and an n+ amorphous silicon layer, and the pixel electrode is connected with the drain by a via hole provided on the protective layer.
When forming the n+ amorphous silicon layer, the n+ amorphous silicon corresponding to the gap between the source electrode and the drain electrode must be fully etched. However, there usually exists a phenomenon that the n+ amorphous silicon is not fully etched after the etching process, which will cause a structure change of the final array substrate produced, thereby producing degraded products.
Additionally, when forming the via hole on the protective layer, the material of the protective layer at the via hole, such as silicon nitride, also must be fully etched. However, there usually also exists a phenomenon that the material of the protective layer at the via hole is not etched fully after the etching process, which will causes a result that the pixel electrode and the drain cannot be connected via the via hole, thereby producing degraded products.

BEIJING BOE DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A flashlight holding and positioning device is provided which includes a base member for independently supporting the device, an arm which pivots with respect to the base and includes means for securing the flashlight to the arm and a means for maintaining the relative position of the arm with respect to the base. The arm is pivotable with respect to the base for purposes of positioning the beam of the flashlight on a specific work area without the need for the user to hold the flashlight.

One of the most perplexing and difficult problems to solve in working with one's hands in a repair environment is supporting and positioning light adequately upon the repair area. It is desirable to have both hands free under most circumstances for purposes of manipulation of one's hands and tools held therein when making repairs in an area with limited ambient light. In order to solve this problem, some individuals would choose to hold a flashlight in one hand or in their mouth while shining it in a desired direction on an area of repair. This method is quite uncomfortable and cannot be sustained for long periods of time, particularly when both hands are necessary to complete the repair. Another solution may be to hold the flashlight between one's arm and the side of their chest for purposes of providing light to the repair area. This approach is awkward, since the user cannot relax his arm for fear that the flashlight might fall to the ground.
People have tried to solve this dilemma using various apparatuses which are supported by magnetic base members or various portions of one's body. U.S. Pat. No. 5,506,317 to Duddy illustrates a support for a flashlight with a magnetic base for use in repairing motor vehicles. A c-shaped resilient clamp supports a battery-operated flashlight that is connected to a magnetic base having an elongated arm with means for swiveling the support with respect to the base. Such construction is complicated, requires a metallic iron containing object to support the magnetic base and is generally difficult to properly position and secure in a limited working environment. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,413,545 and 5,379,491 to Rising and Solo, respectively, provide means for holding flashlights to parts of a person's body, specifically their head or hips. These prior devices make use of hook and eye type fasteners, which may be mounted on a pivoting member for securing to one's head, hip or arm. Such devices are not supportable on their own and are generally not height adjustable. Furthermore, these devices are difficult and cumbersome in appropriately securing a battery-operated flashlight for precise adjustability and positioning in a limited work environment.

Flashlight holding and positioning device


Gnetum extract which can be obtained from Gnetum fruit or Gnetum seeds that provide antimicrobial action and antioxidative effect (radical scavenging action) without carrying out special operation. The relevant Gnetum extract has various physiological (pharmacological) actions and can be used as active ingredients of foods , nourishments (nutritional supplements), medicines, cosmetics, etc. In addition, Gnetum extract is obtained by immersing sliced or ground Gnetum fruit or Gnetum seeds in water or water containing organic solvent and aging.

The present application has 1) Japanese Patent Application 2004-266457 (filing date: Sep. 14, 2004) "Gnetum seed extract"; 2) Japanese Patent Application 2005-43995 (filing date: Feb. 21, 2005) "Manufacturing process of Gnetum seed extract"; and 3) Japanese Patent Application 2005-107123 (filing date: Apr. 4, 2005) as the basis of priority.
With respect to the use conditions of Gnetum (botanical name: Gnetum gnemon L.), in Indonesia, young leaves, flowers and unripe fruit are merely consumed as vegetables. And seeds are ground, dried, and fried to serve as crackers (emping), and the use of Gnetum as functional foods in which the physiological action is positively utilized has not yet been carried out.
In addition, as an example of physiological functions of plant of the genus Gnetum in Gnetaceae family, only the hair-growing action of Mai ma teng (botanical name: Gnetum montanum) is disclosed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Hei 11-60450) and nothing is found for physiological functions of Gnetum seed.
By the way, a technique to obtain an antibacterial agent (resveratrol polymer) from extracts produced by extraction of the portion of plants of Gnetaceae with solvent was set forth in the prior application (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication 2005-23000) in Japan which was published between the above-mentioned priority-based applications 1) and 2).
That is, the prior invention is a patent concerning an antibacterial agent with resveratrol polymer that can be obtained by extraction and separation from the plant body of Gnetaceae and shows antibacterial action against drug resistance bacteria (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus). The patent describes also its food products and disinfectants, and antioxidative effect and anti-inflammatory effect.
Although the seeds are mentioned illustratively as the plant body of Gnetaceae and the use of root is mentioned to be preferable as the portion of plant body, nothing is described anywhere that it is preferable to positively use seeds. In addition, nothing is described about antimicrobial action (bacteriostatic action) against bacteria, yeasts, and fungi concerned with food putrefaction and secondary contamination.
On the other hand, to obtain extract (material highly contained extractable matter) from the root of plant body means removal of the plant body itself, and it is difficult to secure the amount and collection of roots is troublesome and inefficient as compared with collection of seeds, and furthermore, the plant body can be damaged and its energy can be spoiled.


The present application discloses a signal channel switching method, a display terminal and a computer-readable storage medium. The signal channel switching method includes the following operations: establishing a data connection with a first external device connected with a first hot plug pin; obtaining a first voltage detected by a second hot plug pin, and judging whether the first voltage conforms to a preset rule; if the first voltage conforms to the preset rule, obtaining information of a second external device connected with the second hot plug pin; cutting off the data connection with the first external device and establishing a data connection with the second external device according to the information of the second external device.

At present, with the continuous improvement and development of TV technology, Home TV has a plurality of high definition multimedia (HDMI) ports for connecting a plurality of external devices. When the external devices are powered on, the user selects and switches to each HDMI source channel through remote control keys to control to access a port. Due to the large number of connected external devices, the manual switching of source channels by the user is complicated and the user experience is poor.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide a signal channel switching method to solve the above technical problems.
The above content is only used to assist in understanding the technical scheme of this application and does not mean that the above content is recognized as prior art.

Signal channel switching method, display terminal and computer-readable storage medium

SHENZHEN SKYWORTH-RGB ELECTRONIC CO., LTD.


A voltage monitor having a bandgap reference circuit driven by a voltage to be monitored. The bandgap reference circuit produces a voltage and a second voltage that each vary with the voltage to be monitored. The magnitudes of these voltages are compared by an open loop comparator to provide a high speed output state. The output of the voltage monitor can be used to monitor a supply voltage and produce a reset signal to a processor if the supply voltage falls to a magnitude below a specified threshold.

Most electrical circuits require a supply voltage for powering the various components of the circuits. Supply voltages themselves are generally maintained within specified limits to assure proper operation of the circuits powered thereby. There are many types of regulator circuits that maintain the supply voltage within prescribed limits. In order to monitor the supply voltage and determine whether it is operating within its limits, a stable reference voltage is used for comparison with the supply voltage. In the event that the supply voltage is too far above the operating range, or too low, an output of the voltage monitor circuit can be used to deactivate the voltage supply itself, or disable the powered circuits so that unreliable circuit operation does not occur.
Voltage monitor circuits are especially useful in processor controlled circuits so that if the supply voltage becomes too low, the processor can be disabled or maintained in a reset condition so that improper processor operation does not occur. In this way, the processor will not process instructions with circuits of the processor operating in an unreliable condition, due to inadequate supply voltages.
There are many other electrical circuits that require a reference voltage in order to compare a stable voltage with an unknown voltage. A reference voltage is a necessary circuit in many analog voltage circuits, such as A/D and D/A converters. Analog comparators in general employ a reference voltage on one input thereof, and the unknown voltage on the other input. The state of the comparator output is an indication of whether the unknown voltage is above or below the known reference voltage.
Circuit designers have typically relied on bandgap circuits to generate precision reference voltages that are stable and highly independent of temperature. The bandgap voltage of a semiconductor junction is utilized in many reference voltage circuits to produce a stable and known voltage. It is well known that the bandgap voltage of a silicon pn junction is about 1.21 volts.
One bandgap reference voltage circuit that is of a typical design is shown in FIG. 1. Here, the voltage reference 10 employs a first diode 12 having a defined pn junction area, and a second diode 14 having a larger area pn junction. There is a resistor 16 that is connected in series with the first diode 12, and a pair of resistors 18 and 20 connected in series with the second diode 14. The resistors 16 and 18 are matched in value. Junction 22 between the first diode 12 and the resistor 16 is coupled to the noninverting input of a feedback amplifier 26. The junction 24 between resistors 18 and 20 is connected to the inverting input of the feedback amplifier 26. The output 28 of the feedback amplifier 26 produces a voltage for driving the equal-value resistors 16 and 18. In order for the feedback amplifier 26 to operate in a state of equilibrium, the voltage at the node 24 must be substantially equal to the voltage of node 22. The values of resistors 16, 18 and 20 are chosen such that when operating at equilibrium, the output voltage of the circuit 10 is substantially equal to a temperature compensated bandgap voltage of the diodes 12 and 14, which is about 1.25 volts. This reference output voltage is very stable and highly independent of temperature variations.
When the feedback amplifier 26 is operating in a state of equilibrium, the junction voltages of the diodes 12 and 14 are somewhat different, due to the difference injunction area. The difference in the junction voltages is reflected across the resistor 20. When the voltages at nodes 22 and 24 are substantially equal, the output 28 of the feedback amplifier 26 is ideally the temperature compensated bandgap voltage of about 1.25 volt.
When utilized to monitor a supply voltage, the reference voltage Vref at the output 28 of the circuit 10 can be coupled to the noninverting input of a comparator 30. The supply voltage (Vdd) is connected to a resistor divider which includes resistors 32 and 34. The node 36 between resistors 32 and 34 is coupled to the inverting input of the comparator 30. The voltage of the node 36 is the threshold voltage which establishes the lower limit of the supply voltage. When the supply voltage is reduced in magnitude, for whatever reason, the threshold voltage at node 36 of the divider will be lowered in an amount proportional to the values of the resistors 32 and 34. If the voltage at node 36 goes below the reference voltage Vref, then the output of the comparator 30 will be driven to a high state. The output of the comparator 30 can be used as a reset signal to a processor to prevent operation thereof when the supply voltage is below a prescribed magnitude. In the event that the supply voltage returns to an acceptable magnitude, the output of the comparator 30 will switch to the other state and allow the processor to resume processing instructions.
While the reference voltage circuit 10 of FIG. 1 is adequate for many applications, there are several disadvantages when employed with processor and other circuits. For example, the use of an amplifier 26 requires additional current from the supply voltage, and the feedback configuration exhibits a second order (or higher) transient behavior, which increases the settling time in order for the circuit output to become stable. Hence, a period of time must elapse before the powered circuits can become operational. This is especially important in processor operations, where additional measures must be taken into account before the processor can start executing instructions in a reliable manner. Another disadvantage to the bandgap reference circuit 10 is that when monitoring a supply voltage, the feedback amplifier 26 cannot often function when the supply voltage is low.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that need exists for a bandgap circuit configuration that is fast reacting, requires less power supply current, and can operate at low supply voltages. A need exists for a voltage monitor circuit that is well adapted for use with reset circuits of processors.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Processor based integrated circuit with a supply voltage monitor using bandgap device without feedback


Provided is an apparatus for adjusting static attitude of a thin film magnetic head attached to a flexure of a head arm assembly. The apparatus has an adjusting unit for bending the flexure, a laser emitter unit for irradiating a laser beam to a bent area of the flexure a measuring unit for measuring a static attitude angle of the thin film magnetic head, and a computer system including a CPU and a memory unit in which adjustment conditions corresponding to static attitude angles of the thin film magnetic head are previously ranked and memorized. The CPU is configured to retrieve from the memory unit a particular adjustment condition corresponding to a measured angle supplied from the measuring unit and supply the retrieved adjustment condition to the adjusting unit, enabling the adjusting unit to bend the flexure based on the retrieved adjustment condition supplied from the computer system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for adjusting static attitude of a thin film magnetic head.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is an essential requirement of a floating-type magnetic head unit to hold at a higher accuracy the static attitude of a magnetic head supported with a head support for achieving high density recording and reproducing. The static attitude angles of the magnetic head unit include a pitch angle and a roll angle.
However, the magnetic head unit is generally configured to have the magnetic head bonded to one end of the head support (or suspension) through an adhesive, which may cause displacement from a desired static attitude.
Since the magnetic head unit is manufactured by mounting the magnetic head, which is an expensive component manufactured through elaborate processes, on the head support, which is also an expensive high-precision component, it is not permitted to discard the assembled magnetic head unit as a defective product merely on the grounds that the static attitude angle of the magnetic head does not fall within a given range.
In order to correct the displacement of the static attitude, there has been developed an adjusting means which applies a mechanical pressure with the use of a pressing jig. According to this static attitude adjusting method using the pressing jig, a flexure mounted on a free end side of a load beam is bent by pressure with one point of the flexure on the axis of the load beam taken as the fulcrum, thereby adjusting the static attitude of the magnetic head.
After being bent by the mechanical pressure, however, the flexure tends to be sprung back by its restoring force. This means that the flexure has to be bent more than necessary to merely attain the desired static attitude.
When the flexure is bent largely, a gap may be created between the flexure and a projection (or dimple) through which a load is applied from the load beam to the flexure, resulting in the occurrence of so-called dimple floating. The dimple floating inhibits the load beam from applying a load onto the flexure, thus deteriorating the floating characteristic of the magnetic head.
As a means for solving the above problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 2001-357644 & 2001-357645 disclose a technology of keeping the flexure or load beam bent at an angle close to the initial bending angle, wherein after the flexure or load beam is bent for static attitude adjustment, stress is relieved by irradiating a laser beam to the bent area.
This prior art technology has an excellent effect that a significant change in static attitude can be obtained from bending the head support at a small angle.

Apparatus for adjusting static attitude of thin film magnetic head


An activated carbon-containing sorbent is capable of selectively removing one or more selected gaseous components from a gas. The activated carbon-containing sorbent can be incorporated in a smoking article to remove one or more selected components from mainstream smoke. The activated carbon-containing sorbent can be a composite including one or more molecular sieve materials. Methods of making the activated carbon-containing sorbent, cigarette filters and smoking articles including the activated carbon-containing sorbent, as well as methods for smoking a cigarette comprising the activated carbon-containing sorbent, are provided.

A number of filter materials have been suggested for use in cigarette filters, including cotton, paper, cellulose, and certain synthetic fibers. However, such filter materials generally only remove particulate and condensable components from tobacco smoke, and thus are not optimal for the removal of gaseous components, such as volatile organic compounds from tobacco smoke.
Cigarettes incorporating filter elements with adsorbent materials, such as carbon, are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,881,770 to Tovey; U.S. Pat. No. 3,353,543 to Sproull et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,101,723 to Seligman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,958 to Ranier et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,819 to Gentry et al.; and in European Patent Application No. 532,329.
The use of carbon has been described for filtration applications. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,379,465; 4,412,937; 4,700,723; 4,753,717; 4,772,508; 4,820,681; 4,917,835; 4,933,314; 5,059,578; 5,191,905; 5,389,325; 5,510,063; 5,543,096; 5,632,286; 5,685,986; 5,732,718; 5,744,421; 5,820,967; 5,827,355; 5,846,639; 5,914,294; 5,972,253; 6,030,698; 6,090,477; 6,207,264; 6,214,204; 6,257,242 and 6,258,300; and the publications T. D. Burchell et al., "A Novel Process and Material for the Separation of Carbon Dioxide and Hydrogen Sulfide Gas Mixtures", 1997, Carbon, 35:1279-94; T. D. Burchell et al., "Passive CO2 Removal Using a Carbon Fiber Composite Molecular Sieve", Energy Conversion and Management, 1996, 37:947-54; and T. D. Burchell et al., Proceedings of 23rd Biennial Conference on Carbon, American Carbon Society, 1997, p. 158.
Yet, despite these developments, there is a continued interest in improved filters and methods for filtering gases.


An arrangement for an inhaler comprises at least one electric evaporator for evaporating liquid supplied from the evaporator, and for adding the evaporated liquid to an air flow flowing through the inhaler to form an aerosol, and a flow rate measuring arrangement for measuring the volume and/or mass flow of the air flow flowing through the inhaler. The flow rate measuring arrangement comprises a heating device, a downstream temperature sensor arranged downstream of the heating device for measuring an air outlet temperature and an electronic control device, wherein the electronic control device is adapted to determine the volume and/or mass flow of the air flow flowing through the inhaler on the basis of a temperature difference between the air outlet temperature and an air inlet temperature of the air flow upstream of the heating device.

A large number of inhalers or electronic cigarette products having such an arrangement are known in the art.
Common inhalers, for example electronic cigarette products, are activated by a vacuum switch, for example. As soon as the user creates a negative pressure relative to the ambient pressure by drawing at a mouth end of the inhaler, the evaporation of the liquid is activated and is added to the air stream as aerosol or vapour. The liquid comprises flavouring substances and/or active ingredients, in particular nicotine, which are administered to the user with the aerosol or vapour. If the negative pressure falls below a switching threshold, the evaporation is stopped. The evaporation process is thus independent of the intensity of the generated negative pressure as long as the switching threshold is exceeded or not reached.
However, the consumer of a conventional cigarette expects a different behaviour. In the case of a conventional cigarette, the strength of the draw can be used to control the combustion of the tobacco and/or tobacco product and thus the absorption of smoke. Such a possibility would also be desirable for an electronic cigarette product or an inhaler.
In order to consider the strength of the consumer's draw, prior art inhalers have flow rate measuring devices for measuring the volume and/or mass flow of the air flowing through the inhaler, see, for example, DE 10 2009 029 768 B4. The disadvantage of the known measuring arrangements is the restriction of the measuring ranges. The vacuum switches only operate reliably at comparatively high vacuum levels, while the flow rate measuring arrangements primarily operate reliably at comparatively low vacuum levels, pressure differentials or flow velocities. Furthermore, known mechanical elements such as rotating vane anemometers, see, for example, EP 2 563 172 B1, are complex, expensive and susceptible to contamination and are only conditionally suitable for recording absolute measurement values, for example for switching on the inhaler.

Arrangement and base part for an inhaler, and an inhaler


Foreign metal inspection equipment is provided with: a conveying device for conveying a sample to be subjected to inspection; electrodes positioned so as to face the surface of the sample; a measurement device for measuring the capacitance between the electrodes and the sample being conveyed by the conveying device; and a processing unit that inspects for foreign metal mixed in the sample on the basis of the change in capacitance measured by the measurement device.

It is known that, in the manufacturing process of a lithium battery, electrode materials are kneaded and, thereafter, a positive electrode medium such as lithium cobaltate is applied onto both sides of aluminum foil, which is a positive electrode, and dried and a negative electrode medium such as carbon material is applied onto both sides of copper foil, which is a negative electrode, and dried.
Here, when a battery is manufactured from the positive electrode and the negative electrode each having a respective medium applied thereto and dried (hereinafter, referred to as battery sheets), micro short-circuit occurs to deteriorate the battery performance significantly if a metallic foreign object is mixed in the battery sheet. Moreover, while the lithium battery is recently expected to be applied to electric vehicles, short-circuit might occur due to a metallic foreign object to cause catching fire or explosion and, thus, from a view point of preventing accidents caused by the lithium battery and of improving reliability, the importance of a metallic foreign object inspection with regard to a battery sheet is heightened.
As a prior art regarding a method for a foreign object inspection in an electrode material of a lithium battery, Patent Literature 1 (JP-A-2005-183142) discloses "a detection method for a foreign object causing magnetic turbulence in an electrode material for a lithium secondary battery, the method characterized in detecting existence of a foreign object causing magnetic turbulence in an electrode material for a lithium secondary battery formed in a thin film with use of a device that detects magnetic turbulence due to a magnetic impedance effect" (in CLAIMS).
Further, Patent Literature 2 (JP-A-2003-75412) discloses "a method for a defect detection for a film, the method characterized in, while applying a voltage in the thickness direction of the film with the rise time thereof being delayed, determining that the film contains a defect when a current flowing at this time exceeds a prescribed value."

Inspection equipment and inspection method


A three-in-one sofa bed including a bedstead assembly; a sofa cushion and sofa seat assembly fixedly connected to the bedstead assembly; a moveable coffee table; a mattress and mattress frame assembly a proximal section of which is pivotably connected to a rear section of the bedstead assembly to enable the mattress and mattress frame assembly to be rotated with respect to the bedstead assembly between a horizontal position and a vertical position. In the horizontal position, the mattress and mattress frame assembly straddles the sofa cushion and sofa seat assembly and the movable coffee table to form a bed. In the vertical position, the sofa cushion and sofa seat assembly and the movable coffee table are exposed. Balance weights are provided for the mattress frame between adjacent pulley grooves, to make torque in front of central axes of the pulleys be equal to that behind the central axes.

In modern life, house prices and rents increase rapidly, and thus low-income group would have to choose small-sized houses with a single bedroom. Normally, the usable floor area of such kind of house is only dozen to twenties square meters, and thus a bed would occupy a half of the area. It is inconvenient to walk around the bed. In this connection, a multi-purpose furniture is desirable, which could be converted to a bed for sleeping, or be converted to a sofa and a coffee table when not used for sleeping. Currently, the conversion operation for most of the existing furniture, such as sofa beds in the market is inconvenient. Meanwhile, such furniture generally is provided with springs or oil-pressure pumps, which needs a large occupation area and is generally very expensive.


The present invention relates to a novel cell line isolated from a rat osteosarcoma having the following characteristics: a) a normal p53 gene as compared to a non-tumorigenic Sprague-Dawley rat cell control; b) a normal RB-1 gene as compared to a non-tumorigenic Sprague-Dawley rat cell control; c) a normal c-myc gene as compared to a non-tumorigenic Sprague-Dawley rat cell control; d) a normal c-fos gene as compared to a non-tumorigenic Sprague-Dawley rat cell control; e) a normal immediate early gene response following mitogenic stimulation; f) a canalicular Matrigel growth pattern; g) non-tumorigenic in congenitally athymic mice; h) high levels of alkaline phosphatase activity; i) a lack of autocrine growth factor production; and j) an ability to be serially propagated greater than sixty population doublings.

Polypeptide growth factors play a key role in regulating the development of multicellular organisms and in the processes of tissue maintenance and repair. (For recent reviews see Cross and Dexter (1991) Cell, Vol. 64, pp. 271-280; Aaronson (1991) Science, Vol. 254, pp. 1146-1153.) At the cellular level, growth factors are involved in regulating proliferation and the progressive acquisition of the differentiated phenotype. Growth factors are capable of stimulating cellular proliferation as well as inhibiting cellular proliferation and many growth factors have been found to be multifunctional (Sporn and Roberts (1988) Nature, Vol. 332, pp. 217-219). The highly coordinated functions of growth factors is perhaps best exemplified in the development of the hematopoiectic cell system (Metcalf (1989) Nature, Vol. 339, pp. 27-30) where a limited number of stem cells give rise to a larger population of developmentally restricted progenitor cells. These progenitor cells are further stimulated to proliferate and differentiate into mature lymphoid, erythroid and myeloid cells.
Much of what we know about the functions of growth factors comes from in vitro studies using target cell lines that are capable of responding to growth factors in some measurable way. The ability of a particular target cell to respond to a growth factor is determined by the expression of a specific receptor which binds the factor and initiates a signal transduction cascade resulting in a cellular response. Furthermore, the nature of the response to a particular growth factor is often a function of the type of cell and the differentiated state of the cell. Thus, our ability to understand the function of known growth factors and to identify novel growth factors will be enhanced by expanding the repertoire of target cells representative of various cell lineages.


The present invention provides a method and system for implanting a piece of wood or wood composite to improve the electrostatic attraction thereupon. A method is provided for treating a lignocellulosic substrate such as medium density fiberboard (MDF). The method includes implanting a conductive material into the lignocellulosic substrate, pre-heating the implanted lignocellulosic substrate, coating the pre-heated implanted lignocellulosic substrate with a powder solution, and curing the powder coated substrate.

The diminished availability and high cost of hard woods for use as furniture or attractive building materials has proliferated the use of less expensive wood and wood composites. In many of these cases, the less expensive wood and wood composites are modified or finished such that they appear to be either natural wood or a specific hard wood. Generally, coatings may be applied to a wood or wood composite to provide a protective and/or decorative finish. The coatings may be in the form of a powder (e.g., dry, solventless) or solid solution. These coatings are known to provide a very durable finish.
In a powder coating process, a substrate to be coated can be heated to a specific temperature whereby a solid solution or powder coating may be applied to the surface of the substrate. The powder coating particles are electrically charged and ejected toward the substrate which is electrically grounded, providing an attractive electrostatic force that draws the particles to the substrate. The powdered substrate is heated once again to melt the powder. The resulting liquid flows out to form a continuous film over the surface of the substrate, and in some cases this additional thermal treatment cures the coating to provide a finished article. In those cases where this final heating step does not cure the coating, the coated article must be exposed to some other energy source such as ultraviolet light to cure the coating.
Generally, it is well known that wood and wood composites transmit an electrical ground via the moisture that is naturally present in the wood and wood composite substrate. In order to increase the conductivity of the wood and wood composite substrate, the substrate may be pre-heated prior to the application of the powder coating which forces water from the core of the substrate to the surface enhancing the electrostatic attraction between the substrate and the powder particles. However, it is very difficult to thermally control this migration of moisture without driving it entirely out of the substrate, typically resulting in poor powder coating uniformity and coverage of the article. Certain areas of a machined wood substrate such as edges formed at 90 degree angles and routed areas where large surface areas of highly porous substrate are exposed tend to dry out faster than the bulk areas of the substrate, leading to the condition of inadequate powder coverage and uniformity.
Accordingly, there is a need for a pre-treatment process that provides enhanced electrical conductivity of wood and wood composites prior to the application of a powder coating.


The device for controlling a wireless access point comprises: a grouping unit which groups wireless access points which use the same channel, by using channel use information received from the wireless access points; a map generator which computes each received signal strength value of the grouped wireless access points and each output strength value of the grouped wireless access points; an extractor which extracts a wireless access point having the highest received signal strength value among the grouped wireless access points, if interference occurs between said grouped wireless access points; and an optimal output strength value-calculator which computes a corrected output strength value by using the received signal strength value of the extracted wireless access point, a threshold value of predetermined received signal strength, and a currently used output strength value between said grouped wireless access points.

1. Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a wireless access point and a method and a device for controlling the wireless access point, and more specifically to a method and a device for controlling a wireless access point to optimize its coverage and capacity under in an environment of interference.
2. Description of Related Art
When services are provided using a wireless LAN, a house or a specific area is serviced using a single access point ("AP" hereinafter).
However, due to the structure of a building or the geographical features, the house or specific area may not be completely covered by the service using a single AP.
One way of solving this problem is by installing a separate AP (low-output AP) in shadow areas to widen the user's range of wireless communication.
However, when two APs happen to use the same channel, interference can occur in a certain area.
That is, when a separate AP is used to eliminate the shadow areas, the separate AP is designed to transmit a fixed transmission power, and the separate AP transmits an excessive transmission power in order to eliminate the shadow areas, causing interference and deteriorating the performance of the wireless network.
For this reason, Korean Patent Publication 2006-0034461 (Sub Access Point, system and method for controlling power of transmitting signal) discloses that the power level of a transmission signal output from a sub-AP is adjusted based on received signal strength indicator (RSSI) readings and frame error rate (FER) of a main AP, thereby eliminating shadow areas and minimizing interference between the main AP and the sub-AP. However, this Korean Patent Publication is restricted with the condition that the sub-AP itself needs to adjust the transmission power.
That is, since each of a plurality of sub-APs using the same channel needs to adjust the transmission power individually, it is impossible and inefficient to minimize the interference within a short period of time.

Wireless access point and method and device for controlling wireless access point


Apparatus using information about the extent of errors in sensed data for performing as a control function at least one of adjusting the position of a magnetic head to improve alignment relative to a track and selecting from two or more data signals a data signal having the least amount of errors is shown. The apparatus uses information about the extent of errors to perform a control function for reproducing the data stored in predetermined storage locations in a storage media. The apparatus positions a transducer for sensing from predetermined storage locations stored data containing at least one constraint. The transducer generates a first signal representative of the data containing at least one constraint stored in the sensed data and any errors introduced into the sensed data during the sensing. An input device, preferably in the form of a detector is responsive to the first signal for generating a control signal containing information about the extent of errors in the sensed data and for extracting a data signal. The control signal is used for performing the above control functions. A method for using information about the extent of errors for a control function to improve the extracted data stored at the predetermined storage locations is also shown.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to using information about errors for improving extracted data sensed from stored data and more specifically relates to apparatus for using information about the extent of errors wherein a transducer is used to sense stored data having at least one constraint from predetermined storage locations. The transducer generates a signal containing at least one constraint and any errors introduced into the sensed data during the sensing. An input device, which in the preferred embodiment is a detector, is responsive to the signal from the sensor to generate a control signal containing information about the extent of errors and extracts a data signal. An output device is responsive to the control signal to perform a control function to effectively improve the extracted data signal as a function of the extent of errors in the sensed data. In addition, the transducer may have at least two sensors or two transducers may be used to produce a first signal and second signal which is applied to the input device to extract a first data signal and a second data signal wherein the output device is responsive to the control signal and to the first data signal and second data signal to derive a data signal therefrom having the least number of  fewer errors.
The apparatus accomplishes this control function by: (i) using the control signal to produce a dynamic servo signal, which in the preferred embodiment is in the form of a substantially continuous servo signal, to adjust a transducer or transducers position to improve alignment of the first transducer relative to predetermined storage locations, which in the preferred embodiment is a track; (ii) deriving, from data signals extracted from signals sensed from two or more transducers or sensors, a data signal having the least number of  fewer errors; or (iii) a combination of producing a dynamic servo signal and deriving a data signal having the east number of errors.
In the preferred embodiment, the input device or detector generates a position error signal from the signal received from the transducer and that position error signal is used as a servo signal for adjusting the transducer position to improve alignment of the transducer relative to the predetermined storage locations.
This invention also relates t a method for using information about errors for performing a control function to improve the extracted data from the stored data in the predetermined storage locations as a function of the extent of errors in the sensed data.
In the preferred embodiment, the invention relates to the field of reading or reproducing from and writing data to mass storage devices, such as magnetic discs.
Also, in the preferred embodiment, the apparatus and method improves the extracted data that is read or reproduced by deriving from among two or more data signals by deriving therefrom the data signal having the least number of  fewer errors, or from a combination thereof. This invention is based on the principle that when at least one constraint is added to the data, this constitutes prior knowledge of the expected data signal in the absence of noise or other impairments. Such knowledge can be exploited, such as for example, by making a computation or comparison between the expected data signal including the at least one constraint and the observed data signal including the at least one constraint, to develop a control signal representing the extent of errors introduced into the signal sensed from the predetermined storage locations by the transducer, transducers or sensors. The so developed control signal can be used to develop a dynamic servo signal in the form of a substantially continuous position error signal which is use to improve head/track alignment using conventional apparatus and methods.
In another embodiment of this invention, by reading and calculating the position error signal on a substantially continuous basis, an effective servo sampling rate is achieved that is much higher than the sampling rates of the state-of-the art apparatus and method.
In the writing mode using a magnetic head, the recorded data is read and the head position is adjusted using the servo system up to the instant the head begins to write thereby improving the quality of the written data on a track.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the magnetic head or transducer may contain more than one read sensor. By using the teachings of this invention, the signal representing the extent of errors ay be used to derive a data signal containing the least number of  fewer errors from the more than one data signals.
In a further embodiment of this invention, deriving the data signal which contains the least number of  fewer errors and adjusting the head position to improve alignment with the predetermined storage locations in response to a control signal representing the extent of information about errors may be used in combination to improve the extracted data signal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known in the art t at magnetic discs operate by providing a surface capable of being magnetized in individualized storage locations or in predetermined storage locations. One or more read/write heads are used for interacting with or transducing with the predetermined storage locations for sensing data store at the predetermined storage locations. The magnetized surface is rotated at relatively high speed, thus presenting each predetermined storage location on the surface to the read/write heads or transducers. The use of and operation of transducers for recording and reproducing data from predetermined storage locations from mass storage devices, such as for example a rotating magnetic disc memory s stem, optical memories, magnetic tape and the like is well known in the art.
It is also known in the art to record or store at predetermined storage locations data or information on rotating surfaces, such as for example, magnetic discs and optical discs. The term "predetermined storage cations" as used herein means the individualized area on a surface, such as for example a predetermined or addressable location on a treated surface area in a rotating memory storage device, which contains or stores data or information. In a rotating memory storage device, which utilizes magnetic media as a magnetic recording surface, the data or information is stored as a series of magnetic field transitions on the magnetic recording surface. Such series of magnetic transitions are included in the term "predetermined storage locations". The predetermined storage locations are generally recorded or stored in tracks on magnetic media.
Data is read from the predetermined storage locations on the magnetic media using a transducer that interacts with the recording media as a write transducer interacted with the magnetic media when the data or information was recorded or stored. In reading or sensing previously written data from a discrete storage location, the transducer, which functions as a read sensor, must be positioned over or aligned with the tracks on the recording surface where the writing transducer has written or stored the data. Typically, th width allocated to a track of recorded or stored data is wider than the width of the actually recorded predetermined storage locations. Further, the width of the sensor used for reading or sensing the stored data has a width that is less than the width of both the track and of the discrete storage location.
In magnetic discs, data is generally disposed on generally circular tracks, each on the surface of the disc and oriented with its center coaxial with the physical disc. The read/write heads, sometimes referred to as read/write transducers, are disposed in a head/arm assembly so as to be adapted to be moved to a selected track, under control of a disc servo controller.
The state-of-the-art rotating memory systems store as much data as possible on the magnetic disc. This, in turn, requires that the individuated locations or predetermined storage locations of data or information be as small as possible. Further this requires that the tracks on the magnetic media be as close together as possible.
The sensor or transducer for sensing or reading the stored data from predetermined storage locations on magnetic media must be positioned in alignment with the track during the sensing or reading process. The sensors or transducers are operatively connected to arm assemblies, which are sometimes called head/arm assemblies in rotating magnetic disc storage systems, which are adjustable to cause the sensor or transducer to be positioned within the width of the predetermined storage locations containing the stored or written data. If the transducer is positioned within the width of the discrete storage location, the transducer is in precise alignment with the predetermined storage locations and senses or reads the stored data to produce a signal from the sensor with the optimum signal-to-noise ratio and with low data errors.
It is known in the art that, as the track density increases, it becomes more difficult to precisely align the read/write heads or sensors with the tracks. Such misalignments or variances in alignment may occur during reading and writing of data due to variances in operating conditions. The read/write heads or sensors may vary from precise alignment with the tracks by any one of: (i) horizontal displacement from the actual track, (ii) angular orientation or skewing relative to the actual track, or (iii) vertical displacement from the actual track due to the read/write heads or sensor lifting off of the disc. As a result of any of the above variances in operating conditions, the read/write heads or sensor may not precisely be aligned with the track, and such misalignment or variances in alignment change with time.
As a result of such misalignment, the transducing operation of the read/write head or sensors in reading or recovering data from the predetermined storage locations becomes degraded. In addition, the sensed data contains errors or the data sensed by the sensor becomes deformed which results in errors in the electrical signal representing the data or information.
Typically, the transducers were positioned over the rotating magnetic media. Initially, steppe motors were used as actuators to move the sensors to a specific position and the sensors remained in that position during reading and writing of data. This is referred to herein as the "Stepper Motor Method"
One disc drive system which used a process for determining the center of data disc tracks is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,938. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,938, a transducer head is positioned to one side of a track. The transducer head repeatedly reads the track and is microstepped across the track. The number of microsteps taken at the position on each side of the center of the rack, where a certain number of error corrections occur, are designated as the boundaries of that track. The center of the track is then calculated as being half-way between the boundaries. By using the microstep off-sets for the centers of two tracks, a correction factor can be calculated to compensate for thermal expansion of the disc.
Another method known in the art for controlling transducer head/track alignment is to use a closed loop servo system having a dedicated servo surface. In this method, continuous sequences of special positioning signals were recorded on the servo surface in every track on the servo surface. Deviation signals were developed using the prerecorded sequences and such deviation signals were used in a feedback technique to adjust the position of all of the other read/write transducer heads. This is referred to herein as the "Servo Surface Method"
Another known method includes "servo bursts" being prerecorded around each track to improve the alignment of the data head with the data track. A "servo burst" is a short special position signal, i.e., equivalent to the length of few bits, prerecorded in each track, used in a servo system for maintaining head/track alignment.
The prerecorded "servo burst" pattern is presently used for generating a signal indicating the magnitude of misalignment between the data head and track an the direction that the head was displaced from the track center. Special cases provide for prerecording a "servo burst" in each sector of a disc. The so generated signal is used to locate track position more precisely in terms of predefined actuator positions and functioned to place the head in alignment with the track.
The recorded servo bursts are used to provide an open loop servo system to more accurately and rapidly position a head relative to a track prior to reading of and writing of data onto and from the track and to adjust or correct head position during the process of reading and writing of data. This is referred to herein as the "Servo Burst Method".
U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,487 discloses a rotating media storage system that compensates for thermal and mechanical errors in the position of the data detector, or read head, with respect to the written data. The compensation is accomplished by measuring the error rate of written data as a function of the read offset of the detector in that error rates become increasingly large as the sensed noise to signal ratio becomes large. As the offset of the head becomes misaligned with the track, the sensed noise to signal ratio increases. When the data storage system is initially activated, the detector counts the number of errors detected in reading written data for various read offsets. When the number of errors reaches a target rate, the read offset corresponding to the target rate is saved. The procedure is performed on either side of the data track. During operation of the storage system, thermal and mechanical operational errors occur in the system and similar error rate data and offset data are developed for these operational conditions. The so developed error rate and target error rate are used to cause the detector to be re-centered with respect to the write transducer position between the new offsets on either side of the tracks.
Use of a dual-striped magnet resistive head with a conventional servo system was disclosed in an article entitled Estimation of Track Misregistration by Using Dual-Stripe Magnetoresistive Heads, by Lian N Zhi Gang Wang, Desmond J. Mapps, P. Robinson, Warwick W. Cleg , D. T. Wilton and Yoshihisa Nakamura, which appeared at Pages 2348 to 2355 of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, Volume 34, No. Jul. 4, 1998 (the "Wang et al Reference"). The Wang et al Reference utilized the principal that when a dual-stripe, unshielded magnetoresistive ("MR") element is exposed to the same stray field from a media transition, one MR element has a resistance increase and the other MR element has a resistance decrease. The difference between the MR element's output envelopes was demodulated by a peak value detection circuit and the sum of the two element signals was considered as a position error signal. The position error signal was utilized in conjunction with a conventional servo system and the estimated off track perturbation was used to supplement the well used sector servo. This system did not use a constraint within the data or the Extent of errors therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,676 discloses a method using a data-dependent code word consisting of redundancy bits, that marks a boundary of a multi-bit cell. The data-dependent code word is coded to bear a "mapping relationship" to a data block within the cell. Embodiments using the data-dependent code word provide various types of synchronization. Decoders provide block and bit synchronization for either serial-by-bit data signal or a serial-by-byte data signal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,676 further discloses that the preferred embodiment is used in a record/playback system for storing on a storage medium and subsequently deriving the stored information from the storage medium. In the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,676, encoding means and decoding means are used, each of which utilizes a data-dependent boundary-marking code word bearing a predetermined mapping relationship to a data block of a cell and otherwise being indistinguishable from arbitrarily selected groups of data bits. The object of U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,676 is to solve synchronization problems and not to provide for adjusting head or transducer position or deriving a data signal having the least amount of errors from two or more data signals representing the sensed data.
As is well known in the art, a servo system in rotating memory systems is used to control the positioning of the sensor relative to the tracks of predetermined storage locations containing the stored data. Servo systems, which are well known in the art, include sector servo systems, dedicated servo systems or other well known servo systems. The function of the servo system is to compare certain sensed signals with a predetermined pattern of signals and to use the results of such a comparison to change position of the sensor or transducer with respect to the predetermined storage locations to generate the most accurate reading of the stored data from the predetermined storage locations.
The known prior art servo systems and methods for sensing and providing efficient and rapid adjustments of the sensing head have many disadvantages.
In the Stepper Motor Method, no feedback signals were used to adjust head position.
In the system and method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,938 reading of the data or writing of new data must occur in an open loop system, e.g. no servo loops are used, during reading and writing of the data. Error correction codes were used only to help select transducer head position prior to reading or writing of the data.
With respect to the Servo Surface Method as discussed hereinbefore, while this method partially achieves the goal of attempting to align the read/write head with the data track, it has at least the following drawbacks. First, this method uses substantial disc space for the servo sequences, which removes area from the disc that could otherwise be used for data. Second, the Servo Surface Method results in misalignment between the servo head and the data head and is not practical for use in magnetic disc drives having higher areal densities. While the Servo Surface Method as augmented by U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,487 provides a correction for changes in the relation between the servo surface head and data head due to thermal expansion and other factors, servoing during data reading and writing is restricted to the servo surface.
The Servo Burst Method as described above is an intermittent servo system that runs open loop between servo bursts and closed loop upon the sensing of the recorded servo burst to produce servo signals for adjusting the head position relative to the data track. The Servo Burst Method is generally known in the industry as open loop technology and is the standard today of the industry for magnetic storage systems. This method, even as augmented by U.S. Pat. No. 5,23,487 and the Wang et al reference, has at least the following drawbacks.
First, if it is desired to improve the sampling accuracy, additional disc space for the servo bursts would be required. Second, the accuracy of this method must be significantly improved upon for use in the state-of-the art high areal density storage systems
The method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,487 is based on the principal that sensing signals outside of the write width is deemed an off-track read, and when enough of the read widths are outside of the write width, an error in reading data is deemed to have occurred. An ECC detection/correction means senses the error in blocks of data and a counter maintains a count of the number of errors. When the errors reach a predetermined error rate, the data detector position is adjusted to optimize detector read performance. As such, adjustment of the read head relative to the data track occurs only after the number of counted errors exceeds a predetermined number of errors.
The use of a dual-stripe MR head, as disclosed in the Wang et al Reference, was based on the principal that the signal waveform changes only in amplitude as the head moves off track, and does not rely on the data signal having any constraints.
The system and method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,676 has several limitations when applied to magnetic data storage systems. During reproduction of the data in such a system, it is necessary to produce a plurality of individually identifiable clock signals and each clock signal has reoccurring clock pulses with the clock pulses of each such clock signal differing from those of each other clock pulses as to the time of occurrence. The block pulses are required to sample a data signal and to derive a plurality of sample bits that are congregated and tested. The system includes means for generating a candidate-valid signal for each candidate cell that is determined, by such testing, to be a valid cell. As each candidate cell undergoes such testing, that testing determines whether the code-word portion of the candidate cell bears the predetermined mapping relationship to its block-length portion as is characteristic of a valid cell. Since this system is based on a serial-by-bit data signal or a serial-by-byte data signal method, the system is not designed and is unable to produce a position error signal, or to derive a signal from among multiple input signals.
In the last several years, the state-of-the art performance benchmark for the magnetic hard disc drive industry has been areal density progression. Areal density is defined as the number of bits per square inch that can be stored on a magnetic disc surface and successfully retrieved. Areal density is determined mathematically by Bits Per Inch ("BPI") multiplied by Tracks Per Inch ("TPI") (BPI×TPI). As the areal density increases, the need for an improved head positioning apparatus, methods and systems likewise becomes necessary due to the limitations of the prior art systems, methods and apparatus as described above.
Areal density for magnetic hard disc drives has been increasing at a 60% compounded annual growth rate and that rate is forecasted to continue for at least the next several years. For example, the areal density for magnetic hard disc drives was 1 gigabit per square inch ("Gb/sq. in.") in 1995 and increased to 4.1 Gb/sq. in. in 1998.
In addition, it is reasonable to expect that at some areal density point, which is presently estimated at about 40 Gb/sq. in., the issue of thermal decay of the stored data on the magnetic media will need to be addressed. It is reasonable to conclude that other storage media, such as for example, chemical and molecular media, may be developed for storage of data in predetermined storage locations.
Increases in TPI will probably depend on the ability of the read head or read transducer to both track the data and to respond mechanically to non-repeatable spindle motor problems and other track misregistration problems.
In 1998, typical BPI is 256,000 and TPI is 16,000 which represent an areal density of about 4.1 Gb/sq. in. For the year 2000, the areal density is forecast to be 10 Gb/sq. in. which corresponds to a BPI of 334,000 and a TPI of 30,000.
It is reasonable to conclude that a track density may exceed 86,000 TPI and, if so, the read head or read sensor will have to follow a written track width of 10 microinches, all of which will require advanced servo systems and data track following technology utilizing the teachings of the present invention.

Method and apparatus for developing a dynamic servo signal from data


A music composition method and apparatus is provided and consists of a plurality of small playing cubes each having a color-coded musical chord with a number to indicate the position of the chord within the matching color-coded musical key of a separate, larger cube indicated on each side thereof. A color-coded device is provided to guide the placement of playing cubes into sequences of chord progressions thereon after the playing cubes are cast upon a flat surface. A player can form multiple chord progressions from the chords on the top sides of the cast playing cubes and play the cast sequence of chords on their instrument thereby learning the relationship between the chords belonging to a musical key.

The instant invention relates generally to game and more specifically it relates to a music composition method which provides a plurality of playing cubes having color-coded indicia thereon for the purpose of communicating musical concepts (namely the structure and relationship between the musical chords belonging to a musical key) and are used to compose cast sequences of chord progressions with the aid of a color-coded apparatus that coordinates the placement of said playing cubes.

Method and apparatus for music composition


A circuit for producing an output signal representative of the phase angle of a single phase input signal includes a phase shift generator for receiving a single phase input signal and for generating a quadrature signal and a direct signal in response to the single phase input signal, and a phase locked loop coupled to the phase shift generator for generating an output signal in response to the quadrature and direct signals such that the output signal is phase locked with the single phase input signal. A method is also provided for producing an output signal representative of the phase angle of a single phase input signal, comprising the steps of: receiving a single phase input signal; generating a quadrature signal and a direct signal in response to the single phase input signal; and generating an output signal in response to the direct and quadrature signals, such that the output signal is phase locked with the single phase input signal.

This invention relates to phase locked loops and, more particularly, to phase locked loops for use with single phase circuits.
The control circuits of many types of power electronic equipment need a stable, accurate reference of the angle of the input power for use by other parts of the control. A phase-locked loop (PLL) is often used for this purpose. In a single phase system, it is difficult to derive a phase reference which does not have cycle-by-cycle phase modulation (jitter) unless noise sensitive edge triggered methods or very heavy, and therefore slowly responding, loop filters are used.
In three phase systems, it is possible to vectorially sum components of the three phase voltages to obtain a quadrature set of sine waves which can be used by the phase comparator of a PLL to generate a phase error signal which has a constant value proportional to the sine of the input phase angle minus the voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) phase angle and (optionally) plus a constant. For example, if a direct component derived from the three phase input is proportional to sin(a) and the quadrature component is proportional to -cos(a), the phase error can be calculated as follows: ##EQU1## where "a" is the phase angle of the line and "b" is the phase angle of the VCO. Other implementations with different steady state phase shifts are also possible.
In the ideal case, the phase error has no ripple after settling and no phase modulation of the VCO will result. Even in a practical system, the ripple which results from negative sequence and harmonic voltages is small and only slight filtering is usually required. In a single phase system, it is not possible to use vector summation to construct a quadrature set of sine waves. No scaling can make a sine wave out of a cosine wave since they are orthogonal. A phase comparator can be constructed without quadrature inputs, but the output will have a large ripple component at twice the input frequency in the steady state. Although the DC average of the phase comparator output is proportional to the sine of the phase error, the ripple can cause objectionable phase modulation even when heavy filtering is used. For example, if the input to the PLL is proportional to cos(a) and the VCO output is cos(b), then: ##EQU2##
In the steady state, the frequency of a and b will be the same, only a phase angle difference (possibly zero) will exist. In that event: ##EQU3##
In the above equations, the phase error consists of a DC term proportional to the cosine of the angular difference and a twice frequency ripple term of significant magnitude.
Some means of phase shifting using delays, filters or integrators can be used to develop a quadrature set of inputs. However, these techniques do not provide satisfactory performance. This invention seeks to provide an accurate and stable source of the angle of an input sine wave for use in controlling single phase power electronic equipment or other control systems requiring filtered angle references.

Low jitter phase locked loop for single phase applications


A system for detecting object movement including a sensory network having at least one sensory device using modulated radar for detecting an object in proximity to the sensory network. The sensory network including a wireless transmission system and a base station having a computer processing system located remote from the sensory network and including a wireless transmission system to communicate with the sensory network. The base station having a computer readable program code for causing the computer processing system to analyze data received from the sensory network to determine motion characteristics of the object in proximity to the sensory network.

There are many situations where the courses of multiple objects in a region must be tracked. Typically, radar is used to scan the region and generate discrete images or "snapshots" based on sets of returns. In some types of tracking systems, all the returns from any one object are represented in an image as a single point unrelated to the shape or size of the objects. "Tracking" is the process of identifying a sequence of points from a respective sequence of the images that represents the motion of an object. The tracking problem is difficult when there are multiple closely spaced objects because the objects can change their speed and direction rapidly and move into and out of the line of sight for other objects. The problem is exacerbated because each set of returns may result from noise as well as echoes from the actual objects. The returns resulting from the noise are also called false positives. Likewise, the radar will not detect all echoes from the actual objects and this phenomena is called a false negative or 'missed detect' error. For tracking airborne objects, a large distance between the radar and the objects diminishes the signal to noise ratio so the number of false positives and false negatives can be high. For robotic applications the power of the radar is low and as a result, the signal to noise ratio can also be low and the number of false positives and false negatives high.
Accordingly there exists a need to provide an improved radar system for detecting, identifying, and tracking objects and dismounts over a wide area, even in noisy conditions.

Surveillance and tracking system and method

The University of Memphis Research Foundation


A method for producing a non-human animal suffering from a spinal cord injury, which comprises interrupting an aorta at least at two sites, thereby forming an isolated segment of the aorta including branched parts of radicular arteries feeding the spinal cord between the sites of interruption, bringing the spinal cord to ischemia, and regionally administering glutamic acid or aspartic acid to the segment and a method for evaluating a medicament for treating a spinal cord injury due to glutamic acid or aspartic acid, which comprises interrupting an aorta of a non-human animal at least at two sites, thereby forming an isolated segment of the aorta including branched parts of redicular arteries feeding the spinal cord between the sites of interruption, bringing the spinal cord to ischemia, and regionally administering glutamic acid or aspartic acid together with a medicament for treating a spinal cord injury to the segment or a method for evaluating a medicament for treating a spinal cord injury due to glutamic acid or aspartic acid, which comprises administering a medicament for treating a spinal cord injury to a non-human animal produced according to the above method.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing an animal suffering from a spinal cord injury such as paraplegia, etc. due to the neurotoxicity of glutamic acid or aspartic acid and also a method for evaluating a medicament for treating a spinal cord injury, which can protect nerves by attenuating the neurotoxicity of glutamic acid or aspartic acid.
2) Description of Related Art
Spinal cord injury such as paraplegia, etc. is a serious complication of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm operation, and particularly the prevalence of postoperative paraplegia has been reported to range from 5% to 20%, depending on the site and extent of the aortic aneurysm and the presence or absence of aortic dissection. Numerous improvements of surgical operative techniques and pharmacological spinal cord protections have been proposed for preventing occurrence of paraplegia, but no methods have been established yet for completely avoiding this dreadful complication.
That is, it has been desired to make studies on the clarification of complicated pathophysiologic mechanism and causes of the disease as to the spinal cord injury such as paraplegia, etc. and also to make studies on development, etc. of medicaments for treating the disease, particularly studies on provision of test animals suffering from spinal cord injury such as paraplegia, etc. due to a specific cause of disease and also on provision of a method for evaluating medicaments targeted at the specific cause of disease. Up to now, it has been reported that nerve degeneration and paraplegia occur in spinal cords of rabbits subjected to infrarenal aortic isolation for 15 to 20 minutes (MARTINEZ-ARIZALA, A., J, B. LONG, D. D. RIGGAMONTI, J. M. KRAIMER, et al, 1989, Deteriorating stroke model of spinal ischemia in the rabbit is associated with a marked hyperemia, Neurology 39 (Suppl 1): 371-372), but the rabbits have not been clarified yet as to the causes for paraplegia, etc., and thus are not always to serve as preferable test animals for the above-mentioned evaluation purpose.
On the other hand, it has been recently clarified that glutamic acid and aspartic acid, which are major excitatory neurotransmitters that are abundant in the central nerve system, including the spinal cord, are potentially neurotoxic to central nerve cells (neurons) and are involved in the pathophysiologic mechanism of a variety of neuronal diseases. Furthermore, it is (now) presumed that the neurotoxicity of glutamic acid and aspartic acid takes part in the spinal cord injury such as paraplegia, etc.
Regan and Choi reported that neuro-degenation occurred in vitro in spinal cord cell cultures of rats when exposed to a glutamic acid solution. However, the neurotoxicity of glutamic acid was not directly demonstrated in vivo. According to Mangano and Schwarcz, no nerve injury was observed even when a 300 mM glutamic acid solution was infused into the hippocampus for two weeks at a rate of 0.5 .mu.l/hr. That is, no animals suffering from a spinal cord injury such as paraplegia, etc. due to exogenous glutamic acid or aspartic acid have not been obtained up to now.

Method for producing non-human animal having spinal cord injury

Rejidensu TOYOUKE Tsuruta 203, 2810-9, Tsurutamachi


A system and method for streamlining inventory and ordering for certain surgical supplies. The method includes scanning, by an imaging device, a surgical site and receiving, by a processor communicatively coupled to the imaging device, data from the scan. The method also includes the processor analyzing the data, where the analyzing includes searching the data to identify predefined key features in the data that are parameters utilized by a Statistical Shape Model (SSM). The processor applies the SSM to generate a three dimensional replica of a predetermined portion of the surgical site. The processor also defines, based on the replica, at last one of: surgical planes or orientations. The processor then utilizes the replica and the surgical planes or orientations to select a solution.

Stocking the materials required for a medical procedure can be expensive and inefficient because present methods do not anticipate what materials will actually be used at the time of surgery. Companies selling implants utilized for various joint-related surgeries, such as knee surgeries (e.g., total knee implants), soft tissue surgeries, and other revision surgeries do not know the exact size of the implant required for each patient in advance of a procedure. Therefore, companies that provide these supplies, including hospitals, must stock a normal distribution of inventory to cover the demand required. These inventory costs can be quite high. In addition, these companies must deliver to the operating room all of the instrumentation required to implant every size in their inventory because they do not know the actual size required to treat the patient. Along with this instrumentation is a supply of each size of their corresponding implants stored at the hospital or with their sales distributor. The lack of information regarding the actual inventory requirement for a given surgery and the need to stock excess implants at various locations is problematic and can be very expensive and require a complex logistical planning effort to coordinate implant delivery for a particular surgery.
Custom implants maybe utilized in surgeries in order to alleviate the need to order/stock multiple sizes, but this is also a non-ideal solution. Companies selling patient specific or custom implants must allocate each implant to a specific patient. If the patient cancels the surgery, which is not uncommon, the company or the hospital system must pay for the unused implant. Not only do custom implants carry higher inventory carrying costs, an added complexity to utilizing these types of implants is that there is a significant learning curve experienced by the medial professional when first using patient specific instruments and implants.

Computer modeling procedures for surgical simulation and planning


A method of making a single carbon sheet for an electrode includes mixing activated carbon; adding a dispersion comprising a PTFE binder and water to the activated carbon to form a mixture; adding the mixture to a jet mill, and fibrillating the PTFE binder; and feeding the mixture with fibrillated PTFE to a roll mill to form a single carbon sheet in a single pass.

Known methods of making an electrode for a battery or energy storage device use carbon as an active material and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin as a binder. PTFE resin may fibrillate by applying shear to the resin. These fibrils hold carbon particles together, enabling carbon powder to be formed into a sheet. Fibrillation allows for PTFE to be used in lower loadings on a weight percent, and since it holds the carbon particles together by entanglement instead of coating, the large surface area of the activated carbon remains accessible to an electrolyte.
However, fibrillated PTFE binder particles will, unless lubricated, agglomerate with other fibrillated PTFE particles. If the fibrils agglomerate, the effectiveness of the PTFE as a binder is reduced. Liquid lubricants must be capable of wetting on the surface of the PTFE. Known of PTFE wetting agents include naptha, alcohols, MEK, and fluorosurfactants. Water does not wet PTFE, and therefore in a process that does not utilize organic solvents, lubrication must come from the carbon particles. This requires that the binder be very well dispersed in the carbon matrix prior to the application of shear.
Known methods of making carbon sheet for an electrode have the disadvantage of requiring organic solvents. These solvents, in addition to adding significant costs to the manufacturing process, create health, safety, and environmental issues.
Additionally, the solvents can be difficult to fully remove from the carbon sheet once the sheet has been formed. If solvent remains in the sheet, the sheet will not wet properly in aqueous electrolytes, resulting in poor electrochemical performance.

Process for the manufacture of carbon sheet for an electrode


A system and a method are disclosed for reestablishing a mobile bug communications session. In an embodiment, a service establishes a one-way communications session between a mobile bug and a monitoring device, the one-way communications session providing data from the mobile bug to the monitoring device during the one-way communications session without audio being provided from the monitoring device to the mobile bug during the one-way communications session. The service detects a break in the one-way communications session, and determines whether the monitoring device has activated a remote reestablishment feature. Responsive determining that the monitoring device has activated the remote reestablishment feature, the service instructs the monitoring device to output an option to reestablish the one-way communications session. Responsive to detecting a selection of the option, the service corrects the break in the one-way communications session.

In covert operations scenarios where a transmitting person has audio transmitted to a monitoring team, it is risky for the transmitting person to carry a transmitting device, as the transmitting device can be discovered by a bad guy, thus compromising the transmitting person's identity and safety. Related art systems thus enable cellular telephones to be configured to act as a transmitting device, where the transmitting device initiates audio, and then the monitoring team can listen in. In such scenarios, the risk of the transmitting person being caught is reduced because it is not obvious that the cellular telephone is being used to transmit audio. However, if a loss in cellular service causes the audio connection between the transmitting device and the monitoring team to break, and the transmitting person is unable to reinitiate the audio, or unaware that the audio connection has broken, then the monitoring team will have no recourse to continue listening to the audio.

Remote reestablishment of one-way communications session with mobile bug