Apparatus and methods for cutting a material, especially with low material speed and high cutting torque. In some embodiments, the apparatus is a hand-held device for quietly cutting through an orthopedic cast with little or no generation of debris. In yet other embodiments, there is a method for automatically advancing material past a shearing surface, such that the shearing action occurs at about the same velocity as the advancement. In yet other embodiments, there is a device for cutting material between a foot and a sharp edge, with the bottom of the foot being under the sharp edge to protect the skin of the patient.

Casts used to set broken bones or other injuries to limbs generally consist of a hard outer shell, a sleeve, and an internal fabric or wrapping. The outer shell is typically made of layers of fiberglass or plaster. The inner wrappings are typically made from flexible woven or non-woven materials, such as cotton, polyester or other fibers. The hard outer cast shells typically are removed by using powered oscillating saws, which can be noisy and may create substantial fine debris. In order to prevent injury to patients, oscillating saws are usually operated at high frequency and low amplitude. However, oscillating saws can still cause burns or abrasions, and in many cases cause fear in many patients, especially small children.
What is needed are improved methods and apparatus for removal of a cast. Various embodiments of the present invention provide this in novel and unobvious ways.


Receivers, controller units for receivers and related methods are provided. One receiver includes an adjustable sample provider providing samples of an input signal using an adjustable sample timing and a feedback path providing a feedback signal to the adjustable sample provider based on a timing error. The feedback path includes a loop filter providing sample timing information to the adjustable sample provider and a replacement value provider providing a replacement sample timing information replacing the sample timing information when an input signal does not fulfil a predetermined requirement for a feedback-based sample timing adaptation. The replacement value provider provides the replacement sample timing information considering a timing error information over a longer time period when compared to a time period considered by the loop filter for a provision of the sample timing information.

The present disclosure describes, explicitly or implicitly, features of a mobile communication device and of a receiver and of a mobile communication system. Thus, any of the features described herein can be used in the context of a mobile communication device and in the context of a mobile communication system (e.g. comprising a satellite). Therefore, disclosed techniques are suitable for all fixed satellite services (FSS) and mobile satellite services (MSS).
Moreover, features and functionalities disclosed herein relating to a method can also be used in an apparatus. Furthermore, any features and functionalities disclosed herein with respect to an apparatus can also be used in a corresponding method. In other words, the methods disclosed herein can be supplemented by any of the features and functionalities described with respect to the apparatuses.
Also, any of the features and functionalities described herein can be implemented in hardware or in software, or using a combination of hardware and software, as will be described in the section "implementation alternatives".
Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention may also be referred to as examples.

Adaptive timing synchronization for reception for bursty and continuous signals

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.


An embodiment of the invention provides a method for reducing within die thickness variations by modifying the concentration of components of a low-acid electroplating solution. For one embodiment, the leveler concentration is increased sufficiently to reduce within die thickness variations to a specified value. For one embodiment of the invention, the leveler and suppressor are increased to reduce within die thickness variations and substantially reduce a plurality of electroplating defects. In such an embodiment the combined concentration of leveler and suppressor is determined to maintain adequate gap fill.

During the manufacture of integrated circuits, a semiconductor wafer is deposited with a conductive metal to provide interconnects between the integrated components. Aluminum deposition may be used for this purpose. Copper has recently been found to offer distinct advantages over aluminum as a conductive plating for an integrated circuit substrate. Copper is more conductive than aluminum and can be plated into much smaller features (e.g., trenches and vias) having high aspect ratios. This is an important advantage given the trend toward smaller features. Moreover, the deposition process for aluminum is more costly and complex, requiring thermal processing within a vacuum, whereas electroplating can be used to effect copper plating of semiconductor wafers.
The use of copper plating, however, is not without drawbacks. Two related drawbacks are the problems of proper gap fill and within die ("WID") thickness variation of the copper plating.

Modified electroplating solution components in a low-acid electrolyte solution


A vehicle lift has a support platform and a pair of scissor mechanisms underneath it for supporting it, and raising and lowering it. An actuator, for example, an hydraulic cylinder, that is connected between the scissor arms. The ends of one pair of scissor arms include rollers for engaging the ground, the rollers permitting the lift to be raised and lowered. A cart or other lifting device is provided for lifting one end of the lift, to support it on wheels of the cart. With the other end of the lift supported on the rollers of the scissor arms, the lift can be freely moved around on a flat surface. The lift can have a simple ratchet locking mechanism including a cam, which provides a simple mechanism for locking the lift in a raised position, and for enabling it to be lowered.

At the present time, there are a large number of different types of hydraulic or other lifts available. Generally, these are designed within the constraints set by the design requirements of the lift, such as lifting capacity, lifting heights, and costs of materials and individual components. As such, conventional designs represent a compromise between these different requirements.
The assignee of the present invention has previously developed an hydraulic lift for motor vehicle, which includes two separate scissor mechanisms, each for one side of the lift (U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,930). Each scissor mechanism lifts a corresponding elongate wheel deck, intended to support the wheels on one side of the vehicle. Beneath each scissor mechanism, there is a base unit, on which rollers of the scissor mechanism run. This leaves a significant space between the two wheel decks, which is largely unobstructed. Each scissor mechanism and its associated wheel deck has a respective hydraulic cylinder for raising and lowering it. To ensure that the two wheel decks are maintained at the same height, there is a cross brace between them, and also the hydraulic circuit includes a valve arrangement, to ensure that the flows to and from the two hydraulic cylinders are essentially the same. Such a lift can be dimensioned to lift a vehicle to a considerable height.
Such a hydraulic lift has a number of advantages. However, it is relatively large, heavy and immobile.
In particular, the provision of the base units renders the lift suitable only for a fixed installation. The bases support and guide the scissor mechanisms. They also ensure that the load is distributed to the underlying floor, so that the floor need not be particularly flat or smooth.
Similarly, there are available a variety of lifts intended to lift a vehicle off its wheels, causing the vehicle to be supported directly at its body or chassis. To raise the deck, there are a number of vertical posts, fixed to the ground around the deck, for example, 2 or 4 posts. The assignee of the present invention has developed such a 2 post lift (U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,336). Then, some sort of a mechanism is provided within or associated with the posts, for raising the deck.
Like the foregoing lift based on a scissor mechanism, this suffers from the advantage that it is essentially large, cumbersome and fixed installation.
There are also available so-called low rise lifts. As compared to a full rise lift which can achieve a lift of 6 feet, a low rise lift may provide a lift in the range of the order of 23-28 inches. The intention is to raise a vehicle sufficiently high to facilitate work that really only requires exterior access, e.g. brake work requiring access to the wheel hubs. Low rise lifts would not be used for work requiring access to the underside of the vehicle.
However, low rise lifts known to the assignee of the present invention, suffer from a number of disadvantages. Firstly, the lifting range of such low rise lifts is usually inadequate. Thus, even at full height, they will leave the wheel hubs and the like of a vehicle at a height that is too low to be truly comfortable for a mechanic to work on the brakes, suspension, etc.
Secondly, to the assignee's knowledge, most such low rise lifts rely on a parallelogram mechanism. As such, the wheel deck is pivotally connected to the ends of two arms, forming two parallel sides of the parallelogram. The other, lower ends of the arms, are pivotally secured to the ground.
It will be appreciated that, in initial lifting, the two arms are essentially close to the horizontal. As such, the wheel decks are cantilevered away, either in front of or behind, the ground pivot supports for the arms. For this reason, it is essential that the arms be securely attached to the ground.

Vehicle lift and locking mechanism for use therewith

Wheeltronic, A Division of Derlan Manufacturing Inc.


Determination of a received signal strength indication in a direct conversion receiver begins by determining, at a given time, a 1st value to be the larger of the in-phase component of the received signal and the quadrature component of the received signal. The direct conversion receiver then determines a 2nd value at the given time to be the smaller of the in-phase component of the received signal and the quadrature component of the received signal. As such, at a given time, the 1st and 2nd values correspond to the greater and lesser of the in-phase component and quadrature component, respectively. Having obtained these values, the direct conversion receiver then determines the received signal strength indication based on the 1st value, the 2nd value and an offset value. The offset value provides a scaling of the RSSI value based on the range of the RSSI values.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wireless communication systems and more particularly to radio frequency integrated circuits used within such wireless communication systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Communication systems are known to support wireless and wire lined communications between wireless and/or wire lined communication devices. Such communication systems range from national and/or international cellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-home wireless networks. Each type of communication system is constructed, and hence operates, in accordance with one or more communication standards. For instance, wireless communication systems may operate in accordance with one or more standards including, but not limited to, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS, global system for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), local multi-point distribution systems (LMDS), multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS), and/or variations thereof.
Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wireless communication device, such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio, personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptop computer, home entertainment equipment, et cetera communicates directly or indirectly with other wireless communication devices. For direct communications (also known as point-to-point communications), the participating wireless communication devices tune their receivers and transmitters to the same channel or channels (e.g., one of the plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wireless communication system) and communicate over that channel(s). For indirect wireless communications, each wireless communication device communicates directly with an associated base station (e.g., for cellular services) and/or an associated access point (e.g., for an in-home or in-building wireless network) via an assigned channel. To complete a communication connection between the wireless communication devices, the associated base stations and/or associated access points communicate with each other directly, via a system controller, via the public switch telephone network, via the Internet, and/or via some other wide area network.
For each wireless communication device to participate in wireless communications, it includes a built-in radio transceiver (i.e., receiver and transmitter) or is coupled to an associated radio transceiver (e.g., a station for in-home and/or in-building wireless communication networks, RF modem, etc.). As is known, the transmitter includes a data modulation stage, one or more intermediate frequency stages, and a power amplifier. The data modulation stage converts raw data into baseband signals in accordance with a particular wireless communication standard. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix the baseband signals with one or more local oscillations to produce RF signals. The power amplifier amplifies the RF signals prior to transmission via an antenna.
As is also known, the receiver is coupled to the antenna and includes a low noise amplifier, one or more intermediate frequency stages, a filtering stage, and a data recovery stage. The low noise amplifier receives inbound RF signals via the antenna and amplifies then. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix the amplified RF signals with one or more local oscillations to convert the amplified RF signal into baseband signals or intermediate frequency (IF) signals. The filtering stage filters the baseband signals or the IF signals to attenuate unwanted out of band signals to produce filtered signals. The data recovery stage recovers raw data from the filtered signals in accordance with the particular wireless communication standard.
Many of the components in the transmitter and receiver are adjustable to compensate for integrated circuit process variations, transmit power requirements, and/or varying levels of received signal strength. For example, the low noise amplifier and filtering stages of a receiver are adjustable to accommodate for varying levels of received signal strength. As is known, to adjust the gain of a low noise amplifier and/or filter stage, the signal strength of the received signal needs to be measured.
Typically, the signal strength is measured via a received signal strength indication module, which measures the amplitude (in volts) of the in-phase and quadrature components a received signal and converts the measured voltage into a power level value (in dBm, i.e., milliwatts of power in dB). For example, the received signal strength indication module uses the equation 10 log (I2)+10 log (Q2) to approximate the equation of 10 log (I2+Q2), where I corresponds to the amplitude of the in-phase component of the received signal and Q corresponds to the quadrature phase of the received signal. This approximation provides a reliable RSSI value since the power of I is equal to the power of Q and does not change over time.
In direct conversion receivers (i.e., those that include only one mixing stage and directly convert received RF signals to baseband signals), timely and accurate measure of RSSI is difficult. The difficulty arises when a frequency offset (i.e., the local oscillation of the receiver does not exactly match the local oscillation of the transmitter of the transmitting radio) is present, causing an amplitude modulation of the received signal, which causes the power of I to not always equal the power of Q. As such, the approximation as previously discussed is not directly viable for direct conversion receivers.
One solution for direct conversion receivers is to average the RSSI of a plurality of samples over a period of time greater than the period of the amplitude modulation caused by the frequency offset. However, when the frequency offset is relatively short (e.g., less than a few hundred kilohertz), the time to obtain a reliable average for the RSSI value exceeds the time allocated to make an RSSI measurement, which typically is in the range of about 1–5 microseconds.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus for determining received signal strength indication within a direct conversion receiver in a timely and efficient manner.

Determination of received signal strength in a direct conversion receiver


A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) includes a first MANET node having a first radio frequency (RF) transceiver and a first controller coupled thereto to generate RF transmissions. A second MANET node has a second RF transceiver configured to communicate with the first RF transceiver, and a second controller coupled to the second RF transceiver. The second controller is configured to cooperate with the second RF transceiver to receive the RF transmissions from the first MANET node, generate a normalized reception value based upon the received RF transmissions and send the normalized reception value to the first MANET node. The first controller is configured to control a transmit power level for a subsequent RF transmission based upon the normalized reception value from the second MANET node.

Wireless networks have experienced increased development in the past decade. One of the most rapidly developing areas is mobile ad hoc networks. Physically, a mobile ad hoc network (MANET) includes a number of geographically-distributed, potentially mobile nodes that are wirelessly connected by one or more radio frequency channels. Compared with other types of networks, such as cellular networks or satellite networks, the more distinctive feature of mobile ad hoc networks is the lack of any fixed infrastructure. The mobile ad hoc network may be formed of mobile nodes only, and a mobile ad hoc network may be created on-the-fly as the nodes transmit to or receive from other nodes. Mobility can vary from zero distance units per time unit to whatever the upper bound may be placed on the nodes. The network does not generally depend on a particular node and dynamically adjusts as some nodes join and other nodes leave the network.
In an environment where a fixed communication infrastructure is unreliable or unavailable, for example, in a natural disaster area struck by an earthquake or hurricane, a mobile ad hoc network may be quickly deployed and provide much needed communications. While accommodating the requirements of a hostile environment or emergency situation may be a driving force behind the development of these networks, mobile ad hoc networks are finding new applications in civilian and commercial areas. Mobile ad hoc networks allow people to exchange data in the field or even in a confined setting, such as a classroom, without using any network structure except the network they create by turning on their computers or mobile wireless communication devices.
Many mobile ad hoc networks transmit among nodes at a maximum or high power level to ensure that RF signals are accurately received by all neighboring nodes spaced from the transmitting node. In some hostile environments, however, non-network users may operate detection equipment and detect the RF emissions within the mobile ad hoc network, and therefore, jam those signals or triangulate the signals to determine network node locations.
Communicating link quality parameters and data about the received signal strength and interference across many nodes in the mobile ad hoc networks to determine when power levels should be raised or lowered is complicated and expensive, especially in a multi-data rate, frequency hopping mobile ad hoc network. Additionally, link conditions may change rapidly, requiring frequent feedback among mobile nodes, thus increasing the signal overhead in the mobile ad hoc network. It may be advantageous if transmissions from each radio or mobile node could be as quiet as possible, i.e., low power, to maintain network conductivity, without affecting the data rate and reception by other nodes of transmitted signals in the mobile ad hoc network.
Current power control approaches employed in mobile ad hoc networks decrease transmit power to save battery life and increase network longevity, or reduce interference regions to enable spatial reuse. Some power saving algorithms define a power aware routing protocol that significantly increases background network traffic and applies power control to data transmissions. Many network overhead transmissions are still required at maximum power. Also, known power control algorithms have not usually been adapted to frequency hopping mobile ad hoc networks. The need for line-of-sight mobile ad hoc networking with a low probability of detection may require an adaptive power control approach that does not burden unnecessarily the network and create a high overhead.

Mobile ad hoc network providing power control and associated methods


Disclosed is a method and system for providing the digital content of non-free event to viewers through mobile computing devices. The present invention collects the viewer's preferred date and time, ticket count, the content provider and non-free event information. Then the present invention initiates the payment process and communicates to appropriate media server to book the tickets and download the digital content of non-free event. At the time of the event the present invention authorizes the authentication code on ticket, leverages the mobile device camera to validate the count of viewers watching the event based on count of tickets purchased and if viewers are in right age to watch the event depending on rating of the event. Then the present invention downloads the digital content of event and streams to viewer's computing device from the non-free digital event content provider.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the entertainment system, and more particularly, to providing non-free digital event content to viewers through mobile computing devices and validating the viewers count and if the viewer is allowed to watch the digital content of the event.
2. Description of the Related Art
In today's world significant importance is given to entertainment. People watch more movies and other forms of events like movies and non-free stage entertainment shows. Movies explore the edges of human emotion, freeze culture and show us how creative we can be. However most people do not preferred to watch the event in the theatre/auditorium due to a number of reasons. One of the top reasons being privacy—many prefer to avoid the crowd. They like to stay in the comfort of their home and watch entertainment thereby avoiding chatter disturbances from fellow members in the content provider example, theater or auditorium.
Time constraint also plays as an important cause. Due to fixed event timings in theater/auditorium, people are not able to make it on-time. Sometimes the events of their choice are shown only once on a particular day, thereby forcing people to make adjustments in their daily schedule to watch the particular event.
Another reason that can be attributed to is climatic conditions. During rainy/snow season, many people miss out on a number of events, as they like to stay warm indoors. People try to avoid travelling to theatre/auditorium during the cold weather season. Due to this event revenue is affected and it causes great loss for the event producers and as well as the distributors who invest a huge sum of money for the making of each event.
Sometimes when a box-office movie is released, people may be busy with work or may have traveled out-of-country for a business meeting. If people miss out when the movie is released, they have to only wait for the CD/DVD of the movie to be released before they can watch their favorite movie.
Some live event shows occur only in bigger cities. Also only box-office movies are released in all the theatres, many small budget movies either are not shown in all theatres or they may be shown only for fewer days. This causes a lot of discomfort for people not living in major cities. They would really like to see the event but are unable to do so because they may have to travel long distances, in some cases make out-of-station travels to see a particular event.
Also, the present invention provides real-time parental guidance for the event. A motion picture rating system classifies the films with regard to suitability for audiences in terms of issues such as violence, substance abuse, profanity, impudence or other types of mature content. However, there is no guarantee to protect the kids from not watching digital content that is not suitable for them. So there is a need for real-time validation while watching entertainment at home.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system for to present the digital content of non-free event to people so that they can directly receive and enjoy the event from the comfort of their home. Also there is a need for a system that is secure, reliable and easy to use.

Method and system to provide a non-free digital event content from the content provider to the computing device users


Disclosed is a grid polarizer comprising a substrate; and a plurality of stacked metal and dielectric layers, having a width w, disposed on the substrate and forming a parallel grid of stacked layers. The stacked layers are spaced apart to form a repetition space between the stacked layers, such that no diffraction orders are allowed to propagate except the zero order. The grid polarizer that is capable of transmitting substantially all illumination of a given polarization while suppressing at least of portion of the illumination reflected due to an orthogonal polarization component.

Polarizing devices are of utilized in numerous optical systems and are commonly used in various applications such as liquid-crystal displays and optical isolators. The present invention relates to grid polarizers also referred to as wire-grid polarizers. Grid polarizers are well known in the art and in their simplest form, generally include a glass substrate on top of which metallic stripes (or wires) are deposited. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the separation between grid lines is such that only the zero order propagates for the wavelength range of interest. Typical metals utilized include Aluminum (Al), Silver (Ag), Gold (Au), Copper (Cu), and Chrome (Cr). In general, grid polarizers operate as follows. Contrary to the substrate where most electrons are bound to atoms or molecules, in the metal there is a high density of free electrons that oscillate in response to an external electromagnetic field. If the external field is polarized along the orientation of the grid (TE polarization), it excites the electrons causing re-emission of the incident radiation. If the external electromagnetic field is oriented perpendicular to the grid (TM polarization) a reduced number of electrons oscillate resulting in most of the incident illumination being transmitted. The result is that the basic properties of a grid polarizer include the following: (1) high transmission of TM polarization (TTM); (2) low reflection of TM polarization (RTM); (3) high reflection of TE polarization (RTE); and, (4) low transmission of TE polarization (TTE).
In order to characterize the performance of grid polarizers it is common to use two parameters: insertion loss and contrast ratio. The insertion loss, directly related to the total transmission of the polarizer, is defined asIL=−10 log10TTM,  (1)while the contrast ratio is defined as
                              CR          =                      10                                                                                log              10                                                                  T                TM                                            T                TE                                                    ,                            (        2        )            with both quantities being measured in dB. It is generally desired to minimize the insertion loss and maximize contrast ratio. As can be seen from definition (1), if all TM polarization is transmitted TTM=1 then the resultant IL=0 dB. For high contrast ratio the transmitted illumination must be essentially of a single polarization (TM), implying that TTE should tend to zero. In this case the contrast ratio tends to infinity. In practice, however, typical grid polarizers exhibit values of contrast ratio which are in the range 20–60 dB and insertion losses typically below 0.5 dB.
One variation to the basic grid polarizer geometry illustrated in FIG. 1 is found described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,368, wherein it discloses a structure comprising of a lamination of the grid between two substrates so that the metal grid is embedded in a medium exhibiting a higher index than air. As a result of this approach the insertion loss can be considerably reduced over a limited spectral region.
Another variation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,103, wherein it discloses a grid polarizer that incorporates homogeneous thin-film layers between the substrate and the metal grid or further includes etches incorporated into the substrate. The goal of this modified polarizer is to extend the wavelength range of operation, particularly in the visible between 400 nm and 700 nm. Both of these aforementioned approaches to grid polarizers focus on improving performance as measured by insertion loss and contrast ratio but without significantly affecting the reflective properties of the polarizer.
There are, however, applications where it is desired that the polarizer exhibit low insertion loss, high contrast ratio, and in addition a substantial suppression of the reflected TE polarization component. An example of such a device is the optical isolator, which allows essentially one-way propagation of radiation. The typical optical isolator includes two polarizers and a Faraday rotator. The polarizers have their axis of polarization rotated by 45°. To meet increasing requirements in component stability and compactness it is desirable to integrate the various components of the isolator by having grid polarizers patterned directly into the Faraday rotator material. The integrated optical isolator incorporates the polarizing and polarization-rotation function within a single device. One difficulty with this apparatus is that back-reflected light coming towards the laser suffers internal reflections in the grid polarizers that leads to undesirable illumination returning towards the source.
As such there remains the need for a polarizer exhibiting improved transmitted illumination in combination with a substantially suppressed orthogonal-polarization reflection illumination.

Grid polarizer with suppressed reflectivity


A method for digital clock recovery and selective filtering includes prescribing or calculating first coefficients of a prototype of a selective filter at a characteristic frequency fc for a given sampling frequency fa. Second coefficients of a selective filter are calculated at the characteristic frequency fc2 from the first coefficients at points tk=Δt+k*d, where k is an integer greater than or equal to 0, by interpolating values of a continuous-time impulse response at points tk, where   d  =            fc2      *      fa              fc      *              fa        1

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for selective filtering with a coefficient and filter calculation unit, a phase detector, a loop filter, and a digital oscillator, these units simulating different selective filters depending on coefficients used for the filter calculation.
Systems for receiving digital data generally require a device for recovering the data clock signal implicitly contained in the signal. In principle, there are two approaches for receiving the data: (1) the clock control loop contains the circuit that supplies the sampling clock of the analog/digital converter ("ADC") (e.g. VCXO), and (2) the clock signal of the ADC is asynchronous with respect to the data clock. A fully digital control circuit calculates by interpolation from the output values of the ADC samples in a timing pattern that is synchronous with the data clock. There exist prior art circuits that achieve the task in baseband. Most applications have filters upstream or downstream of the ADC, which filters select the signal that is intended to be processed, i.e., suppress adjacent signals and other interference signals. These filters are generally optimized for a fixed bandwidth or data rate, such as, e.g., surface acoustic wave filters. Stringent requirements regarding phase linearity are usually imposed on the filter so that the pulse shape of the data signals is not distorted.
Basic theories with regard to fully digital clock recovery in digital modems by interpolation are discussed in an article by Floyd M. Gardener titled "Interpolation in Digital-Modems —Part I: Fundamentals". The article appeared in the journal IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol. 41, No. 3, in March 1993.
A further approach in the prior art uses analog filters having a controllable bandwidth upstream of the ADC. However, these filters are expensive and, particularly in CMOS technology, are difficult to integrate on a circuit. Analog filters fundamentally have phase distortions that have to be reduced using additional circuits. Moreover, the sampling frequency of the ADC has to be adapted to the signal bandwidth.
Another approach lies in providing a multistage digital selection filter upstream of the clock recovery and in carrying out the fine adjustment of the sampling frequency by interpolation again. After each stage of the filter, the sampling rate is reduced by a fixed factor. The approach has a disadvantage in that many filter stages are required for small bandwidths. Thus, the filter becomes complicated. Moreover, a fixed gradation means that not all the interference components can be suppressed, which generally leads to an increase in outlay in the downstream interpolator.
Lambrette U et al.: "VARIABLE SAMPLE RATE DIGITAL FEEDBACK AND TIMING SYNCHRONIZATION" in I.E.E.E. Vehicular Technology Conference, New York, USA, I.E.E.E., Rd. Conf. 47, pages 1348-1352, discusses two algorithms for digital receivers for processing a broader range of different sampling rates. One of the algorithms is also based on filtering the received signals prior to the time synchronization. A time synchronization algorithm is presented that is not data-aided, is based on digital feedback, and can process symbol rates deviating from a sampling rate.
The paper by D. Kim et al.: "DESIGN OF OPTIMAL INTERPOLATION FILTER FOR SYMBOL TIMING RECOVERY" in I.E.E.E. Transactions on Communications. I.E.E.E. Inc., New York, USA, Vol. 45, No. 7, pages 877-884, discloses an optimized interpolation filter for recovering the symbol timing in a digital receiver, in which the sampling rate of the analog-to-digital converter on the input side is not synchronized with the symbol clock of the transmitter.
The paper by K. Bucket et al. "PERIODIC TIMING ERROR COMPONENTS IN FEEDBACK SYNCHRONIZERS OPERATING ON NONSYNCHRONIZED SIGNAL SAMPLES" I.E.E.E. Transactions on Communications, I.E.E.E. Inc., New York, USA, Vol. 46, No. 6, pages 747-749, reveals that the synchronization error contains periodic components through a loop for timing recovery on detection of nonsynchronized samples of a noisy sine signal. These periodic errors are produced exclusively by non-ideal interpolation between the nonsynchronized signal samples and disappear when synchronized sampling is performed.

Abstract: The selective filter is operated with the second coefficients at fa1.


The valve device consists, according to the invention, of (at least) two part valves which are symmetrical in circuit terms with respect to the existing connections and which are designed, in particular, as four-way, two position valves of any desired type of construction, but preferably are provided as slide valves. There is preferably a double slide valve with two cooperating slide valves. The valve device features internal seals and sealing surfaces which minimize wear and damage to the seals as they move across flow ports. The valve device is particularly adapted for use as a fuel control valve for an internal combustion powered motor vehicle having two separate fuel tanks. The valve device permits control over which tank supplies fuel to the engine, and allows controlled mixing of the fuels from each tank.

In certain regions of the earth, for example in the U.S.A., long distances between zones with high average temperatures and zones with very low temperatures are covered by heavy duty motor trucks in intercity transport. Since heavy duty motor trucks are usually operated with diesel fuel, there is a problem that "normal diesel" fuel freezes at about −15° C. At lower temperatures, therefore, diesel powered vehicles have to be operated with another special fuel, what is known as "Arctic diesel", which still remains liquid even at temperatures down to −40° C. However, Arctic diesel is approximately 10% to 15% more costly than normal diesel and, moreover, also gives rise to a fuel consumption which is about 10% to 15% higher. The aim, therefore, is to avoid operating the vehicle with Arctic diesel only, that is to say even in warmer regions. It is nevertheless impracticable and also not viable to change over the entire fuel system with tank or tanks and lines in the event of a change between warm and cold regions, that is to say to empty the tanks and refill them completely.
Heavy motor trucks are nowadays usually equipped with (at least) two fuel tanks. There is always the possibility, depending on the application, of filling the tanks with an identical or different types of fuel. With the aid of a valve arrangement of the type described in the introduction, the tanks can then be connected individually or jointly to the engine.
A known valve arrangement of the generic type mentioned is produced as a multivalve from metal and consists of a large number of individual parts screwed to one another, specifically of four 2/2-way valves (i.e. two-position two flow path valves) which are connected via two T-distributors. Each individual valve is designed as a ball valve and is operated mechanically via pull/push rods. This gives rise to some significant disadvantages:                long actuation travels of the lever mechanisms (150 to 160 mm)        high weight (approximately 2.5 kg)        screwed connections are not directionally adjustable or are directionally adjustable only with difficulty (with regard to the direction of run of connected lines)        high costs in terms of material and of assembly        high actuation force        only direct manual actuation possible, for which purpose the driver has to stop the vehicle and leave the driver's cab.
The object on which the present invention is based is to provide a motorway valve arrangement of the type mentioned which is improved in order to avoid the disadvantages described and which is distinguished, in particular, by a reduced outlay in terms of material and of assembly, by low weight and by a low actuation force, along with the resulting possibility of automatic (remote) actuation.


A method, computer program product, and computing system are provided for identifying an advertising opportunity on a first website in response to a user accessing the first website. Information associated with the user accessing the first website may be received. One or more digital advertisements of one or more fashion products from the second website may be provided for rendering on the first website based upon, at least in part, one or more fashion-ability scores representative of the one or more fashion products on the second website and the information associated with the user accessing the first website.

Given the vast number of choices available for fashion products and consumers' rapidly changing fashion tastes, it is difficult to achieve good results from fashion marketing campaigns. Additionally, the price perception of a fashion product may vary from person to person. For example, when advertising a fashion product to a consumer, the advertised product may suite his or her fashion taste, but not at the price perception which it claims, even if he or she could afford it. The cognitive decision making that happens in a consumer's mind while selecting a fashion product is too complex to have a good and successful marketing campaign which does not know how to anticipate or determine a consumer's cognitive decision making. As such, fashion product advertising may be more successful when based on the consumer's cognitive perception of fashion and/or price/value of the fashion.

Cognitive fashion product advertisement system and method

International Business Machines Corporation


A boring cutter body (5) is inserted into a circular hole (3) and is rotated and moved in an axial direction, whereby screw-shaped groove parts (11) are formed by using a tool bit (9) provided on a tip end of an outer peripheral portion, and broken surfaces (15) are formed by breaking tips of ridge parts generated by formation of the groove parts (11). Moreover, the groove parts (11) are processed through electric discharge machining using a wire electrode (17) provided to the boring cutter body (5) behind the tool bit (9) in the rotating direction, thereby forming finely roughened portions (41) having more finely roughened shapes than the broken surfaces (15).

In order to form a thermal spray coating on an inner surface of a cylinder bore of a linerless aluminum cylinder block effective for reducing weight and exhaust treatment of an automobile engine, the inner surface of the cylinder bore needs to be roughened in prespray processing for the purpose of enhancing adhesion of the thermal spray coating.
According to Japanese Patent No. 3780840, an inner surface of a cylinder bore is processed through boring processing and thereby is formed into roughened portions in a screwed-shape while the tips of ridge parts being protruding parts of the roughened portions in the screwed-shape are cut off and formed to have a broken surface of finer roughened portions.


A system for managing and controlling a mesh VPN includes a management computing platform, a control computing platform, teleworker computing subsystems, and an office computing subsystem. The management computing platform provides deployment and management services to an organization for operation of a mesh VPN in a WAN in accordance with a service profile. The mesh VPN includes a hub node and a plurality of end nodes. Each end node communicates with the VPN hub node and with other end nodes via peer-to-peer paths. The control computing platform is the hub node and provide a control service for operation of the mesh VPN based on the service profile. The teleworker and office computing subsystems are end nodes. Various methods for operation of the computing platforms and subsystems in the mesh VPN are also provided.

The present exemplary embodiment relates to a system and an associated method that provides a mesh virtual private network (VPN) service to an organization that enables teleworkers at remote sites to communicate with services at office sites and other VPN nodes. The system includes VPN computing platforms for deployment and management of the mesh VPN service. The VPN computing platforms also control operation of the mesh VPN. It finds application in conjunction with adaptively selecting communication paths for VPN tunnels between VPN nodes and other routing considerations in response to degraded and failed network conditions and will be described with particular reference thereto. The various embodiments disclosed herein permit continuation of the mesh VPN service during such network conditions with minimal impact on teleworkers and other users of the mesh VPN. However, it is to be appreciated that the various exemplary embodiments of the system and associated method are also amenable to other network conditions and various scenarios for operation of the mesh VPN.
In conventional VPN topologies, multiple end-clients may connect to a single client aggregator (e.g., a VPN concentrator), which is then configured with tunnels to one or more (hub) endpoints. However, in some situations, it is desirable to provide internet traffic security services without having to pass all the traffic through a client aggregator. Further, it is desirable to provide such services with redundancy and failover alternatives to keep the network safe and stable.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0223497 A1, published on Nov. 11, 2004 and entitled "Communications Network with Converged Services", describes a communications network that provides shared services to customers over a respective VPN, wherein trust and security are established at the edge of the network, thereby reducing the number of security measures required within the shared service VPN.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0223111 A1, published on Oct. 6, 2005 and entitled "Secure, Standards-Based Communications Across A Wide-Area Network", describes extending security features from enterprise networks to wide-area networks by allowing secure connectivity to the enterprise layer network across a wide-area layer network, such as the Internet.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,443,435 B1, issued on May 14, 2013 and entitled "VPN Resource Connectivity in Large-Scale Enterprise Networks", describes techniques for managing VPN access to enterprise resources for large-scale enterprises that have multiple VPN concentrators.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0188949 A1, published on Jul. 2, 2015 and entitled "Cloud-Based Network Security", describes techniques for providing security by authenticating users in a cloud-based security platform and by managing the use of gateways on a network.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0372982 A1, published on Dec. 24, 2015 and entitled "Intelligent, Cloud-Based Global Virtual Private Network Systems and Methods", describes systems and methods for an intelligent, cloud-based global VPN with edge security, wherein the systems and methods dynamically create a connection through a secure tunnel between three entities (an endpoint, a cloud, and an on-premises redirection proxy) and the connection between the cloud and the on-premises proxy is dynamic, on-demand, and orchestrated by the cloud.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0263865 A1, published on Sep. 17, 2015 and entitled "Dynamic and Interoperable Generation of Stateful VPN Connection Profiles for Computing Devices", describes systems and methods that enable a computing device to dynamically generate VPN connection profiles to which policies, such as tariff-based policies and multi-network connection policies, can be mapped and then subsequently enforced.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2018/0234456 A1, published on Aug. 16, 2018 and entitled "System and Method for Creating Encrypted Virtual Private Network Hotspot", describes systems and methods for extending zones of control through a hotspot for communications to and from computing devices based on specific criteria corresponding to zones on control.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2018/0375760 A1, published on Dec. 27, 2018 and entitled "System, Apparatus and Method for Providing a Virtual Network Edge and Overlay with Virtual Control Plane", describes network infrastructures with utilization of diverse carriers and diverse connections via high-quality link aggregation in combination with a secured and trusted virtual network overlay, wherein the virtual network overlay can allow a managed and encrypted connection of virtual links to provide a virtual wide area network (WAN).
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2017/0310640 A1, published Oct. 26, 2017 and entitled "Mobile Hotspot Managed by Access Controller", describes systems and methods for a mobile hotspot that can be managed by an access controller, wherein a WAN connection is established by a mobile hotspot located outside of range of access points (APs) of a wireless network of an enterprise through a telecommunication data network via a wireless WAN module of the mobile hotspot.
These and other similar systems all face various drawbacks. For example, VPN systems with network address translation (NAT) setups suffer from a loss of performance, inability to initiate communication with clients behind an AP from the office, and a loss of security control and response efficacy, especially for cloud-based access control lists (ACLs) or security services. Distributed systems performing static addressing from managed "sub-pools" incur difficulty scaling the quantity of network nodes, resizing managed subnets, and accounting for APs which have more or fewer clients than average. Further, systems implementing Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) layer 2 tunneling mechanisms incur performance and scalability issues across geographically distributed network endpoints. This increases the complexity and overhead of securing and monitoring connections between clients within the same network and may not be desirable for security reasons in a distributed environment. Thus, it is desirable to provide WAN mesh VPN solutions without the drawbacks mentioned above.

System for managing and controlling mesh virtual private network and method associated therewith


Disclosed is a fixing device for laces used in footwear, clothes, bags, and so on, and that can be configured in an extremely simple manner while maintaining the lace at a tightly fixed state when in use, without having any slip, thereby ensuring convenience of use. The present invention provides a fixing device for a lace that includes fixing plates that are extended from both sides of a curved plate thereof, so as to be applied to clothes, bags, etc., and means that is formed on elastic fixing projection pieces and a protruded part corresponding to the elastic fixing projection pieces, for preventing the lace from being moved to or deviated from one side of the elastic fixing projection pieces.

Various devices for tightly fixing laces have been conventionally devised and put into practical use. However, they are configured in a complicated manner, which of course causes their production cost to be greatly high.
Accordingly, the inventor has proposed a novel lace-fixing device that is made in a relatively simple manner, and effectively fixes laces, which is disclosed in Korean Utility Model Application No. 1993-05516.
In the prior art, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a fixing device 20 is provided with an elastically supported plate 21 having coupling holes 23 on both sides of a fastening hole 22 formed on the central portion thereof, and bent portions 24 bent inwardly from edges of both end sides thereof; and a curved plate 25 having a protruded part 28 through which a lace coupling hole 27 is formed to pass, on both sides of a fastening hole 26 formed on the central portion thereof. The elastically supported plate 21 is also provided with elastic fixing projection pieces 30 that are protruded from one side of the coupling holes 23. The elastically supported plate 21 is adapted to be cladded on the top side portion of the curved plate 25, in such a manner that the bent parts 24 of the elastically supported plate 21 are locked onto both sides of the curved plate 25, so that the elastic fixing projection pieces 30 can press a lace 29 that is passed through the lace coupling hole 27 formed on the curved plate 25 toward the protruded part 28, thereby enabling the lace 29 to be maintained at a tightly fixed state.
The lace fixing device 20 is easily applied to footwear, because it does not need any additional fixing means, but it fails to be applied to wearing apparel like clothes or bags. When the lace 29 is moved to one sides of the elastic fixing projection pieces 30 during the process of pressing the lace 20 against the protruded part 28 by means of the elastic fixing projection pieces 30, there is a possibility that the elastic fixing projection pieces 30 are raised or the lace 29 is deviated from both sides of the elastic fixing projection pieces 30, which keeps the lace 29 from being appropriately fixed.


A semiconductor device that includes a semiconductor substrate having a surface, the surface having several regions having different thermal and/or mechanical requirements; and a composite thermal interface material including several spatially localized thermal interface materials placed on the surface, each of the several thermal interface materials tailored to the different thermal and/or mechanical requirements of each of the regions. Also disclosed is a method of forming the composite thermal interface material.

The present exemplary embodiments pertain to thermal solutions for semiconductor devices and, more particularly pertain to localizing thermal interface materials tailored to the thermal and/or mechanical requirements of the semiconductor devices.
The operation of semiconductor devices may cause localized hotspots which may limit the maximum clock frequencies of the semiconductor devices design. Current thermal management solutions require sedated operation of processor cores to remain within reliability constraints. Further, coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch and materials strength can cause mechanical failure, degraded reliability and warpage.

Spatially localized thermal interface materials

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


Invention presents a method of increasing the CO to H2 ratio of syngas. The method comprises passing syngas over a first rector (10) containing Cu at a first temperature effective for the reaction of CO2 within the syngas with the Cu to form copper oxide and CO. The temperature of the syngas is then reduces to a second temperature effective for the for the reaction of hydrogen within the syngas with copper oxide to form Cu and H2O. The syngas is then passed over a second rector (12) containing copper oxide so that the H2 within the syngas reacts with the copper oxide.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present application relates to the thermal conversion of organic material, for example organic based waste, biomass, etc. to syngas. In particular it relates to the condition of syngas to alter the H2 and CO content thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Syngas composition is mainly affected by: feedstock characteristics (elemental composition, caloric values, moisture content, physical properties) of the material being thermally converted, gasification conditions (oxidants, temperature, pressure, residence time), and the type of gasifiers used (fixed bed, fluidized bed, entrained flow, batch reactor). However, once the factors mentioned above are determined, the syngas composition, especially H2, CO, CO2, and H2/CO ratio will be dictated by thermodynamic equilibrium within a certain range.
The syngas composition will often not match specific gas requirements for industrial applications, for example a syngas engine effective for the conversion of syngas to electrical energy will require a specific syngas composition in order to be effective and to run efficiently. The exact requirement will be dependent upon the industrial process but will often not be the same as the natural composition of the gas produced.
Accordingly there is a need to further control or alter the syngas composition to meet specific requirements (H2 concentration, H2/CO ratio) for industrial applications. This can be achieved by altering the process parameters of the syngas production but such a solution requires that the production of syngas be controlled on the gas composition rather than on system efficiency and to do so will inherently introduce inefficiencies into the processing of the organic material, which is not desirable.
The present invention mitigates, at least in part, the above mentioned problems with prior systems.

Synthesis gas processing and system using copper catalyst in two step reactions at 475-525° C. and 250-290° C.


A warning system and a method for alerting a driver of a vehicle that the parking brake of the vehicle is not engaged by generating a warning when the following conditions are simultaneously fulfilled: the ignition of the vehicle is on, the driver access door of the vehicle cabin is open, no throttle lever, or clutch lever or brake lever of the vehicle is activated, the gear shift lever of the vehicle is in the neutral position, and the parking brake is not engaged, and not when—the pressure of a pneumatic circuit associated with the parking brake is below a threshold,—the vehicle speed exceeds a threshold.

If the driver of a vehicle forgets to engage or fails to properly engage the parking brake of the vehicle prior to leaving it when parked on a slope, the vehicle may under its own weight start rolling away. Such accidental situations may cause serious personal injuries and property damage, especially when it comes to heavy motor vehicles such as lorries, towing vehicles or buses. Motor vehicles, such as cars, lorries, towing vehicles and buses, are often provided with a conventional warning function which is activated so as to generate a warning signal when the driver turns off the ignition of the vehicle without having engaged the parking brake, so as to thereby alert the vehicle driver of an inadvertent failure to properly engage the parking brake. On many occasions, however, it is desired to leave the engine running while leaving the vehicle cabin for a short time, e.g. in order to clean the windshield, check a tire, make a delivery etc. On these occasions, said conventional warning function will not be activated due to the fact that the ignition is on when the driver leaves the vehicle cabin, irrespective of whether or not the parking brake is properly engaged. Thus, there is a need of a warning system that may alert the driver that the parking brake is not properly engaged when he/she is about to leave his parked vehicle with the engine still running.
For a parking brake warning system to be efficient, it must generate a rather powerful warning signal so as to insure that the driver before leaving the vehicle really perceives the signal and is alerted of the failure to properly engage the parking brake. However, the warning system should not generate warning signals undesirably, e.g. in situations where the driver, after having stopped the vehicle, intends to remain seated in the vehicle with the parking brake disengaged in order to reverse the vehicle or operate the vehicle in another manner. Such undesired warning signals will annoy the driver and could, if frequently occurring, make the driver less attentive to the warning signal in a situation when he/she actually has omitted to engage the parking brake or even make the driver disable the entire warning system.
A warning system for a motor vehicle provided with a parking brake is previously known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,651,457 A. This known warning system will properly generate a warning signal when the driver opens the driver access door of the vehicle cabin in order to leave the vehicle without having engaged the parking brake. However, this warning system will also generate a warning signal in a situation when the driver intends to remain seated in the vehicle with the driver access door open and the parking brake disengaged, e.g. in order to reverse the vehicle while looking out through the open door. Thus, this known warning system suffers from the above-indicated drawback of undesired warning signals.
A warning system that hypothetically could alleviate the above-indicated problem of undesired warning signals is previously known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,182 A. This warning system uses a pressure sensor to sense the pressure on the driver's seat and to close an electric switch whenever the seat is unoccupied. A warning signal is generated if the seat is vacated without the parking brake of the vehicle having been engaged. However, sensors for detecting whether or not the driver's seat is occupied are normally not included as standard components in motor vehicles, which will make it rather costly to implement this known warning system. Furthermore, existing sensors of this type are in general not very reliable, which may result in annoying warning signals during driving or in the lack of warning signals when the driver leaves the vehicle without having engaged the parking brake.

Warning system generating warning of disengagement of parking brake of motor vehicle


Provided are topical biocompatible compositions including a topical wound healing composition, a topical soothing composition and epidermal/dermal wound healing/repair composition. Also provided are methods of using the biocompatible compositions for treating and/or preventing comprimised, and methods for producing the biocompatible compositions.

Skin resurfacing is used to remove the various layers of the epidermis and/or dermis to promote healthier skin by, for example, regenerating collagen, elastin, and epidermis. In addition skin resurfacing can rejuvenate the facial skin, and improve the appearance of fine line and wrinkles. Skin resurfacing can also remove superficial blemishes such as the brown spots of ageing, dilated capillaries, and small keratoses.
One procedure currently in wide use for skin resurfacing involves exposure to a laser, including for example, ablative and/or nonablative laser technology. Because any given laser emits light of only one wavelength (or color), they work in cosmetic applications through a process called selective photothermolysis. To be effective, the wavelength of the light beam must be in sync with the color of the target which is to be addressed, whether that be brown spots, unsightly red broken capillaries or some other undesirable skin condition. The most-commonly used lasers for the treatment of pigmented lesions, such as sun spots, age spots melasma and other forms of hyperpigmentation are the pulsed dye, Nd:YAG and fractional (Fraxel) lasers, along with nonlaser, light-based treatments, such as IPL.
Lasers useful in cosmetic procedures also include CO2 (carbon dioxide) laser or Erbium YAG for treating lines and wrinkles, the removal of warts and skin tags, acne scars and for cutting skin in laser-assisted surgery. Pulsed Dye Lasers have also shown some success, along with less aggressive nonlaser, light-based treatments, such as intense pulsed light (IPL) and LED photofacials. Most cosmetic laser procedures provide some level of superficial tightening because they produce a controlled injury of the skin, which encourages increased collagen production. For more significant tightening results CO2 lasers or nonlaser, light-based treatments, such as Titan infrared devices and Thermage radio-frequency based systems may be used.
Resurfacing methods also include chemical peeling and dermabrasion. A chemical peel causes a chemical burn. Dermabrasion mechanically removes the epidermis and a variable layer of dermis. Recently, a rapid scanning device has been added to the cutting laser, enabling a predictable depth of skin to be destroyed. Resurfacing methods treat superficial wrinkles and repair skin aged by light.
Skin resurfacing procedures result in predictable post-operative sequelae including facial edema, wound exudates, erythema, pain, pruritis, hyperpigmentation, milia formation, and acne.

Post-procedure skin care systems, compositions, and methods of use thereof


A search and rescue drone system includes a buoyant body member, a frame attached to the buoyant body member for carrying a motor and propeller, and an electronic array including a camera, GPS, an EPIRB radio distress beacon, and a transmitter/receiver for remote control flying the drone and communicating with an operator. A laser guidance system may provide coordinates for landing near a swimmer in distress. The search and rescue drone may also be programmed to simply fly to the location of an electronic wearable device, like a bracelet, that is worn by a man overboard. In another embodiment, the search and rescue drone includes pivoting motor mounts, so that it can take off and land vertically with propellers rotating in a horizontal plane, and then the propellers may pivot to rotate in a vertical plane for propulsion across water similar to a fan boat with rescued people aboard.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (hereinafter "UAVs" or "drones") are becoming ubiquitous, and are increasingly being deployed for many different uses and tasks. Recently, UAVs have been used by lifeguards at beaches to monitor swimmers, and in one case, a UAV was equipped with a mechanism for dropping a life preserver to save a swimmer in distress. Along those lines, UAVs may be particularly helpful in man-overboard situations, along with other swimmer-in-distress events. There are many reported cases of people disappearing from cruise ships, and in such an event, a UAV is highly useful for conducting search and rescue operations because it can be quickly and easily deployed directly from the ship, provides a bird's eye view over a large area, and can quickly cover large distances in a short period of time. A search and rescue drone could be used on commercial fishing vessels and other types of boats and ships, particularly including those that routinely operate in bad weather conditions. In a man overboard situation, time is critical, especially in colder waters, where life expectancy may be around 15 minutes before hypothermia and even death occurs. Thus, the ability to deploy a search and rescue drone to quickly locate and provide assistance to a swimmer in distress could mean the difference between life and death.
Efforts are underway to develop UAVs specifically for search and rescue operations, particularly involving water rescue operations. The following references show several examples of such development efforts for UAVs, and these references are incorporated herein by reference, in their entireties:
US Application Publication No, US20150066248—Unmanned Vehicle Searches
A method of planning a flight path for a search can include receiving, by a control system, an indication of a search area boundary; receiving, by the control system, an indication of a selected search pattern; determining, by the control system, a flight path based on the search area boundary and the selected search pattern; and transmitting one or more indications of the flight path to an unmanned aerial vehicle.
US Application Publication No, US20160340006—Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System and Methods for Use
A drone equipped with a camera, a wireless communication module, an acoustic sensor, a GPS receiver, software and collapsible floatation device patrols above swimmers. The camera and acoustic sensor capture the video and audio of the swimmers. The information is either streamed to a command center or processed by the onboard software. With audio and video analysis capabilities, software is used to detect a swimmer in distress (SID). Alternatively the information is streamed to lifeguard or volunteers all over the world to spot SID.
Another detection method is to let a swimmer wear a wearable emergency notification device, which sends wireless signals comprising GPS location data. A SID presses a button to indicate rescue request and the drones fly over by GPS signal guidance. Solar power is used as the optional power source of the drones, which would alto the to sustain operation for a prolonged period of time. Once a SID is identified, the drone or drones fly over the SID and drops the collapsible floatation device.
US Application Publication No. US20170088261—Search and Rescue UAV System and Method
An no warmed aerial vehicle (UAV) having at least one sensor for detecting the presence of a survivor in a search and rescue area. The at least one sensor is preferably an ultra-wide band (UWB) transceiver sensor. The UAV includes a UAV data link transceiver for wirelessly communicating information concerning the survivor to a command center.
US Application Publication No. US20170210451—Drone-Type Lifesaving Equipment Propping Device
A drone-type lifesaving equipment dropping device including: an unmanned aerial vehicle (2) having a propeller (4) and a rotor (3) configured to rotate the propeller; a holding member (10) which is installed to the unmanned aerial vehicle (2) and configured to be operated by wireless control; and a lifesaving equipment which is detachably engaged to the holding member (10) and is dropped from the holding member (10) after the lifesaving equipment is disengaged from the holding member.
Although each of the above-referenced systems is useful for search and rescue operations, and several of these systems may be used to deliver a flotation device or life preserver, none of the prior references discloses a UAV that is buoyant so that the UAV is, itself, a flotation device to assist a swimmer in distress (SID). Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a UAV that serves as a mobile life preserver, which is capable of landing on water and taking off from water, and which includes electronics for determining its position and transmitting an SOS signal, similarly to an emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB). Further, it would be advantageous, in man overboard types of situations, to provide the search and rescue drone with flashing lights, a spotlight, a camera and other sensors for locating a swimmer in distress, along with the capability for the UAV to autonomously fly along the same path (in reverse) that the boat was traveling when the man overboard situation occurred. Additionally, it would be advantageous to provide an electronic wearable device having the capability to communicate with the search and rescue drone, so that the drone may autonomously track the wearable device and fly to its location in an emergency situation.

Unmanned aerial vehicle search and rescue system


A terminal block assembly including a terminal block portion and a secondary locking member. The terminal block has a plurality of cavities for housing female terminals and circuit protection devices (e.g., fuses and circuit breakers) having mating male blade terminals The terminal block also includes a secondary lock receiving portion for receiving the secondary locking member. The secondary locking member secures the female terminal within a cavity.

One problem encountered with prior art terminal blocks is that the unseat force to disconnect a terminal from a terminal block has been insufficient to prevent inadvertent and accidental disconnections. Accordingly, there is a need to more securely connect a terminal to a terminal block. In addition, it is often difficult to be assured that the terminal has traveled the required distance to ensure proper engagement with the terminal block. The present invention addresses these problems, as well as others to provide a secure and reliable connection between terminals and circuit protection devices, such as fuses and circuit breakers.

Terminal block having secondary lock member


The disclosure relates to a control device and a corresponding method for operating an electromechanical brake booster of a brake system of a vehicle, comprising an electronics unit that defines a target variable with respect to a target rotational speed of a motor of the electromechanical brake booster, taking into account a brake input signal with respect to a braking request, and that sends at least one control signal to the motor. The electronics unit defines a maximum target variable with respect to a maximum target rotational speed of the motor, taking into account a current intensity of a motor current of the motor and a current angle of rotation of a rotor of the motor, and defines the target variable with respect to the target rotational speed of the motor of the electromechanical brake booster to be at the most equal to the defined maximum target variable.

Electromechanical brake boosters, such as by way of example an electromechanical brake booster that is disclosed in DE 20 2010 017 605 U1, are known from the prior art and said brake boosters respectively are upstream/may be upstream of a master brake cylinder of a brake system of a vehicle. By means of an operation of a motor of the respective electromechanical brake booster, at least one adjustable piston of the master brake cylinder is possibly to be moved into the master brake cylinder in such a manner that a master brake cylinder pressure is increased in the master brake cylinder.

Control device and method for operating an electromechanical brake booster of a brake system of a vehicle


Epilatory compositions may be formed from: 40 to 80 wt % water; 5 to 30 wt % of a mixture of at least one polyvinyl alcohol and at least one polyvinyl alcohol copolymer; 1 to 15 wt % plasticizer, where the plasticizer is a linear or branched composition having from 3 to 15 wt % OH; and up to 40 wt % of one or more additives. Pore strip, keratonic plug removal, and other cosmetic applications may be formed from a similar composition, where the plasticizer is a linear, cyclic, or branched composition having greater than 25 wt % OH; and up to 40 wt % of one or more additives. The adhesive properties of the formulations may be tailored, where a low OH content may result in increased adhesion relative to plasticizers having a high OH content.

Various compositions designed for providing treatment to or cleaning of the skin are commercially available, such as at supermarkets, cosmetic stores, and other locations. Treatment masks only very weakly adhere to the skin, such that the mask is easily removed, and are generally used for application and delivery of moisturizing agents and other beneficial agents to the skin through a wet, typically aqueous, environment. Removal masks are those designed to firmly adhere to the skin and thereby remove dirt, clogs, and excess corneum on the surface and in the pores of skin upon peeling off the mask.
Tactile properties of the masks may thus depend on the desired effect, such as treatment or exfoliation, for example. To complicate things further, end users have individualized preferences for how the mask feels when applied and/or adhered to the skin—some end users may prefer a soft feel, others may prefer a tighter feel, while some may prefer a stronger or weaker adhesion to the skin, among other concerns.
Compositions useful in pore strips and keratonic plug removers, for example, are described in various publications, such as US2002/0110536, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,512,277, 6,306,382, 6,159,493, US2013/0048004, and EP0969806.
Compositions useful in depilatories, which typically include a chemical for removing hair, are described in various publications, such as US2006/0002878, U.S. Pat. No. 7,507,400, US2009/0087499, US2012/0052035, US2013/0022568, EP2335676, EP1973517, EP1309308, EP2335676, EP0973490, and EP1973517.
Compositions useful in epilatories, used for physical removal of hair as opposed to the chemical removal in depilatories, are described in various publications, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,444,707, 8,444,708, and US2013/0263388.

PVOH copolymers for personal care applications

Sekisui Specialty Chemicals America, LLC


Altering tables in a database system may be difficult because the tables may only be altered when all connection to the tables have been released. A free resources parameter may be set on in a management system for the database system to specify that resources should be attempted to be released. Connections to the database may be closed earlier than conventionally closed. For example, connections that are idle may be released. Once the connections have been released the database may be altered and the free resources parameter turned off. The free resources parameter notifies the database system of a pending alteration and allows the database to gracefully close connections to provide an opportunity for the alteration to occur.

Database systems allow for storage of and rapid access to large sets of information. Database systems have become an important part of organizing information within companies. Additionally, database systems have made available large amounts of information, such as news stories, through web sites on the Internet. Data in a database system may be selected and fetched through query statements executed by the database system. After a query is executed, a set of data is returned to the requester, if the data is available. For example, in a database system storing patient records a query may be of the type: "find all drugs patient X is allergic to."
Database systems may be accessed by multiple users through multiple interfaces. For example, the database system storing patient information may be accessible to medical personnel inside the hospital, patients from their home, and medical insurance companies. Each of these users access the database through an interface, such as a Java database connector (JDBC). When the user requests data from the database system, the interface establishes a database connection and retrieves the data from the database. However, the interface does not conventionally close the database connection immediately after the data is downloaded.
Database connections are often left open to improve the performance of later requests for data from the database system. By leaving the database connection open, the overhead of establishing the database connection is eliminated in future data requests. Database connections are instead closed after a specified amount of time or after the connection has been idle for a certain period of time. For example, the connection may be closed after twenty minutes.
Changes to the structure of the database system may not be performed while database connections to the database system are open. For example, if a database system administrator desires to add a new column for phone number to a table listing patients in the database system, the database system administrator is unable to add the column until all database connections are closed. When large numbers of users are accessing a database system, such as in a hospital, there are only rare moments when no database connections are open. For example, the database system may wait one or more days to execute an alteration waiting for database connections to close.
One conventional solution to allow administrators to alter the database system is to shut down the database system. When the database system is shut down all database connections are closed. Then, the administrator may alter the database system. However, shutting down the database system makes data unavailable to users. In certain scenarios, such as a hospital, data must be made available 24 hours per day and 365 days per year. Additionally, restarting the database system may not be as simple as turning the database system back on. Errors may occur from the shut down and re-start creating additional delay time in making the database system available again. Further, the staff responsible for shutting down and restarting the database system is often part of a different organization than the staff responsible for designing and altering the database system.

Free resources parameter for improving performance of database alterations


The present invention relates, in general, to Epstein Barr virus induced (EBI) genes. In particular, the present invention relates to DNA segments coding for EBI 1, EBI 2, or EBI 3 polypeptides; EBI 1, EBI 2, or EBI 3 polypeptides; recombinant DNA molecules; cells containing the recombinant DNA molecules; antisense EBI 1, EBI 2, or EBI 3 constructs; antibodies having binding affinity to an EBI 1, EBI 2, or EBI 3 polypeptide; hybridomas containing the antibodies; nucleic acid probes for the detection of the presence of Epstein Barr Virus; a method of detecting Epstein Barr virus in a sample; and kits containing nucleic acid probes or antibodies.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to Epstein Barr virus induced (EBI) genes. In particular, the present invention relates to DNA segments coding for EBI 1, EBI 2, or EBI 3 polypeptides; EBI 1, EBI 2, or EBI 3 polypeptides; recombinant DNA molecules; cells containing the recombinant DNA molecules; antisense EBI 1, EBI 2, or EBI 3 constructs; antibodies having binding affinity to an EBI 1, EBI 2, or EBI 3 polypeptide; hybridomas containing the antibodies; nucleic acid probes for the detection of the presence of Epstein Barr Virus; a method of detecting Epstein Barr virus in a sample; and kits containing nucleic acid probes or antibodies.
2. Background Information
Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) is the cause of infectious mononucleosis, a benign proliferation of infected B lymphocytes (Henle, G., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 59(1):94-101 (1968)) and can also cause acute and rapidly progressive B lymphoproliferative disease in severely immune compromised patients or in experimental infection of tamarins (Miller, G., Fields Virol., 2nd ed., 1921-58 (1990)). Infection of human B lymphocytes, in vitro, results in expression of six virus encoded nuclear proteins (EBNAs) and two virus encoded membrane proteins (LMPs) (Kieff and Liebowitz, Fields Virol., 2nd ed., 1889-1920 (1990)), and in substantially altered cell growth (Nilsson and Klein, Adv. Cancer Res. 37(319):319-80 (1982)). EBV infected B lymphocytes recapitulate features of antigen stimulation in enlarging, increasing RNA synthesis, expressing activation antigens and adhesion molecules, secreting Ig and proliferating (Boyd, A. W., et al., J. Immunol. 134(3):1516-23 (1985); Gordon, J., et al., Inununology 58(4):591-5 (1986); Guy and Gordon, Intl. J. Cancer 43(4):703-8 (1989); Nilsson and Klein, Adv. Cancer Res. 37(319):319-80 (1982); Thorley-Lawson, D. A., et al., J. Immunol. 134(5):3007-12 (1985)). Unlike antigen stimulated B lymphocytes, EBV infected B lymphocytes continue to proliferate in vitro as immortalized lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) (Nilsson, K., et al., Intl. J. Cancer 8(3):443-50 (1971)).
EBV effects on lymphocytes have been studied by comparing the properties of EBV-negative [EBV(xe2x88x92)] Burkitt lymphoma (BL) cell lines and EBV-positive [EBV(+)] derivatives, infected by EBV, in vitro (Calender, A., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84(22):8060-4 (1987); Ehlin-Henriksson, B., et al., Intl. J. Cancer 39(2):211-8 (1987); Nilsson and Klein, Adv. Cancer Res. 37(319):319-80 (1982); Rowe, M., et al., Intl. J. Cancer 37(3):367-73 (1986)). EBV(xe2x88x92) BL cells resemble proliferating centroblasts of germinal centers, characteristically expressing CD10, CD20, CD77 (BLA), class II antigen, and the carbohydrate recognized by peanut agglutinin (Calender, A., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84(22):8060-4 (1987); Ehlin-Henriksson, B., et al., Intl. J. Cancer 39(2):211-8 (1987); Favrot, M. C., et al., Intl. J. Cancer 38(6):901-6 (1986); Gregory, C. D., et al., Intl. J. Cancer 42(2):213-20 (1988); Gregory, C. D., et al., J. Gen. Virol. 71:1481-1495 (1990); Gregory, C. D., et al., J. Immunol. 139(1):313-8 (1987); Rowe, M., et al., Intl. J. Cancer 37(3):367-73 (1986); Rowe, M., et al., Intl. J. Cancer 35(4):435-41 (1985)). Both EBV(xe2x88x92) BL cells and centroblasts lack surface IgD and antigens associated with early phases of mitogen stimulation in vitro, including CD23, CD39 and CD30. In general, EBV(+) BL cells closely resemble EBV infected primary B lymphocytes in not expressing CD10 or CD77 and in expressing early activation and differentiation markers, vimentin, Bac-1, Bcl-2, surface IgD and CD44 (Calender, A., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84(22):8060-4 (1987); Ehlin-Henriksson, B., et al., Intl. J. Cancer 39(2):211-8 (1987); Favrot, M. C., et al., Intl. J. Cancer 38(6):901-6 (1986); Gregory, C. D., et al., J. Gen. Virol. 71:1481-1495 (1990); Henderson, S., et al., Cell 65(7):1107-15 (1991); Rowe, M., et al., Intl. J. Cancer 37(3):367-73 (1986); Rowe, M., et al., EMBO J. 6(9):2743-51 (1987); Spira, G., et al., J. Immunol. 126(1):122-6 (1981); Suzuki, T., et al., J. Immunol. 137(4):1208-13 (1986)). Experiments with single gene transfer into EBV(xe2x88x92) B lymphoma cells, or with specifically mutated EBV recombinants reveal that EBNA 2, LMP 1 and EBNA 3C are essential for lymphocyte growth transformation and alter cellular or viral gene expression. Expression of EBNA 2 alone in EBV(xe2x88x92) BL cell lines results in enhanced transcription of CD23, CD21 (Cordier, M., et al., J. Virol. 64(3):1002-13 (1990); Wang, F., et al., J. Virol. 64(5):2309-18 (1990); Wang, F., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84(10):3452-6 (1987)), and c-fgr (Knutson, J. C., J. Virol. 64(6):2530-6 (1990)). EBNA 2 also transactivates the LMP promoters (Fahraeus, R., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87(19):7390-4 (1990); Wang, F., et al., J. Virol. 64(7):3407-16 (1990)). Analysis of a series of EBNA 2 mutants indicates that the ability of EBNA 2 to transactivate gene expression is tightly linked to its essential role in cell growth transformation (Cohen, J. I., et al., J. Virol. 65(5):2545-54 (1991)). LMP 1 is also critical to EBV""s effects on cell growth. LMP 1 transforms immortalized rodent fibroblasts (Baichwal and Sugden, Oncogene 2(5):461-7 (1988); Wang, D., et al., Cell 43:831-40 (1985)) and induces vimentin, Bcl-2 and many of the activation markers and adhesion molecules that EBV induces in BL cells (Birkenbach, M., et al., J. Virol. 63(9):4079-84 (1989); Henderson, S., et al., Cell 65(7): 1107-15 (1991); Wang, D., et al., J. Virol. 62(11):4173-84 (1988)). In EBV(xe2x88x92) BL cells, EBNA 3c induces higher level expression of CD21 (Wang, F., et al., J. Virol. 64(5):2309-18 (1990)).
Since altered B lymphocyte gene expression is a central theme in EBV induced changes in B lymphocyte growth, a more complete description of the repertoire of EBV induced genes would be advantageous prior to the investigation of specific genes for their role as mediators of EBV effects on cell growth. Also, because of the similar effects of EBV and antigen, EBV induced genes are likely to include mediators of antigen induced B lymphocyte growth or differentiation. Previously, recognition of such genes has been largely based on increased expression of lymphocyte surface markers (Calender, A., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84(22):8060-4 (1987)), defined by monoclonal antibodies derived against EBV or antigen activated B lymphocytes. Few of these surface markers are likely candidates for important effectors of EBV or antigen induced alterations in lymphocyte growth. The experiments described here use subtractive hybridization to identify cDNA clones of RNAs which are more abundant in an in vitro infected EBV(+) BL cell than in the non-infected EBV(xe2x88x92) control BL cell.
It is a general object of this invention to provide EBI 1, EBI 2, and EBI 3 DNA segments. It is a specific object of this invention to provide a DNA segment coding for a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence corresponding to an EBI 1, EBI 2, or EBI 3 polypeptide.
It is another object of the invention to provide a substantially pure polypeptide having an amino acid sequence corresponding to an EBI 1, EBI 2, or EBI 3 polypeptide.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a nucleic acid probe for the detection of the presence of Epstein Barr Virus in a sample.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method of detecting Epstein Barr Virus in a sample.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a kit for identifying or amplifying a gene encoding an EBI 1, EBI 2, or EBI 3 polypeptide.
It is another object of the invention to provide a DNA molecule comprising, 5xe2x80x2 to 3xe2x80x2, a promoter effective to initiate transcription in a cell and an EBI 1, EBI 2, or EBI 3 DNA segment.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a recombinant DNA molecule comprising a vector and an EBI 1, EBI 2, or EBI 3 DNA segment.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a DNA molecule comprising a transcriptional region functional in a cell, a sequence complimentary to an RNA sequence encoding an amino acid sequence corresponding to an EBI 1, EBI 2, or EBI 3 polypeptide, and a transcriptional termination region functional in said cell.
It is another object of the invention to provide cells containing the above-described DNA molecules.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an antibody having binding affinity to an EBI 1, EBI 2, or EBI 3 polypeptide, or a binding fragment thereof.
It is another object of the invention to provide a hybridoma which produces the above-described antibody, or binding fragment thereof.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method of detecting an EBI 1, EBI 2, or EBI 3 polypeptide in a sample.
It is another object of the invention to provide a diagnostic kit comprising EBI 1, EBI 2, or EBI 3 antibodies.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be clear from the description that follows.


The present invention is a facial iron comprising a heating element and separate charging base. The facial iron heating element has a spoon shaped heating surface for applying heat to a users skin. The heating surface is attached to a handle having LED's for indicating the charge state of the heating element. The facial iron is constantly being recharged when it is in the charging base. A thermostatically controlled circuit activates the heating element when the temperature of the heating surface falls below a certain temperature. It activates the heating element when the temperature of the heating element reaches a preset temperature. The invention also comprises a three position switch allowing the invention to be shut off and stored in a charged condition for later use.

Cosmetic devices know in the art are used to apply cremes and ointments to a person's face. Heated surfaces are taught that, when applied to the skin, the heated surface causes the creme to be more readily absorbed by the skin. The iron used to apply the heat generally is heated by a remote element, and is then applied to a user's face. The iron heater is activated by plugging the iron into a wall socket. The device warms the iron, which is then applied to the face of a user.
Representative of the art is:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,702 (1998) to Gelfgat et al. discloses an improvement for devices which provide local massage of the facial skin for improvement of the effectiveness of the massage while making the device more ergonomic.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,705 (1998) to Belcher discloses the reduction of facial wrinkles by rolling the face and scalp with implements having free wheeling rollers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,585 (1996) to Nash-Morgan discloses a disposable adhesively engagable neck and facial wrinkle gathering device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,646 (1996) to Miller discloses a jaw and neck muscle exercise apparatus which includes a spring-loaded support arm attached to a soft chin support on one end and to a chest plate on the other end.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,561 (1995) to Schweisfurth discloses a massage device for the rolling massage of skin areas and reflex zones of the human body which includes a shaft mounted on a handle and massage rings or rolling bodies which are freely rotatably mounted on the shaft.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,955 (1993) to Gueret discloses a massage device which is adapted to be applied to the skin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,092 (1990) to Klein discloses a facial mask for use in effecting isometric toning of facial muscles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,373 (1988) to Vogel discloses a facial ironer. The facial ironer apparatus includes a housing which holds a heating element having a base and a head. There is an electrical cord connecting the apparatus to a conventional AC electrical cord outlet. There is a thermostatic switch in the housing for maintaining the temperature of the heating element at a predetermined setting. The facial ironer itself is demountably attached to the head of the heating element. The facial ironer includes a triangular-shaped soleplate. The soleplate is heated by the transfer of heat from the heating element.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,685 (1981) to Taelman discloses a therapeutic heat and cosmetic applicator. A cosmetologist cleans the skin with unscented makeup remover and lotions. Then a lubricant is applied with a small hot iron to soften the pores. This face ironing is followed by a herbal or seaweed steam facial, manual and deep-pore cleaning.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,141 (1980) to Rooney discloses a mask which completely covers the face and which has pockets in which weights may be placed while the facial muscles are exercised.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,909 (1975) to Di Matto discloses a facial wrinkle remover.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,493 (1970) to Robins discloses an eye and forehead area muscle exerciser in which a portion of the face is covered by the device to hold the facial muscles against movement.
What is needed is a portable facial iron for applying a heated facial message for an effective 15 to 30 minute period. What is needed is a facial iron having a spoon shaped heating element. What is needed is a facial iron having a temperature control circuit. What is needed is a facial iron having a separate charger base and rechargeable batteries for convenience and safety. What is needed is a facial iron having an ergonomically shaped handle for improved ease of control and leverage. What is needed is a facial iron having LED's for indicating the charge and operational status of the heating element. What is needed is a facial iron having a three position switch. The present invention meets all these needs.