The invention is to develop an agent having at least one of anticalcipenic, antiedemic and diuretic activities for humans or animals and to inhibit the postpartum drop of the calcium concentration in blood, thereby maintaining the health of the mother body and smoothing nursing and lactation.

Even though eating habits have been improved especially a calcium intake of Japanese people is less than a nutritional requirement, and the improvement in its point has been in demand. However, in average eating habits of Japanese people, it is actually quite difficult to ingest a satisfactory amount of calcium.
Calcium has physiological functions of maintenance and adjustment of membranes, control of contraction secretion or excitation process, support of the stomach and the like, and it is one of Minerals indispensable in the human body, and quite important as is generally known. For an woman after childbirth delivery (after confinement), the calcium concentration in blood is decreased, and a tendency of further decreasing a calcium concentration in milk or a lactation amount is observed in a woman during nursing. In addition to the decrease in calcium concentration of mother's milk hypocalcemia or the like occurs in the mother body itself to injure the health of the mother body. To cope with these problems a calcium agent or vitamin D has been administered, but satisfactory results have not yet been provided.
In mammals such as a cow, the problems on calcium are similar to the foregoing problems in humans. Calcium to be fed to milk of a cow being a mammal is calcium in blood, and migrates from calcium in a feed or from body tissues such as bones. The calcium concentration in blood of a cow which is typical of mammals is usually from 9 to 11 mg/dl. When calcium is supplied in excess, absorption from intestines is decreased, and an excretion amount in feces and urine is increased. Consequently, although calcium in milk is influenced by the type of the cow or milk ingredients, it is maintained approximately in a prescribed amount.
In a cow, the calcium concentration in blood is decreased at a perinatal period before and after calving to show a pathogenic state of hypocalcemia. In hypocalcemia, the calcium concentration in blood is less than 7 mg/dl. When it is less than 5 mg/dl, ananastasia occurs, and a cow is dead in a serious case. It is called milk fever, and approximately 6% of cows are attacked by this disease in the U. S. It is liable to be complicated by mastitis (coliform), displaced abomasum, retained placenta and a metabolic disease such as ketosis. Further, subclinical hypocalcemia which does not lead to occurrence of clinical symptoms takes place in 66% of multiparous cows, and cows immediately after calving are led to inappetence and are susceptible to diseases such as ketosis, retained placenta, displaced abomasum and mastitis. When hypocalcemia continues for a long period of time, the calcium concentration of milk itself might be decreased.
In the cow, the calcium balance is drastically changed from calving by the start-up of lactation. That is, a large amount of calcium is secreted in foremilk by the start-up of lactation, whereas the calcium concentration in blood is decreased. When it is notably decreased, the cow is seized with ananastasia.
As a method of improving hypocalcemia of a cow, application of vitamin D or intravenous administration of a calcium agent to a cow with milk fever has been generally conducted. However, cases in which recovery or maintenance of the calcium concentration in blood is difficult have been known. Lactation ability has been currently increased by genetic modification. Thus, a lactation yield after calving is high. These matters lead to an increase in number of cows with hypocalcemia, induce serious conditions such as ananastasia, and give an adverse effect. It has been required to conquer the calcipenia in cows.
As a management of preventing calcipenia, it has been recommended to restrict calcium and phosphorus in a feed at a dry period (a period without milking from the stop of milking at one lactation period to the date of next delivery). However, it is really impossible to prepare a feed whose calcium concentration is as low as less than 50 g per day. Accordingly, for those skilled in the art, it is now impossible to prevent calcipenia by applying this management to the actual dairy farming.
Further, it is well known that diuretic activity is important for maintaining the health or alleviating diseases in humans. This point is also the same with animals. For example, the diuretic effect is quire important for maintaining the health and alleviating diseases in mammals (ruminants) such as a cow. Specially in a cow before and after calving, udder edema occurs. In a serious case, the nipple is liable to injure and mastitis tends to concur. The mammary suspensory ligament becomes weak, and milking is difficult due to pendulous udder. For therapy of the udder edema the improvement in a control method such as exercise or massage therapy with a diuretic agents surgical operation and the like have been known. However, satisfactory effects have not yet been brought forth.
Meanwhile, as difructose anhydride (DFA) which is an oligosaccharide made of two molecules of fructose coupled together difructose anhydride I (DFA I), difructose anhydride II (DFA II) difructose anhydride III (DFA IIII), difructose anhydride IV (DFA IV) and difructose anhydride V (DFA V) have been known, and structural formulas thereof are as follows.

Regarding DFA III and DFA IV, a calcium absorption accelerating composition containing DFA III as an active ingredient and a calcium absorption accelerating composition containing DFA IV as an active ingredient have been already disclosed respectively (for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). However, the documents do not describe that these compositions are effective for prevention or therapy of calcipenia or edema of mammals. In particular, physiological activity of DFA on ruminants having four stomachs, especially cows has been entirely unknown. Needless to say, it is not indicated at all that DFA is not degraded in these stomachs and is effective for prevention and/or therapy of calcipenia on calcium in blood or calcium in milk and edema and for diuresis.
Moreover, it is entirely unknown that hypocalcemia after delivery is prevented and/or treated by administering DFA before delivery. Thus this is quite a new knowledge to humans and other mammals.
Patent Document 1
    Gazette of Japanese Patent No. 3514955Patent Document 2    Gazette of JP-A-2000-204042

Preventive and/or therapeutic agent for calcipenia

Abstract: In the invention, difructose anhydride (DFA) being a disaccharide made of two molecules of fructose coupled together is administered. In particular, for inhibiting the postpartum drop of the calcium concentration in blood, DFA III and/or DFA IV is administered before childbirth delivery (in a cow, before an expected date of calving). The joint use of a calcium agent or vitamin D is possible as required.


A method of printing an image with an electronically sharpened edge. The method uses an image writing medium to form an image on a substrate. The image is printed using a range of writing medium exposures greater than a standard range. The standard range is the range required to insure that macroscopic areas of the substrate exhibit the full density range of the substrate between Dmin and Dmax. Such printing provides that sharpened edges of the image will be printed with reduced clipping of sharpened edge density. An apparatus for executing the method is also provided.

In electronic processing of signals, particularly video and other image data signals, it is well known to sharpen an image by providing peaking by using a filter which amplifies high frequency portions of the signal. Sharpening then, results in enhanced edges. This sharpening or peaking technique can however result in signals whose amplitude exceeds the available dynamic range of signal functions which occur subsequently to the point where peaking is applied to the signal. For example, the dynamic range of a film on which an electronically sharpened image is printed, may not accommodate the increased dynamic range of the image produced by the sharpening. In such a situation, any sharpening performed on the image may be lost when the image is printed on such film.
Integral images are images where sharpening may be particularly desirable to enhance visual appearance. Integral image elements which use a lenticular lens sheet, fly's eye lens sheet, or barrier strip sheet and a three-dimensional integral image aligned with the sheet, so that a user can view the three-dimensional image without any special glasses or other equipment, are themselves well known. Such imaging elements and their construction, are described in "Three-Dimensional Imaging Techniques" by Takanori Okoshi, Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1976. Integral image elements having a lenticular lens sheet (that is, a sheet with a plurality of adjacent, parallel, elongated, and partially cylindrical lenses) are also described in the following Unites States patents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,254; U.S. Pat. No. 5,424,533; U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,608; U.S. Pat. No. 5,455,689; U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,478; U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,254; U.S. Pat. No. 5,424,533 and others; as well as allowed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/931,744.
Integral image elements with a plurality of views to simulate motion of an object in a scene, rather than a three-dimensional image, are also known. It has also been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,562,941, to move a lenticular image with respect to a lenticular lens sheet so that different images could be viewed from the same location.
Integral image elements with lenticular lens sheets use interlaced vertical image slices which, in the case of a three-dimensional integral image, are aligned with the lenticules so that a three-dimensional image is viewable when the lenticules are vertically oriented with respect to a viewer's eyes. The image may be conveniently laminated (that is, adhered) to an integral or lenticular lens sheet.
Similar integral image elements, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,268,238 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,538,632, can be used to convey a number of individual two-dimensional scenes (such as unrelated scenes or a sequence of scenes depicting motion) rather than one or more three-dimensional images.
Because an integral image uses thin strips or slices from each two-dimensional image, sharpening integral images particularly enhances their perception.
It would be desirable then, to provide a means which allows an image, such as an integral image, to be sharpened particularly using electronic sharpening, and which allows the sharpened image to be reproduced on a suitable media, without losing the enhanced appearance from sharpening.

Method for printing electronically sharpened images


A pinch type control valve uses an elastic sleeve having main flanges at each end of a center pinch section with flange gasket extensions on each end. The flanges of the flange gasket extensions project through metal backing flanges and each cooperates with a machined countersunk annular face groove on such metal backing flanges to pull the flange of the gasket extension radially outwardly as it is compressed. Offset annular beads on the opposite faces of the flange of the gasket extension help in achieving the required radial tensioning regardless of the type of flanging of the system. The annular face groove in the metal flange readily accommodates either flat or raised face pipe flanging. The metal backing flange fits between the main flange and the gasket flange and doesn't require the presence of the valve housing. This enables the sleeve to be tested without complete assembly. The sleeve center section is reinforced from the main flanges through a built up center hat section which forms shoulders substantially abutting but not joined to the root portions of the contiguous main flanges. This provides hinge points for the reinforcement avoiding significant stretch and enabling the center section to be considerably axially shortened. Also disclosed is a method of making the sleeve, the valve, and a method of installing the valve in a pipe system, or sleeve alone for testing.

Pinch valves typically pinch a rubber or elastic sleeve mounted in a fluid conduit system to control flow, completely or partially blocking flow. The sleeve of such valves usually has flanges at each end of the center pinch section. Examples of such sleeves with end flanges are seen, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,268,201, 3,771,758, 3,724,807, 4,172,980, 4,322,054, 4,372,528, 4,492,253 and 4,523,738.
Such flanges serve typically as the gasket sealing each end of the sleeve in a typical flange connection high pressure pipe system. The sleeve flanges are compressed between the standard metal pipe flange on the exterior and an interior metal flange with clamp fasteners passing between the metal flanges and through the sleeve flange. The interior metal flange is usually on the end of the metal valve housing surrounding the sleeve, whether the valve be mechanically or fluid operated.
This mounting system has several major drawbacks. After the sleeve is constructed, in order to test the sleeve, the internal flange must be provided which is usually only provided by building the valve housing around the sleeve and then installing the valve in the flanged connections of the system. If the sleeve is then faulty, this can be a time consuming and expensive proposition. In other words, one usually can't otherwise test the sleeve.
This is particularly true with air operated valves since one usually can't make a seal without installation, or some very expensive jury rig testing machine. Even so, the sleeve flanges still have to be positioned between pipe flanges and compressed.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a sleeve for such valves which could easily be rigged for testing without complete construction and installation of the valve.
Another disadvantage of such construction is when the sleeve flange is sufficiently compressed to make the required seal, the interior of the sleeve will bulge slightly inwardly and create a protrusion into, or restriction in the flow path where none is wanted. Although some protrusions are intentional for certain flow or pressure characteristics as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,528, unintentional restrictions are not desirable, particularly where the medium controlled is a slurry which would tend to abrade the sleeve.
Also, the sleeve flange is often used as the anchor location for belts or reinforcement extending through the center pinch section. The containment of such belt or reinforcement ends, or even special anchors as seen in prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,523,738, compromises the function of the flange as a sealing gasket, and vice versa.
The sleeve flange, in part because of its containment of belts, reinforcements or anchors isn't usually suitable for connection with more than one type of pipe flanging. For example, the most common pipe flangings used are flat faced and raised face. A raised face flange connection includes a slightly raised ring on one flange face which telescopes into a socket on the mating flange face. Using a conventional pinch sleeve flange for both types of connection may result in a poor connection and/or damage to the sleeve contributing to early failure and shortening the useful life of the sleeve. Although it is possible to use additional gasketing or to design the sleeve flange for a specific type of system pipe flanging, this creates multiple economic problems.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a pinch valve which can readily be incorporated in a system without regard to the type of system pipe flanging, without additional gaskets, without compromising the pinch section reinforcement, and without creating bulges, protrusions or distortions in the flow path, particularly at the valve ports.
The use of such belts and reinforcements which extend into the sleeve flanges creates a number of design problems for such pinch or control valves. The fabric used for such belts or reinforcements must normally stretch 15 to 20% to achieve complete and proper closure of the valve. This stretching or tension creates wear points at the root of the flanges since the fabric wants to pull inwardly or toward the center as it goes around the corner at the root of the flange. To avoid this problem, pinch sleeve sections are normally longer than they would otherwise be since the longer the pinch section, the less stretch is required to achieve proper closure. While this may somewhat obviate the corner wear problem, it creates a pinch control valve which is longer than the ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standards for a comparable gate valve. This is particularly true for larger size valves. This then means that special fabrication and sections are required to incorporate a pinch control valve into a system. Such systems are considerably less expensive to design and erect if standard parts and lengths can be used. The lack of adherence to ANSI standards can mean the selection of a less efficient or effective valve solely for cost considerations.
It would accordingly be desirable to have a reinforced pinch valve sleeve where the stretch or tension problem is avoided not only avoiding the wear problems encountered, but also enabling the center pinch section to be shorter than normal so that the overall size of the sleeve and valve matches the ANSI standards for comparable gate valves.

Control valve and method of making and installing


A ceramic wall-flow filter for filtering particulate matter from gases and methods for manufacturing such wall-flow filters are disclosed. The filter includes an array of porous ceramic walls defining a pattern of end-plugged inlet and outlet cells, and heat absorbing elements disposed within at least some of the outlet cells such that a bulk heat capacity of the outlet cells is greater than a bulk capacity of the inlet cells. The heat absorbing elements increase a bulk heat capacity of the filter without substantially interfering with a flow of gas through the porous ceramic walls by allowing thinner walls. According to the method, during the step of extruding or thereafter, heat absorbing elements are formed within at least some of the outlet cells such that a heat capacity of the outlet cells is greater than the inlet cells.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a filter having a multi-cellular structure. In particular, the present invention is directed to a wall-flow filter for trapping diesel exhaust particulates and methods for manufacturing such filters.
2. Technical Background
Wall-flow filters are used in the purification of diesel exhaust. Typically, such diesel particulate filters are made of cordierite or silicon carbide and include a honeycomb body having thin interconnecting porous walls which are arranged and configured to form parallel cells longitudinally extending between the end faces of the structure. Alternating cells on one end face of the honeycomb are plugged with a ceramic filler material to form a "checkerboard" pattern. The pattern is reversed on the opposite side so that the ends of each cell are blocked at only one end of the structure. When diesel exhaust gas enters the filter through one end face (i.e., inlet end), it is forced to pass through the thin porous walls and exits through the opposite end face (i.e., outlet end) thereby filtering particulates carried in the exhaust gas.
Various filters having honeycomb structures are known in the art. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,329,162; 4,415,344; 4,416,676; 4,417,908; and 4,420,316 discuss cordierite wall-flow diesel particulate filter designs. U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,187 discusses silicon carbide wall-flow diesel particulate filters. U.S. Pat. No. 6,696,132 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,843,822 disclose honeycomb structures for a filter in which the cells have non-equal cross sections, the larger cross section of the inlets allowing increased capacity for storing carbonaceous soot and ash particulates.
The application of such a filter in the exhaust gas stream causes a pressure drop in the gas that is filtered therethrough. Thus, presence of the filter results in a fuel penalty since additional work must be done by the engine to push the exhaust gas through the filter. Since it is desirable to minimize such parasitic losses, filter designs having low pressure drop are preferred. The pressure drop may be minimized by making the ceramic walls of the filter thin. A disadvantage with this approach is that, for a given soot loading level, a regeneration event will result in higher maximum temperatures for a filter with thin walls. This can result in damage to the filter, including catalyst deactivation, or cracking, or even melting of the filter.
In particular, as the exhaust passes through the filter, particulate matter (i.e., carbon soot and ashes) accumulates on the wall of the cells or in the pores of the wall and forms a soot layer. These particulates decrease the effective diameter of the cells and further contribute to the pressure drop across the filter, thereby increasing the back pressure that acts against the engine exhaust. The carbon soot can be burned off during a regeneration process in which the filter is heated sufficiently to initiate combustion of the carbon soot layer. Normally, during regeneration, the temperature in the filter rises from about 400-600° C. to a maximum of about 800-1000° C. Under certain circumstances, a so-called "uncontrolled regeneration" can occur when the onset of combustion coincides with, or is immediately followed by, high oxygen content and low flow rates in the exhaust gas. During an uncontrolled regeneration, the combustion of the soot may produce temperature spikes within the filter which can thermally shock and crack, or even melt, the filter.
Thus, the filters must be sufficiently durable to withstand such high temperatures experienced during regeneration. Correspondingly, whereas reduction in the wall thickness of the cells can reduce back pressure, this solution is not optimal in view of the fact that the durability is reduced as a result. Further, whereas increased wall thickness of the cells is desirable to increase the durability of the filter, such increased wall thickness also undesirably increases the backpressure.
In view of the above, there exists an unfulfilled need for a ceramic wall-flow filter that has thin filtration wall so as to minimize the pressure drop, but that has the durability to avoid potential damage during regeneration processes.

Ceramic wall-flow filter including heat absorbing elements and methods of manufacturing same


A liquid ejecting apparatus includes an image buffer which stores image data, a memory, a liquid ejecting head which ejects a liquid droplet therefrom based on the image data, and a head control unit which transfers the image data stored in the image buffer to the memory, and transfers the image data for each color stored in the memory to the liquid ejecting head. The head control unit transfers first null data to the liquid ejecting head before start of the transfer of the image data from the memory to the liquid ejecting head. The head control unit transfers the null data to the liquid ejecting head after end of transfer of the image data from the memory to the liquid ejecting head.

The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus and a method of transferring image data, and in particular to a liquid ejecting apparatus that sequentially transfers image data, which are stored in an image buffer, to a liquid ejecting head to perform liquid ejecting processing and a method of transferring image data.
Recently, for example, a printer of an ink jet system has been known as one of printing apparatuses. In recent years, even if such a printer is not connected to a host computer such as a personal computer, the printer alone can perform print processing as a so-called standalone machine. In the printer of this type, a series of image processing such as color conversion processing and binarization processing is realized by, for example, a control ASIC that is connected to a CPU via a bus. A memory (e.g., SDRAM), from which the ASIC can read data and in which the ASIC can write data directly, is connected to this control ASIC. An image buffer or the like for storing respective image data (specifically, dot data indicating presence or absence of a dot format) supplied to a print head is established using this memory.
In such a printer, the image data stored in the image buffer are read in a memory (e.g., SDRAM, hereinafter referred to as "CPU memory"), from which the CPU can read data and in which the CPU can write data directly, once under control of the CPU and, then, sequentially transferred to the print head. On the basis of the respective color image data received in this way, the print head discharges ink droplets of the respective colors from nozzles corresponding to the colors to thereby form an image.
However, in the related constitution described above, there are following problems.
First, since the transfer of the image data to the print head is performed on the basis of the control of the CPU, there is a problem in that a processing load on the CPU increases. The printers in recent years are desired to have more functions and more complicated functions. Therefore, it is desirable to reduce processing executed by the CPU as much as possible.
Second, when the transfer of the image data is performed on the basis of the control of the CPU in this way, there is a problem in that head gaps of the print head are limited to a fixed value. Specifically, the head gaps are formed among nozzle rows corresponding to the respective colors in the print head. Therefore, in order to form (hit) ink dots discharged from the respective color nozzles in a position of an identical pixel on a print medium, it is necessary to give null data (data having "0" in all bits) to the image data of the respective colors and transfer the image data in an attempt to fill such head gaps. In other words, it is necessary to shift timing for transferring the image data of the respective colors for each color in association with the head gaps (this is called null gap).
When such data transfer is performed on the basis of the control of the CPU, the CPU has to manage the transfer of the image data for the respective colors collectively. Thus, in order to transfer the image data without decreasing processing efficiency of the CPU as much as possible, the head gaps are limited to a fixed value that depends on a size of the image data sequentially read in the CPU memory.
In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to adopt a method of giving null data of a predetermined transfer amount, which corresponds to the head gaps, to the image data in advance and storing the null data in the image buffer. However, this method is not suitable because a size of the image buffer is increases.

Liquid ejecting apparatus and method of transferring image data


A paperboard container is provided with a plurality of internal vertically extending triangular-shaped columns and on the top edges of the columns there is a design feature which allows the edges to be relieved thereby forming inclined edges to reduce package tearing or product damage. The inclined edge can be provided either when the container is erected by a machine or later by hand depending upon the selected design.

This invention relates generally to corrugated paperboard containers that have triangular shaped reinforcing columns within the interior and contain bagged items during shipment. More particularly, the invention relates to an improvement in the columns to reduce or eliminate bag tearing and to protect product during packing or shipment without reducing the reinforcement afforded by the columns.
There are many known paperboard container designs that utilize a substantially triangular-shaped column or post for enhancing the stacking strength. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,159,326 to Stonebanks, there is illustrated a substantially rectangular paperboard container that has a plurality of upstanding triangular-shaped columns spaced along the side walls on the interior of the container. These posts extend from the bottom surface to the top surface and provide enhanced stacking strength when a plurality of containers are stacked one atop another. A similar vertical triangular-shaped post is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,033 to Haisell, II et al. assigned to the Mead Corporation of Dayton, Ohio. In the Haisell, II et al. patent a plurality of triangular-shaped vertically extending posts are illustrated as being spaced about the walls on the interior of a paperboard container.
In both of these examples the top edges of the posts are substantially in a horizontal plane with the edges of the paper material being exposed.
A problem has been detected in the use of the triangular-shaped posts when bagged materials are packed within the corrugated paperboard container. The relatively sharp horizontal exposed edges of the tops of the triangular posts have oftentimes caused plastic bags and the like to rip thereby allowing product to become contaminated or to be spilled during the course of shipment. Additionally, sometimes produce or fruit is damaged, if not placed into bags, as they are packed in containers with relatively sharp triangular shaped posts. It thus became apparent an improvement was needed that reduced the problem with bag tearing or product harm without sacrificing the enhanced stacking strength provided by the triangular-shaped vertically extending posts. It was found that through the use of the present invention tearing can readily be eliminated without sacrificing stacking strength.
Accordingly, from the foregoing, one object of the present invention is to reduce bag tearing when utilizing vertically extending triangular-shaped posts within the interior of a paperboard container.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide triangular-shaped posts that eliminate the problem with tearing while maintaining substantially the same enhanced stacking strength.
These and other objects of the present invention will become better understood upon referring to the specification to follow in conjunction with the attached drawings.


An automated medication preparation system for preparing a prescribed dosage of medication in a drug delivery device. The system includes a plurality of stations for receiving, handling and processing the drug delivery device so that the prescribed dosage of medication is delivered to the drug delivery device and a transporting device that receives and holds more than one drug delivery device and moves the drug delivery devices in a controlled manner from one station to another station. The system is configured so that two or more separate drug delivery devices can be acted upon at the same time.

Disposable syringes are in widespread use for a number of different types of applications. For example, syringes are used not only to withdraw a fluid (e.g., blood) from a patient but also to administer a medication to a patient. In the latter, a cap or the like is removed from the syringe and a unit dose of the medication is carefully measured and then injected or otherwise disposed within the syringe.
As technology advances, more and more sophisticated, automated systems are being developed for preparing and delivering medications by integrating a number of different stations, with one or more specific tasks being performed at each station. For example, one type of exemplary automated system operates as a syringe filling apparatus that receives user inputted information, such as the type of medication, the volume of the medication and any mixing instructions, etc. The system then uses this inputted information to disperse the correct medication into the syringe up to the inputted volume.
In some instances, the medication that is to be delivered to the patient includes more than one pharmaceutical substance. For example, the medication can be a mixture of several components, such as several pharmaceutical substances.
By automating the medication preparation process, increased production and efficiency are achieved. This results in reduced production costs and also permits the system to operate over any time period of a given day with only limited operator intervention for manual inspection to ensure proper operation is being achieved. Such a system finds particular utility in settings, such as large hospitals, including a large number of doses of medications that must be prepared daily. Traditionally, these doses have been prepared manually in what is an exacting but tedious responsibility for a highly skilled staff. In order to be valuable, automated systems must maintain the exacting standards set by medical regulatory organizations, while at the same time simplifying the overall process and reducing the time necessary for preparing the medications.
Because syringes are used often as the carrier means for transporting and delivering the medication to the patient, it is advantageous for these automated systems to be tailored to accept syringes. However, the previous methods of dispersing the medication from the vial and into the syringe were very time consuming and labor intensive. More specifically, medications and the like are typically stored in a vial that is sealed with a safety cap or the like. In conventional medication preparation, a trained person retrieves the correct vial from a storage cabinet or the like, confirms the contents and then removes the safety cap manually. This is typically done by simply popping the safety cap off with one's hands. Once the safety cap is removed, the trained person inspects the integrity of the membrane and cleans the membrane. An instrument, e.g., a needle, is then used to pierce the membrane and withdraw the medication contained in the vial. The withdrawn medication is then placed into a syringe to permit subsequent administration of the medication from the syringe.
If the medication needs' to be reconstituted, the medication initially comes in a solid form and is contained in an injectable drug vial and then the proper amount of diluent is added and the vial is agitated to ensure that all of the solid goes into solution, thereby providing a medication having the desired concentration. The drug vial is typically stored in a drug cabinet or the like and is then delivered to other stations where it is processed to receive the diluent.
What is needed in the art and has heretofore not been available is a system and method for automating the medication preparation process and more specifically, an automated system and method for preparing a syringe including the filling of medication therein, as well as a number of safety and communication features and user interfaces that improve the safety and proficiency of the process.

Automated drug preparation apparatus including syringe loading, preparation and filling


A self-supporting tent support framework. The framework includes a number of support poles that interconnect at hinge, clevis/saddle and T/collar couplers to adjustably support the poles. The couplers retain the poles at user established angular orientations in multiple planes to support an overlying fabric cover. Each hinge coupler includes a pair of hinge pieces having a tubular sleeve body, an end collar that receives a transecting pivot pole and projecting wing arms overlap and fasten to support body mounted poles at an adjustable splay angle. Each clevis/saddle coupler includes a tubular sleeve body having depending parallel clevis arms that pivotally secure a pole to the clevis arms relative to a pole fitted to the sleeve body. Each T/collar coupler includes a tubular sleeve body and a pair of displaced, parallel coaxially projecting end collars having enclosed transverse coaxial through bores to adjustably support a T-aligned pole section.

The present invention relates to tent support framework systems and, in particular, to a multi-sectional tubular self-supporting framework assembly wherein a plurality of tubular pole pieces or sections are secured together with appropriate radially adjustable hinge couplers, in-line clevis/saddle couplers and "T or collar" couplers that longitudinally and transversely interconnect the tubular pole pieces to define a desired support framework.
With the increasing popularity of outdoor activities, a resurgence of interest has occurred in the camping industry. A variety of designs for stable, collapsible frame tents have evolved to meet this demand. Such tents are designed to meet the needs of a variety of users from backpackers, to weekend campers, who camp from their vehicle, to outfitted camps that are established in remote sites from horseback or four-wheeled vehicles.
Many tent support frames utilize a number of small diameter (i.e. less than ½ inch) poles constructed of fiberglass, aluminum or high strength materials. The poles frequently contain elastic shock cords and typically mount through fabric loops or to sleeves or clips secured to the tent fabric. With the assembly of the poles to define a framework, a fabric tent is draped over the frame and held taught with suitable fasteners. Some small tents provide self-contained support poles, which are permanently retained to the tent fabric.
Other or so-called "sheep herder or wall" tents have also shared in the resurgence of interest in camping. Historically, such tents were used by nomadic sheep herders, although wall tents are used to bivouac military and other personnel living and working from remote temporary sites. Tents offering comparable functionality are frequently used by recreating families and groups of hunters and fishermen for multi-day, base camps. The tents provide relatively large open floor living spaces that are heated with wood or gas stoves and contain various camp support furnishings in a weather protected setting. The fabric and other coverings for tents of this type however are relatively heavy and require a strong framework. Preferably the framework assembles with minimal effort and parts and provides multiple wind and snow stabilizing supports. Preferably too the support framework is modular and able to accommodate different arrangements of the support pieces.
Traditionally, the support framework for wall tents was mounted external to the fabric. More recently, internal frame support systems have been developed to more efficiently perform the same function with re-usable, lightweight tubular poles. These internal frame systems can also be used with one or more sections of tarpaulins to construct temporary weatherproof shelters such as for team sporting events or outdoor display/sale stalls for crafts, vegetables etc.
One such support system is described at U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,698. Rigid sleeve couplers are provided which retain pole sections that can be rotated in the sleeves. Although the '698 system adequately supports a tent and is susceptible to volume production with modular couplers, the couplers do not readily accommodate cabin style tents.
Another support system is disclosed at U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,238. This assembly provides hinged couplers which contain end support poles at a defined orientation to each other. Guy ropes, in turn, support the end frames and an overlying fabric cover. The couplers support the poles only in a single plane and are not able to contain longitudinal support poles, which are desired in a self-supporting framework.
Other couplers used in self-supporting frames are known which provide multiple sleeve segments that are welded at defined orientations to each other. A number of different types of couplers specific to each joint type are thus required to configure a desired framework. Correspondingly, it is necessary to stock a large variety of parts designed for each specific joint location, for example, inside/outside corners with defined angular orientations, straight couplers, T-couplers for horizontal ridge pole sections and associated vertical supports etc. Interconnecting pole pieces mount in the sleeves at specific structural locations and tarp(s) or a sewn contoured tent of a mating shape are fitted over the tubular frame skeleton.
To overcome the necessity of inventorying multiple parts and other logistics problems, a radially adjustable coupler was developed by applicant and is shown at U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,698. Such couplers are used in a variety of tent constructions including those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,114.
Couplers of the '698 type are used in frame systems constructed with several new coupler pieces of the present invention to facilitate construction of improved modular frameworks. The subject couplers were developed to provide flexibility and enhance the construction of wall-type tents and shelters.
The new improved couplers of the present invention were developed to enhance a user's options to tailor design a user's preferred tent support framework. The present invention provides for novel in-line clevis/saddle couplers that pivotally support pinned tubular pieces at any desired angular orientation between the ground or another coupler secured to an opposite end of the tubular section. Also disclosed is an "T or collar" coupler that can be used as an end fitting and that orthogonally pivots about a transecting interconnected pole piece. Hinged couplers providing adjustable and locked splay angles are also disclosed.
The improved couplers can be cast from aluminum, stainless steel or other suitable materials. The couplers are constructed to combine with interconnected tubular support pole pieces of 1 to 1½-inch diameter to form a strong, wind resistant support system for a canvas cover.
The present clevis/saddle, T/collar and hinge couplers are cast from appropriate metals and materials (e.g. aluminum, stainless steel etc.) to accommodate supported loads. The bores of the sleeves, collars and clevis saddles can be sized as desired to contain the coupled tubular pole pieces that radiate from the couplers. The poles can either be cut-to-length or can be mounted to telescope.


A method in a transducer assembly having an external-device interface coupled to a communication protocol interface of the transducer assembly. The transducer assembly is configured to convert an input signal having one physical form to an output signal having a different physical form. At least two electrical signals are received on corresponding contacts of the external-device interface of the transducer assembly. A characteristic of at least one of the electrical signals is determined by evaluating a logic transition of the signal. A unique identity assigned to the transducer assembly is determined based on the characteristic.

Electroacoustic transducers, like speakers and microphones, having digital interfaces are known generally and provide a better signal-to-noise ratio and RF immunity than devices with analog interfaces. For example, digital microphones are used in numerous applications, such as portable communication devices including smartphones etc., where improved noise immunity provides a better user experience. The digital interface of these and other transducers is generally compliant with a single standardized communication protocol so that the transducer can exchange data and control information when connected to a host device.
The various aspects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon consideration of the following Detailed Description and the accompanying drawings described below.


Two halves of a separable wrist coil provide a coil volume closely conforming to a patient's hand yet separable for insertion and removal of the hand. The halves are hinged allowing easy one-handed operation of the coil in which an operator may stabilize the patient's hand within a propositioned coil with one hand while closing the coil and locking it in position with the other. Detents and a manual lock assist in this process.

The field of the invention is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and, in particular, local coils for use in MRI of the wrist.
In MRI, a uniform magnetic field B0 is applied to an imaged object to align the object's nuclear spins along a z-axis. In response to a radio frequency (RF) excitation signal of the proper frequency oriented within the x-y plane, the nuclei precess about the z-axis.
In a typical imaging sequence for magnetic resonance imaging, the precessing nuclear spins are then phase and frequency encoded according to their positions, using magnetic gradient fields. A weak nuclear magnetic resonance generated by the precessing nuclei may then be sensed by the RF coil and recorded as an NMR signal. From this NMR signal for a series of such signal acquisitions with different phase encodings, a slice image may be derived according to well-known reconstruction techniques in which the phase and frequency encoding is used to map NMR signal strength to different locations in the image.
The RF excitation and the NMR signal may be transmitted and received respectively by means of one or more RF coils. Improvements in the signal to noise ratio of the received NMR signal can be obtained by placing "local coils" on the patient. The local coil having a smaller reception pattern can focus in on the region of interest to obtain a stronger signal and to receive less noise. Phased array RF coils are multiple loop local coils whose outputs are processed separately and are electrically independent.
Desirably, a local coil may be "wrapped" about a portion of the body so that the volume within the local coil conforms closely to the imaged part. One way of accomplishing this is the use of flexible coils having thin copper conductors held in fabric-like panels that may be literally wrapped about the patient.
Coils with rigid structure can also be used but for such coils the ability to have the local coil closely conform to the patient is limited by the ability of the patient to thread his or her limb into the coils structure. For this reason, it is known to construct coils, for example, for imaging the hand or wrist, in two parts that may be separated from each other along a seam line so that the hand may be inserted, and then reassembled using several clamps holding the two parts together about the limb. Such coils provide good support for the antenna structure and the patient's limb but can be cumbersome for the MRI operator who must contend with positioning the patient and manipulating the loose part of the coil into alignment and managing the clamps necessary to hold the pieces together.

Wrist coil for magnetic resonance imaging


An apparatus for providing a two point phase/frequency modulation system is disclosed herein. The apparatus includes a first network configured to introduce an offset to center a signal applied to a VCO. The apparatus further includes a second network configured to set a gain of the VCO. A phase tracking network is configured to dynamically adjust the offset and the gain.

Phase modulation schemes are very effective and are therefore widely used in communication systems. A simple example of a phase modulation scheme is quaternary phase shift keying (QPSK). FIG. 1 shows a constellation diagram that illustrates how QPSK maps two-bit digital data to one of four phase offsets. FIG. 2 shows a typical QPSK (or I/Q) modulator used to generate a phase-modulated signal. This technique relies on orthogonal signal vectors to realize the phase offsets—an inherently linear technique, since it depends solely on the matching of these orthogonal signals.
The I/Q modulator provides a straightforward approach to generating phase-modulated signals. But, it is also possible to generate the phase-modulated signals using a phase-locked loop. This approach offers reduced circuitry, lowers power consumption, and as a result, finds widespread use in narrowband systems. A variation of this approach, known as two-point modulation, introduces direct modulation of a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) to support wideband phase modulation. Unfortunately, this requires the gain of the VCO to be accurately set—a difficult task since the VCO gain depends on multiple factors. It would therefore be advantageous to have a system to accurately set the gain of a VCO.


A system for testing substation circuit breakers while the circuit breakers are grounded on both sides using a ground clamp probe electrically connected to one side of the circuit breaker contacts, where the ground clamp probe provides a means of interfacing standard test equipment to the circuit breaker without removing either safety ground, and analyzing the circuit breaker and outputting the results to a technician on a display.

Typical power substation circuit breakers are used to open or close 3-phase power lines to energize or de-energize a city block or bigger load. The utility companies service the circuit breakers, but before they can put them back in service, they need to insure that the circuit breakers perform within their specified operating parameters. One such operating parameter is the contact opening and closing time (in milliseconds).
Before the utility personnel can even touch the circuit breaker, they must take the circuit breaker off the transmission line (by opening the circuit breaker) and isolating it. One of the safety requirements is to put safety grounds on both sides of the circuit breaker contact. These safety grounds eliminate any static discharge in the circuit breaker contact so that the personnel will not get shocked when they touch the circuit breaker. Additionally, these grounds are used to conduct any line power close to the circuit breaker while the personnel are working. The ground will take the line power to ground and create a fault (over current) on the transmission line. In this case, the protection system will de-energize the entire circuit and hopefully save the crew.
Current methods of testing substation circuit breakers generally involve testing an "off-line" circuit breaker by applying a voltage or current source to the circuit breaker contacts, electrically energizing the breaker, and measuring the voltage and/or current at the circuit breaker terminals. Open, close, open-close, close-open, or open-close-open timing characteristics can then be derived based upon the timing of the voltages and currents at the circuit breaker terminals with respect to the initiation sequence. An open pair of circuit breaker contacts is indicated by the presence of voltage and the absence of current at the circuit breaker terminals, while a closed pair of circuit breaker contacts will be indicated by the absence of voltage and the presence of current at the circuit breaker terminals.
However, safety practices currently in place in many substation environments require that each terminal of the circuit breaker be physically connected to earth ground with a low-resistance shunt while the circuit breaker is not in use (i.e. "offline"). These earth grounds present a short-circuit condition to the traditional test equipment, and therefore the circuit breaker always looks to be in the closed state. In practice, it is necessary to remove at least one of the safety grounds from the circuit breaker prior to testing, and to reinstall the ground(s) after testing is complete. This procedure is not desirable as it introduces a possibility that the ground may not be reconnected after the test, presenting a safety hazard.
Therefore there is a need for a system that tests substation circuit breakers while the circuit breakers are grounded on both sides providing increased safety.


A processor having multiple functional units. The processor is capable of executing multiple instructions concurrently. An instruction issuing unit is connected to a mechanism for handling an interrupt of the processor. The interrupt handler has an instruction window (IW), which includes a vector element number (VEN) field that indicates the uncompleted elements to be executed. Upon termination of the interrupt, normal processing of the instruction issuing unit continues.

The present invention relates to interrupt handlers and, more particularly, to interrupt handlers for processors having the capability of executing instructions out-of-order.
In the field of data processing, when multiple instructions are executed or issued concurrently within a given machine cycle, throughput is enhanced by the use of multiple functional units. An exemplary system for issuing multiple instructions concurrently is shown and described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,115, herein incorporated by reference. This positive effect on throughout due to issuing multiple instructions is improved to an even greater degree when instructions are issued nonsequentially.
Of course, to sustain multiple instruction issuances per machine cycle, the data path must be widened to carry more than one instruction at a time.
All processors are expected to handle interrupts promptly and efficiently. The three basic interrupt types encountered by processors are external interrupts, exception traps and software traps.
External interrupts are generated from or by the environment (i.e., from process control, transaction processing, a process time-out, a printer, a terminal or the like).
Exception traps are generated by occurrences of certain events in the system (i.e., divide by zero, overflow or illegal operations). In general, these traps require a program abort, and indicate a program error or a machine malfunction. In some cases, these traps are used as conditional processing. Therefore, an interrupt handler is written for each specific situation.
Software traps are instruction-initiated interrupt requests. These traps provide a basis for controlling certain software applications.
When an interrupt request is received, the processor must save its processor state precisely, then load and execute an appropriate interrupt handler. Upon completion of the interrupt handling routine, the saved processor state is restored and the interrupted process can then resume.
From the foregoing discussion, it is clear that a processor state should contain enough information so that the interrupted process can be restarted, preferably at the precise point where it was interrupted. To be able to resume an interrupted process, the processor state should include the contents of the general purpose registers, the program counter, the condition register, all index registers and the main memory.
Conventionally, in order to identify the point at which a process is interrupted, the address of a specific instruction, say instruction I, is saved when the processor state is saved. All instructions that precede instruction I have been executed, while instruction I and those following it have not been executed. Instruction I thus provides a precise interrupt point.
Due to the very nature of multiple instruction execution, however, two or more instructions at different stages of execution may be interrupted. It is thus an ongoing and particularly vexing problem to handle an interruption while retaining the benefits of calculations that have been completed. Although multiple interrupts may be received at the same time, they must be prioritized and handled one at a time, even though the interrupt handler itself may be interrupted.
As hereinabove mentioned, conventionally the specific instruction at which processing is temporarily halted is pinpointed. This is called a precise interrupt. Unfortunately, such a simplistic interrupt mechanism is not suitable for use with an out-of-order execution machine. Since instructions issued may not be contiguous in an out-of-order execution machine, a conventional interrupt handling mechanism simply will not be appropriate.
The Model No. 6600 system manufactured by Control Data Corp. maintains a scratch pad or "SCOREBOARD" to resolve dependency conflicts among instructions in an instruction stream, and to allow these instructions to complete out-of-order. The so-called "exchange jump" is the mechanism by which the CPU handles interrupts. If the exchange jump sequence is requested, the CPU is permitted to issue instructions up to, but not including, the next instruction word. All issued instructions are allowed to run to completion. The CPU registers are then interchanged with the data stored in the exchange package. The CPU is restarted at the location specified by the new contents of the program address register. Since the machine must wait for two instructions to be issued and completed before the interrupt can be serviced, on average this approach exacts a penalty in latency (the time between receiving an interrupt request and saving the processor state).
In the Model No. 360/91 system manufactured by IBM Corp., reservation stations and a common data bus (CDB) are employed to enhance performance. Upon receipt of a precise interrupt request or a trap, instruction decoding is temporarily halted and all issued instructions are allowed to complete, thereby resulting in considerable latency. If an imprecise interrupt is generated via internal processing, the state of the system is lost, in which case the system cannot be properly restarted.
In the case of the Model No. CRAY-1 system manufactured by Cray Research, Inc., when an interrupt is received, instruction issue is temporarily terminated and all vector and memory bank references are allowed to complete. The interrupt handler is loaded and executed in a similar manner to that employed by the aforementioned CDC Model No. 6600 system. The CRAY-1 processor must wait for two instructions to complete, on average, before the processor state can be saved. However, as the CRAY-1 processor supports complex vector operations, the latency (in cycles) between receipt of the interrupt request and subsequent exception processing may be longer than that of the CDC 6600 processor.
More recently, machines which allow out-of-order instruction issuance, concurrent execution and out-of-order instruction completion have been proposed. In the High Performance Substrate (HPS) system, the dynamic instruction stream is used to maintain a data dependency graph derived from an instruction window. Instructions are scheduled in a sequential manner and retired serially at a maximum rate of one per cycle. In order to respond to interrupt requests, checkpointing has been proposed to allow precise interrupt handling. The checkpoints are used to divide the sequential instruction stream into smaller units to reduce the cost of "repair". A minimum of two checkpoints and hence two additional states are required.
The foregoing approach degrades the performance of the system, both in processor speed and in the time required to restore to a consistent processor state upon receiving an interrupt request. The speed of the system, and thus its performance, is slowed down by the movement of state information as the states change, and by the additional read instructions which must precede all instructions that alter the memory. The memory must be adjusted to a consistent state every time an interrupt request is received.
One of the simplest precise interrupt mechanisms is the in-order instruction completion method, as discussed in "Implementing Precise Interrupts in Pipelined Processors" by J. E. Smith and A. R. Pleszkun, IEEE Trans. Computer, vol. C-37, no. 5, pp. 562-573 (May 1988). An instruction is allowed to modify the process state when all preceding instructions are certain to be allowed to complete. A reorder buffer is added so that instructions are permitted to complete out-of-order. Instructions are reordered before they are permitted to modify the process state. History buffer and future files can reduce performance degradation, but the additional registers and their requisite data paths impose added cost and exact a performance penalty.
It would be advantageous to provide a system for handling interruptions of a machine capable of processing out-of-order instructions.
It would be advantageous to provide a system for interrupt handling in a machine that processes two or more instructions concurrently.
It would also be advantageous to retain computations performed for each instruction of a group of instructions, executed concurrently, when the processor is interrupted while instructions are being issued out-of-order.
It would also be advantageous to be able to interrupt vector operations without losing any results obtained, or corrupting the calculations.
It would also be advantageous to restart a vector operation at the completion of the interrupt handling sequence.
It would also be advantageous to provide such a system having the attributes of short latency and relative simplicity.

Machine for processing interrupted out-of-order instructions


An information recording medium includes a file for storing object data consisting of a plurality of packets and a file for storing, as its reproduction control information, (i) correspondence definition information for defining relationship between a plurality of packets and a plurality of partial streams multiplexed on the time axis and (ii) reproduction output group definition information for defining as the reproduction output group a set of partial streams which can be switched among the plurality of partial streams. The partial streams include a plurality of channel streams wherein audio information on plural channels is recorded in one stream. The reproduction output group definition information defines the reproduction output group in such a way that a plurality of channel streams can redundantly belong to it. The reproduction output group to which plural channel streams redundantly belong is added by channel specification information.

DVDs become common as optical discs onto which various information such as video information (i.e. main picture information), audio information, sub-picture information, reproduction control information and so on is recorded. According to a DVD standard, the video information (video data), the audio information (audio data) and the sub-picture information (sub-picture data) are packetized each with the reproduction control information (navigation data) and multi-recorded onto a disc in a program stream format of MPEG 2 (Moving Picture Experts Group phase 2), which is a high performance encoding technology. Among them, the video information has data, which is compressed in a MPEG video format (ISO 13818-2), for one stream in one program stream. On the other hand, the audio information is recorded in a plurality of formats (i.e. linear PCM, AC-3, MPEG audio and so on) and has data for up to 8 streams in one program stream. The sub-picture information is defined by a bitmap, and is compressed and recorded in a run length method, and has data for up to 32 streams in one program stream. In the case of the DVD, as described above, a plurality of streams of the selectable audio information (e.g. streams of a stereo sound, a surrounding sound, an original English sound, a dubbed Japanese sound, and the like) and a plurality of streams of the selectable sub-picture information (e.g. streams of Japanese caption, English caption, and the like) are multiplexed and recorded in the program stream format, for one stream of the video information in one movie or film, for example.
On the other hand, a transport stream of MPEG2 standard is coming to be standardized, which is suitable for a data transfer with higher speed and higher volume. According to the transport stream format, a plurality of elementary streams is transferred at the same time, with a far higher transfer rate compared to the program stream format. For example, a plurality of programs, such as a plurality of satellite digital broadcasting channels in one satellite radio wave, is transmitted at the same time in a TDM (Time Division Multiplex) scheme. That is, in the transport stream format, a plurality of videos each having a great amount of data can be multiplexed in the TDM scheme and transferred at the same time. For example, a plurality of movies to be recorded onto a plurality of DVD's or the like can be transferred at the same time.
On the other hand, the audio information in a dual mono format is broadly used in a field of TV broadcasting. The audio information in the dual mono scheme may be information in which Japanese sound as the main audio and English sound as the sub-audio are streamed into one stream, which may be transferred or recorded usually as one signal. Therefore, also as for DVD's, the audio stream in the dual mono format may exist, in addition to the linear PCM or the like, as one of audio streams mentioned above, in the program stream.

Information recording medium, information recording device and method, information reproduction device and method, information recording/reproduction device and method, computer program for controlling recording or reproduction, and data structure containing control signal


The invention refers to a method for a screening device and a screening device (1), for a cellular communication system comprising a user equipment, UE, (UE) in a cellular network The invention is characterized in the screening device (1) is arranged to generate a pulsed first signal (S1) being matched to screen a control channel (S, F, B) in a second signal (S2) generated in the cellular network.

In the field of mobile communication systems it is known to use mobile telephones (cellular phones) and other devices using means for wireless communication, hereinafter abbreviated UE for User equipment. The UE has an omni directional antenna sending out signals in a spherical pattern to a terrestrial system. The terrestrial system is built up from a number of cells managed by a number of base stations connected to ground antennas covering each cell. The ground antennas are normally not omni directional, but restricted to an azimuth angle giving a horizontal sector and an altitude angle giving a vertical sector.
The UEs communicate with that base station having the best communication parameters for the moment. When the communication parameters are altered for the worse, for example when the UE moves away from the base station and migrates to another cell, the UE moves from the weaker base station to a neighbouring base station with better communication parameters.
Cellular networks are sustained by a pattern of adjacent cells of radio coverage. First generation (1G) systems, such as NMT, AMPS, etc. and second generation (2G) system, such as GSM, utilize different frequencies to separate neighboring cells whereas UMTS using CDMA apply logical coding to achieve cell separation. The 2G systems uses TDMA to separate different users in the cell. The reason for using different frequencies and codes respectively is to minimise interference problems for UEs in neighbouring cells.
However, the numbers of frequencies are limited why the cellular pattern has to be repeated in a larger area, in order to use the same frequency a number of times.
Today there is no method to prevent a mobile from initiating access to any network it has previously been granted access to on a national/operator level. If the home operator has a roaming agreement with an operator in another country the UE may then be able to interconnect anywhere while within radio coverage of that operator's network.
Even without this approval, all GSM UEs, shall be allowed to make emergency calls in any network while within coverage, why some interaction will take place unless measures are made.
There are some situations when a government, the operator of the network or others, like to prevent a UE to interact with the home network or other networks. For example, in order to even out traffic loads; or puncture a cell and force the UE to move to another cell thereby moving the cell boarders; or hinder traffic for reasons of secrecy, for example in a prison or in an aeroplane or in a library, etc. The signal may also be blocked in order to hinder disturbance in other competing networks, for example a client using a different operator.
Therefore, there is a desire for an improved communication control system that can manage communication/traffic between a UE and a base station more effectively.


A frame-layer rate control method, and a video encoding method and system. In a first-step encoding stage, a QP of a previous frame is used to determine MVs and MB modes for all MBs in a current frame through R-D optimization, and the residual signal is encoded and then decoded for intra prediction. The residual signal is stored and the number of header bits is estimated from the determined MB modes and MVs. Given a target bit-rate for the current frame, a new QP is determined by a rate model. In a second-step encoding stage, the residual signal is encoded and reconstructed for both intra-prediction of subsequent MBs and inter prediction of subsequent frames using the new QP.

The invention relates to frame-layer rate control for video encoders, and more specifically, to video encoding methods and systems with frame-layer rate control.
A wide range of new applications in visual communications as well as rapidly evolving telecommunication and computer technology have led to the development of various video coding standards. Some video coding standards, for example, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4, are designed for non-conversational applications such as storage, streaming, and broadcasting. Other video coding standards, for example, H.261 and H.263, are designed for conversational applications such as video telephony and conferencing. Video coding standards typically comprise building blocks including discrete cosine transform (DCT), motion estimation (ME) or motion compensation (MC), quantization, and variable length coding (VLC) . The quantizer step-size used for a frame or a macroblock (MB) impacts the encoded video quality, and an appropriate rate control algorithm should be utilized to determine the quantizer step-size for a given application and coding environment. Thus, rate control has been studied extensively.
Rate control algorithms can be generally classified into two categories, single-pass and multi-pass, according to the number of encoding passes of video sequences. Single-pass rate control algorithms are implemented while the given video sequence is encoded only once, and are used for real-time encoding applications where future frames are not available and long encoding delay is not permitted. Exemplary single-pass algorithms are described in MPEG-2 Test Model Test Model 5 (TM5) Doc., Test Model Editing Committee, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WGl1/93-255b, Apr. 1993; C. Crecos and J. Jiang, "On-line improvement of the rate-distortion performance in MPEG-2 rate control," IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol., pp. 519-528, June 2003; T. Chiang and Y. -Q. Zhang, "A new rate control scheme using a new rate-distortion model," IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol., pp. 246-250, Feb. 1997; F. Pan, Z. Li, K. Lim, and G. Feng, "A study of MPEG-4 rate control scheme and its improvements," IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol., pp. 440-446, May 2003; J. Ribas-Corbera and S. Lei, "Rate control in DCT video coding for low-delay communications," IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol., pp. 172-185, Feb. 1999; and Z. He, Y. K. Kim, and S. K. Mitra, "Low-delay rate control for DCT video coding via rho-domain source modeling," IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol., pp. 928-940, Aug. 2001.
Multi-pass rate control algorithms encode the given video sequence several times to optimally determine the quantizer step-size, and are typically utilized in applications where encoding delay is not a concern or the encoding procedure can be executed offline, for example, video streaming and storage. Exemplary multi-pass algorithms are described in A. Ortega, K. Ramchandran, and M. Vetterli, "Optimal trellis-based buffered compression and fast approximation," IEEE Trans. Image Processing, pp. 26-40, Jan. 1994; K. Ramchandran, A. Ortega, and M. Vetterli, "Bit allocation for dependent quantization with applications to multi-resolution and MPEG video coders," IEEE Trans. Image Processing, pp. 533-545, Sept. 1994; L. J. Lin and A. Ortega, "Bit-rate control using piecewise approximated rate-distortion characteristics," IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol., pp. 446-459, Aug. 1998; and W. Ding and E. Liu, "Rate control of MPEG video coding and recording by rate-quantization modeling," IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol., pp. 12-20, Feb. 1996.
Rate control algorithms can also be classified into three categories according to the quantizer step-size determination methods, including direct buffer-state feedback methods, model-based analytical methods, and operational rate-distortion (R-D) modeling methods. Direct buffer-state feedback methods determine the quantizer step-size based on the level of buffer fullness and activity. Model-based analytical methods utilize several rate and distortion models for rate control, for example, rate is modeled as a quadratic function of the quantizer step-size. In general, direct buffer-state feedback and model-based analytical methods fall into the category of single-pass rate control algorithms. Operational R-D modeling methods may use dynamic programming and Lagrange optimization methods to determine quantizer step-size of frames within a group of pictures (GOP) . Excessive computational complexity prevents most operational R-D modeling methods from being used for real-time rate control. Model-based operational R-D modeling has been proposed to reduce computational complexity, where models are used to predict the R-D characteristics of input video sequence from a limited number of control points at the expense of accuracy. These methods, however, are still computationally burdensome for real-time encoding and require encoding delay to some extent.
H.264 is a video standard for both conversational and non-conversational applications, which achieves a significant coding gain over other coding standards by introducing various new coding techniques such as intra prediction, various block shapes and multiple reference frames for inter prediction with R-D optimized motion estimation and mode decision, which will be called RDO hereafter.
Several single-pass rate control algorithms are proposed for H.264 encoding. An exemplary partial two-pass algorithm for an H.264 encoder proposed by S. Ma, W. Gao, P. Gao, and Y. Lu in "Rate control for advance video coding (AVC) standard," in Proc. Int. Conference, Circuits Syst., pp. 25-28, May 2003, provides MB-layer rate control based on the MPEG-2 TM5 rate control algorithm. Given the target bit-rate for the frame, a quantizer parameter (QP) of the previous MB is used to perform RDO for the current MB so that the previous QP serves as an estimated QP for the current MB. A new QP for the current MB is decided based on the level of buffer fullness and the MB activity after RDO. The residual signal of the current MB is quantized with the original estimated QP if the difference between the previous QP and the new QP is below a threshold. Otherwise, RDO is performed again for the current MB using the new QP and residual signal is also quantized with the new QP.
A single-pass frame-layer rate control algorithm for an H.264 encoder base on the quadratic rate model has been proposed by Z. G. Li, F.Pan, K. P. Lim, G. N. Feng, X. Lin, S. Rahardja, and D. J. Wu in "Adaptive frame layer rate control for H.264," in Proc. Int. Conference, Multimedia Expo, pp. 581-584, June 2003. Since residual signal is not available before RDO due to the interdependency between RDO and rate control, a linear model has been introduced to predict the mean absolute difference (MAD) of the residual signal of the current frame and the previous frame. The linear model, however, cannot estimate the MAD of the current frame precisely, particularly for sequences where the amount of motion varies significantly from frame to frame.
Many rate control algorithms developed for H.264 fail to address the problems caused by interdependency between RDO and rate control as the residual signal is not yet available before determining the new QP for the MB or frame. Another problem is that an importance of the number of header bits in the rate control for H.264 encoders is disregarded. H.264 is different from other video coding standards since intra prediction and multiple reference frames with variable block sizes are used for motion estimation and mode decision. Since this kind of information should be encoded, the number of header bits takes a large portion out of the total number of bits, and it varies frame by frame and MB by MB. Therefore, accurate information on the number of header bits is required in rate control algorithms for H.264 because it cannot be estimated using the level of buffer capacity and rate model.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Video encoding methods and systems with frame-layer rate control


An illuminating device includes a light source module for emitting light and an optical lens configured for adjusting the light emitted from the light source module. The optical lens includes an array of lens units. Each lens unit includes a main body, a light diverging portion and a light converging portion. The main body includes a light incident surface and a light emitting surface opposite to the light incident surface. The light diverging portion is configured for expanding a light field along a first direction, and the light converging portion is configured for compressing a light field along a second direction. The light diverging portion and the light converging portion are formed on at least one of the light incident surface and the light emitting surface. The light diverging portion includes parallel protrusions distributed along the first direction.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure generally relates to illuminating devices, and particularly to an illuminating device incorporating an optical lens, which can improve utilization rate of light emitted from light emitting diodes (LEDs).
2. Description of Related Art
With the continuing development of scientific technology, LEDs have been widely used in illumination devices to substitute for conventional cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) due to their high brightness, long life-span, and wide color gamut. Relevant subject matter is disclosed in an article entitled "Solid State Lighting: Toward Superior Illumination", published in a magazine Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 93, No. 10, by Michael S. Shur et al. in October, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Conventional illuminating devices incorporating LEDs generally generate butterfly-type light fields or diffusion-type light fields. Referring to FIG. 14, a diffusion-type light field is shown. The diffusion-type light field is substantially circular. In other words, a part of the light field along an x-direction is substantially the same as a part of the light field along a y-direction. However, this type of light field is not always required in our daily life, such as in a street lamp, which has a strip-type light field requirement. If the diffusion-type light field is applied in the street lamp, part of light will be lost, which decreases utilization rate of the light emitted from the LEDs.
What is needed, therefore, is an optical lens and an illuminating device incorporating the optical lens, which can improve utilization rate of the light emitted from LEDs.

Optical lens and illuminating device incorporating the same


Provided are an adhesive film, an encapsulated product of an organic electronic device using the same, and a method of encapsulating an organic electronic device. Particularly, the adhesive film encapsulating the organic electronic device to cover an entire surface of the organic electronic device includes an adhesive layer including a curable resin and a moisture adsorbent. The adhesive layer has a viscosity in a temperature range of 30 to 130° C. of 101 to 106 Pa·s and a viscosity at room temperature of 106 Pa·s or more in an uncured state, and when the adhesive layer has a multilayered structure, a difference in melting viscosity between layers is less than 30 Pa·s. In addition, the method of encapsulating an organic electronic device using the adhesive film is provided.

An organic electronic device refers to a device including an organic material layer generating the exchange of charges using holes and electrons, and may include a photovoltaic device, a rectifier, a transmitter and an organic light-emitting diode (OLED).
A representative organic electronic device, which is an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), has less power consumption and a higher response speed, and forms a thinner display device or light than a conventional light source. In addition, the OLED has excellent space utilization, and thus is expected to be applied in various fields including all kinds of portable devices, monitors, notebook computers and TVs.
To extend compatibility and use of the OLED, a major problem to be solved in the related art is durability. Organic materials and metal electrodes included in the OLED are very easily oxidized by external factors such as moisture, and a product including the OLED is very sensitive to environmental factors. Therefore, various methods to effectively prevent penetration of oxygen or moisture into the organic electronic device such as an OLED from an external environment have been suggested.
Moreover, a more fundamental problem than durability is a decrease in failure occurring due to degradation of laminating properties during assembly of a panel. During the assembly of the panel, it is very important that adhesive strength between panels be maintained in a constant level, and the panels be laminated without bubbles and maintain a uniform thickness.
Therefore, exemplary embodiments of the present invention are to provide an encapsulant capable of corresponding to manufacturing a larger and thinner organic electronic device, providing structural advantages by encapsulating an organic electronic device in a simpler process, and giving reliability from an operation of assembling a panel.

Adhesive film and method of encapsulating organic electronic device


The invention features methods and compositions for the synthesis of multimerizing agents.

The present invention relates to methods and compositions for the synthesis of multimerizing agents.
AP20187 is a small organic compound [CAS Registry No. 195514-80-8, molecular weight 1482.75] that induces controlled biological processes within cells having appropriate genetic alterations. AP20187 and related compounds provide a means for regulating genetically modified cells on the principle that intracellular signaling mechanisms can be regulated by specific protein-protein interactions. By selecting protein interactions that produce a desired cellular response and engineering those proteins to interact only in the presence of a small-molecule multimerizing agent, such as AP20187, it is possible to bring complex biological processes under direct control. For example, AP20187 can be used to regulate the production of therapeutic proteins and to control signal transduction in genetically altered cells to control cell death, proliferation, immune function, etc. The broad utility of AP20187 and other multimerizers has led to a significant body of scientific publications involving a range of biological contexts.
AP20187 includes multiple stereocenters. The configuration at each of the stereocenters has been found to be important to the biological activity of the compound. That structural complexity and chirality is also an important consideration in the production of the compounds. While methods and materials for the synthesis of AP20187, and related compounds, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,150,527, new methods and intermediates which lend themselves to greater product purity and to greater overall efficiency, convenience, economics and/or scalability are particularly desirable.

Methods and compositions for the synthesis of multimerizing agents


A recip saw blade has a blade body and a cutting edge extending along the blade body and defined by a repeating pattern of two consecutive teeth suitable for abusive cutting applications. The two consecutive teeth, which may be bi-metal, include a high tooth and a relatively low tooth in comparison to the high tooth. Each high tooth and low tooth include a primary clearance surface defining a relatively shallow primary clearance angle that is about 28° or less, and a secondary clearance surface defining a relatively steep secondary clearance angle in comparison to the primary clearance angle. The primary clearance angle of the high tooth is steeper than the primary clearance angle of the low tooth, such as between about 23° and 28°, and the secondary clearance angle of the high tooth is shallower than the secondary clearance angle of the low tooth.

A reciprocating saw machine is a power saw that includes a chuck for releasably engaging the saw blade and driving the saw blade in a reciprocating motion through a work piece. The reciprocating motion can be an orbital cutting action, a straight or linear cutting action, or an angled cutting action. The length or stroke of the reciprocating motion is typically about 1½ inches or less. Reciprocating saws are sometimes referred to as recip saws, jig saws, and portable power hack saws, and the term reciprocating saw is used herein without limitation to mean reciprocating saw machines, jigsaw machines, and portable power hack machines. Reciprocating saws are typically driven by electric motors (e.g., cord or cordless saws) or are pneumatically driven. Well-known reciprocating saws are sold under the brand names "Sawzall™" by Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation and "Tiger Saw™" by Porter-Cable Corporation.
A typical reciprocating saw blade includes a blade portion having a cutting edge defined by a plurality of teeth axially spaced relative to each other along one side of the blade, and a non-working edge formed on an opposite side of the blade relative to the cutting edge. A tang for releasably connecting the blade to the chuck of a reciprocating saw extends from an inner end of the blade. The term "recip blade" or "reciprocating saw blade" is used herein to mean a blade configured for use in a reciprocating saw.
As shown in FIG. 1, a typical prior art recip blade exhibits a tooth form defining a tip 1, a rake face 2 located on one side of the tip, and a primary clearance surface 3 located on an opposite side of the tip 1 relative to the rake face 2 defining a primary clearance angle 4, and a secondary clearance surface 5 defining a secondary clearance angle 6. As can be seen, the secondary clearance angle 6 is steeper than the primary clearance angle 4. In order to cut faster, some such prior art recip blades define relatively steep primary clearance angles, e.g., about 35° or greater. As a general matter, the steeper the clearance angle, the more sharply pointed is the tooth form, and the faster is the speed of cut but the shorter the lifespan of the tooth. One drawback associated with such prior art recip blades is that the teeth defining such steep clearance angles are relatively weak, and thus prone to premature fracture or rounding, particularly when subjected to abusive cutting applications, such as in demolition applications where cuts are made through multiple work pieces and/or multiple materials or layers of materials, such as cutting pipes or interrupted cuts of hard objects that are embedded within softer materials, like nail embedded wood, nail or screw embedded sheetrock, or plaster bonded to metal or wood lath.
Some prior art attempts to improve the performance of recip blades in such abusive cutting applications have involved increasing the thickness of the blade (i.e., the thickness of the blade body, including the thickness of the cutting teeth). For example, some recip blades define a thickness of about 0.062 inch, which is significantly thicker as compared to typical recip blades that define a thickness of about 0.05 inch. Generally, thicker blades better resist bending and twisting, which commonly occurs during abusive cutting applications. In addition, thicker teeth are more robust and are thereby suited to better handle the greater loads and stresses created during abusive cutting applications. However, although beneficial, thicker recip blades have not satisfactorily addressed the problem of premature tooth breakage and wear in abusive cutting applications.
Other prior art attempts to improve the performance of recip blades have been directed at solving the problem of premature tooth fracture and/or wear. Such prior art attempts include using different height and set styles wherein multiple teeth are set to the same height and set position to reinforce the teeth of like height and set. Although helpful, this feature has not satisfactorily addressed the problem. Another attempt to solve the problem of premature tooth fracture involves employing high-low set and/or unset teeth of varying primary and secondary clearance angles. For example, some prior art recip saw blades have recurring patterns of groups of teeth wherein each group includes a tooth with a relatively high tip, sometimes being an unset or raker tooth, and a tooth with a relatively low tip, sometimes being a set tooth, wherein the high teeth and low teeth have different primary clearance angles.
Conventional wisdom generally has taught away from such high teeth having relatively steep primary clearance angles, or even relatively shallow angles that are steeper than the primary clearance angles of the low teeth, because the relatively high teeth are the dominant teeth and the life of the blade is linked primarily to the dominant teeth. See, for example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0307936, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety as part of the present disclosure. According to conventional wisdom, if the high teeth include relatively steep primary clearance angles, or at least relatively shallow angles that are steeper than the primary clearance angles of the low teeth (e.g., about 23° or greater), the high teeth become overly exposed and subjected to excessive cutting forces during abusive cutting applications, and thus subject to fracture, chipping and/or wear. Similarly, because the low teeth are more robust, if they include relatively steeper primary clearance angles than that of the high teeth, the low teeth tend to fracture and break off the blade. However, although relatively shallow primary clearance angles of high teeth, such as angles that are shallower than that of the low teeth (e.g., less than about 23°), provide increased strength to resist tooth breakage, such high teeth tend to quickly wear and become dull during abusive cutting applications, thereby shortening the life span of the blade in such applications. As a result, the performance of prior art recip blades, such as cutting life and/or durability, has not always been at levels desired for abusive cutting applications.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome one or more of the above-described drawbacks and/or disadvantages of the prior art.

Saw blade tooth form for abusive cutting applications


Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) resonators and related methods and apparatus are provided. A MEMS resonator may include a first portion and a second portion. The first portion may be configured to resonate, and the second portion may be configured to operate based on an energy trapping principle to prevent energy from traveling therethrough from the first portion. The MEMS resonator may be a Lamb wave resonator. The MEMS resonator may be anchorless. The MEMS resonator may have a side contacted by the anchor, wherein the anchor contacts greater than approximately 50% of the side.

Field
The present application relates to an energy-trapping resonator, and to related apparatus and methods.
Related Art
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are small mechanical structures with integrated electromechanical transducers to induce and/or detect their mechanical motion. MEMS resonators, such as MEMS Lamb wave resonators, may be used as resonators in oscillator circuits, acoustic frequency filters and for various acoustic sensors, such as gyroscopes, and temperature and chemical sensors Examples of MEMS devices include oscillators, accelerometers, gyroscopes, microphones, pressure sensors, switches, and filters.
Typically, a MEMS device is packaged with an integrated circuit (IC). The IC controls operation of the MEMS device, and can perform functions such as signal amplification, modulation and demodulation, conversion between analog and digital signal domains, and programmable compensation for manufacturing or operating variations.
Important performance metrics of resonators, such as piezoelectric Lamb wave resonators, include the quality factor of the vibration and the absence of spurious vibrations close to the resonance frequency of the resonator.

Microelectromechanical system resonators and related methods and apparatus


A tissue ablation apparatus is disclosed that includes an elongate, flexible device operable to be percutaneously place in vasculature of a patient. The device has an array of 8 or more tissue ablation elements carried on a flexible circuit substrate located at a distal end portion. A cable is also included that has a number of electrical conductors insulated from one another that are each electrically coupled to a different one of the elements. One or more connectors are electrically coupled to the cabling at a proximal end portion of the device.

The present invention relates to acoustic energy generation, and more particularly, but not exclusively, relates to the fabrication, use, and structure of devices including an array of elements to generate ultrasonic energy for tissue ablation.
Cardiac arrhythmia, and atrial fibrillation in particular, persist as common and dangerous medical aliments associated with abnormal cardiac chamber wall tissue, and are often observed in elderly patients. In patients with cardiac arrhythmia, abnormal regions of cardiac tissue do not follow the synchronous beating cycle associated with normally conductive tissue in patients with sinus rhythm. Instead, the abnormal regions of tissue aberrantly conduct to adjacent tissues, disrupting the cardiac cycle into an asynchronous rhythm. Such abnormal conduction is known to occur at various regions of the heart.
Irregular cardiac function and corresponding hemodynamic abnormalities caused by atrial fibrillation can result in stroke, heart failure, and other medical problems. Indeed, atrial fibrillation is believed to be a significant cause of cerebral stroke. Specifically, it is theorized that the hemodynamic irregularity resulting from fibrillatory wall motion precipitates thrombus formation within the atrial chamber. A thromboembolism is ultimately dislodged into the left ventricle which thereafter pumps the embolism into the cerebral circulation that can result in a stroke. Accordingly, numerous procedures for treating atrial arrhythmia have been developed, including pharmacological, surgical, and catheter ablation procedures.
Among these, the less invasive catheter-based approaches have generally been targeted to atrial segmentation with ablation catheter devices adapted to form linear or curvilinear lesions in the wall tissue which defines the atrial chambers. Other disclosed approaches provide shaped or steerable guiding sheaves for the purpose of directing tip-ablation catheters toward the posterior left atrial wall such that sequential ablations along the predetermined path of tissue may create the desired lesion. In other approaches, atrial fibrillation is addressed with an ablation device that navigates through the circulatory system to form one or more circumferential lesions in pulmonary vein tissue. Various energy delivery modalities have been disclosed for forming lesions, including use of microwave, laser, thermal conduction, ultrasound, and more commonly radio frequency energies to create conduction blocks. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,117,101; 6,245,064 B1; 6,254,599 B1; 6,600,174 B1; 6,608,775 B2; 6,514,249 B1; and 6,527,769 B2 provide additional background information concerning various cardiac ablation devices.
Frequently, these and other approaches do not provide a desired degree of control with respect to the targeting of ablation energy on tissue. Furthermore, for ultrasonic generating devices directed to circumferential tissue ablation, the level of power needed to ablate the surrounding tissue can result in heat dissipation problems and/or fracture of ultrasound-generating elements. Thus, there is an ongoing demand for further contributions in this area of technology. Moreover, advances in this area of technology can have application in noncardiac medical treatments and/or in nonmedical procedures.

Multi-element array for acoustic ablation