An imaging assembly includes a miniature electronic image sensor including an imaging substrate having a plurality of pixels and a microlens array aligned with corresponding pixels on said imaging substrate and focusing optics for focusing an optical image of a target onto the imaging substrate including at least one adaptive lens element. The focusing optics have a first exit pupil distance defining a first field of view and the miniature electronic image sensor has a second exit pupil distance defining a second field of view which is different than the first exit pupil distance. The adaptive lens element directs light onto said imaging substrate through said microlens array while maintaining the first field of view.

This invention relates to electronic imaging systems, and more particularly to a wide angle lens system which compensates a solid state electronic image sensor having a long exit pupil distance.
In the construct of electronic video imaging systems, it is desirable to be able to effectively focus incoming light received from a target onto the imaging substrate of an electronic image sensor, such as a Charge Coupled Device (CCD).
Certain diagnostic instruments such as borescopes and endoscopes used for industrial and medical applications, respectively, include optical focusing systems having a relatively short exit pupil distance (E.P.D.) on the order of approximately 2 to 6 mm which produces a relatively wide field of view (e.g., 50xc2x0-70xc2x0). Conversely, miniature electronic image imagers for video camcorders, hand-held photographic digital cameras, and the like which are mass manufactured by the Eastman Kodak Company and the Sony Corporation, among others, are typically designed with a long E.P.D. of about 20 to 30 mm, producing a comparatively narrow field of view of about 10xc2x0-20xc2x0.
Emphasis on compactness of design is especially important to resolving issues such as comfort for the patient in the case of medical endoscopic devices, and ease in allowing the instrument to traverse a narrow cavity, such as a pressure vessel, in the case of industrial borescopes. Therefore, considerable interest is maintained in reducing the size of the electronic imager. Size reductions in some, however, accentuate the mismatch between the electronic imager and the focusing optics of the device in that the picture brightness is increasingly attenuated as a function of the radial distance from the center of the field of view. The angle of the light rays propagating from the focusing lens to the microlens array of the imager does not fully strike the corresponding pixels on the CCD. This attenuation causes undesired flicker in the processed video image. solid state image sensors, such as CCDs or further including CMOS-type imagers, can be designed with shorter EPDs to compensate for the above noted mismatches, such devices are not commonly manufactured, and therefore would significantly increase associated costs.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to improve the state of the art of electronic imaging systems.
It is a further object of the present invention to alleviate potential mismatches between solid state imagers having long exit pupil distances and optical devices such as borescopes and endoscopes, that require a wider field of view.
Therefore, and according to a preferred aspect of the invention, there is described an imaging assembly comprising:
a miniature electronic image sensor including an imaging substrate having a plurality of pixels and a microlens array aligned with corresponding pixels on said imaging substrate; and
focusing optics for focusing an optical image of a target onto said imaging substrate including at least one adaptive lens element, in which said focusing optics have a first exit pupil distance defining a first field of view and said electronic image sensor has a second exit pupil distance defining a second field of view, the first exit pupil distance being different from the second exit pupil distance, and in which said adaptive lens element directs light onto said imaging substrate through said microlens array while permitting the imaging assembly to maintain the first field of view.
Preferably, the adaptive lens element(s) are existing lenses within the focusing optics having adequate power to cause light rays in the imaging plane to enter the lenslet array at approximately the same angle as the rays which would have entered for focusing optics of a system set for an image sensor having a longer exit pupil distance (EPD) than that of the focusing optics.
According to another preferred aspect of the present invention, there is disclosed an intraoral dental camera including:
a housing and a camera head disposed at a distal end of said housing, and in which the camera head includes an imaging assembly comprising:
a miniature electronic image sensor having a plurality of pixels arranged on an imaging substrate and an array of microlenses aligned with corresponding pixels on said imaging substrate; and
focusing optics for focusing an optical image of a target onto said imaging substrate, said focusing optics including at least one adaptive lens element, wherein said focusing optics has a first exit pupil distance defining a first field of view and the image sensor has a second exit pupil distance defining a second field of view, wherein said at least one adaptive lens element directs light to the microlens array from a target while maintaining the field of view of the focusing optics.
Though preferably the camera head imaging assembly is configured to configure a long EPD image sensor with focusing optics having a smaller EPD (a wider field of view), an adaptive lens element can similarly be configured for use with an image sensor having a smaller EPD than that of the focusing optics.
An advantage of the present invention is that miniature electronic image sensors with long EPDs, such as those which are more commonly mass produced for use in video camcorders, hand-held photographic digicams, and the like, can more easily be incorporated into endoscopic and borescopic devices, such as intraoral dental cameras, which require a substantially wider wide field of view than the former devices.
These and other objects, features and advantages will become apparent from the following Detailed Description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Wide angle lens system for electronic imagers having long exit pupil distances


The invention relates to a flashing for use with siding panels possessing an interior and an exterior surface, and a perimeter surface having a predetermined sectional width, and includes a first, a second, and a third portion, and a first and a second non-perforated, generally planar transition portion, each portion having an interior and an exterior surface wherein (a) the portion continues to the first generally planar transition portion and forms a first angle there between; wherein (b) the first generally planar transition portion continues to the second portion and forms a second angle there between; wherein (c) the second portion continues to the second generally planar transition portion and forms a third angle there between; and wherein (d) the second generally planar transition portion continues to the third portion, which is substantially parallel to the first portion, and forms a fourth angle there between. The angle between the various portions can be modified to facilitate water migration away from a siding panel placed in contact therewith, and the transverse distance of the transition portions can be varied, preferably to approximately 50% of the siding sectional width.

Housing and building exteriors are naturally subjected to environmental conditions that are destructive to the materials used to construct the exteriors. In particular, when natural materials are used, such as wood, rot and decay are the most common modes of exterior failure. Improperly situated siding materials cannot properly shield the interior surfaces to which they are attached, and are themselves subject to premature destruction, usually through invasion of moisture.
A common means for establishing housing and building exteriors is to use wood siding materials such as shingles in lap configuration. In view of the diminishing availability of certain siding materials, oriented strand board (OSB) siding has become pervasive in many parts of the world. Through the use of OSB materials, a structurally rated siding can be used, thereby eliminating conventional sheathing materials such as plywood sheathing. Moreover, conventional moisture barriers such as building paper are dispensed with since the OSB also acts as a moisture barrier.
It therefore becomes of paramount importance to establish a sound moisture barrier when using OSB siding. The predominant point of failure when using OSB occurs at the juncture between OSB panels. As shown in Prior Art FIG. 1, the abutting edges of two OSB panels 1 and 2 are separated by flashing 3. As is shown in more detail in Prior Art FIG. 2, this common flashing is characterized as having a first portion 4 and a second portion 6 connected by a transverse portion 5. The intended purpose of this flashing is to prevent water drip back from the bottom edge of panel 1 to the interior, and to provide a drip cap for panel 2. A common problem with this configuration, however, is that water tends to collect on the upper surface of transverse portion 5. Because in normal installations the upper surface is in direct contact with the lower edge of panel 1, rot and decay are in fact promoted as opposed to retarded.
A possible but labor intensive solution to this problem is to carefully space panel 1 from transverse portion 5. But given that each panel may weigh as much as 20 kilograms (50 pounds), such actions may be difficult if not impossible to achieve in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
Therefore, what is needed is a flashing that not only provides the desired water barrier between the environment and the interior surfaces to which the panels are attached, but also a means to prevent water accumulation at the lower edge of each panel. The present invention is intended to meet these needs.


A radio frequency identification (RFID) transponder may include a substrate and a device. The substrate may be in communication with a controller and an antenna, and the antenna is arranged to receive radio frequency signals. A first side surface of the substrate may include a capacitor. The device may be detachably coupled with the substrate via a conductive member positioned between the structure and the capacitor of the substrate, and the conductive member may be within a desired proximity of the capacitor. The structure may be attached to an attachment surface so that an attachment strength between the structure and the attachment surface may be greater than a force required to decouple the structure from the substrate. When the structure is decoupled from the substrate, the conductive member separates from the capacitor, disabling the transponder.

Vehicles can be automatically monitored with an electronic vehicle identification system, which is done with a wireless interface between a vehicle and a monitoring device. An electronic vehicle identification system is based on a RFID transponder, or tag, that is attached to a vehicle and a reader with an antenna for interrogating with the vehicle.
A RFID transponder is used for providing remotely controllable identity information of the vehicle. With the user configurable memory in the RFID transponder, the information can be written and read remotely. A RFID transponder is commonly classified, in terms of the use they make of an internal power source, as: a passive RFID transponder which has no internal power source and uses the energy of the RF radiation transmitted by the reader; an active RFID transponder which comprises an internal power source that is used for both powering the transponder and for generating the RF energy required for transmitting a response radiation; and a battery-assisted RFID transponder (also referred to as a semi-active or a semi-passive transponder) which comprises an internal power source, where the energy of the response radiation is derived from the interrogation radiation provided by the reader and the transponder circuitry is powered by the internal power source.
A battery-assisted passive (BAP) transponder has a small battery on board and is activated when in the presence of an RFID reader. The battery to powers the transponder's return reporting signal. Of course, a passive tag is cheaper and smaller because it has no battery; instead, the tag uses the radio energy transmitted by the reader. However, to operate a passive tag, it must be illuminated with a power level roughly a thousand times stronger than for signal transmission. That makes a difference in interference and in exposure to radiation.
In the passive RFID transponder, the limitation is a reading distance while the RFID transponder needs to receive its operating power from a reader. In the active RFID transponder, the RFID transponder has a transmitter which requires more complex electronics for the functionality thus resulting in high cost and consumption of power compared to the battery-assisted RFID transponder and the passive RFID transponder. The energy required for battery-assisted RFID transponder and the passive RFID transponder to function is considerably less than for the active RFID transponder.
In some applications, an RFID transponder is associated with a single vehicle. For example, a transponder attached to a vehicle has a code that identifies the vehicle and other data associated with the vehicle, such as the registered owner, the license plate number, and/or any other information about the vehicle. Users sometime attempt to remove the transponder from the vehicle and attach it to a different vehicle, despite such transfer being prohibited by the organization issuing the transponder. As such, some transponders may be provided with a mechanism whereby the transponder cannot be removed from the vehicle without permanently and irreparably destroying the transponder. This destruction creates undesired costs and inefficiency. It may be desirable to provide an RFID transponder with a tamper-proof assembly that temporarily disables the transponder if a user attempts to remove the transponder from the vehicle with which it is associated.


In an engine system of a machine having a multi fuel engine system, the occurrence of transient events such as gear shifts, grade changes and machine speed changes may be anticipated, and a fuel substitution strategy may be adjusted if necessary to optimize performance during the transient events. Transient events at a worksite may be anticipated and mapped by evaluating shift control logic strategies and worksite maps with truck route, speed and topographical information and determining where the fuel substitution strategy cannot meet the power requirements for the transient event. When it is determined that the machine is approaching an anticipated transient event, an appropriate fuel substitution adjustment can be executed to ensure the engine has sufficient power for the transient event.

A multi fuel engine refers generically to any type of engine, boiler, heater or other fuel-burning device which is designed to burn multiple types of fuels in its operation. Multi fuel engines have application in diverse areas to meet particular operational needs in the operating environment. For example, a common use of multi fuel engines is in military vehicles so that vehicles in various deployment locations may run a wide range of alternative fuels such as gasoline, diesel or aviation fuel. In combat settings, for example, enemy action or unit isolation may limit the available fuel supply and personnel may need to resort the type of fuel available for usage from enemy and civilian sources. Multi fuel engines are also desirable where cheaper fuel sources, such as natural gas, are available, but an alternative or secondary fuel, such as diesel fuel, is needed for performance reasons (e.g., faster reaction to short term load demand), as a backup in the event of an interruption in the supply of the primary fuel source, or for other operational or engine performance conditions.
A multi fuel engine typically operates with a specified mixture of the available fuels. Where a liquid-only fuel mixture is specified, a liquid fuel, such as diesel fuel, gasoline or other liquid hydrocarbon fuel, is injected directly into an engine cylinder or a pre-combustion chamber as the sole source of energy during combustion. When a liquid and gaseous fuel mixture is specified, a gaseous fuel, such as natural gas, methane, hexane, pentane or any other appropriate gaseous hydrocarbon fuel, may be mixed with air in an intake port of a cylinder and a small amount or pilot amount of liquid fuel, such as diesel fuel, is injected into the cylinder or the pre-combustion chamber in an amount according to a specified substitution ratio in order to ignite the mixture of air and gaseous fuel.
Machines having multi fuel engines are configured with fuel substitution strategies that control the mixture of liquid and gaseous fuels to provide the necessary power for the engine during operation of the machine. For example, a fuel substitution strategy may specify a mixture of 80% gaseous fuel and 20% liquid fuel during normal operations. At times, the fuel substitution strategy may adjust the substitution ratio to increase the percentage of liquid fuel or gaseous fuel as necessary to meet short term deviations in the power requirements for the engine, known as transient events, such as when the load on the engine or the speed of the machine increases or decreases. In current fuel substitution strategies, the machines react to the occurrence of the transient events, and therefore lag in responding to the transient events with resulting degradation of performance. For example, when an automatic transmission up shifts to a higher gear according to shift control logic programmed into the machine, the engine experiences a transient event in the form of an increase in torque after the up shift occurs. A substitution ratio that is too rich in gaseous fuel that requires an increase in the intake air to maintain an air fuel ratio (AFR) may experience a power loss during and after the transition to the higher gear until the intake air catches up to the new fuel demand or the substitution ratio adjusts to a mixture that is richer in the liquid fuel. In view of this, a need exists for improved control over fuel substitution ratios when encountering various operating conditions that may cause transient events that can be anticipated.

Multi fuel engine substitution optimization for transient performance


Binoculars which can adjust the optical axes of optical systems by moving at least one lens groups of objective lens groups and eye piece groups in a plane approximately perpendicular to the optical axes of the lens groups and further independently adjust the optical axes of the optical systems in a linear direction and in the direction approximately perpendicular to the linear direction by moving, one lens groups of the objective lens groups and the eye piece groups on the plane approximately perpendicular to the optical axes of the lens groups approximately in the linear direction and moving the other lens groups of the objective lens groups and the eye piece groups on the plane approximately perpendicular to the optical axes of the lens groups approximately in the linear direction, whereby the optical axis between a pair of the right and left optical systems of the binoculars can be easily adjusted.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to optical axis adjustable binoculars, and more specifically, to binoculars capable of adjusting the displacement of an optical axis caused between a pair of right and left optical systems.
2. Related Background Art
In general, there are conventionally employed arrangements for adjusting an optical axis by moving the position of a prism as a mechanism for adjusting the displacement of an optical axis caused between a pair of right and left optical systems in binoculars. For example, in binoculars employing Porro prisms, there is practically used an arrangement for adjusting the displacement of an optical axis caused between a pair of optical systems disposed on the right and the left side by sliding the prism in its long bide direction.
Further, in binoculars employing roof prisms, there is practically used an arrangement for adjusting the displacement of an optical axis caused between a pair of optical systems disposed on the right and the left side by moving the two prisms as a unit.
However, according to the conventional optical axis adjusting mechanisms in the binoculars as described above, a lot of manpower is required in manufacture because fine positional adjustment is necessary. Further, since there is also a problem that a skilled technology is necessary for jobs for adjustment, it is difficult to effectively adjust an optical axis.


A carton includes a V-shaped opening in an exiting end of the carton that allows articles in the carton to be accessed through the exiting end.

Enclosed cartons with dispensing features have been used in the past. Many of these cartons include article dispensers defined by lines of disruption such as tear lines, cuts, score lines, and fold lines. A dispenser may be removable from, or hingedly attached to, a carton to create an opening from which articles can be removed from the carton. In many instances, after the user opens the dispenser, some of the cans or articles, especially those disposed in a lower row or rows, are positioned substantially or entirely below the opening created by the dispenser, rendering removal of cans from the carton difficult.


A method for mapping/enhancing the color of an image to be displayed on a display includes receiving an image having a plurality of pixels where each of the pixels has a plurality of color components. The image is processed using a pair of gamut color mapping operations in combination with skin-tone pixels detection to modify the image in a suitable manner for presentation on the display, wherein the technique includes color temperature compensation.

The present invention relates to display color gamut mapping and image color enhancement.
The advance of flat panel display (FPD) technology is able to make the color gamut of a display wider than the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 color gamut that is widely used by the current HDTV and Internet/computers standards. A color gamut mapping algorithm (GMA) maps RGB (red, blue, green) display values of a color in a color gamut to new RGB values in a new gamut. The RGB display values before and after a GMA usually are different, and may or may not represent the same physical color. The input of a GMA is also 3 dimensional and the output of a GMA is also 3 dimensional.
An image color enhancement algorithm maps color of an image to new more saturated colors. Image color enhancement is also a three dimensional mapping technique. The input of color enhancement is 3 dimensional and the output is 3 dimensional. Most existing current image color enhancement techniques typically boost saturation of colors. In the hue-saturation color wheel such as the one shown in FIG. 1, a typical color enhancement technique moves colors outward on the radial direction as shown by the arrows. A GMA from small gamut to big gamut also typically boosts saturation of colors. Therefore, a GMA from small gamut to big gamut and an image color enhancement algorithm have similar challenges.
By way of example, televisions have built-in color enhancement techniques to enhance unsaturated colors in certain content and let viewers set their color preferences. Because the human eye is very sensitive to the skin color, it is desirable for a color enhancement technique to render skin colors properly. It is also desirable for a color enhancement technique to separately adjust skin colors and non-skin colors using different characteristics.
Some GMA color enhancement techniques have the capability of protecting skin colors. These techniques are typically pixel-based. When the color of a pixel is mapped/enhanced to a new color, the conversion from the old color to the new color is fixed, and is not affected by other pixels. Because pixel-based color enhancement techniques with skin color protection cannot overcome the issue that the colors of skin and non-skin are highly overlapped, these techniques cannot effectively protect skin tones to maintain their calibration with the input image.

Color gamut mapping/enhancement technique using skin color detection


The present invention relates to a stannous fluoride-containing gel comprising from about 0.3% to about 1.0% (by weight) stannous fluoride, from about 1.0% to about 10% (by weight) silica thickening agent and anhydrous glycerin. Preferably, these gels also contain from about 0.01% to about 5% (by weight) of a gum system, e.g. hydroxyethyl cellulose. These gels exhibit very good ribbon stand-up qualities and excellent fluoride ion and stannous ion stability. Also, the present invention relates to an improved method for producing the above gels. This method uses mixing equipment commonly employed to manufacture dentifrices and provides a simplified processing scheme.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a dental gel containing stannous fluoride and more particularly to a process for producing a stannous fluoride gel having improved ribbon or stand-up characteristics when dispensed from a tube. These gels exhibit surprisingly good stannous ion and fluoride ion stability.
2. The Prior Art
Stannous fluoride (SnF.sub.2) has been reported to be an effective agent for treating various oral conditions. The most important dental benefit imparted by stannous fluoride is the reduction of dental caries. Stannous fluoride-containing over-the-counter dentifrices have been classified by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration as therapeutic agents that provide protection against the development of dental caries. Early stannous fluoride dentifrices contained abrasive systems that reacted with fluoride making these products ineffective in reducing tooth decay. Significant progress in the development of new abrasives has led to the development of stannous fluoride dentifrices with significantly improved fluoride ion availability. However, the antibacterial stannous ion undergoes rapid hydrolysis and oxidation in aqueous based dentifrice's resulting in essentially no available stannous ion.
Self applied topical fluoride products now exist based on 0.4% stannous fluoride but without formula excipients that interact with fluoride and stannous ions (e.g., abrasives, water, surfactants, etc.). The principal excipient of these stannous fluoride "gels" is the humectant glycerin. The prior art clearly shows the method of manufacture (e.g, mixing times, temperature, manufacturing equipment) is critical to ensure stability and availability of the fluoride and stannous ion. Indeed the process outlined in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,418,057 and 4,533,544 for a stannous fluoride gel presents numerous challenges for the manufacturing team. It requires the preparation of several side phases consisting of precise levels of stannous fluoride and glycerin. Mixing temperatures can range up to 180.degree. C. which is not easily achieved in most plants without special equipment. Another draw back to the gel preparations described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,418,057 and 4,533,544 is that the gels have a semi-liquid consistency, and when dispensed on the bristles of a toothbrush, the gel immediately sinks through the bristles and runs off the brush so that only a relatively small portion of the dispensed product is retained on the toothbrush. Consequently, SnF.sub.2 suspended in the thickened anhydrous glycerin has not found wide acceptability as a home-care product due to the face that the semi-fluid gel composition can not be controllably retained on toothbrush bristles and then applied to teeth to reliably supply SnF.sub.2 for the treatment of dental carry.
It is therefore an object to the present invention to provide a processing scheme for producing a stannous fluoride gel which avoids the shortcomings of the prior art.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a stannous fluoride gel with good ribbon stand-up qualities and surprisingly good stannous ion and fluoride ion stability.
These and other objects will be made clear from the following:

Stannous fluoride gel with improved stand-up


The present invention provides for an antisense oligonucleotide having the sequence 5′GCTCGGCGCCGCCATTTCCAG3′. The invention also provides for an antisense oligonucleotide having the sequence 5′GTCAGCGGCCATCAGCTT3′. The present invention further provides for a method for treating a neurodegenerative disorder in a subject which comprises administering to the subject a compound in an amount effective to inhibit neuronal cell death and thus treat the neurodegenerative disorder in the subject, which compound comprises the oligonucleotide 5′GCTCGGCGCCGCCATTTCCAG3′ and a delivery agent. The present invention provides for a method of inhibiting trophic factor withdrawal mediated death of a cell which comprises contacting the cell with an amount of the oligonucleotide 5′GCTCGGCGCCGCCATTTCCAG3′ effective to inhibit death of the cell.

Throughout this application, various publications are referenced by author and date. Full citations for these publications may be found listed alphabetically at the end of the specification immediately preceding the claims. The disclosures of these publications in their entireties are hereby incorporated by reference into this application in order to more fully describe the state of the art as known to those skilled therein as of the date of the invention described and claimed herein.
Neuronal death by apoptosis is a normal feature of development in which it appears that the death program is triggered by the failure of a given neuron to compete for limiting supplies of target-derived neurotrophic factors. Neurons also undergo apoptotic death in the post-developmental period when deprived of appropriate trophic factors or when subjected to any of a variety of stresses and injuries. Apoptosis also accounts for at least a portion of cellular loss in degenerative neurological diseases including Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Coyle and Puttfarcken, 1993; Schapira, 1995; Williams, 1995; Brown, 1995).
Neuronal apoptotic death may be precipitated by widely different initiating causes. In the rat pheochromocytoma PC12 line, a commonly used model for neuronal differentiation and cell death, apoptosis may be triggered by either trophic factor/NGF withdrawal as well as by sympathetic neurons (Greene, 1978; Rukenstein et al., 1991; Mesner et al., 1992; Pittman et al., 1993; Lindenboim et al., 1995 Batistatou and Greene, 1991) or oxidative stress induced by down-regulation of Cu++/Zn++ superoxide dismutase (SOD1) (Troy and Shelanski, 1994; Troy et al., 1996a,b,c). The initiating mechanisms of death appear to be distinct in each instance. Apoptosis triggered by nerve growth factor (NGF) deprivation is blocked by cAMP analogs (Rydel and Greene, 1988; Rukenstein et al., 1991) and high concentrations of N-acetyl cysteine (Ferrari et al., 1995) whereas these agents do not inhibit death induced by down regulation of superoxide dismutase (SOD1) (Troy et al., 1996 a,c). In contrast, the latter is blocked by vitamin E (Troy and Shelanski, 1994) and inhibitors of nitric oxide (NO) synthase (Troy et al. 1996a), which have no effect on apoptosis evoked by NGF withdrawal (Ferrari et al., 1995; Farinelli et al., 1996). Despite these initial mechanistic differences, there is evidence for common or similar downstream elements in the pathways that lead to death in both paradigms.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Antisense compounds which prevent cell death and uses thereof

The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York


A poppet valve assembly with a control chamber that can be fluidly connected to a number of different hydraulic ports via a pilot valve assembly. The poppet valve assembly includes a poppet valve member whose movement is controlled by filling or draining the control chamber, and which can be hydraulically locked into a given position by fluidly isolating the control chamber from any other hydraulic connections. The poppet valve member includes a control hydraulic surface exposed to fluid pressure in the control chamber. The poppet valve assembly may be part of a valve assembly that includes a plurality of poppet valve assemblies that operably control a hydraulic cylinder connected to an implement of a work machine.

Poppet valves are used in a variety of hydraulic systems such as those used to control different systems on work machines. A poppet valve typically consists of a housing with at least one input and one output hydraulic port. Inside the housing is a poppet valve member seated in a valve seat such that when the poppet valve member is in contact with the valve seat, the input and the output ports are not fluidly connected. When the poppet valve member is moved away from the valve seat by an actuator, then the input and output ports are fluidly connected and hydraulic fluid can flow across the valve seat. Typically, the housing also contains a control chamber hydraulically connected in a number of different manners, such as a position follower model described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,745,992 B2, a flow amplifying model described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,532, or a force feedback model as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,869,060 B2, all of which involve the poppet valve member being exposed to hydraulic pressure on at least one control hydraulic surface. In this manner the motion of the poppet valve member can be at least partially controlled and de-sensitized to differences in pressure between the input and the output ports.
A problem with these methods of controlling the poppet valve member is that the pump and line pressure changes can affect poppet control volume dynamics. This occurs because the control volume is always fluidly connected to the hydraulic system. As the pressure in the system fluctuates, the poppet valve member may move at differing rates due to the hydraulic connections of the ports to the control chamber, making accurate control difficult and unpredictable. This same problem renders it difficult to maintain the poppet valve member at a selected location away from its seat.
One possible solution to this problem is to use spool valves rather than poppet valves in hydraulic systems, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,212. Spool valves include a spool valve member that slides back and forth inside a bore of a housing to open and close fluid ports. An advantage of spool valves is that they are pressure balanced and can therefore be precisely positioned regardless of pressure differences. Spool valves, however, have a disadvantage in that they necessarily have a radial clearance between the spool valve member and the housing, so they inherently leak. This can cause problems when the spool valves are used in work machine applications such as loaders, such as where it might be desirable to keep the loader bucket in a lifted position over a prolonged period of time.
The present disclosure is directed to one or more of the problems set forth above.

Robustly stable servo-controlled metering poppet valve


An ESD protection circuit for deep-submicron CMOS IC's provides Charged-Device Model (CDM) protection in addition to Human-Body Model (HBM) and Machine Model (MM) ESD events. An on-chip inductor is connected in series between a conventional ESD protection circuit and the thin gate oxide of a charged-device IC input stage. The inductor provides a voltage drop effect, a current limitation effect, and a time delay effect to prevent the CDM ESD current from being discharged through the thin gate oxide of the input stage IC. The inductor cooperates with traditional input ESD protection circuits to enable full ESD protection against all HBM, MM, and CDM ESD events. The inductor can be implemented in a square spiral layout structure of metal and/or poly, and can be placed directly under the input bonding pad, so as not to increase the total layout area of the input pad and input ESD protection circuits.

ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) protection design is a major factor in the reliability of deep-submicron CMOS Integrated Circuits (IC's). Since CMOS development technology is aggressive in the deep-submicron category, the device size and the thickness of the gate oxide are being continually reduced to improve the operating speed of the CMOS devices and integration density of the IC's. These highly scaled-down devices, however, have been found to be increasingly vulnerable to ESD. Therefore, ESD protection circuits have been added into the CMOS IC's to protect the IC's against ESD damage. Typically, ESD protection circuits are implemented around the input and output pads of the IC's to bypass ESD current away from the internal circuits of the IC's.
As a result of detailed investigations of ESD events on IC products, it is known that there are three main types of ESD events: Human-Body Model (HBM), Machine Model (MM), and Charged-Device Model (CDM). These three ESD models have been well understood, and have been widely used as the industrial ESD testing standards, as noted in the following references:
1! Standard for ESD Sensitivity Testing--Human Body Model (HBM) Component Level, EOS/ESD-S5.1, EOS/ESD Association, 1993. PA1 2! Draft Standard for ESD Sensitivity Testing--Machine Model (MM) Component Level, EOS/ESD-DS5.2, EOS/ESD Association, 1992. PA1 3! Draft Standard for Charged Device Model (CDM) ESD Sensitivity Testing (socketed CDM and non-socketed CDM), EOS/ESD-DS5.3.1, EOS/ESD Association, 1993. PA1 4! Draft Standard for Charged Device Model (CDM) ESD Sensitivity Testing (non-socketed CDM), EOS/ESD-DS5.3.2, EOS/ESD Association, 1996. PA1 5! JEDEC Field-Induced Charged Device Model (CDM) Test Method for Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Withstand Thresholds of Microelectronics Components, JESD22-C101, May 1995. PA1 6! K. Verhaege et al., "Influence of tester, test method and device type on CDM ESD testing," Proc. of EOS/ESD Symp., 1994, pp. 49-62. PA1 7! M. Tanaka et al., "Clarification of ultra-high-speed electrostatic discharge and unification of discharge model," Proc. of EOS/ESD Symp., 1994, pp. 171-181. PA1 8! R. Renninger et al., "A field-induced charged-device model simulator," Proc. of EOS/ESD Symp., 1989, pp. 59-71. PA1 9! A. Olney, "A combined socketed and non-socketed CDM test approach for eliminating real-world CDM failures," Proc. of EOS/ESD Symp., 1996, Vol. 18, pp. 62-75. PA1 10! H. Gieser et al., "Survey on electrostatic susceptibility of integrated circuits," Proc. of European Symposium on Reliability of Electron Devices, Failure Physics and Analysis, 1994, pp. 447-456. PA1 11! C. Chen, J. Chou, W. Lur, and S. Sun, "A novel 0.25 .mu.m shallow trench isolation technology," IEEE IEDM, 1996, pp. 837-840. PA1 12! T. Maloney, "Designing MOS inputs and outputs to avoid oxide failure in the charged device model," Proc. of EOS/ESD Symp., 1988, pp. 220-227. PA1 13! Y. Fukuda, K. Kato, and E. Umemura, "ESD and latch up phenomena on advanced technology LSI," Proc. of EOS/ESD Symp., 1996, pp. 76-84. PA1 14! G. Meneghesso, J. Luchies, F. Kuper, and A. Mouthaan, "Turn-on speed of grounded gate NMOS ESD protection transistors," Proc. of European Symposium on Reliability of Electron Devices, Failure Physics and Analysis, (Journal of Microelectronics and Reliability, Vol. 36, No. 11/12, pp. 1735-1738, 1996. PA1 15! C. Russ, K. Verhaege, K. Bock, G. Groeseneken, and H. Mass, "Simulation study for the CDM ESD behavior of the grounded-gate NMOS," Proc. of European Symposium on Reliability of Electron Devices, Failure Physics and Analysis, (Journal of Microelectronics and Reliability, Vol. 36, No. 11/12, pp. 1739-1742, 1996. PA1 16! C. Russ, K. Verhaege, K. Bock, P. Roussel, G. Groeseneken, and H. Maes, "A compact model for the grounded-gate NMOS behavior under CDM ESD stress," Proc. of EOS/ESD Symp., 1996, pp. 302-315.
The equivalent circuits of these three ESD models are illustrated in FIG. 1. In the HBM and MM models, FIGS. 1(a) and (b), the discharge current of the ESD event is from the outside of the IC into the inside of the IC, through the input or output pins. Therefore, the ESD protection circuit is designed to limit the ESD current into the internal parts of the IC from the input or output pins.
A typical design for an ESD protection circuit 10 for HBM and MM ESD events is shown in FIG. 2, where there are primary and secondary ESD protection elements 40, 30. When an HBM or MM ESD voltage V.sub.ESD appears at the input pad 20, it acts as an input signal to the gate oxide 25 of the input stage. Since this ESD voltage V.sub.ESD may be sufficient to damage the gate oxide 25 of the input stage, it must be clamped by the ESD protection elements 40, 30. In FIG. 2, a short-channel thin-oxide NMOS is used as the secondary protection element 30 to first limit the ESD voltage V.sub.ESD across the gate oxide of the input stage. The short-channel thin-oxide NMOS 30 is designed to operate in its snapback--breakdown region, in order to clamp the voltage level across the gate oxide 25 of the input stage at as low a level as possible, when V.sub.ESD is positive.
A shorter channel length of the NMOS provides a lower snapback-breakdown voltage for clamping an ESD voltage, but is only effective at low ESD levels. Therefore, a primary ESD protection element 40, with greater ESD robustness is typically also connected to the input pad 20 to provide the main bypass for the ESD current. The devices commonly used as primary ESD protection elements are long-channel NMOS, field-oxide device (lateral bipolar transistor), or lateral SCR devices. The primary ESD protection devices with high ESD protection levels generally have a relatively high trigger (or breakdown) voltage, so that the secondary ESD protection device is activated first to clamp the ESD voltage across the gate oxide. Then, due to the increase of voltage drop across the series resistor R and the broken-down secondary ESD protection device 30, the primary ESD protection element 40 is triggered to bypass the main ESD current. Suitable designs of the ESD protection circuit of FIG. 2 can provide the input pads of IC's with high ESD robustness against HBM and MM ESD events.
In the CDM ESD model, as shown in FIG. 1(c), the ESD voltage V.sub.ESD does not come from outside the IC 15, but rather from the device itself. The substrate of the IC 15 is assumed to be charged in a CDM ESD event, and then a pin 5 of the IC 15 is shorted to ground. The charging process does not subject the IC to any ESD damage. The static charge is stored in the equivalent capacitance (Cd) of the IC 15, which is dependent on the chip size and the type of IC package. The equivalent resistance (Rd) and inductance (Ld) of the IC 15 are also dependent on the IC itself and its package. When pin 5 of the charged IC touches ground, the discharge (ESD) current goes from the charged IC 15 to ground through pin 5. This CDM ESD current is discharged from the inside of the IC 15 to the outside of the IC 15. The discharging mechanism of the CDM ESD event is, therefore, quite different from that of the HBM or MM ESD events, and results in different kinds of ESD damage to the IC.
To simulate a CDM ESD event for industrial testing, two types of CDM ESD testers have been developed. One is a socketed tester, and the other is a non-socketed tester, as described in the preceding references 3!-5!, and in the following references:
The socketed CDM ESD is discharged by a high-speed relay (switch) to ground (see reference 7!). The non-socketed CDM ESD is discharged by a grounded discharge probe (see reference 8!).
As a result of these investigations, it has been found that the CDM ESD discharge current pulse has a very fast rise time. For example, a 1000-V CDM ESD event can generate a peak discharge current of approximately 15 A, with a rise time around 0.1-0.2 ns. A typical discharge current waveform of a 1000-V CDM ESD event from a CDM ESD tester with a 4 pF verification module is shown in FIG. 3. A comparison of the discharge current waveforms between HBM (2000 V), MM (200 V), and CDM (1000 V) ESD events is shown in FIG. 4, where the CDM is clearly the fastest pulse, with a rise time of only 0.1 ns, as described in the following reference:
With such a fast CDM ESD transition, the above described known ESD protection devices can not be triggered fast enough to protect the thin gate oxide of an input stage in deep-submicron CMOS IC's. In order to provide a sufficiently fast response to a CDM ESD transition, the turn-on speed of the ESD protection device should be in the order of 10 GHz. But, in most deep-submicron CMOS technologies, it is very difficult to design and fabricate a sufficiently fast ESD protection device for commercial IC products. Moreover, in deep-submicron CMOS IC's, the gate oxide has been increasingly scaled down for high-speed and low-voltage applications. Typically, in 0.25-.mu.m CMOS technology, the gate oxide is scaled down to about 50-70 .ANG.. This type of very thin gate oxide can be ruptured by a voltage of only 6-7 V, as described in the following reference:
The very thin gate oxides of deep-submicron CMOS IC's are very sensitive to ESD stress, and traditional ESD protection devices can not turn on in time to bypass the fast discharge current generated by CDM ESD events. Therefore, CDM ESD protection design has become an urgent and challenging design problem for improving the reliability of deep-submicron CMOS IC's.
The traditional ESD protection design, as shown in FIG. 2, does not provide effective ESD protection for thin gate oxides in a CDM ESD event. This problem is illustrated in FIG. 5, where current discharge paths I.sub.ESD are shown, due to a negative CDM ESD event V.sub.ESD. As shown in FIG. 5, there are two possible ESD discharge paths, path A and path B. The negative ESD voltage V.sub.ESD is initially stored in the P-substrate of the NMOS chip 100, and the discharge current occurs when the input pad 200 is grounded. The ESD current I.sub.ESD may go through the source 300 of NMOS 100 to the VSS power line, and then along the VSS line to the ESD protection circuits 400, 500, as "path A". The short-channel NMOS 400 (secondary ESD protection element) or the ESD clamp device 500 (primary ESD protection element) may be triggered on to bypass this CDM ESD current. But, in most layouts of actual IC chips, the length of the VSS power line from the input stage 100 to the ESD protection circuits 400, 500 at the input pad 200 is long enough to cause a time delay in bypassing the fast-transition CDM ESD current, as described in the following references:
Moreover, the turn-on speed of the ESD protection devices 400, 500 is slower than the transition of the CDM ESD current. Thus, the fast CDM ESD current is first discharged through the thin gate oxide 600 of the input stage 100, as "path B", shown in FIG. 5. This causes ESD damage to the gate oxide 600 of the input stage 100, rather than being protected by the ESD protection circuits 400, 500 at the input pad 200.
To overcome this ESD damage problem for CDM ESD events, one prior art technique adds an extra short-channel NMOS device, Mn2, close to the gate oxide 600 of the input stage 100, as shown in FIG. 6. Mn2 is triggered on if there is an overstress voltage across the gate oxide 600. To provide effective protection, Mn2 has to be placed as close to gate oxide 600 as possible, in order to quickly clamp the ESD voltage across the gate oxide 600. However, since gate oxides of input stages in deep-submicron low-voltage CMOS technology have been scaled down greatly, the turn-on speed of grounded-gate NMOS Mn2 is still slower than the rise time (.about.0.1 ns) of the CDM ESD current, as noted in the following references:
Therefore, the gate oxide 600 is still vulnerable to damage from a CDM ESD event. That is, the initial discharge current, as shown in FIG. 6, still passes through gate oxide 600 when CDM ESD events occur.
Another prior art technique to protect against CDM ESD events is shown in FIG. 7, with two additional diodes Dp and Dn. However, the diode break-down speed is even slower than the turn-on speed of the short-channel NMOS device (Mn2 in FIG. 6). Therefore, diodes Dp and Dn can not provide voltage-clamping fast enough to protect the thin gate oxide 600. The fast-transition CDM ESD current will still discharge through the gate oxide 600 of input stage 100, leaving it vulnerable to damage. Thus, there is not yet an effective prior art solution to fully protect the gate oxide of an input stage in deep-submicron CMOS technology against CDM ESD events.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art by providing full HBM, MM, and CDM ESD protection for deep-submicron CMOS IC's.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such ESD protection with no increase in layout area.

Charged device mode ESD protection circuit


An infant pillow device including a head and neck positioner(s) for retaining the infant's head and neck to prevent lateral, upwardly, downwardly, and rotational movement of the infants head. The infant pillow device aligns the infant's head, neck and spine when positioned on the infant pillow device.

There exists various pillows for supporting an infant, in particular a newborn. These devices provide some level or degree of use for infants; however, these devices tend to be unsuitable in various ways as a developmental positioning aid for administering prenatal care.
There exists a need for an infant pillow device configured to provide a developmental positioning aid for administering prenatal care. Such an infant pillow device would be configured to stabilize and align the infant's neck, spine and head, and encourage the fetal position. Further, it is desirable that such an infant pillow device is comfortable to the infant.


An apparatus for feeding documents in a facsimile includes a pickup roller for picking up documents one by one, a white roller that faces a read module and rotates, the read module for reading data from the documents transferred by the pickup roller, a discharge roller for discharging the documents after the documents are passed through the white roller and the read module, a driving unit, a power transmission mechanism for selectively transmitting a power of the driving unit either only to the pickup roller, or to all of the pickup roller, the white roller and the discharge roller simultaneously, and a controller for controlling the power transmission mechanism to selectively transmit the power either one of the pickup roller, the white roller, and the discharge roller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document feeding apparatus in a facsimile, and more particularly to a document feeding apparatus having a plurality of rollers and gears disposed to selectively rotate for feeding documents along a scanning path without being misaligned with the scanning path.
2. Description of the Related Art
A document feeding mechanism used in a facsimile having a scanning unit and a printing unit includes a pickup roller, a feeding roller, and a discarding roller. When a document is placed on a cassette, the document is picked up by the pickup roller, transferred to a reading module along a feeding path by the feeding roller, and discharged by the discharging roller outside the document feeding mechanism after the document has been read by the reading module or misaligned with the feeding path. However, once the document is neither properly placed on the cassette nor precisely picked up by the pickup roller, the document may be deformed or torn. Then the document feeding mechanism might stall, and the reading module cannot read the document accurately.

Apparatus for feeding documents in a facsimile


A threat actor identification system that obtains domain data for a set of domains, generates domain clusters, determines whether the domain clusters are associated with threat actors, and presents domain data for the clusters that are associated with threat actors to brand owners that are associated with the threat actors. The clusters may be generated based on similarities in web page content, domain registration information, and/or domain infrastructure information. For each cluster, a clustering engine determines whether the cluster is associated with a threat actor, and for clusters that are associated with threat actors, corresponding domain information is stored for presentation to brand owners to whom the threat actor poses a threat.

It is very difficult problem to discover and associate threat actor targeting specific brand name automatically. Threat actors (persons or entities who attack the brands, domains emails, etc. of brand owners) can target single brand name or multiple brand names with similar attack techniques. A brand name can have one or more domain names.
A "domain name" generally may include an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the Internet. Domain names, which may also be referred to as "domains" herein, may be formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System (DNS). Domain names are used in various networking contexts and application-specific naming and addressing purposes. In general, a domain name represents an Internet Protocol (IP) resource, such as a computer used to access the Internet, a server computer hosting a web site, or the web site itself or any other service communicated via the Internet.
Domain names may also be used as simple identification labels to indicate ownership or control of a resource. An example function of domain names is to provide easily recognizable and memorizable names to numerically addressed Internet resources. This abstraction may allow any resource to be moved to a different physical location in the address topology of the network, globally or locally in an intranet. Such a move may involve changing the IP address of a resource and the corresponding translation of this IP address to and from its domain name.
Additionally, domain names may be used to establish a unique identity. For example, organizations may choose a domain name that corresponds to their name (or brand), helping Internet users to reach them easily. In this context, a brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or other feature that distinguishes an entity (e.g., organization, product, etc.) from its rivals or competitors in the eyes of others (e.g., consumers). In order to confuse potential victims, attackers of computer systems may try to register domain names that are similar to a certain brand in order to confuse potential victims.
Email fraud is a relatively old and well known scam, in which someone spoofs a trusted identity in an effort to steal money or valuable information. Despite being well known, however, this scam is still pervasive. Email fraud attacks (sometimes referred to as business email compromise) steal billions of dollars from organizations around the world, and the frequency with which companies are being targeted continues to skyrocket.
Cybercriminals have figured out that tricking people, rather than technologies, is an approach that can yield high rewards. Although many organizations implement internal training and protocols aimed at protecting employees, people continue to fall for email scams. One recent survey found that 75% of organizations said they were targeted at least once by email fraud over the last two years, and 41% indicated being targeted multiple times. These numbers are getting worse, not better.
There are several fundamental reasons organizations haven't solved the problem of email fraud yet. One of the reasons is that attackers (threat actors) are targeting a wide range of people at all levels of the organization. While CEO-to-CFO spoofing attacks are prevalent, attackers are becoming more sophisticated, increasing the number of identities they take on (an average of 10) and the number of employees they target (an average of 13) within a given organization. The attackers are targeting people deeper within organizations and across more business functions.
Attackers commonly use an organization's brand and reputation to trick people into giving up something valuable. While the spoofed organization is not responsible for these attacks, they may still be blamed by the general public will for not preventing the attacks, potentially impacting the organizations' goodwill and bottom lines. More and more, criminals try to insert themselves into an organization's supply chain, posing as a partner or vendor, and asking for future payments to be made to fraudulent accounts. These partner spoofing attacks are difficult to detect and to prevent and are commonly discovered only when the business on the other end complains that they have not received payment.
Attackers have several tactics they can use to avoid being blocked. Display name spoofing (e.g., "Company <firstname.lastname@example.com>") changes the visual cue of who the email is coming from. This can be stopped using dynamic email classification capabilities at the gateway. Domain spoofing (e.g., "Person <firstname.lastname@example.com>") hijacks an organization's trusted domain. This can be blocked by fully implementing DMARC email authentication on those domains. Lookalike domain spoofing (e.g., "Person <firstname.lastname@example.com>") uses lookalike domains that are registered by third parties and are outside of the control of the organization being spoofed. This tactic can be prevented by lookalike domain discovery solutions that detect, analyze and flag suspicious domains.
The frequency with which a given tactic is used varies quarter-by-quarter and from organization to organization. Conventional point products only solve for part of the email fraud challenge. For example, you could buy one product that would stop a domain spoofing attack targeting an organization's customers and a completely separate product that would prevent a display name spoofing threat aimed at a company's employees. The need to use separate point products also introduces security, compliance, and operational risks.
One of the problems that exists with current solutions is that it is very difficult to automate the process of discovering threat actors and associating them with specific brand names that are being targeted. This is due to a number of factors. For instance, threat actors can target either a single brand name or multiple brand names with similar attack techniques, and a brand name can have one or more domain names. Additionally, the threat actors may not be readily identifiable, because they may falsely identify their origins, they may use different domains or identifiers, they may be initiated through related but technically separate entities, or they may use other means to obscure their identities. Still further, identification of threat actors may be based on information associated with threats to only a limited number of targets (or even a single target), which increases the difficulty of the task. Conventional manual identification of threat actors is therefore often unreliable, inconsistent and subjective. Consequently, there is room for technical innovations and improvements.

Threat actor identification systems and methods


A cap system for subsea equipment that can be employed on various subsea equipment including but not limited to a vertical monobore tree, a horizontal tree, a wellhead and a tubing head spool. The cap system includes a cap assembly that has the flexibility of installation and retrieval for open water as well as a through a riser with a running tool. The cap assembly also does not require any orientation during installation. The cap system includes a debris cap assembly installable in engagement with the cap assembly. The debris cap assembly interfacing with the cap assembly provides the ability to inject and bleed fluids through a main bore and an annulus bore of the subsea tree independently and without removal of the debris cap assembly and cap assembly.

Drilling and producing offshore oil and gas wells includes the use of offshore facilities for the exploitation of undersea petroleum and natural gas deposits. A typical subsea system for drilling and producing offshore oil and gas can include the installation of a cap that commences when an operation, such as drilling a subsea well, is suspended or terminated.
Normally, a well is drilled for exploration or development, but once the well has been drilled and the rig is ready to move off location or move to another well, the blow-out preventer (BOP) is disconnected from the wellhead. The seal pocket on the wellhead would now be exposed and vulnerable to falling foreign objects. Typically, a subsea well can cost several millions of dollars to drill. Thus, leaving the wellhead exposed to damage from falling objects or other intruders could result in a loss of severe financial damage, as well as the loss of seal integrity and thereby render the wellhead useless.
When a wellsite is abandoned or temporarily suspended, it is desirable to protect the wellhead. During the installation of a subsea flow line, the drilling of a subsea well, the drilling of a mudline suspension well or the installation of a subsea tree, it may be necessary to suspend the operation due to inclement weather or requirement of additional equipment. When the operations have been suspended or completed, the end or top of the pipe or equipment has a seal area or a profile that needs to be protected from foreign objects, damage and/or marine growth. These seals, surfaces and profiles have varied outer and inner diameters, shapes and lengths. They also may contain seal pockets or integral components that need to be protected from corrosion and/or marine growth.
Thus, because of the potential for enormous loss of time and money and the need for protection on multiple structure profiles, it is desirable to have a cap for a subsea structure. For example, a tree cap can serve as a secondary pressure barrier on a subsea tree. There are a number of issues that could arise if these structures are not protected.
Also, hydrates can form beneath the tree caps, and methanol injection is required to dissolve these hydrates. Where water is present in gas being produced from a subterranean formation, the problem of gas hydrate formation exists. Often gas produced from a subterranean formation is saturated with water, thus that formation of gas hydrates poses a very significant problem. Hydrates are a solid, complex compound of hydrocarbons and water. Once a hydrate blockage occurs, pressure builds behind the hydrate blockage, which causes additional hydrates to form as a result of the increased pressure. Methanol can be injected to help further dissolve and prevent hydrate formation. Other chemicals can be injected into the flow lines.
Additionally, one of the most prominent characteristics of currently available protective coverings for subsea structures is that the size and shape of the covering must be closely matched to the size and shape of the subsea structure to enable the covering to mate with and latch to the structure. This design constraint means that there must be different coverings for different applications and the mating/latching requirements mean that the covering is much more expensive to manufacture and maintain.
In general, the approach of the prior art has been to focus on a particular aspect of protection that is very structure-dependent, costly to manufacture, and complex to operate. It would, therefore, be a significant advancement in the art and it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved cap that is simple to manufacture, install and remove. In addition, as the offshore oil industry moves to deeper and deeper depths, the time it takes to lower or retrieve the tree cap with drill pipe will cost a well operator thousands of dollars in rig time alone. Thus, it is desirable to have a tree caps and debris caps with flexibility for installation, retrieval, and operation.


Phase change ink comprising carrier and colorant of formula

Disclosed herein are phase change ink compositions. More specifically, disclosed herein are phase change inks containing colorant compounds particularly suitable for use in hot melt or phase change inks.
Many known colorant compounds are not soluble in phase change ink carriers. Further, pigment colorants, which are generally particulate in nature, as opposed to dye colorants, which are soluble in a selected carrier at the molecular level, can exhibit disadvantages such as settling of the pigment within the ink carrier, leading to difficulties such as clogging of the ink jet printhead. Accordingly, inks containing metal-free dye-based colorants that are soluble in the phase change ink carriers continue to be desirable.

Abstract: wherein Ra and Rb each, independently, are hydrogen, alkyl, including substituted and hetero-containing alkyl, aryl, including substituted and hetero-containing aryl, arylalkyl, including substituted and hetero-containing arylalkyl, or alkylaryl, including substituted and hetero-containing alkylaryl; R1 and R2 each, independently, are hydrogen, provided at least one of R1 and R2 is other than hydrogen, alkyl, including substituted and hetero-containing alkyl, aryl, including substituted and hetero-containing aryl, arylalkyl, including substituted and hetero-containing arylalkyl, or alkylaryl, including substituted and hetero-containing alkylaryl; R3, R4, R5, R6, and R7 each, independently, are alkyl, including substituted and hetero-containing alkyl, aryl, including substituted and hetero-containing aryl, arylalkyl, including substituted and hetero-containing arylalkyl, alkylaryl, including substituted and hetero-containing alkylaryl, or a substituent other than hydrogen, alkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, or alkylaryl; wherein two or more of R3, R4, R5, R6, and R7 can be joined together to form a ring.


An electronic dictionary has a keyboard having a format key, a priority key, and a non-display key. Operation of the format key causes a display format for a currently displayed word to be stored in a display format storage area of a RAM. Operation of the priority key causes priorities for display of pieces of information associated with the currently displayed word to be stored in a display priority storage area of the RAM. Operation of the non-display key causes a currently displayed item that is desired not to be displayed to be stored in a non-display item storage area of the RAM. Upon operation of retrieval key, a CPU performs a display processing for displaying a retrieved word on an LCD according to the contents stored in each storage area of the RAM.

The present invention relates to electronic apparatuses having a dictionary function, such as an electronic dictionary and a personal computer.
There has conventionally been provided a variety of electronic dictionaries.
For example, an electronic dictionary is known from Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. HEI 6-83860, which stores dictionary information such as selectively retrieved English words and their Japanese equivalents in a storage area, and repeatedly reads and outputs the stored dictionary information. That is, this electronic dictionary is intended to improve the memory efficiency and calling speed by storing words selected from the electronic dictionary as well as a part or all of meanings of each of the words in an storage area and repetitively retrieving the same from the storage area.
The above electronic dictionary, however, does not have a function of making a user to designate, for each word, different display modes in which equivalents in a target language to a word in a source language are displayed. In other words, in the conventional electronic dictionary, a same display mode is used for all the words. Generally speaking, however, preferable display modes should differ depending on the learning stage of each user. For example, for certain words of which the meanings are almost known to a user, a list of equivalents to the words would be sufficient for the user. On the other hand, for words that are hard for a user to remember, display of equivalents in a detailed manner would be necessary. There may be cases in which a word is hard for a user to use so that the user wishes to have examples (example sentences and phrases) of the word or explanation or commentary about the word preferentially displayed. Unfortunately, however, the prior art electronic dictionary cannot sufficiently cope with these cases.
Furthermore, according to the prior art electronic dictionary, the order in which equivalents to a word are sequentially displayed conforms either to the content of a dictionary which was used as a basis of the electronic dictionary, or to specified rules such as parts of speech, frequency of use, degree of importance, etc. of each word. However, it is possible that a user wishes an equivalent to a word to precede the other equivalents to the word on a display screen. It is also possible that with regard to each word, a user has completely memorized equivalents and does not wish them to be displayed. The prior art electronic dictionary, however, does not fail to display even equivalents which are not wished to be displayed. As a result, disadvantageously, with the conventional electronic dictionary, the user cannot speedily get an equivalent that the user really needs from all the equivalents.
An object of the present invention is to solve the aforementioned problems and provide a user-friendly electronic apparatus having a dictionary function which has different display modes and allows a user to designate a desired display mode for each word according to the purpose of the user, which is capable of changing the order in which display items are arranged every word, and which also allows a user to designate non-display of unnecessary items that should disappear from a display screen.
In order to accomplish the object, an electronic apparatus having a dictionary function according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises:
a display section;
a storage section for storing a display format for each of words;
a format key for making the storage section store a currently used display format; and
a display processing functional section for performing a display processing to make the display section display a retrieved word and pieces of information associated therewith in a corresponding display format stored in the storage section.
With this arrangement, if the currently used display format for a certain word on display is a display format desired by a user, the user depresses the format key in that state, thereby storing the display format in the storage section. Therefore, upon retrieval of the word next time, the word and its associated information will be displayed in the format stored in the storage section.
An electronic apparatus having a dictionary function according to a second aspect of the present invention comprises:
a display section;
a storage section for storing, for each of words, priorities according which pieces of information associated with a word are to be displayed by the display section;
a priority key for designating priorities; and
a display processing functional section for performing a display processing to make the display section display pieces of information associated with a retrieved word in the order of priorities stored in the storage section.
With this arrangement, if a user scrolls the currently displayed information and depresses the priority key in a state in which the display section is displaying a piece of information (e.g., a third equivalent to the retrieved word) that the user wishes to be displayed in preference, then designation information for giving priority for display to the piece of information (the third equivalent) over the other pieces of information is stored in the storage section. Therefore, at the next time of retrieval of the same word, of all the equivalents to the word, the third equivalent, for example, will be displayed in the first place according to the designation information stored in the storage section.
An electronic apparatus having a dictionary function according to a third aspect of the present invention comprises:
a display section;
a storage section for storing, for each of words, display levels at which pieces of information associated with each word are to be displayed;
a key for designating a display level for a word; and
a display processing functional section for performing a display processing to make the display section display a retrieved word and pieces of information associated therewith at a corresponding display level stored in the storage section.
The term xe2x80x9cdisplay levelxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9clevelxe2x80x9d used herein, which is also referred to as xe2x80x9cdepthxe2x80x9d herein, should be understood as follows. A first screen displaying equivalents which normally appears at the first call is at Level 0, for example. A second screen which appears when designating, for example, an item xe2x80x9cexamplexe2x80x9d on the first screen, is at Level 1, for example. The screen at Level 1 displays example sentences and phrases of the retrieved word. A next screen derived from the second screen is at Level 2. That is, mutually linked screens consisting of a basis screen and the subordinate screens are serially opened from one screen to next, and the order in which these screens are called and opened is expressed by numbers 0, 1, 2, . . . , and those numbers 0, 1, 2, . . . are herein defined as the xe2x80x9cdisplay levelsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cdepthsxe2x80x9d.
The display levels may be assigned to each of pieces of information (such as equivalents, examples, etc.) associated with a word. For example, the user may designate an item name xe2x80x9cexamplexe2x80x9d displayed on the basis screen (Level 0) which appears at the first call, to have example sentences and phrases (Level 1) displayed on the next screen. In this case, if the user depresses the key for designating a display level while the example sentences and phrases are displayed, then the display level for the example sentences and phrases will be changed from Level 1 to Level 0 so as to be preferentially displayed. By this operation, the example sentences and phrases, which are information having its display level changed to 0, will be displayed on the first screen at the next time of retrieval of the relevant word.
An electronic apparatus having a dictionary function according to a fourth aspect of the present invention comprises:
a display section;
a storage section for storing, for each of words, items not to be displayed;
a non-display key for designating an item not to be displayed; and
a display processing functional section for performing a display processing to make the display section display items other than the items not to be displayed stored in the storage section.
With this arrangement, if a user does not need display of a certain item which is currently displayed, then the user may depress the non-display key in this state, thereby making the storage section store information on the item. Then, the item, stored in the storage section, will not be displayed at the next retrieval of the relevant word.
The electronic apparatus according to any of the first, second, third and fourth aspects may further comprise a normal display key for temporarily bring the apparatus into a normal display mode. In this case, the display processing functional section is configured so as to change a current screen of the display section to a screen according to the normal display mode when the normal display key is operated during a certain display mode other than the normal display mode, and to restore the certain display mode upon cancellation of the normal display mode.
With this arrangement, switching between the normal display mode and a special display mode designated by the user can be executed at any time when desired.
The term xe2x80x9cnormal display modexe2x80x9d herein refers to a display mode according to initial settings for the apparatus.
Furthermore, when the electronic apparatus has the normal display key, the display processing functional section may be configured so as to make the screen of the display section contain a symbol indicating that a current display mode is not the normal display mode while the apparatus is not assuming the normal display mode. With this arrangement, the user can definitely distinguish whether the current display mode is the normal display or not.

Electronic apparatus having a dictionary function


A spinal disorder diagnosis and treatment planning system is provided. The diagnosis and treatment planning system includes a mixed reality holographic display including at least one processor, at least one camera, at least one sensor, and being configured to acquire data points corresponding to a surface of a body adjacent to vertebral tissue. A computer database is configured to transmit imaging of the body including the vertebral tissue to the mixed reality holographic display. The mixed reality holographic display is configured to display a first holographic image of the vertebral tissue superimposed with a body image including the surface. Methods are also disclosed.

Spinal disorders such as degenerative disc disease, disc herniation, osteoporosis, spondylolisthesis, stenosis, scoliosis and other curvature abnormalities, kyphosis, tumor and fracture may result from factors including trauma, disease and degenerative conditions caused by injury and aging. Spinal disorders typically result in symptoms including pain, nerve damage, and partial or complete loss of mobility.
Clinical evaluation and diagnosis of spinal disorders can be based on physical examination and medical imaging of a patient. Physical examination may include evaluation of physical limitations in range of motion, evidence of instability, observable deformities and patient pain responses. Such physical examination and medical imaging is employed to formulate clinical diagnosis and treatment planning for the patient. Treatment planning may include non-surgical treatments and/or surgical treatments of spinal disorders. Non-surgical treatment can include medication, rehabilitation and exercise, which can be effective, however, may fail to relieve the symptoms associated with these disorders. Surgical treatment of these spinal disorders includes correction, fusion, fixation, discectomy, laminectomy and implantable prosthetics. As part of these surgical treatments, interbody devices can be employed with spinal constructs, which include implants such as bone fasteners and vertebral rods to provide stability to a treated region. This disclosure describes an improvement over these prior technologies.

Clinical diagnosis and treatment planning system and methods of use


A data input device has an input part for inputting data and an output part for outputting a message for prompting a data input operation. The data input device has a text data input part for inputting text data, a voice data input part for inputting voice data, an input item storage part for storing an item to be inputted, and an input control part for selecting one of the text data input part and the voice data input part in accordance with the characteristics of the item to be inputted which is stored in the input item storage part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data input method and a data input device, which include text data input means and voice data input means, of selecting optimal input means from the two input means and controlling a data input operation, thereby inputting data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, text data input means such as a keyboard, a touch panel, a mouse or a pen has been mainly used as input means of a data input processing device. However, as a voice recognition technique is practically used in recent years, a device having the function of inputting data with voice is being practically used.
The text data input means has an advantage that since data is inputted by a keyboard or the like, there is no misrecognition of the inputted data, but has a disadvantage that since there is no sufficient space in a small-sized device such as a cellular phone and a hierarchical structure is employed at the time of asking a question of prompting a data input operation, the data input operation is troublesome.
On the other hand, the voice data input means has an advantage that the data input operation itself is easy, but has a disadvantage that there is a possibility of misrecognition at the time of recognizing the contents of the inputted data, reliability of the inputted data is lower than that of the text data input means.
As described above, the text data input means and the voice data input means have advantages and disadvantages almost opposite to each other; therefore, it is important to provide optimal input means in accordance with the contents of data to be inputted by a user.
In order to solve the problems, a technique that when a user initially select voice data input means for inputting data, a voice data input mode is automatically set for the subsequent input items is well known as conventional art.
However, the conventional art cannot provide optimal input means to the user by selecting the optimal input means in accordance with the data to be inputted.

Data input method and data input device for inputting text and voice data


An adjustable plug includes a main body, a connecting end, and an adjustable end sleeve. The adjustable end sleeve is slidably positioned on the main body. The connecting end protrudes from the main body. The connecting end extends through the adjustable end sleeve, and protrudes out of the adjustable end sleeve.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to plugs and, particularly, to a length adjustable plug for engaging with different sockets.
2. Description of the Related Art
Connectors having a plug and a socket coupled to the plug are often used to connect two or more electronic devices, such as mobile phones, notebook computers, and personal digital assistants, together to charge the electronic devices or transmit data between electronic devices. If the plug is long, a part of the metallic portion of the plug would be exposed when the plug engages with a socket. Thus, users may get an electric shock from the exposed metallic portion of the plug. However, if the plug is not long enough, an electric contact between the plug and a corresponding socket may be insufficient. Therefore, plugs and sockets must be made with a standardized size, such as length and cross-section.
However, a plug and a corresponding type socket may not be engaged sufficiently with each other. For example, if a socket is positioned in a corner of a device, a corresponding plug may can not engage sufficiently with the socket if a main body of the plug is too large.
Therefore, a new plug is desired to overcome the above-described shortcomings.


A medical imaging apparatus for generating medical information includes an input unit, a processor, and a display. The input unit is operated by a user and is configured to input an instruction. The processor is configured to process a first part of display information relating to the medical information based on the instruction so that the first part is displayed in a differentiable manner from others of the display information. The display is configured to display the processed first part and the others of the display information.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a medical imaging apparatus and a medical information processing apparatus, each of which is operative, based on an instruction given by a user, to process and display the medical information. The present invention further relates to a method of such processing and display based on the instruction.
2. Discussion of the Background
Various types of medical image diagnosis apparatuses are used for medical examinations so as to obtain information inside a patient's body. One type of such an apparatus is an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus. In the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus, so-called B mode images and so-called M mode images are often produced and used for various medical diagnoses. The B mode image is a tissue tomogram of soft tissues inside the patient's body, produced in an ultrasound reflection method. The M mode image is an image aligning tissue images in parallel included in a line of the tissue tomogram in time series. By referring to the M mode image, a doctor or other user of the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a user) can observe a morphological variation over time of a heart, blood vessels, and the like in detail.
An ultrasound diagnosis apparatus implementing such diagnoses mentioned above, has some advantages in the following aspects, compared to an X-ray diagnosis apparatus, an X-ray computed tomography, a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, and a nuclear medicine diagnosis apparatus such as a SPECT and a PET. For, example, the user can easily observe a motion of a heart or a fetus in real time by touching an ultrasonic probe on a body surface of the patient. In addition, the user can obtain a spectrum or a spatial spread of blood flow through a Doppler effect. Further, an ultrasound causes very little harm to a human body, and so it is possible to repeat examinations with an ultrasound. Still further, an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus is very compact in size, and so an examination can be made with the apparatus placed at bed side. Therefore, an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus is widely used for medical examinations including those for a heart, an abdomen, a mammary gland, a urinary organ, and obstetrics.
A lot of ultrasound diagnosis apparatuses are regularly or optionally equipped with an application program for measuring structural sizes of a distance, an area, a volume, and the like of various tissues based on a B mode image, and also for measuring a variation over time based on an M mode image. Measurement results and calculation results from such measurements are not only displayed but can also be edited freely in a worksheet. The edited results can finally be output as a report. This is, for example, introduced in Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 2001-61836 and 2002-282250.
Further, the above-mentioned measurements may be implemented in an ultrasound image processing apparatus having a similar application program. The ultrasound image processing apparatus is connected to and receives ultrasound images from the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus. Accordingly, such measurements can be realized even in a remote place.
Recently, measurement functions have been specialized for each purpose of, for example, circulatory organ diagnosis and fetus diagnosis. This specialization results in a great number of measurement parameters and calculation parameters. Further, a lot of authors are present with respect to calculation techniques of the calculation parameters. Usability and significance are different among these calculation techniques. Therefore, the selection of a calculation technique is left entirely up to the user.
Under this situation, however, a lot of measurement parameters and calculation parameters are displayed in an operation panel. This leads to a problem of requiring the user to spend time to find desired measurement parameters in the display. Further, since a lot of measured data and calculated data are displayed in a display monitor, there is a problem that the user must spend time to find desired or interesting data from among the displayed measured data and calculated data. Still further, there are displayed a plurality of measuring calipers which are used for designating a point or a range to be measured in the display monitor. Therefore, it is a problem for the user to take time to recognize which measurement caliper the desired or interesting measured data and calculated data are based.

Medical imaging apparatus which displays predetermined information in differentiable manner from others


This invention is a vinylcarbosiloxane resin that is the hydrosilation reaction product of 1,3,5,7 -tetravinyl-1,3,5,7-tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane and a hydride-terminated linear polysiloxane, siloxane, or silane, having two terminal Si—H hydrogens reactive with vinyl groups in a hydrosilation reaction, in the presence of a platinum catalyst. Suitable hydride-terminated linear polysiloxanes, siloxances, and silanes include those having the structures:

This invention relates to vinyl carbosiloxane resins and to their use as encapsulants, particularly for LED devices.
High power light-emitting-diodes (LEDs) are gaining momentum as a replacement for incandescent and fluorescent lamps for retail use, architectural illumination, automotive use, and street lighting. Heat resistant polymers and/or polymer composites are used as encapsulant materials, and are known to maintain mechanical properties (modulus, elongation, toughness, adhesive strength) under thermal aging conditions. These are important for LED applications, but without good optical transparency under continuous usage, the polymers are unsuitable.
Traditionally, epoxies have been the preferred encapsulants for LED encapsulation because they have low moisture permeability, high refractive index, high hardness, and low thermal expansion. Nevertheless, epoxies turn yellow after exposure to photon fluxes and temperatures at about 100° C. Due to high electricity consumption, LEDs can reach operating temperatures as high as 150° C.; consequently, light output from LEDs is significantly affected when epoxies are used.
Silicone based materials are known to withstand high temperature and photon bombardment without developing yellow coloration. However, for high brightness LED encapsulation, most commercially available silicones cannot provide the hardness needed for this application. Hardness is needed both for protection of the LED semiconductors and for optimum transparency (a soft surface holds dust more than a hard surface and affects light quality). A good silicone candidate is 1,3,5,7-tetravinyl-1,3,5,7-tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane.
This cyclic tetravinyl tetrasiloxane compound provides sufficient Shore D or high Shore A hardness when cured with hydridosilicones having multiple Si—H groups, a low coefficient of thermal expansion, and good transparency, all of which are important properties for LED encapsulants. The disadvantage is that cyclic tetravinyl tetrasiloxane is volatile and can be lost from the reaction mix during final cure.

Abstract: In another embodiment, the vinylcarbosiloxane resin can be reacted with one or more other hydrido-silanes and hydrido-polysiloxanes in the presence of a platinum catalyst to form a curable composition.


A tactical flashlight and/or laser mount structure has a chassis, two control buttons, an elastic means, a movable tenon and a mounting mortise. The chassis is fixed on the top of the tactical flashlight and/or laser for engaging the chassis with the gun separately. Each of the control buttons includes a pressing portion and a lift portion, the two control buttons are outward- and inward-movably disposed on the chassis, the elastic means is disposed between the two control buttons, a movable tenon is upward and downward movably disposed on the chassis and formed with two oblique notches, the lift portion of two control buttons joint to the oblique notches, and the mounting mortise is fixed on the gun.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gun barrel and trigger flashlight, and/or laser mount structure, and in particular to a mount structure by which flashlight, and/or laser can be quickly mounted on or removed from a gun.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional tactical flashlight and/or laser are mounted on a gun to improve aim. An appropriate mount is necessary to mount the scope on the shield or barrel of the gun.
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional flashlight and/or laser 7 is mounted on a gun 9 via a mount 8. The mount 8 is formed with two U-shape screws 81 and four nuts 82. One of the U-shape screws 81 is disposed higher than the other so that both can match the shield 91 of the gun 9. The ends of the U-shape screws 81 are inserted into four holes 71 of the scope 7, of which the left holes 71 correspond to the right holes 71, and the ends of the U-shape screws 81 are screwed to the nuts 82 so as to mount the flashlight and/or laser 7 to the shield 91 of the gun 9.
The above-mentioned conventional mount 8 of a tactical flashlight and/or laser uses the screws 81 and nuts 82 to mount the tactical flashlight and/or laser 7 onto the gun 9. Use of this type of mount structure is, however, wasteful of time and effort, and thus causes inconvenience during mounting or removal of the flashlight and/or laser. The flashlight and/or laser thus cannot be quickly mounted on or removed from a gun.
Further, with reference to FIG. 2, which is an illustration of a conventional tactical flashlight and laser combo 10 (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,854 B1), the tactical flashlight and laser combo 10 is connected to the gun separately, a shaft 6 is disposed on the top of the tactical flashlight and laser combo 10, the shaft 6 corresponds to holes 64 at two sides of the top of the tactical flashlight and laser combo 10, two end portions 62 of the shaft 6 penetrate the two sides of the top of the tactical flashlight and laser combo 10, respectively, and a spring 70 is disposed under the shaft 6 for abutting the shaft 6 to generate an upward displacement so that the shaft 6 can be lifted and engaged with the corresponding groove of the gun for mounting the tactical flashlight and laser combo 10 to the gun.
However, while disassembling the tactical flashlight and laser combo 10 from the conventional mount of the gun described above, the user must press with great force on the end portions 62 of the shaft 6 to remove the shaft 6 from the corresponding groove of the gun, and such operation is inconvenient.
Given the above, the conventional fixing manner of gun tactical flashlight and laser combo still has inconvenience and defects in practice, which need to be improved.

Gun barrel and trigger flashlight and/or laser mount structure