A multi-chamber ventricular assist device (VAD) for blood pumping includes a rigid outer housing having an inlet and outlet, a pre-filling chamber disposed within the housing fluidly connected to the inlet, and an a ejection chamber disposed within the outer housing. A movable plate is flexibly secured to the housing and is in a flow path of the blood being disposed between the pre-filling and the ejection chamber. The movable plate has a one-way valve for flowing blood from said pre-filling chamber to the ejection chamber. An outlet valve is disposed between the ejection chamber and the outlet of the device. A structure is provided for moving the movable plate. The multi-chamber VAD is suitable as a heart prosthesis which can be implanted in the body or used externally.

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, an estimated 4.8 M Americans have congestive heart failure (CHF), a condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the need of the other organs of the body. The heart grows too large as a result of congestion in the tissues which also effect the lungs and extremities such as the legs. CHF is a chronic condition and is often the end-stage of cardiac disease. Half of all patients diagnosed with CHF are generally dead within 5 years. The disease is present in about 10% of all persons over 70 years of age and each year there are an estimated 400,000 new cases in the U.S. alone.
Treatment options are limited. Drugs, such as diuretics, ACE inhibitors and digitalis are primary therapy and are used to either expand blood vessels or eliminate access salt and water in the body. For late stage patients, heart transplants are an option but the supply of donor hearts are very limited. American Heart Association (AHA) data puts cost of care for CHF patients at $20B annually in the U.S. Actual dollars could be as high as $30–35B given the overlap with other cardiovascular disease states. Various anecdotal data suggests that the per capita spending in Europe is even higher. Thus, CHF is a highly prevalent, chronic disease, with limited treatment options and a very high cost of care on a global basis.
Addressing the importance of alternative therapies to heart transplants for CHF patients, the clinical unmet need is ever increasing, and rapidly. For patients with late-stage CHF current treatment options are limited. Excluding the use of cardiac assist technologies such as VAD-based systems, the only viable treatment option available today is a heart transplant. In recent years, the number of available donors has stabilized at 2,300 per year. However, with the benefits of better health care, more CHF patients are reaching late-stage status, further increasing the need for transplants. As a result, the gap between the number of available donors and the number of patients on the transplant list have doubled in the last 10 years, reaching close to 5,000 patients in the US alone. But even this figure misrepresents the actual need for late-stage treatment, as the screening criteria for acceptance to the transplant waiting list are immediately disqualifying roughly 50 percent of all patients. Calculations by the American Heart Association show that the actual number of US patients in need of late-stage treatment is about 40,000, only counting those 65 years old or younger.
Ventricular Assist Devices are used to off-load the heart and take over the heart's pumping functions. VAD designs originate from other industrial pump applications. The first generation of VADs comprised ordinary displacement pumps. Since then many techniques have been applied in the design of new VAD systems, such as centrifugal pumps and impeller (turbine) pumps.
VADs are currently used for both acute and chronic cases of heart failure. VADs ensure that the vital organs get sufficient blood flow and allow more time to find a suitable heart donor (bridge-to-transplant), as well as time to build strength and improve the patient's general condition before a transplant. Due to the relatively good portability of many current VAD systems, many patients may be able to return to their homes and even to their jobs while awaiting transplantation. This may drastically improve quality of life and reduce the cost associated with extended hospital stays. Most of the VAD systems currently available are used as bridge-to-transplant systems.
It has also been found that VADs can improve the condition of the diseased heart itself. By off-loading the heart for an extended period the heart can rest and sometimes heal itself. This is often referred to as bridge-to-recovery VADs. The use of VADs for this purpose includes not only CHF patients, but also patient categories such as viral myocarditis patients and cardiogenic shock patients. Cardiogenic shock is currently seen in approximately 4 percent of all post cardiotomy patients. Even though some of the VAD systems available today may be used as bridge-to-recovery VADs, they are all generally designed as bridge-to-transplant systems.
Additionally, many CHF patients are elderly and for other reasons might not qualify for a heart transplant. There are also other CHF patient categories where a heart transplant is deemed in vane. For that purpose, VADs or Total Artificial Hearts (TAHs) might be able to provide a viable alternative. Due to the recent FDA approval of the HeartMate VAD system as a destination therapy for patients not eligible for heart transplants, this is likely to drastically increase the market for VAD systems.
Despite the many advances in VAD technology, current devices generally have the several common shortcomings. VAD devices may be too large for transplantation into patients with smaller frames. This excludes many women and children. Many of today's VAD systems require advanced computerized control systems to regulate the function of the pump. Such VADs are costly and labor intensive to operate, excluding many under developed markets. This may also have prevented VAD systems from finding widespread acceptance and use for extended fields of applications in non-surgical settings, such as cardiogenic shock in the ER, ICU, or PTCA laboratory.

Multi-chamber self-regulating ventricular assist device

University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc.


A method and apparatus for recording control for a recording medium having a data recording region for recording data such as audio data, speech data, and a control data region for recording control data for the data recording region. The method and apparatus includes identifying a non-silent recorded portion and a silent recorded portion of the data recorded in the data recording region based upon the signal level of the data recorded in the data recording region, and recording control data for separating the data recorded in the data recording region into temporally former and temporally latter portions at a boundary portion between the non-silent recorded portion and the silent recorded portion based upon the results of the identification after recording of the data in the data recording region has ended.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for recording on a recording medium and a method for controlling the recording process. More particularly, the present invention relates to a recording apparatus for recording on a recording medium under control based on the data signal level, and a method for controlling the recording process.
2. Background of the Invention
An optical disc may have a recording capacity two to three orders of magnitude larger than a magneto-optical disc, and permits higher speed access than with a tape-shaped recording medium. Since the optical disc also has such merits as high durability and contact-free data recording/reproduction, it has recently being employed in increasing numbers.
There are several types of optical discs, such as a read-only optical disc having a read-only area with data recorded as pits, conforming to a standard CD (Compact Disc) format, referred to hereinafter as a CD-DA format, a magneto-optical disc, in the form of a magneto-optical recording medium having a recording/reproducing area conforming to a CD-MO format as an extension format of the CD-DA format, and a hybrid disc having both the read-only area with data recorded as pits and a recording/reproducing area having a magneto-optical recording layer in which the data is recorded on or reproduced from the magneto-optical recording layer.
If, in a data recording/reproducing apparatus for recording data on a disc-shaped recording medium, such as a magneto-optical disc or a hybrid disc, the recording data become useless data during recording, the recording is discontinued by a manual operation. If a song or other audio program are to be recorded from a CD to a magneto-optical disc, the recording by the magneto-optical disc recording/reproducing apparatus is discontinued by a manual operation after the end of reproduction by the CD player.
In a disc-shaped recording medium, such as an optical disc or a magneto-optical disc, there are provided a main data recording area for recording main data, such as audio data or speech data or general data, and a control data recording area for recording control data.
In the data recording/reproducing apparatus for the disc-shaped recording medium, the pre-recorded area and the non-recorded recordable area are controlled by control data recorded in the control data recording area. For example, in the optical disc conforming to the CD-DA format, the recording start address information and the recording end address information are sequentially recorded for all of the program data in a lead-in region as a table-of-contents (TOC) information indicating the recording position and the recording contents of the data region.
The present Assignee has already proposed a recording and/or reproducing apparatus for digitally recording and/or reproducing audio signals or music signals or the like using an optical disc of substantially 64 mm in diameter housed within a disc cartridge. This type of the optical disc may be classified into a read-only optical disc, a recordable disc such as a magneto-optical disc and a hybrid disc having both the read-only region and the recordable region. In the magneto-optical disc capable of data recording and reproduction, the program region and the U-TOC region (user TOC region) are provided in the recordable region, and the TOC data indicating the recording position and the recording contents of the program region, referred to herein as U-TOC data, are recorded in the U-TOC region.
With such disc recording/reproducing apparatus, the recording is discontinued by a manual operation. As a result, if only songs or programs, such as audio or music data, are designated using the program reproduction function of the CD player to be recorded, and a song or program smaller in data quantity than the capacity of the recording side is reproduced, a silent recorded portion, such as a portion recorded zero-level audio data, is produced on the end after the end of the reproduction on the source side. In order to prevent the silent portion from being recorded on end, it is necessary to watch the state of the source and to terminate recording as soon as the reproduction of the source side comes to a close.
On the other hand, if recording is not discontinued by a manual operation, the silent portion continues to be recorded up to the end of the recordable region, such that, unless the silent portion is re-registered as a vacant region, recording cannot be made in succession to the recorded portion.

Apparatus for recording data on a recording medium and for deleting a silent portion of the recorded data


A multiple ply composite structure used to reinforce, seal and shape concrete structures has a first ply formed of unidirected continuous filament reinforcements which are bonded together by a thermosetting polymeric resin matrix. A second ply comprises a plurality of separately spaced protuberances, each of which is individually coated with a hardenable thermosetting polymeric resin. The hardenable thermosetting polymeric resin of the second ply bonds the first ply to the second ply by forming a concave resin meniscus which anchors each of the protuberances of the second ply to the first ply.

This invention relates to integral tensile-strength reinforcing materials applied to concrete structures.
The tensile strength of concrete is approximately one tenth that of its compression strength. For this reason, concrete structures subjected to bending or deflection, such as beams, roofs, columns, piling, and buried pipe must be reinforced by a material that increases its tensile strength.
The material most commonly used previously to reinforce concrete is carbon steel. Among the advantages of using carbon steel as a concrete reinforcement material are its low cost, its ready availability, its predictable physical properties and its long history of use and approval by building code committees.
However, in many applications serious problems have been encountered with the use of these carbon steel reinforcements. Corrosion of carbon steel reinforcing members has caused the deterioration of concrete bridge decks, concrete pipe and other concrete structures. For example, a primary cause of bridge deck deterioration is the cyclic freeze-thaw exposures and the reinforcing steel corrosion caused by the extensive use of de-icing salts.
Practical realities of the concrete formation process can exacerbate steel corrosion problems. For example, due to the shortage of fresh salt-free water in certain regions of the world, steel-reinforced concrete structures have frequently used saltwater in the concrete mix. When sea water was utilized in the concrete mix used to build reinforced concrete structures in Saudi Arabia, the resulting high internal chloride level of the concrete produced extensive corrosion of the steel reinforcement within the concrete as well as cracking, delamination and spalling of the concrete.
The steel bar and wire materials used to form and reinforce concrete are generally placed inside rather than outside the concrete structure, for several reasons. First, it is difficult and expensive to bond or otherwise attach steel reinforcement members to the exterior of concrete structures subjected to beam loads. Second, encasing the carbon steel reinforcement members within the alkaline concrete material protects the steel from corrosion due to acidic water.
However, the placement of steel reinforcements within the concrete structures they reinforce presents numerous drawbacks. In a typical concrete beam, its bottom exterior surface bears the greatest tensile load. Accordingly, placement of the steel reinforcement within the concrete beam fails to support the beam at its weakest point. Internally placed steel reinforcements do not enclose the outer surface of the concrete, and thus provide no protection for the outer surface from water intrusion or leaking. Similarly, internally placed steel reinforcements do not prevent concrete from spalling or breaking loose in crisis conditions such as an earthquake. Furthermore, steel reinforcements placed within a reinforced concrete structure are hidden from view and are thus difficult and expensive to inspect.
In order to avoid problems with corrosion, makers of concrete structures have turned to nonmetallic materials as alternatives to carbon steel reinforcements. For example, steel reinforcing bars can be replaced by pultruded bars of fiber-reinforced plastic ("FRP") or filament-wound FRP tubular structures, or steel mesh can be replaced by FRP grating or screens. These materials, however, are used as internal reinforcements. Thus, their use does not alleviate the problems described above found with all internally placed reinforcements.
Corrosion-resistant stainless steel fibers or alkaline-resistant fiberglass fibers may be intermixed or otherwise placed within concrete before it hardens in order to increase the tensile strength of the concrete. However, this method fails to protect the outer surfaces of the concrete structures it reinforces, and further requires high cost and complex mixing procedures in order to provide uniform dispersion of the reinforcing fibers within the concrete.
Certain externally-mounted structures have also been explored as alternative means to reinforce concrete. For example, paper-thin polymeric composite laminates, made in the form of sheets, can be bonded to the exterior surface of a dry concrete structure. Such composite laminates, made from continuous carbon fibers and a prepreg epoxy resin, have been used to reinforce or repair concrete bridge decks and concrete walls. In California, polymeric composite materials containing continuous filament reinforcements have been used after earthquakes to reinforce fully cured concrete column structures that support automotive highways. These composite sheet reinforcements are usually bonded to a dry concrete surface with a thin layer of epoxy resin adhesive.
These external surface concrete reinforcements are expensive to make and apply and their reinforcing strength depends upon the bond strength between the composite laminate and the concrete surface material. Because the composite laminates are not bonded to the concrete until after the concrete has already been cured, no truly intimate bond between the laminate and the concrete can be made. Furthermore, the bond strength which can be established between the laminates and the concrete is vulnerable to the low peel strength characterizing epoxy adhesives. Long term exposure to weathering and severe temperature changes can also cause the thin composite sheet to delaminate from the concrete structure.
Beyond reinforcements, external structures used in the creation of concrete structures include shaping forms into which wet concrete can be poured and maintained in a desired shape until it dries. If external conditions are such that ice forms in the concrete while it dries, the concrete can lose nearly half its potential design strength, even though cement hydration can be reestablished upon re-warming the frozen concrete. Keeping concrete warm or using accelerators to reduce the curing time increases the cost of the concreting job. Thus, to control the temperature of the concrete as it dries, these forms have been made of thermally insulative materials. However, these forms have not also served to reinforce the completed concrete structure or permanently seal its outer surface.
Shaping forms are used in the formation of centrifugally cast concrete pipes. One characteristic of these pipes has been that, due to unavoidable variations in the quantity of concrete placed within the rotating form, the pipe cannot be made to possess identical internal diameters.
Conventional concrete pipe liners, such as those cast within the concrete, are usually made of flexible sheets of thermoplastic materials that do not increase the structural strength of the pipe. The interior of conventional concrete sewer pipe is commonly protected from the corrosive effects of the sulfuric acid produced by hydrogen sulfide in sewer gas, by cast-in-place pipe liners made of poly vinyl chloride. These pipe liners sometimes have protrusions which are pushed into the wet concrete in order to anchor the liner to the concrete. However, these protrusions are not formed to be integral structural constituents of the concrete pipe.
One particular method used to attach pipe liners to concrete pipes has been to extend circumferentially spaced extruded tee shapes longitudinally within the pipe wall. A downside of this method is that the concrete is weakened in direct proportion to the depth of the plastic anchor tee. Such "tee locks" provide longitudinal grooves that serve as built-in stress-risers that can produce fractures in the concrete pipe structure when the pipe is shifted during earthquake or other soil motion events.
One attempt to create a concrete liner having protrusions which can be made internal structural constituents of the concrete is known. To create this liner, a laminate surface was coated with a bonding resin, and rock aggregate particles were sprinkled upon the resin. The rock aggregate particles were then embedded in fresh concrete. However, it was found that the resulting bond strength for the liner was limited to the tensile strength of the hardened resin present between the bottom of the rock particle and the laminate surface with which it was in contact. This particle bond strength was found to be less than the tensile strength of either the rock particles or the concrete. For this reason, such aggregate covered laminates were deemed not suitable as concrete reinforcement constituents.

Composite shape forming structure for sealing and reinforcing concrete and method for making same


The quick coupler anchor includes an anchor body having a pair of vertical plates extending generally at right angles one to the other and spaced from one another. Planes containing the plates, when extended, intersect along a vertical line offset from the center axis of a valve received in a recess in a member connecting upper edges of the vertical extending plates. The recess has a plurality of flats for registration with the flats of the hex nut of the valve body. When the anchor is embedded in the ground with the recess about the hex nut, the anchor restrains rotational movement of the valve relative to the anchor in response to a torque applied to the valve to open or close the valve. The center of vertical support of the anchor lies generally coincident with the vertical axis of the valve to provide stability to the valve and anchor upon vertical loadings.

The present application relates to a quick coupler anchor for engaging the valve of an underground fluid, e.g., water, supply system, and particularly relates to an anchor for restraining rotation of the valve relative to its connection with the underground fluid supply system when a torque is applied to the valve to open or close the valve and more particularly to an anchor which affords stability to the system under multi-directional loadings.
In underground water supply systems, for example, for irrigating golf courses, a water distribution supply pipe extends vertically below-ground and is coupled at its lower end to a main or branch water distribution pipe. The opposite end of the vertically disposed distribution pipe is threadedly coupled with a valve which terminates substantially flush with ground level. The valve has a cap and a cover typically overlies the cap. To open the valve and, hence, supply water to an above-ground distribution conduit, e.g., a hose, the cover is removed and the valve cap is pivoted out of the way. A bayonet-type connector is then inserted axially into the exposed valve. Upon rotation of the bayonet connector relative to the valve about the vertical axis, the interior mechanism of the valve opens to supply water to the above-ground conduit. Similarly, rotation of the bayonet connector in the opposite rotational direction closes the valve. When rotating the bayonet connector, however, the applied torque tends to rotate the valve relative to the supply pipe. As a consequence, the joint between the valve and supply pipe unthreads, causing leakage and, over time and with sufficient use, the valve may disconnect from the supply pipe. In the latter event, the valve can pop off the supply pipe with considerable force due to the high water pressure in the supply pipe and hence there arises a significant potential for injury.
Different types of restraints have been employed to prevent rotation of the valve relative to the distribution pipe upon rotation of the bayonet coupling when connecting the valve to the hose or conduit. For example, two types of anchors are described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,308. In the first type of anchor, an angle iron is coupled to the valve and extends horizontally from the valve to afford resistance to rotation of the valve when the valve is opened or closed by the bayonet connector. Another type of anchor is also disclosed in that patent and includes an open receptacle for receiving a hex nut, which forms part of the valve body. The anchor includes a pair of oppositely extending vertical vanes which, according to the patent, cooperate with the surrounding soil pack to resist torsional forces applied to the valve and maintain the connection between the valve and the supply pipe. However, such devices do not appear to be particularly stable. The one or more vertical vanes of the anchor, in both embodiments, are eccentric to the vertical axis of the valve. With that arrangement, vertical forces applied to the valve do not coincide or even substantially coincide with the center of support of the anchor, i.e., center of resistance to vertical movement relative to the soil. The converse is also true. This lack of coincidence of the vertical forces introduces a moment arm tending to tilt the valve and/or anchor upon application of the vertical force and hence renders the system unstable.


This invention relates to computing numerical solutions of linear systems of equations, specifically to implementing preconditioning of the coefficient matrix of such a system. The preconditioning applies to any coefficient matrix, dense or sparse, based on the solutions of a physical problem of unknown functions, commonly referred to as basis or interpolation functions, where the basis function spans more then one mesh element. Examples of such linear systems can result from, as examples, an electromagnetic analysis of printed circuit boards or field scattering in radar applications, fluid mechanics and acoustics. A method and system to compute a preconditioner for a coefficient matrix A that is compatible with the linear system of equations that provides basis function support over at least two mesh elements. Coupling of the preconditioner between partitions of a portioned mesh representation is only through basis functions at the partition boundaries.

Systems are known in the art for computing numerical solutions of linear systems of equations. Also known is the preconditioning of the coefficient matrix of such a system.
Computer aided design (CAD) systems have become accepted universally as important engineering design tools for a variety of applications in mechanical, civil, and electrical engineering. Information regarding the shape and physical properties of a device or structure are captured and stored in the system in the form of a geometric model. The behavior of the physical system is described in mathematical terms, via the application of known laws of physics, as a problem whose solution reveals a property of the system that it is desired to evaluate. In practice, a region is divided into elements, often tens of thousands or millions of elements, over which the properties are considered to vary in a known manner and to which classical principles can be applied to yield a system of linear algebraic equations.
The computational cost associated with evaluating the physical system is dominated by the solution of this system of equations. It is therefore of paramount technical importance to improve the computational efficiency with which the numerical solution to these equations can be generated. For this reason, iterative techniques are typically the method of choice for solving such linear systems due to their speed advantage over direct inversion methods. These methods, however, are strongly dependent of the condition number, i.e., the size of the span of the spectrum of the resulting matrix. It is known that large condition numbers reduce the convergence of the system dramatically.
In order to overcome the convergence rate difficulties, matrix preconditioners are used to reduce the condition number. Solving linear systems using conjugate gradient (CG) iterative methods, for example, with preconditioning has been well documented and is summarized in "Numerical Recipes", W. Press et al., Cambridge Press (1992). The most common preconditioning method is known as incomplete LU, and is described in detail in "Iterative Solution Methods", O. Axelsson, Cambridge Press (1994). To summarize, in a triangular (LU) factorization of a matrix A, the matrix is decomposed into a lower triangular matrix L and an upper triangular matrix U, thereby expressing the matrix as a product LU=A. If A is a sparse matrix, meaning the matrix has a low ratio of nonzero elements, the ratio of nonzero elements in the resulting matrices L and U is increased. The generation of nonzero elements is ordinarily called "fill-in". In the incomplete LU, the fill-in is ignored by approximating it to zero. Alternatively, fill-in can be selectively ignored based on its relative magnitude. Modifications to the incomplete LU in generating preconditioners for sparse coefficient matrices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,136,538, "Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient System", N.K. Karmardar et al., and in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No.: 5,754,181, "Computer Aided Design System", V. Amdursky et al.
The application of incomplete LU is limited to instances where the condition number is small, which is especially the case in the solution of dense matrices, such as those produced when attempting to solve integral equations. In order to apply an incomplete LU on a dense preconditioner, the preconditioner must first be "sparsed". For example, setting to zero all matrix elements whose magnitude is below a certain threshold, or setting to zero all elements in the preconditioner representing interactions between elements in the physical system separated by distances larger then a certain threshold. All known choices of sparsing the preconditioner, including the two mentioned above, when combined with incomplete, or even complete, LU factorization produce poor results when the condition number of A is large. Therefore, in order to overcome the convergence rate difficulty in general linear systems with large conditioner numbers, a general and robust preconditioning method is needed. Prior to this invention, this need was not adequately met.
A particular problem arises during the electrical analysis of devices that are small with respect to the wavelength, such as electronic packaging structures, chips, interconnects, and printed circuit boards. The analysis of such structures results in linear systems of equations to be solved, which are desired to be solved iteratively by a fast, low storage requirement solver such as the Fast Multipole Method or the pre-corrected FFT method. The use of an iterative solver requires that the condition number of the linear system (the ratio of the largest to smallest eigenvalue) be as close to one as possible. When the condition number is too large a preconditioner is used to condition the system and reduce the condition number. However, for such structures as those mentioned above, the use of common rooftop basis functions (also known as Rao-Wilton Glisson or RWG functions) produces linear systems with large condition numbers such that no known preconditioner has been available to properly condition the system.
As was noted above, the most common attempt at a preconditioner is one based on geometrically close interactions. To form such a preconditioner, one sets to zero all interactions in the linear system that are geometrically separated by a defined distance. Such a preconditioner will only be effective, however, for structures that are large compared to the wavelength when the common rooftop or RWG basis functions are used. One existing solution to this problem uses less desirable loop-tree or loop-star basis functions which result in a better conditioned linear system. A disadvantage of this approach, however, is that the fast solvers mentioned above have difficulties dealing with the often large loops produced by the change in the basis functions. This is due to the inaccurate calculation of near interactions by the fast solver, for which large loops have many. Reference can be made to "Fast and efficient algorithms in electromagnetics", by Weng Chew et al., Artech House 2001, for descriptions of fast solvers and loop-tree or loop-star basis functions.

Method, apparatus and computer program providing broadband preconditioning based on reduced coupling for numerical solvers

International Business Machines Corporation


Apparatus for identifying and distinguishing between at least two types of refrigerant that includes a fixed volume for containing a refrigerant sample at controlled vapor pressure. A thermistor provides a first electrical signal as a function of the combined effect of thermal conductivity and temperature of a refrigerant sample in the sample-containing volume, and a temperature sensor provides a second electrical signal as a function of temperature of the refrigerant vapor in the sample-containing volume essentially independent of thermal conductivity thereof. Associated electronics determines type of refrigerant in the sample-containing volume as a function of the first and second electrical signals, and thus as a function of thermal conductivity of the refrigerant sample independent of sample temperature. Since thermal conductivity of refrigerants at a given temperature and pressure varies for different refrigerant types, refrigerant type can be determined and displayed to an operator.

It is now widely recognized and accepted that release into the atmosphere of chlorofluorocarbon(CFC)-based refrigerants, such as refrigerant R12, has a deleterious effect upon the ozone layer that surrounds the earth. Production of CFC-based refrigerants may be severely curtailed in the future, and the cost of refrigerant for service purposes is already increasing. It is therefore becoming standard practice in the refrigerant system service industry to recover, purify and reuse refrigerant in a refrigeration system under service, rather than merely to vent such refrigerant into the atmosphere and replace with new refrigerant, as had been common practice in the past. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,768,347, 4,805,416 and 4,878,356, all assigned to the assignee hereof, disclose equipment for recovering, purifying and/or recharging refrigerant in a refrigeration system service environment.
As currently envisioned, R12 refrigerant will eventually be replaced by different types of refrigerants in production of new refrigeration systems. For example, R12 refrigerant may be replaced by R134a refrigerant in the automotive industry--i.e., in automotive air conditioning systems. However, because these refrigerants and their associated lubricants are chemically incompatible with each other, inadvertent mixture of even small amounts of the different refrigerants can cause severe damage and early failure of the refrigeration system. It has been proposed to provide different service fittings on refrigeration equipment using different types of refrigerants, but the use of adaptors and the like in the service industry may still result in inadvertent mixing of refrigerant/lubricant types, with consequent damage to the system under service or to the service equipment itself.
A further complication arises with the use of intermediate refrigerants as substitutes for R12 refrigerant, such as ternary blends made by DuPont. With severe curtailment of R12 production that may take place, it is anticipated that a significant number of refrigeration systems currently employing R12 refrigerant may eventually be retrofitted with an intermediate substitute refrigerant. Inadvertent mixing of refrigerants is considered to be an irreversible process, leading to disposal of the mixed refrigerant as hazardous waste. U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,905, assigned to the assignee hereof, discloses a refrigerant recovery system that includes a recovery compressor, a multiple-section condenser, and means for automatically distinguishing between R12, R22 and R502 refrigerants at the compressor inlet, as a function of refrigerant vapor pressure and temperature, and switching the compressor outlet among the condenser sections to prevent mixing of refrigerants in the condenser. However, the temperature/saturation pressure characteristics of R12, R134a and blend refrigerants are such that these refrigerants cannot as readily be distinguished as a function of these characteristics.
There is therefore a need in the refrigeration system service industry for a device that can be employed to test refrigerant in a storage container or in a refrigeration system before performing service on the system, that is not restricted to any particular type of refrigerant or to automotive service applications, that is particularly well adapted to identify and distinguish between refrigerants of different types, that is inexpensive to manufacture and market, that is readily portable, that is rapid and efficient in operation, and/or that can be employed by relatively untrained service personnel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,747 discloses such a device for identifying and distinguishing between and among different types of refrigerant. The device includes a fixed volume for containing a sample of refrigerant. The refrigerant to be tested is selectively admitted into the volume in vapor phase, vapor pressure of refrigerant within the fixed volume is measured, and admission of refrigerant into the fixed volume is terminated when the vapor pressure of refrigerant contained therein reaches a preselected level. A sensor and associated electronics are coupled to the sample-containing volume for determining type of refrigerant vapor as a function of one or more selected properties of the refrigerant, and indicating such refrigerant type to an operator.
A general object of the present invention is to provide apparatus for identifying and distinguishing different refrigerants of the type disclosed in the noted patent that is more economical to assembly, easy to use and reliable over an extended useful life.

Apparatus for identifying and distinguishing different refrigerants


A radar beam sharpening system for processing a radar video stream of echo return intensities, sampled in range and azimuth. The system uses a signal processor that is configured to apply beam sharpening to the radar video stream and which selectively varies the level of beam sharpening applied as a function of range and/or a land map generated from the radar video stream so as to generate an output selectively beam sharpened radar video stream.

At a general level, marine radar systems typically comprise a rotating radar antenna scanner that transmits electromagnetic pulses during rotational 360° sweeps (scans) at a number azimuthal directions in the sweep, determined by an azimuthal sampling rate. For each pulse in an azimuthal direction the echo return signal is received and sampled at a number of ranges from the scanner. The resultant digital radar video stream generated by the scanner is then typically signal processed to detect targets for presenting on a radar display, such as a Plan Position Indicator (PPI).
In recent years it has become practical to improve the azimuth resolution of radar using signal processing techniques commonly referred to as 'beam sharpening'. Beam sharpening in the context of this specification is considered to be any process that significantly improves target discrimination in azimuth.
One well-known beam sharpening method is to use deconvolution. In radar, the rotating antenna sweeps over targets and mathematically this can be described as the convolution of the target pattern and the antenna pattern. The resulting signal is then deconvolved to recover the original target pattern. The deconvolution process may be described in the azimuth spectral domain as applying a filter with an inverse frequency response to the antenna. In theory the original target pattern can be perfectly recovered. However, in practice the multi-element antennas typically used for radar applications have a low pass response with zeros in the stopband. The inverse response therefore has points of infinite gain that cannot be implemented. In practice, the inverse response must be modified in some manner. Typically the inverse antenna response is limited to a practical level of maximum gain through the use of an appropriate low pass filter, and an example of a possible filter response relative to the associate antenna and inverse antenna response is shown in FIG. 1.
GB2449171 discloses one form of deconvolution-based beam sharpening which involves iteratively carrying out the steps of filtering the incoming signal and then clipping values of the filtered signal which are below a baseline level, for example.
Beam sharpening has the advantage of better discriminating targets in azimuth and is very beneficial to navigation and collision avoidance in general but does have downsides in the following respects:                i) Detail is increased everywhere in the radar image so it can be more difficult to interpret for novice users and in rough sea conditions on small craft. This includes areas where detail does not add much value such as within extensive land targets.        ii) Targets at close range can become difficult to see on the display because of the geometric compression a PPI display inherently causes.        iii) Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radars are capable of detecting targets down to a range of several meters. At such ranges a much greater proportion of targets become azimuth extensive. A complex target, such as a sailboat, at these ranges may produce multiple discriminated returns. In this case discriminating features within the target is of no navigational value.        iv) A PPI produces inherent visual distortion of the radar image, being highly compressed in azimuth at close range progressing to being highly expanded at long range. For radars with wide azimuth beamwidth such as radomes, this causes increased error between the chart and radar image when overlaid.
In this specification where reference has been made to patent specifications, other external documents, or other sources of information, this is generally for the purpose of providing a context for discussing the features of the invention. Unless specifically stated otherwise, reference to such external documents is not to be construed as an admission that such documents, or such sources of information, in any jurisdiction, are prior art, or form part of the common general knowledge in the art.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved radar beam sharpening system method which at least goes some way to addressing some of the above disadvantages of beam sharpening, or which at least provides the public with a useful choice.


User authentication techniques are provided using biometric representations of one-time passcodes. An exemplary method comprises initiating a challenge to a user in connection with an authentication request by the user to access a protected resource, wherein the challenge comprises a biometric encoding of a one-time passcode using a dictionary; processing a biometric representation by the user in response to the challenge in accordance with the biometric encoding and wherein the processing comprises determining a likelihood that the biometric representation by the user in response to the challenge matches the biometric encoding in the challenge; and resolving the authentication request based on the likelihood. The biometric encoding comprises, for example, a vocal passphrase and/or instructions for the user to perform a specified manipulation to a biometric sample of the user.

In order to gain access to applications or other resources via a computer or another user device, users are often required to authenticate themselves by entering authentication information. Such authentication information may comprise, for example, one-time passwords (OTPs) that are generated by a security token carried by a user, such as the RSA SecurID® user authentication token, commercially available from RSA Security LLC of Bedford, Mass., U.S.A.
OTPs are often used as a secondary factor for strong authentication. Current OTPs, such as those generated by the RSA SecurID® security token, are represented as numeric codes. These numeric codes are modeled after passwords and are typically entered by users in a manner similar to passwords (for example, using a physical or touch-screen keyboard or keypad).
A need exists for techniques for processing additional representations of OTPs that may be employed, for example, when a keyboard or keypad is not available, or is not a convenient method for entering an OTP.

User authentication using biometric representation of one-time passcodes


Semiconductor device structures and related fabrication methods are provided. An exemplary semiconductor device structure includes a collector region of semiconductor material having a first conductivity type, a base region of semiconductor material within the collector region, the base region having a second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type, and a doped region of semiconductor material having the second conductivity type, wherein the doped region is electrically connected to the base region and the collector region resides between the base region and the doped region. In exemplary embodiments, the dopant concentration of the doped region is greater than a dopant concentration of the collector region to deplete the collector region as the electrical potential of the base region exceeds that of the collector region.

During normal operation, the voltage applied to a semiconductor device is constrained by the breakdown voltage of the device, which is the minimum applied voltage that causes avalanche breakdown in the device. For example, the rated voltage across terminals of transistor devices is typically set to a value that is well below the voltage that causes avalanche breakdown in the device to provide sufficient margin that accommodates manufacturing variations and/or transient voltage fluctuations. However, when numerous different types of semiconductor devices (e.g., diodes, field-effect transistors, bipolar junction transistors, and the like) are fabricated on a die or wafer as part of an integrated fabrication process, a breakdown voltage of a particular device may be compromised to achieve the desired performance for the other types of semiconductor devices. For example, a breakdown voltage of a bipolar transistor may be compromised as a result of the fabrication process being tailored to achieve desired on-resistances or breakdown voltages for field-effect transistors fabricated on the wafer. While additional or specialized fabrication process steps may be performed to improve the breakdown voltages or other device parameters, such additional fabrication process steps undesirably increase the cost and/or complexity of fabrication.

Semiconductor device and related fabrication methods


A liquid crystal display device, which is configured to have a liquid crystal layer held between a pair of substrates, includes a display area including a red color pixel, a green color pixel and a blue color pixel, a pixel electrode which is disposed in each of the color pixels, a counter-electrode which is opposed to the pixel electrode via an interlayer insulation film, and an alignment film which is disposed in contact with the liquid crystal layer and is subjected to such rubbing treatment as to restrict alignment of liquid crystal molecules included in the liquid crystal layer. The pixel electrode has a slit which is formed to be inclined with respect to a direction of rubbing of the alignment film, and the slit of the red pixel and the slit of the blue pixel are formed to be inclined in different directions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display device which is configured to have a pixel electrode and a counter-electrode on one of substrates that constitute a liquid crystal display panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, flat-panel display devices have vigorously been developed, and liquid crystal display device, above all, have attracted attention because of advantages of light weight, small thickness and low power consumption. In particular, in an active matrix liquid crystal display device in which a switching element is provided in each of pixels, attention has been paid to the structure which makes use of a transverse electric field (including a fringe electric field) of an IPS (In-Plane Switching) mode or an FFS (Fringe Field Switching) mode (see, for instance, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2005-107535 and Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2006-139295).
The liquid crystal display device of the IPS mode or FFS mode includes a pixel electrode and a counter-electrode which are formed on an array substrate, and liquid crystal molecules are switched by a transverse electric field that is substantially parallel to the major surface of the array substrate. In addition, polarizer plates, which are disposed such that their axes of polarization intersect at right angles, are disposed on the outer surfaces of the array substrate and the counter-substrate. By this disposition of the polarizer plates, a black screen is displayed, for example, at a time of non-application of voltage, and a white screen is displayed, as the light transmittance (modulation ratio) gradually increases with the application of a voltage corresponding to a video signal to the pixel electrode. In this liquid crystal display device, since the liquid crystal molecules rotate in a plane that is substantially parallel to the major surface of the substrate, the polarization state is not greatly affected by the direction of incidence of transmissive light. Thus, this liquid crystal display device has such features as a low viewing angle dependency and a wide viewing angle.
In this liquid crystal display device of the IPS mode or FFS mode, when a white screen is displayed, a color hue variation may occur, in some cases, in relation to the viewing angle. As a result, the display quality of the liquid crystal display device may deteriorate.

Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., Ltd.


A memory test system is disclosed. The memory system includes a memory device, a tester generating a clock signal and a test signal for testing the memory device, and an optical splitting module. The optical splitting module comprises an electrical-optical signal converting unit which converts each of the clock signal and the test signal into an optical signal to output the clock signal and the test signal as an optical clock signal and an optical test signal. The optical splitting unit further comprises an optical signal splitting unit which splits each of the optical clock signal and the optical test signal into n signals (n being at least two), and an optical-electrical signal converting unit which receives the split optical clock signal and the split optical test signal to convert the split optical clock signal and the split optical test signal into electrical signals used in the memory device.

This application relates to a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a memory system and a memory test system, which have a high reliability and perform functions at high speed by optically splitting a clock signal applied to a memory. The application further addresses a method of testing the memory system and the memory test system using optical splitting and a method of manufacturing products using the testing method.
In performing a memory test, the reduction of the test time and cost is important in order to streamline the manufacturing process and reduce the unit cost of a memory. Therefore, research into various methods capable of reducing the test time and cost has been conducted. The disclosed embodiments include a stable test operation performed on a plurality of memories at the same time, in order to reduce cost and expedite the manufacturing process.

Memory system, memory test system and method of testing memory system and memory test system


A carton sealer using paper tapes includes a work table, an elevator, two tape machines, and a contact wheel unit. When a carton is placed and moved on the table, it touches a following wheel of an upper tape machine and is adhered with a paper tape. The carton and the following wheel continue to move forward until a micro switch separates from a projection of a turning member of the following wheel and an air cylinder. Then a spring pulls back the following wheel and a press wheel to their original position, finishing one round of tape sealing operation.

This invention concerns a carton sealer using paper tapes, particularly using a paper tape, which is adhered automatically on a carton.
A common conventional carton sealer uses a brown yellow plastic glued tape or a transparent plastic tape in sealing cartons, impossible to use tapes made of brown packing paper, which has different physical feature from the aforesaid tapes.
However, the aforesaid plastic tapes become useless after being taken down off cartons, discarded as garbage. As widely known, plastic does not biologically degrade for a long time, polluting our environment, and underground water, to give large impact to our daily life. In addition, if it is burned, it will give off toxic gas to impair our health. So, the pressing tendency nowadays is to make as little use of plastic for bags or tapes as possible.


This invention is based on combining dual heating means to warm the infused blood or other fluids to a normal body temperature and to compensate for any heat loss from the intravenous line. The infusate is directly heated to a normothermic temperature inside the apparatus as it flows in a plastic pouch having a winding shape passage.

Blood warming devices have been used in multiple surgeries and trauma cases to warm blood or other physiological or crystalloid fluids to body temperature prior infusion. Blood warming devices are used to bring up the patient body temperature to a normothermic level during surgery or as a response to hypothermia.
Many blood warmers are based on the concept of warming the infusate as it flows through a heat exchanging means or a direct heating means embedded in the system. As the warmed infusate exits the heating system it flows through an intravenous tube accessing the patient. The intravenous tube is typically few feet long extending from the heating system with its distal end connected to the patient. The tube is generally exposed to the environment causing heat to be dissipated by convection.
The blood warmer described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,994 heats the blood as it flows to the patient through the intravenous line. This system has the advantage of avoiding any heat loss to the environment, but its warming means is limited to the surface area of the extruded plastic heat exchanger. This limitation impairs the effectiveness of this system and restricts its usage to the low flow applications
Many attempts were made to develop an effective blood warming system in combination with a thermally protected intravenous line to deliver warmed fluids at high and low flow rates. U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,274 combines a system having a heat exchanging means with a blood warming intravenous line to effectively warm infused blood. This system requires periodic maintenance because of its open system water tank.
The system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,962 heats the infused fluid to the normothermic temperature inside the apparatus then utilizes a corrugated hose to envelope the intravenous line with a jet of hot air flowing inside. The hot air flows from the apparatus through the hose and exits out to the environment at the patient's end. The air hose protects the thermal integrity of the intravenous line, but the exiting flow of hot air to the environment is irritating to the patient and the surgeon. Moreover, the noise generated by the exiting air right at the patient's site is very annoying to the surgical staff.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,968 combines the heating of the blood as it flows through the system with the protection of the blood line from heat loss as it flows through the patient line. This method utilizes an elongated sleeve that is equipped with an electric heater. The sleeve is mounted on the warmed blood tubing as it exits the main heating module. The blood tubing has the same structure as the coaxial heat exchanger described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,994. In this configuration, the blood flows in the central channel that is surrounded by two half-donut channels. Still air in these outer channels act as an insulator preventing any heat loss from the blood in the central channel to the environment. The heating sleeve is awkward to use and increases the weight and the rigidity of the intravenous line that makes difficult to handle.
There is a need for an efficient fluid warmer for high and low flow rates, combined with a simple and effective intravenous line warmer to compensate for the heat loss at low flow rate, using a single low cost disposable set.

Abstract: A particular object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved intravenous line heat exchanger to further warm the infusate at high flow rates, or to compensate for any heat loss to the environment at low or stagnant flow rates. The present invention provides a closed circuit heating fluid for the intravenous heat exchanger. The heated fluid used to warm the infusate in the intravenous line is maintained in a clean and isolated circuit. Either dray or wet fluids are used to warm the infusate in the intravenous line heat exchanger. The wet warming fluid is supplied in a disposable pouch fitted inside a warming chamber and integrated with the intravenous line. A peristaltic pump is used to drive the warming fluid in a closed circuit between the pouch and the heat exchanger. The wet fluid remains in the closed circuit, and does not contact the apparatus preventing any build up of mold or fungus. The closed fluid circuit eliminates the need for unnecessary cleaning and periodic maintenance as it is done to the conventional water tank in the existing blood warmers.


A system, method and medium is disclosed which includes selecting, at a software component of a network traffic management device, a first bucket having a first predetermined transmit time. The disclosure includes populating one or more selected data packet descriptors associated with one or more corresponding data packets in the first bucket. The disclosure includes releasing the first bucket to a hardware component of the network traffic management device, wherein the hardware component processes the one or more data packet descriptors of the first bucket for the first predetermined transmit time.

It is very common for a modern server to transmit large blocks of data in one burst to a single destination where the network path to the destination has much lower bandwidth than the really large bandwidth of the server's path within the data center and the first few hops along that path. Often these bursts are in response to a request for data, and the data is read from a storage medium (e.g., a disk) in a large block to help amortize the cost of the read operation. The large chunk of data is then dumped by the server's OS into the network at full speed, adding latency for other traffic following some portion of the same path through the network. This latency is unnecessary since other traffic could easily have been interleaved with the packets of the burst if the packets of the burst were spaced in time to match the true bandwidth of the full path to the destination. Further, such bursts can result in loss of some of the burst data due to overruns in of the buffering in the network path to the destination. Such losses necessitate retransmission of some of the large chunk of data—effectively reducing the gains that were hoped to be achieved by the batching of the read operation into a large chunk and reducing the overall throughput of the server. If the packets in these bursts were, instead, spread out in time at a pace matching the full network path data rate, both of these problems are easily solved
What is needed is a system and method which overcomes these disadvantages.

Transmit rate pacing of large network traffic bursts to reduce jitter, buffer overrun, wasted bandwidth, and retransmissions


A network system has a computer device, and a plurality of node devices communicatively connected to the computer device via network with one or more sensor devices allowed to be connected to each of the plurality of node devices via wireless communication. Each of the node devices obtains sensor data from the sensor device which is connected to the node device itself via the wireless communication and saves the sensor data in a sensor data storage section incorporated in the node device itself. The computer device specifies and requests via the network sensor data that any one or more of the one or more sensor devices obtained, and obtains via the network the specified sensor data from the node device which has saved the specified sensor data in the sensor data storage section among the plurality of node devices.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to a network system, and more particularly to a network system which includes a plurality of node devices and sensor devices which are connected to each of the node devices via wireless communication.
Also, the present invention relates to a node device group and a sensor device group included in the network system.
Related Art
Conventionally, as this type of network system, there has been known, for example, a system having a data processing server as a computer device and a first through a third sensor terminals as a plurality of node devices communicatively connected to each other via network with one or more sensor devices allowed to be connected to each of the sensor terminals via wireless communication as described in FIG. 36 of Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-85213).
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-85213

Network system, node device group, and sensor device group


A conveyor belt cleaning arrangement is provided in which belt cleaner blade(s) are positioned relative to a conveyor belt, which arrangement includes a mounting bracket, a transverse pivot support tube, a blade mounting tube with a rising male projection to engage a complementary female slot in the bottom of the blade, a blade with a female slot in the bottom to receive the male projection on the blade support tube, connecting arms and a pressure roller mounted on the opposite side of the belt to flatten and hold the belt in position, all of which act to clean material adhering to a moving conveyor belt when the cleaner blade is forced into transverse engagement with the belt.

It has been shown in prior art to provide pivotally actuated mounting arrangements to force various types of belt cleaner blades into engagement with a moving conveyor belt. All of the conveyor belt cleaning blades of the prior art teach a flat blade being rotated from a pivot point into engagement with the belt, as the blade wears the angle that the blade(s) contacts the conveyor belt will change and therefore, the performance of the cleaning action will change. Additionally, the belt cleaner blade(s) tend to have erratic cleaning effect due to belt cupping (The tendency of the edges of the conveyor belt to turn downward along the longitudinal axis of the conveyor). On cleaning units with multiple blades having multiple support arms there is a tendency for material to build-up on the arms causing decreasing effectiveness of the belt cleaner.
In the present invention an arc is provided in the blade and the pivotal mounting arrangement is positioned at the center of the blade arc, as the blade is rotated into engagement with the conveyor belt the angle between the tangent to the blade arc and the conveyor belt will remain constant as the cleaner blade wears.
By providing a second arc with the same center point to form the back side of the blade the area of the blade in contact with the belt will be the same throughout the life of the belt cleaner blade.
The constant angle of attack and the constant cross-sectional area are important in maintaining consistency in cleaning.
A pressure roller is provided to flatten the belt in the area where the belt cleaner blade is located.


An adjustable wall system comprising horizontal and vertical members for forming a frame. Panels including mounting elements for being removably mounted to two adjacent vertical members of the frame thus forming a wall run. The vertical members include protrusions to be mounted by the mounting elements. The vertical and horizontal members may be provided with mutually mating locators. Surface mounting elements are provided to be mounted to a surface, the vertical members are mounted to these elements. A region of the vertical members is exposed between adjacent panels. This region can be used to mount display members and the like thereto or be used as a spacer. Levelers are used to bolt the freestanding wall runs to the floor. Perpendicular tabs on the horizontal members are used to connect them to other horizontal members creating dividing wall runs on straight wall runs. Angular or curved brackets are used to shape the wall run accordingly.

Free standing and self-supporting adjustable walls are known in the art. These walls can include wan dividers and to be used to partition space in offices for example. These walls are built by assembling horizontal runners to standing vertical standards in order to form a frame and then mounting panels to this frame.
Prior art wall constructions have been proven to be difficult to assemble and disassemble especially adding or removing panels. Many of these constructions are also difficult to add auxiliary display shelves and other hardware to.
There thus remains a need for an improved adjustable wall system.


During an initialization of a head pose tracker for a spatial audio system, a spatial audio ambience bed is rotated about a boresight vector to align the boresight vector with a center channel of the ambience bed. The boresight is computed using source device motion data and headset motion data. The ambience bed includes the center channel and one or more other channels. An ambience bed reference frame is aligned with a horizontal plane of a headset reference frame, such that the ambience bed is horizontally level with a user's ears. A first estimated gravity direction is fixed (made constant) in the ambience bed reference frame. During head pose tracking, the ambience bed reference frame is rolled about the boresight vector to align a second estimated gravity direction in the headset reference frame with the first estimated gravity direction fixed in the ambience bed reference frame.

Spatial audio creates a three-dimensional (3D) virtual auditory space that allows a user wearing a headset to pinpoint where a sound source is located in the 3D virtual auditory space, while watching a movie, playing a video game or interacting with augmented reality (AR) content displayed on a source device (e.g., a computer screen). Some existing spatial audio platforms include a head pose tracker that uses a video camera to track the head pose of the user. Other existing spatial audio platforms use a single inertial measurement unit (IMU) in the headset for head pose tracking. If the source device is a mobile device (e.g., smartphone, tablet computer), then the source device and the headset are free to move relative to each other, which may adversely impact the user's perception of the 3D spatial audio. For example, in platforms that rely on a single IMU the audio would swivel off-center in cases such as movie-watching on a bus or plane that is turning, since it appears to the single headset IMU tracking solution that the user is turning their head.

Inertially stable virtual auditory space for spatial audio applications


A method of making a latex article, by contacting a latex article with water, an aqueous emulsion comprising a high-density, substantially linear hydrocarbon polymer, and an acid-activated oxidizing agent or initiator, mixing in an acid to the reaction mixture to activate the oxidizing agent or initiator, then, after a first selected period of time sufficient to adhere the polymer to the surface of the article, mixing a stopping agent into the activated reaction mixture to substantially reduce or halt the oxidization and, after a second selected period of time sufficient to reduce substantially or halt oxidization, neutralizing the article with a neutralization mixture comprising water and a base. A method of making a latex article by contacting a latex article with a reaction mixture of water and an aqueous emulsion comprising a high-density, substantially linear hydrocarbon polymer, admixing an oxidizing agent to the reaction mixture to produce an activated reaction mixture, admixing a stopping agent to the activated reaction mixture to halt the oxidization and produce a stopped reaction mixture, and recovering the glove. A latex glove having a surface having a high-density, substantially linear polymer adhered thereto, where the glove has an average tensile strength of at least 2,500 psi.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to latex articles and methods of making the same. In particular, the present invention provides improved powder-free latex gloves and methods for making such gloves, whereby the end product overcomes the natural tackiness of latex and the natural friction of the rubber surface.
2. Background
The majority of latex rubber gloves are powdered to accomplish two objectives: (1) to overcome the natural tackiness of the rubber and allow the gloves to be made without the opposite surface sticking together; and (2) to facilitate donning by overcoming the natural friction of the rubber surface against the hand. However, powder is inconvenient and can contaminate hands and clothing. Also, the powder can interfere with test results when the gloves are worn by technicians performing medical and industrial test procedures. Further, to sensitive individuals, the powders used can be hand irritants. Because powders absorb some of the naturally occurring proteins from the latex and can release these proteins into the air, they can also cause anaphylactic reactions in very sensitive individuals.
Many attempts have been made to produce powder-free, yet easily usable latex gloves. One method used to produce such gloves is to chemically treat the gloves with a solution containing free halogen (chlorine, bromine or fluorine) (see Pendle, TD and Gorton, ADT, "Dipping with natural rubber latex," NR technical bulletin, The Malaysian Rubber Producers' Research Association, Hertford, England (1980), the contents of which are incorporated fully herein by this reference). The halogen reacts with the latex surface, substituting a hydrogen atom on the rubber molecule (polyisoprene) with the halogen. This causes the surface to become more dense and harder, which in turn reduces the natural tackiness and friction, allowing the glove to be donned without additional powder. Typically, the halogen is applied either while the gloves are on the dipping form or mold or after the semi-cured glove has been removed from the dipping form or mold. The halogen is either introduced directly into the aqueous treating solution or may be generated by the dissolution of a halogen-containing solution (e.g., sodium hypochlorite) into water, with the subsequent addition of acid (e.g., HCl) to release the free halogen into the solution.
Other methods have entailed coating the latex surface with another polymer (e.g., hydrogel or polyurethane) which imparts a lower coefficient of friction to the surface.
It is, therefore, highly desirable to produce a substantially if not totally powder-free article, such as a rubber glove, that overcomes the natural tackiness of the rubber and, in the case of gloves, condoms, etc. facilitates donning by overcoming the natural friction of the rubber surface against human skin. It is also highly desirable to provide a method of treating latex articles that avoids the necessity of turning articles inside-out during treatment. Moreover, it is highly desirable to provide a processing method that does not contain contaminants. In addition, it is highly desirable to provide a method of treating a latex article, such as a glove, that produces an article that overcomes the natural tackiness of the rubber and, for donnable articles, facilitates donning without releasing powders or other substances that can irritate sensitive individuals.

Powder-free latex articles and methods of making the same


Disclosed are a silicon derivative, a liquid crystal composition comprising the same, and a compensation film for a liquid crystal display device using the same liquid crystal composition. More particularly, the silicon derivative is a liquid crystal material of a high-quality view angle compensation film, which improves a contrast ratio measured at a tilt angle when compared to a contrast ratio measured from the front surface and minimizes color variations in a black state depending on view angles.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a silicon derivative, a liquid crystal composition comprising the same, and a compensation film for a liquid crystal display device using the same liquid crystal composition. More particularly, the present invention relates to a liquid crystal material of a high-quality view angle compensation film, which improves a contrast ratio measured at a tilt angle when compared to a contrast ratio measured from the front surface and minimizes color variations in a black state depending on view angles. The present invention also relates to a liquid crystal composition comprising the same liquid crystal material and a compensation film obtained from the same liquid crystal composition.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Recently, as watches, notebook PCs, cellular phones, televisions and monitors have extended the market, display devices having low weight and requiring low power consumption have been increasingly in demand. Since liquid crystal display devices (LCDs) are light and thin and require low power consumption, they have been widely applied to such products.
However, a liquid crystal display device has a disadvantage of view angle dependency. In other words, an LCD shows variations in color or light/darkness depending on view directions or angles. Additionally, as the screen of an LCD increases in size, view angle decreases more and more. As compared to a conventional CRT (cathode ray tube) device having a view angle of about 180°, a TFT-LCD with no view angle compensation shows a view angle of merely about ±50°.
To solve the above problem, various methods have been used, such methods including a multi-domain method in which pixels are divided in liquid crystal cells to control the liquid crystal alignment, a method of controlling a voltage and a method of utilizing an optical compensation film.
The above-mentioned view angle dependency of a liquid crystal display device is caused by the incident light having a tilt angle to the LCD panel, which shows a birefringence effect different from that of the vertical incident light. To compensate for this, an optical compensation film has been widely used. Herein, retardation films having an opposite birefringence index to the panel are attached onto both surfaces of the panel. Also, as display panels have increased in size, there has been a need for a high-quality liquid crystal compensation film.
A retardation film is obtained by coating an aligned transparent support with liquid crystal, and aligning the liquid crystal along a predetermined direction to the direction of an aligning layer, followed by curing. After aligning, the liquid crystal has a direction opposite to the direction of liquid crystal cells upon application of a voltage, so that light leakage in a black state can be minimized. When combining such retardation films with a liquid crystal panel and light is allowed to penetrate through the panel, it is possible to compensate for a retardation of light caused by a difference of light paths, because the incident light has a similar path in all directions. Additionally, it is also possible to perform compensation of a difference in birefringence indexes in all directions by optimizing a birefringence latitude of each film, an angle formed between films, a rubbing direction and an angle to a polarizer.
A liquid crystal compound used to manufacture such films should be stable against moisture, light, heat, air, electric fields, or the like. Also, the liquid crystal compound should be chemically stable under an environment of use. Further, in order to apply a liquid crystal compound to a display device, the compound should have adequately balanced physical properties, including a broad range of liquid crystal phase temperatures and refraction anisotropy (Δn). Under these circumstances, there is a need for a novel liquid crystal compound satisfying various physical properties required for various types of display devices.

Silicon derivative, liquid crystal composition comprising the same and compensation film using the same liquid crystal composition


A portable golf practice mat comprised of two independent pieces of a divot and an anchor working in conjunction with each other that is extremely portable to the extent that it can be carried in any standard golf bag due to it's small size and flexibility yet performs well with a full swing and standard golf ball simulating the feel and forgiveness of a natural fairway and maintaining a level lie by replacing a natural divot with an artificial grass divot of equal size, made of any commercially available artificial grass, that is anchored to the ground for continuous shots, anywhere.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a portable golf practice mat. More specifically, the invention relates to a golf practice mat which is extremely portable to the extent that it can be carried as standard equipment in any golf bag due to its small size and flexibility yet performs well with a full swing and standard golf ball, duplicating the feel and forgiveness associated with a natural fairway shot and maintaining a level lie with the surrounding surface so the golfer does not adapt his swing to the mat by changing the swing plane arc while providing a stable hitting area from which to hit continuous shots, anywhere.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The concept of providing a golf practice mat and more specifically, a practice mat which simulates the feel of a natural fairway allowing a downward blow of the club under the ball and movement of the hitting surface like that of taking a divot are available but not well known as they are not widely used. Historically, golf practice mats were constructed using inverted brushes or strips of artificial grass permanently fastened to a stationary surface. The old mats were durable but did not "give" with the shot increasing the chance of harm or damage to person or equipment, or both. They were not portable and were used mostly at designated practice facilities.
Today's more conventional mats employ construction of artificial turf material molded to rubber cushions to protect equipment, however, there is no "give" in these mats either which can cause injury to the left shoulder, elbow, or wrists after continuous use. Also, a descending blow under and through the ball can not be achieved as the club bounces off the mat upon impact. The nature of their construction makes them very heavy and large, typically 4 feet square and not at all portable. Smaller mats of similar construction have an added heavy rubber base to hold the mats in place. These mats react similar to the larger range mats and are even less forgiving as they rest above the ground in an elevated position, causing one to change their golf swing to scoop the ball or flatten their swing plane arc to avoid injury. They too are heavy and are relatively large usually constructed to a size of 1 foot by 2 feet to allow enough weight to be stable. This eliminates their portability.
More forgiving mats were created all with the similar intent of reducing resistance, allowing a downward blow, and creating a more natural like feel to that of a fairway. They were created to improve upon the stationary and unforgiving mats. However, they incorporate configurations that resulted in an elevated lie or rigid apparatus that necessitated a swing plane arc change or permanent placement to have any practicality. Also, they employ elastic tethers to achieve the "give" feeling by placing two tethers at opposite sides of the mat to offset the forward and reverse movements of the mat, placing one forward and one back or one on each side perpendicular to the forward and back motion resulting in either case with tethers in the hitting area increasing the chance of damage or injury, especially if used with a small portable mat.


A method and system for providing hand-written command processing includes a network-connected application server receiving from a user device data storing hand-written information. The hand-written information is processed to identify one or more hand-written characters included in the data. A determination is made as to whether the identified characters include a command for initiating an action across the communication network. Upon determining that the characters include a command, the application server automatically performs the action identified by the command across the communication network. The action can include generating and sending a messaging service message or an e-mail, creating a scheduled reminder, creating and storing a checklist or note, or retrieving a previously stored checklist or note, based on information included in the hand-written characters. The user device may be a tablet-type user device.

In recent years, networked communication services have expanded and increased in popularity, around the world. Many individuals use networked communication devices to communicate with others, to keep notes and a personal calendar, and to access archived content and the Internet. Individuals use mobile stations, such as cell phones and smart phones, to communicate using voice calls and mobile messaging services (e.g., text and/or multimedia messaging) and for data communications (e.g., web surfing and/or e-mail). Individuals also use other types of communication devices, such as personal computers and e-readers, for accessing the Internet, sending e-mails, updating personal calendars, and sending content to their own or others' mobile stations.
Households commonly use a whiteboard or other message board to write notes, share messages, and create reminders for themselves and other members of the household. Households also commonly use a wall calendar to keep track of appointments and share scheduling information between members of the household. Users create messages, reminders, notes and checklists on both the whiteboard and wall calendar by hand-writing the information on the whiteboard or calendar. The hand-written information, however, is restricted to the whiteboard or calendar, and cannot readily be accessed by remote users, shared between users, or added to users' electronic devices and calendars. Indeed, the sharing of the hand-written information requires the information to be copied using a keyboard into a user's mobile station or communication device.
A need therefore exists for methods and devices that enable users, using hand-written communications and commands, to have the hand-written communications automatically shared with other devices across one or more communication networks.

Methods and systems for initiating actions across communication networks using hand-written commands


This invention relates particularly to overhead conveyors as are used to deliver, or in some cases to remove, materials from high places such as roof tops. In particular, the invention applies to such conveyors which are mobile, i.e. vehicle mounted, and may be part of a delivery truck for transporting materials such as roofing shingles. The truck is driven into a site where roofing or the like is to be applied or repaired, and the conveyor is positioned as to its elevation and azimuth using its own power drive equipment.

This invention relates particularly to overhead conveyors as are used to deliver, or in some cases to remove, materials from high places such as roof tops. In particular, the invention applies to such conveyors which are mobile, i.e. vehicle mounted, and may be part of a delivery truck for transporting materials such as roofing shingles. The truck is driven into a site where roofing or the like is to be applied or repaired, and the conveyor is positioned as to its elevation and azimuth using its own power drive equipment.
A major problem with such conveyor systems is the danger presented by nearby overhead electrical wires, which often are high tension lines in which the applied voltage may be anywhere from several kilovolts to several megavolts. Major accidents, with loss of life and/or severe injuries to operating personnel and destruction of equipment, occur when a metal overhead conveyor structure (e.g. boom) momentarily contacts this wiring.
Step ladders or extension ladders constructed of electrically non-conductive parts are available to workmen in lengths up to about 24 feet, but those are intended only for climbing and possibly carrying of small equipment or supplies, up to about 50 pounds in weight.
Heavy duty equipment, such as the mobile overhead conveyor systems, has traditionally been constructed of metal, and thus such equipment is highly susceptible to overhead wire accidents. Some of these accidents are so severe that the conveyor and its supporting truck is destroyed, with some of the heavy structural members being partially melted or distorted. The released electrical energy has been known to jump to adjacent vehicles and destroy or damage them also. Of course, any person in contact with this equipment at the time is subjected to a high electrical discharge, and if the person is fortunate enough to survive he is usually severely injured.
To minimize this type of accident, there is a need for electrically non-conductive overhead conveyor equipment which is robust enough to withstand heavy usage and large forces.


An image pickup apparatus arranged to set a correction value for adjusting a focus position obtained by a predetermined detection method at a time of photographing, is arranged such that if a limitation processing is executed with respect to selection of an AF frame at the time of photographing, a display manner at the time of selection of an AF frame which is to be used when the correction value is set and stored is made different between a selectable AF frame and an unselectable AF frame or is made by applying the same limitation as the limitation processing at the time of photographing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus having a function for correcting an in-focus position detected by a phase difference AF (autofocus) method or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, in a single lens reflex camera which is arranged to attain an in-focused state by the phase difference AF, there is a case where in association with long-time use of the camera, a position which is recognized as an in-focus position is changed due to long-time use of each of a lens and a camera body and an in-focus precision deteriorates to a level lower than an initial precision. In the case of the lens, a case where while the lens is driven to a correct in-focus position, a lens stop position may be shifted from the correct position due to a mechanical deterioration caused by long-time use of a camera is considered. In the case of the camera body, there is considered a case where a mirror which is used in a phase difference detection method is driven many times so that an angle of the mirror is gradually changed and this causes change of an angle at which incident object light is guided to an AF sensor so that a position shifted from the correct in-focus position is recognized as an in-focus position. In the foregoing case, a unit for shifting the in-focus position to an original state without allowing the user to bring the camera to a service center has been installed in a recent image pickup apparatus.
In the detection of the in-focus position by the phase difference AF, there is a case where the correct in-focus position cannot be detected by an influence by colors, types, and the like of a light source and a photographing object. If such a problem occurs, such a technique that the detected in-focus position is corrected by the phase difference AF in accordance with an environment where the camera is used is considered. At this time, in a construction in which there are a plurality of focus adjustment areas (AF frames) for the phase difference AF, there is a case where the correction is necessary every AF frame or the like. However, if the number of portions to be corrected increases, there raises an actual problem such that it is difficult for a user to spend time to make individual correction each time the correction is necessary. Therefore, the user wants to correct in accordance with the AF frame which the user wants to use by himself. The Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-292684 discloses a function (AF calibration) which can automatically correct the in-focus position of the phase difference AF by using a contrast detection method. A correction value can be held every focal length.
However, in the technique disclosed in the above patent literature, in the case where there are a plurality of AF frames for the phase difference AF, there is not a control technique about how to select the AF frame which is used for correction of the in-focus position by the phase difference AF when a limitation processing of a selection of the AF frames is executed at the time of photographing.

Image pickup apparatus for correcting an in-focus position


An in-line inspection tool comprising a sensor suite, a processor processing the signal generated by at least one sensor of the sensor suite, and a canister housing the processor is disclosed. The canister may comprise a canister body formed as a hollow cylinder extending along a central axis from a first end to a second end. The canister may further comprise a canister lid inserted within the first end of the canister body. An alignment mechanism may prevent rotation of the canister lid with respect to the canister body about the central axis. A retaining ring may threadedly engage the first end of the canister body to maintain the canister lid within the first end of the canister body.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to pipeline inspection tools, and more particularly to apparatus and methods for a canister for use within an in-line inspection tool.
2. Background of the Invention
Oil, petroleum products, natural gas, hazardous liquids, and the like are often transported using pipelines. The majority of these pipelines are constructed from steel pipe. Once installed, a pipeline will inevitably corrode or otherwise degrade. Proper pipeline management requires identification, monitoring, and repair of defects and vulnerabilities of the pipeline. For example, information collected about the condition of a pipeline may be used to determine safe operating pressures, facilitate repair, schedule replacement, and the like.
Typical defects of a pipeline may include corrosion, gouges, dents, and the like. Corrosion may cause pitting or general wall loss, thereby lowering the maximum operating pressure of the pipeline. Vulnerabilities may also include dents, curvature and bending anomalies, and combined stress and chemical or biological action such as stress corrosion cracking. Without detection and preemptive action, all such defects and vulnerabilities may lead to pipeline failure.
Information on the condition of a pipeline is often collected using an in-line inspection tool. An in-line inspection tool typically uses sensors to collect information about a pipeline as it travels therethrough. In the past, in-line inspection tools have used magnetic flux leakage to determine the condition of a pipeline wall. Flaws in ferromagnetic pipe can be detected by the perturbations they cause in a magnetic field applied to the wall of a pipeline.
The sensors of an in-line inspection tool may generate signals characterizing the perturbations of the magnetic field. These signals (or derivatives thereof) may be stored on a memory device forming part of the in-line inspection tool. Accordingly, in-line inspection tools typically include computer hardware, power sources, and the like housed in canisters. Canisters typically perform two functions. First, they protect their contents from the environment within the pipeline. Second, they form the backbone of the in-line inspection tool.
Typical canisters have flanges extending radially therefrom. These flanges provide a location for bolting a canister to neighboring components such as driving cups, couplers, sealing surfaces or lids, other canisters, and the like. They also consume valuable space. That is, regardless of whether a flange extends radially inward or radially outward from a canister, anything inserted within that canister must be small enough to pass within the bolt circle of the flange. Thus, the flange limits the available internal space.
During the forty years that canisters have been used on in-line inspection tools, there has been a continual need for more interior space than can be accommodated by flanged canisters. Improved designs have expanded the interior of certain canisters by utilizing blind, threaded holes in flanges formed integrally with corresponding canisters. However, in such designs, the flanges continue to limit the diameter of the contents that can be admitted therewith.
As a central, structural component of typical in-line inspection tools, flanged canisters have been too important and performed too many functions to make a replacement evident. However, what is needed is a canister to house and protect components and provide the structural benefits of a flanged canister without the space-consuming liabilities thereof.

Flangeless canister for in-line inspection tool


A planetary ball mill includes: a revolution turning arm turned about a revolution shaft rotated by a driving force; mill pots each supported on the revolution turning arm so as to be rotated about a rotation shaft inclined from the vertical direction toward the side of the revolution shaft; and an outer circumferential pot receiver which is disposed fixedly on the upper side of the revolution turning arm along the whole part of a circumference around the revolution shaft and with which the outer peripheral surfaces of the mill pots revolving attendantly on the turning of the revolution turning arm make contact, whereby the mill pots are put into rotation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a planetary ball mill for grinding a matter to be ground, by bringing a mill pot containing grinding medium balls and the matter to be ground into rotation concurrently with revolution.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been known a planetary ball mill such that revolutional centrifugal forces and rotational centrifugal forces generated in a mill pot (grinding vessel) in rotation during its planetary motion inclusive of rotation and revolution are applied to the matter to be ground and grinding medium balls contained in the mill pot, to cause severe collisions between the matter to be ground and the grinding medium balls, and the matter to be ground is grounded by the resulting compression and shearing.
FIG. 6 shows a general structure of a planetary ball mill described in Japanese Patent No. 2904399, for example. The planetary ball mill 200 has a structure in which the driving force of a motor 201 is transmitted through a transmission chain 202 to a main shaft (revolution turning shaft) 203, mill pots 206 are mounted through rotation shafts 207 on the upper and lower sides to the tips of upper and lower revolution turning arms 204 and 205 extending in the radial direction from the main shaft 203 so that the mill pots 206 can be turned, and a sun sprocket 209 fixed non-turnably on the same axis as the axis of the main shaft 203 and planetary sprockets 210 fixed on rotation shafts 207 are connected by transmission chains 211. With the motor 201 rotated, each of the mill pots 206 is put into rotation by the turning of the rotation shaft 207 while revolving around the main shaft 203.
The planetary ball mill is characterized by an extremely excellent grinding speed owing to the synergistic effect of a high revolutional centrifugal acceleration and a high rotational centrifugal acceleration.


This is a new precursor and new method for the synthesis of no-carrier-added O-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-L-Tyrosine which has been proved a suitable PET (position emission tomography) probe for tumor diagnosis imaging, the preparation of the title compound starts from precursors with the chemical structures as in Formula 1, wherein R1 is a protective group for the carboxyl functional group, R2 is a protective group for the amino group, and R3 acts as a leaving group. R1 represents an arylalkyl group, R2 represents a carboxyl group, and R3 represents a p-tosyloxy, methane sulfonyloxy or trifluoromethane sulfonyloxy or bromine, the invention includes a method for the syntheses of new precursors with the chemical structures as in Formula 1.

18F-labeled O-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-L-Tyrosine is an amino acid tracer, it has been proved as a suitable PET (position emission tomography) probe for tumor diagnosis imaging.
The preparation of O-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-L-Tyrosine was developed by Wester et al. (J. Nucl. Med. 1999; 40:205–212) and Hamacher et al. (Appl. Radiat. Isot. 2002; 57:853–856). However, it is inconvenient by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for purified product, it is not only cumbersome but also difficult automation, since during HPLC purify process operator must switch valve from waste collecting bottle to product bottle in order to collect purified O-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-L-Tyrosine and switch valve back to waste bottle after complete the collection of purified product in order to maintain high purified O-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-L-Tyrosine. The present invention provides a new precursor for smooth synthesis, and utilizes resin and silica gel column for purification to reduce complexity of HPLC purification process.

Convenient method for the preparation of new precursor of no-carrier-added O-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-L-Tyrosine)