Systems and methods are provided for group bill payment comprising creating a secure group bill payment account associated with a plurality of group members. The group bill payment account may be configured to receive information via a network from the plurality of group members; permit a group member to manage the group bill payment account following an authentication process; and transmit a group payment to a provider. Systems and methods may further comprise receiving instructions from a group member to create a rule for requesting payment, the bill being from a provider and associated with group members; receiving the bill issued by the provider; determining a charge based on the bill and the rule; sending a payment request based on the charge; receiving a deposit into the group bill payment account; transmitting a group payment; and sending a notification.

Many people need to split bills with other members of a group, i.e. to make a communal bill payment. For example, roommates, teammates, family members, friends, clubs, or other groups may receive a bill and need to split the cost based on criteria. Sometimes, these bills recur like, for example, a lease payment or a utility bill, and payment may be based on usage or other criteria.
Conventional methods for splitting bills often involve placing a bill in a single group member's name, even if multiple group members split the bill. Often, the responsible group member manually receives payment from other group members, for example by depositing checks into a checking account, and submits a single combined payment to the biller or provider. One problem is that conventional methods may require the responsible party to track payments and pay by the due date, an inconvenient, time-consuming effort. The amount owed by each party may be variable and difficult to calculate. Further, this approach relies on the responsible group member's honesty, diligence, and organizational skills. A payment error or missed payment by the responsible group member may negatively impact all group members. In addition, the responsible group member may be forced to send reminders to other group members for late payments or bounced checks, creating an undesirable social situation. A further problem with conventional methods is that group members whose names do not appear on the bill may have difficulty establishing an official or legal status like, for example, proof of residence. Further, the responsible party may be forced to assume an obligation to pay when the other group members are delinquent in payment. From these and other problems, it is apparent that conventional methods for splitting bills are inconvenient and create risks for all group members.
Some payment apps, software programs, online services, and other systems attempt to address some of these problems, but these systems suffer from deficiencies. For example, some systems function as simple payment schedulers or record-keepers, and in some cases may send reminder or confirmation notifications to group members. However, these programs may lack the ability to pay a provider directly and do not reduce the risks identified above. Further, these systems may not be scalable and react to events in real-time.
In view of the shortcomings and problems with traditional methods, an improved and unconventional system and method for splitting group bills that reduces risk and increases convenience is desired.

Systems and methods for real-time, distributed processing of group bill payments


A method for improving the quality of frozen seafood by enhancing flavor and shelf-life so that the seafood can be stored under commercial conditions. This method includes injection of substances into the flesh or circulatory system of live fish and whole seafood prior to cooking or freezing. These injected substances include antioxidants and cryoprotectants which circulate throughout the tissues, allowing for a uniform distribution throughout the flesh of the animal. The animal is then frozen, or cooked and then frozen, and stored for later use. The present invention is also directed to a solution for injecting into live fish and whole seafood in accordance with the method of the present invention.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to flavor and shelf life enhancement of fish and whole seafood prior to cooking or freezing and to the maintenance and enhancement of the cooked yield of fish and whole seafood. In particular, the present invention relates to methods for maintaining or enhancing the flavor, shelf life and cooked yield of Maine lobsters.
2. Description of the Related Art
The quality and taste of seafood is known to deteriorate as oxidation occurs and ice crystals disrupt the cells and tissue. The freezing preservation of whole seafood so that the food tastes substantially like fresh has been so difficult, for example, when compared to the problems associated with freezing meat, that the U.S. Government financed research in this field for many years. Despite this effort, little success has been obtained and the program has now been terminated.
Representative of this type of effort is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,274, issued to Ross et al. on Jun. 22, 1982, which discloses a whole blue crab freezing process. This process includes the use of sugar in the boiling and cooling baths and the retention of this sugar water within the shell of the whole blue crab during freezing and storage. However, only sugar is disclosed as a flavor and shelf life enhancer, and only immersion is disclosed as a method of application. Further, the process is disclosed for whole blue crabs only.
Various attempts have been made in the beef industry to improve the quality of meat. Swift and Codeveloped one of the most promising. In this process, an injection of a clarified, concentrated, standardized proteolytic enzyme (papain) is injected into the animal's jugular vein minutes before slaughter. The size of the injection is dependent upon the weight and grade of the animal. The tenderizing enzyme is carried to all parts of the body through the blood stream and results in a significant increase in tenderness. The purpose of this process was limited to making the meat tenderer and was limited to beef.
A method of improving the quality of frozen seafood, particularly lobsters, which can be used with additives other than sugar and places the additives uniformly into the flesh of the animal prior to cooking or freezing is not disclosed in the prior art.

Method and solution for improving frozen seafood quality


A system includes an enclosure having a first radio module disposed therein, a first cable coupled to the enclosure, and a first antenna electrically coupled to the first radio module and mounted to the first cable at a first location along the first cable outside the enclosure. The first radio module is configured to communicate along a first wireless communications channel via the first antenna.

The invention relates generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to systems and methods for wireless communications in a welding system.
Welding is a process that has increasingly become utilized in various industries and applications. Such processes may be automated in certain contexts, although a large number of applications continue to exist for manual welding operations. In both cases, such welding operations rely on communication between a variety of types of equipment (e.g., devices) to ensure that welding operations are performed properly.
Certain welding systems may include devices that communicate with each other using wired communication, while other welding systems may include devices that communicate with each other using wireless communication. A wireless communication system may utilize a radio module coupled to an antenna to receive or transmit electromagnetic waves for wireless communication. Regulations may specify various characteristics of wireless communication systems to reduce electromagnetic interference among multiple wireless communication systems. However, regulations may specify minimum distances between antennas of separate wireless communication systems, thereby affecting the geometry of enclosures for the wireless communication systems. Additionally, some antennas mounted to enclosures may be relatively bulky or obtrusive, and antennas mounted to enclosures may restrict the effective range or directionality of wireless communication.

System and method for an antenna on a cable


The present invention relates to the use of extracts obtained from the marine algae Chaetoceros as antibacterially active agents and to compositions containing such agents for use against pathogenic bacteria. This invention also relates to a method of depurating an aquiculture using as a feed source the marine algae Chaetoceros.

The contamination of seabeds has become more problematic as the environment has gradually become more polluted. Pathogenic microorganisms are well known to infect seabeds, which are exposed to toxic waste and other undesirable pollutants. Controlled cultivation of fish, mollusks, crustaceans and other aquianimals has become more prevalent in view of the ever growing scarcity of uncontaminated sources. Such contamination concerns are further complicated by the fact that a number of bacteria have become multi-drug resistant as a result of improper and/or overuse of antibiotics. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has become more widespread and has resulted in the necessity to track the spread of such resistant strains and to the initiation of research efforts which seek alternative antibacterial agents which can be used to combat such resistant strains.
Pathogenic Vibrio vulnificus is commonly found in raw oysters and has been associated with the occurrence of shrimp diseases, either as a direct cause of disease, or as a carrier of virus or both. Additionally, bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus has become resistant to methicillin, leaving only vancomycin as the remaining effective antibiotic against this strain. Virulent strains of enterococcus have emerged which are vancomycin resistant causing an alarming realization of the need to find new antibiotics against this organism. Such pathogenic bacteria are known to be extremely dangerous to humans.
The present invention provides a solution to deputation of bivalves and mollusks by using the marine algae Chaetoceros as a food source for the aquianimals. Chaetoceros spp. provide natural antibiotic properties which cleanse the aquianimal from pathogenic vibrio, thereby making the harvested seafood safe for consumption.
Additionally, there is a need for new antibiotics and pharmaceutical compositions based thereon which are effective against a broad spectrum of bacteria and which are particularly useful against known multi-drug resistant strains of bacteria, including methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin resistant enterococcus, Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio vulnificus. Additionally, there is a need for the development of new antibacterially effective agents which can be made inexpensively and which are safe for use in mammals, aquianimals and the like. The present invention provides antibacterial agents which are based on the extracts of the marine algae Chaetoceros. Fractions and isolates of Chaetoceros spp. extracts have been shown to provide antibacterial activity and, in particular are active against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin resistant enterococcus bacteria, vibrio chlorae and vibrio vulnificus. The antibacterially effective extracts of the Chaetoceros algae are believed to either occur naturally in the unicellular algae or are produced by the algae in response to the presence of bacterium and other algae that compete against Chaetoceros for living space.
Pharmaceutical compositions and methods of treating mammals by administering bacterially effective amounts of one or more of the isolates of the Chaetoceros spp. extract are claimed herein.

Antibacterially active extracts from the marine algae chaetoceros and methods of use


An anchoring element for fastening a rod of a device for adjusting a human or animal spine to a vertebral bone, and having a holding device that is substantially U-shaped and includes two substantially parallely disposed holding ridges, a rod receiving slot being formed therein, and a securing element acting against the rod accommodated in the receiving slot. The securing element includes a locking element and a ring element and the ring element is mountable to the free end of the holding ridges by means of a single turn coupling system. Further a partial thread can be provided on opposing sides of the holding ridges and two opposing thread portions and two opposing entrance portions can be configured on the circumference of the ring element the diameter of the securing element in the region of the entrance portions not exceeding the core diameter of the thread portion so that the thread portions are engageable with the partial threads of the holding ridges and the thread portions and the partial threads comprise buttress threads.

DE 202 07 852.3 dated May 21, 2002 and DE 202 07 850.7 dated May 21, 2002
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an anchoring element for fastening a rod of a device for adjusting a human or animal spine to a vertebral bone, said anchoring element having a holding device that is substantially U-shaped and includes two substantially parallely disposed holding ridges, a rod receiving slot being formed therein, and a securing element acting against the rod accommodated in the receiving slot.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A pedicle screw the threaded shank of which is anchorable within a vertebral bone and which comprises at its end protruding from the vertebral bone a U-shaped holding device having two parallely oriented holding ridges is known from DE 94 02 839. Between the holding ridges there is formed a slot for receiving a distraction or compression rod that can be secured and fixed by means of a securing element which is fastenable to the free ends of the holding ridges. In a first embodiment, said securing element is composed of a hexagonal ring-shaped element having a locking screw embedded therein, the entire securing element being slidable into a corresponding groove provided in the holding ridges. The securing element straddles the receiving slot so that the locking screw acts directly onto the rod to fix it.
In another embodiment, the securing element is composed of a sleeve with internal thread surrounding the holding element, said sleeve being screwable onto a mating thread provided on the outer sides of the holding ridges so that the locking screw provided on the front side of the sleeve is allowed to engage into the receiving slot in order to fix the rod.
In such a device the pedicle screw must first be anchored within the vertebral body and then the rod is placed into the receiving slot. Next, and prior to bringing the vertebra or the rod into the desired position by tightening the locking screw, the securing element is either inserted into the grooves or screwed onto the holding device. It has been found that this is very difficult to carry out in practice because both inserting the securing element into the grooves and screwing the securing element onto the holding device require great dexterity, the vertebral body and/or the rod concurrently having to be prevented from coming out of place in the meantime.
An anchoring element having holding ridges on the inner sides of which there is provided a buttress thread for receiving the locking screw is known from DE 297 10 484. This feature permits to eliminate the forces which, in the case of a normal thread, act radially onto the holding ridges so that only axially acting forces are applied onto the holding ridge. As a result, the holding ridges are prevented from being bent apart so that the ring element surrounding the holding ridges may also be absent. In this case also, it has been found very tedious to screw the respective one of the locking screws into the corresponding buttress thread while maintaining the spine and/or the rod in the desired position until the locking screw takes hold of the rod by itself.
The term buttress thread is meant to include, besides the buttress metric thread DIN 513, buttress threads having a slightly larger or slightly smaller flank angle, a flank angle of 0° or a negative flank angle as well as buttress threads in accordance with EP 885 598.
An anchoring element also comprising a pedicle screw with U-shaped holding ridges integrally formed therewith is known from WO 95/01132. Pins directed toward the inside of the U-shape are formed integrally with said holding ridges. Said anchoring element further includes a flange-shaped securing element on the top side of which there is formed a protruding circumferential collar and on the bottom side of which there are provided two angled grooves for inserting said securing element into the pins of the holding elements. The securing element further includes an internal thread into which a grub screw is screwable for fixing the rod.
During surgery, the pedicle screw is first inserted into the corresponding site in the bone before the fixation rod is caused to enter the U-shaped holding device. Due to the little space available within the U-shaped holding device, the pin can only be designed very small on the inner side of the holding ridges. For this reason, it is very difficult for the surgeon, upon insertion of the fixation rod, to place with aiming accuracy the securing element onto said pins and to pivot it. This operation is rendered even more difficult by the fact that the surgeon cannot see the pin, which is concealed, while inserting the securing element into the U-shaped holding device. In this case as well, the fixation rod is first roughly held by the securing element prior to being fixed in its final position by the grub screw.
A pedicle screw the threaded shank of which is anchorable within a vertebral bone and which comprises at its end protruding from the vertebral bone a U-shaped holding device having two parallely oriented holding ridges is known from DE 92 02 745 U1. Between the holding ridges there is formed a slot for receiving a distraction or compression rod that can be secured and fixed by means of a securing element which is fastenable to the free ends of the holding ridges. Said securing element is configured to be a grub screw and engages in corresponding thread portions disposed on the respective one of the internal sides of the holding ridges. For actuating the grub screw, a recess for receiving a hexagonal wrench is formed at its upper front side.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,598 B1 discloses an anchoring element for fastening a rod to a spine that is also composed of a pedicle screw, a U-shaped holding device integrally formed therewith and a locking element. Here, the locking element is made of two parts, an outer part being configured to be a sleeve having both an internal and an external thread and an inner part being formed like a bolt and comprising a thread on its one end and a hexagon nut on the other end. The sleeve is thereby screwed by hand into the thread of the holding element, temporarily retaining the fixation rod. Next, the bolt is screwed into the sleeve until the thread of the bolt has completely disappeared in the sleeve. Upon screwing the bolt further down, it carries the sleeve along and both parts are moved toward the fixation rod to reliably make it fast.
In such type devices, the pedicle screw must first be screwed into the vertebral body and then the rod may be placed into the receiving slot. The grub screw is then screwed into the holding device to loosely retain the rod. Next, the vertebral body is brought into the desired position by setting the rod before the grub screw is firmly tightened to fix the rod in this position. The rod may thereby be configured as a distraction, a compression or a connection rod for example.

Anchoring element for securing a rod on a vertebra


A decorative cover for a plant container is constructed from a rectangular piece of stretchy fabric formed into a tube that slips over the container. The top and bottom ends of the tube are fitted with elastic members to control the size of the open ends of the tube and to ensure a snug, wrinkle free fit. For tapered containers the bottom end of the tube is drawn smaller that the top end of the tube to better fit the contour of the container. A slit along the sidewall and top of the tube opens the tube for easier insertion of the container. An invisible zipper closes the slit and a hook and eye fastener securely fastens the slit.

Plants are used in homes and offices for improving air quality and for their aesthetic appeal. Containers for plants are no longer limited to red clay pots but come in a variety of materials, shapes and sizes. Some containers are decorative having designs thereon, or are fitted with custom made fabric covers. While custom made fabric covers are desired for their ability to match or compliment a decor in color, style and texture, they are expensive so that their use is limited. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that it would be highly desirable to have a plant container cover that would match or compliment a decor in color, style and texture that is relatively inexpensive.


An electric tool has a handle, and an element for varying tool functions located in the handle and including a photoelectric cell incorporated onto the handle in such a way that if the photoelectric cell is completely or partly covered, a tool function is achieved on a specification in accordance with a predetermined sequence.

The present invention relates to electrically operated tools. More particularly, it relates to a tool with a contact less switch.
From German Patent Application 10 2004 047 232.7, a handheld power screwdriver is known whose power takeoff mechanism is switched on and off by means of an actuating lever.
For the power takeoff mechanism to remain in operation, the actuating lever must be actively held constantly by the user. When the user presses the actuating lever into the housing interior, the power takeoff mechanism switches on; if the user releases the actuating lever, the power takeoff mechanism switches off. The disadvantage of this embodiment is that the tool user must always actively look for the pressure point of the switch in order to switch the tool on and off. Moreover, such a switch increases the effort and expense of maintaining the tool, since it comprises many moving parts, such as springs, plastic parts, bearing shafts, and so forth. These parts must first be manufactured and second installed on the device. The many small parts to be installed in this case increase the production costs for the tool and also increase the likelihood of failure. Moreover, each part is subject to a certain amount of wear, so that depending on how many hours the tool has been in operation and on the field in which it is used, a functional failure must be expected, sooner or later.


The present invention relates to novel alpha-tocopherol cyclopropylates, represented by the following formula I: ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.2', R.sub.3 and R.sub.3', which may be the same or different, each is a hydrogen atom, a linear or branched C.sub.1 -C.sub.10 alkyl chain, phenyl, acetyl or halogen.

Cyclopropane carboxylic acid derivatives are generally represented by the following formula II: ##STR3## wherein R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.2', R.sub.3 and R.sub.3', which may be the same or different, each is a hydrogen atom, a linear or branched C.sub.1 -C.sub.10 alkyl chain, phenyl, acetyl or halogen.
The compounds represented by the formula II have been widely used as a functional group having a specific activity in the compounds recently used in various kinds of medicines and agricultural medicines. Various kinds of derivatives, such as cyclopropane carboxylic acids and ester derivatives thereof, cyclopropane methanol have been widely used in commercialized pyrenoids insecticides and antibiotics, and are very important in medicine/agricultural medicine fields in various forms.
In addition, vitamin E (DL-alpha-tocopherol), represented by the following formula III, is a physiologically essential vitamin among the various vitamins, like vitamin A, C, D, K, beta-carotene and so forth. Vitamin E is relatively complicated in its structure and is widely used as a nutrient, medicines, parturifacient, antioxidant and so forth: ##STR4##
In spite of its importance, Vitamin E, a compound possessing a benzene ring to which hydroxy group binds, is unstable because it itself is easily oxidized. Tocopherol quinone, an oxidized product of vitamin E, no longer has the biological activity of vitamin E. Thus, because storage and management of vitamin E in itself are difficult, there are many attempts in order to increase stability of vitamin E by converting it to other derivative forms.
Representatives of the above mentioned derivatives are esters, which have an enhanced stability by converting the hydroxyl group in phenol ring, specially weak to oxidize, to an ester form. In the above manner, various tocopherols have been made, and examples of such derivatives include tocopherol acetate, tocopherol succinate, tocopherol phosphate Na.sup.+ salt and so on, which are represented by the following formula IV: ##STR5##
Because these esters have pharmaceutically acceptable stability in addition to being very easy to handle, they are effectively used as replacements for vitamin E.
Upon oral administration, the vitamin E esters are absorbed into the intestinal track and hydrolyzed completely, that is, into free tocopherol and acids by pancreatic enzymes and intestinal enzymes. Thus, the vitamin E esters are absorbed in the form of free tocopherol into the living body. In other words, the esters, when used as replacements for vitamin E in the living body, are converted into free vitamin E and absorbed in the living body, so that the biological effect they have on the living body is practically equivalent to that of vitamin E.
Vitamin E derivatives represented by the following formula V has been filed by the present applicant on Apr. 28, 1997 in Korea under Patent Application No. 97-15961: ##STR6## wherein R.sub.4 and R.sub.5 which may be the same of different, each is a hydrogen atom or a linear or branched C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl chain.

Alpha-tocopherol cyclopropylates, the new vitamin E derivatives and method for producing the same


A master transceiver automatically lowers its transmit power level at intervals until a slave transceiver no longer accurately receives the transmitted data. When the master detects an inaccurate transfer of data, the master incrementally increases the transmit power level until it is determined that there has been an accurate transfer of data. At that time, the master transmits an acknowledge signal to the slave. Since the automatic power adjust routine is performed using the transmitted data from the master and the error control information transmitted by the slave, there is little or no overhead used by the power adjust routine. Simple control circuitry can be used to carry out the functions.

An example will be given of one type of transceiver pair to illustrate a conventional technique for adjusting transmit power.
In battery operated RF transceivers, the bulk of the battery power is used for transmitting. The separation between a pair of transceivers communicating with each other may change if the transceivers are in mobile or transportable devices. Further, different operating environments have different noise levels and attenuate signal power differently. In most situations, the maximum transmit power level is more than is needed for reliable digital communications. Hence, for those situations in which maximum transmit power is not needed, battery power is wasted.
One known way to optimize transmit power for a pair of communicating transceivers is as follows. The receiver generates a receive strength signal indication (RSSI) signal based on the power of the received signal. The RSSI level is transmitted back to the original transmitter. The original transmitter uses a look-up table to identify a certain transmit power level associated with the RSSI signal which was predetermined to be the optimal transmit power given that RSSI level. For example, if the RSSI signal is very high, the look-up table will identify a lower transmit power for the transmitter since the transmitter can transmit at a lower power while still ensuring reliable communication. Such a routine is performed on a periodic basis to adjust the transmit power, and such overhead uses up bandwidth.
Such a routine typically requires a microprocessor to process the data, where the microprocessor adds considerable cost to the transceiver chip.
Error correction is another function performed by many transceivers. Such error correction is treated separately from optimizing the transmit power. Error correction typically requires complex circuitry and processing. Further, error correction is part of overhead which uses up bandwidth.

Transmitter power level optimization and error correction technique


A plurality of cells are received from a digital network and stored in a logical queue. The cells contain data information and logical connection information and the logical queue corresponds to the logical connection identified by the logical connection information. The cells are combined into a frame by extracting the cells from the logical queue and storing the cells to a local memory so that the data information is preserved. Extraction may be accomplished by notifying a local processor that the frame""s worth of data is ready and then transferring the data information of the cells to a local memory at the direction of the local processor. During the transfer, error detection operations may be performed. Information may be transmitted into the digital network by segmenting a frame of data into a plurality of cells and injecting each of the cells into a logical queue. The logical queue may be constructed with a series of linked list pointers associated with the memory locations. The cells may then be transmitted into the digital network in an order consistent with the linked list pointers.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for handling information sent through a digital network and, more specifically, to the segmentation and reassembly of data frames within an ATM network.
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) or xe2x80x9ccell switchingxe2x80x9d is a method of transmitting digital information wherein the information is broken into equal sized units called cells. The individual cells of information are transmitted from a source node to a destination node through a pathway (or connection) through a digital network. The digital network may be constructed of digital switches coupled together by digital communication links which carry the cells of information between the digital switches along the connection. The digital switches route the cells from incoming communication links to outgoing communication links and finally to the destination node.
Before any information can be transported through the network as ATM cells, the information must be segmented into cells. Typically, this is accomplished by segmentation and reassembly (SAR) engines which are used to xe2x80x9cchop upxe2x80x9d user data (typically formatted as variable length frames) into fixed length cells for transmission. As the data frames are segmented, ATM header information is added to each cell and the cells are transmitted into the ATM network. During reception, the header information is stripped from the cells and the remaining fixed length payloads are reassembled into variable length data frames for use by appropriate user applications. Typically, the payload information for each cell is copied into memory as it is received during the reassembly process.
In ATM networks the segmentation and reassembly (SAR) functions are performed at the interface between an ATM layer and an ATM adaptation layer (AAL). During transmission, higher level services pass user data to the AAL where, first, a convergence sublayer forms convergence layer protocol data units (CS-PDUs). These CS-PDUs will, generally, be larger than the payload capacity of an ATM cell. Therefore, a second sublayer, the segmentation and reassembly (SAR) sublayer, accepts the variable length CS-PDUs and fragments them into appropriate payloads (48-bytes) for transmission. These payloads are referred to as segmentation and reassembly protocol data units (SAR-PDUs) and are passed to lower layers in the ATM protocol model for further processing. During reception, a reverse operation takes place and the SAR sublayer is responsible for reassembling messages as they are received.
Several ATM AALs have been developed for various applications. AAL Type 5 (AAL-5) was designed for variable bit rate, connection-oriented or connectionless services and provides good error detection/correction capabilities and high line efficiency. The AAL-5 methodologies are illustrated in FIG. 1. During transmission, a user message 10 is passed from higher level protocols to the AAL, where it is referred to as an AAL Service Data Unit (AAL-SDU) 12. As shown in FIG. 1, the AAL-5 convergence sublayer uses the AAL-SDU 12 to create variable length protocol data units (CS-PDUs) 14. The CS-PDUs are made up of various fields. The User Data Field 16 comprises data from the higher layer protocols and may be up to 65,535 bytes in length. The Pad field 18 is used to align the entire CS-PDU 14 on a 48-byte boundary (i.e., the entire CS-PDU 14 is a multiple of 48-bytes in length). The Control field 20 is two bytes in length and is presently reserved for future use. The Length field 22 indicates the actual length of the User Data Field 16 and is two bytes long. The CRC-32 field 24 is appended to provide error detection in the CS-PDU 14.
CS-PDUs are passed to the AAL-5 SAR sublayer. The SAR sublayer fragments the CS-PDUs to fixed-length SAR-PDUs 26, each 48-bytes long. There are no new headers or trailers added by the SAR sublayer in AAL-5. No padding is necessary because the CS-PDU 14 was padded to a multiple of 48-bytes. As further shown in FIG. 1, the SAR-PDU 26 is passed to the ATM layer where a 5-byte header 28 is added to form an ATM cell 30. During reception, these operations are performed in a reverse order to rebuild the user message 10.
It is an object of the invention to provide means for cell segmentation and reassembly in a digital switch.
In one embodiment, a method of reassembling frames within a switch of a digital network is provided. A plurality of cells are received at the switch and stored in a logical queue. The cells contain data information and logical connection information and the logical queue corresponds to the logical connection identified by the logical connection information. The cells are combined into a frame by extracting the cells from the logical queue and storing the cells to a local memory so that the data information is preserved. The cell extraction may be accomplished by identifying a last cell of the plurality of cells, the last cell indicating an end of the frame, and then identifying a frame length for the frame. The frame length may be provided to a local processor and the data information of the cells transferred to a number of memory locations in a local memory at the direction of the local processor, the number of memory locations being based on the frame length. The memory locations may be contiguous and the transfer may be accomplished using a DMA engine. During the transfer, error detection operations, such as computing a CRC-32 value for the data information during and comparing the computed CRC-32 value with a received CRC-32 value for the frame, may be performed.
In a further embodiment, a method of transmitting information in a digital network is provided. The method includes segmenting a data frame into a plurality of cells and injecting each of the cells into a logical queue associated with a connection for the frame in a digital network. The step of injecting may include transferring each of the cells to a number of memory locations within a cell memory; and establishing a series of linked list pointers associated with the memory locations, the series of linked list pointers comprising the queue. The cells may then be transmitted into the digital network in an order consistent with the linked list pointers.
In yet another embodiment, a digital switch is provided. The digital switch may include a queuing circuit configured to store a plurality of ATM cells comprising a frame. The cells include payload information and logical connection information and are organized into a logical queue based upon the logical connection information. The switch may further include a reassembly engine configured to detect a last cell of the frame, to notify a local processor of the switch when the last cell is detected, to receive an extraction request from the local processor in response to the notification, and to extract the cells from the memory so as to preserve the payload information. The reassembly engine may further be configured to strip off the logical connection information from the cells while extracting the cells from memory. In addition, the reassembly engine may perform error detection operations for the frame using the payload information while extracting the cells. For example, the reassembly engine may compute a CRC-32 value for use in the error detection operations.

Method and apparatus for using ATM queues for segmentation and reassembly of data frames


A bladder assembly for operating a dispenser for fluid material. The dispenser includes a hinged pressure bar movable into and out of collapsing engagement with a collapsible tube which leads from a source of supply of the material to be dispensed. The bladder assembly includes a flexible bladder in fluid communication with a foot pump. The bladder is removably located within the dispenser behind the pressure bar so that inflation of the bladder by pumping air into it through a hose from the foot pump moves the pressure bar into collapsing engagement with the tube to dispense the material.

In the art of dispensing liquid material and particularly viscous liquid material such as soap, lotion, etc., it is commonly known to provide dispensers which, in many instances, are wall mounted. These dispensers receive replaceable cartridges which contain the liquid material and which, in many instances, dispense the material from the cartridge through a collapsible tube and ultimately through a nozzle to the exterior of the dispenser.
Such dispensers generally operate by providing a hand-actuated lever or handle which, when activated by either pushing it toward the dispenser or pulling it away, causes collapse of the tube through an internal mechanism which engages and compresses the tube. Such collapse of the tube then forces a measured amount of the material out through the nozzle. Such a dispenser can be seen, for example, in Bartasevich U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,772 wherein the handle 31 is moved inwardly and the pressure member 31c collapses the tube 62 against a backup member or platen 54 to thus expel the material onto the hand of the user.
While dispensers of this general type have found wide acceptance in the art, it should be kept in mind that the ultimate purpose of dispensing the material, particularly in the instance wherein the material is soap, is sanitation. Furthermore, dispensers of this type are found in public areas as well as in the home and, therefore, countless individuals engage the hand-operated lever or handle to actuate the dispenser, thereby increasing the possibility of contamination and transmittal of germs. Furthermore, dispensers of this type are often used in healthcare or food handling environments where high levels of sanitization are required.
In view of this, it is thought desirable to provide a dispenser of this type in which the hand of the recipient of the material, such as soap, never comes into contact with the dispenser itself.
In accomplishment of this desired result, it is believed desirable to be able to actuate the dispenser in a "hands-free" fashion.
Hands-free dispensers have, therefore, been developed and examples can be found in the prior patent art. For example, Evezich U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,018 discloses a dispenser with a foot pedal with a bellows which forces air directly into a collapsible cartridge. Wright U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,444 is similar in showing the use of air introduced into the cartridge to assist in dispensing the material.
Garabedian U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,127 discloses using a foot pedal to activate a mechanical valve actuator and Dror U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,845 also discloses a foot-operated mechanical linkage as does Midworth U.S. Pat. No. 3,197,081.
Johnson U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,948; Benson U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,924; Meyer U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,845; and Kaufman U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,279 all disclose the use of a bellows to assist in dispensing liquid, although these structures are all hand operated.
While these dispensers are assumed to be adequate for the purposes for which they are designed, still further improvements are believed desirable.
Thus, it is believed to be advantageous to provide a foot-operated dispenser wherein the existing dispensers may be easily retrofitted.
Furthermore, such a modification may be made without impairing the normal, hand-operated function of the dispenser.
Finally, it is believed desirable to provide a very simple apparatus for achieving the hands-free operation with no modification of the existing dispenser.
The present invention is intended to provide such a hands-free actuating apparatus in which foot pressure actuates a bladder which, in turn, acts on the usual pressure member of the dispenser and also to provide one in which existing dispensers of this general type can be simply retrofit, in the field, to provide for such an operation.


In a monitor control system, an HMI (11 in FIG. 1) includes event list display means (16) for displaying an event list screen of list form, in which event names and alarm levels are contained as to faults and the like alarm events occurring in an object to-be-monitored (13), and storage means (17) for storing therein an alarm level table in which the alarm levels are set so as to correspond to time zones. When the alarm event occurs in the object to-be-monitored (13), the event list display means (16) determines the alarm level corresponding to the time zone in which an alarm event occurrence time is contained, on the basis of the alarm level table, so as to display the alarm level on the event list screen. Since the alarm level is changed depending upon the occurrence time, all alarm events can be recorded with unnecessary alarm events suppressed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a monitor control system which is installed in a plant or the like where an object to-be-monitored such as a substation exists, and in which the alarm events of faults etc. having occurred in the object to-be-monitored are displayed on an HMI (Human Machine Interface).
2. Description of the Related Art
A prior-art monitor control system having been extensively used is such that, when the alarm event of a fault or the like occurs in an object to-be-monitored, the object to-be-monitored transmits the alarm event to an HMI, and that the HMI retains the name and event occurrence time of the received alarm event in a list form and permits an operator to confirm the contents thereof on an event list screen.
Also, there has been extensively used a system wherein an alarm level is set every alarm event beforehand, and upon receiving the alarm event, the HMI affixes the set alarm level to the name and occurrence time of the alarm event and then retains them in the list form.
Besides, there has been a monitor system wherein events having occurred in the object to-be-monitored are handled as the alarm events, only in a certain predetermined time zone, and the alarm events are suppressed in any other time zone, whereby the object to-be-monitored can be monitored only on the necessary occasion. In, for example, a system stated in Patent Document 1 (JP-A-63-52298, pages 2-4 and FIG. 1), the mask data of individual time zones are prepared for each of a plurality of monitor point sensors beforehand, and when the monitor point sensor operates, the mask data is selected in accordance with the time of the operation, so as to decide if the operation of the monitor point sensor is regarded as the alarm event, in accordance with the selected mask data, whereby at the operation of each monitor point sensor, the alarm event is generated only in the certain time zone.
In the prior-art monitor control system, the alarm level is set every alarm event beforehand. Therefore, even the alarm event whose degree of importance changes depending upon time zones, for example, a "door open" event which signifies that the door of the plant to-be-monitored has opened, is handled as the same alarm level in all the time zones. This has posed the problem that the alarm event which is essentially unnecessary is displayed.
Besides, in the system as stated in Patent Document 1, wherein the event having occurred in the object to-be-monitored is handled as the alarm event, only in the certain time zone, and the alarm event is suppressed in any other time zone, the alarm event itself is not generated during the suppression. Accordingly, there has been the problem that, although the object to-be-monitored has fallen into a state where an alarm is to be generated, this fact does not remain in a record at all.


A vehicle seat rail locking device restricts movement of an upper rail along a longitudinal direction of a lower rail fixed to the body of the vehicle. The locking device includes lock units moving together with the upper rail, disposed movably in a vertical direction between the lower and upper rails, and for performing a locking operation, and a lock guide moving together with the lock units and for guiding vertical movement of the lock units. Each lock unit is independently inserted into one of a plurality of lock holes formed in the lower rail to fix the upper rail onto the lower rail. A user's safety may be improved by independently forming a plurality of lock members fitted into lock holes of a lower rail and fixing one of lock members into the lock hole to perform a locking operation even when a seat rail position deviation occurs.

A. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a locking device of a seat rail of a vehicle, and more particularly, to a locking device of a seat rail of a vehicle, capable of allowing a user to adjust a forward-and-backward position of a seat appropriately for the body of the user by restricting movement of an upper rail moving forward and backward and combined onto a lower rail fixed to a body of the vehicle.
B. Background Art
In general, a seat of a vehicle is to maintain a user in an optimal riding pose, and includes a seat back for supporting an upper body of the user, and a seat cushion for supporting a lower body of the user, e.g., hips and thighs.
A seat of a vehicle may slide in forward and backward directions of the vehicle within a certain range in order to adjust the seat appropriately for the body of a user and to efficiently utilize an internal space of the vehicle, and a seat rail allows the seat to slide.
A seat rail generally includes a lower rail fixed onto a bottom surface of a vehicle, i.e., a floor panel, in a longitudinal direction of a body of the vehicle, and an upper rail slidably combined with the lower rail and fixed to a seat cushion.
The upper rail moves along the lower rail by a certain distance and then is temporarily fixed to the lower rail. In more detail, the seat rail further includes a locking device for temporarily fixing the upper rail that moves on the lower rail.
Accordingly, when the locking device is released, since the upper rail may slide along the lower rail and thus a seat of a vehicle may move in forward and backward directions of a body of the vehicle by a certain distance, an internal space of the vehicle may be efficiently utilized or a comfortable ride of a user may be maintained.
A conventional locking device of a seat rail includes a lock guide 6 fixed onto a lower surface of an upper rail 3, a lock 7 disposed between the lock, guide 6 and the upper rail 3, lock holes 2a formed in the lower rail 2 at equal intervals along a longitudinal direction of the lower rail 2, and a lock spring 10 for pressing the lock 7 to be engaged with the lock holes 2a of the lower rail 2.
A connection hole 7a is formed in an upper portion of the lock 7 and to be connected to an actuation lever protruding in a forward direction of the seat rail, and the lock 7 protrudes through an entrance hole 3a formed in an upper surface of the upper rail 3.
A plurality of lock bumps 7b are formed under the lock 7 and are inserted into the lock holes 2a formed in the lower rail 2.
In the above-described conventional locking device, two sets of seat rails each including the lower and upper rails 2 and 3 are fixed to a lower surface of a seat cushion at two sides. Due to an assembly variation generated when seat rails are assembled onto a bottom surface of a vehicle, a position deviation occurs between the lower and upper rails 2 and 3. If the lock bumps 7b are formed integrally with the lock 7, only one of two seat rails is rocked, the other of the seat rails is unlocked, and thus a user's safety may not be ensured.
Also, in the conventional locking device, since inclined surfaces of the lock bumps 7b inserted into the lock holes 2a simultaneously contact the lock holes 2a, noise may be generated due to minute vibration caused while the lock bumps 7b move upwardly to release a locked state.


A mechanism is described for proximity detection based on Wi-Fi signals. A method of embodiments of the invention includes determining strength of one or more signals being communicated between one or more antennae of a first device and two or more antennae of a second device. The one or more signals are associated with a broadcast packet. The method further includes determining proximity of the first device and the second device based on the determined strength of the one or more signals.

Current trends in mobile computing are enabling new usage models based on local distributed system either among similar devices, such as laptops, smart phones, etc., or between a mobile device and an element in the infrastructure. However, in this growing trend, the conventional solutions for calculating device proximity between computing devices (e.g., the distance or proximity between various computing devices) are limited in their scope and/or inefficient. One solution involves Near Field Communication (NFC) that requires extremely close range (e.g., 10 cm) between devices to work. Further, this NFC solution may work for systems that integrate a small smart-phone device with a fixed point-of-sale NFC reader; however, with two or more mobile devices, such as netbooks, personal computers (PCs) in a group setting (e.g., classroom), this NFC solution does not work because it requires an exact placement of NFC contact points between the devices.
Another conventional solution is the single-antennae RSSI measurement technique. However, this technique is not suitable due to high variance signal strength measurements caused by multi-path signal propagation and other sources of interference. Yet another conventional solution is time synchronization, which is typically accomplished using over-the-network Network Time Protocol (NTP). This solution is suitable for synchronizing the system clock to user-perceptible levels over a wide area, but does not provide the tight fine-grain synchronization necessary for doing audio co-localization.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Mechanism for proximity detection based on Wi-Fi signals


At least one exemplary embodiment is directed to an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate. The exposure apparatus includes a movable substrate stage, a projection optical system configured to project light from an original and including a final optical element, and a nozzle member provided around the final optical element and including an opposing surface opposing the substrate. The substrate is exposed via liquid filled between a final surface of the projection optical system and the substrate, the projection optical system, and the original. The opposing surface includes a supply port, a first recovery port provided farther from an optical axis of the final optical element than the supply port, and a first portion and a second portion provided between the supply port and the first recovery port. The distance between the first portion and the substrate is longer than the distance between the supply port and the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus and a device manufacturing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Projection exposure apparatuses have been used to project and transfer a pattern on a reticle (mask) onto a wafer via a projection optical system. In recent years, there is an increasing demand for exposure apparatuses that achieve high resolving power, high transfer accuracy, and high throughput. As one method that satisfies this demand for high definition, immersion exposure has attracted attention. In immersion exposure, the numerical aperture (NA) of the projection optical system is increased by using liquid as a medium on the wafer side of the projection optical system. The projection optical system has an NA=n×sin θ where n is a refractive index of the medium. Therefore, the NA can be increased to n by filling the gap (also referred to as a 'space') between the projection optical system and the wafer with a medium having a refractive index (n>1) higher than the refractive index of air. Further, the resolving power R of the exposure apparatus determined by the process coefficient k1 and the wavelength λ (R=k1×(λ/NA)) is decreased.
As one immersion exposure method, International Publication No. WO99/49504 proposes a local fill method in which the space between a final surface of a projection optical system and a wafer is locally filled with liquid. In the local fill method, it is important to uniformly apply the liquid in a small space between the final surface of the projection optical system and the wafer. For example, if liquid hits on the final surface (final lens) of the projection optical system and flows around the final surface, bubbles are formed in the liquid. Further, if the wafer is moved at a high speed, the liquid spreads or scatters around, and the amount of liquid is reduced. Consequently, bubbles can be easily formed in the liquid. Since the bubbles diffusely reflect exposure light, the amount of exposure light is reduced, and the throughput is reduced. Moreover, since the bubbles hinder the exposure light from reaching the wafer, transfer accuracy is deteriorated.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-353820 discloses an immersion exposure apparatus in which a second liquid recovery port is provided around a final surface of a projection optical system. This immersion exposure apparatus restrains liquid from spreading out.
Further, International Publication No. WO2005/029559 discloses an immersion exposure apparatus in which a secondary liquid recovery port is provided in an inclined trap surface. The trap surface is inclined relative to the XY plane such as to extend away (upward) from a surface of a substrate as it extends toward the outside of an immersion region. The trap surface is subjected to lyophilic treatment. Since films (e.g., a photoresist, an antireflection film, and a protective film) applied on the surface of the substrate are normally water repellant (liquid repellent), liquid flowing out of the second liquid recovery port is trapped by the trap surface. This immersion exposure apparatus having the above-described configuration further restrains the liquid from spreading out.
As described above, in the immersion exposure apparatuses disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-353820 and International Publication No. WO2005/029559, the second liquid recovery port can restrain the liquid from spreading out. However, when a wafer stage moves at a high speed, an interface of the liquid also moves in the moving direction of the wafer stage, and therefore, air easily enters under the projection optical system. As a result, bubbles are easily formed in the liquid. The formation of the bubbles in the liquid can cause reduction in transfer accuracy as described above.
In the exposure apparatus disclosed in International Publication No. WO2005/029559, it can be expected, depending on the inclination angle of the trap surface, that the trap surface prevents the interface of the liquid from moving downward from the projection optical system. In this case, however, the portion near the recovery port where the interface of the liquid normally lies is inclined, and therefore, the pressure of the liquid is changed with the movement of the interface of the liquid. This change in pressure disturbs the driving control of the stage, and decreases the overlay accuracy of the exposure apparatus. As a result, it is difficult to increase the moving speed of the stage.

Exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method


A method of operating a wagering game includes conducting a wagering game at a gaming terminal, and receiving inputs from a player that relate to a profile of the player. The inputs exclude a player's true identity. The method includes comparing the player inputs with a plurality of player-profile data sets to match the player inputs with a particular player-profile data set. In response to this comparison yielding a matched player-profile data set, the method includes activating one or more personalized attributes at the gaming terminal associated with the matched player-profile data set. The method can be practiced within a gaming system comprising a database, a controller, and at least one gaming terminal. The database stores the player-profile data sets. Each data set is associated with and maintains anonymity of a respective player. An input device at the gaming terminal receives player-profile inputs for comparison to the player-profile data sets.

Gaming machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines, and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines and the expectation of winning each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are most likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting of the machines.
Consequently, shrewd operators strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines available because such machines attract frequent play and, hence, increase profitability to the operator. In the competitive gaming machine industry, there is a continuing need for gaming machine manufacturers to produce new types of games, or enhancements to existing games, which will attract frequent play by increasing the entertainment value and excitement associated with the game.
One concept that has been successfully employed is to reward players for loyalty in playing certain games or playing at certain casinos. Once a player has been identified, he or she may be rewarded with incentives after achieving certain levels of wagering. Typically, the player's true identity is provided to the gaming terminal in the form of a player identification card or through the player's entry of certain information at the gaming terminal. Some players are reluctant, however, to reveal their true identity to a gaming terminal or a casino. Further, the use of Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) is popular for identification, but people often forget their PINs. As used herein, information that establishes a player's true identity is information that is absolutely unique to a person (e.g., a social security number or a credit card number) or at least substantially unique to a person (e.g., a person's full legal name) such that, if the information is known, it can be used to identify the true identity of the person.
As such, there is a need to develop a player identification system where the true identity of the player remains anonymous. The present invention is directed to satisfying this need.

Gaming system having player-profile input feature for maintaining player anonymity


A testing method and system for testing the mental performance capability of a human subject includes a digital computer workstation which presents a test to the subject, such as visumotor memory task. Simultaneously, a physiological sensing and amplification device amplifies and analyzes the subject's brain waves, eye activity, scalp and facial muscle activity, heart activity, respiration and/or skin conductance. The subject's test scores and physiological activity are compared, by the workstation, with previously collected normative measurements for that subject to determine if the test was passed with a passing score and, if so, whether the subject, in order to pass the test, exceeded a standard based upon the subject's normal mental effort in taking the same or similar tests.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical devices and methods for testing neurocognitive capability by measurements of humans using an EEG (electroencephalograph) and physiological function monitoring system.
2. Description of the Related Art
At the present time there is considerable interest in testing the performance ability of those engaged in certain types of work. For example, recently in New York City a subway train derailed because the motorman was drunk, killing passengers and shutting down a vital subway line for a week.
The issue of safety is of prime importance in many activities, such as public transportation and nuclear plant operation. There is a widespread concern of increased instances of substance abuse, including the use of cocaine, alcohol, etc., by those entrusted with the safe operation of public vehicles such as airplanes, railroads and buses, as well as those who operate facilities which require a high degree of attention, such as nuclear power plants, chemical plants and military facilities.
A program of random drug and alcohol testing has been suggested and in some cases implemented. However, those tests, since they test only a few employees each week, may overlook those employees whose performance sometimes fails, but whose performance does not fail regularly. That type of program may be resisted as being intrusive into the employee's life, since it may involve a blood and urine test.
A performance type of testing program has recently been tried in a few transportation systems in which each employee, before he/she starts work, takes a simple eye-hand coordination test using a digital computer having a screen. For example, a spot is randomly shown on the screen and the person being tested has to move the cursor, using a mouse input device, to cover the spot. This type of performance testing has generally been accepted by employees and their unions because it is non-invasive and seems to be objective.
Performance testing has important advantages over chemical testing:
(i) It detects worker impairment before the employee goes on the job. Chemical testing does not;
(ii) Performance testing discovers impairment for any reason (for example, a hangover or anxiety about a sick child). Chemical testing does not; and
(iii) Performance testing is cheaper than chemical testing and less invasive. While workers commonly resent chemical testing (often having to urinate in a cup in front of witnesses), the majority do not mind performance testing.
Performance testing is gaining acceptance as the preferable method for workers in sensitive positions like train drivers. However, performance testing has the basic fault that it passes some employees who should not be allowed to go to work. For example, a partially drunk employee, or one partially high on drugs, or one over-fatigued, may pass the test by concentrating on the test. When a person places his/her concentration on passing a short eye-hand coordination test, in many cases the test will be passed, although the person would otherwise fail and should not be allowed to work in a position where safety is important.

Non-invasive human neurocognitive performance capability testing method and system


A driving assistant system and method having a warning function for alerting a driver of a risk level, which synthetically determines a running speed of a vehicle, a driver's inattention, a road condition, and the like and provides a warning corresponding to a degree of risk (risk level) to the driver. In particular, a calculated data value corresponding to a degree of a driver's drowsy or careless status is compared to calculation values corresponding to a vehicle speed and the degree of risk of a road to predetermined reference values corresponding to the output values and outputs at least one warning message alerting a driver of risk levels according to the comparison result.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to technology for warning a driver of dangerous conditions while driving, and more particularly, to a driving assistant system and method having a warning function for identifying a risk level, which synthetically determines a running speed of a vehicle, a driver's inattention (how much attention the driver is paying to the road), a road condition, and the like and provides a warning corresponding to a degree of risk to the driver.
2. Description of the Related Art
With of the increase in the use of automobiles which have become necessities in modern society, occurrence of traffic accidents has also increased rapidly. Traffic accidents can occur for many different reasons, among them being driver negligence and unexpected risks due to the road conditions. Among these factors, a couple of the most common causes are speeding or drowsiness. These conditions can cause serious accidents leading to personal injury or even death.
A of 2.5 million traffic accidents occurring within one year by a national highway traffic safety administration (NHTSA) shows that 25 to 56% of all traffic accidents are caused by a driver's careless driving. The three most significant factors causing this carelessness are sight negligence, mental concentration negligence, and drowsiness.
In an effort to solve the problem, major automobile manufacturers continue to develop various new systems for assisting driver's in safe vehicular operation and apply these new systems to the vehicles accordingly. Some manufactures have developed techniques which are able to determine when the driver is becoming drowsy by sensing a driver's reactions and movement using a camera or monitoring the driver's pulse through a sensor, and display a warning lamp on a dash board to recommend that the driver stop to take a break for a while when the driver's drowsy or is acting in a careless manor.
However, drowsy or careless driving is just as likely to cause as serious of traffic accidents as those caused by drunk driving. Therefore, research on systems for synthetically determining a driver's consciousness and taking aggressive and immediate action according to a determination result beyond simple recommendation of taking a break is required.

Driving assistant system and method having warning function for risk level


A spiral bicycle sprocket includes a first sprocket portion to rotate about a center axis and having a first number of teeth, a second sprocket portion to rotate about the center axis and having a second number of teeth, and a third sprocket portion positioned between the first and second sprocket portions and having a third number of teeth, wherein the third number of teeth form a conical and spiral thread that joins the first sprocket portion and the second sprocket portion.

As bicycles increasingly become a popular form of recreation, exercise, as well as transportation, manufacturers and riders have sought to make bicycles that are more light-weight and versatile. Many bicycles have been designed to have a multi-speed function so that a rider can selectively vary the gear-ratio (also known as "speed-changing") between the driving (e.g., front) sprocket and the driven (e.g., rear) sprocket according to different road conditions. Speed-changing enables the rider to use a lower gear (e.g., with a sprocket with a lower teeth count) to generate greater low-end torque and easier start, and a higher gear (e.g., with a sprocket with a higher teeth count) to generate faster high-end speed. Typically, a gear-changing apparatus, for example, a well-known bicycle derailleur such as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,873 to Nagano, is employed on the bicycle to shift a driving chain between a larger sprocket and a smaller sprocket in order to "change the speed." However, the gear-changing apparatus often involves push-pull control wires, control levers, springs, chain-guide pulleys, and/or other movable mechanical parts that are complex, heavy, and subject to wear and tear.
Indeed, in the realm of competitive cycling, reducing the possibility of mechanical failure and reducing the weight of a bicycle can provide the rider with great competitive advantages, and they often take priority over having the benefit of speed-changing because of those drawbacks associated with gear-changing apparatus mentioned above. For example, in track cycling where bicycles are raced on specially built banked tracks, or in BMX competitions where bicycles are ridden in a harsh or off-road environment, the riders often opt for single-speed bicycles over multi-speed bicycles because of the possible mechanical failures, extra weight, and/or cost involved with conventional speed-changing mechanisms. As such, to get the best the overall performance, compromising decisions have to be made in selecting a single gear-ratio in hope that the selected gear-ratio would sacrifice neither too much low-end torque nor too much top-end speed.
Thus, it would be highly desirable to provide a bicycle sprocket that retains multi-speed functionality with a minimum number of moving parts while still being durable, light-weight, and easy to manufacture.
Like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the drawing figures.


A method for determining an acoustic velocity in a segment of a bone covered with a layer of soft tissue having an outer surface, which includes determining a first travel time of a first ultrasonic wave along a first path from the outer surface back to the outer surface which path includes at least a first part of the bone segment together with determining a second travel time of a second ultrasonic wave along a second path from the outer surface back to the outer surface, which path includes at least a second part of the bone segment and also determining a third travel time of a third ultrasonic wave along a third path from the outer surface back to the outer surface which path includes at least a third part of the bone segment, and deriving the acoustic velocity in the segment of bone from the three determined travel times.

It is known in the art that the velocity of a sound wave in a material depends on the mechanical properties of the material.
A sound wave that reaches a solid at an angle will typically propagate through and along the solid as a combination of three waves, namely, longitudinal, transverse and surface waves, wherein each wave has a different velocity. In bone velocity determination, the longitudinal wave, which is the fastest, is usually measured. The velocity of the longitudinal wave is:
                              V          L                =                                            E                                            (                                  1                  -                  σ                                )                                                                    ρ                                                  (                                      1                    +                    σ                                    )                                                                          (                                  1                  -                                      2                                        σ                                                  )                                                                        (        1        )            where E, σ and ρ are, respectively, the Young's Modulus, the Poisson's ratio of lateral contraction to longitudinal extension and the mass density of the material.
In an article entitled, "Osteoporotic Bone Fragility: Detection by Ultrasound Transmission Velocity," R. P. Heaney et al., JAMA, Vol. 261, No. 20, May 26, 1989, pp. 2986–2990, the Young's Modulus of bone, E, is given empirically as:E=Kρ2  (2)The velocity of the longitudinal sound wave in the bone is then:VL=√{square root over ((E/ρ))}=√{square root over ((Kρ))}  (3)where K is a constant which incorporates a number of factors, such as spatial orientation of the bone structures, inherent properties of the bone material and fatigue damage. Thus, the velocity of a longitudinal wave is a function of the mass density and can be used as an indicator of the quality of bone.
In order to perform in vivo ultrasonic measurements of the mechanical properties of bone, it is necessary to transmit an ultrasonic wave through the soft tissue surrounding the bone. Unfortunately, the thickness of the soft tissue varies along the length of the bone. Also, the soft tissue velocity is not a constant value for all soft tissues. These variations can affect the accuracy of the ultrasound propagation time measurement through the bone. Typically, the variations in thickness of the soft tissue and its velocity are either ignored or an attempt is made to cancel the effects of the soft tissue.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,072, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method of overcoming the effects of the unknown thickness of the intervening soft tissue, by ensuring that the measurements will be taken when the portion of the path which passes through soft tissue is of a same length for different measurements. A transmitter and two receivers are placed in a collinear configuration parallel to the bone. When a wave is transmitted from the transmitter towards the bone, the wave passes through intervening soft tissue and then travels along the bone. The two receivers detect ultrasonic waves that exit the bone and travel back through soft tissue to the two receivers. Ignoring the soft tissue, the difference between the path from the transmitter to the first receiver and to the second receiver is a segment of bone whose length is the same as the distance between the two receivers. Generally, the soft tissue cannot be ignored. However, if the two receivers are rather close together, the length of the paths in the soft tissue, between the bone and the receivers, will be approximately the same and should, to a certain level of precision, cancel out. In one embodiment described in the above patent document, the receiver/transmitter configuration is rocked and the measurements are taken only when the (shortest) distances between the bone and the two receivers are the same. These distances may be measured using the receivers as transmitter/receivers that bounce a wave off the bone. When the propagation times are equal, the configuration is assumed to be collinear with the bone.
However, even this method has several shortcomings. First, soft tissue velocity is not a constant, rather, it varies with the type of soft tissue. In addition, the propagation paths between the bone and the receivers are not the same for the reflected wave and for the wave from the transmitter, so the calculated acoustic bone velocity may not be correct. Second, the above-described method requires a relatively long portion of flat bone. Thus, only a small number of bones can be tested, using this method, such as the tibia. In addition, since high frequency ultrasonic waves are very lossy, it is not practical to use them for this method.
PCT publication WO 97/13145, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes an alternative method of bone velocity determination, in which a velocity in a significantly shorter portion of bone may be measured. In this publication, several waves are transmitted to the bone and received by one or more receivers. One of the waves travels through both bone and soft tissue and one or more waves travel only through soft tissue. The waves that travel only through soft tissue are used to calculate the soft tissue velocity. The calculated soft tissue velocity is applied to extract the bone velocity from the travel time of the wave that travels through both bone and soft tissue.

Determination of acoustic velocity in bone


A vapor fuel recovery system for fuel tanks is provided. The vapor recovery system comprises: a canister that captures vapor fuel expelled from the fuel tank; a vent valve that controls ventilation of vapor fuel from the fuel tank to the canister; and a vent bypass disposed between the canister and the vent valve that controls the flow of vapor fuel from the fuel tank to the on-board recovery canister when a fuel level in the fuel tank is full. The bypass includes a bypass valve and at least one orifice.

During combustion, an internal combustion engine oxidizes gasoline and combines hydrogen (H2) and carbon (C) with air. Combustion creates chemical compounds such as carbon dioxide (CO2), water (H2O), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), unburned hydrocarbons (HC), sulfur oxides (SOx), and other compounds. A catalytic converter treats exhaust gases from the engine. An engine and catalytic converter are considered to be "cold" during an initial startup period after a long soak. During this cold start period, combustion of gasoline within the engine is incomplete. Further the catalytic converter does not operate optimally.
In an effort to optimize the functionality of the engine and catalytic converter during cold start conditions, vapor assist cold start methods and systems have been developed. The methods and systems facilitate the capturing of vapor fuels from a fuel tank and purging the vapor fuel as an additional source of fuel to the engine.
One deficiency in the conventional system is that when a fuel tank is full or the vehicle is sitting on a grade such that a fuel level vent valve (FLVV) of the vapor assist system closes, tank vapor space is substantially cut off to engine purge. The FLVV is designed to prevent fuel from being pumped into an on-board refueling vapor recovery (ORVR) canister when the vehicle is being re-fueled. The FLVV is not designed to remain open for engine purge when the fuel tank is full or the vehicle is resting on a grade.

Vapor assisted cold start architecture utilizing tank grade vent valves


A lens barrel of the present invention is a lens barrel holding a photographing optical system which is a zoom lens constituted by five groups and includes: a cylindrical cam barrel arranged to be rotatable around an optical axis; a first lens driving section driving the cam barrel around the optical axis; a plurality of first cam grooves carved on an outer circumferential surface of the cam barrel; and a plurality of second cam grooves carved on an inner circumferential surface of the cam barrel. A first lens group holding barrel has a plurality of cam followers that are recessed in the first cam grooves; and each of a second lens group holding barrel and a third lens group holding barrel has a plurality of cam followers that are recessed in the second cam grooves.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an extendable zoom lens barrel and an electronic apparatus provided with the lens barrel.
2. Description of the Related Art
There may be a case where a lens barrel capable of shortening a total length thereof when in a state of not taking photographs, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2046-208618, is used in order to realize downsizing of an image pickup apparatus such as a camera and a video camera.
The lens barrel disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-208618 is provided with three substantially cylindrical barrel members provided with cam grooves, and the lens barrel is configured to drive three groups of lenses in an optical axis direction by the cam grooves.


A method for suppressing non-specific bindings between molecules includes providing magnetic particles dispersed in a liquid, wherein each of the magnetic particles has a magnetization. The magnetic particles are coated with coating molecules. Binding molecules mixed of first-type binding molecules and second-type binding molecules are applied to the liquid, wherein the coating molecules are specifically binding with the first-type binding molecules and non-specifically binding with the second-type binding molecules. An alternating current (ac) magnetic field is applied at an axis with a frequency level, wherein the frequency level causes suppression of the second-type binding molecules in binding with the coating molecules.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to measuring magnetic susceptibility of material. More particularly, the present invention relates to suppress non-specific bindings on magnetic particles based on investigation on magnetic susceptibility of magnetic material.
2. Description of Related Art
In chemical industry, it is often to produce composite molecules which include several kinds of molecules bound together. In medicine production as an example, several molecules should be mixed together to have the curing effect. However, during mixing the molecules, some un-wanted molecules may be also bound as well, causing impurity or even producing the other effect. Usually, the specific binding molecules are wanted while the non-specific binding molecules are unwanted.
How to suppress the non-specific binding molecules and even increase the specific binding molecules to a core particle is an issue in the art, so as to suppress the non-specific binding molecules.

Method and system for suppressing bindings on magnetic particles


A system and method for acquisition of mass spectrometry data is configured to provide a stream of charged particles (e.g., from an analytical volume). A primary mass spectrometer (e.g., time-of-flight mass spectrometer) may be used to separate charged particles of the stream of charged particles based on their mass-to-charge ratio and detect the charged particles in a mass-to-charge spectrum. A stream of precursor ions having a selected mass range may be diverted from the stream of charged particles for fragmentation to provide fragment ions (e.g., fragment ions from the analytical volume). The fragment ions may be provided to a second mass spectrometer for analysis of the fragment ions (e.g., during the same time as the time-of-flight mass spectrometer is separating and detecting charged particles of the stream of charged particles based on their mass-to-charge ratio).

The chemical and molecular analysis of the surface and thin surface layers of solid materials is usually based on the energetic stimulation of the sample surface and the mass spectrometry analysis of fragments ejected from the surface. There are two commonly used types of instruments used for this type of analysis.
The first of the two common types of instruments is based on the use of "primary" ion beams to excite the sample and to eject charged atomic and molecular species (referred to as "secondary" ions) that are analyzed by a mass spectrometer. This type of instrumental technique is normally called Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). The SIMS instrument may also have an additional mode of ionizing neutral fragments that are emitted at the same time as the secondary ions and this mode of operation is normally called Post Ionization SIMS. To obtain the highest collection efficiency, sensitivity, and separation of the different species based on the mass-to-charge (m/z) ratio of these species, a Time-of-Flight (TOF) mass spectrometer may be used in this SIMS instrument. The technique is therefore commonly referred to as TOF-SIMS. The TOF-SIMS instrument may be used in various other operating modes. For example, with the use of a scanned, micro-focused primary ion beam, mass resolved images of the sample can also be obtained with the TOF-SIMS instrument; this is generally known as the microprobe mode of operation. Further, a microscope mode of operation of the TOF mass spectrometer can also be used to obtain mass resolved images of the sample with the TOF-SIMS instrument. Exemplary embodiments thereof, for example, are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,543, herein incorporated by reference.
The second type of instrument uses a photon source to excite the sample material to cause the ejection of fragments from the surface. The analysis of the fragments emitted as charged particles (i.e., ions) from the surface by a mass spectrometer is commonly known as Laser Desorption Mass Spectrometry. To increase the efficiency of the emission of charged particles (i.e., ions), specially selected organic matrix materials can be added to the surface of the sample. This refinement is commonly known as Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI). To obtain the highest collection efficiency, sensitivity and separation of the different emitted species based on the mass-to-charge ratio, a Time-of-Flight mass spectrometer is normally used in this MALDI instrument although other types of mass spectrometers have also been used in MALDI instruments. With the use of a scanning stage and a micro-focused laser photon source, mass resolved images of the sample can also be obtained with MALDI; this is generally known as the microprobe mode of operation. A microscope mode of operation of the TOF mass spectrometer can also be used to obtain mass resolved images of the sample with MALDI analysis. Exemplary embodiments thereof, for example, are described in the article, S. L. Luxembourg, et al., "High Spatial Resolution Mass Spectrometric Imaging of Peptide and Protein Distributions on a Surface Imaging Mass Spectrometry", Anal. Chem. 2004 76(18) 5339-5344 as well as in the article, L. A. McDonnell et al., "Imaging Mass Spectrometry", Mass Spectrometry Reviews, 2007, 26, 606-643, both herein incorporated by reference.
The unique identification of the charged species emitted with either the TOF-SIMS or the MALDI techniques was historically based on the high mass resolution and mass accuracy of the TOF mass spectrometer. However, for mass-to-charge species (m/z species) with a mass above approximately 500 dalton (Da), the mass resolution and mass accuracy of the TOF mass spectrometer may not provide a unique molecular fragment identification of the emitted species. Historically, for the mass spectrometry analysis of higher mass liquid and gas phase molecules, a technique of Mass Spectrometry/Mass Spectrometry (MS/MS) has been used to provide a unique molecular fragment identification of many high mass species. This technique is based on the selection of a high mass ion in a first stage mass spectrometer (referred to as a "precursor" ion), followed by an energetic activation resulting in fragmentation of the precursor ion, followed by a second mass spectrometry analysis of the resulting fragment ions. Exemplary embodiments thereof, for example, are described by Boesl et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,722, herein incorporated by reference. The use of MALDI MS/MS is discussed in Andersson, et al., "Imaging Mass Spectrometry of Proteins and Peptides: 3D Volume Reconstruction", Nature Methods 2008 5, 101-108 as well as L. A. McDonnell et al, "Imaging Mass Spectrometry", Mass Spectrometry Reviews 2007, 26, 606-643, both herein incorporated by reference.
Exemplary methods and apparatus to obtain MS/MS data with the mass spectrometry spectral data containing both the precursor ion data and the fragment ion data, along with exemplary embodiments thereof, are described by Alderdice, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,508, herein incorporated by reference. The apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,508 provides a tandem mass spectrometry system, capable of obtaining tandem mass spectra for each parent ion without separate spectra of precursor ions of differing mass from fragment ions of different mass. The data shown in FIG. 4 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,508 illustrate the overlap in the spectral display of the precursor ions and the fragment ions. This spectral overlap of precursor and fragment ions is a result of the single detector after the second mass analyzer. The overlapping of the data in the spectra makes this method and apparatus unworkable for polymer and biological samples that are typical for imaging MALDI and imaging TOF-SIMS analyses.
There are, for example, three apparatus concepts that may provide imaging TOF-SIMS data with MS/MS data based on a sequential mode of operation (e.g., imaging precursor ion mass spectrometry analysis followed by fragment ion mass spectrometry analysis). These three apparatus concepts require that a choice be made between the acquisition of secondary ion (e.g., precursor ion) mass spectrometry data or fragment ion mass spectrometry data. This defines the sequential nature of the instrument operation in such apparatus concepts. This sequential mode of operation prevents analytical TOF-SIMS data and MS/MS data from being acquired from the same analytical sample volume.
The first apparatus concept is based on a reflectron analyzer which allows the rejection of the precursor ions before the ion mirror and allows the fragment ions that result from precursor ion uni-molecular ion decay in the flight path between the sample and the reflectron to be mass analyzed (see, e.g., D. Touboul, et al., Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 2006; 20: 703-709, herein incorporated by reference). This apparatus concept depends on the creation of fragment ions by the in-flight decay of metastable ions and is referred to as post-source decay (PSD). This described apparatus concept does not include an activation device between the reflectron used for precursor ion TOF-SIMS and a second mass spectrometer for acquisition of a MS/MS fragment ion spectra.
The second apparatus concept is a hybrid triple quadrupole TOF mass spectrometer equipped with an ion gun to produce TOF-SIMS ions. The apparatus concept uses a series of three quadrupole mass spectrometers followed by an orthogonal TOF mass spectrometer to acquire precursor ion TOP-SIMS data. In a second mode of operation, the second quadrupole mass spectrometer may also be used to select a precursor ion from the TOF-SIMS imaging experiment. The third quadrupole can then be operated at high gas pressure (e.g., in an activation cell) to produce fragment ions that can be measured in the orthogonal TOF mass spectrometer (see, e.g., A. Carado, et al., Appl. Surf. Sci. 2008; 255: 1610-1613, herein incorporated by reference). This described apparatus concept does not simultaneously and in parallel measure the precursor ion TOF-SIMS imaging data and the fragment ion MS/MS data.
The third apparatus concept is a reflectron analyzer with an integral gas collision cell in the reflectron flight path. This apparatus concept requires a choice between the acquisition of the precursor ions for imaging TOF-SIMS or the use of a high pressure gas in the collision cell to activate the precursor ions to produce fragment ions which can be mass analyzed in the rest of the reflectron flight path (see, J. S. Fletcher, et al., Anal. Chem. 2008; 80 9058-9064, herein incorporated by reference). This product concept cannot simultaneously and in parallel measure the precursor ion TOF-SIMS imaging data and the fragment ion MS/MS data.

Method and apparatus to provide parallel acquisition of mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry data


A system for vehicle driver support carrying out assist functions in a motor vehicle for supporting the driver in stopping and starting maneuvers, which are activated depending on a first comparison between at least one driving state parameter and a threshold value and/or based on first actuating signals from an actuating unit operable by the driver. A control unit determines a vehicle state by way of another comparison of at least one driving state variable with a predetermined threshold value and/or based on additional actuating signals of the actuating unit, in that the control unit checks whether at least one assist function is activated, and in that the control unit controls the brake system of the vehicle depending on the detected vehicle state when at least one assist function is activated.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a system for driver support carrying out assist functions in a motor vehicle for supporting the driver in stopping and starting maneuvers, which are activated depending on a first comparison between at least one driving state parameter and a threshold value and/or based on first actuating signals from an actuating means operable by the driver.
2. Description of Related Art
A large number of different electronic assist functions are known to support a driver of a motor vehicle in starting and stopping maneuvers. In order to prevent the vehicle from rolling rearwards during a starting maneuver, e.g. starting aids are employed where brake pressure is adjusted in the wheel brakes during standstill of the vehicle, which is automatically reduced during the starting maneuver. Customary names of starting aids of this type are hill holder system or Hill-Start-Assist-System (HAS System). Further, it is e.g. known to automatically activate an electric parking brake of the motor vehicle when it is detected that the vehicle is being parked, and to release the electric parking brake when a desire of the driver to start is detected.
The known assist functions are designed as independent functions which respectively include an own activation logic and a control of their own calculating the brake pressure demand. Thus, it is principally possible that several assist systems of this type are activated at the same time. As this occurs, there may be a multiple calculation of a brake pressure demand, with the result of an unnecessarily high expenditure in realizing the systems.
Especially the fact that in different assist systems normally different conditions for detecting driving situations such as a starting maneuver are checked, or that the existence of conditions is identified by way of difference threshold values, the different assist systems often calculate different pressure demands. Above all when there is a large number of assist systems of this type in a motor vehicle, the consequence may be an erroneous control of the brake system and, hence, impairment of vehicle safety.

System for vehicle driver support for stopping and starting procedures