The present invention provides a method and apparatus for wastewater sampling in all climates. The wastewater sampling apparatus pulls a sample from a stream or other body of water based on flow or time maintaining a consistent, repeatable, and accurate sample size. The present invention includes an all-weather housing. An integrated touchscreen control provides the ability to specify the volumes of water and program times and/or flow intervals to collect samples. Controls also allow control of the temperature within the sample compartment, both from the unit directly or from an external device. The present invention includes arcuate sample chamber and pivoting sample tube for accurate wastewater volume samples. The present invention may pull samples with vertical lifts of up to 29 feet or more and provide consistent accurate sampling exceeding current EPA transport velocity.

Vacuum liquid samplers are generally known in the art. Some automatic liquid samplers use a load cell to measure the sample weight. This measured weight is then used in an adaptive feedback loop to improve future sample size control. This technique is costly because load cells are expensive, mechanically fragile and require expensive signal conditioning electronics, resulting in an unreliable system.
A lower cost alternative is to fix the sample size by manually adjusting an intake tube up and down to vary the sample size. Vacuum is applied to the sample chamber via the vacuum/pressure port to draw the sample into the sample chamber via the suction tube until the chamber is overfilled. Pressure is then applied to the sample chamber, and the excess sample is discharged back out through the suction line until the sampling level is even with the bottom rim of the suction tube. At this point no more sample will be discharged. A valve on the discharge line is then opened and the sample is expelled from the sample chamber. This sampling technique is reliable and repeatable, but it is very difficult to adjust. Furthermore, not limiting the amount of initial oversample affects the quality of the sample. A reliable and repeatable sampling method and apparatus is desired.

Method and apparatus for sampling liquid


A set of parts having a “U” shaped channel (11) and a side prolongation (12) are used to form the upper edge and channel in an overflow type swimming pool. The set of parts can include straight parts (1a), corner parts (1b), drainage parts (1c), fitted steps, lane divider anchors, and curved edges. The upper surface of the prolongation slants toward the edge of the swimming pool at an angle of approximately 1 to 15 degrees and forms a base to place tiles to finish the appearance of the swimming pool. The parts can be constructed of ceramic, cement, stoneware, baked clay or other polymer.

Around overflow swimming pools a channel is built at water level or below. There are different types of overflow pools, the main ones are known under the trade names of the Finnish System and the Zurich System, the main difference being the difference in levels between the water and the channel.
To build this edging and channel in overflow pools, a system of two successive casings is often required, which owing to its particular design, is extremely complicated, because any minor deviations that usually occur to a greater or lesser extent, make it impossible to then place the ceramic parts properly or for the pool to overflow correctly.
There is a variant to the Zurich system on the market, trading under the name of Wiesbaden, which attempts to solve these problems with a ceramic part. This part is used as edging, channel and outer surface at the same time, but because it is made in ceramic, it is very expensive. Also, it must be of a very small size and it can only be applied in cases where there is limited space. These parts cannot be used for the Finnish system as they cannot provide the so-called "beach," which is the submerged part of the swimming pool edge between the channel and the inside vertical wall.
Correcting these deviations of the edging/channel later on means significant additional labor costs, as part of the cement has to be chipped, or the inadmissible gaps have to be filled, or what is worse, the different angles needed on the edge near the channel have to be adjusted. This is the situation in the most popular of all the systems: the Finnish system.

Set of parts for building the upper edge and channel in overflow swimming pools


According to a disclosed embodiment, an auscultatory training apparatus includes a database of pre-recorded physiological sounds stored on a computer for playing on a playback system. A user-friendly, graphical user interface software program is stored on the computer for use with a conventional computer mouse. The program allows a user to select one of the pre-recorded sounds for playback. In addition, the program is operable to generate an inverse model of the playback system in the form of a digital filter. If employed by the user, the inverse model processes the selected sound to cancel the distortions of the playback system so that the sound is accurately reproduced in the playback system. The program also permits the extraction of a specific sound component from a pre-recorded sound so that only the extracted sound component is audible during playback.

Since the invention of the stethoscope, physicians and other health care workers have used lung acoustics to assist in the diagnosis and analysis of the health ills and abnormalities of patients. Typically, less experienced medical personnel gain practical experience in the art of auscultation by listening to the heart and lung sounds of live patients.
Of course, patients are not always available to assist in the teaching process. Consequently, teaching apparatuses have been developed wherein recordings of actual patient respiratory sounds are used to train medical personnel in auscultation. However, current teaching tools which utilize previously recorded sounds suffer from the disadvantage that playback environments cause considerable distortion in the sounds that they reproduce. To those using such tools, the reproduced respiratory sounds do not "sound" as if they are being generated by a live patient. Moreover, the distortions may make it difficult for the listener to hear and/or interpret the subtleties of a recorded respiratory maneuver.
In addition, the diagnosis of respiratory problems often involves the identification of a specific component of a respiratory maneuver. As such, it would be desirable if specific sound components could be isolated from recorded respiratory maneuvers so that only those components are audible during playback. However, this cannot be accomplished using current state-of-the-art teaching apparatuses.
Thus, there exists a need for a new and improved system for training health care workers in auscultation.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


Apparatus has at least one processor and at least one memory having computer-readable code stored thereon which when executed controls the at least one processor:                to cause a list of search results to be displayed, each of the search results being caused to be displayed with a number of elements of associated information, wherein the number is greater than or equal to zero;        after a predetermined time period in which no user input is received, to cause the number of elements of associated information that are displayed for each of plural ones of the search results to be increased; and        to respond to a user initiated scroll command after the number of elements of associated information that are caused to be displayed for each of plural ones of the search results has been increased by causing the number of elements of associated information that are displayed to be decreased.

It is now common for portable devices, such as mobile phones, to be programmed to perform a diverse range of functions in addition to basic call making. It is also increasingly common for portable devices to store large amounts of personal information and data files of various types. Many such portable devices are touch screen devices having only a small number of hardware keys.


A method and apparatus for converting a DC voltage to a lower DC voltage, provides for conducting current from an input terminal, through an inductor to charge a capacitor connected to the inductor at an output terminal and to provide a varying range of load current from the output terminal, alternately switching the input terminal between a supply voltage and a ground potential to produce a desired voltage at the output terminal that is lower than the supply voltage, while providing the varying range of load current, and disconnecting the input terminal from both the supply voltage and the ground potential to reduce an increase in voltage at the output terminal caused by a substantial reduction in the load current, while current through the inductor adjusts in response to the reduced load current.

These teachings relate to switching power supplies (switching converters). These devices are used to efficiently transform voltage and currents at one level to voltage and currents at a different level. Switching converters are particularly important when either high power or battery operation require high efficiency. Switching converters are pervasive throughout many consumer products such as cell phones, PDAs, personal computers, etc. A key feature of the switching power supply is its small size and low cost, which is achieved thru efficient design.
One of the ways to improve the size and cost of switching converters is to optimize the size of the external passive components. This is achieved by optimizing power device topology.
With the advent of deep sub-micron CMOS, power supplies with very low voltage, high tolerance and high currents are required. As a result, passive filter components have to be scaled to a very low impedance, and in particular the output capacitor is selected to be of high quality and large value. This capacitor dominates the size and cost of the switching converters for sub-micron CMOS. In general, a smaller the capacitor means lower cost.
There is a need for power device topologies that allow the output capacitor to be reduced.
Buck DC-to-DC converters are frequently used to provide lower operating voltages as required in various devices that use integrated circuits. Typically a much larger supply voltage is used with a narrow duty cycle to charge an output capacitor through an inductor, with accumulated inductor current maintaining the output voltage when not connected to the higher voltage supply during the off portion of the duty cycle.
This arrangement of having a higher supply voltage for charging the inductor current and a much smaller output voltage for discharging the inductor current causes the step load recovery to be asymmetrical. When the load current steps from the small value to near its maximum value, the voltage across the inductor is the supply voltage minus the output voltage. In this case, the relatively large supply voltage allows the inductor to be charged quickly, and the corresponding output voltage droop is minimized.
When the load current steps from near its maximum value to near its minimum value, the voltage across the inductor is just the output voltage. This relatively small voltage discharges the inductor slowly. This has the unfortunate result of allowing a large output voltage overshoot. This is an inherent limitation of the fundamental buck converter structure.
One method to avoid this problem employs discrete MOSFETs to allow the bulk diode of the synchronous rectifier FET to turn on for a short time. This increases the discharge voltage by the turn-on voltage of the bulk diode. Unfortunately this method is not typically available in the integrated circuit form. In integrated circuit power devices, it is desirable not to turn on the bulk diodes for latch-up reasons. Latch-up is self destructive in most integrated circuits and efforts are made to avoid it. In addition, the improvement in the discharge rate is only increased by the addition of a diode forward drop.
For the above reasons, it would be beneficial to provide improved methods and devices for discharging built up inductor current in buck converters when the converter experience is a substantial drop in load current being drawn there from, without using a larger capacitor to store the extra charge.


A method for in-room computer reconstruction of a three-dimensional (3-D) coronary vascular tree from routine biplane angiograms acquired at arbitrary angles and without using calibration objects. The method includes seven major steps: (1) acquisition of two standard angiogram sequences by use of a single-plane or biplane imaging system, (2) identification of 2-D coronary vascular trees and feature extractions including bifurcation points, directional vectors, vessel centerlines, and construction of vessel hierarchy in the two images, (3) determination of transformation in terms of a rotation matrix R and a translation vector {right arrow over (t)} based on the extracted vessel bifurcation points and directional vectors, (4) establishment of vessel centerline correspondence, (5) calculation of the skeleton of 3-D coronary vascular trees, (6) rendering of 3-D coronary vascular tree with associated gantry angulation, and (7) calculation of optimal view(s) and 3-D QCA as quantitative measures associated with the selected vascular segment(s) of interest. The calculation of optimal views includes determination of 2-D projections of the reconstructed 3-D vascular tree so as to minimize foreshortening of a selected vascular segment, overlap of a selected vascular segment or both overlap and foreshortening of a selected arterial segment.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method for reconstructing images of vascular structures and more specifically to an improved method for three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction of vascular structures from two two-dimensional biplane projection images and methods and structures for quantitative analysis of such a reconstructed structure.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Several investigators have reported computer assisted methods for estimation of the 3-D coronary arteries from biplane projection data. These known methods are based on the known or standard X-ray geometry of the projections, placement of landmarks, known vessel shape, and on iterative identification of matching structures in two or more views. Such methods are described in a publication entitled xe2x80x9c3-D digital subtraction angiographyxe2x80x9d, IEEE Trans. Med. Imag., vol. MI-1, pp. 152-158, 1982 by H. C. Kim, B. G. Min, T. S. Lee, et. al. and in a publication entitled xe2x80x9cMethods for evaluating cardiac wall motion in 3-D using bifurcation points of the coronary arterial treexe2x80x9d, Invest. Radiology, January-February pp. 47-56, 1983 by M. J. Potel, J. M. Rubin, and S. A. Mackay, et al. Because the computation was designed for predefined views only, it is not suitable to solve the reconstruction problem on the basis of two projection images acquired at arbitrary and unknown relative orientations.
Another known method is based on motion and multiple views acquired in a single-plane imaging system. Such a method is described in a publication entitled xe2x80x9cReconstructing the 3-d medial axes of coronary arteries in single-view cineangiogramsxe2x80x9d, IEEE Trans. MI, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 48-60, 1994 by T. V. Nguyen and J. Sklansky uses motion transformations of the heart model. However, the motion transformations of the heart model consist only of rotation and scaling. By incorporation of the center-referenced method, initial depth coordinates, and center coordinates, a 3-D skeleton of the coronary arteries was obtained. However, the real heart motion during the contraction involves five specific movements: translation, rotation, wringing, accordion-like motion, and movement toward the center of the ventricular chamber. Therefore, the model employed is not general enough to portray the true motion of the heart, especially toward the end-systole.
Knowledge-based or rule-based systems have been proposed for 3-D reconstruction of coronary arteries by use of a vascular network model. One such knowledge-based system is described in a publication entitled xe2x80x9cAn expert system for the labeling and 3-D reconstruction of the coronary arteries from two projectionsxe2x80x9d, International Journal of Imaging, Vol. 5, No. 2-3, pp. 145-154, 1990 by Smets, Vandewerf, Suctens, and Oosterlinck. Because the rules or knowledge base were organized for certain specific conditions, it does not generalize the 3-D reconstruction process to arbitrary projection data. In other knowledge-based systems, the 3-D coronary arteries were reconstructed from a set of X-ray perspective projections by use of an algorithm from computed tomography. Due to the motion of the heart and only a limited number of projections (four or six), accurate reconstruction and quantitative measurement are not easily achieved.
Closed-form solutions of the 3-D reconstruction problem using a linear approach was a significant development and is described in, for example, a publication entitled xe2x80x9cDetermining 3-d motion and structure of a rigid body using the spherical projectionxe2x80x9d, CVGIP, vol. 21, pp. 21-32, 1983 by B. L. Yen and T. S. Huang. Unfortunately, actual data is always corrupted by noise or errors and the linear approach based techniques may not be sufficiently accurate when using noisy data. Hence, optimal estimation has been explicitly investigated. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,165 entitled Method for Determination of 3-D Structures in Biplane Angiography issued in the name of Fencil et al. also has significant drawbacks.
Use of a two-step method is known for producing an optimal estimation for a 3-D structure based on maximum-likelihood and minimum-variance estimation. In these techniques, for example, two publications entitled xe2x80x9cOptimal motion and structure estimationxe2x80x9d, IEEE Trans. on PAMI, Vol. 15, no. 9, September 1993, pp. 864-884, and xe2x80x9cStructure from motion using the reconstruction and projection techniquexe2x80x9d, Proc. IEEE Workshop Computer Vision, November 1987, pp. 345-348, image error was employed in the objective function for a non-constricted minimization process. Preliminary estimates computed by a linear algorithm were used as initial estimates for the process of optimal estimation. However, if the initial solution from the linear approach is not sufficient, (e.g., with more than 2 pixels=0.6 mm error in the input 2-D image data), the iterative minimization process at the second step may become trapped in a local minimum due to a lack of prior information concerning the variables to be optimized.
Quantitative coronary analysis (xe2x80x9cQCAxe2x80x9d) of a reconstruction of an arterial tree was known and developed in the 1970""s to quantify vessel geometry and the effects of drugs on the regression and progression of coronary artery disease. In the mid-1980""s, digital systems were introduced into the catheterization laboratory to support the angiographer during the interventional procedures. With the advent digital angiographic technology, on-line QCA has been widely used predominantly for the selection of the optimal sizes of the interventional devices, and for the assessment of the efficacy of the procedure. However, current QCA techniques are performed on the 2-D projection views in which the vessel overlap and foreshortening are subjectively minimized in a xe2x80x9ctrial-and-errorxe2x80x9d manner by the interventionist. FIGS. 56(a)-(d) demonstrate the problems resulting from use of such 2-D projections in QCA techniques. FIG. 56c is an RCA image as known in the art used for QCA and resulting in a 30% narrowing measurement as shown in FIG. 56d. With 2-D projection views there is no way to know or estimate how much error occurs in the QCA process due to foreshortening with respect to the stentotic segment. In FIGS. 56a and 56b, the same vessel segment between two bifurcation points as marked by two dots at its proximal and distal ends depicts 77% and 52% foreshortening, respectively.
It is evident from the above discussion that a need exists for improved reconstruction of 3-D images from 2-D image data and that a further need exists for improved QCA techniques utilizing such 3-D reconstruction to provide needed analysis in the intervention process.
The disadvantages of present methods known for visual reconstruction of vascular structures are substantially overcome with the present invention by providing a novel method for three-dimensional reconstruction of vessels using two-dimensional angiograms and further by providing improved QCA techniques utilizing such 3-D reconstructions of vascular structures.
This patent application teaches the methods and structures of the invention with reference to vascular structures (i.e., coronary arteries or coronary arterial trees). Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the improved reconstruction methods and the quantitative analysis methods and structures are equally applicable to any vascular structure. References herein to xe2x80x9ccoronaryxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9carterialxe2x80x9d applications of the invention are intended merely as exemplary of common vascular structures where such reconstruction and analysis techniques are beneficially applied. Nothing in this patent application should be construed as limiting the reconstruction and analysis features to coronary applications. In particular, reference to xe2x80x9cquantitative coronary analysisxe2x80x9d (or xe2x80x9cQCAxe2x80x9d) should be understood to refer broadly to quantitative analysis of any vascular structures. Likewise, reference to an xe2x80x9carteryxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9carteriesxe2x80x9d should be broadly understood to refer to any vessel or vessels. xe2x80x9cArtery treexe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9carterial treexe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9ccoronary arterial treexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccoronary artery treexe2x80x9d should all be understood to broadly refer to any vascular tree structure. Coronary applications of the present invention are therefore merely one common exemplary application of the features, methods and structures of the present invention.
In the present inventive method, a novel optimization technique minimizes the image point errors and directional vector errors in both imaging systems subject to the constraints derived from the individual intrinsic imaging parameters of the employed imaging system. Given five or more corresponding object points in both views (projection image), a constrained nonlinear optimization algorithm is applied to obtain an optimal estimate (transformation) of the biplane imaging geometry in the form of R and {right arrow over (t)} which characterize the position and orientation of one imaging system (imaging portion of the imaging system) relative to the other. The initial solution is estimated on the basis of the individual intrinsic imaging parameters.
Angiograms of eight hundred patients were analyzed in which two cases are selected for discussion hereinafter. The biplane imaging geometry was first determined without a calibration object, and the 3-D coronary arterial trees were reconstructed, including both left and right coronary artery systems. Various two-dimensional (2-D) projection images of the reconstructed 3-D coronary arterial tree were generated and compared to other viewing angles obtained in the actual patient study. Similarity between the real and reconstructed arterial structures was excellent. The accuracy of this method was evaluated by using a computer-simulated coronary arterial tree. Root-mean-square (RMS) errors in the 3-D position and the 3-D configuration of vessel centerlines and in the angles defining the R matrix and {right arrow over (t)} vector were 0.9-5.5 mm, 0.7-1.0 mm, and less than 1.5 and 2.0 degrees, respectively, when using 2-D vessel centerlines with RMS normally distributed errors varying from 0.4-4.2 pixels (0.25-1.26 mm).
More specifically, the method for three-dimensional reconstruction of a target object from two-dimensional images involves a target object having a plurality of branch-like vessels. The method includes the steps of: a) placing the target object in a position to be scanned by an imaging system, the imaging system having a plurality of imaging portions; b) acquiring a plurality of projection images of the target object, each imaging portion providing a projection image of the target object, each imaging portion disposed at an unknown orientation relative to the other imaging portions; c) identifying two-dimensional vessel centerlines for a predetermined number of the vessels in each of the projection images; d) creating a vessel hierarchy data structure for each projection image, the data structure including the identified two-dimensional vessel centerlines defined by a plurality of data points in the vessel hierarchy data structure; e) calculating a predetermined number of bifurcation points for each projection image by traversing the corresponding vessel hierarchy data structure, the bifurcation points defined by intersections of the two-dimensional vessel centerlines; f) determining a transformation in the form of a rotation matrix and a translation vector utilizing the bifurcation points corresponding to each of the projections images, the rotation matrix, and the translation vector representing imaging parameters corresponding to the relative orientations of the imaging portions of the imaging system; g) utilizing the data points and the transformation to establish a correspondence between the two-dimensional vessel centerlines corresponding to each of the projection images such that each data point corresponding to one projection image is linked to a data point corresponding to the other projection images, the linked data points representing an identical location in the vessel of the target object after the projections; h) calculating three-dimensional vessel centerlines utilizing the two-dimensional vessel centerlines and the correspondence between the data points of the two-dimensional vessel centerlines; and i) reconstructing a three-dimensional visual representation of the target object based on the three-dimensional vessel centerlines and diameters of each vessel estimated along the three-dimensional centerline of each vessel; and j) determining the optimal view of the vessel segments with minimal vessel foreshortening.
Further features of the present invention utilize such 3-D reconstructions to provide improved QCA techniques for analysis of coronary artery images.

Method and apparatus for three-dimensional reconstruction of coronary vessels from angiographic images and analytical techniques applied thereto


A contact lens polymer material cleaning and disinfecting solution has about 21% by weight of a C.sub.3 -C.sub.8 alkylene glycol, about 16% by weight of a lower alkanol, and 5% by weight of an ophthalmic device material compatible surfactant, about 1% by weight of a pH adjusting or regulating agent, about 1% by weight of a tonicity builder, about 0.1% of a viscosity enhancing agent, and water.

Cleaning regimens for ophthalmic devices of various types differ significantly in the cleaning efficacy and their procedural complexity. The typical regimens are heat disinfection and chemical (i.e. cold) disinfection, which eliminate pathogens and enzymatic cleaning to remove stubbornly adhering protein. Loosely held proteins and other loosely held contaminants can typically be removed by rubbing alone.
While various combinations of these regimens are indicated for various types of contact lenses, frequently contact lens users are less than diligent, and sometimes downright negligent in their strict adherence to the recommended procedures. Hence, a simplified system for disinfection and general cleaning of contact lenses has been long sought after.
Additionally, many disinfection systems currently known are not compatible with a large number of different types of lenses. It has been observed that there is a great deal of consumer confusion, especially when brand loyalty is being sacrificed for price. While many system/lens combinations may be suitable, others may result in irreversibly fouling the lens requiring that it be discarded and a new lens purchased. Therefore, it has also been desirable to develop a single disinfection and cleaning system which is compatible with most, if not all, contact lens materials.
Still further, most known disinfection systems require substantial amounts of time to achieve the desired degree of disinfection. Many times, contact lens wearers, for whatever the reason, neglect to continue the regimen for a period sufficient to disinfect the lens properly. Therefore, it is essential to proper compliance that a very rapid disinfection system for contact lenses be developed.
Exemplary known disinfection systems include those disclosed in British Patents 2,003,033 and 1,472,084; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,525,346 and 4,127,423. Typical marketed cleaning and disinfection systems are Cooper Vision's Miraflow.RTM. and Alcon's Preflex.RTM./Polyclens.RTM./Polyflex.RTM. systems. However, each of these suffers from one or more of the problems set out above.

Rapid ophthalmic glycol/lower alkanol cleaning and disinfecting solution and method


A printed circuit board which has a layer of electrically resistive material that can provide a pull-up/pull-down resistor for the board. The printed circuit board includes a substrate which has a conductive plane located on the top surface of the board. The conductive plane is typically dedicated to electrical power. The board also has a via that is connected to an internal signal line. The resistive material is applied to the top surface to connect the conductive plane to the via and the signal line. The resistive material can be applied with a screening process which simplifies the assembly process of the resistor. Additionally, the resistive material is relatively small and located adjacent to the via so that the resistor does not occupy valuable board space.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printed circuit board for electronic packages.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic assemblies typically include a plurality of integrated circuit packages that are mounted to a printed circuit board. The printed circuit board has a number of different conductive power/ground planes and signal lines that provide power and electrical signals to the integrated circuits.
Some electronic assemblies require pull-up or pull-down resistors to hold the signal lines to a desired voltage logic state when not driven by active logic. The pull-up/pull-down resistors are typically discrete devices that are soldered to the top surface of the printed circuit board. Discrete resistor devices are relatively large and occupy valuable routing space on the printed circuit board. Additionally, the inventory space and process steps required to mount the resistors to the board increase the cost of producing the electronic assemblies. It would be desirable to provide a printed circuit board


From a negative impression of a patient's teeth, a positive hard duplicate pattern such as a stone model of the teeth is made. A digitized three dimensional coded image of the teeth is then generated by means of a coordinate measuring machine or by laser scanning. The central axis of each tooth is then displayed in an exploded image of the set of teeth and each tooth is moved in virtual space to a desired position and orientation using torque, tip and angulation values as well as in/out position information provided by the selected orthodontic bracket system. The optimum position of each tooth-mounted orthodontic appliance bracket and its attachment point to its associated tooth for moving the tooth to a desired orientation and position is then determined using the digitized coded images of each tooth including its central axis in its initial and final desired position and orientation. Using this bracket attachment information for each tooth, the shape and contour of a bracket attachment jig is determined for each tooth and this information in digital form is used to fabricate a plurality of such jigs under computer control such as by using a computer numeric control (CNC) milling machine for attaching an off-the-shelf, conventional orthodontic bracket to each tooth. Conventional archwires attached to the upper and lower optimally positioned brackets urge each tooth to its respective desired position and orientation with minimal subsequent manipulation and adjustment of the archwires by the orthodontist.

Orthodontic braces comprised of a plurality of brackets and an archwire for applying the appropriate force to a patient's teeth are commonly used to move the teeth into a desired configuration or alignment. Each bracket is firmly attached to a respective tooth and serves as a handle on the tooth for the force-producing archwire. The forces applied by the archwires through the brackets are gradually adjusted by the dentist to move and/or re-orient each tooth in a desired manner. These forces applied to the teeth move the teeth gradually toward the positions and/or orientations desired by the orthodontist. Different bracket arrangements are available to the dentist, with the dentist generally selecting a particular bracket system based upon the patient's specific pre-treatment malocclusion (condition requiring treatment), dental surface morphology, and facial type. However, the various bracket systems are not custom designed for each tooth, nor are they configured for the individual patient's jaw bone relationships or functional movement patterns. Rather, bracket and archwire configurations are of a generally generic design with the teeth in a static position. For example, the slots which hold the wire in the different brackets are substantially uniform. Because of this, the forces of the archwire on the teeth must be adjusted by bending or otherwise distorting the archwires.
The inability to adapt to the individual patient's condition has rendered prior approaches generally time consuming, expensive and of limited precision. For example, it is frequently necessary to replace the brackets attached to the patient's teeth as treatment progresses. In addition, prior approaches have required a considerable amount of work by the orthodontist over an extended period of time to progressively adjust the forces applied against the teeth. Moreover, the bending and distortion of the archwire to adjust the forces on the patient's teeth is largely accomplished on an empirical basis based in substantial part upon the experience of the orthodontist. Even the experienced orthodontist has difficulty in bending and twisting the archwire precisely so that the proper force is applied to the brackets attached to each of the patient's teeth. Moreover, unless the bracket is attached at the proper location on the tooth, precise positioning and alignment of the set of teeth is virtually impossible. Current approaches require the orthodontist to visually select the optimum bracket location and then attempt to locate the bracket accordingly on the tooth. This imprecise "eyeballing" approach limits the degree of alignment of the repositioned teeth and generally ignores functional movement of the mandible (lower jaw).
In an ideally functioning occlusion, certain anatomic structures maintain interactive relationships to each other. For example, as the occlusal plane steepens (gets higher posteriorly), the angulation of the upper incisors becomes more vertical. Other related structures are the cusp angulations of the posterior teeth and the steepness of the articular eminence of the mandibular fossa. All of these relationships can be measured and expressed numerically.
In addition, all of these functional relationships undergo adaptation when the relationships of the upper and lower jaw bones are varied in the anterior-posterior plane. For example, if the lower jaw is too far forward in relation to the upper (Class III), the occlusal plane is lower posteriorly and all the other relationships must change proportionately in order to maintain a smoothly functioning occlusion without traumatic interference. FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate these relationships. These relationships have been published and are generally accepted knowledge. However, the great variation of individual tooth anatomy and the number of existing variables have precluded such idealization of orthodontic treatment goals.
The present invention addresses the aforementioned limitations of the prior art by allowing the orthodontist not only to allow inclusion of variable tooth anatomy into idealized bracket placement, but also to include for the first time other factors which determine a non-traumatic, properly functioning occlusion for a specific individual. The present invention contemplates an orthodontic bracketing system and method therefor which employs a digital computer as well as a video display for custom designing a set of orthodontic jigs, or positioning fixtures, for engaging each bracket and tooth combination for optimum positioning of the bracket on the tooth for subsequent repositioning and/or reorientation of the tooth by means of an archwire. Digital data of the size, shape and contour of each tooth is measured, recorded and displayed to permit the central axis of each tooth to be viewed by the orthodontist and to be moved in virtual space using torque, tip and angulation values as well as in/out position information to relocate and/or reorient the tooth, as desired. Using the measured and stored digital data representing the size, shape and contour of each tooth, the relationship of the jaw bone and the movement path of the lower jaw, a computer controlled milling machine forms each positioning jig to match its associated tooth to ensure optimum positioning of the orthodontic bracket on the tooth.

Orthodontic bracketing system and method therefor


A method for managing account data and handling account recovery requests are disclosed. The method comprises a multi-level identity verification process, including a first level where a specific computing device requesting recovery of an electronic account is requested to identify a trusted contact for the electronic account and a second level where the specific computing device is requested to provide a dynamically generated security code that has been communicated to a trusted contact identified by the specific computing device.

The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
Today, electronic communication is integral to our lives. The unit of electronic communication is an electronic account hosted by a digital computer system, such as an email server or an e-commerce platform. An electronic account is generally defined by account credentials, such as the combination of an account ID and a password, provided by the owner of the electronic account. Use of the electronic account requires knowledge of the account credentials.
The owner of an electronic account who has lost knowledge of the account credentials for the electronic account would want to recover the electronic account or the access thereof by regaining knowledge of the account credentials or resetting the account credentials. However, a non-owner who never has knowledge of the account credentials might also want to gain knowledge of the account credentials or reset the account credentials for illegitimate purposes. Therefore, the account recovery process is generally carefully controlled to reduce the chance of granting access to an electronic account to a non-owner.
The account recovery process can comprise one or more steps. In one approach, in setting up an electronic account, the owner is asked to identify a primary communication account, such as an email account, so that account setup can continue or account recovery can begin by accessing the primary communication account. For example, the digital server hosting the electronic account might send a link for resetting account credentials for the electronic account to the primary communication account. When the owner has also lost knowledge of the account credentials for the primary communication account, however, account recovery might continue with a relatively laborious process, such as uploading a photo identification to the digital server. In reality, losing knowledge of the account credentials for the primary communication account might occur quite often due to graduation from school, changing employers, or other reasons. In general, it would be helpful to have an account recovery process that maximizes the accuracy of authenticating the requester while minimizing the inconvenience to the requester.

Electronic account recovery through account connections


A spray painting apparatus and methodology. A plurality of parts are loaded onto a carrier at circumferentially spaced locations about a central spin axis of the carrier whereafter the carrier is moved in indexing fashion to a spray station where drive means engage the carrier to spin the carrier about its spin axis while a spray gun assembly is moved up and down in reciprocal fashion parallel to the spin axis. The parts are mounted on the carrier in a fashion to simulate impellers which have the effect of sucking air into the center region of the carrier to augment painting of the interior surfaces of the parts. The carriers are preferably moved to the paint spray station by a power and free conveyor system wherein the carrier is disengaged from the power conveyor at the paint spray station and is reengaged with the power conveyor following spinning movement of the carrier and reciprocal movement of the spray gun assembly.

This invention relates to apparatus and method for coating parts and more particularly to apparatus and method for spray painting parts.
Most parts in modern industrial equipment require some manner of coating or painting to optimize the appearance of the part and/or to protect the part. Many techniques are available for painting parts. Whereas the many available techniques are generally satisfactory in painting parts having only exterior surfaces to be painted or having interior surfaces that are simple and readily accessible, none of the prior art painting techniques provide smooth, even, consistent painting with respect to all surfaces on an intricate part including intricate, blind interior surfaces.


A location determination rule is applied by a dialer when processing a telephone number of a target party in record from a dialing list. The location determination rule indicates how a geo-location of the target party is to be ascertained, so that the time zone of the target party is ascertained. Once the time zone is known, then a local time of the target party is ascertained, and a determination can be made whether a call can be originated to the target party within a prescribed calling window. The calling window indicates the beginning and ending times, local to the target party, when calls can be attempted to the target party. In one embodiment, the location determination rule can be defined for each record in the dialing list or for all records in the dialing list.

Outbound call centers may originate telephone calls to targeted parties for various purposes. The calls may be made in conjunction with surveying individuals for a political campaign, notifying customers of suspicious charges on their credit card accounts, inquiring about repayment of past due loan amounts, soliciting donations for a non-profit organization, or offering new products for sale. In many instances, the call center may originate calls to individuals ("targeted parties") located in a variety of geographical areas. Frequently, the targeted party may be in another state than the state in which the call center is located. Thus, calls may originate in a call center that is hundreds, or even thousands of miles away from the contacted party. Consequently, the call center often is in a different time zone than that of the targeted party.
Various regulations may limit the times when certain types of calls may be attempted to the targeted party. For example, certain federal regulations may limit the origination of telemarketing calls between 8:00 a. m. and 9:00 p.m. The time period in which calls are allowed is sometimes called the "calling window." Some call center operators may define and use a more restrictive calling window, such as between 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Further, some states may have more restrictive calling windows, including on certain days.
The calling window is defined with respect to the targeted party, not with respect to the call center. In other words, the call window times are defined as local to the targeted party. Thus, reference herein to "local time" means the local time of the targeted party. If both the call center and the targeted part are located in the eastern time zone, then the call center can originate a call to this targeted party at 8:30 a.m. However, the call center may not originate a call to a targeted party located in the pacific time zone, where the local time would be 3 hours earlier, e.g., 5:30 a.m. Therefore, the call center must know the local time of the targeted party in order to comply with the appropriate regulations defining the calling window. In order to determine this, the local time zone of the targeted party must be determined
Determining the local time zone of the targeted party can be determined once the location of the targeted party is known, but determining the location of the targeted party may not always be a simple process. In some cases, the time zone of the targeted party can be determined by analyzing the targeted telephone number, but certain conditions may cause uncertainty. Further, other conditions may also impact how the targeted party's time zone is determined. Thus, flexible and effective systems and methods are required to ascertain the time zone of the targeted party.

Determining calling windows for called telephone numbers


A golf club shaped swing training device provides visual indication of club position during a club swinging motion. A first laser diode produces a first laser line from the upper end of the shaft and second and third laser diodes produce second and third laser lines respectively from the bottom face and the front face of the head portion of the device. Each of the laser lines emanates from the device as a concentrated beam to impinge and be readily visible on a training surface remote of the device for independently tracking movement of the shaft, the bottom face and the front face of the head portion of the device.

Almost all people who play golf, from the novice to the expert player, at some time, require some work on their swing. Even with video camera, it is difficult to see exact positioning of the club and more particularly, the positions of the shaft and head of the club during the back swing and the down swing.
Proper hand movement is a critical aspect of a proper back swing. When the hands are moved properly, the shaft of the club should be in a specific positions during the back swing. In addition, the face of the club should be at a specific orientation to avoid the face from either being closed or opened at impact which otherwise produces pulling or pushing of the golf ball.
There are many different types of golf swing training devices currently available. Some of these devices include lights helpful for following a swing path. However, there does not appear to be anything available in the way of a lighted swing training device which shows positioning of the face relative to the rest of the club during different parts of the swing and usable under different lighting conditions.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,000,456 and 5,082,282 both describe golf club shaped swing trainers which include lights at opposite ends of the club. These lights are sufficient in a darkened room to see a swing path.
The devices of the above two patents would not be usable under well lighted conditions because the light from these devices could not be discerned from the ambient light. They particularly would not be useful in outdoor conditions under bright sunlight. In addition, the devices of these two patents are not able to demonstrate club face positioning, i.e. whether or not the club face is open or closed at different points of the swing and in particular during the back swing where club face positioning is most important.


Provided is a high-resolution field sequential autostereoscopic display. The display includes a display panel including display elements which display images, a lenticular array receiving a signal from the display panel and outputting a directional signal to be viewed with both eyes of a viewer, an anisotropic element arranged parallel to the lenticular array and outputting from the lenticular array a phase-alternated signal, a polarization switch switching the output phase of the anisotropic element according to an image refresh rate of the display panel, and a polarizer outputting a signal with a predetermined phase among phases of an output signal of the polarization switch. The autostereoscopic display provides full resolution stereoscopic images viewable without eyeglasses. Conventional low cost TN LCD panels can be applied to the autostereoscopic display without significant increase of flickering or crosstalk between the left and right images.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to autostereoscopic displays, made mostly in the form of flat panels for use in televisions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image resolution is one of the most important characteristics in electronic imaging. However, when conventional methods of autostereoscopic imaging is applied to flat panel displays, the horizontal resolution suffers.
Conventional methods employ parallax barrier or lenticular lenses or an array of light stripes as in the backlight of a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel to separate viewing zones of the left and right images of a stereo-pair, thus providing selective viewing of the left and right images by the right and left eyes of a viewer.
Conventionally, two images of a stereo-pair are displayed on the same image panel but on different sets of columns, for instance, a left image on the odd columns and a right image on the even columns. Since both left and right images are displayed in the same panel, resolution of each image is less than half the overall panel resolution.
There are two different ways to achieve the same resolution of stereoscopic images as the original resolution of the panel. One of the methods comprises sequentially displaying full resolution left and right images. Practical embodiments of the method are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,465,175 and 6,014,164, FIG. 33 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,069,650, and Japanese Patent No. 2001-66547. Since each eye of the viewer periodically sees just a black screen, this method requires a very fast panel speed. That is, a low frame-rate of the imaging panel causes image flickering. In order to avoid flickering, the panel refresh rate should be about 100-120 Hz or higher. The fact that the same set of pixels of the display panel in one frame displays the left image and in the next frame displays the right image also requires a very fast panel response time. A fast response time leads to high crosstalk, i.e., right eye sees the left image and vice versa. In order to reduce crosstalk between left and right images, the image persistence should be significantly smaller than the frame period. The residual crosstalk may noticeably deteriorate perception of stereoscopic images. Since current LCD technology based on twist nematic (TN) liquid crystal does not provide short persistence, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,069,650 recommended the use of a panel based on ferro-electric liquid crystal (FLC). However, large size FLC panels are not currently in production, because of their high manufacturing cost.
Another method of displaying high resolution stereoscopic images disclosed in FIG. 8 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,455, U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,574, and Japanese Patent No. 2004-325494 entails sequentially displaying complimentary pairs of interlaced images with lower resolution. Two interlaced images at half of the full resolution, displayed in a sequence are perceived as a high-resolution image because of the persistence of human vision. For instance, odd columns of the left or right image can be displayed in sequence with the corresponding even columns, thus being perceived as a high resolution image. This method of displaying stereoscopic images is less sensitive to the panel's frame-rate because both left and right eyes see an image on the screen at any point in time. Interlaced images are satisfactorily viewable even with 60 Hz and 50 Hz field frequency like in national television systems committee (NTSC) and phase alternation line (PAL) television systems, respectively.
To display odd and even columns sequentially in the conventional autostereoscopic displays, left and right images should be addressed to the same set of the LCD panel. For example, to display odd columns of the left image, the left image is addressed to the odd columns of the display panel, but in the next period, to display even columns of the left image on the panel, columns are switched so that the same odd columns of the panel display the right image. However, because of the finite response time of the panel, left and right images in the odd columns cannot be exchanged immediately, which results in seeing the right images by the left eye and vice versa. This unwanted phenomenon usually called "crosstalk" noticeably deteriorates the quality of stereoscopic images.
Yet another drawback associated with the current field sequential autostereoscopic technology is the fact that graphic data used by an LCD panel is not refreshed instantly on the entire panel. It is refreshed line-by-line, which is an additional source of crosstalk if the backlight operates in a continuous wave (CW) mode, as it conventionally does.
The insufficient speed of the panel does not deteriorate the image quality as much as in the first case. That is, the insufficient speed of the panel reduces the contrast of fine details, but does not cause crosstalk between left and right images.
Recent development of fast response LCD panels has led to new opportunities for displaying stereoscopic images with full panel resolution by time multiplexing two image fields with lower resolution. To provide frame-sequential displaying, the means to produce selective viewing should be switchable between at least two states. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,574 discloses a field sequential autostereoscopic display with switchable backlight. In the disclosed technique, a 3D display includes a directional backlight, a rear lenticular plate and a liquid crystal panel which is capable of refreshing graphic information with a refresh rate at least twice as high as is necessary for a flicker-less viewing, for example, 60-120 Hz. The backlight includes at least two separated light sources or a single light source with switchable diaphragm arranged so that the effective horizontal position of the light source can be switched synchronously by graphic data refreshing. Since the position of the viewing zone is determined by the position of the light source, each eye of the viewer can sequentially perceive the images displayed with different sets of pixels, thus seeing full resolution images. The above technique offers a solution to the problem of the displays based on the directional backlight, which is usually larger in size and more complex in manufacturing than the conventional diffuse backlight. An example of the solution using diffuse backlight is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2004-325494. The disclosed solution employs a flat panel, a front parallax barrier (PB) and a light deflector, placed between a viewer and the PB. The deflector periodically shifts the visual position of the display panel with PB, thus doubling the available resolution of the display in 3D mode. The disadvantage of this solution is the high cost of the wide opening deflector and significant light losses in the PB.
Another example of the solution employing diffuse backlight is disclosed in FIG. 33 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,069,650. The disclosed solution employs a switchable directional light source, which is used as a backlight for a fast LCD panel. The directional light source is composed of a diffuse backlight, an electrically addressable spatial light modulator (SLM) and a lenticular lens array.
Since left and right images in the disclosed display are displayed in a frame-sequential manner, each eye receives the sequence, which alternates between a black screen and a corresponding left or right image. To avoid flicker, the frame-rate of the display panel should be at least 100-120 Hz. Another problem with the aforementioned solution is that conventional thin film transistor (TFT) LCD panels cannot be directly applied to the display with the disclosed formation for the following reasons. A TFT LCD panel is controlled so that the left and right images sequentially inputted into the display are not actually displayed in a sequence. Images on the LCD screen are refreshed line-by-line during almost an entire frame period so that two different parts of successive images are mostly displayed on the screen at the same moment, sharing the screen as shown in FIG. 33 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,069,656. For example, an upper part of the screen displays the left image while a lower part of the screen displays the right image. FIG. 33 shows the status of the LCD panel sampled in different moments of the refresh period T. The described data refresh method could lead to severe crosstalk if the SLM switch instantly switches the polarization of the entire directional backlight. Another problem is the finite speed of the SLM switching, which also leads to crosstalk. Another source of the crosstalk is the finite switching speed of the imaging cells of the LCD panel. Since the last two kinds of crosstalk appear due to insufficient speed of switching processes, they are called dynamic crosstalk. To solve the above problems, the aforementioned display is based on an FLC type imaging panel and an FLC type SLM as the fastest LCD devices. However, FLC flat panels are currently not in production, because of their high manufacturing cost. Also, the cost of large size polarization switch based on FLC technology is too high. On the other hand, recent improvements in fast LCD panels based on TN type liquid crystal has led to new opportunities in time sequential autostereoscopic displays. It is desirable to find a way to use inexpensive imaging and switching liquid crystal panels in high-resolution autostereoscopic display. These panels are based on the use of conventional liquid crystal materials which have a switching time comparable with the frame period of LCD panel.
FIG. 1 is a simplified illustration of the technique, disclosed in FIG. 8 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,455. It is assumed that the backlight unit, which is not shown in the drawing, alternatively produces two sets of secondary light sources shaped as bright vertical odd lines and even lines disposed in the plane 12 and can be switched from odd lines to even lines and vice versa in synchronization with the refreshing of the LCD panel. Each line works as a lambertian light source. An LCD panel 11 is placed at a predetermined distance from the light sources to provide stereoscopic viewing zones from the viewing plane 13.
In a certain period, the LCD panel 11 displays odd columns of the left and right images registered alternatively, denoted by the letters R and L in FIG. 1A. The LCD cells modulate the light coming from odd light sources (even lines are "off") so that the right eye of a viewer receives only the light passed through the right image columns and the left eye receives only the light passed through the left image columns, thus producing a stereoscopic sensation. In a next period (see FIG. 1B), the columns, which formerly displayed the right image, are activated to display the left image and vice versa. This new graphic data represents even columns of the left and right half-resolution images. The light source is also switched so that the even lines are on and odd lines are "off". A viewer sees the light from even lines, modulated by the left and right columns and the position of the lines is interlaced with their position from the previous frame. Due to the persistence of human vision, odd and even half-resolution fields, shown sequentially, are perceived as one full-resolution stereoscopic image
Because of the finite response time of the TN LCD panel, left and right images in the columns cannot be exchanged immediately, resulting in seeing the right images by the left eye, and vise versa. This unwanted phenomenon called crosstalk noticeably deteriorates the quality of stereoscopic images.
Yet another drawback associated with the aforementioned technique is the fact that graphic data on an LCD panel is not refreshed instantly on the entire panel. It is refreshed line-by-line, which is an additional source of crosstalk if the backlight operates in a CW mode, as it conventionally does.

High-resolution field sequential autostereoscopic display


A cleaning system is provided to reduce, minimize, or eliminate deposits located within gaseous intake, processing, and emissions portions of a vehicle engine. The cleaning system includes use of a cleaning composition for removing such deposits. The cleaning composition can include water; a nitrogen-based dispersant or cleaner; a surfactant; a C6-C18 alcohol; a glycol ether; and an organic acid.

New vehicles must pass emission standards before being released for sale, which can include testing for nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide. The emission standards of these three primary substances are continually being lowered and the technology available to achieve the low tailpipe emissions are becoming more complex and costly to implement. Unfortunately, although a newly designed vehicle may pass the emissions criteria, but during service, deposits may build up on the emission control devices, sensors, intake valves, exhaust valves, fuel injectors, and combustion chamber. Such deposits can significantly reduce the ability of an emissions reduction system to reduce tailpipe emissions as designed.

Cleaning formula for motor vehicle intake and exhaust systems


An apparatus comprises a thermal protection element, a number of washers, a ceramic layer, a number of blind fasteners, and a number of tabs. The thermal protection element has an upper surface, a lower surface, and a plurality of sides. The ceramic layer covers at least the plurality of sides of the thermal protection element. The number of tabs is connected to the number of sides by the number of blind fasteners secured to the ceramic layers. The tabs may be part of a frame secured to a groove around the plurality of sides.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to aerospace vehicles and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for attaching thermal protection systems to an aerospace vehicle.
2. Background
A spacecraft is a type of vehicle or device designed for space flight. When a spacecraft returns to earth, the spacecraft may encounter high temperatures on reentry. A thermal protection system may cover some or essentially all of a spacecraft. A thermal protection system may protect the spacecraft from temperatures that may reach around 1650 degrees Celsius during atmospheric reentry. Further, this thermal protection system also may be used to protect the spacecraft from heat and cold in space while in orbit.
A thermal protection system may have different materials in different locations of the spacecraft depending on the amount of heat protection needed. For example, reinforced carbon-carbon may be used in the nose or leading wing edges of a spacecraft, such as a space shuttle. High temperature reusable surface insulation tiles may be used on the underside of an aircraft. Flexible insulation blankets, low temperature reusable surface insulation tiles, and other materials may be used for different locations on the spacecraft. Each type of thermal protection system may have specific heat protection, impact resistance, and weight characteristics.
It is desirable to have a thermal protection system that requires little or no maintenance. Some components used by a thermal protection system may include modular components that may be quickly removed and replaced. For example, tiles are examples of components that may be used in a thermal protection system. A tile is a thermal protection system component that may be fabricated from ceramic and/or ceramic matrix composite materials. More specifically, a tile may have, for example, a ceramic substrate with a ceramic matrix composite layer wrapped around the core. In the event that a tile may need to be replaced, it is desirable to minimize the amount of time needed to replace tiles on a spacecraft. For example, a vehicle turnaround time of around 48 hours or as little as two hours may be desirable.
Thermal protection systems on existing spacecraft may be adhesively bonded or mechanically attached. With bonded thermal protection systems, the amount of time and cost associated with installation, inspection, and/or repair may be much greater than compared to a mechanically attached system. Further, bonded thermal protection systems are not necessarily removable without destroying a portion of the part. As a result, inspection of a spacecraft substructure and/or internal spacecraft subsystems may be time consuming and expensive. Another drawback of bonded thermal protection systems is the temperature limitations of the adhesive bond lines.
Mechanical attachments may include, for example, a standoff or a carrier panel. A standoff thermal protection system may include stiffened panels encapsulating a back face insulation that is mechanically attached through flanges or metallic standoffs. A carrier panel thermal protection system may have tiles and/or blankets bonded to metal or composite carrier panels that are mechanically attached to a structure.
With mechanically attached thermal protection systems, increased weight may occur, which is undesirable with space operation vehicles. In some cases, the weight of a carrier panel on which the tile is mounted for attachment to a structure may be a large percentage of the total weight of the thermal protection system.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that takes into account one or more of the issues discussed above as well as possibly other issues.

Ceramic composite thermal protection system


An adaptable DC power consumption circuit is provided, wherein the current supplied to an RF amplifier is dynamically varied from a desired level. A feedback control loop is formed between the power terminal and the control terminal of the RF amplifier. A controller influences the feedback control loop to properly set the supply current at the desired minimum level necessary to maintain linear operation of the RF amplifier. The output of the RF amplifier influences the feedback control loop to dynamically vary the supply current from the desired level. In this manner, linear operation of the RF amplifier can be maintained while maximizing the power efficiency of the RF amplifier.

In wireless communication systems, mobile handsets communicate with other mobile handsets through base stations connected to the PSTN (public switched telephone network). Typically, in FDMA systems the base stations determine the frequencies at which the handsets are to communicate and send signals to the handsets to adjust the transmission power of the handsets.
The signals that are transmitted by the handsets are typically amplified prior to transmission to the base station. The amplification of the signal within the handset is generally performed by a radio frequency (RF) power amplifier 10, a representative embodiment of which is depicted in FIG. 1 (PRIOR ART). The RF power amplifier 10 includes a DC power terminal 12 and ground terminal 14. A DC power source 16 is typically connected between the power terminal 12 and the ground terminal 14, producing a supply voltage, V.sub.S, at the power terminal 12 and a supply current, I.sub.S, into the power terminal 12. Thus, the RF power amplifier is supplied with a DC power, P.sub.DC, equal to V.sub.S *I.sub.S. An RF input signal, RF.sub.in, generated by the transmitting handset, is fed into the RF power amplifier 10 via an RF input terminal 18. The RF power amplifier 10 amplifies the RF input signal, RF.sub.in, to produce an RF output signal, RF.sub.out, at an RF output terminal 20. The RF output signal, RF.sub.out, after passing through signal processing circuits, is typically sent to the antenna for transmission. An RF input signal, RF.sub.in, has an average input signal power, P.sub.in, and an RF output signal, RF.sub.out, has an average output signal power, P.sub.out.
When transmitting a signal with a non-constant envelope from a handset it is desirable to operate the power amplifier 10 in a linear mode to minimize signal distortion and bandwidth required to transmit the signal. The linearity of the power amplifier, which is measured by the uniformity of the transfer characteristic (P.sub.out /P.sub.in), varies with I.sub.S, V.sub.S, and RF.sub.out. Referring to FIG. 2 (PRIOR ART), the curves C1, C2, and C3 represent compression characteristics of an RF power amplifier 10 of FIG. 1, given three exemplary amplifier DC power, P.sub.DC, levels. The line L represents linear operation of the amplifier 10. As curves C1, C2, and C3 illustrate, the linearity of the power amplifier depends on P.sub.DC. That is, as P.sub.DC increases, the range of P.sub.in values for which the amplifier remains linear increases. In general, the output power, P.sub.out, for which a power amplifier compresses increases with the DC power supplied to the power amplifier.
Although supplying a relatively high DC power to the RF power amplifier 10 will generally maintain linear operation of the RF power amplifier 10, such an arrangement becomes less advantageous in a system with varying transmission power requirements. A wireless communications system restricts the transmission power of the handset to minimize the signal from propagating to an excessively far point, so that the same frequency may be used at a far point, i.e., in other cells in order to permit servicing of as many subscribers as possible within the finite frequency resources allocated to the system. At the same time, the transmission power must be high enough to maintain the integrity of the transmitted signal over the distance that it travels to a base station. The magnitude of the handset transmission power required to maintain proper communication with a base station is dictated in part by the distance and the electrical communication environment between the handset and the base station. That is, if the handset is located far from a base station, the level of the RF output signal power, P.sub.out, will be relatively high. If the handset is located close to the base station, the level of the RF output signal power, P.sub.out, will be relatively low.
In a situation requiring a relatively low handset transmission power, an RF power amplifier that is supplied with a high DC power is inefficient. Referring to FIG. 1, the power the power amplifier 10 dissipates as heat is equal to the difference between the power supplied to the RF amplifier 10, P.sub.DC and P.sub.in, and the RF output signal power, P.sub.out, as characterized by the equation, P.sub.HEAT =P.sub.DC +P.sub.in -P.sub.out. Thus, given a constant DC supply power, P.sub.DC, the lower the RF output signal power, P.sub.out, is, the more power the amplifier wastes as heat. The wasted power in the power amplifier 10 can be quantified in the power efficiency equation, P.sub.eff =P.sub.out /(P.sub.DC +P.sub.in). Thus, the more DC power that is supplied to an RF power amplifier, the less efficient that RF power amplifier becomes for a constant P.sub.in and P.sub.out.
Therefore, it can be understood that an RF power amplifier that is supplied with a relatively high constant DC power generally operates linearly over a full range of RF output signal power levels, but is power inefficient, thus leading to significantly increased battery and heat sinking requirements, heavier battery weight, and shorter battery life. On the other hand, a power amplifier that is supplied with a relatively low constant DC power is power efficient, but generally operates only linearly over a low range of RF output signal power levels, thus resulting in a distorted transmission signal with a larger bandwidth.
There thus remains a need to operate a power amplifier more efficiently and linearly over a full range of given RF signal output power levels.

Amplifier with dynamically adaptable supply current


The invention relates to systems and methods for providing customized, event-triggered messages in response to emergency events, such as natural disasters and man-made events. The methods and systems provide a set of messages related to responding to the emergency event and a set of rules relating to the distribution of the messages, receive an indication that the emergency event has occurred, and in response to the indication, transmit at least one of the messages to at least one message receiver based at least in part on at least one attribute of the message receiver to at least one of instruct and inform recipients of the messages of the emergency event and the action to be taken in response to the emergency event.

In recent years, the resources dedicated to disaster preparedness and response have increased significantly. One key aspect of emergency and disaster management involves being able to provide up to date, accurate information to people such that the information is actionable. Typical methods for providing information to large populations include radio and television broadcasts, updates to internet sites, and generic text-based messages.
Conventional messaging systems, however, are triggered by known or commonly encountered events such that the recipient can either anticipate the event (e.g., a late flight arrival) or the instructions for responding to the event are not specific to the individual (e.g., taking an alternate route when a current route is congested). Such generic messages are not, however, adequate for providing actionable instructions to a diverse audience of recipients regarding how to respond to catastrophic events.
There is, therefore, a need for methods and systems for providing customized, actionable messages to individuals and/or devices based on the occurrence of a catastrophic event based on attributes of the device, the event, and the recipient, which may or may not be known prior to the occurrence of the event.

Systems and methods for distributing emergency messages


A press working apparatus includes: a first positioner that is provided to at least one press of a first press or a second press and that performs positioning of at least one die of the at least one press; and a second positioner that performs positioning of the at least one die and that positions the at least one die in a position deviated in a feeding direction with respect to the first positioner.

The present disclosure relates to a press working apparatus of a progressive type, and so on.
The press working apparatus of a progressive type is a processing apparatus that plastically deforms a metal material having a strip-plate shape to form the metal material into a specified shape while feeding the metal material in one direction, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-172079.

Press working apparatus, and setting method and maintenance method thereof


A catalyst for producing acrylonitrile capable of maintaining a high yield of acrylonitrile for a long time is provided. The catalyst has a composition represented by MoaBibFecWdRbeAfBgChDiOj(SiO2)k, wherein A is Ni, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn, Cd or mixture thereof; B is Al, Cr, Ga, Y, In, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm or mixture thereof; C is Ti, Zr, V, Nb, Ta, Ge, Sn, Pb, Sb, P, B, Te or mixture thereof; D is Ru, Rh, Pd, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Ag or mixture thereof; SiO2 is silica, when a is 10, b is 0.1 to 1.5, c is 0.5 to 3.0, d is 0.01 to 2.0, e is 0.02 to 1.0, f is 2.0 to 9.0, g is 0 to 5, h is 0 to 3, i is 0 to 2, k is 10 to 200; and j is the atomic ratio of oxygen determined by the valence of other elements (excluding silicon); and (a×2+d×2)/(b×3+c×3+e×1+f×2+g×3) is 0.90 to 1.00.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a catalyst for producing acrylonitrile by vapor phase ammoxidation of propylene by molecular oxygen and ammonia, and to a process for producing acrylonitrile using the catalyst.
2. Description of Related Art
Numerous proposals have been made regarding catalysts for producing acrylonitrile by vapor phase ammoxidation of propylene by molecular oxygen and ammonia. For example, catalysts have been disclosed having as main components thereof molybdenum, bismuth and iron, and which are further compounded with various metal components (Patent Documents 1 to 11).
In addition, methods for regenerating a catalyst by adding a molybdenum-containing substance to an inactivated molybdenum-containing catalyst, and methods for maintaining long-term performance of a catalyst by adding a molybdenum-containing substance to a molybdenum-containing catalyst, have been proposed (Patent Documents 12 to 16).
A method was found for greatly improving the selectivity of acrylonitrile by using one or more elements selected from the group consisting of potassium, rubidium and cesium as trace essential alkaline metal elements contained in catalysts used in the reactions described above, and controlling the amounts thereof within a proper range, while also inhibiting reductions in acrylonitrile yield over time by replenishing with a catalyst having a high content of alkaline metal elements since the alkaline metal elements are lost in the reaction (Patent Document 17).
In addition, in the case of adding sodium to a catalyst, the sodium was found to not only strengthen attrition resistance, but also enhance both the degree of activity and selectivity when used with a specific element (germanium) (Patent Document 18).
[Patent Document 1] U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,137
[Patent Document 2] U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,739
[Patent Document 3] U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,394
[Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent Publication No. 3214975
[Patent Document 5] Japanese Patent Publication No. 3534431
[Patent Document 6] US Patent Application No. 2004/0106817
[Patent Document 7] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H10-043595
[Patent Document 8] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2001-114740
[Patent Document 9] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2001-187771
[Patent Document 10] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2003-117397
[Patent Document 11] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H8-027089
[Patent Document 12] Japanese Examined Patent Application, Second Publication No. S58-57422
[Patent Document 13] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. S59-193136
[Patent Document 14] German Patent Application No. 3311521
[Patent Document 15] Japanese Examined Patent Application, Second Publication No. H2-56938
[Patent Document 16] International Publication No. WO 97/33863
[Patent Document 17] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2005-162707
[Patent Document 18] Published Japanese translation No. 2003-507180 of PCT International Publication

Catalyst for producing acrylonitrile and process for producing acrylonitrile


A vapor-permeable shoe with waterproof and vapor-permeable sole, including: an upper assembly; a sole joined to the upper assembly and including a body made of waterproof material including a tread and at least one region permeable to water vapor; a waterproof and vapor-permeable membrane, which covers the region, toward an inside of the shoe; a protective element, which covers at least partially the lower face of the membrane; and at least one waterproof and vapor-permeable protective screen superimposed, toward the inside of the shoe, on the membrane to cover it at least partially, the protective screen and the membrane being sealed in a waterproof manner to the body of the sole at at least one sealing zone peripheral to the region.

As is known, the part of the foot that has the greatest perspiration effect is the sole of the foot.
Therefore, the region of the shoe where moisture due to perspiration can accumulate the most is the interface between the sole of the foot and the sole of the shoe.
There, the sweat generated saturates the air with humidity and mostly condenses, stagnating on the insock.
Only a small amount of the moisture produced by sweating spreads to the sides of the upper and exits from them if they are vapor-permeable.
Such effect of sweat stagnation in the plantar region is particularly conspicuous in rubber-sole shoes; in fact, in these cases vapor permeation through the sole is prevented by its total impermeability.
As is known, the stagnation of sweat in the plantar region causes to the user of the shoe a feeling of discomfort and also constitutes a preferential site for the growth of bacterial cultures, which are known to cause bad odors.
Therefore, it is a commonly felt need to obviate the stagnation of moisture from sweating at the plantar region of shoes.
A first attempt aimed at meeting this need consists of the solution proposed in EP 0382904.
The teaching contained in such patent consists in dividing the rubber sole into two layers, the lower one of which has through micro-perforations, and in interposing a semipermeable membrane between the layers, in order to avoid water infiltrations and thus obtain a sole that is impermeable to water in the liquid state and permeable to water vapor.
For the sake of simplicity, hereinafter an element with the property of being impermeable to water in the liquid state and permeable to water vapor is referenced as waterproof and vapor-permeable.
The semipermeable membranes that EP 0382904 teaches to use are for example of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,390 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,041 by W. L. Gore or U.S. Pat. No. 6,228,477 by BHA Technologies.
Such membranes are provided by means of thin waterproof and vapor-permeable films made of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene, e-PTFE, with thicknesses that vary generally from 15 microns to 70 microns.
Their microstructure is characterized by the presence of dense areas, called nodes, interconnected by stretched filaments, called fibrils.
These semipermeable membranes, conceived initially for the military field, have been developed and used in the clothing and footwear field in order to avoid the accumulation of vapor from sweating in items of clothing and to provide shoes with uppers having waterproof and vapor-permeable linings.
Because the market of the clothing and footwear field has always demanded soft and comfortable items, in the described applications there is a strong need to ensure that the membrane, intended as a functional layer, does not compromise such characteristics.
This need has been expressed as a true technical preconception that has entailed the use of membranes provided with low thicknesses in order to be laminated with supporting and/or aesthetic finishing materials, such as fabric or leather, so as to obtain finished laminated elements that have high characteristics of flexibility, easy bending, softness, surface slipperiness, compressibility and extensibility and low weight per unit surface.
However, the films that provide such membranes have poor characteristics of mechanical strength, precisely because of their low thickness.
In fact, it should be noticed that the strength value of the laminated element derives mainly from the characteristics of the fabric layer or supporting layer to which the membrane is coupled.
In particular, the available films made of polymeric material used to provide said membranes, as mentioned, have thicknesses generally from 15 microns to 70 microns, which give them poor penetration resistance, i.e., lower than 5 N.
The expression "penetration resistance" designates the characteristic defined by a measurement performed according to the method illustrated in the ISO 20344-2004 standard, chapter 5.8.2 "Determination of the penetration resistance of the sole", regarding safety footwear.
Such poor mechanical penetration resistance has brought the inventor of EP 0382904 to prevent contact of the membrane with foreign objects by limiting the diameter of the sole holes that the membrane faces.
This solution, however, has been found to limit the area of the sole assigned to vapor permeation and has also made it easy for the holes to become obstructed, a fact which compromises considerably the vapor permeation efficiency of the sole.
A further solution is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,015 by Max Rauch, in which a structure with two superimposed layers is proposed, the upper one, i.e., the one designed to be directed toward the upper part of the shoe, is elastic and permeable to water vapor.
The lower layer, which covers less than 70% of the upper layer, has a supporting function and provides the tread.
The upper layer is made for example of sintered plastics or non-woven fabrics so as to present a microporous structure that in any case is not waterproof.
A drawback of this solution consists in that during use of the shoe, the microporous upper layer, left widely exposed by the lower layer, tends to become impregnated with water when it comes into contact with it, absorbing it, retaining it and partly releasing it over time, dirtying the surfaces on which one walks.
Moreover, the upper layer tends to degrade in contact with the absorbed water.
In order to obtain the waterproofness of the sole, this patent teaches to treat the upper layer so as to render it water-repellent or to cover it with a waterproof and vapor-permeable membrane arranged above it.
However, the hydrophobic treatment is of limited duration, causing the sole to lose its waterproofness.
Besides, the vapor-permeable and waterproof membrane arranged to cover the upper layer is exposed to the action of the insole, which during walking thereon may slip, applying an abrasive action that tends to damage it.
This damage is facilitated by the cyclic flexing and traction stresses to which the membrane is subjected during use of the shoe, which flexes in following the motion of the foot that wears it.
Moreover, the easy accessibility of the membrane by condensed sweat exposes it to the action of residues, such as mineral salts and fatty substances, that may deposit thereon during the evaporation and permeation of the sweat.
Such residues tend to obstruct the pores of the membrane, compromising its permeation efficiency.

Vapor-permeable shoe with waterproof and vapor-permeable sole


A semiconductor device includes a first lead, a second lead, a control element, an insulating element, and a driver element. The control element and insulating element are mounted on a first pad portion of the first lead, while the driver element on a second pad portion of the second lead. In plan view, the first pad portion has a first edge adjacent to the second pad portion in a first direction and extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The first edge has first and second ends opposite in the second direction. The second pad portion has a second edge adjacent to the first edge and extending in the second direction. The second edge has third and fourth ends opposite in the second direction. One of the third and fourth end is located between the first and second end in the second direction.

Semiconductor devices for driving switching elements, such as IGBTs and MOSFETs, are widely known (as gate drivers). Patent document 1 discloses a semiconductor device including a driver element that outputs a gate voltage for driving a switching element, a control element that transmits an electric signal used as a base for generating the gate voltage to the driver element, and an insulating element electrically connected to the driver element and the control element.
The insulating element of the semiconductor device includes a pair of coils (inductors). One of the coils converts an electric signal transmitted from the control element into magnetic force. The other coil converts the magnetic force into an electric signal of a greater potential difference than the electric signal transmitted from the control element. The resulting electric signal is then transmitted to the driver element. The source voltage supplied to the driver element (about 600 volts or higher) is significantly higher than the source voltage supplied to the control element (about 5 volts). The insulating element enables transmission of electric signals between the control element and the driver element that are electrically insulated from each other, so that the control element is protected from a relatively high voltage.
In recent years, such semiconductor devices have been sought to be more compact for use in electrically-powered vehicles. The semiconductor devices are typically provided in resin packages formed by molding. A more compact semiconductor device means that a smaller volume of sealing resin is present between the low voltage section, which includes the control element, and the high voltage section, which includes the driver element. This may lower the dielectric strength of the semiconductor device. During the manufacture of the semiconductor device, in addition, wires connecting the control element or the driver element to conductive members, such as leads, may be pushed by the flow of synthetic resin injected for forming the sealing resin. As a result, the wires may be located too close to the insulating element, which can be another factor possibly reducing the dielectric strength of the semiconductor device.


A mobile station (106) in a code division multiple access (CDMA) communication system (100) implements scanning of pilot channels on a different frequency by reserving a periodic frame on the forward channel to allow the mobile station (106) to change frequencies and scan for other pilot channels. To preserve some aspects of voice quality, both the base station (102) and mobile station (106) voice encode speech at a maximum of half rate and transmit the information as secondary traffic prior to the frame where the mobile station (106) scans the alternate frequency. To maximize the trade-off between voice quality and frequency of the scan, the base station (102) indicates to the mobile station (106) the period between other frequency scans via messaging. To ensure compatibility, this method can be negotiated via known service configuration negotiation techniques.

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) communication systems are well known. In a CDMA communication system, communication between two communication units (e.g., a central communication site and a mobile communication unit) is accomplished by spreading each transmitted signal over the frequency band of the communication channel with a unique user spreading code. Due to the spreading, transmitted signals are in the same frequency band of the communication channel and are separated only by unique user spreading codes. These unique user spreading codes preferably are orthogonal to one another such that the cross-correlation between the spreading codes is approximately zero. Consequently, when the user spreading codes are orthogonal to one another, the received signal can be correlated with a particular user spreading code such that only the desired user signal (related to the particular spreading code) is despread.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that several different spreading codes exist which can be used to separate data signals from one another in a CDMA communication system. These spreading codes include, but are not limited to, pseudo noise (PN) codes and Walsh codes. A Walsh code corresponds to a single row or column of the Hadamard matrix. For example, in a 64 channel CDMA spread spectrum system, particular mutually orthogonal Walsh codes can be selected from the set of 64 Walsh codes within a 64 by 64 Hadamard matrix. Also, a particular data signal can be separated from the other data signals by using a particular Walsh code to spread the particular data signal.
It will be further appreciated by those skilled in the art that spreading codes can be used to channel code data signals. The data signals are channel coded to improve performance of the communication system, and particularly radiotelephone communication systems, by enabling transmitted signals to better withstand the effects of various radiotelephone channel impairments, such as noise, fading, and jamming. Typically, channel coding reduces the probability of bit error, and/or reduces the required signal to noise ratio usually expressed as bit energy per noise density (Eb/N0), to recover the signal at the cost of expending more bandwidth than would otherwise be necessary to transmit the data signal. For example, Walsh codes can be used to channel code a data signal prior to modulation of the data signal for subsequent transmission. Similarly psuedo-noise (PN) spreading codes can be used to channel code a data signal.
A typical CDMA transmission involves expanding the bandwidth of an information signal, transmitting the expanded signal and recovering the desired information signal by remapping the received spread spectrum into the original information signals bandwidth. This series of bandwidth trades used in CDMA transmission allows the CDMA communication system to deliver a relatively error-free information signal in a noisy signal environment or communication channel. The quality of recovery of the transmitted information signal from the communication channel is measured by the error rate (i.e., the number of errors in the recovery of the transmitted signal over a particular time span or received bit span) for some Eb/N0. As the error rate increases the quality of the signal received by the receiving party decreases. As a result, communication systems typically are designed to limit the error rate to an upper bound or maximum so that the degradation in the quality of the received signal is limited.
In current CDMA communication systems, such as those defined by IS-95A ("Mobile Station-Base Station Compatibility Standard for Dual-Mode Wideband Spread Spectrum Cellular System and published by the Electronic Industries Association (EIA), 2001 Eye Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006) for Digital Cellular Systems (DCS) and ANSI-J-STD-008 for Personal Communication Systems (PCS), the base station and mobile station can connect to each other through multiple radio resources. The method for determining if new CDMA channels are to be added or released is called hand-off detection. Hand-off detection is typically performed on the traffic channel by the mobile station. The mobile station measures the forward (base station to mobile station) pilot channel, and indicates to the base station when conditions permit the addition or deletion of a forward and reverse link to a base station. The base station then allocates resources and assigns the mobile station one or more forward traffic channels via a Hand-off Direction message. In other possible implementations, the base station may perform the handoff detection by instructing the mobile station to transmit at a fixed power level, and simultaneously measures the received power from the mobile station. The base station then measures the signal transmitted from the mobile station to determine if a handoff is required.
Unfortunately, in current CDMA communication systems, there is no efficient way for the mobile station to change frequencies to scan pilot channels nor transmit at fixed power levels on alternate frequencies due to the continuous transmission of the forward traffic channel. Typically, this problem can be avoided by placing identical pilot channels on the same frequency and using the mobile station's same-frequency scanning capability to trigger the hand-off to the other frequency. This method is impractical, however, because it requires the base station to transmit pilot channels on all alternate cells in which the particular frequency covers in order to trigger hand-offs to other frequencies. Another solution is to allow the mobile station to vacate the traffic channel briefly to employ handoff detection techniques on other frequencies. This method, however, introduces gaps in voice coded speech which are discernible by the end-user.
Thus, a need exists for an apparatus and method which overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art.

Method and apparatus for freeing a frame to aid in handoff determination in a code division multiple access communication system