An optical information recording medium is capable of supplying an optimum recording strategy for a high-speed recording, and for a plurality of scanning speeds, using a smaller number of parameters than conventionally required. The parameters include: Td1/T that specifies the rising time of the first pulse; Td1′/T that specifies the rising time of the first pulse, where n=3; Td2/T that specifies the rising time of the last off-pulse; Td2′/T that specifies the rising time of the last off-pulse, where n=3; Tmp/T that specifies an irradiation period for all the pulses other than the last pulse, when n is an odd number; Tmp′/T that specifies the irradiation period of the pulse, where n=3; δ/T that compensates for the irradiation period of the last pulse, where n is an odd number; and constants a and b. All or certain selections of the parameters are encoded and pre-formatted, for example, in vacant domains such as domains other than M1, S1 and F1 of the Additional Information-1 of the optical information recording medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an optical information recording medium and a recording strategy generation method therefor, and especially relates to a phase-changing type optical information recording medium such as CD-RW, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW, and a recording strategy generation method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years and continuing, demands for high-speed recording using an optical information recording medium are increasing. Especially, since an optical disk-like recording medium is capable of raising recording and reproduction speeds by making rotational speed high, improvements in the speed are progressing. Since recording on the optical recording-medium is carried out by optical beam intensity modulation, a simple recording mechanism realizes optical recording, hence the medium and the mechanism can be provided economically. Further, since the intensity modulated optical beam is used in reproducing, high compatibility with a reproduction apparatus is secured. For this reason, the optical recording has been widely used, and the demands for even higher speeds and higher density are appearing along with demands for large capacity storage of electronic data.
Among such optical disks, disks that employ a phase-changing material are widely used, because they can be rewritten a large number of times. In the case of the optical disk that uses a phase-changing material, recording is carried out by applying an optical beam that is intensity modulated to a layer material. The layer is suddenly cooled such that it assumes an amorphous state, and the layer is gradually cooled such that it assumes a crystalline state. Since optical physical properties of the amorphous state differ from those of the crystalline state, optical information is recorded.
Since sudden cooling and gradual cooling are used, recording at a high speed is carried out by irradiating a recording optical beam that is three-value intensity modulated as disclosed by Japanese Provisional Publication No. H9-219021. As an actual recording method, a method disclosed by Japanese Provisional Publication No. H9-138947, Japanese Provisional Publication No. H9-219021, Recordable Compact Disk Systems Part III (commonly known as Orange Book Part III) version 2.0, ditto volume 2 version 1.1, and DVD+RW Basic Format Specifications version 1.1 will be herein below illustrated.
By the recording method disclosed by the above-mentioned documents, a mark as shown by (a) in FIG. 24 is recorded as follows. Where the mark is present, it is represented by a High signal, and where there are no marks (i.e., where there is a space), it is represented by a Low signal as shown by (b) of FIG. 24. The time length of the mark and the space is defined as n times a basic clock period T. In other words, the time length of the mark is expressed by nT. The range of n, a natural number, depends on modulating methods. Specifically, in the case of CD systems, n is between 3 and 11; and in the case of DVD systems, n is between 3 and 11, and 14. FIG. 24 shows the case of n=6.
According to the conventional technology as described above, in order to form the mark of the time length nT, a multi-pulse containing m pulses is irradiated as shown in (c) of FIG. 24. The number m is dependent on n, and is defined as m=n−1 or m=n−2. The definition is derived from the minimum value of n being 3 in the cases of CD and DVD. Further, an irradiation cycle of the pulse is set at 1T as shown in (c) of FIG. 24, which is the case of m=n−1. The same is said of the case of m=n−2, i.e., irradiation cycle of the pulse is set to 1T as shown in (d) of FIG. 24. In either of these cases, however, the cycle and the width of the first cycle are uniquely set up (different from the other pulses).
This recording method is considered to be suitable for the mark length recording method, since only an addition of a pulse is necessary for a mark that is longer by 1T.
However, when a faster recording speed is required, the basic clock frequency has to become high, for example, about 104 MHz for a 24×CD-RW, and about 131 MHz for a DVD-RW and DVD+RW, which are equivalent to 5×. With such a high clock frequency, considerable portions of the irradiation period are consumed by rising and falling of an irradiation pulse, lowering effective irradiation energy, i.e., an integrated value of the irradiation by the conventional recording method (recording strategy) as shown by FIG. 25.
In FIG. 25, dotted lines indicate ideal irradiation waveforms, and solid lines indicate simulated actual waveforms. Time period consumed by rising and falling of the pulse is shown in (a) of FIG. 25. As the basic clock frequency is raised as shown in (b) of FIG. 25, a ratio of the rising time and a ratio of the falling time to the whole period become higher, and for this reason, a peak power Pw becomes not high enough, and a bottom power Pb becomes not low enough. That is, the peak power Pw is lowered by ΔPw, and the bottom power Pb is raised by ΔPb. The lower peak power Pw can raise temperature of only a small volume of the layer material, therefore, only a small volume of an amorphous domain can be formed. The higher bottom power Pb suppresses sudden cooling, therefore, re-crystallization will be promoted, and the volume of the amorphous domain will be decreased as a result. Therefore, the small volume of the amorphous domain causes a fall of reproduction signal amplitude, and reproduction reliability is remarkably degraded.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a optical beam source (a laser diode and its drive) that is capable of providing a beam with short rising time and falling time is required. For a clock frequency exceeding 100 MHz, the rising time and the falling time have to be 1 ns or less, which is difficult to obtain.
Then, technology (later technology) that carries out high-speed recording with the present luminescence optical beam source is proposed by Japanese Provisional Publication No. H9-134525 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,062 specification, wherein the number of recording pulses is reduced. According to the later technology, in order to form a mark having time length nT, m pulses are used, where m fulfills n=2m if n is an even number, and n=2m+1 if n is an odd number, comparing with the previous technology that uses (n−1) pulses when making the nT long mark. More specifically, in the EFM (eight-to-fourteen modulation) method adopted by CD-RW, according to the previous technology, since n is a natural number selected from 3, and 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, the number of irradiation pulses is 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, respectively. In contrast, in the later technology, to n=3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, the number of irradiation pulses is set to 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, and 5, respectively, that is, the number of the irradiation pulses becomes about one half of the previous technology. As shown in (c) of FIG. 25, the irradiation period of one pulse is expanded from about 0.5T (in the case of the previous technology) to about 1T in the later technology, alleviating adverse influence of the rising time and the falling time.
Since a 2mT long mark and a (2m+1)T long mark are recorded by the same number of pulses, the irradiation period cannot be a constant. In order to differentiate the two marks, the irradiation period (period of P=Pw) and the cooling period (period of P=Pb) of a pulse of the 2mT long mark are shortened.
Japanese Provisional Publication 2001-331936 discloses a recording method using m multi-pulses in order to form an nT long recording mark, wherein a ratio n/m is set as being equal to or greater than 1.25, and describes in detail the technology for recording a 2mT long mark and a (2m+1)T long mark by the same number of pulses m, like the case of the Provisional Publication No. H9-134525. As for the method for differentiating length of marks formed by irradiating the same number of pulses of this technology, the irradiation period and the cooling period of the first pulse, and the irradiation period and the cooling period of the last pulse are adjusted.
The method of differentiating length of marks formed by irradiating the same number of pulses basically requires that the irradiation period and the cooling period of all the pulses be defined to each mark length. EFM (eight to fourteen modulation) used by the compact disk requires 69 parameters to be defined; and EFM+ (a kind of 8–16 modulation) used by DVD requires 77 parameters to be defined. Techniques are proposed in order to reduce the number of parameters to be defined, namely, a technique of unifying the irradiation period of the first pulse regardless of n where m>=3, a technique of unifying the irradiation period and the cooling period of a middle pulse (i.e., a pulse except the first pulse and the last pulse) where m>=3, etc. However, in the cases that m=1 and m=2 (i.e., n<=5), it is considered necessary to set up parameters uniquely for each of the cases. Therefore, in order to define a recording luminescence waveform (recording strategy), a large number of parameters are needed. Furthermore, when recording speed (scanning speed) differs, a different pattern for every recording speed is needed, which is considered solvable by defining a unified constant absolute irradiation period where P=Pw, which is not depending on recording speed (not a value relative to the clock cycle that changes with recording speed but an actual period of pulse width).
Further, in the case of the write-once type and re-writable optical disk, typically, CD-R/RW and DVD+RW/R, it is common to pre-format the parameters concerning disk recording conditions on the disk itself. Examples of pre-formatting the disk recording conditions are information recorded in ATIP (Absolute Time in Pregroove) Extra Information of CD-R/RW, and Physical Information recorded in ADIP (Address in Pre-groove) of DVD+RW/R. The information contains scanning speed, optimum recording power, parameters required in order to compute the optimum recording power from a test recording, parameters for specifying optimum recording strategy, and the like, in addition to basic parameters such as the kind of disk and the version of the base standard. As for the parameters for specifying the optimum recording strategy, the standards document of CD-RW sets forth ε(=Pe/Pw) and Strategy Optimization (dTtop, dTera); and the standards document of DVD+RW sets forth Ttop, dTtop, Tmp, dTera, ε1 and ε2.
An information recording apparatus reads the information, when recording on the disk, and determines the recording strategy. Therefore, while it is desirable that the parameters are prepared in detail in order for the information recording apparatus to set up an exact recording strategy, the amount of the information should not be extremely large. Especially, in the case of a CD-R/RW system, the amount of information (capacity) that can be pre-formatted is limited to 21 bits×6=126 bits. When additional information should be provided, it is necessary to record the additional information using a pre-pit, using a domain newly defined in the innermost part or the outermost part of the disk, for example, XAA (Extra Additional Information Area) adopted by CD-R Multi-speed, etc.
The information recording apparatus reads the pre-formatted information prior to starting the recording operation as mentioned above, and optimum recording strategy is set up. Therefore, if a large number of parameters are set up for every disk, process becomes complicated, and a strategy generating circuit becomes complicated.
Accordingly, it is desired that an exact strategy be generated with a least number of parameters.

Recording strategy generation method and an optical information recording medium


The present invention concerns an improved stent in which the limbs have been fabricated from a medium having a cross sectional profile in which at least one segment is flat and straight, whereby the stent is provided with improved expansion characteristics.

The term stent generally refers to a prosthesis, which can be introduced into a corporeal lumen and expanded to support that lumen or attach a conduit to the inner surface of that lumen.
A number of prior art references are available in the art, each of which references is directed to some specific discrete elements of the system which are described and claimed in the present invention, however, none of which is directed to the totality of the combination, or its use and function in the manner described and claimed herein.
The following prior art references are known to the inventor:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,568, which issued to Gianturco on Apr. 8, 1986, discloses an endovascular stent formed of stainless steel wire which is arranged in a closed zig-zag pattern;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,665, which issued to Palmaz on Mar. 29, 1988, relates to an expandable intraluminal vascular graft which is expanded within a blood vessel using an angioplasty balloon associated with a catheter;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,762, which issued to Palmaz on Apr. 26, 1988, teaches an expandable intraluminal graft for use within a body passageway or duct which is particularly useful for repairing blood vessels which have been narrowed or occluded by disease;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,003, which issued to Wolff et al on May 16, 1989, discloses a cylindrical shaped stent useful to prevent arterial acute closure which is formed of longitudinal wires of biocompatible material, which wires have been welded together in pairs at alternate ends with each pair or wires bent into a V-section. The wires are formed into a cylinder which is welded closed in order to form the stent;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,404, which issued to Wolff on Apr. 14, 1992, teaches an intravascular stent which is applied within the peripheral or coronary arteries of a living animal or a human being in order to return patency after a balloon angioplasty. The stent taught in this reference is an articulated separate stent comprising at least two segments, each of which segments has a generally tubular shape and a hinge means extending between and connecting adjoining stent segments;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,090, which issued to Pinchuk on May 28, 1991, relates to radially expandable stents which include a plurality of adjacent generally circumferential sections which are substantially axially positioned with respect to each other;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,062, which issued to Wiktor on Dec. 12, 1989, discloses a device which is to be used as a vascular stent comprising a cylindrical open-ended wire made of a low memory metal, which is characterized by its ability to be expanded radially to a larger diameter after initial implantation, along with a means for causing said stent to expand to a larger diameter and a method for transporting, positioning and implantation of such stent;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,683, which issued to Fontaine on Dec. 6, 1994, is directed to a vascular stent for reducing hemodynamic disturbances caused by angioplasty, said stent being formed from a single filament of low memory biocompatible material having a series of U-shaped bends. The filament is wrapped about a mandril in a circular fashion in order to align the curved portions of each bend which may then be connected;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,913, which issued to Pinchuk on Jul. 13, 1993, teaches a radially expandable stent which includes a plurality of adjacent generally circumferential sections that are substantially axially positioned with respect to each other, wherein at least one of the generally circumferential sections has an expandable segment which imparts a circumferential and radial expandability to the stent;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,141, which issued to Hillstead on Apr. 3, 1990, relates to a stent delivery system for routing the stent to a defined position within a subject's blood vessel;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,732, which issued to Wiktor on Jul. 28, 1992, discloses a stent for implantation into a body vessel comprising a cylindrical stent body which has been coiled from a generally continuous wire which has been imparted with a deformable zig-zag structure;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,536, which issued to Hillstead on Aug. 4, 1994, is directed to a stent for reinforcing a vessel wall which is constructed from a single elongated wire. The wire has been first bent into a series of tight bends and then rolled around a mandril in order to create junctions of wire which are permanently adhered. The completed stent forms a cylindrical shape which can be expanded from its initial diameter to a larger implanted diameter by the application of radial outward force from a balloon catheter;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,771, which issued to Wallsten on Apr. 7, 1987, teaches a prosthesis for transluminal implantation comprising a flexible tubular body which has a diameter that is variable by axial movement of the ends of the body relative to each other and which is composed of several individual rigid but flexible thread elements each of which extends in helix configuration with the centerline of the body as a common axis;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,253, which issued to MacGregor on May 14, 1991, discloses a generally tubular stent that includes a non-woven structure formed by two or more generally helically shaped cylinders of stiff strand material where the strand material forming the non-woven structure is preferably secured together at attachment sites which allow the stent to be flexible and adjustable to meet various needs.
Most manifestations of the available prior art expand by the rotation of a structural element (limb) from a longitudinal orientation (parallel to the long axis of the stent) to a more transverse orientation. The limbs themselves change very little in shape. Stents, in which adjacent limbs are linked to form rings, spirals, or a series of linked rings, expand and contract by deformation of the structural elements in the immediate vicinity of the junction between limbs. In the case of self-expanding stents, the junctions serve as reservoirs of energy, which produce stent expansion. However, the isolation of mechanical stress to such small portions of the stent limits the expansion ratio and renders the stent less durable.
An example of this effect is the Gianturco Z-stent ('568). This stent is comprised of a single loop of wire, in which alternating straight segments wind back and forth between bends to form a crown. In the Ginaturco Z-stent the junctional stresses can be diffused by increasing the radius of curvature at the bends; the larger the bend the more diffuse the stress. However, large radius bends limit the expansion ratio, because the bends take up more space than straight segments. Bending the limbs themselves does little to reduce the stress, because these bends are much less amenable to deformation than the bends between adjacent limbs. When the stent is compressed, the limbs soon meet along the outer curvatures of any bends. Any attempt to further collapse the stent by straightening the limbs is thwarted by the overlapping.
Other stents, which have no rings or spirals of alternating limbs and no fixed junctions between limbs, are free of these problems; however, they also lack the expansile energy provided by junctional deformation, and therefore tend to expand rather weakly. There are currently no self-expanding stents available in the prior art in which the relative positions of the joined limbs change as a result of deformation that is distributed over large segments of the limbs.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide for an improved stent which exhibits superior expansion characteristics over available prior art stents.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide for an improved stent in which the limb elements have been fabricated from a medium having a cross sectional profile in which at least one segment is flat and straight, which exhibits superior expansion characteristics over available prior art stents.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide for an improved stent which exhibits superior expansion characteristics over available prior art stents while at the same time avoiding the compression and deformation problems associated with other prior art stents.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following discussion of the invention.


An automatic skin perfusion measuring system including instrumentation that automatically analyzes perfusion measurements to identify motion artifact and SPP values and a sensor placement device is provided. The instrumentation is configured to ignore motion artifact. Perfusion measurements are designated as SPP values if various criteria are met. SPP value criteria pertain to factors including cuff pressure, perfusion, perfusion change percentages relative to previous and subsequent perfusion measurements, and whether perfusion measurements are increasing or decreasing relative to previous and subsequent perfusion measurements. The sensor placement device assures reliable data is produced when multiple measurements are desired.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for the automated measurement of skin perfusion pressure of a local or regional body site. More particularly the invention relates to a system that includes a measuring means for measuring capillary blood flow and placement means for assuring reproducibility, pressure means for applying pressure to a tissue site having capillary blood flow and means for measuring the applied pressure, and means for determining the relationship therebetween that detects and rejects motion artifact and indicates an SPP value.
2. Description of the Related Art
Skin perfusion pressure measurements are taken to determine whether local blood flow, i.e. capillary perfusion, of a local or regional body site having an ulcer or wound is sufficient to support wound healing. The accurate measurement of this parameter, therefore, is critical to physicians who treat patients suffering from open surface wounds resulting from complications from diabetes, pressure ulcers, burns, accidents, and the like.
Traditionally, skin or surface perfusion pressure is measured utilizing a surface or skin perfusion pressure-monitoring device coupled to a laser Doppler or other type of optical sensor. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,342 to Borgos et al. discloses a surface perfusion pressure instrumentation used in conjunction with a laser Doppler probe that measures the "amount" of moving blood contained within a microvascular observation volume in percent tissue hematocrit. This measurement is taken as a function of applied pressure. The laser Doppler optical probe defines an observation volume in the skin near the surface of the patient and a pressure cuff is used to manually apply pressure to the limb near the optical probe.
The laser Doppler sensor is placed against the skin under a pneumatic cuff that is secured to the affected limb, i.e. toe, ankle, arm, leg, etc. A user using an inflation bulb manually inflates the pneumatic cuff. The inflation pressure must be sufficiently high to stop local blood flow at the site of the optical probe. A display instrument is coupled to the optical probe typically via a fiber optic cable, and to the inflation bulb through a tube. Deflation starts and the optical probe monitors the number of moving red blood cells moving into or out of the observation volume without regard to velocity. The number of moving red blood cells detected within the control volume is expressed as a percent and displayed on the display monitor. This value is shown as both a numeric value and a bar graph on the Y-axis. The instrument also measures the pressure within the cuff and displays the applied cuff pressure in millimeters of mercury on the X-axis of the display. A moving bar chart along the X-axis shows the operator which cuff pressure is currently being measured. As pressure is slowly manually released, an indicator of blood flow return is provided in bar chart form. While a technician conducts the test, a physician interprets the data displayed on the display monitor.
Therefore, a significant problem with the use of skin perfusion pressure instruments described by Borgos et al. is that reliable, reproducible measurements are heavily dependent on operator/technician skill and the skill of the physician who interprets the surface perfusion pressure measurement. Another problem associated with manual deflation is that it is sensitive to motion artifact caused by the operator or patient (e.g. patient movement, pressure tubing movement, or sensor movement). In addition, motion artifact may result from patient movement, involuntary muscular movement, operator intervention, and other causes affecting the reading of skin perfusion pressure. If a patient moves the limb to which the sensor/pneumatic cuff is attached, the physician who makes the determination of the pressure at which flow returns might very easily err by reading "motion artifact" as the surface perfusion pressure measurement. When a skin perfusion pressure test is conducted on a sick patient, the physician is already expecting a low value for the surface perfusion pressure measurement. Consequently, given an occurrence of "motion artifact" the physician may interpret it as a skin perfusion pressure reading that is artificially higher than the actual skin perfusion pressure measurement.
For example, illustrated in FIG. 2A is a display from a prior art monitor. As can be seen, measured perfusion rises in percent value as the cuff pressure decreases. The physician conducting the skin perfusion test will likely record the value of skin perfusion pressure as forty-five millimeters of mercury. FIG. 2B again illustrates a display from a prior art monitor with the perfusion measurement rising in percent value as the cuff pressure decreases. However, motion artifact is now displayed at forty-five millimeters of mercury. A physician conducting the skin perfusion test may erroneously record the value of skin perfusion pressure as forty-five millimeters of mercury.
A further problem with conventional devices is that reproducibility is inhibited because when repeated measurements are needed the laser Doppler optical probe is not necessarily placed at the same site. Consequently, the surface perfusion pressure measurements may vary because the sensor is typically placed on a different site having different microcirculatory flow. For example, fiber optic probes may be placed directly on the surface of a patient's tissue underneath the pressure cuff. If repeated measurements are necessary, the fiber optic probe or sensor may not be placed on the same site in subsequent measurements.
In addition, if the fiber optic probe is used on several patients, this can create the risk of nosocomial infections, and other infections that originate in hospitals or healthcare settings. The problem with infection is sometimes dealt with by using disposable probes or sensors. However, disposable probes are more expensive than non-disposable or reusable probes and can also be time consuming to remove and replace. Routine removal and replacement of probes can also create equipment errors, calibration problems and overall system malfunctions and perhaps more importantly can affect reproducibility.
Another problem that exists with conventional systems is that the laser Doppler probe or sensor is sometimes placed underneath the pressure cuff or distal to the pressure cuff for measurement. Because the laser Doppler sensor is measuring the transmission of light, it would be ideal to provide for a device that is useful in eliminating ambient light from the measurement site.
Thus, there exists a need for a device that can be used in conjunction with probes that does not require disconnecting the probe from a monitoring system in order to replace it with a new probe and that can address the problem of reproducibility and ambient light.
Given the foregoing problems with conventional systems, there is a need for a system that (i) eliminates the need to disconnect a probe from surface perfusion pressure instrumentation to measure an alternate site or take a measurement on another patient; (ii) provides for a sensor placement device that can assure reproducibility where repeated measurements are required and reduces ambient light; and (iii) compensates for, or eliminates, motion-induced artifacts in patient-attached critical care monitoring instruments. In addition, there is a need for a system that increases reliability and reproducibility by eliminating user-created error for example, variable inflation and deflation and/or variable interpretation of the results. A new and improved skin perfusion system that includes a sensor placement device and that automatically inflates and deflates the pressure cuff, controls inflation and deflation, and detects and rejects motion artifact, and automatically determines an SPP value is needed.

System for automated measurement of skin perfusion pressure


A low-temperature sintered conductive metal ink and a method for preparing the same are provided. To be specific, the preparation method includes the following steps of: preparing the conductive film or pattern by printing a conductive metal ink including metal nanocolloids, metal salts, and polymers reacted with the metal salts and preparing the metal nanocolloids (step 1); preparing a mixture by mixing the metal salts and polymers (step 2); preparing the metal ink by stirring the metal nanocolloids and the metal salt/polymer mixture prepared at steps 1 and 2 (step 3); printing the metal ink prepared at step 3 (step 4); and drying and thermally treating a product printed at step 4 (step 5).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a low-temperature sintered conductive metal film and a preparation method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, technology developments for forming fine patterns for wiring formation is receiving attention as demands increase for high reliability and high conductivity for forming an electrode or a circuit of display, FPCB, RFID, etc.; for a larger screen, high efficiency, and high resolution for display; and for using a flexible substrate. In the mean time, competitions for various flat-panel display types such as PDP and LCD have been intensified that the efforts have been made to reduce the cost of raw materials including electrode materials and the cost of processing these. Also, with various portable electronic devices getting smaller, chips used for the devices are required to have a higher density and a higher integrity.
One of the general methods for forming a conductive layer such as wiring pattern, etc. on a substrate embedded in various electronic devices is the metal plating. Another methods include the heat curing of a resin after forming a wiring on a substrate by applying and printing a conductive paste, which is a liquefied thermosetting resin material, with electro-conductive powder dispersed therein, or a thin film forming method which applies a ultra-fine metal particle dispersion liquid, which is dispersed uniformly into an organic dispersion medium, onto a semiconductor substrate and then heats the liquid to eliminate an organic solvent and fuse the ultra-fine metal particles. However, the plating method has a shortcoming of a low productivity, because a growth speed of a plated film from a metal ion is slow and accordingly considerable time is required to form a thick (more than about 10 μm of thickness) conductive film, conductive layer, or layer short. And the methods of forming a conductive layer by applying or printing the conductive paste or the ultra-fine metal dispersion liquid also have a shortcoming in precisely controlling the thickness and the forming position of the conductive layer. In particular, the conductive paste comprising a resin and electro-conductive powder has a difficulty in forming the conductive layer with a high precision in terms of the forming position and shape, because the conductive layer has a relatively higher viscosity (approximately 100 mpa·s at 25° C.). But if resin element is not included in order to reduce the viscosity of the ultra-fine metal particle dispersion liquid, cracks may be created in a conductive layer and the adhesion of the conductive layer to the substrate may deteriorate for forming a thick conductive layer.
Meanwhile, an inkjet technology is a new type preparation process, which has been developed amid the pursuits of productivity, cost reduction, and creation of new industrial fields with the display industry becoming larger and the process simplified. An inkjet printing is a contactless technology, which prints a pattern by means of a jetting ink ejected from a nozzle of a print head. For the inkjet printing technology, a print head technology has been developed a lot, but designing an ink has still remained as a challenge. The ink is required to meet sophisticated physiochemical characteristics to obtain optimum driving conditions and gain durability of a printing system and a desirable printing pattern. In the case of a metal ink, a preparation for homogeneous and stable nanoparticles is preferred of all things.
A metal ink for inkjet, as a material mainly forming a fine conductor or a thin conductive film, uses metal nanoparticles with the particle size of a few or a few dozens of nanometers. Recently, researches to form, for example, fine conductors by means of the inkjet technology after preparing the metal ink by using silver nanoparticles are in progress, but due to a high-cost of production involved in using silver particles, there are many limitations to the industrial applications. Therefore, a need for copper nanoparticles, as a low-cost material replacement with a relatively high conductivity, has been discussed continuously, but preparing stable copper nanoparticles may be challenging due to a low stability, i.e., a high oxidativity and developing a preparation of stable copper nanoparticles in a uniform particle size is still insignificant because the growth of the particles is too fast during the preparation of the nanoparticles.
Korean Patent No. 10-0911439 discloses a waterborne conductive ink for inject added with a dispersion agent and dispersion solvent of a nano silver colloid solution comprising nano silver particles with the size of 20 nm or less. Using the silver nanoparticles may make the handling easy in terms of safety and environment and is desirable for storage and dispersion stability, and may make the preparation of a conductive ink possible for printing by the inkjet method. Still, the production cost may be high due to the use of the expensive silver.
Korean Patent No. 10-0833869 discloses an ink composition comprising a metal nanoparticle mixture of copper nanoparticles and silver nanoparticles and an organic solvent. The ink composition comprising the metal nanoparticle mixture of the copper nanoparticles and silver nanoparticles and the organic solvent may control an ion migration phenomenon effectively on the conductive wiring comprising silver as a material without a decline in conductivity. But, using the copper nanoparticles may pose problems of securing the stability of the copper particles and of performing a heat treatment at a high temperature after printing an ink due to a high sintering temperature of copper.
Accordingly, the inventors of the present invention completed the present invention by developing a conductive metal film presenting a low sintering temperature after mixing metal nanocolloids, metal salts, and polymers, preparing a metal ink whose nanoparticles are stable, and printing the metal ink.

Low temperature sintering conductive metal film and preparation method thereof

Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials


A refrigeration system associated with a conditioned space to be controlled to a predetermined set point temperature via heating and cooling cycles. The refrigeration system includes a fluid flow path through which a predetermined liquid is circulated. The fluid flow path includes a slush tank and first and second heat exchangers, with cryogen from a supply vessel being expanded into liquid disposed in the slush tank. The first heat exchanger is disposed to condition the air of the conditioned space, and the second heat exchanger is in heat exchange relation with heating apparatus. The first heat exchanger and slush tank are interconnected when the conditioned space requires a cooling cycle, and the first and second heat exchangers are interconnected when the conditioned space requires a heating cycle. Cryogen of the cryogenic cooling apparatus is thus not expended to heat the conditioned space, or for defrosting purposes.

Stationary and transport applications of air conditioning and refrigeration systems, with transport applications including those systems used with straight trucks, tractor-trailer combinations, refrigerated containers, and the like, conventionally utilize a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerant in a mechanical refrigeration cycle. The mechanical refrigeration cycle requires a refrigerant compressor driven by a prime mover, which often includes a dedicated internal combustion engine, such as a diesel engine. Because of the suspected depleting effect of CFC's on stratospheric ozone (O.sub.3), practical alternatives to the use of CFC's are being sought.
The use of a cryogen, i.e., a gas which has been compressed to a very cold liquid state, such as carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) and nitrogen (N.sub.2), in a transport refrigeration system is particularly attractive because, in addition to eliminating the need for a CFC, it also eliminates the need for a compressor and associated prime mover. Refrigeration systems of which we are aware which utilize a cryogen, implement a cooling cycle by circulating the cryogen through a fluid path which includes a heat exchanger disposed in heat exchange relation with air from a conditioned space. When a heating cycle is required to hold the temperature of the conditioned space within a temperature range close to a selected set point temperature, or a defrost cycle is required, the cryogen is heated by a suitable burner and combustible fuel, and the heated cryogen is circulated through the fluid path. Thus, cryogen is expended to the atmosphere during a cooling cycle, and cryogen plus a fuel associated with the heat source, such as propane, liquid natural gas, diesel fuel, and the like, are expended to the atmosphere to implement heating and defrost cycles.
It would be desirable, and it is an object of the present invention, to provide a new and improved cryogenic based refrigeration system, which more effectively and efficiently utilizes a cryogen, for lower cost operation, as well as for an extended operating time for a given vessel of cryogen.

Air conditioning and refrigeration apparatus utilizing a cryogen


A lead includes a lead body extending from a lead proximal end portion to a lead distal end portion and having an intermediate portion therebetween, one or more tissue sensing/stimulation electrodes disposed along the lead body, one or more terminal connections disposed along the lead proximal end portion. The lead further includes one or more conductors contained within the lead body extending between the tissue sensing/stimulation electrodes and the terminal connections, and a fibrous matrix coating is disposed onto at least a portion of the lead body and/or sensing/stimulation electrodes.

Leads represent the electrical link between an implantable medical device (referred to as "IMD"), such as a pacer or defibrillator, and a subject's cardiac or other bodily tissue, which is to be sensed or stimulated. A lead generally includes a lead body that contains one or more electrical conductors extending from a proximal end portion of the lead to an intermediate or distal end portion of the lead. The lead body includes insulating material for covering and electrically insulating the electrical conductors. The proximal end of the lead further includes an electrical connector assembly couplable with the IMD, while the intermediate or distal end portions of the lead include one or more electrodes that may be placed within or near a desired sensing or stimulation site within the body of the subject.
Implantation of leads frequently affects surrounding tissue, and causes inflammation of surrounding tissue. Further, current methods of adhering a lead, such as active or passive fixation, can be inefficient for preventing future dislodgment of the lead. Defibrillating coils also encounter unwanted tissue in-growth which may interfere with their function and the ability to remove the lead.

Lead with fibrous matrix coating and methods related thereto


An optical observation instrument, in particular a spectacle, a reading aid or a telescope, comprises an optical element, in particular a spectacle lens, adapted to be controllably adjustable in its refractive power, a sensor, and a control unit for adjusting the refractive power as a function of signals from the sensor. The sensor is a brightness sensor. In a method of controllably adjusting a refractive power of an optical element in an optical observation instrument an optical parameter is captured by means of a sensor and the refractive power is adjusted as a function of a signal from the sensor. By means of the sensor the brightness of the light impinging on the optical instrument is captured.

For the dynamic correction of viewing defects it is known to use spectacles having spectacle lenses which may be adjusted electronically in their refractive power. In U.S. patent application publication 2006/0012747 A1 there is described an auto-focusing spectacle in which a sensor is located on the spectacle frame which measures the refractive power of at least one eye directly. The output signal from the sensor is transmitted to a control unit which adjusts the refractive power of the spectacle lens associated to the measured eye accordingly. By doing so, also persons having a limited ability of accommodating are enabled to view sharply over a wide range of distances.
A similar apparatus is also described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,491,394 B1. The electronically controlled spectacle disclosed therein also dynamically corrects viewing defects of the spectacle user. These defects comprise defects of lower order (short sightedness, long sightedness, astigmatism), but also viewing defects of higher order (aberrations and further viewing defects of higher order). In these prior art spectacles one has, further, provided for adjusting the refractive power in limited areas thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,818 discloses an auto-focusing spectacle. On the rear side of the spectacle frame nose piece there are provided two light sources and two light detectors in a position and orientation being specific for the particular user of the spectacle. Due to their particular orientation, the light sources each emit a light beam directed onto the bright sclera of the right eye and on the dark cornea of the left eye, respectively, when the user looks at a far away object. The light detectors receive the reflected beams. If the user now looks at a nearby object, the so called convergence angle appears, i.e. the axes of the eyes which extended in parallel for a far away object now intersect for a nearby object with the convergence angle increasing as the object distance decreases. As a result, the emitted light beams no longer impinge on the illuminated bright and dark areas within the eyes but on areas of opposite reflectivity. Accordingly, the convergence angle may be determined.
For viewing defects of higher order, various influences are of importance. For example, one has found out that the illumination intensity, i.e. the brightness of the light impinging into the optical observation instrument and, hence, on the eyes of the user, plays a significant role. This is because the pupils of the user adapt as a function of the illumination intensity, in that the pupils are smaller under bright ambient conditions and are wider within darkness, as is generally known. This variation in pupil diameter substantially affects the viewing defects of higher order.
On the one hand, the viewing defects of second order (defocus and astigmatism) vary together with the pupil size. This is because the cornea does not have a spherical surface but only an essential toric surface. Therefore, for different pupil diameters, the cornea surface used is different. For irregular cornea surfaces, this results in a variation of the effective main cornea curvature. This alters the total refractive power of the eye. For some people, therefore, the refractive power of their eyes is higher at night.
On the other hand the viewing defects of higher order vary with pupil size. Even if the cornea had an ideal spherical surface, a variation of pupil diameter would cause a variation of the spherical aberration of the eye. Further, also the irregular cornea surface plays a role also in this context. For different pupil diameters the effect of irregularities is different. This results a change of higher order aberrations.
It is, therefore, an object underlying the invention to improve an optical observation instrument, in particular a spectacle, as well as method of the type specified at the outset, such that the afore-mentioned disadvantages are avoided. In particular, the invention shall make it possible to perfect the correction of viewing defects of second and higher order by further taking into account additional influences.
In an optical observation instrument of the type specified at the outset, this object is achieved according to the invention in that the sensor is a brightness sensor.

Optical observation instrument and a method of controllably adjusting a refractive power in such instrument


An alarm system may be provided and may include a miniature coin size tag attached to doors and windows. The tag has electronic 3 axial accelerometer with wireless notification system to user's smart phone.

Lots of home residence lack the securely alarm system they need just because the cost of alarm system to cover all doors and windows is too high. It is so due the need of transfer wires between all windows and doors to a central control box. No one likes to dig the walls and place the alarm system wires. In most cases it is not practical or not allowed by landlords. Also wireless alarm sensors are too expensive and need a professional installing.
Moreover, many of the alarm security devices are connected to central control box. That central box connects to Security Company under monthly retainer fee.
There is a need for low cost alarm system, self-installing, no monthly retainer fee, no central control box, no wires, no need for power supply connect to sensors. The common need is for a very simple low cost, a coin size wireless tag that can be attached in 10 seconds to any windows or doors, automatically connect to all residents smart phone.
The problem of protecting homes, businesses and other premises against unauthorized intrusions is becoming increasingly important due to the increase in vandalism, theft and even physical attacks upon the inhabitants. Various prior art systems have been developed to address the problem and numerous examples exist of alarm or warning devices. Commonly used protective system involves wiring and wireless doors and windows in such a manner that an unauthorized opening of the door or window activates an electric circuit which in turn produces an alarm.
While there are inventions in the prior art alarm systems utilizing fix trigger level detection, none are known to the inventor which auto learning capabilities encapsulate several factors as accelerometer jiggle history. The user definitions jiggle level on its smart phone apps, time and date to activate, external weather situation like extreme wind or rain from the internet and proximity to the user smart phone.
The lack of auto learning capabilities and calibration from the smart phone apps and the link to weather information from internet source will produce many false alarms by vibration of windows or doors due to outside wind and rain.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,217,790 B2 to Michael H. Script, A portable security alarm system including a movement detecting and signal transmitting member for mounting on or proximate to the object whose movement is to be detected, a signal receiving and alarm generating member for receiving a signal from the movement detecting and signal transmitting member and producing a security response.
While effective, this system present a fix detection level and not auto learning capabilities, moreover the lack of the smart phone apps and to weather from internet source will produce many false alarms due vibration of windows or doors due to outside wind.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,405 to Kitterman discloses an alarm control system for protecting a premises including a four conductor bus line leading from a master control station and extending about the interior perimeter of the premises. Sensors positioned near each port of entry to be monitored are connected in parallel relationship to the bus line. Each sensor carries a biased reel carrying line secured to a window, door, screen or the like. Disturbance of a sensor causes a magnetically responsive switch therein to generate a pulse triggering circuitry within the control station to activate the desired alarm device.
While effective, this system requires extensive wiring of the premises as a bus line must be routed about the interior perimeter of the premises between a master control station and the ports of entry at which the motion sensors are to be located. Hence, this system is time consuming and complicated to install, and installation may require expertise beyond that of the average home or business owner. Once installed, the sensors of this system are not easily relocated. Further, the system may be defeated by cutting the wires extending between the sensors and the master control station.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,781,836 to Kruper et al discloses an alarm system including a magnetic pulse generator for producing an output pulse in response to a change in magnetic flux in response to an intrusion of a designated area. A radio transmitter circuit responds to the pulse from the magnetic pulse generator by transmitting a signal to a remote receiver circuit which in turn generates a pulse for actuating an intrusion alarm circuit. The system requires a complex linkage assembly to translate motion of the object to motion of a magnet. In addition a relatively bulky pick-up coil assembly is necessary to generate the pulse to be applied to the transmitter circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,380 to Murphy discloses a portable alarm device with a battery or low voltage operated sound signal triggered by a magnetic reed switch which is closed to complete the circuit by a magnet attached to a movably mounted arm, the poles of the magnet being positioned perpendicular to the longitudinal dimension of the contact strips of the reed switch to cause the reed switch to close when the magnet is in either of two positions relative to the switch.
A need remains for a motion detection and signal generating system which is small in size, easily transportable, easy to install and which can sense motion relative to any desired initial position of an object. An additional desirable capability of the foregoing system would be to provide information about the detected motion to the owner of the object, or a remote location such as law enforcement or other security agency. It would likewise be desirable to provide identification information about a specific object whose motion has been detected in the event that the motion detection and signal generating system is implemented to detect motion at multiple locations (e.g., doors, windows) within a larger security area (e.g., a residence, an office or otherwise).

Method to activate smart phone alarm on attempt to open door or windows


A method for managing network traffic on a portable communication device including a processor, a memory, and a plurality of network interfaces configured to connect to a plurality of networks includes: processing network traffic of an application running on the processor via a first network of the plurality of networks, the first network being specified as a primary network by an operating system running on the processor; monitoring a plurality of network status information associated with the first network; detecting a problem of the first network when one or more parameters of the received network status information is outside of one or more threshold values; in response to detecting the problem in the first network, selecting a second network of the plurality of networks as the primary network; and processing the network traffic via the second network as the updated primary network.

Connection bonding or link aggregation relates to methods for combining or aggregating multiple network connections.
Under some network conditions, network connectivity on computing devices can be poor, such as when the computing devices are near or beyond the usable ranges of the networks' reach, or near or beyond the usable limits of the networks' capacity. For example, when a smartphone that is connected to a wireless local area network or WLAN (e.g., a Wi-Fi network) is moved to the edge of the effective range of the wireless network (such as when sitting in a car in the driveway at home), the smartphone will generally continue to try to transmit and request data via the wireless network rather than switch to its cellular connection, even when the connection to the wireless network is poor. This may result in a poor user experience, such as a temporary loss of network connectivity when a user is at the edges of local wireless networks, even when cellular network signal is strong. Another example is when a smartphone is connected to a wireless network that has more traffic than it can handle, such as a congested Wi-Fi network in a busy coffee shop or in a stadium during a sporting event. This may result in a poor user experience, such as hangs or timeouts when trying to access internet content.
Examples of WLAN connections include networks such as those based on IEEE 802.11 standards, also known as Wi-Fi. Examples of cellular network connections include 3G wireless cellular networks (sometimes referred to as, for example, Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service or UMTS, Global Systems for Mobile or GSM, and Code Division Multiple Access 2000 or CDMA2000) or 4G wireless cellular networks (sometimes referred to as, for example, Long Term Evolution Advanced or LTE Advanced) and the like.
There are additional issues with connecting to other types of networks like Wi-Fi, such as: performance (e.g., may be slower than the cellular connection), accessibility (e.g., may require login before granting internet access), or quality (e.g., there may be another access point with a better signal or performance). Typically, these issues are not handled well or at all by the device (including the software running on it), so users often have to manually manage these connections, including disabling or disconnecting Wi-Fi on their device to manually force the device to use the cellular connection. This results in a very poor user experience (e.g., requiring the user to remember when to turn Wi-Fi back on) and has additional consequences, such as higher cellular costs for either the user (e.g., when the user has a metered data plan) or the mobile network operator (e.g., when user has an unlimited data plan).
Devices can also connect to other network types, such as Bluetooth, or possibly future network types, any of which can cause similar issues at their edges. In general, when there are multiple, possibly different, heterogeneous networks that a device can connect to, there are challenges in how and when the device should use each of those available networks.

Systems and methods for dynamic channel bonding


A knob or joystick apparatus detects gesture based actions of a user's fingers and/or hand. A user grasps the knob or joystick and moves the knob or joystick in either rotational direction, e.g., clockwise or counter clockwise, moves the knob or joystick horizontally/vertically or any combination thereof, and/or presses or pulls the knob or joystick in or out. Capacitive sensors are used in combination with a digital device, e.g., microcontroller, for detecting, decoding and interpreting therefrom various gesturing movements. A user may grasp a knob and either moves his/her fingers in a rotational, horizontal/vertical, and/or in/out movement(s) along an axis of the knob. During the motion(s) of the user's fingers, portions of an outer covering of the knob are deflected inwards toward capacitive sensors, wherein the movement(s) of the deflected portion(s) of the outer covering are detected, decoded and interpretations are made therefrom of various gesturing movements.

Capacitive touch sensors are used as a user interface to electronic equipment, e.g., calculators, telephones, cash registers, gasoline pumps, etc. The capacitive touch sensors are activated (controls a signal indicating activation) by a change in capacitance of the capacitive touch sensor when an object, e.g., user finger tip, causes the capacitance thereof to change. Referring to FIG. 1, depicted is a prior technology capacitive touch sensor generally represented by the numeral 100. The prior technology capacitive touch sensor 100 comprises a substrate 102, a sensor element 112 and a protective covering 108, e.g., glass. When a user finger tip 110 comes in close proximity to the sensor element 112, the capacitance value of the sensor element 112 changes. This capacitance change is electronically processed (not shown) so as to generate a signal indicating activation of the capacitive touch sensor 100 by the user (only finger tip 110 thereof shown). The protective covering 108 may be used to protect the sensor element 112 and for marking of the sensor 100.
Problems exist with proper operation of the sensors 100 that may be caused by water, oil, mud, and/or food products, e.g., ketchup and mustard, either false triggering activation or inhibiting a desired activation thereof. Also problems exist when metallic objects (not shown) come in near proximity of the sensor element 112 and cause an undesired activation thereof. When there are a plurality of sensors 100 arranged in close proximity to each other, e.g., circumference and/or top of a knob arrangement, activation of the intended ones of the sensors 100 may cause unintended ones of neighbor sensor(s) 100 to undesirably actuate because of the close proximity of the user finger tip 110, or other portion of the user hand (not shown). This activation of unintended ones of the neighbor sensor(s) 100 may be caused when touching the intended ones of the sensors 100 and a portion of the user's hand also is sufficiently close to the unintended ones of the sensor(s) 100 for activation thereof.


A method of treating at least one of inflammation, psoriasis, and/or hypertension comprising administering to a patient in need there of an effective gamma-ketoaldehyde scavenging amount of a gamma-ketoaldehyde scavenging compound.

A major problem that underpins a variety of diseases is inflammation. While many pharmacological approaches have been used to suppress inflammation and many new approaches are being developed, such as inhibitors of inflammatory cytokines, etc., a mainstay in the treatment inflammation for decades has focused on preventing the formation of prostaglandins by inhibiting cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes with non-steroidal antiiflammatory drugs (NSAID's). While this approach has been effective there are serious drawbacks to the use of both non-selective and selective COX-2 inhibitors. A major complication with chronic use of non-selective COX inhibitors is their propensity to cause gastric ulcers. The development of selective COX-2 inhibitors was initially touted to be major advance in that these agents did not inhibit COX-1 in the stomach, therefore greatly lowering the risk of the development of gastric ulcers. However, selective COX-2 inhibitors do not inhibit platelet thromboxane production but do inhibit prostacyclin production, which results in a pro-thrombotic propensity. In this regard, clinical trials with Rofecoxib were associated with a higher incidence of myocardial infarction, which resulted in its withdrawal from the market.
The underpinning rationale for development of inhibitors of COX enzymes is that the end product prostaglandins (PGs) formed by PG synthases are proinflammatory and therefore inhibiting PG formation by inhibiting COXs would be antiinflammatory. However, there is a major problem with this theory which is that the equivalent of Koch's postulates have never been fulfilled to support this assumption. What is meant by this is that while NSAID's exert antiinflammatory effects, nobody has shown that the PGs produced by the various PG synthases, either singly or in combination, actually induce all aspects of inflammation. In fact, potent antiinflammatory effects have been ascribed to many of the PG's that are formed including PGD2, PGE2, PGJ2, and PGI21-28. The historical basis for the assumption that PGs are inflammatory derives from experiments performed decades ago showing that injection of PGE2 or PGD2 into the skin increased vascular permeability induced by injection of bradykinin or histamine29; 39. However, there was no documentation that this was associated with an inflammatory cellular infiltrate so this observation could simply be explained solely by enhanced fluid transudation from capillaries when the two potent vasodilators were co-injected.
What has largely been ignored was the demonstration by Salomon and colleagues several years ago that the endoperoxide intermediate in the cyclooxygenase pathway, PGH2, non-enzymatically rearranges to form highly reactive acyclic γ-ketoaldehydes (γ-KAs), which were termed levuglandins (LGs)31. Moreover, the present inventors have also shown that LG-like compounds (termed IsoLGs or isoketals (IsoKs) are also formed in abundance via the isoprostane pathway of non-enzymatic free radical catalyzed oxidation of arachidonic acid32. In the setting of inflammation, which is associated enhanced formation of products of COX's and formation of products of the IsoP pathway due to enhanced free radical generation by leukocytes and other sources, the present inventors discovered that the antiinflammatory effects of NSAID's can be largely attributed to inhibition of the formation of LGs and that IsoKs also contribute to inflammation. Accordingly, without being bound by theory or mechanism, the present inventors discovered selective scavengers of these γ-KAs that exert antiinflammatory effects without inhibiting the formation of antiinflammatory PG's. Thus, the compounds of the present invention do not present the adverse effects attributed to chronic NSAID use.
Summary of several abbreviations used herein: F2-isoprostane (F2-IsoP), F4-neuroprostane (F4-NeuroP), isoketal (IsoK), neuroketal (NeuroK), 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE), Alzheimer's disease (AD), arachidonic acid (AA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), amyloid precursor protein (APP), amyloid beta (Aβ), paired helical filament (PHF), neurofibrillary tangles (NFT), pyridoxamine (PM), salicylamine (SA), apolipoprotein E (ApoE), vascular dementia (VaD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), multisystem atrophy (MSA), transgenic (Tg), homocysteine (HCys), liquid chromatography (LC), electrospray ionization (ESI), mass spectrometry (MS), collisional induced dissociation (CID), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
Isoketals are the most reactive products of lipid peroxidation heretofore identified. IsoKs adduct almost instantaneously to protein lysine residues and readily induce protein-protein cross-links. In spite of the remarkable reactivity of IsoKs, the present inventors have identified compounds that effectively intercept (scavenge) IsoKs from adducting to proteins.
The IsoK scavengers of the present invention are compounds of the present invention, such as salicylamine (SA), for example, and analogs thereof. The compounds of the present invention prevent cell death in cells exposed to a lethal concentration of a general oxidant-hydrogen peroxide.
As indicated herein, IsoKs are a major mediator of oxidant induced cell injury/death. Additionally, as indicated herein, therapeutic use of the IsoK scavengers of the present invention have beneficial effects in a wide variety of diseases associated with oxidative injury.

Methods for treating inflammation and hypertension with γ-ketoaldehyde skavengers


An embodiment of the present invention provides a method of man-machine interaction, including: receiving first audio uploaded by a user through a client end, marking a start time and an end time of the first audio, and generating a first recognition result of the first audio using an audio decoder; determining whether the first audio is a short speech based on the start time and end time thereof, and in case of a short speech, generating a second recognition result of the second audio using the audio decoder upon receiving the second audio uploaded by the client end within a preset heartbeat protection time range, sending at least the first recognition result and the second recognition result to a language prediction model; and if it is determined that a combination of the recognition results constitutes a sentence, generating an answering instruction corresponding to the sentence, and sending the answering instruction together with a feedback time mark of the answering instruction to the client end. Unreasonable sentence segmentation in a full-duplex dialogue scenario and redundant replies in the dialogue can thereby be avoided.

In a general question and answer system, one question is usually followed by one answer, or multiple rounds of interaction are performed. It is desirable for full-duplex interaction to achieve the same effect as making a phone call between people, which is not only limited to a question-and-answer manner, but also involve such a situation that a robot answers once after a user speaks a few words. The robot can even take the initiative to ask questions to facilitate the interaction, and apply the rhythm control technology which adjust its own sentence length according to the length and content of the user's sentence.
The inventor found at least the following problems in the related art:
1. Giving an irrelevant answer. When a response is made by a conventional device, sentences reaching a client end will be continuously broadcast. When network delay or processing delay of a server is significant, loss of timeliness will occur for a response reaching the client end. Since measurement of response to the client end is completely implemented at the server, the client end does not have a strategy for implementing relative time alignment, and cannot selectively discard certain responses to maintain the same session state as the server. If a user has already started a next round of input, and the client end continuously broadcasts multiple pieces of previous input, the input and output will not correspond to each other, that is, an irrelevant answer will be given, resulting in poor user experience.
2. Unreasonable sentence segmentation. On one hand, a user's speaking rhythm will be different in different scenarios. If sentence segmentation is performed merely relying on acoustic features, such a situation will occur in which a corresponding question is responded in advance before a user finishes speaking, or the user has to wait for a long time after finishing speaking. On the other hand, a discontinuous audio upload will cause a server unable to accurately determine an actual interval between two sentences, and hence unable to determine whether the long interval between the two sentences is caused by network delay, resulting in a situation where the response content cannot be reasonably decided.

Method of man-machine interaction and electronic device


Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method and an apparatus for allocating an association identifier, so as to dynamically allocate an association identifier (AID) to a target station. The method according to the embodiments of the present invention includes: sending, by an access point (AP), an AID allocation message to a target station, where the AID allocation message carries a target AID of the target station, and the target station is a station to be allocated with an AID or a station with an AID to be updated.

In an existing wireless local area network (WLAN) system standard, an association identifier (AID) of a station (STA) is a fixed AID that is allocated at a time and perpetually used.
When an STA is associated with an access point (AP), the AP randomly allocates an unused AID to the STA, indicating that the STA is associated with it (the AP). In this way, the STA and the AP start to interact and communicate. In a conventional WLAN Basic Service Set, (BSS), a quantity of STAs is small, a frequency of using an AID is not high, and fixed AIDs do not cause a major impact. However, in an IEEE 802.11ah scenario, allocation of fixed AIDs causes a huge overhead to a system because a large number of STAs exist and ongoing services of each STA may change with time.

Method and apparatus for allocating association identifier


The invention relates to a switch mode power supply (SMPS) comprising control means (IP1) including an oscillator (OS) for generating a pulse-width modulated signal (V2). The object is to provide a fast start-up time over a wide mains input-voltage range (AC). According to the invention, the switch mode power supply comprises a network (T2, R52, R51, R24) which provides in case of a high input voltage a soft start with a low oscillating frequency and in case of low input voltage a start-up with essentially the normal oscillating frequency. The invention provides a fast start-up time over a wide mains input voltage range of 90 Volt up to 265 Volt. The network includes a transistor (T2) used in inverse mode as a switching element which provides a threshold value of about 150 Volt. The power supply can be used advantageously as part of a TV receiver.

A known circuit of this type, used in Thomson Chassis TX 91 (Asia), Is shown In FIG. 1. A mains supply voltage source is coupled to a full wave bridge rectifier DP1 for producing a rectified voltage V1 which is smoothed by capacitor C7. The SMPS includes further a transformer LP3 with a primary winding W1, a feedback winding W2 and secondary windings W3 and W4. The voltage V1 is connected in series to the primary winding W1 and to a switching transistor T1.
Control means IP1 including an oscillator OS for generating a pulse-width modulated signal provide a driver voltage V2 at the output 14 for driving the switching transistor T1. The oscillating frequency of the oscillator OS can be adjusted by a resistor R13 and a capacitor C26. As control means IP1 an integrated circuit, e.g. TEA 2261 can be used as described in SGS-Thomson Microelectronics Catalogue 1994, pages 1/9-9/9.
The control means IP1 provide a soft start for a safe start-up after switching on the line power. This is accomplished via a resistor R5 charging slowly a capacitor C14 with a high capacitance which provides the necessary power for the integrated circuit IP1 at pins 15 and 16.
Additionally the SMPS starts with a low oscillating frequency to avoid a current build-up in the switching transistor T1. A current build-up can arise when the energy stored in the primary inductance is not fully transferred to the secondary side before a new conduction period is initiated. This will lead to operation in continuous mode and the switching transistor T1 may leave therefore his safe operating area. To reduce the oscillating frequency during start-up, the SMPS includes a resistor R511 and a diode D9 in series which connect the capacitor C26 with a capacitor C12 which is charged by the feed-back winding W2. The capacitor C12 is not charged up initially when the SMPS is switched on. Therefore, the diode D9 disconnects capacitor C26 from capacitor C12. The operating frequency is then fixed by R13 and C26, which is a low frequency (a few kHz). After a certain time capacitor C12 is charged up and then D9 will be conducting and an additional current will charge C26 via R511, thus the oscillating frequency increases to its normal operating frequency (about 22 kHz). This ensures that the SMPS starts safely in discontinuous mode, i.e. the energy stored in the primary inductance is always fully transferred to the secondary side before a new conduction period of transistor T1 is initiated.
The start-up of this known SMPS is depending on the charge-up time of capacitor C14 via resistor R5, therefore, depending on the voltage value of the AC mains input voltage. This leads to a quite long start-up time at a low mains input voltage.

SMPS with a variable frequency start up circuit


A new and improved electrophotographic printer and method of operation wherein a disposable print cartridge is rotatably mounted within the printer housing and is operative to directly drive paper out of a paper stack within a paper cassette in the housing and into the active print area therein between the surface of a photoconductive drum and an adjacent transfer roller. The rotatable disposable print cartridge is constructed to include a plurality of paper pick up strips and idler rollers uniformly spaced at predetermined locations along the surface of the disposable print cartridge and operative to be directly driven into contact with paper during the paper pick transport and print modes of the printer. In the non-print mode and in preparation for picking and printing the next sheet, the disposable print cartridge is rotated clockwise while the stack of paper drops away from the cartridge surface to avoid contact with the print cartridge at this time. In the subsequent paper pick and print mode, the print cartridge is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction down into direct contact with the top sheet of paper in the rising paper stack in the input paper cassette for driving it into the print area. During this later motion, a drive roller operates against the paper surface to drive the paper between the photoconductive drum and an adjacent transfer roller for printing an image on the paper. Advantageously, the above print cartridge rotational motion eliminates the need for dry powder toner stirrers as well as paper pick rollers.

In the construction and design of certain types of electrophotographic printers, such as Hewlett Packard's widely acclaimed series of LaserJet.TM. printers, it has been a common practice to use a fixedly mounted disposable print cartridge adjacent to the paper path within the printer housing, and load paper into a paper cassette which is located a certain distance beneath the print cartridge. This design constraint is present in order to allow a D-shaped pick roller to be operated between a stack of paper within the paper cassette and a paper guide for passing the paper to the print area of the print cartridge. During this operation, the D-shaped pick roller rotates to drive the top sheet of paper within the paper stack between a photoconductive drum of the print cartridge and an adjacent transfer roller, as is well known in the electrophotographic printing arts.
Whereas the above paper transport mechanism operates highly satisfactorily in many respects, there are certain disadvantages associated with the cost, maintenance, and space requirements occasioned by the use of the D-shaped pick roller. It is the elimination of these disadvantages to which the present invention is directed.

Rotatable print cartridge and method of operation for transporting print media within an electrophotographic printer


A fuel cell system comprises first and second parallel fuel cell stacks (12, 14) in which a positive electrode and a negative electrode of adjoining terminal electrodes are set to be opposite to one another. First and second conductive plates (82, 180) are incorporated at ends on an identical side of the first and second fuel cell stacks (12, 14). First and second connecting plate sections (106, 182) extend from the first and second conductive plates (82, 180) closely to one another under the first and second fuel cell stacks (12, 14). The first and second connecting plate sections (106, 182) are electrically connected by flexible strand wires (186a, 186b). Accordingly, the fuel cell system reliably avoids stress caused by vibration or the like at a connecting portion for electrically connecting the first and second fuel cell stacks (12, 14) to one another.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle-carried type fuel cell system provided with fuel cell stacks each comprising a plurality of fuel cell units each composed of a solid polymer ion exchange membrane interposed between an anode electrode and a cathode electrode, the plurality of fuel cell units being stacked in the horizontal direction with separators intervening therebetween.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, the solid polymer type fuel cell comprises a fuel cell unit including an anode electrode and a cathode electrode disposed opposingly on both sides of an ion exchange membrane composed of a polymer ion exchange membrane (cation exchange membrane) respectively, the fuel cell unit being interposed between separators. Usually, the solid polymer type fuel cell is used as a fuel cell stack comprising a predetermined number of the fuel cell units and a predetermined number of the separators which are stacked with each other.
In such a fuel cell stack, a fuel gas such as a hydrogen-containing gas, which is supplied to the anode electrode, is converted into hydrogen ion on the catalyst electrode, and the ion is moved toward the cathode electrode via the ion exchange membrane which is appropriately humidified. The electron, which is generated during this process, is extracted for an external circuit, and the electron is utilized as DC electric energy. An oxygen-containing gas such as a gas containing oxygen or air is supplied to the cathode electrode. Therefore, the hydrogen ion, the electron, and the oxygen gas are reacted with each other on the cathode electrode, and thus water is produced.
When the fuel cell stack as described above is carried and used on a vehicle or the like, it is necessary to provide a considerably large number of fuel cell units in order to obtain desired electric power. In such a situation, when it is intended to construct a single fuel cell stack by stacking a considerable number of fuel cell units, the length of the fuel cell units is considerably long in the stacking direction. As a result, for example, an inconvenience arises such that the fuel gas cannot be supplied uniformly to the respective fuel cell units. In view of the above, a fuel cell system is adopted, which is constructed such that a plurality of fuel cell stacks are arranged in parallel to one another, and the fuel cell stacks are electrically connected in series to one another.
In the case of such a fuel cell system, various artifices are made in order to simplify the connection structure when the fuel cell stacks, which are arranged in parallel to one another, are electrically connected in series. For example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-171926, fuel cell stacks, which are arranged in parallel to one another, are allowed to have different electric polarities at respective stacking ends. A terminal plate, which is formed with an engaging projection, is provided at one of the stacking ends. A terminal plate, which is formed with an engaging recess capable of engaging the engaging projection, is installed at the other stacking end.
Accordingly, the fuel cell stacks, which are arranged in parallel to one another, can be electrically connected in series to one another only by engaging the engaging projection and the engaging recess of the respective terminal plates with each other. Further, the fuel cell stacks are mutually slidable in the stacking direction in an amount corresponding to the thickness of the terminal plate.
However, in the case of the conventional technique described above, the fuel cell stacks are slidable in the stacking direction in the amount corresponding to the thickness of the terminal plate, owing to the engagement between the engaging projection which is provided for one of the terminal plates and the engaging recess which is provided for the other terminal plate. Therefore, it is difficult to allow the fuel cell system to be carried especially on the vehicle or the like.
That is, when the fuel cell system is carried on the vehicle or the like, any shaking movement tends to occur on the fuel cell system in a variety of directions, for example, due to vibration during running, variation in rate of acceleration, and repetition of start and stop. For this reason, the following problem is pointed out. That is, any relative positional discrepancy consequently arises in the fuel cell stacks which are arranged in parallel to one another. Any stress acts on the terminal plate which is installed at the stacking end of each of the fuel cell stacks.


A selective call receiving apparatus for receiving FM multiplexed broadcasting signals which is designed to suppress consumed power by efficiently using a battery as a power supply. This apparatus has a reception circuit, an FM multiplex decoder, a subframe counter and a CPU. The reception circuit receives frames having plural pieces of subframes including ID data for a local terminal. The FM multiplex decoder detects a sync signal in each received subframe. The subframe counter counts the number of subframes in accordance with the detected sync signal. The CPU stops the operation of the reception circuit and FM multiplex decoder after causing the subframe counter to self-operate to perform the counting operation based on the sync signal detected in a continuous reception mode, and activates the reception circuit and FM multiplex decoder only when the count value of the subframe counter matches with a previously assigned subframe number and executes data processing including a process of determining if ID data in received data matches with that of the local terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a selective call receiving apparatus suitable for use in broadcasting or communication, and specifically in FM multiplexed broadcasting.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently services which multiplex information, including characters and other display information, on an FM broadcast program and broadcast the resultant information have been put into practice. FIG. 10 illustrates the principle of such multiplexing of FM multiplexed broadcasting.
A sum signal ((L+R) signal; main channel signal) of a left (L) signal and right (R) signal and a difference signal ((L-R) signal) are generated from L and R audio signals. Those signals are all limited to a frequency band of 15 KHz. A carrier which belongs to the difference signal ((L-R) signal) and has a frequency of 38 KHz (2 fp), twice the frequency of a pilot signal fp, is subjected to carrier suppression amplitude modulation to generate a subchannel signal. Then, the main channel signal, the pilot signal fp having a frequency of 19 KHz, and the subchannel signal are added together to prepare a stereo composite signal for FM audio broadcasting.
A multiplexed signal is in the frequency band where the baseband frequency is equal to or greater than 53 KHz and equal to or less than 100 KHz, and has a subcarrier frequency of 76 KHz (4 fp), four times the frequency of the pilot signal. This multiplexed signal is subjected to L-MSK (Level controlled Minimum Shift Keying) modulation, and the resultant signal is frequency-multiplexed on the stereo composite signal. Therefore, a carrier of a predetermined frequency is frequency-modulated by a signal obtained by adding the main channel signal, pilot signal, subchannel signal and subcarrier frequency signal (multiplexed signal) together, thereby yielding an FM multiplexed broadcast wave.
When the modulation level of the difference signal (L-R) signal) is large, the interference on multiplexed signals increases. The interference noise to audio signals is likely to be detected when the modulation of audio signals is small. In this respect, each multiplexed signal is subjected to L-MSK modulation so that the modulation level of the multiplexed signal is changed between 4% and 10% in accordance with the modulation level of the L-R signal, as shown in FIG. 11.
The details of this technique are described in Examined Japanese Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. Hei 8-2044.
The transfer rate of multiplexed signals is 16 Kbps of which 6.83 Kbps are used as a data area and the remaining 9.17 Kbps are used for error correction.
Used in this error correction is a product code ((272, 190) shortened difference set cyclic code) obtained by breaking down a single code to symbols which are arranged in the horizontal and vertical directions, as shown in FIG. 12. The details of this technique are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,271, U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,231 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,800.
For example, a single broadcasting station can broadcast a maximum of 256 programs as such multiplexed information.
Recently, there are paging services (selective call services) which use this FM multiplexed broadcast system.
One such above-described FM multiplexed broadcast system is called DARC (DAta Radio Channel). This system has been developed in Japan.
Other FM multiplexed broadcast systems include the RECEPTER system (HSDS=High speed Subcarrier Data System) which is locally employed in the U.S.A. and RDS (Radio Data System) which is locally employed in Europe.
In providing paging services using FM multiplexed broadcast, a receiving apparatus should always be powered on. It is therefore important to reduce the power consumption.

FM multiplexed broadcast receiving apparatus


This invention relates to methods and apparatus for making coated articles with one or more layers by dip, spray or flow coating. In one aspect, this invention relates to an apparatus and method for making coated containers, preferably comprising polyethylene terephthalate, from coated preforms. In preferred embodiments, the apparatus and method permit the coated container or preform to be made in an energy-efficient manner that reduces the danger of coating damage and thus increases the efficacy of the final container.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods and apparatus for making coated articles with one or more layers by dip, spray or flow coating. In one aspect, this invention relates to an apparatus and method for making coated containers, preferably comprising polyethylene terephthalate, from coated preforms.
2. Description of the Related Art
Preforms are the products from which containers are made by blow molding. Unless otherwise indicated the term "container" is a broad term and is used in its ordinary sense and includes, without limitation, both the preform and bottle container therefrom. A number of plastic and other materials have been used for containers and many are quite suitable. Some products such as carbonated beverages and foodstuffs need a container, which is resistant to the transfer of gases such as carbon dioxide and oxygen. Coating of such containers has been suggested for many years. A resin now widely used in the container industry is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), by which term we include not only the homopolymer formed by the polycondensation of [beta]-hydroxyethyl terephthalate but also copolyesters containing minor amounts of units derived from other glycols or diacids, for example isophthalate copolymers.
The manufacture of biaxially oriented PET containers is well known in the art. Biaxially oriented PET containers are strong and have good resistance to creep. Containers of relatively thin wall and light weight can be produced that are capable of withstanding, without undue distortion over the desired shelf life, the pressures exerted by carbonated liquids, particularly beverages such as soft drinks, including colas, and beer.
Thin-walled PET containers are permeable to some extent to gases such as carbon dioxide and oxygen and hence permit loss of pressurizing carbon dioxide and ingress of oxygen which may affect the flavor and quality of the bottle contents. In one method of commercial operation, preforms are made by injection molding and then blown into bottles. In the commercial two-liter size, a shelf life of 12 to 16 weeks can be expected but for smaller bottles, such as half liter, the larger surface-to-volume ratio severely restricts shelf life. Carbonated beverages can be pressured to 4.5 volumes of gas but if this pressure falls below acceptable product specific levels, the product is considered unsatisfactory.
It is therefore desirable to provide the container with a layer of a barrier material which has a low vapor and gas permeability. Barrier layers may be provided by a variety of techniques, including coinjection, chemical vapor deposition, plasma coating with amorphous carbon and/or SiOx, etc., so as to form a laminar coated container. Other examples involve the use of an aqueous dispersion of barrier polymers, and have included dispersions made from vinylidene chloride with acrylonitrile and/or methyl acrylate, optionally containing units derived from other monomers such as methyl methacrylate, vinyl chloride, acrylic acid, or itaconic acid, dispersions made from EVOH and MXD6, etc. The dispersions typically contained surfactants such as sodium alkyl sulphonates.

Dip, spray, and flow coating process for forming coated articles


The invention relates to an improved enhanced recovery method using polymers, wherein these polymers are preserved from mechanical degradation by adding an additive comprising sacrificial compounds. The sacrificial compounds are preferentially degraded instead of the active polymers, thus allowing optimized recovery of the oil in the petroleum reservoir. The sacrificial compounds can be polymers of same nature as the active polymers, but of higher molecular weight, or polymers of different nature having more fragile bonds. The sacrificial compound(s) is/are selected according to a lesser resistance to mechanical degradation, in comparison with the active polymers of the solution allowing enhanced recovery.

Since the world energy crisis, it has become essential to be able to recover the maximum amount of hydrocarbons contained in underground formations.
Oil recovery using conventional techniques is limited to 33% on average. In order to increase this ratio and thus hope to make a petroleum reservoir profitable, enhanced recovery methods are implemented. These complex methods mainly consist in injecting specific fluids or heat.
Among the conventional recovery techniques, the most commonly used method consists in injecting, via an injection well, an aqueous fluid (generally water or brine). This fluid sweeps the underground formation so as to drive the hydrocarbons out of the pores of the rock where it is absorbed. Production wells allow a production effluent comprising a mixture of water, salts and hydrocarbons to be recovered.
There are several enhanced oil recovery methods. When compounds are added to the aqueous fluid injected, also referred to as sweep fluid, the method is referred to as tertiary chemical enhanced recovery. These chemical compounds are polymers, surfactants, alkaline compounds, or mixtures of such compounds. In relation to simple water or brine injection, the interest of the presence of a polymer is to increase the viscosity of the sweep fluid and therefore to improve the mobility ratio between the fluid injected and the hydrocarbons in place in the underground formation. The hydrocarbon recovery ratio is increased as a result of higher petroleum formation sweep efficiency. The polymers used in this method are generally polymers of high molecular mass used for their viscosifying properties.
Injecting polymers into the reservoir, which is commonly referred to as polymer flooding, is one of the most commonly used methods. These hydrosoluble polymers increase the viscosity of the water injected into the formation, thus modifying the oil/water mobility ratio. This favours a "piston" type sweep and results in a higher volumetric drainage efficiency of the oil in place.
The polymers are mixed at the surface and injected into the injection wells. They consist of structures of high molecular mass, typically above 106 g/mol. This fundamental characteristic is at the origin of their viscosifying power, but it also explains their main drawback, i.e. their mechanical degradation.
During the injection of polymers into the reservoir, the fluids displaced are in fact subjected to high shears and elongational flows, notably in the initial injection unit, the nozzles and the pumps, constrictions in the reservoirs and around the wells thus leading to partial degradation of the polymers and to an inherent limitation of their efficiency.
A solution to this problem has been unexpectedly found by limiting the mechanical degradation of the polymer solutions commonly used in EOR methods, by adding a small amount (of the order of some ppm by weight in relation to the aqueous phase) of a second variety of polymers having either a higher molecular mass or more fragile bonds. These additives, also referred to as sacrificial agents or sacrificial compounds in the description below, are preferentially degraded, dissipating enough energy to protect the "active" polymers.

Optimized enhanced oil recovery method with polymer preservation through sacrificial compound addition


A processor presents a sequence of images of a hierarchical structure that is perceived as three-dimensional. The hierarchical structure includes conic substructures that can have vertical or horizontal axes. Each cone has a parent node at its vertex and children nodes along its base, each with a link to the parent node. Each child can in turn be at the vertex of another cone. The cones can be rotated in steps that produce the perception of object constancy for each node. For example, if the user requests that an indicated node be moved to a primary viewing position, each of the cones along the path from the indicated node to the root node is rotated in the direction that most directly moves the indicated node to the primary viewing position. Each node can include a selectable unit for indicating it, and a node can also include a grow tab that can be selected to request presentation of its children nodes and links to them. The user can request that the children nodes of a node be replaced by a grow tab. To reduce the computation necessary for each step of rotation, the position relative to a cone's axis for each of 80 points on the base of a cone is computed for a level of the hierarchy and is then stored in an array for subsequent use in positioning nodes on that level. The base point of each node on a rotating cone can then be changed in a linked node data structure, and its new position can then be obtained by simple arithmetic operations using the axis coordinates and the appropriate data from the array. The base of each array can be a polygon whose vertices are nodes, and the base shape can be presented as a shadow to provide additional information and strengthen the perception of three dimensions. Or, the profiles of the cones can be presented as a shadow.

The present invention relates to techniques for display presentation of a structure that includes nodes and links in three dimensions. More specifically, the invention relates to a presentation in which the geometry of the node-link structure can change.
Fairchild, K. M., Poltrock, S. E., and Furnas, G. W., "SemNet: Three-Dimensional Graphic Representations of Large Knowledge Bases," in Guindon, R., Ed., Cognitive Science and its Application for Human Computer Interaction, Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, N.J., 1988, pp. 201-233, describe SemNet, a three-dimensional graphical interface. SemNet presents views that allow users to examine local detail while maintaining a global representation of the rest of the knowledge base. SemNet also provides semantic navigation techniques such as relative movement, absolute movement, and teleportation. As shown and described in relation to FIG. 1-1, SemNet represents a knowledge base as a directed graph in a three-dimensional space, with elements of knowledge represented as labeled rectangles connected by lines or arcs. As noted on page 206, the nodes of the network could represent the antecedents and consequents of rules and the arcs could represent implication. Section 3.2, on pages 209-213, describes techniques, including multidimensional scaling and heuristics, that move related knowledge elements close together and unrelated knowledge elements far apart, and section 3.3, on pages 213-214, describes how these techniques can be used with personalized positioning. Section 5.2.4, on pages 227-228, describes hyperspace movement, in which the nodes connected to a selected knowledge element are temporarily moved to positions around it, and then snap back to their original positions after a new node is selected.

Display of hierarchical three-dimensional structures with rotating substructures