Disclosed are methods for treating a patient identified as having a hemoglobinopathy that is characterized by a reduced affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen. The methods involve providing gaseous nitric oxide and/or carbon monoxide for (i) inhalation by the patient or (ii) ex vivo treatment of the patient's erythrocytes. Alternatively, a nitric-oxide-releasing compound can be administered to the patient.

The field of the invention is hemoglobinopathies.
A number of hemoglobinopathies are associated with a decreased affinity of oxygen for hemoglobin (Hb). Examples of such hemoglobinopathies include sickle cell disease (SCD) and sickle cell trait; the thalassemias; Hb-C, Hb-D, Hb-E, Hb-H, Hb-I, Hb-O-Arab, and Hb-Kansas disorders; and mixed heterozygous combinations of any of these. Perhaps the most extensively studied hemoglobinopathy is sickle cell disease (SCD), which results from a mutation at the sixth amino acid from the N-terminus of the .beta.-polypeptide chain of hemoglobin (Hb-S). This mutation replaces the negatively charged amino acid glutamate (encoded by GAG) with a neutral, hydrophobic residue, valine (encoded by GUG). At physiologically relevant concentrations (e.g., about 0.2 g/cm.sup.3), and under certain conditions such as hypoxia, Hb-S molecules aggregate into multi-stranded polymers, forming a viscous or solid-like gel. This polymerization of Hb-S within red blood cells (erythrocytes) distorts the erythrocytes into a variety of abnormal shapes, some of which resemble sickles. Polymerization of Hb-S also causes erythrocytes to become more rigid, decreasing the cells ability to traverse the narrow vessels of the microvasculature.
Individuals who carry one gene encoding normal adult hemoglobin (Hb-A) and one encoding Hb-S are said to have sickle cell trait. Such heterozygotes rarely suffer clinical symptoms, but can of course pass the mutant gene on to their offspring. Individuals who are homozygous for Hb-S or a combination of Hb-S and Hb-C are said to have sickle cell disease (SCD); these individuals are referred to herein as "SS." Adults whose RBCs contain normal hemoglobin are referred to herein as "AA."
Clinically, SCD is associated with chronic hemolysis, which can lead to anemia and jaundice. SCD is also associated with acute episodic vaso-occlusive crises, known as sickle crises. During such a crisis, the microvasculature can become transiently or permanently occluded, and nearly every organ of the body can be damaged as a result of the decreased oxygen supply. Such organ damage is the major cause of the mortality and morbidity associated with SCD. Infarction (i.e., necrosis of tissue due to insufficient blood supply) of bone, spleen, kidney, and lungs is particularly common, and results in severe pain that can last for several days.
Conventional methods for treating hemoglobinopathies such as SCD include performing blood transfusions on anemic patients to produce a hemoglobin level of 10 g/dl and/or achieve a total hematocrit concentration of 30%. Other methods involve using hydroxyurea to reduce erythrocyte sickling by increasing the level of fetal hemoglobin (Hb-F) in erythrocytes (Charache et al., 1995, N. Eng. J. Med. 332:1317-1322; Goldberg et al., 1990, N. Eng. J. Med. 323:366-372). Using this method, several weeks of treatment are needed to increase the level of Hb-F; this method, therefore, is not particularly useful for responding to a sickle crisis. Additional treatment methods include providing supportive therapies, such as oxygen therapy, analgesics, and hydration. Such supportive therapy is provided to the patient until the crisis is resolved, which usually takes several days.
For any given hemoglobinopathy, the affinity of the patient's hemoglobin for oxygen can be measured by generating an oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve (ODC) characteristic of the patient's total hemoglobin. This mathematical curve can be generated by plotting the percent oxygen saturation (S.sub.a O.sub.2) of the total hemoglobin on the y axis versus the partial pressure of oxygen (P.sub.a O.sub.2) in mm Hg over a wide range of oxygen pressures (e.g., 0 to 100 mm Hg) on the x axis (see, e.g., Bunn and Forget, Hemoglobin: Molecular Genetics and Clinical Aspects, 1986, W. B. Saunder, Publisher). The P.sub.a O.sub.2 at which half-maximal oxygen saturation of total hemoglobin occurs is termed the P.sub.50 value. Hemoglobin that has a decreased ability to bind oxygen is characterized by a rightward shift in the ODC, relative to the ODC obtained with normal adult hemoglobin (Hb-A); this can alternatively be expressed as an increase in P.sub.50, compared to Hb-A. Normal hemoglobin at 37.degree., PaCO.sub.2 40 mm Hg, pH 7.40, and isotonic conditions has a P.sub.50 of approximately 26 mm Hg, while Hb-S has a P.sub.50 of approximately 37 mm Hg. The P.sub.50 value of a given patient's hemoglobin can be measured readily by commercially available equipment, such as the HEMOX-ANALYZER.TM. automatic blood oxygen dissociation analyzer (TCS Medical Products Company, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.).


A container for condiments, e.g., nuts and nuggets of chocolates, comprising a cylinder with a bottom side mountable on the top of a standard cup/can. In one version, a bottom side is displaced from the bottom edge of the cylinder to form a skirt on the bottom edge of the cylinder. The skirt has an interior lip dimensioned such that the container “snaps” onto the rim of a beverage can or cup. In another version, the cylinder and cup/can are telescoped into a sleeve. The top edge of cap/cup is adhered to a cover that is peeled back for access to the condiments. In another version, a partial lid is interposed between the cover and top rim of the cylinder. A drinking straw is inserted from the above the cover, through the container into the cup/can.

Beer and nuts have long been associated with one another like doughnuts and coffee, peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs. However, a unique problem exists with dispensing beer and nuts in that beer and nuts are often eaten when the eater is "on the move" such as through a crowd, shaking hands at a party.
Another scenario is where the eater is in the company of a number of people, such as at a bar or around a pool. Nuts are not "ladled out" to individuals like mash potatoes or slices of beef. The nuts are placed in an open dish and the eater is invited to 'grab a handful". Oftentimes the eater's hand is not quite big enough to grab as many nuts as he would like to satisfy his appetite. Then the dispensing of nuts becomes a "polite" contest as to where the dish containing the nuts will finally reside.
Another problem with the "open dish" method of dispensing nuts is that, in the minds of many, the practice of many hands dipping into a common container can result in spreading bacteria.

Condiment dispenser for beverage container


Exemplary embodiments of method, system and computer-accessible medium according to the present disclosure can be provided for converting magnetic resonance (MR) arterial signal intensity versus time curves to arterial input functions (AIF) with less susceptibility to artifacts such as flow-related enhancement. Exemplary methods, systems and computer-accessible medium can be used to constrain AIF to satisfies the indicator dilution principle, according to which the area under an initial pass component of AIF can be equal to the injected dose divided by the cardiac output. For example, Monte Carlo simulations of MR renography and tumor perfusion protocols can be performed for comparison with conventional methods.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) procedure(s) can measure the transit of a tracer such as a gadolinium-chelate to estimate physiologic parameters such as perfusion or permeability in vivo. Applications of DCE-MRI procedure(s) can include estimates of tumor angiogenesis (see, e.g., Barrett T. et al., MRI of tumor angiogenesis, J Magn Reson Imaging, 26(2):235-249 (2007), and Kiessling F. et al., Contrast agents and applications to assess tumor angiogenesis in vivo by magnetic resonance imaging, Current medicinal chemistry, 14(1):77-91 (2007)), and response to therapy (see, e.g., Turnbull L. W., Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI in the diagnosis and management of breast cancer. NMR in biomedicine (2008), and Marcus C. D. et al., Imaging techniques to evaluate the response to treatment in oncology: Current standards and perspectives. Critical reviews in oncology/hematology (2008), as well as physiologic measurements of organ function such as kidney glomerular filtration rates and perfusion (see, e.g., Lee V. S. et al., Renal Function Measurements from MR Renography and a Simplified Multicompartmental Model, Am J Physiol Renal Physiol, 292: F1548-1559 (2007); Zhang J. L., et al., Functional assessment of the kidney from magnetic resonance and computed tomography renography: impulse retention approach to a multicompartment model, Magn Reson Med; 59(2):278-288 (2008); Hackstein N., et al., Glomerular filtration rate measured using the Patlak plot technique and contrast-enhanced dynamic MRI with different amounts of gadolinium-DTPA, J Magn Reson Imaging; 22(3):406-414 (2005)). Performance can use a direct, well-controlled injection of the tracer bolus into the feeding vessel. Observed tissue concentration versus time curves can then reflect regional/local perfusion, permeability, or volume fraction, with minimal confounding effects due to the shape of the input function. However, for practical reasons, tracers can typically be injected intravenously, which can resulting in unpredictable dilution and/or widening of the bolus by the time it arrives at the feeding vessels, for example. Therefore, accurate quantitative analysis of DCE-MRI data can involve an individually measured arterial input function (AIF). Reliable measurement of AIF can be important to, e.g., the precision of determining the function of organ or tumor (see, e.g., Roberts C., et al., Comparison of errors associated with single- and multi-bolus injection protocols in low-temporal-resolution dynamic contrast-enhanced tracer kinetic analysis, Magn Reson Med; 56(3):611-619 (2006); Wang Y., et al., Feasibility of using limited-population-based arterial input function for pharmacokinetic modeling of osteosarcoma dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI data, Magn Reson Med; 59(5):1183-1189 (2008); Peeters F., et al., Inflow correction of hepatic perfusion measurements using T1-weighted, fast gradient-echo, contrast-enhanced MRI, Magn Reson Med; 51(4):710-717 (2004)).
There can be several challenges to determine AIF. First, a relationship between MR signal intensity and a gadolinium concentration can be nonlinear, and can even be non-monotonic (see, e.g., Bokacheva L., et al., Quantitative determination of Gd-DTPA concentration in T(1)-weighted MR renography studies, Magn Reson Med; 57(6):1012-1018 (2007); Materne R., et al., Assessment of hepatic perfusion parameters with dynamic MRI, Magn Reson Med; 47(1):135-142 (2002)). Second, MR signal measurements from a blood vessel can be distorted by multiple artifacts, including, e.g., inflow effect (see, e.g., Peeters F., et al., Inflow correction of hepatic perfusion measurements using T1-weighted, fast gradient-echo, contrast-enhanced MRI, Magn Reson Med; 51(4):710-717 (2004); Ivancevic M. K., et al., Inflow effect correction in fast gradient-echo perfusion imaging, Magn Reson Med; 50(5):885-891 (2003)), dephasing (see, e.g., Heilmann M., et al., Simultaneous dynamic T1 and T2* measurement for AIF assessment combined with DCE MRI in a mouse tumor model, Magma (New York, N.Y.; 20(4):193-203 (2007), B1 inhomogeneity (see, e.g., Wang J., et al., Factors influencing flip angle mapping in MRI: RF pulse shape, slice-select gradients, off-resonance excitation, and B0 inhomogeneities, Magn Reson Med; 56(2):463-468 (2006); Warntjes J. B., et al., Novel method for rapid, simultaneous T1, T*2, and proton density quantification, Magn Reson Med; 57(3):528-537 (2007); Wang J., et al., T1 measurements incorporating flip angle calibration and correction in vivo, J Magn Reson; 182(2):283-292 (2006), Cheng H. L., et al., Rapid high-resolution T(1) mapping by variable flip angles: accurate and precise measurements in the presence of radiofrequency field inhomogeneity, Magn Reson Med; 55(3):566-574 (2006); van der Schaaf I., et al., Influence of partial volume on venous output and arterial input function, Ajnr; 27(1):46-50 (2006)), partial volume effect, (see, e.g., van der Schaaf I., et al., Influence of partial volume on venous output and arterial input function, Ajnr; 27(1):46-50 (2006); Chen J. J., et al., Partial volume effect in quantitative magnetic resonance perfusion imaging, Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc; 2:1132-1135 (2004)), and effects of flow pulsatility and turbulence.
Different approaches have been described to compute tracer concentration C(t). What can be considered to be a simple approach can be one that estimates concentration as being proportional to normalized signal intensity, e.g.:C(t)=k[S(t)−S(0)]/S(0)  [1]where S can be the MRI signal intensity, S(0) can be the signal intensity before contrast enhancement, and k can be a calibration constant (see, e.g., Wen J. G., et al., Evaluation of renal function in normal and hydronephrotic kidneys in rats using gadolinium diethylenetetramine-pentaacetic acid enhanced dynamic magnetic resonance imaging, The Journal of urology; 163(4):1264-1270 (2000); Jones R. A., et al., Dynamic contrast-enhanced MR urography in the evaluation of pediatric hydronephrosis: Part 1, functional assessment, AJR Am J Roentgenol; 185(6):1598-1607 (2005)). The use of this approach can be desired when combined with the use of low doses of contrast, due to an approximate linearity of the relationship between S(t) and C(t) for commonly used gradient echo acquisition sequences and C(t)<0.7 mM (see, e.g., Bokacheva L., et al., Quantitative determination of Gd-DTPA concentration in T(1)-weighted MR renography studies, Magn Reson Med; 57(6):1012-1018 (2007)). Alternatively, C(t) can be estimated from the longitudinal relaxation time T1(t). The estimation of T1 from signal intensity can usually be nonlinear and it can require the knowledge of S(0) and T1 (see, e.g., Bokacheva L., et al., Quantitative determination of Gd-DTPA concentration in T(1)-weighted MR renography studies, Magn Reson Med; 57(6):1012-1018 (2007); Bokacheva L., et al., Single breath-hold T1 measurement using low flip angle TrueFISP, Magn Reson Med; 55(5):1186-1190 (2006)). This approach (which can be called, e.g., a direct conversion) can be applicable to a wider range of C(t), and can yield accuracy better than approximately 10% in solid tissues (e.g., liver, kidneys, muscle) (see, e.g., Bokacheva L., et al., Quantitative determination of Gd-DTPA concentration in T(1)-weighted MR renography studies, Magn Reson Med; 57(6):1012-1018 (2007)). However, it can be significantly less accurate in the aorta and/or other major arteries, e.g., in regions used for measurement of AIF. A MR signal from these arteries can be subject to artifacts listed herein above, and signal errors can be further amplified when estimating tracer concentration by direct conversion, for example.
In an attempt to minimize the adverse effect of AIF distortions, Parker et al. (see, e.g., Parker G. J., et al., Experimentally-derived functional form for a population-averaged high-temporal-resolution arterial input function for dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI, Magn Reson Med; 56(5):993-1000 (2006)) and Wang et al. (see, e.g., Wang Y., et al., Feasibility of using limited-population-based arterial input function for pharmacokinetic modeling of osteosarcoma dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI data, Magn Reson Med; 59(5):1183-1189 (2008)) described that it is possible to average AIFs obtained from a group of controls and derived by direct conversion from measured signal intensities. For the analysis of patient data, rather than use actual patient AIFs, the population averaged AIF can be used instead. A rationale of averaging multiple AIFs can be to reduce random, uncorrelated sources of errors. However, systematic artifacts (such as inflow and partial volume effect) can likely distort the signals in a similar way across all individuals, preventing cancellation of these sources, for example. Moreover, the magnitude and the shape of AIF can depend on a patient's status (such as cardiac output and blood volume) and on the injection protocol used with the patient (see, e.g., Le Sech C., et al., Determination of pulmonary mean transit time and cardiac output using a one-dimensional model, Bulletin of mathematical biology; 58(6):1155-1170 (1996); Reiser U. J., Study of bolus geometry after intravenous contrast medium injection: dynamic and quantitative measurements (Chronogram) using an X-ray CT device, Journal of computer assisted tomography; 8(2):251-262 (1984); Hany T. F., et al., Optimization of contrast timing for breath-hold three-dimensional MR angiography, J Magn Reson Imaging; 7(3):551-556 (1997); Boos M., et al., Arterial first pass gadolinium-CM dynamics as a function of several intravenous saline flush and Gd volumes, J Magn Reson Imaging; 13(4):568-576 (2001)). For example, by disregarding differences between patients and/or protocols, the use of an averaged AIF can introduce additional sources of errors.
Thus, it may be beneficial to address and/or overcome at least some of the deficiencies described herein above.

System, method and computer-accessible medium for utilizing cardiac output to improve measurement of tracer input function in dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging


Plasma ion energy distribution for ions having different masses is controlled by controlling the relationship between a base RF frequency and a harmonic RF frequency. By the controlling the RF power frequencies, characteristics of the plasma process may be changed based on ion mass. The ions that dominate etching may be selectively based upon whether an ion is lighter or heavier than other ions. Similarly, atomic layer etch processes may be controlled such that the process may be switched between a layer modification step and a layer etch step though adjustment of the RF frequencies. Such switching is capable of being performed within the same gas phase of the plasma process. The control of the RF power includes controlling the phase difference and/or amplitude ratios between a base RF frequency and a harmonic frequency based upon the detection of one or more electrical characteristics within the plasma apparatus.

The present disclosure relates to the processing of substrates in plasma process equipment. In particular, it provides an apparatus and method to control plasmas generated in plasma processing apparatus.
The use of plasma systems for the processing of substrates has long been known. For example, plasma processing of semiconductor wafers is well known. The plasma systems may be typically utilized for a plasma etching process and/or plasma deposition process. Plasma processing presents numerous technical challenges and as geometries for structures and layers on substrates continue to shrink, control of the plasma becomes increasingly important. In general, plasmas are generated by supplying high frequency electrical power to gas mixtures in a chamber that separate the plasma from surrounding environment. Performance of plasma processes is impacted by a number of factors variables including species, density, and kinetic energy of ions, reactive neutrals, etc.
In order to achieve desired process performance, variable settings of the plasma processing equipment can be adjusted to change the plasma properties. These settings include, but are not limited to gas flow rates, gas pressure, electrical power for the plasma excitation, bias voltages, etc., all as is known in the art. One of the challenges to achieve desired performance is controllability of the plasma properties. Since the variable settings are not directly related to the plasma properties, there are limitations for the control. As the requirements of substrate processing are becoming more and more challenging, better controllability of the plasma properties is needed.

Method for ion mass separation and ion energy control in process plasmas


The LED chip package of the present invention uses a semiconductor substrate as package substrate, which improves heat dissipation. Also, the LED chip package is incorporated with a planarization structure, which renders the LED chip and the substrate a substantially planar surface, thereby making formation of a planar patterned conductive layer possible. Accordingly, serial/parallel electrical connections between light emitting diode chips can be easily implemented by virtue of the planar patterned conductive layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a light emitting diode (LED) chip package and the method of making the same, and more particularly, to an LED chip package utilizing a semiconductor substrate as a package substrate and able to fulfill electrical connection of a plurality of LEDs in series or in parallel easily and a wafer level packaging method of LED chip.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are mainly two kinds of conventional Surface Mount Device (SMD) LED packaging methods: one of which utilizes a leadframe made of metal materials as a package substrate and the LED chip is mounted on the leadframe; the other method utilizes a printed circuit board (PCB) as a package substrate and the LED chip is mounted on the PCB.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional LED chip package utilizing leadframe as a package substrate. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional LED chip package 1 includes a base 2 formed by injection molding technique, and a leadframe 3 immobilized on the base 2 to form a package substrate 4. The LED chip 5 is mounted on the leadframe 3, and encapsulated on the package substrate 4 with package resin 6. One of the electrodes of LED chip 5 is directly electrically connected to the leadframe 3 located on one side of the package substrate 4, while another electrode is electrically connected to the leadframe 3 on the other side of the package substrate 4 via bonding wire 7 by wire bonding technique.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of another conventional LED chip package utilizing PCB as a package substrate. As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional LED chip package 10 utilizes PCB 11, made of plastic, as a base, and wires 12 made of copper are laid on the PCB 11. The LED chip 13 is mounted on the PCB 11 and encapsulated with package resin 14, wherein one of the electrodes of the LED chip 13 is directly electrically connected to the wire 12 on one side of the PCB 11, and the other electrode is electrically connected to the wire 12 on the other side of the PCB 11 via the bonding wire 15 by wire bonding technique.
However both of the above mentioned conventional LED chip packages share common shortcomings listed as follows. First, the heat dissipation efficiency of conventional LED chip package is low. Whether the LED chip package is a leadframe type or a PCB type, the package substrate and the package resin are poor heat dissipation materials such as plastic or resin, and heat produced while light is emitted by the LED chips may not be quickly and efficiently dissipated. The accumulated heat would lead to increased temperature of the LED chip and therefore influence the illumination efficiency and life span of the LED chip. In addition, the conventional LED chip package utilizes bonding wire formed by the wire bonding technique to implement external electrical connection of the LED chip. However, the bonding wire itself must have a certain arch that has a height higher than the LED chip; hence the fabrication of the lens to be formed would be difficult.

Method for making light emitting diode chip package


An information handing system provides a method for recovering encryption keys. The method includes providing a first recording medium of a plurality of recording media in a first drive of a plurality of drives. A first key is requested from a primary key manager (PKM) associated with the first drive, wherein the first drive provides a first key identifier (ID) to the PKM. If it is determined that the PKM provides the first key corresponding to the first key ID, a first identifying information for the PKM is stored in a memory for the first recording medium.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of information handling systems. More specifically, but with limitation, the disclosure relates to recovering lost encryption keys.
2. Background Information
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is an information handling system (IHS). An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for such systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
One example of an IHS is a computer data storage system, such as a tape library, a redundant array of independent disk (RAID), or just a bunch of disk (JBOD). A storage system may include several recording media, which may be utilized to store encrypted data. For instance, a tape library may provide several tape cartridges, at least one tape drive, and a mechanism for loading/unloading cartridges from the tape drive(s). A tape library may be capable of storing a significant amount of data, which may also be encrypted by a capable tape library. In a tape library, data may be encrypted utilizing a key manager (KM) that issues encryption/decryption keys, with the KM residing on a server or in the tape library, Some tape libraries may be associated with primary key managers (PKM) along with secondary or backup key managers (SKM). Additionally, some tape libraries may be partitioned in accordance with the number of tape drives in the library. For instance, a tape library with 18 tape drives could have 18 partitions. A pair of key managers (i.e., a PKM and corresponding SKM) may be utilized for each tape drive in the library to manage encryption/decryption keys utilized for the data stored or data to be stored. Accordingly, a tape library may be associated with 18 PKMs and 18 SKMs (i.e., one key pair per partition). The use of KMs for each partition may pose a potential risk to users in the event that partition information is lost. Should there be a loss in partition information, it may cause the subsequent loss of information indicating the particular KM associated with the tape, thus the encrypted media may be unreadable until it is properly associated with its corresponding KM.
Similarly, other types of data storage systems may encounter a similar problem. If the information indicating an association between a particular KM and recording media in a data storage system is lost, the data encrypted on the recording media may be unrecoverable until the information indicating the association is recovered. If KMs are utilized for media drives in large data storage systems which comprise hundreds of media drives and thousands of recording media, it could take a significant amount of time to manually determine which KMs are associated with each of the recording media in the data storage system.
Thus, a need exists for methods and media for automating an encryption key process which may identify a particular pair of key managers utilized to encrypt each of the recording media in a tape library.

Methods and media for recovering lost encryption keys


A protection mechanism for use in a mass storage system for providing user selectable levels of protection against data loss wherein storage segments of a plurality of disk drives are organized into at least two functionally separate logical units and a memory management mechanism is responsive to an identification of a logical unit as selected for mirroring by writing a first copy of a data block assigned to a first storage address in a designated logical unit into the assigned storage address in the designated logical unit and writing a second copy of the data block into a second storage address in the disk drives wherein the second storage address is skewed with respect to the first storage address so that the second storage address is located in a disk drive separate from the data disk drive containing the first storage address, and writing at least one parity block containing parity information relating to the data block into a disk drive. The mechanism allows a user to select to write data blocks to the disk drives without corresponding parity information being stored in the disk drives, and to later enter the parity information.

The increased power and speed of contemporary computer systems has resulted in a corresponding demand for significantly increased mass storage capability because of the increased volumes of data dealt with by the systems and the increased size of the operating system and applications programs executed by such systems. There are a variety of mass storage devices available, such as disk drives, optical drives and tape drives, and one approach of the prior art to the mass storage problem is the use of mass storage systems associated with the computer systems. An example of a mass storage system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,367, cited above, and may be taken as illustrative of this general approach to the mass storage problem. Typically, such a mass storage system will include a plurality of relatively fast mass storage devices, such as disk drives, together with one or more slower but larger archival type storage devices, such as a tape drive or optical drive, and a processor based storage system management unit, sometimes referred to as a "disk platform", to manage and control the transfer and storage of data between the mass storage system and the associated host computer system. In many such systems, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,367, the storage system management unit is connected to the host computer system in the same manner as a conventional disk drive, and through a conventional disk drive controller normally present in the host computer system, to appear to the host computer system as a conventional disk drive, although with significantly increased storage space.
A recurring problem with data storage, however, and increasingly so as the capacity of mass storage systems increases, is that of protecting the data from loss, for example, due to failure of a disk drive in a mass storage system, and a number of techniques have evolved in the prior art for protecting data in mass storage systems. One technique, for example, is the use of parity information, which is essentially an additional body of data that is generated from the stored data, usually as the data is being stored, and that contains information that may be used to reconstruct or correct lost or damaged data.
Another technique is "striping", which is customarily employed as a technique for increasing the speed with data may be written to or read from the disk drives of a mass storage system by distributing a body of data across a plurality of disk drives so that reads and writes from and to the disk drives with respect to segments of the data can be overlapped. Striping also serves to protect the data, in which role it is usually used together with parity, by storing of a body of data across a plurality of disk drives so that any data that is destroyed or damaged on one of the disk drives may be reconstructed from the remaining data and the parity information. An extreme embodiment of this technique is found, for example, in the Thinking machines Corporation CM-2 system which operated with 39 bit words, each containing 32 data bits and 7 parity bits, and stored the bits of each word in parallel across 39 disk drives, with one bit of each word being stored on each drive.
A third commonly used technique of the prior art, which is again often used with parity data, is "mirroring" wherein the entire body of data and parity information stored in the mass storage system is duplicated on a second set of disk drives, which may reside in a second mass storage system.
These techniques for data protection of the prior art, however, have not been entirely satisfactory for a number of reasons. For example, the combination of striping with parity as implemented in most mass storage systems will generally provide adequate protection in the event a failure of a single disk drive in a mass storage system, but will generally not allow data reconstruction or recovery if two or more disks fail. Also, while it is possible to construct mass storage systems using striping and parity that will allow recovery from multiple disk drive failures, this approach requires either increasing the granularity of data storage, that is, providing more disk drives so that smaller blocks of data are stored on each drive, or significantly increasing the amount of parity information, again requiring more disk storage space, or both. As a consequence, the cost of the mass storage unit soon becomes impractical and the performance of the mass storage system, that is, the rate at which data may be written and read, may suffer.
Mirroring the entire body of data parity information stored in a mass storage system, in turn, immediately doubles the number of disk drives required to store the data and parity information and, again, the cost of the mass storage unit soon becomes impractical and the performance of the mass storage system, that is, the rate at which data may be written and read, may suffer.
Yet another problem with mass storage systems of the prior art is that the generation of parity information and the writing of the parity information into the disk drives significantly increases the time required to store incoming data in the mass storage system. The additional time required to generate and store parity information may, in turn, be unacceptable in certain circumstances and may actually result in a failure to acquire and store the data, for example, when large volumes of data are being received at short intervals or when the data is available only for limited periods, as when data is being downloaded from satellite a link.
The present invention provides a solution to these and other problems of the prior art.

Apparatus and method for storing data with selectable data protection using mirroring and selectable parity inhibition


This invention concerns a resynchronization method by a receiver of a received stream of groups of bits, comprising: detecting a synchronization loss (S10), and then iterating (S11 to S17) checks over different bits until a first bit of a group of bits is found (S14), the most probable first bit being checked first, wherein the checks are iterated in a checking order of bits different from a chronological reception order, so as to check earlier at least one of most probable first bits, different from the most probable first bit, so as to shorten average resynchronization time.

In a communication system, when a bit stream is sent from a transmitter to a receiver, this receiver is often synchronized with the transmitter in order to be able to reconstruct the structure of the received bit stream in a simple and efficient way. Sometimes, it may happen that this synchronization between receiver and transmitter is lost. So, there are methods to resynchronize the receiver with the transmitter.
According to a first prior art, it is known a first type of resynchronization process where both transmitter and receiver cooperate by exchanging messages in order to resynchronize the receiver with the transmitter. If an error is detected at the receiver, a resynchronization process is started, which could last relatively long. Indeed several steps are performed. First a packet is built on the receiver side. Then, this packet is transmitted to the transceiver. Afterwards, the transceiver starts a Synchronization Sequence, which is an easy and predefined sequence of bits, to allow the desynchronized receiver to resynchronize itself with the transmitter. Therefore, the receiver must re-extract the boundaries between groups of bits. To do so, typically, it sequentially probes all the possible boundaries, which means all the N possible boundaries, if the groups of bits each contain N bits. One drawback of this first prior art is that the duration of the sequence is relatively long.
According to a second prior art, it is known a second type of resynchronization process where the receiver alone tries to find back the boundaries between groups of bits to be able to resynchronize by itself with the transmitter. To do so, the receiver chooses a group of a length of N bits, if groups are supposed each to contain N bits. The receiver looks at this N bits group to check if this N bits group is consistent. This test can have two outcomes: either it is consistent or it is not. If this N bits group is consistent, then the receiver has found the good N bits group boundary and the receiver is resynchronized with the transmitter. If this N bits group is not consistent, then the receiver shifts the group of N bits of 1 bit, and retries to see if this new group of N bits is consistent. The receiver iterates this shifting and testing couple of operations until the receiver finds a good group, in a chronological reception of order from the first bit used to start the process. One drawback of this second prior art is that this process is still fairly long. Indeed, the first bit of a group of N bits can be anywhere among the N bits of a group. At best, the good bit is found immediately. At worst, it is found after N iterations. In the average, it is found after N/2 iterations. The N/2 average iterations mean usually about N2/2 bits lost before the synchronization of the receiver with respect to the transmitter is re-acquired. It will be seen later, that even if the starting bit for the process has been chosen as the most probable first bit, it still remains fairly long.

Resynchronization method of a received stream of groups of bits


A water cloud evaluating device includes a partition member for partitioning an outer space of the vehicle lighting fixture into a front space and a rear space, vehicle outside environment simulation setting means and vehicle inside environment simulation setting means. In the bench test, the water cloud evaluation is made in the artificial environment close to the state where the vehicle lighting fixture is mounted on the actual vehicle. The partition member is formed with an opening portion in a sheet that is easily cuttable by a knife or the like. A water spray unit, an illumination unit and an air flow generating unit are made movable as the simulation setting units comprising both the simulation setting means.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water cloud evaluating device for evaluating a water cloud occurring within a lighting chamber for a vehicle lighting fixture.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art vehicle lighting fixture, the lighting chamber is typically comprised of a translucent cover and a lamp body. On the rear part of the lamp body, vent holes are often formed to connect the lighting chamber to an outer space of the lighting fixture, thus preventing changes in the atmospheric pressure within the lighting chamber from occurring due to repeated light usage. As a result, a water cloud (i.e., a cloud formed in the lighting chamber due to moisture) is less likely to occur within the lighting chamber.
On the other hand, in this related art vehicle lighting fixture, the water content permeating from the lighting fixture outer space into the lighting chamber through the vent holes forms as condensation (e.g., dew droplets) on an inner surface of a lens to produce a water cloud, unless the structure or arrangement of the vent holes is fully taken into consideration.
Since this related art water cloud is not typically evaluated very precisely by benchmark testing, the water cloud evaluation is made by mounting the lighting fixture on the actual vehicle and driving the vehicle. However, with such an evaluation method, it is necessary to mount the lighting fixture on the actual vehicle. Therefore, it is not easy to perform repeated water cloud evaluation tests, and it is difficult to acquire the precise evaluation results in a short time.
On the contrary, in JP-A-2001-165819, the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, a water cloud evaluating device was described, comprising a partition member for partitioning a lighting fixture outer space into a front space and a rear space around the outer circumferential portion of a lighting fixture, vehicle outside environment simulation setting means for simulatively setting the front space in a predetermined vehicle outside environment, and vehicle inside environment simulation setting means for simulatively setting the rear space in a predetermined vehicle inside environment.
Employing the water cloud evaluating device as described in the JP-A-2001-165819, precise water cloud evaluation results are acquired by the bench test. However, the following problems arise.
For example, but not by way of limitation, the vehicle lighting fixture is typically varied in shape, dimensions, amount of circulation to the rear side of the lighting fixture, and inclination angle of the translucent cover, depending on the shape of a vehicle body on which the lighting fixture is mounted. Therefore, when the partition member is made from a rigid plate as in the water cloud evaluating device described in the JP-A-2001-165819, it is difficult to appropriate the partition member fabricated for one vehicle lighting fixture to another vehicle lighting fixture. Accordingly, when the water cloud evaluation is made for a new vehicle lighting fixture, it is necessary to fabricate a new partition member in accordance with the shape of the vehicle lighting fixture. Thus, a related art problem results in the water cloud evaluation requiring more time and cost.
Further, in this related art water cloud evaluating device, a water spray unit and an illumination unit are provided as the simulation setting units comprising the vehicle outside simulation setting means, and an air flow generating unit and a temperature/humidity control unit are provided as the simulation setting units comprising the vehicle inside simulation setting means. Since these simulation setting units are stationary, it is not easy to precisely set the front space in a desired vehicle outside environment by simulation, or to precisely set the rear space in a desired vehicle inside environment by simulation.
In this regard, there is yet room for improvement to obtain the water cloud evaluation result a thigh precision. Also, since each simulation setting unit is stationary, there is a related art problem in that it is difficult to perform the operation for installing or removing the vehicle lighting fixture to be evaluated.

Water cloud evaluating device for vehicle lighting fixture


A novel quick disconnect, the nipple portion of which is provided with a unique spring seal comprising an elastomeric retainer and a multiple-turn wave-type spring contained within an annular pocket within the retainer. The nipple is provided with a body having a flanged portion which floats on the spring seal relative to an annular chamber within the wrench portion of the threaded member of the nipple. In addition, the wrench portion of the corresponding coupler is chamfered in order to automatically adjust the nipple body despite misalignment of radial, angular and axial type, thereby permitting secure leak proof interconnection of the quick disconnect members. Such capability is especially useful in accommodating coolant fluid flow through a plurality of serially interconnected electrical chasses wherein misalignment of quick disconnect flow connectors cannot be readily accommodated by manual adjustment means and must be accommodated by automatic adjustment of the quick disconnect components.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to quick disconnects and more specifically to a quick disconnect having a spring seal which compensates for misalignment between the female and male connectors thereof to permit interconnection therebetween even when there is radial, axial and angular misalignment of the male member relative to the female member.
2. Prior Art
Quick disconnects are well-known in the art. They are commonly used to interconnect one flexible pipe to another flexible pipe, both of which pipes are adapted for the flow of a fluid therethrough. The term "pipe" as used herein means any type of fitting, hose, boss, etc., to which a quick disconnect may be attached. The term "quick disconnect" is derived from the performance characteristics of this type of connector. More specifically, a quick disconnect is adapted to permit disconnection of the two fluid carrying pipes with a self-sealing feature designed so that little or no quantities of the fluid escape the connectors upon disconnection. Furthermore, the process of disconnecting the two pipes can be implemented by simple mechanical release thereof without the necessity for disconnecting or unfastening a plurality of conventional fastening elements such as bolts and the like.
Virtually all quick disconnects comprise two major members called a "coupler" and a "nipple", respectively. Each such member is designed to mate with the corresponding fluid carrying pipe and then to be mated with each other so that the respective pipes can be interconnected. The nipple may be regarded as the male member in that it slides into the coupler. Typically, the nipple comprises a spring loaded poppet and the coupler comprises a stationary stem. When the coupler and nipple are mated, the coupler stem is designed to engage the nipple poppet, pushing it away from the interface of the two members whereby to permit fluid flow around the poppet of the nipple as will be hereinafter more fully described. In addition, when the two members are interconnected, the nipple body slides into the coupler body so as to depress a spring loaded cylinder called the coupler poppet, the depression of which allows fluid flow through the coupler as well. In order to interconnect the coupler and nipple portions of the quick disconnect it is generally necessary to axially align the two members relative to one another.
When the coupler and nipple members of a quick disconnect are connected to flexible hoses readily accessible for being manually aligned relative to one another, there is generally no difficulty in assuring that the two members are axially configured relative to one another to provide easy interconnection therebetween. However, there are occasions when it is difficult or impossible to accurately control the axial position of the coupler and nipple relative to one another to assure that they are perfectly aligned to facilitate their easy interconnection. One such example of inaccessibility of alignment arises when the respective members of a quick disconnect are mounted to boxes or chassis such as those which contain electrical equipment which, for example, are to be panel mounted. Such a configuration may, for example, be encountered in the avionics equipment bay of an aircraft where electrical equipment requires fluid coolant to dissipate relatively high levels of power. In such situations, one or more couplers of quick disconnects may be mounted to one piece of electrical equipment and one or more nipples of quick disconnects may be mounted to a second piece of electrical equipment. Such quick disconnects may be provided to permit the flow of a cooling fluid between such electrical equipment so that one source of cooled fluid may be used to circulate among a plurality of electrical equipment chassis in order to carry away the heat generated by the power dissipation of such electrical equipment.
Precise axial alignment of the mating coupler and nipple portions of each quick disconnect in such configurations may be very difficult. Such difficulty may arise because the quick disconnect members are not accurately positioned on the electrical chassis so that one such member is displaced axially, radially and angularly with respect to the other. Conventional quick disconnect members which require virtually precise axial alignment of the coupler and nipple for mating and proper sealing of the quick disconnect, may make it virtually impossible to overcome such difficulties thereby requiring more expensive accurate placement of the quick disconnect members on the respective electrical equipment chassis. This is particularly true where one or both such electrical chassis to be mated to another, is mechanically constrained so that it is impossible to adjust the overall position of the electrical equipment chassis to compensate for the inaccurate alignment of the quick disconnect members.
The following U.S. patents are relevant to the present invention:
3,532,350 Kaufman PA0 4,023,831 Thompson PA0 4,116,451 Nixon et al PA0 4,160,551 Nixon et al PA0 4,191,389 Jelinek PA0 4,196,913 Oak PA0 4,387,902 Conover PA0 4,470,608 Warren PA0 4,599,171 Padilla et al PA0 4,657,188 Crane et al
U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,188 to Crane et al is directed to a spray system for a dishwashing machine having an inlet conduit adapted for insertion into a supply conduit to connect a spray manifold to the supply. The lower end of manifold includes an inlet conduit having an open end which is insertable within open end of branch conduit, having a widened mouth formed about open end. A sealing O-ring is disposed within a groove about open end of inlet conduit, forming a fluid tight seal upon insertion of open end into open end.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,831 to Thompson is directed to a plastic pipe fitting having a telescoping member. A tubular member extends axially outwardly from coupling member, which includes a pair of O-ring seals located within annular grooves, within coupling member. The end of tubular member, disposed within coupling member, is provided with a ring member secured by fusion bonding to the outer surface of tubular member. However, ring member is not an end seal, but is adapted to limit the extent of axial movement of tubular member outwardly from coupling member.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,532,350 to Kaufman is directed to a composite seal comprising an annular ring of resilient material and having springs embedded therein. The annular packing ring comprises resilient material, such as rubber or plastic, and a springs reinforce the biasing effect of the packing member. In another embodiment, a U or V-shaped spring is embedded within a packing ring and includes outwardly extending fingers or may be continuous as provided with a spring shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,913 to Oka is directed to a gasket having a construction wherein an undulating base plate is located intermediate a pair of surface plates. The base plate is provided with undulations surrounding holes in the gasket to impart elasticity to the base plate, as is similarly done in the present invention using a multiple-turn wave-type spring. The surface plates are metallic in nature and may be slightly softer than the base plate, as this gasket is intended for use as a cylinder head gasket.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,608 to Warren is directed to a resilient gasket having an internally an internally positioned spring means. The flexible resilient gasket is shown to include a metal spring means. The spring means is formed by a pair of elongate strips of spring steel which are curved along their length, with the concave surfaces facing each other.
There is therefore a need for a quick disconnect member which is designed to permit axial, radial and angular misalignment between the male and female members of the quick disconnect while still providing a secure and leak-proof interconnection therebetween.

Quick disconnect with a position compensating seal


An immunoassay directed at certain analytes that have benzene rings, such that the immunoreactive standard used is less volatile than the analyte, and kits for performing the assay.

The identification of the petroleum contaminants in soil or of oil sheens on water is very important for identifying the source and extent of the contamination. Those contaminants include a wide variety of volatile organic contaminants (VOC's) such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes. However, analysis of those compounds is difficult because VOC's are rapidly volatilized; loss can amount to three orders of magnitude during sampling, transportation, storage, and analytical processes. (T. Potter and J. Bruya (1993) Analysis of Petroleum Contaminated Soil and Water, from the 8th Annual Soils Conference, Univ. Mass.).
A separate problem arises because of the need for a standard in many immunoassays used to determine the concentration of the VOC. Ideally, the response (e.g., amount of color in an ELISA method) generated due to addition of the sample with an unknown analyte concentration is compared to the response generated when a known amount of analyte (the standard) is added. VOC's in aqueous solution, however, are not good standards because their concentration changes with time due to evaporation.
In view of the foregoing, it would be highly desirable to (1) be able to perform on-site analysis in order to minimize loss of such volatile compounds by minimizing transportation and storage of the samples, and (2) be able to use non-volatile standards for calibrating the assay in order to avoid loss of the standards during transportation from their site of manufacture to the site of testing.
On-site analysis is not possible for methods such as chromatography but it is possible for immunoassay analysis. Commercially available immunoassay test kits usually use either the VOC's themselves or a petroleum product mix, such as home heating oil, as calibrators. The disadvantage of the VOC's is their volatility; the disadvantage of the petroleum product mix is that it is a highly heterogeneous mixture, with batch-to-batch variations in its composition and therefore its immunoreactivity. Additionally, even the petroleum mixes contain VOC's that will evaporate and result in a decrease of immunoreactivity with time.

Immunoassay standards for volatile analytes with benzene rings


The disposable pill counting device is a tray formed of a disposable material and includes a sidewall to define areas for holding and dispensing pills. The disposable tray may be substantially U-shaped with a folding sidewall and can be used with a disposable spatula.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to health care, and more particularly to a pill counting device and method for using the pill counting device
2. Description of the Related Art
Among other things, pharmacies commonly supply pills and other medication in prescription vials for holding their medication after the patients leave the pharmacy and their appointment with the doctor. Some patients when they come to the pharmacy with their prescription scripts are in pain and wish to take their medication immediately in accordance with the doctor's signa, which is a Latin term to label the prescription according to dose, route of administration and frequency of use. The only concern of the patients under these circumstances is that the medication will provide some relief from the pain that they suffer and/or cure the ailment. Since the inception of the pharmacy, the tools that have been used to fill the tablet/capsule prescription drug order has been the pill counting tray and spatula. These tools are based on technology that has been in existence for more than 80 years. However, these devices are still used today by the pharmacy to manually fill, accurately count and dispense the medication into the prescription vials. This process is repeated over and over again with the same pill counting tray and spatula. There is no attempt to prevent the contamination of the next patient's medication by the medication of the previous patient. However, many patients are allergic to some kinds of medications, and it is possible for the patient's medication to become contaminated with the previous patient's medication and for the patient to sustain a serious allergic reaction without knowledge of the source of the contamination. The contamination could occur during the filling, counting and dispensing of the patient's medication.
Thus, a disposable pill counting device solving the aforementioned problems is desired.


A method and apparatus provide a side bet game play method for dice games and particularly Sic Bo. Multiple outcomes may be wagered on for occurrence of Trips. Excess numbers of dice beyond what are needed for a dice game outcome are reduced to the necessary number for use in the dice game by visual identification selection or exclusion by input or automatic processor selection/exclusion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of electronic driven dice games, to variations of wagers for Sic Bo and provision of electronic variations in random selection of dice used in gaming outcomes.
2. Background of the Art
Sic Bo, meaning "dice pair" is an ancient Chinese gambling game. It is very popular in Macau, in my estimation second to baccarat only. In the United States is often found in the Asian gaming rooms, especially in Atlantic City. The large Las Vegas properties will usually have one table in the general casino.
The game uses three dice and a table with a variety of betting options on the roll of those dice. The odds and table layout may also vary from place to place. However, the payoffs are the same across Atlantic City and Macau, but different from each other. In Vegas and on the Internet casinos, anything is possible.
Following is a list of the bets available. The payoffs vary on some bets, from casino to casino, so for those bets a range of viable payoffs is indicated.                Small: Wins on total of 4-10, except for a three of a kind. Probability of winning is 48.61%. Pays 1 to 1. House edge is 2.78%.        Big: Wins on total of 11-17, except for a three of a kind. Probability of winning is 48.61%. Pays 1 to 1. House edge is 2.78%.        Total of 4 and 17: Pays 50 to 1 in Macau, 60 to 1 in Atlantic City, and 62 to 1 in Australia.
House Edge for 4 and 17 BetsPaysProbabilityReturn501.39%29.17%511.39%27.78%521.39%26.39%531.39%25.00%541.39%23.61%551.39%22.22%561.39%20.83%571.39%19.44%581.39%18.06%591.39%16.67%601.39%15.28%611.39%13.89%621.39% 12.5%631.39%11.11%641.39% 9.72%651.39% 8.33%                Total of 5 and 16: Pays 18 to 1 in Macau, 30 to 1 in Atlantic City, and 31 to 1 in Australia.
House Edge for 5 and 16 BetsPaysProbabilityReturn182.78%47.22%192.78%44.44%202.78%41.67%212.78%38.89%222.78%36.11%232.78%33.33%242.78%30.56%252.78%27.78%262.78%25.00%272.78%22.22%282.78%19.44%292.78%16.67%302.78%13.89%312.78%11.11%322.78%8.33%                Total of 6 and 15: Pays 14 to 1 in Macau, 17 to 1 in Atlantic City, and 18 to 1 in Australia.
House Edge for 6 and 15 BetsPaysProbabilityReturn144.63%30.56%154.63%25.93%164.63% 21.3%174.63%16.67%184.63%12.04%194.63% 7.41%                Total of 7 and 14: Pays 12 to 1 everywhere.
House Edge for 7 and 14 BetsPaysProbabilityReturn106.94%23.61%116.94%16.67%126.94%9.72%                Total of 8 and 13: Pays 8 to 1 everywhere.
House Edge for 8 and 13 BetsPaysProbabilityReturn79.72%22.22%89.72%12.50%                Total of 9 and 12: Pays 6 to 1 in Macau and Atlantic City. Pays 7 to 1 in Australia.
House Edge for 9 and 12 BetsPaysProbabilityReturn611.57%18.98%711.57%7.41%                Total of 10 and 11: Pays 6 to 1 everywhere. House edge of 12.50%.        Double: Bet on any specific pair (for example two 1's). Player wins if at least 2 of the number chosen appears. Pays 8 to 1 in Macau, 10 to 1 in Atlantic City, and 11 to 1 in Australia.
House Edge for Double BetsPaysProbabilityReturn87.41%33.33%97.41%25.93%107.41%18.52%117.41%11.11%                Triple: Player may bet on any specific trips (for example three 1's). Player wins if all 3 dice match the number chosen. Pays 150 to 1 in Macau and 180 to 1 in Atlantic City.
House Edge for Triple BetsPaysProbabilityReturn1500.46%30.09%1550.46%27.78%1600.46%25.46%1650.46%23.15%1700.46%20.83%1750.46%18.52%1800.46%16.20%1850.46%13.89%1900.46%11.57%                Any Triple: Wins on any three of a kind. Pays 24 to 1 in Macau and 30 to 1 in Atlantic City.
House Edge for Any Triple BetPaysProbabilityReturn242.78%30.56%252.78%27.78%262.78%25.00%272.78%22.22%282.78%19.44%292.78%16.67%302.78%13.89%312.78%11.11%322.78%8.33%                Any One Number: Bet on any specific number from 1 to 6. If chosen number appears 1 time bet pays 1 to 1, if it appears 2 times bet pays 2 to 1, and if it appears 3 times it pays 3 to 1 (in Atlantic City and Macau). Probability of 1 match is 34.72%, 2 matches is 6.94%, 3 matches is 0.46%. House edge of 7.87% (in Atlantic City and Macau). In Australia three matches pays 12 to 1, for a house edge of 3.70%.        Odd: Wins on any odd total, except loses with any three of a kind. The probability of winning is 48.61% and house edge is 2.78%.        Even: Wins on any even total, except loses with any three of a kind. This bet is predominantly in Macau, not in the United States. Probability of winning is 48.61% and house edge is 2.78%.        xyz: The player chooses a three-number combination, using three unique numbers, for example 1-3-5. The bet pays 30 to 1 if all three are rolled. Probability of winning is 2.78% and house edge is 13.89%.        xxy: The player chooses a three-number combination, using two unique numbers, and specifying which will be rolled twice. For example 2-2-4. The bet pays 50 to 1 if the roll matches exactly. So, in this example, 2-4-4 and 2-4-5 would lose. Probability of winning is 1.39% and house edge is 29.17%.        wxyz: The player chooses a four-number combination, using four unique numbers, for example 1-3-4-6. The bet pays 7 to 1 if the roll matches three of the chosen numbers. In my example, 1-3-4, 1-3-6, 1-4-6, and 3-4-6 would be the only winners. Probability of winning is 11.11% and house edge is also 11.11%.        xy: The player chooses a two-number combination, using two unique numbers. For example 2-5. The bet pays 5 to 1 if the roll contains both numbers. For example a bet on 2-5 would win on a rolls of 1-2-5, 2-2-5, 2-3-5, 2-4-5, 2-5-5, and 2-5-6. Probability of winning is 13.89% and house edge is 16.67%.
Following are tables summarizing each bet under the Atlantic City and Macau rules.
Sic Bo - Atlantic City RulesWinningBetPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturnSmall, Big11050.486111−0.0277784, 176030.013889−0.1527785, 163060.027778−0.1388896, 1517100.046296−0.1666677, 1412150.069444−0.0972228, 138210.097222−0.1259, 126250.115741−0.18981510, 11 6270.125000−0.125000Triple18010.004630−0.162037Any triple3060.027778−0.138889Double10160.074074−0.185185Xy5300.138889−0.166667Any number1, 2, 375, 15, 10.421296−0.078704
Following is a table summarizing each bet under the Macau rules.
Sic Bo - Macau RulesWinningBetPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturnSmall, Big11050.486111−0.027778Odd, Even11050.486111−0.0277784, 175030.013889−0.2916675, 161860.027778−0.4722226, 1514100.046296−0.3055567, 1412150.069444−0.0972228, 138210.097222−0.1250009, 126250.115741−0.18981510, 11 6270.125000−0.125000Triple15010.004630−0.300926Any triple2460.027778−0.305556Double8160.074074−0.333333xyz3060.027778−0.138889xxy5030.013889−0.291667wxyz7240.111111−0.111111xy5300.138889−0.166667Any number1, 2, 375, 15, 10.421296−0.078704
Following is a table summarizing each bet under the Australia rules.
Sic Bo - Australia RulesWinningBetPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturnSmall, Big11050.486111−0.0277784, 176230.013889−0.1250005, 163160.027778−0.1111116, 1518100.046296−0.1203707, 1412150.069444−0.0972228, 138210.097222−0.1250009, 127250.115741−0.07407410, 11 6270.125000−0.125000Triple18010.004630−0.162037Any triple3160.027778−0.111111Double11160.074074−0.111111xy6300.138889−0.027778Any number1, 2, 1275, 15, 10.421296−0.037037Sic Bo House Edge ComparisonAtlanticBetMacauCityAustraliaSmall, Big 2.78% 2.78% 2.78%4, 1729.17%15.28%12.50%5, 1647.22%13.89%11.11%6, 1530.56%16.67%12.04%7, 14 9.72% 9.72% 9.72%8, 1312.50%12.50%12.50%9, 1218.98%18.98% 7.41%10, 11  12.5%12.50%12.50%Triple30.09%16.20%16.20%Any triple30.56%13.89%11.11%Double33.33%18.52%11.11%xy16.67%16.67% 2.78%Any number 7.87% 7.87% 3.7%Yee Hah Hi
About 20% of the many Sic Bo tables in Macau use dice with pictures, instead of numbers. The name of this game is "Yee Hah Hi." The translation is "Fish Shrimp Crab." Each picture has an associated number, as shown below. In addition to the usual bets there are some based on the colors of the symbols, as explained below.
Sic Bo - Chinese Dice RulesSymbolColorNumberFishRed1ScorpionGreen2GoardBlue3CoinBlue4CrabGreen5RoosterRed6                All same color: Wins if all three dice are the same color. Pays 7 to 1. The probability of winning and house edge are both, coincidentally, 11.11%.        Exactly two of specific color: Wins if exactly two dice are a color chose by the player, for example red. Pays 3 to 1. The probability of winning is 22.22%, and house edge is 11.11%.        Exactly one of specific color: Wins if exactly one die is a color chose by the player, for example red. Pays 1 to 1. The probability of winning is 44.44%, and house edge is 11.11%.Underlying Rules of Sic BoSetup
Sic Bo is a dice game which consists of many places on the table to place bets. Three dice are used to determine the outcome of the betting.
Betting
The bottom row of the Sic Bo table has six betting areas. These are called single number bets. If one of the three dice comes up as one the numbers bet on (from 1-6), you get paid out at 1 to 1. If two numbers come up you get paid out at 2 to 1 and if three numbers come up you get paid out at 3 to 1. So if you bet on the number 3 and you wagered $5.00 and 2 threes came up you would win $10.00.
The two number combination bets consist of placing a wager on any 2 dice combinations. If you wager on a 6,4 combination and the result of the dice roll was 4,7,6, you would win at 6 to 1 odds. You can only win on one instance of the two-number combination.
A three number total wager consists of combining the total shown on the resulting dice roll. Different totals have different odds. A result of 3 or 18 is always a loss. The payouts are as follows:
4 or 17, 50 to 1;
5 or 16, 25 to 1;
6 or 15, 15 to 1;
7 or 14, 10 to 1;
8 or 13, 6 to 1;
9 or 12, 5 to 1;
10 or 11, 5 to 1.
You can wager on whether the combined total of the dice roll will be either between 4-10 or 11-17. This wager pays out at 1-1 odds. All small or big wagers lose if the result of the dice is a triplet.
Triplets or trips (Trips) are when the dice roll is all one number. So if you wagered on three 6's and that was the dice result you would win at 150-1 odds. You can also wager on all six triplet bets at once, this is called "Any Triplet" and pays out at 25-1 odds.
Pairs are when the resulting dice roll contains a pair of the same number. Whether you have two fives or three fives you still only win once and you win at odds of 11-1.
Sic Bo is a single roll dice game in which players may wager on the sum of the dice, typically three. For example, the player may wager on the sum of twelve without regard to the combination of the dice required to add up to twelve, i.e. the player would win if the dice show 6-5-1, or 5-5-2. Alternatively or additionally, the player may wager on the combination of the dice. In the before-mentioned example, the player might wager on the roll of the dice results to be 6-6-6. In Sic Bo, three dice are rolled and all wagers are immediately resolved; that is, there are, at present, no multiple roll wagers in Sic Bo. Sic Bo is an easy dice game to understand and play, however its simplicity fails to keep the player interested and large payouts can be limited.
Sic Bo, known to some people as Tai Sai, means dice pair in Chinese. It is an ancient Chinese game of chance. It may have originally used dice shaken between a plate and an overturned bowl, but today it commonly has three dice in a cage for tumbling. Extremely popular in Asian cultures, this exciting and engaging game is winning new converts in many casinos around the world. Sic Bo is easy to play. The object is to pick the numbers or combinations that will appear on the dice when they come to rest after tumbling. There are 50 different ways to place bets, so players have plenty of choices with a range of payouts—some as high as 180-to-1. In a sense, this game is somewhat similar to the Western game of craps, but it involves many more betting opportunities and combinations due to the use of one additional dice than the game of craps. However, despite this similarity, this game has not yet found its way into traditional Western-style casinos.
A dice game proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,351 as described above is performed according to special rules, however, there is a problem that people are not familiar with this game and its special rules and therefore this game lacks amusement. The Sic Bo generally widely known is familiar to people, so that it can amuse players, however, the BET patterns are limited, so that there is still room for upgrading in terms of improvement in amusement. In detail, in the BET region whose appearance frequency is low and award ratio is highest (approximately 1 to 180), it is considered that a player performs a BET operation in an excited state, however, in this BET region, it is only predicted that rolled numbers on three dice rolled are the same (the combination of rolled numbers on the dice is (1, 1, 1), (2, 2, 2) . . . (6, 6, 6)), and this area lacks excitement when making a BET.
Variations of Sic Bo are disclosed as Published US Patent Application Document No. 20060049578 (Chen) describes a game titled Let Me Roll Sic Bo as a dice game blending both Sic Bo with the traditional craps game. There are three regular dice (cubes). Each die has six sides and different number of spots on it (from one to six). Each player takes a turn to shoot the dice clockwise. Players can wager on nine main designed betting areas to win different odds.
Another variation of Sic Bo are disclosed as Published US Patent Application Document No. 20060202416 (Madden) describes a method of playing a betting dice game with a progressive payout is disclosed. The game includes three dice and a game table with up to four wager zones for players to place a bet on. The wager zones correspond to a sum of the dice. Payout to a winning player results from the wager placed on the wager zones and the corresponding first, second and third sequential rolls of the dice.
Published US Patent Application Document No. 20060249907 (Wong) describes an East-West casino game that offers two or more gambling games in which at least one game involves a Feng Shui element of chance and the other involves either a game based upon a new Chinese Poker Deck of cards or a video slot machine having a carousel in which two or more wheels rotate in opposite directions and a random event associated with the two or more wheels is used in connection with a payout or bonus round of the video slot machine. The game involving a Feng Shui element of chance can be a Yin-Yang roulette game or a video slot machine (which may at least partially based upon the Chinese Poker Deck) or a Feng Shui keno machine while a game based upon the Chinese Poker Deck may be a poker game and the casino itself may be a website. The video slot machine can use a carousel in which two or more wheels (which need not be round) rotate in opposite directions and additional wheel can be added in which symbols are shuffled. Examples of video slot machines include a Yin-Yang roulette game in which two balls travel in opposite directions (similar to a roulette wheel) with landings for the ball designated by symbols related to the Chinese games of Tin Gau, Mahjongg, Fan Tan or Sic Bo and a Feng Shui keno machine in which at least one Chinese character is broken down into a plurality of radicals.
Published US Patent Application Document No. 20100069142 (Kido) describes a dice gaming machine accepts a bet on a bet area and a bet on an intermediate area between/among a plurality of bet areas. After ending the bet acceptance, the gaming machine starts rolling dice. After the rolling of the dice has been stopped, the dice gaming machine identifies a winning bet area based on the dice rolling result. A payout amount for each terminal is calculated based on the identified winning bet area, the bet area or the intermediate area on which the bet is accepted, and a payout magnification ratio set for the bet area or the intermediate area.
Automatic Sic Bo Machines are known in the art wherein dice are automatically tossed and read, and wagers are electronically entered and resolved based on the automatic reading and tossing of dice. Combination systems where manually tossed dice, manually entered outcomes, and electronic wagers are used that are resolved based upon the manually entered (or electronically read) manually thrown dice outcomes. TCS John Huxley showcased a machine at 2007 G2E Asia in Macau. The ergonomically designed Super Sic Bo table featured a high definition 55 inch LCD playing screen with an apparent Sic Bo playing surface. High impact computer generated graphic animations highlighted 'no more bets' and all winning bets as well as indicating the streak bets of either odd or even and big or small numbers as they progress on the Super Streak side bet.
A voice announcement feature delivered game results and number sequences. This was available in multiple languages and gave players concise and distinctive game information and attracted new players to join in.
There was also offered a Super Streak side bet option offering players the opportunity to participate in a bonus bet determined by the results over a number of games, which are clearly displayed and easy to understand. This provides incremental payouts for a streak of either odd or even and big or small results. A triple result where the three dice all display the same number does not cancel the Super Streak.
The system was compatible with e-FX LCD displays and with Animator LED displays, showing the last 17 individual dice results, big or small betting options, odd or even betting options and Super Streak side bet streak progress are easy to see.
System Highlights Included                Jumbo size color dices (888 mm)        Integrated electronic dice shaker        Electronic dice outcome recognition        Digital dice results communication        Touch-screen bet placing        Fully automated game        SAS 6.02 enabled        Adaptive design and graphic presentation        Minimum and maximum bet limits        Wide range of betting options and payout odds        Automatic game results calculation and payout        Increased productivity—no game stops        Jackpots and side bets available        Betting time indication        Easier monitoring and accounting        Game information display        Electronically activated        Precise dice rolling        Elimination of "no spin" and incorrect dice throw        Special system for flat lying dices        Dice shaker failure detection        Glass dome-shaped shaker cover        Digital Dice recognition        Touch-screen betting        No human interference        Faster game playable 24/7 without personnel in attendance        Game and dice statisticsAn example image of an electronic system is shown in FIG. 1. All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference.

Electronic dice games and sic bo variant


An emulsion aggregation toner including a core and a shell wherein the core includes an amorphous polyester, a wax, a crystalline polyester and an optional colorant and wherein the shell includes an amorphous polyester and a wax and is substantially free of crystalline polyester.

The present disclosure is generally directed to toner processes, and more specifically to processes comprising aggregating and coalescing toner particles from an aqueous suspension of colorant, wax particles and resin particles. In embodiments, described is the preparation of an ultra low melt polyester toner comprised of colorant, wax, an amorphous resin and a crystalline resin. Ultra low melt particles typically display a melting point of from about 50° C. to about 100° C.
EA techniques typically involve the formation of a latex emulsion of the resin particles, which particles have a size of from about 5 to about 500 nanometers in diameter. The resin may be heated, optionally with solvent if needed, in water, or by making a latex in water using emulsion polymerization. A colorant dispersion, for example of a pigment dispersed in water, optionally also with additional resin, may be separately formed. The colorant dispersion may be added to the emulsion latex mixture and an aggregating agent or complexing agent may then be added to initiate aggregation of larger size toner particles. Once a desired toner particle size is achieved, aggregation may be stopped. The aggregated toner particles may then be heated to enable coalescing/fusing, thereby achieving aggregated, fused toner particles.
Fundamental to the performance of a toner is its ability to maintain charge requirements. The ambient environment, which has been classified into three zones, can affect this ability. The A-zone is characterized by high humidity and high temperature (about 28° C. and about 85% relative humidity). The B-zone is characterized by moderate humidity and temperature (about 21° C. and about 40% relative humidity). The C-zone is characterized by low temperature and low humidity (about 10° C. and about 40% relative humidity). If there is a large difference in charging behavior across these zones, the materials have a sensitivity to relative humidity. The sensitivity ratio may be expressed as a ratio of a triboelectric charge of the toner developer in the C-zone to a triboelectric charge of the toner developer in the A-zone. A goal is for the RH sensitivity ratio to be as close to one as possible.
Polyester based toners may display low charge due to polyester's hydrophilic nature as compared to other toners. With additives, the polyester resins can meet the charge requirements of a toner.
An advantage to using polyester-based toners is the ability to produce low melting toner, for example ultra-low melt toner, via inclusion of crystalline polyester in the toner. However, when a crystalline component is added to these resins to lower the melting point of the toner, the present inventors have found that the high resistivity of the crystalline polyester may contribute to lower charge and lower charge maintainability as well as higher cohesion if coalesced at temperatures above the onset of melt point of the crystalline resin, wherein plasticization of the resin occurs.
Following discovery of these issues, the inventors sought a solution to these potential problems associated with the use of crystalline polyester.


A system for longitudinal and lateral control of a vehicle. The system includes a camera generating a plurality of images representative of a field of view in front of the vehicle, and a controller receiving the plurality of images. The controller detects an object in the plurality of images, extracts a plurality of features from the plurality of images, generates a reference feature depiction based on the plurality of features from one or more of the plurality of images, generates a comparison feature depiction based on the plurality of features from one of the plurality of images, compares the reference feature depiction and the comparison feature depiction, and determines a longitudinal position of the vehicle relative to the object based on differences between the reference feature depiction and the comparison feature depiction.

There are a wide range of automotive applications that enhance a driver's experience, and reduce stress under various driving conditions. These applications use different sensor technologies, including camera-based intelligent systems. Camera-based intelligent systems (i.e., vision systems) provide live images to an operator, and utilize image processing and pattern recognition algorithms to assist drivers in lateral control of a vehicle. Using light sensing, these vision systems detect lanes and recognize vehicles and other objects in the path of a vehicle. In contrast, vehicle longitudinal controls, which assist a driver in maintaining a safe following distance, provide collision warning, assist in braking, and the like are accomplished using radar or other range finder systems (which do not rely on sensing light).

Video based intelligent vehicle control system


The present invention provides novel fluorinated acrylamide silane monomers which are useful as adhesion promoting agents in optical fiber cladding compositions. Polymerization of the novel monomers, optionally in the presence compatible ethylenically-unsaturated monomers, provides homopolymers and copolymers which are useful as non-wetting agents.

Silane coupling agents having ambifunctionality are known in the art to provide a stable bond between two dissimilar substrates, usually organic to inorganic, such as organic polymers to inorganic substrates, e.g., glass, mineral fillers, metals, and metallic oxides. The bond between the inorganic and organic components generally results in greater strength and service life to the polymer.
Polymerizable silane coupling agents are commercially available from numerous sources. Despite their general availability, however, only nonfluorinated hydrocarbon materials are known. The polymerizable group contains either (meth)acrylate, allyl, styryl, amino, or epoxy functionalities, while the silane group is usually an alkoxy silyl moiety (generally methoxy or ethoxy) which serves as a binding site to hydroxy-functional inorganic substrates via displacement of the alkoxy groups. Additional information concerning silane coupling agents may be found in the book by E. P. Pleuddeman ("Silane Coupling Agents", Plenum Press: New York, 1982, p 20-23 and 97), as well as in technical reports by S. Sterman and J. G. Marsden entitled "Theory of Mechanisms of Silane Coupling Agents in Glass Reinforced and Filled Thermoplastic and Thermosetting Resin Systems", Union Carbide Corporation, New York, and "A Guide to Dow Corning Silane Coupling Agents", Dow Corning Corporation, 1985, pp 2-13.
Substitution of fluorine for hydrogen in polymers and coatings is often desirable to impart useful properties such as lower surface energy. Typically, incorporation of fluorine into polymers and coatings has been made by copolymerizing (meth)acrylate monomers derived from (meth)acrylic acid and highly fluorinated alcohols. However, (meth)acrylates often polymerize at slow rates and provide polymers which possess inadequate thermal and hydrolytic stabilities.
Fluorinated (meth)acrylamide monomers have been described in several patents. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,743,297 and 3,997,604 disclose fluorinated (meth)acrylamide monomers prepared by the reaction of fluorinated secondary or primary amines and (meth)acryloyl chloride. A complication in the synthesis is the removal of by-product hydrogen chloride.
2-Alkenyl azlactones are known to react with certain nucleophiles such as primary amines and alcohols to afford (meth)acrylamide-functional products. It has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,582 that linear fluorinated-alcohols and -diols when reacted with 2-alkenyl azlactones yield desirable fluorinated acrylamide monomers.
It is believed that the reaction of a hydroxy-functional fluorinated acrylamide and an isocyanatoalkylsilane to afford fluorinated acrylamide silane monomers of the invention has not been previously reported.

Fluorinated acrylamide silane monomers and polymers

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


Systems and methods for adaptively compressing test data are disclosed. One such method comprises the steps of examining a test data file that includes a first plurality of data units corresponding to a first plurality of DUT pins and a second plurality of data units corresponding to a second plurality of DUT pins, compressing the first plurality of data units using a first compression technique, and compressing the second plurality of data units using a second compression technique.

Testing the structure of an electronic device-under-test (DUT), such as, for example, a microprocessor, typically requires providing the device with input and then checking the device's output to determine if there are any defects. The input that is provided to the DUT is typically compressed prior to being provided to a testing device since the testing device has limited memory capacity. However, in some circumstances, there may not be enough computing resources available to adequately compress the data that is to be provided to the testing device. Therefore, there exists a need for systems and methods for addressing these and/or other problems associated with testing a DUT.


A new Impatiens plant named ‘Silt Oragsar’ particularly distinguished by the fully-double orange-red and white bi-colored flowers, has early flowering, nicely contrasting dark green foliage, and compact and low mounding plant habit with good branching.

The present invention comprises a new Impatiens, botanically known as Impatiens walleriana, and hereinafter referred to by the variety name 'Silt Oragsar'.
'Silt Oragsar' is a product of a planned breeding program. The new cultivar has fully-double orange-red and white bi-colored flowers, has early flowering, nicely contrasting dark green foliage, and compact and low mounding plant habit with good branching.
'Silt Oragsar' originated from a hybridization made in April 2007 in a controlled breeding environment in Andijk, Netherlands. The female parent was the unpatented, proprietary plant designated 'IDO3-27-11', with scarlet and white bi-colored flowers.
The male parent of 'Silt Oragsar' was an unpatented proprietary plant designated as 'IDO3-30-11', with salmon and white bi-colored flowers. The resultant seed was sown in June 2007.
'Silt Oragsar' was selected as one flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in the September 2007 in a controlled environment in Andijk, Netherlands.
The first act of asexual reproduction of 'Silt Oragsar' was accomplished when vegetative cuttings were propagated from the initial selection in September 2007 in a controlled environment in Andijk, Netherlands.


An apparatus to extend printed circuit board length allows for secure mounting of the printed circuit boards. More particularly, the extender bracket apparatus (30) is for stabilizing small or short, commercial off the shelf (COTS) circuit boards (20) for personal computers (PC). The apparatus will aid in operation of small circuit boards for rugged applications such as high vibration conditions in vehicles. The extender bracket apparatus (30) is first fastened to an adjustable clamp (60), which is then fastened to a COTS circuit board. The adjustable clamp has holes that facilitate attaching to slots in the extender bracket apparatus. The clamp and extender board may have a dielectric surface to prevent electrical conduction. The dielectric can be an adhesive to hold the printed circuit board. The apparatus can then be fastened to a computer chassis (40) for rigidly mounting the circuit board.

The present invention pertains to printed circuit boards and more particularly to extending small or short personal computer (PC) circuit boards to simplify attachment techniques for operation in rugged environments.
Modern electronics for the military and for other rugged applications are being designed with `plug and play` printed circuit boards. The `plug and play` concept enables computers to be updated, upgraded or expanded readily by the addition of a ready to use circuit board. These commercial off the shelf (COTS) printed circuit boards are being used in a variety of computer applications. Many of the COTS personal computer boards are short in length. These non-standard length boards do not lend themselves well to a standardized packaging scheme in a computer.
Included in COTS circuit boards, for example, are boards for personal computers (PC) such as peripheral component interconnect (PCI) circuit boards, industry standard architecture (ISA) circuit boards and other types. The majority of COTS computer printed circuit boards are used in PC applications where the printed circuit boards are mounted in a chassis. A number of these boards are not the full length of the chassis and are therefore difficult to mount.
PC printed circuit boards have inherent problems in packaging for rugged environments. The printed circuit boards are typically mounted with edge connectors at the long end or at the lower side of the printed circuit boards. This can result in rigid body motion problems and severe connector loading.
Short COTS boards can be especially susceptible to movement due to difficulties in mounting. Thus there is a problem of vibration and associated deflections of the card. A poorly restrained circuit board will often deflect under the influence of typical shock and vibration loadings found in rugged environments. This deflection is often refereed to as `oil canning` and could effect the components on the card, the grounding to the chassis and the edge card connection.
Small or short COTS cards need to be restrained to eliminate these problems. The printed circuit board length, rigidity, weight and the placement of components and printed circuits on the board effect the natural frequency and displacement under vibration. Any conformal coating applied to the printed circuit will also effect the displacement.
If unrestrained, the printed circuit board can fatigue and fail, printed circuits can separate from the board, grounding to the chassis can become intermittent, and electronic components can come loose and fail.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a replaceable arrangement to extend the length of short or small commercial off the shelf (COTS) personal computer PC printed circuit boards. This would aid in being able to rigidly stabilize the COTS boards and eliminate problems with vibration in harsh environments. Included is the need to eliminate the majority of the rigid body motion to reduce the loading on the printed circuit board edge connector, enhance grounding, plus decrease strain on the printed circuit board and the associated electronic components mounted on the printed circuit board.