The present invention discloses a method for downloading media resources to a terminal. The method may be applied to mobile communication network, and includes: calling by a calling terminal a called subscriber through an MSC at a calling side; establishing a bi-direction connection between the calling terminal and a color ring back tone platform through the MSC at the calling side according to ring back tone registration information of a called terminal obtained by the MSC at the calling side; and receiving by the color ring back tone platform the download command from the calling terminal through the bi-direction connection and sending a media resource corresponding to a ring back tone to the calling terminal. The present invention also discloses a system and a color ring back tone platform for downloading media resources to a terminal. With the present invention, the subscriber may download media resources easily and conveniently.

Media resources include music, video, pictures and the like. Taking music as an example, the music in a terminal is typically a ring tone of a mobile phone. The ring tone of the mobile phone is a cue tone stored in the mobile phone for prompting an incoming call to the mobile phone. When there is an incoming call, the mobile phone plays the ring tone to prompt the incoming call. Ring tones of mobile phones usually may be classified into mono ring tones and chord ring tones, depending on the type of the mobile-phones and the support by the mobile phones. A mono ring tone is a fragment of monotone melody, i.e., a fragment of melody composed of musical notes such as "1, 2, 3, . . . ". Mobile phones in the early stage only support monotone music as a ring tone. A chord ring tone is a fragment of melody composed of complex rhythms and has a corresponding file format. Different brand names or models of mobile phones usually support different file formats. Presently, most mobile phones prevailing in the market support chord ring tones. A certain amount of music fragments in certain types are usually stored in a mobile phone when the mobile phone is shipped from the factory, so that the user may choose one from the music fragments as his ring tone. In addition, the user may download other music fragments and use any of the music fragments as his ring tone as required.
In the prior art, a system for downloading a ring tone to a terminal is shown in FIG. 1.
That system includes a subscriber using the ring tone downloading service, the Internet, a server of the ring tone downloading service provider (hereafter referred to as "ring tone download server"), a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) gateway, a Push Proxy Gateway (PPG), a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network and a WAP terminal (a terminal supporting WAP applications or other devices).
The ring tone download server is a Web Server connected to the WAP gateway and the PPQ to provide a WAP information sending capability including WAP short message pushing and ring tone content sending, etc. The WAP gateway is connected to the ring tone download server via WAP protocol and is connected to the WAP terminal through the GPRS network, to provide a content sending channel. The PPG is connected to the GPRS network and is configured to actively push information. In other words, the PPG receives a WAP information push request from the ring tone download server and sends the WAP information to the WAP terminal. The WAP terminal is a mobile phone terminal supporting WAP. The WAP gateway is connected to the ring tone download server via Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and is connected to the GPRS network via WAP protocol. The ring tone download server is connected to the PPG via Push Access Protocol (PAP). The PPG is connected to the GPRS network via Push Over-The-Air (P-OTA) protocol.
The method used in the system for downloading a ring tone to a terminal includes that the subscriber chooses the ring tone at the website, and then downloads the ring tone to the terminal by means of a short message or through the over-the-air network. A chord ring tone may only be downloaded through the over-the-air network. The over-the-air network is an over-the-air transmission network established in the mobile network to provide data services, such as a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network. To download a chord ring tone to the terminal, the terminal user has to choose the required ring tone content and the brand name and model of the terminal on the website. Then, the website sends the specified content to the specified terminal through the GPRS network according to the specified Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card ID.
A flow chart of the method for downloading music to a terminal by the system is shown in FIG. 2. The method includes the following processes.
In process 201, the subscriber using the ring tone downloading service accesses the ring tone download server through the Internet.
In process 202, the subscriber chooses the brand name and model of the terminal and a ring tone on the user interface provided by the ring tone download server.
In process 203, the ring tone download server creates information content to be sent to the subscriber according to the subscriber's choice in process 202.
In process 204, the ring tone download server submits the message created in process 203 to the PPG.
In process 205, the PPG pushes the message received in process 204 to the WAP terminal through the GPRS network.
In process 206, after the WAP terminal receives the message pushed from the PPQ if the subscriber chooses to use the proposed service, the WAP terminal initiates a connection request to the WAP gateway through the GPRS network and sends a ring tone file download request to the WAP gateway.
In process 207, the WAP gateway sends the ring tone file download request initiated by the subscriber to the ring tone download server.
In process 208, the ring tone download server sends the ring tone file to be downloaded to the WAP gateway.
In process 209, the WAP gateway sends the ring tone file to the WAP terminal through the GPRS network.
In process 210, after confirming the sending result, the WAP gateway returns the current download result to the ring tone download server.
The ring tone download server then may choose to resend (if the sending has failed) or charge (if the sending is successful) according to the result returned from the WAP gateway.

Method, system and color ring back tone platform for downloading media resources to terminal


A method, of the present disclosure, of evaluating a tire ground contact property includes mounting a tire on one surface of a flat plate; placing a predetermined load on the tire or placing the tire in a no-load state; irradiating the tire with terahertz waves having a frequency of 0.1 THz to 10 THz from the other surface side of the flat plate or from inside the flat plate, the wavelength of the terahertz waves being greater than the roughness average length in at least a portion of the one surface of the flat plate and/or greater than the roughness average height in at least a portion of the one surface of the flat plate; detecting reflected terahertz waves from the tire; and evaluating the ground contact property of the tire on the basis of the detection result.

In a known method of evaluating the ground contact property of a tire, the tire is mounted on a flat plate that is transparent with respect to visible light, and a predetermined load is applied. In this state, the tire is irradiated with visible light from below the flat plate, and the reflected light is detected. For example, see patent literature (PTL) 1.

Method of evaluating tire ground contact property


An image processing apparatus includes a resolution ratio setting unit for setting a ratio of the resolution of input image data to the resolution of multi-value image data to be output, a pixel interpolation unit for interpolating and determining pixel values of output multi-value image data on the basis of the ratio set by the resolution ratio setting unit and the input image data, and an image data output unit for outputting the multi-value image data generated by the pixel interpolation unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus suitably applied to a page printer, a digital copying machine, and the like.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, most page printers do not have a function of generating a large image. In addition, a storage means for image generation has a capacity corresponding to only one page of the maximum outputtable image size. Even when the image size can be changed, since the maximum outputtable image size is relatively small, such a page printer is used for outputting an image in the maximum image size or in a size close to it.
However, when the page printer has only a storage capacity corresponding to one page of an image, image development processing for the next page cannot be started until an image output operation for the current page is completed. For this reason, in a compound machine comprising a copying machine and a page printer having a high print speed, the high print speed cannot often be sufficiently utilized. Most of such compound machines have a relatively large maximum outputtable image size. Meanwhile, image sizes that a user frequently outputs are often half or less of the maximum image size. In this case, the use efficiency of a memory is low.
A conventional image forming apparatus such as a page printer having a recording unit executes recording using a density obtained by expressing the density of one pixel as a binary value. For this reason, when the resolution of image data to be recorded is different from that of the recording unit, the resolution of the recording unit must be changed by the image forming apparatus side to match with that of the image data, or resolution conversion processing of binary data must be performed.
As for image data whose resolution can be changed, e.g., image data such as vector data, binary image data to be developed is determined by the resolution of the recording unit. In the image forming apparatus, image data is developed to binary image data in correspondence with the resolution of the recording unit, and the developed data is output from the recording unit.
However, as a countermeasure to be taken when the resolution of the input image data is different from that of the recording unit of the image forming apparatus, to prepare a plurality of resolutions in the recording unit of the image recording apparatus results in a complicated apparatus arrangement and high cost, and only the prepared resolutions can be used. When resolution conversion of binary image data is performed in the image forming apparatus, image quality is considerably deteriorated.
Furthermore, when vector data or the like is developed to binary image data, if the resolution of the recording unit is high, it takes much time in the image forming apparatus to develop image data.

Flexible resolution control and matching in image processing


A reinforcement system for anchoring tendons for structural reinforcing a structure such as a concrete structure, said reinforcement system comprises at least one anchor and at least one tendon, said anchor is adapted to fix said tendon in and/or outside said structure, wherein said reinforcement system comprises a ductility element, which is positioned in structural connection between said tendon and said anchor, said ductility element comprising weakened deformation zones being deformable so that the length of the ductility is increased or decreased in an axial direction along the length of said tendon.

Ductility of structures is important to ensure large deformation and give sufficient warning while maintaining an adequate load capacity before structure failure. Concrete is a brittle material. Concrete structures rely largely on the deformation and yielding of the tensile reinforcement to satisfy the ductility demand.
The application of high strength steel reinforcement in concrete structures has less ductility due to the lower degree of strain hardening and smaller elongation of the tensile reinforcement.
The application of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement has a similar problem, as FRP have a low strain capacity and linear elastic stress-strain behavior up to rupture without yielding.
Thus, the ductility of concrete members reinforced with non-ductile tendons, especially FRP reinforced concrete members, decreases due to the tensile reinforcement deforms less and hence a lower deformability and ductility is achieved.
US2014/0123593 discloses a method of improving the ductility of a structural member, such as a reinforced concrete beam or column reinforced by tensile members made of high strength steel or FRP, by providing a region of increased compression yielding in the compression zone of a plastic hinge region or nearby. This can be achieved by forming a mechanism provided in the compression zone to provide the ductile compression zone.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,063 discloses an anchorage for a tendon that includes a sleeve having a smooth tapered interior bore and a compressible wedge disposed in the sleeve. The compressible wedge has a smooth exterior tapered surface tapering from a wider end to a narrower end and one or more interior channels for receiving a tendon. The taper angle of the compressible wedge is greater than the taper angle of the bore. Thus, upon insertion of the compressible wedge into the sleeve, the wider end of the compressible wedge forms a wedge contact with the sleeve before the narrower end forms a wedge contact with the sleeve. Hereby is achieved an appropriate anchorage system for FRP tendons.
In many cases, it is desirable to provide an improved structural ductility of high strength steel or FRP reinforced concrete members.

Reinforcement system and a method of reinforcing a structure with a tendon


A method for temperature compensation of resonant frequency measurements of parts uses Temperature Functions which are mathematical relationships between measured resonant frequencies and temperature. The Temperature Function is used to adjust frequencies measured at any temperature to a resonant frequency at a pre-determined reference temperature. The temperature of a surrogate part or specimen can be measured to eliminate the need to touch a part being tested where the surrogate part has essentially the same dimensions and material properties and is positioned and mounted such that its temperature is essentially the same as the part being tested. The temperature function may be in the form of EQU f.sub.r =f.sub.m *(1+(T.sub.m -T.sub.r)/C). where f.sub.r is the resonant frequency compensated to the reference temperature, f.sub.m is the measured resonant frequency, T.sub.m is the measured temperature and T.sub.r is the reference temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a resonant testing method and, more particularly to use of temperature compensation of measurements made in a variable temperature location such as a manufacturing operation. Temperatures may vary within a day, or especially, as a part cools after processing. Temperature compensation may be required whenever resonantfrequencies are precisely measured. In particular when resonant ultrasound spectroscopy is used, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,062,296; 5,408,880; 5,631,423; 5,641,905; 5,425,272; and 5,495,763, temperature compensation may be desired.
2. The Prior Art
Testing of objects by use of sound (including ultrasound) and vibrations is well known. The prior art is extensive and encompasses many types of non-destructive testing. Resonant sound and ultrasound have been used for testing purposes as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,062,296; 4,976,148; and 5,355,731 which are incorporated herein by reference except for their incorporation by reference of other information.
Resonant frequencies of any stiff object, such as a manufactured part or a test specimen, made of metal or ceramic, are fundamentally determined by its dimensions and elastic constants. This observation has been used since the 19th century to detect the presence of defects. For example, railroad engineers are said to have struck wheels and determined the presence of a crack by the change in the audible resonant tone (resonance). The resonance of a cracked wheel has a distinctly lower frequency than that of a good wheel. Since the 1950s, commercial instruments have been available that use this phenomena to provide an impulse to a part and measure the resonant frequency response. These instruments have been used to detect defects in manufactured parts and to measure the elastic constants of test specimens. Generally their accuracy is on the order of 1%, so that they cannot detect the effects of temperature variations on the resonant frequencies. Their relatively poor accuracy also limits their ability to detect small defects.
In the 1980s, Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy (RUS--U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,296) was developed and later applied to defect detection and measurement of elastic constants. RUS instruments can make measurements to an accuracy of 0.01%. At this accuracy the effects of temperature can be noticed. This allows detection of much smaller defects, but it also means that the temperature variations can mask the effects of the small defects or small changes in elastic constants. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,631,423; 5,408,880; 5,495,763; 5,641,905; and 5,425,272 are examples of this method and apparatus. Each of these patents is incorporated by reference except for their incorporation by reference of other material.

Temperature compensation of resonant frequency measurements for the effects of temperature variations


An audio device is provided that is in electrical communication with a magnetic coil for the purpose of increasing magnetic field emissions generated by the device. The magnetic coil may be disposed on a flexible substrate in multi-turn and multi-layer format or disposed on a foldable flexible substrate in multi-turn and multi-layer format. Additionally, the magnetic coil may be disposed on the device's printed circuit board or the coil may be a freestanding, substrate-free coil assembly. The magnetic coil may be placed and secured in various locations within the device to maximize magnetic field emissions and minimize problems related to space limitations. The increased magnetic field results in a device that is hearing-aid compatible as defined by the Federal Communications Commission.

Recently the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandated that by July 2005, hearing-aid compatibility will be required on at least two mobile telephone models for each protocol sold in the United States and, by 2008, fifty percent of all the mobile telephone models sold in the United States must be Hearing-Aid Compatible (HAC).
In order for a telephone to be HAC, the telephone must deliver enough magnetic field proximate the ear speaker so that the hearing-aid device, which is in T-coil mode, can pick-up the magnetic field delivered by the phone. The FCC relies on standards, such as American Natural Standards Institute (ANSI) C63.19-2001, 68 FCC part 68 (47 C.F.R. 68) and International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication (ITU-T) standards to define the requirements for hearing-aid compatibility. For example, in order for a mobile telephone to be considered compliant under the FCC ruling it must meet ANSI C63.19-2001 Category U3 radio frequency performance standards. Currently, not all mobile telephones, and certain other audio devices, being sold in the United States meet the FCC requirements and, thus, some form of device redesign will be required in order to meet the FCC requirements. While many possible solutions for redesign exist they must be able to compete with the current trends in mobile telephone manufacturing, in particular, decreasing size of the mobile telephone and decreasing cost of the units. Thus, in order for a solution to the magnetic field problem to be viable, the solution must minimize the amount of space it will occupy within the mobile telephone housing (i.e., handset, headset or other such housing) and it must be an economically feasible solution that will not impart any unnecessary additional costs to the unit price of the mobile telephone. The space minimization concern becomes exasperated as more and more features are added to the mobile telephone platform and many other handheld audio devices.
Thus, a need exists to develop an apparatus and method for increasing the magnetic field within a mobile telephone. The desired device and method should increase the magnetic field such that it meets the hearing-aid compatibility requirements mandated by the FCC. Additionally, the desired device and methods should be size compatible with current trends in mobile telephone manufacturing. In this regard, the desired device should increase the magnetic field without having to increase the size of the mobile telephone and, in particular the size of the ear speaker. Also, the desired device and method should be economically feasible, in that, it should minimize unnecessary additional costs related to manufacturing.

Apparatus and methods for increasing magnetic field in an audio device


Methods, systems, and media for modifying user interface colors are provided. In some embodiments, the method comprises: receiving a video and color palette information, wherein each color of the color palette information indicates a color of an element of a user interface in which the video is to be presented; identifying a first color for the element, wherein the first color corresponds to a first portion of the video; causing the first portion of the video to be presented, wherein the element of the user interface having the first color is presented; identifying a second color for the element, wherein the second color corresponds to a second portion of the video; and modifying an appearance of the element by changing the color of the element from the first color to the second color while presenting the second portion of the video.

People frequently watch videos on user devices, such as their mobile phones, tablet computers, etc. These videos are often streamed from a video sharing service to the user device. In some cases, a video is presented within a user interface that can include, for example, video player controls (e.g., a pause control, a rewind control, etc.) and/or information about the video. However, the colors of different items in the user interface are typically static, and may therefore clash with the video during the presentation of the video, which can make the viewing experience jarring to the user. In a more particular example, the static portion of a user interface can continue to conflict with the viewing experience as the scene and colors change when the video is being played back in the user interface.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide methods, systems, and media for modifying user interface colors in connection with the presentation of a video.

Methods, systems, and media for modifying user interface colors in connection with the presentation of a video


Coated articles, methods for making such articles, and waterproofing systems incorporating these. An exemplary coated article comprises a body with surface coating of inorganic particles reactive with hydroxide generated from hydration of concrete or mortar to form hydration products. The articles are designed to be used with cast concrete or masonry. The inorganic particles comprise at least one of (a) aluminum oxide trihydrate; (b) silica dioxide; (c) fly ash; (d) blast furnace slag, (e) silica fume; (f) an alkali or alkaline earth metal salts; or mixture thereof. The particles improve bonding with hydratable cementitious compositions that are cast against the coated surface and allowed to set.

The present invention relates to articles having pressure-sensitive adhesive surfaces having inorganic particulate coatings for participating in the hydration reaction with hydratable cementitious compositions cast against the coated surfaces and allowed to set.
It is known that waterproofing membranes can be provided as pre-formed, sheet-like structures.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,741,856 and 3,900,102 of Hurst, incorporated herein by reference, disclosed waterproofing membranes having a carrier support film, and, contiguous thereto, a membrane of a water-proofing pressure-sensitive adhesive. Membrane products of this type can be applied directly onto pre-existing structures, such as concrete foundations or floors. In Hurst ""856, it was further disclosed that aggregate materials, such as sand or cork, could be deposited in granular or powdered form on the carrier support film to protect the membrane from damage and/or so that it could provide an improved keying surface for other material, such as concrete, that was subsequently applied thereto. See Col. 4, II. 62-73.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,328 of Cogliano and U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,848 of Bartlett et al., both of which are incorporated herein by reference, waterproofing membranes were disclosed for so-called xe2x80x9cblind-sidexe2x80x9d waterproofing. This referred to a process in which the carrier side of the waterproofing membrane was affixed against a concrete molding form, and fresh concrete was cast against the adhesive layer and allowed to cure. In other words, the waterproofing was installed first in a xe2x80x9cbackwardsxe2x80x9d arrangement, and the concrete structure (e.g., foundation, deck, wall, etc.) was installed subsequently by casting it against the outward-facing adhesive side of the waterproofing membrane. In both Cogliano and Bartlett et al., a protective coating was disclosed for protecting the adhesive layer against dirt and damage.
Subsequently, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,615 of Bartlett et al., also incorporated herein by reference, it was discovered that a finely divided particulate material could be dusted onto the protective coating, so as to sustain foot traffic on the membrane when it was installed in a horizontal position. At the same time, the finely divided particulate dusted layer permitted fresh concrete to be cast onto the protective coating/adhesive layer to form a fully adhered waterproofing bond with the waterproofing membrane. Bartlett et al. disclosed that the particulates could comprise calcium carbonate, sand, silicate sand, cement, talc, titanium dioxide, carbon black, slate dust, granite dust, and clay.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,188 of Te""eni, incorporated herein by reference, a flexible waterproofing membrane was disclosed having a polymeric sheet with an open surface impregnated with a dry cementitious material defining interconnected internal voids. The dry cementitious material included a water-hardenable cement that was substantially non-hydrated and could be incorporated into the open surface as a slurry or dry powder along with additives such as mineral fillers, silica powder, microsilica, and clay minerals.
The present invention differs from the flexible prior art waterproofing membranes wherein aggregates or filler materials are used as particulate materials to be contained within or coated upon waterproofing adhesive (e.g., Hurst, Cogliano, Bartlett et al.) or cement-binding substrate (e.g., Te""eni).
One of the objectives of the present invention is to employ certain inorganic particulate materials, contained within and/or coated as a discrete separate layer upon a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer or surface, that are operative to react with hydroxide solution from the hydration reaction of concrete or mortar, cast against the particulate-coated adhesive, to form hydration products.
In contrast to prior art use of particulates comprising aggregates or fillers, the present invention employs particles that react with hydratable cementitious compositions such as concrete or mortar and/or that accelerate the hydration reaction of such compositions. The particles may comprise, for example, set accelerators, strength enhancing agents, pozzolans and/or pozzolanic materials.
An exemplary coated article of the invention comprises a body having at least one surface for carrying particles, the surface comprising a pressure-sensitive waterproofing adhesive or elastomer, and the particles being inorganic particles operative to react with hydroxide (e.g., hydroxides of alkali and/or alkaline earth metal hydroxides, also possibly aluminum hydroxide) solution from the hydration reaction of concrete or mortar to form hydration products, the inorganic particles being selected from set accelerators, strength enhancers, and pozzolans or pozzolanic type materials.
Preferred particles comprise (a) aluminum oxide trihydrate; (b) silica dioxide; (c) fly ash; (d) blast furnace slag, (e) silica fume; (f) an alkali or alkaline earth metal nitrite, nitrate, halide, sulfate, hydroxide, carboxylate, silicate, aluminate a mixture thereof. Aluminum oxide trihydrate particles are most preferred.
A preferred article comprises a waterproofing membrane comprising a waterproofing adhesive membrane layer coated with powdered aluminum oxide trihydrate, silica dioxide, or a mixture thereof, the particles being in the range of 25-1000 microns. Exemplary waterproofing adhesive layers are preferably pressure-sensitive adhesives comprising rubber modified bitumen, natural or synthetic rubber, a synthetic elastomeric material, or a mixture thereof. Preferred is styrene ethylene butadiene styrene.
Most preferred embodiments of the invention are sheet-like, pre-formed waterproofing membranes comprising a pressure-sensitive waterproofing adhesive layer comprising at least 15% and more preferably 40% by weight of SEBS and/or acrylic rubbers, the layer having at least two major faces, at least one of which is coated with particles 50-100 microns in size of aluminum oxide trihydrate, silica dioxide, or mixture thereof, the particles being preferably embedded in the adhesive and partially exposed and thus operative to bind with calcium hydroxide or other alkaline solution from a hydratable cementitious composition that is cast against the particle-coated adhesive layer. Preferably, the waterproofing adhesive layer is attached to a carrier film support layer contiguous with the major face of the adhesive layer opposite the particle-coating layer, and/or a reinforcing mesh or nonwoven layer can be attached to or embedded within the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer.
Articles of the invention may comprise pressure-sensitive adhesive or elastomeric materials formed at a construction site by liquid application.
In addition to sheet-like structures such as waterproofing membranes, further exemplary articles of the invention can include articles having body portions having surfaces (such as waterstops, hoses, panels) or even thermoplastic surfaces (such as hoses, sheets) for carrying the above-described particulate material for bonding with fresh cementitious compositions.
Preferred particulate materials are silicious, aluminous or pozzolanic. For example, silicon dioxide, aluminum trioxide hydrate, silica fume, pumice, crushed firebrick, etc. Pozzolanic materials include siliceous or siliceous and aluminous materials which in themselves possess little or no cementitious value but will, in finely divided form and in the presence of moisture, chemically react with calcium hydroxide at ordinary temperatures to form compounds possessing cementitious properties in that they will fuse in the chemical reaction that occurs upon intermixing of Portland cement and water. Such pozzolanic materials include fly ash, silica fume, ground blast furnace slag, and limestone.
The present invention also provides cementitious articles such as walls, foundations, masonry units (e.g., pavers, bricks, blocks, segmental retaining walls, etc.) bonded to the above-discussed particle-coated articles.
Further advantages and benefits of the invention are disclosed hereinafter.

Particle coated bonding systems for hydratable cementitious composition casting and methods for making same


Artistic panes having flat and planar margins with laterally offset central regions and deformations, as well as devices and methods for making the same, are shown and described. Devices and assemblies for manufacturing such artistic panes incorporate support members and raised boundary members, and can incorporate masses and/or piles of powder to create various deformations in the artistic panes. Methods of manufacturing such artistic panes can incorporate slump processes, sag processes and rolling processes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed toward devices, systems and methods for use in manufacturing window panes, windows, door lites, and similar products.
2. Description of the Related Art
Windows incorporating panes of glass or other materials have been commercially available for hundreds of years. During that time period, many developments have taken place in the art of fixed windows, movable windows, French doors and lites for doors and for installing next to doors. For example, windows have been developed that filter out ultraviolet light, that resist scratching or shattering, that do not form jagged edges when broken, or that have other features making the glass suitable for special applications.
For most applications, advancement in glass technology has been directed toward improving visibility through the glass or for improving other features of the glass without adversely effecting visibility.
Artistic windows, such as decorated windows or stained glass windows, are designed to be attractive. Visibility through an artistic window is not necessarily the primary goal. Consequently, artistic windows have been developed with beveled edges, etched surfaces, multiple colors or embedded objects.
In the case of float or sheet glass, whether it is clear, etched, frosted or otherwise treated, the perimeter of the sheet is flat and planar and can easily be inserted into a frame. For odd shaped glass, however, where the boundary is not planar, a standard frame will not work. In such cases, the glass is typically separated into small pieces which are interconnected by cames to form decorative windows. The decorative window can then be framed within a traditional window, or can be inserted into a door for use as a door lite, or inserted into a wall for use as a side lite or a re-lite.
Accordingly, there is a need in the industry for an improved system that can incorporate odd shaped panes into traditional windows, doors and walls.

Devices, systems and methods for use in fabricating doorlites, sidelites, windows, window panes and the like


A construction system for releasing moisture from a building is provided. The system is especially suitable for use in buildings having a hip, valley or gable roof. More specifically, the device gives the hip, valley or gable roof adequate ventilation and moisture vapor release portals so as to allow air and water vapor to properly rise through the interior of the hip, valley or gable roof and out through ridge vents without becoming trapped by rafters of the hip, valley or gable roof. The system has a first unit and a second unit, wherein the first unit allows air and water vapor to pass through passageways of the first unit up through the underside of the hip, valley or gable roof up and out through the ridge vent(s) and the second unit allows air from the exterior to pass into the roof cavity to circulate through the roof cavity and into the first unit.

A construction system for releasing moisture from a building is provided. The system is especially suitable for use in buildings having a hip, valley or gable roof. More specifically, the device gives the hip, valley or gable roof adequate ventilation and moisture vapor release portals so as to allow air and water vapor to properly rise through the interior of the hip, valley or gable roof and out through ridge vents without becoming trapped by rafters of the hip, valley or gable roof. The system has a first unit and a second unit, wherein the first unit allows air and water vapor to pass through passageways of the first unit up through the underside of the hip, valley or gable roof up and out through the ridge vent(s) and the second unit allows air from the exterior to pass into the roof cavity to circulate through the roof cavity and into the first unit.
Attempts have been made to provide construction devices that release moisture vapor from buildings. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,635,822 to Walker discloses a ventilated structural panel comprising a first sheet, having edges that define a horizontal axis with a first horizontal edge and a second horizontal edge, and vertical axis with a first vertical edge and a second vertical edge, a second sheet being of substantially the same planar dimensions as the first sheet and having edges that define a horizontal axis and vertical axis, with a first horizontal edge and a second horizontal edge and a first vertical edge and a second vertical edge, the first and the second sheet being parallel in plane and matched in at least one of the vertical axis and the horizontal axis, a plurality of spacing structural elements, formed integrally with at least one of the first and the second sheet, fixedly attaching the first sheet to the second sheet, such that the yield strength of the combined panel is greater than the combined individual yield strengths of the first and the second sheet; and the plurality of spacing structural elements being arranged such that a plurality of unobstructed pathways are created for air to move from at least one edge of the panel to at least one of an opposite and an adjacent edge of the panel, and being arranged to provide integral ventilation through the materials and between the first and the second sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,468,750 to Clearfiled discloses a seal for a flashing joint on an open frame structure using a first barrier sheet having first and second adhesive strips on opposing primary surfaces proximate to opposing edges and running the length of the first barrier sheet by applying the first barrier sheet over the flashing joint with one edge below the flashing joint and adhering an adhesive strip to a building element below the flashing joint with the first adhesive strip and applying a second barrier sheet overlapping the first barrier sheet and adhere the first and second barrier sheets together using the second adhesive strip. The process can include applying flashing over the first barrier sheet and flashing joint and then overlaying the flashing with the second barrier sheet and sealing the second barrier sheet to both the first barrier sheet and the flashing.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 6,886,301 to Schilger discloses a building construction device for exterior building walls. The construction comprises an interior frame formed of a plurality of laterally spaced studs or beams, a layer of rigid insulation adjacent to the exterior side of this steel frame, exterior building cladding adjacent the exterior side of the rigid insulation and a plurality of low conductivity connectors, e.g. insulating plastic connectors or thin metal strips having an insulating plastic foam coating, extending through the layer of rigid insulation and connecting together the exterior cladding and the interior steel studs or beams. Vertical channels are formed adjacent both the inside and outside faces of the insulation layer to remove moisture. This provides the required structural strength with a minimum of thermal conductivity from the warm side to the cold side of the building envelope, while providing exterior drain channels and interior moisture removing channels.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 8,635,822 to Walker discloses a ventilated structural panel comprising a first sheet, having edges that define a horizontal axis with a first horizontal edge and a second horizontal edge, and vertical axis with a first vertical edge and a second vertical edge, a second sheet being of substantially the same planar dimensions as the first sheet and having edges that define a horizontal axis and vertical axis, with a first horizontal edge and a second horizontal edge and a first vertical edge and a second vertical edge, the first and the second sheet being parallel in plane and matched in at least one of the vertical axis and the horizontal axis, a plurality of spacing structural elements, formed integrally with at least one of the first and the second sheet, fixedly attaching the first sheet to the second sheet, such that the yield strength of the combined panel is greater than the combined individual yield strengths of the first and the second sheet; and the plurality of spacing structural elements being arranged such that a plurality of unobstructed pathways are created for air to move from at least one edge of the panel to at least one of an opposite and an adjacent edge of the panel, and being arranged to provide integral ventilation through the materials and between the first and the second sheet.
However, these patents fail to provide a device for properly releasing moisture and water vapor from the hip, valley or gable roof of a building as described in the present application. A need, therefore, exists for an improved device for releasing moisture and water vapor from a hip, valley or gable roof of a building that has the features of the present invention.

Construction system for releasing moisture from a hip, valley or gable roof


A vibratory feed device is described for producing a high-speed single-file stream of aligned food articles. The feed device comprises a vibratory guide trough extending longitudinally from a receiving end to a discharge end. The guide trough has inclined and transversely-opposed sidewalls. An endless feed belt travels longitudinally through the guide trough from the receiving end to the discharge end. The feed belt has outer portions which incline upwardly to form a concave conveyor surface for conveying food articles through the guide trough. The guide trough oscillates to singulate and align food articles within the concave conveyor surface. The feed device also includes a redirection sheave at the discharge end of the guide trough. The redirection sheave supports the feed belt along a redirection arc which extends at least partially about the redirection sheave. An endless hold-down belt faces the feed belt along the redirection arc to hold food articles against the feed belt.

There are many situations in the field of bulk materials handling and food processing where it is necessary to produce an ordered stream of objects from a bulk supply of such objects supplied haphazardly in non-uniform orientations. Many such applications require objects to be aligned in a single file for inspection or for supply to automated processing machinery. In some situations, it is further required to align oblong objects, such as potatoes, so that their major longitudinal axes correspond to their direction of travel. Automatic sizing and grading equipment, for example, often requires such singulation and prescribed orientation of food articles.
Cutting operations present particular difficulties with respect to vegetable feeding and singulation. Vegetable cutting devices often accept vegetables only in a single file, although they are capable of receiving such vegetables at a very high feed rate. Efficient operation of such cutting devices requires singulation, orientation, and acceleration of food articles from a bulk stream of such articles--at a feed rate which is difficult to attain with prior art devices.
Feeding potatoes to a helical potato cutter is a specific example of a situation requiring a high-speed, singulated, and oriented stream of articles. One type of helical potato cutter is disclosed in a U.S. patent application by Marc A. Frey et al., filed on Mar. 23, 1993, entitled "Vegetable Cutting System." This type of potato cutter has a vertical entrance aperture into which potatoes must be flung or projected in a downward direction. The potatoes must be oriented as they enter the cutter so that their major longitudinal axes correspond to their direction of travel. This orientation is required not only because of the restricted size of the cutter entrance aperture, but also to ensure that potato strips or coils produced by the cutter will each be of maximum length.
Previous devices for feeding food articles in a single file to cutters and other devices have included belt conveyors, vibratory conveyors, and hydraulic delivery systems. These devices have been used with varying degrees of success.
The invention described below provides singulated and properly oriented food articles at a consistently high feed rate for supply to a device such as disclosed by Frey et al. Furthermore, the invention can be configured to discharge food articles at various angles from horizontal, such as might be required by a variety of downstream processing equipment. The preferred embodiment of the invention is simple, reliable, and easy to clean and maintain, providing significant advantages over prior article feed devices.

High-speed vibratory alignment and singulation conveyor


An inductive/MR composite type thin film magnetic head which realizes high speed, high density recording while at the same time preventing the occurrence of read-out error by reducing NLTS. In one embodiment an inductive/MR composite type thin-film magnetic head is equipped with [a] an inductive head used for writing in which a magnetic gap layer, a conductive coil and insulating layers are laminated between upper and lower magnetic films, and [b] a magnetic resistance (MR) head used for read-out consisting of an MR element sandwiched between an upper shield which also serves as the aforementioned lower magnetic film, and a lower shield, the aforementioned conductive coil is formed in the shape of a solenoid which is wrapped around the aforementioned upper magnetic film by forming a lower coil part consisting of numerous segments on the surface of the first insulating layer, and then forming an upper coil part consisting of numerous segments from a point above a second insulating layer, upper magnetic film and third insulating layer laminated on the surface of the lower coil part, so that the respective end portions of the segments of the upper coil part are alternately connected with the respective end portions of the segments of the lower coil part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns an inductive/MR composite type thin-film magnetic head which is integrally equipped with an inductive head used for writing and a magnetic resistance (MR) head used for readout, and which can be used in recording and playback devices of various types of equipment such as computers and word processors, etc., for example, in hard disk drives, etc.
2. Background Information
Recently, composite type thin-film magnetic heads in which an inductive head used for writing and an MR head used for read-out are combined into an integral unit have been employed as thin-film magnetic heads used in magnetic disk drives of computers, etc. In such composite type thin-film magnetic heads, the MR head has a large playback sensitivity and the playback output is not dependent on the relative speed with the recording medium. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the track width and to reduce the number of turns of the coil so that the impedance is lowered, thus making it possible to achieve higher-density magnetic recording, a more compact apparatus and an increased output.
In conventional composite thin-film magnetic heads, as is shown for example in FIGS. 8 and 9, an MR head 5 consisting of an MR element 4 which is sandwiched between a lower shield 2 and upper shield 3 is formed on the surface of a ceramic substrate 1 which is covered by an insulating underlayer film. An inductive head 11 is then formed on top of this by using the aforementioned upper shield 3 as a lower magnetic film, and laminating a magnetic gap film 6, organic insulating layers 7 and 8, conductive coil 9 and upper magnetic film 10 on top of said lower magnetic film. The conductive coil 9 is generally formed in a spiral shape centered on the back gap 12 by means of a conductive material plating formed using a photolithographic technique.
The recording of signals on a recording medium 13 is accomplished by applying a square-wave writing current of the type shown in FIG. 10A to the coil 9 via lead wires 14 and 15 so that magnetic flux is generated in the magnetic transducing gap 16 between the upper and lower pole parts at the tip ends of the aforementioned magnetic films, thus creating regions of inverted magnetization known as magnetization transitions with the timing of the plus-minus switching of the writing current. The recorded signals are reproduced with high fidelity as follows: i.e., the magnetic flux from the recording medium passing through the MR element 4 varies with the timing at which the abovementioned magnetization transitions pass between the aforementioned upper and lower shields, and this variation causes a variation in the resistance of the MR element, so that electrical signals are produced.
A writing head with a superior recording capacity is necessary in order to realize high-speed, high-density recording in such a composite type thin-film magnetic head. However, in cases where signals are recorded at a high density on a recording medium, adjacent magnetization transitions interfere with each other so that a nonlinear shift in the writing positions known as a nonlinear transition shift (NLTS) occurs in the recording medium. This increases the read-out error during the playback of the signals.
The conventional inductive head shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 has a resistance and inductance which correspond to the coil length of the spiral-form coil 10. Here, the inductance has a positive correlation with the area surrounded by the outermost circumference of the aforementioned coil. Furthermore, because of the effects of magnetic bodies such as the upper magnetic film 10 and upper shield 3, etc., present in the surrounding area, the inductance is larger than it would be in the case of the coil alone. When the resistance and inductance of the aforementioned coil are increased, the impedance increases. Accordingly, a delay component created by this impedance is generated in the writing current that flows through the coil.
If this delay is large, as is shown in FIG. 10B, a distortion known as "corruption" is generated in the square waveform of the writing current, so that the time required for plus and minus switching of the writing current, i.e., the rise time, is increased. If the rise time of the writing current is large, the time required for the inversion of the direction of the magnetic flux generated in the magnetic transducing gap, i.e., the rise time of the magnetic flux, is increased. Since a positive correlation of the type shown in FIG. 11 exists between the rise time of the magnetic flux and the abovementioned NLTS, it is important to lower the inductance of the aforementioned coil, and thus reduce the rise time of the writing current, in order to reduce the NLTS.
Furthermore, an eddy current loss caused by the writing current flowing through the coil is generated in the yoke parts of the upper and lower magnetic films, and this eddy current loss generates a delay in the high-frequency component of the magnetic field generated between the upper and lower pole parts. Accordingly, if the eddy current loss in both of the aforementioned magnetic films can be reduced, the rise time of the magnetic flux can similarly be shortened so that the NLTS can be reduced. The eddy current loss in the aforementioned magnetic films can be reduced by shortening the yoke length, i.e., the magnetic path length L'. However, in order to do this, it is necessary to reduce the pitch per turn of the coil.
In the case of conventional spiral-form coils formed by the abovementioned photolithographic technique, however, there is an upper limit on the aspect ratio from the standpoint of manufacturing technology. As a result, the thickness of the coil is limited in cases where the coil pitch is reduced. Accordingly, the coil resistance has an inversely proportional relationship with the magnetic path length, as indicated by the broken line in FIG. 4 Meanwhile, because of restrictions in terms of the electrical circuit formed by the aforementioned lead wires and coil, etc., the coil resistance cannot be increased beyond a certain upper-limit value. As a result, the minimum value of the magnetic path length, i.e., the yoke length of the aforementioned magnetic films, is determined by the set value of the coil resistance. Accordingly, there are limits to the reduction in NLTS that can be achieved by reducing the eddy current loss of the upper and lower magnetic films.
Thus, it is desired to provide an inductive/MR composite type thin-film magnetic head which makes it possible to reduce NLTS and prevent the generation of read-out error while realizing high-speed, high-density recording. Furthermore, it is desired to provide an inductive/MR composite type thin-film magnetic head which can be manufactured relatively easily and inexpensively using conventional manufacturing techniques "as is."

Inductive/MR composite type thin-film magnetic head


A computer network-implemented method for displaying a tag cloud representing a data structure. The data structure includes data entities and representations of relationships between the data entities. The method enables one or more users to interact with the data structure, and via the data structure, to interact with one another. In an example embodiment, the method comprises, via a computer processor, populating a display of a user interface showing a tag cloud populated with images of data entities from the data structure, such images, and in response to user input to the interface, associating one or more visual properties of the user interface with one or more of said relationships between data entities in the data structure.

Knowledge can be represented using various types of data structures, including graphs. One such graph is known as a semantic network. A semantic network is a directed graph consisting of vertices, which represent concepts, and edges, which represent semantic relations between the concepts.
A semantic network can become unwieldy as it grows.
Tags can be used to represent concepts in the semantic network. Sets of tags, in a visualization known as "tag clouds", can be used to represent relationships between concepts. Tag clouds are a familiar data visualization device on the Internet. Tag clouds are commonly used to represent tags in a meaningful way, for example to describe to a user the prevalence of tags in blogs and other Internet resources. Properties of words, such as size, weight or colour, may represent properties of the underlying data. A tag cloud may be generated either manually or using computerized means.
FIGS. 1A to 1C illustrate examples of tag clouds. As shown in FIG. 1A, for example, a cloud may comprise several differently sized tags wherein larger tags in the cloud represent a greater (e.g., higher volume) use of the tag in a blog. As shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C, for example, the sizes of the tags may signify the importance of concepts relative to a context, importance being determined by a measure such as frequency of occurrence.
Information may be encoded in tag properties (such as size, weight or colour) but absolute and relative position is virtually meaningless in a tag cloud. The tags are typically single words, which may be ordered alphabetically or otherwise. The words may be aligned on a baseline or arranged in some other way, but this is typically done to conserve space or to obtain different visual effects.
However, these tag clouds are not interactive as they merely represent information graphically without any means for feedback from a user. With a tag cloud there is no means to manipulate the relationships between the tags.
The prior art does not discuss ways in which to present a simple visual representation of a hierarchical or polyhierarchical data structure (such as a taxonomy of terms or a semantic network) so as to enable the average computer user to create, visualize or manipulate the data structure. While manual entry of new concepts and relationships has been contemplated to a limited extent in the prior art, what has not been disclosed in the prior art is the use of a tag cloud to create (i.e., record) concepts and automatically infer relationships to existing concepts represented by the tags. What has also not been disclosed is a convenient way in which to visualize and manipulate relationships between the concepts represented by the tags. In other words, the prior art does not teach using the tag cloud as an input device to create and alter the represented semantic network or other data structure.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/548,894 to Lewis et al. discloses a tag cloud that is presented to a user where each tag can lead to n-layers of relevant information.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/540,628 to Hoskinson discloses a tag cloud that is computer generated in response to a search query. The tags, containing subject representation or labels, are linked to associated websites from where the information for generating the cloud is initially collected.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/533,058 to Blanchard et al. discloses customizing a display of a presented tag cloud. These clouds are customizable in terms of their attributes such as font color, font size, borders, 3D-depth, shadowing, and so on. While changes in all these attributes contribute to visual display of the tags in the tag cloud, there is no corresponding material affect on the information represented by the tag cloud.
None of the above applications discuss ways in which to present a data structure to a user so as to visually represent relationships that may exist between concepts represented by the tags and enable the manipulation of the data structure by the user using the tags.
PCT/US2007/025873 to Lindermann, et al. discloses enabling a user to input, store and output in a graphical user interface concepts expressed as a word or combination of words and relationships between these concepts. The user provides the concepts to a thought engine and specifies the type or nature of relationship between concepts. A user builds and shares the generated semantic network.
Lindermann et al. is directed to enabling users that do not understand structured data to insert the data into the structure. The user inserts the data and the relationships explicitly and, therefore, must learn how the relationships are made. There is no automation provided for establishing relationships based on ways in which the user views the data. While Lindermann et al. discuss a user classifying the types of new relationships, there is no discussion of simple ways in which to establish the relationship with minimal user input. There is also no discussion at all of ways in which to easily manipulate existing relationships between concepts in a semantic network.
Therefore, what is required is a means and method by which to enable the average computer user to create, visualize or manipulate a data structure (particularly a hierarchical, polyhierarchical, associative or equivalence) data structure, using a tag cloud.
Also lacking heretofore is a way for users to interact with each other so that a community can create, visualize and/or manipulate such a data structure using a tag cloud, especially in a way that tracks changes made to the data structure over time, who made each change and when the change was made. A means and method which allows such user interaction would be very useful.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System, method and computer program for creating and manipulating data structures using an interactive graphical interface


A method performed in a call manager, the method comprising receiving a registration message from a media gateway in a plurality of media gateways, wherein the registration message indicates the media processing resources available at the media gateway and the amount of media processing resources in use, sending a message to each of the other media gateways in the plurality of media gateways, wherein each of the messages indicates an amount of available media processing resources in the media gateway, and sending at least one message to the media gateway, wherein the at least one message indicates an amount of available media processing resources in each of the other media gateways in the plurality of media gateways.

Video conferencing may require a substantial amount of data to be streamed or otherwise communicated across communications networks. Media gateways may be employed in such networks to transcode media streams between different telecommunication systems. A conventional system may utilize centralized media gateway architecture in which traffic across a network may be concentrated through one gateway. For example, a multi-point control unit (MCU) may be used to bridge video conferencing connections, wherein conference streams may be distributed to multiple endpoints over an internet protocol (IP) network. An MCU may also apply media processing techniques, such as digital signal processing, to perform compression/decompression and encoding/decoding of video or audio streams.
However, the centralized approach of existing gateways may be limited in that a video conference may only use media processing resources local to an MCU. Media processing resources may not be shared across networks with a central gateway, and there may be no local resources available for remote endpoints. In order to send traffic from an endpoint in a conference, an MCU may also be required to directly send a copy of the data to all of the other endpoints over an IP network. Furthermore, this may increase traffic in a bandwidth limited environment such as a wide area network (WAN), wherein multiple computer networking architectures transmit data over broad ranges of distances. Therefore, there is a need to enhance video conferencing architecture in order to accommodate a greater number of users in a bandwidth restricted network while maintaining quality of service.


An ultrasonic probe includes a first coupled vibration member and a second coupled vibration member each of which extends along a longitudinal axis between a first anti-node position of an ultrasonic vibration and a second anti-node position of the ultrasonic vibration located to a distal direction side of the first anti-node position. The second coupled vibration member vibrates in the same mode as the first coupled vibration member. A first groove of the first coupled vibration member and a second groove of the second coupled vibration member cooperate with each other and thereby form at least a part of a passage inside a multiple-members vibrating portion formed by the first coupled vibration member and the second coupled vibration member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe which can transmit an ultrasonic vibration along a longitudinal axis from a proximal direction toward a distal direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
The specification of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0021065 discloses an ultrasonic probe extending along a longitudinal axis. The ultrasonic probe is configured to transmit an ultrasonic vibration, which is caused by an ultrasonic vibrator (ultrasonic transducer) as an ultrasonic generator, from a proximal direction toward a distal direction along a longitudinal axis. A distal treatment section which is configured to treat a treatment object such as living tissue is provided to (at) a distal end portion of the ultrasonic probe. As the ultrasonic vibration is transmitted to the distal treatment section, the treatment object is resected by the distal treatment section. Further, a suction passage is formed inside the ultrasonic probe with extending along the longitudinal axis from the distal end portion toward the proximal direction. The resected treatment object is suctioned through the suction passage.


Articles are provided, including a porous elastomeric material having a first major surface and an elastomeric material integrated into the first major surface of the porous elastomeric material. The elastomeric material coating the first major surface, a first portion of the elastomeric material being disposed within a plurality of pores defined by the first major surface of the porous elastomeric material and extending into the plurality of pores to a depth of at least 300 micrometers (μm), wherein the first portion of the elastomeric material provides fluid communication through the porous elastomeric material via holes formed in the elastomeric material extending into the thickness of the porous elastomeric material through the voids of the pores of the elastomeric material. A method of making an article is also provided.

Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has been clinically demonstrated to enhance wound healing. The therapy comprises applying a dressing layer on the wound site, covering the dressing with a thin elastomeric drape that extends over the dressing to the periwound skin, and creating a hole or via in the drape to which a vacuum source is coupled. Vacuum is applied to the system, which serves to both conformally compress the dressing against the tissue and remove wound exudate. A variety of dressing materials have been utilized, however it has been demonstrated that reticulated, open cell foam provides an advantageous healing response.
The use of open cell foam for this therapy has numerous advantages. First, when compressed foam conforms uniformly to the tissue and voids between the dressing and the wound bed are minimized Second, the open cell structure provides a continuous pathway for exudate removal throughout the entire wound bed. Third, vacuum is evenly distributed through the pores, minimizing pressure drop as a function of distance from the vacuum port. Finally, the foam typically used for NPWT compresses approximately 50% at therapeutic vacuum levels (˜150 mm Hg). This change in volume decreases the overall size of the wound.
One significant disadvantage of open cell foam is "ingrowth" of new tissue into the pores of the open cell foam. As treatment progresses the newly formed tissue extends into the pores, eventually surrounding and encapsulating a portion of the foam inside the new tissue. Once embedded, removal of the foam becomes problematic. It is traumatic to the patient, often requiring sedation to alleviate the pain. If the foam is stronger than the tissue, it pulls the new tissue apart during removal causing damage and bleeding. If the new tissue is stronger than the foam, sections of foam break off and remain embedded in the tissue causing inflammation and irritation. To mitigate ingrowth, contact layers placed between the foam and the tissue have been utilized, including gauze, nonwovens, perforated films and microstructured films, however diminished healing response is frequently observed using these approaches.
Hence, there remains a need for an article that retains the benefits of foam while also minimizing or preventing tissue ingrowth.

Articles including a porous elastomeric material with an integrated elastomeric material and methods of making same


Cationic amphiphiles are provided that are alkyl or alkoxyalkyl O-phosphate esters of diacylphosphatidyl zwitterionic compounds such as phosphatidylcholine or phosphatidyl ethanolamine. The amphiphiles can be used as carriers for delivering macromolecules intracellularly.

Liposomes are one of a number of lipid-based materials used as biological carriers and have been used effectively as carriers in a number of pharmaceutical and other biological situations, particularly to introduce drugs, radiotherapeutic agents, enzymes, viruses, transcriptional factors and other cellular vectors into a variety of cultured cell lines and animals. Successful clinical trials have examined the effectiveness of liposome-mediated drug delivery for targeting liposome-entrapped drugs to specific tissues and specific cell types. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,264,618, which describes a number of techniques for using lipid carriers, including the preparation of liposomes and pharmaceutical compositions and the use of such compositions in clinical situations. However, while the basic methodology for using liposome-mediated vectors is well developed, improvements in the materials used in the methods, both in terms of biocompatability and in terms of effectiveness of the carrier process, are still desirable.
In particular, the expression of exogenous genes in humans and/or various commercially important animals will ultimately permit the prevention and/or cure of many important human diseases and the development of animals with commercially important characteristics. Genes are high molecular weight, polyanionic molecules for which carrier-mediated delivery usually is required for DNA transfection of cells either in vitro or in vivo. Therefore it is of interest to develop lipid transfection vectors which will enhance both the delivery and the ultimate expression of the cloned gene in a tissue or cell of interest. Since in some instances a treatment regimen will involve repeated administration of a gene (or other pharmaceutical product), it also is of interest that the lipid carriers be nontoxic to the host, even after repeated administration.
Relevant literature
Amphiphilic phosphatidylethanolamine conjugates for functionalization of liposomes are disclosed in Law et al., (1986) Tetrahedron Letters, 27:271-274. A method for synthesis of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-SN-glycero-3-phosphoester is disclosed in Bruzik et al., (1986) J. Org. Chem., 51:2368-23270. The o-methyl ester of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine was prepare as an intermediate in this synthesis.
Use of liposomes as carriers for DNA is described in a number of publications, including the following: Friedmann, (1989) Science, 244:1275-1281; Brigham et al., (1989) Am. J. Med. Sci., 298:278-281; Nabel et aL, (1990) Science, 249:1285-1288; Hazinski et al., (1991) Am. J. Resp. Cell Molec. Biol., 4:206-209; and Wang and Huang, (1987) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA), 84:7851-7855. Other publications relating to liposomes describe liposomes coupled to ligand-specific, cation-based transport systems (Wu and Wu, (1988) J. Biol. Chem., 263:14621-14624) or the use of naked DNA expression vectors (Nabel et al., (1990) Science, 249: 1285-1288); Wolff et al., (1990) Science, 247:1465-1468).
The Brigham et al. group Am. J. Med. Sci. (1989) 298:278-281 and Clinical Research (1991) 39 (abstract)! have reported in vivo transfection of lungs of mice following either intravenous or intratracheal administration of a DNA liposome complex. See also Stribling et al., (1992) Proc. Nat'l Acad. Sci. USA 89:11277-11281, which reports the use of liposomes as carriers for aerosol delivery of transgenes to the lungs of mice, and Yoshimura et aL (1992) Nucleic Acids Research 20:3233-3240.
Cationic lipid carriers have been reported to mediate intracellular delivery of plasmid DNA (Felgner et al., Proc. Nat'l. Acad. Sci. USA (1987) 84:7413-7417); mRNA (Malone and Keloff, Proc. Nat'l. Acad. Sci. USA (1989) 86:6077-6081); and purified transcription factors (Debs et al., J. Biol. Chem. (1990) 265: 10189-10192) in functional form.


A system can include a receiver to receive a plug module. The plug module can include multiple apertures located substantially the same distance from an axis of rotation of the plug module. A connector can extend from the receiver to connect to a contact in one of the multiple apertures of the plug module.

Receptacles to provide electrical power can come in many different configurations that may include different shapes, sizes and voltages. A plug can have a shape that allows the plug to be inserted into the receptacle. Even if the plug has a shape and size that allows it to be inserted into the receptacle the device receiving power from the receptacles through the plug may be damaged if the voltage at the receptacle is outside of the voltage range that the device can operate on. For example if a device operates on 12 volts direct current and the power adapter converts 110 volts alternating current to 12 volts direct current if the power adapter is connected to a 220 volt receptacle then the power adapter or the device may be damaged by the increase in voltage supplied to the power adapter.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An organic and animal waste treatment apparatus (1) comprising a container (10) with substantially torus shaped bio-film media (200) provided primarily by tires (72) formed in multiple layers. A layer proximal the bottom (20) is at least one first layer of bio-film media (70) or at least one first layers of tires (72) having a first layer top (80) and forming a Loose Density Zone (300). A next layer on top of the first layer top (80) is at least one second layer of bio-film media (90) or at least one second layer of tires (92) having a second layer top (100) and forming a Transition Density Zone (320). A next layer on top of the second layer top (100) is at least n subsequent layers (110) or at least n subsequent layers of tires (112) and forming a Compact Density Zone (340). The Loose Density Zone (300) covers between 20% to 40% of the bottom surface area (60). The Transition Density Zone covers between 30% to 50% of the first layer top surface area (85). The Compact Density Zone covers between 40% to 70% of the second layer top surface area (105). Organic and animal waste is received into the container (10) and is circulated with gases (140) released and contained in the container (10) by a top cover (40). Gases (140) are removed for storage or combustion via at least one top cover vent (170).

The treatment of organic and or animal wastes with digesters is known in the prior art including U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,287 to Tracy; U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,592,761 and 6,428,691 to Wofford; U.S. Pat. No. 6,811,701 to Wilkie; U.S. Pat. No. 3,402,103 to Amberg, et al; U.S. Pat. No. 3,928,701 to Roehner.
The patents referred to herein are provided herewith in an Information Disclosure Statement in accordance with 37 CFR 1.97.

Organic and animal waste effluent treatment


Apparatuses are disclosed for providing directional control of bore drilling equipment. In an embodiment, the apparatus includes a hydraulic pump having an input shaft for receiving an input torque from a drill pipe and being connected in use to a drilling head. In addition, the apparatus includes control arrangement for varying the rate of fluid flow through the pump. The control arrangement includes a closed loop oil-filled system including the hydraulic pump and a main valve. Oil from the pump is routed through the main valve before returning to a pump input. In addition, the control arrangement includes an orifice control system which is operable to control the position of the main valve in response to an input signal from a control processor.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for providing directional control of bore drilling equipment and a method of providing directional control of bore drilling equipment.
In the drilling of bore holes, it is known to provide a drill pipe or "string" linked at an upstream end to a surface drilling rig. At a downstream end, the drill pipe is connected to a drilling head or a bottom hole assembly, commonly referred to as a BHA. In early drilling arrangements, the rotating drive of the drilling rig was rigidly connected to the drill bit directly via the drill pipe, and control of bore hole direction was very limited. Attempts to control direction were made via mechanical wedges (Whipstocks) and these were often positioned by drill pipe mechanical manipulation.
Further advances in directional control used downhole mud driven motors with bent housings connected to the downhole end of the drill pipe. In this arrangement, the roll orientation of these motors is controlled by the drill pipe. The mud motors have a reaction torque which is taken via the drill pipe back to the surface drilling rig. With this configuration, bore hole deviation is controlled by manipulating the fixed drill pipe torsional position at the surface rig. This drilling arrangement uses a stationary drill pipe. This type of system is limited in extended reach drilling by the effect of longitudinal friction between non-rotating drill pipe and the bore hole.
A further development was to provide a mechanism for changing the orientation of the drilling head in situ in the bore hole. The drilling head (or BHA) is rotatably connected with respect to the downhole end of the drill pipe, and an example of such an arrangement is disclosed in the Applicant's earlier patent GB1268938.
Rotary steerable drilling systems are known, for example, in WO2011/160027; EP1024245; and EP2559841. In these rotary steerable drilling systems the drill pipe input is directly connected to the drilling motor or the drill bit. The drilling system steering is effected by surrounding the drill pipe input shaft by assemblies generally known as a bias unit. The bias units are often hydraulic driven assemblies and a hydraulic pump is used to power them. The hydraulic pump may be powered by a mud turbine, electric motor or by some other suitable known mechanical drive.
The applicant has previously proposed an arrangement for controlling the orientation of a BHA in which a motor is provided for driving the drill but. The drilling reaction torque is reacted against the drill pipe by control means. One arrangement includes a clutch for locking the head against rotation with respect to the drill pipe, the latter being held non-rotative in use. Another arrangement includes a torque converter, such a pump with variable loading, coupled to the drill pipe to be driven thereby, the drill pipe being continuously rotated from the surface in use.
An alternative method to provide directional control in bore drilling developed by the Applicant is described in GB0602623.1 and GB0712874.7. These devices include slipping clutch mechanizations mounted between the drill pipe and the drill head, such that torque from the drill pipe can be controllable applied to the drill head by varying the engagement of the clutch. These devices do not use the basic pump mechanization described above.
The current advancements in extended reach bore drilling use BHA arrangements running on rotating drill pipes and control information may be transmitted by variation of drill pipe rotational speed.
One problem with these systems is a torsional oscillatory motion called sticks slip. This motion cause difficulties in the control of rotary steerable systems and may involve excessive stress or even mechanical failures.
Typically during bore hole drilling, continuous measurements are sent from the downhole end to the control station at the surface. The drilling process involves alternating between drilling ahead (straight through drilling) and path correction drilling.
In straight-though drilling mode, with the BHA at a fixed angular position, maximum torque is applied to rotate the drill pipe to advance the down stream end of the drilling assembly to produce a straight bore. After a period of straight-through drilling, the drill pipe is halted and surveys are taken which give an indication of the current course with respect to intended course. If the current course corresponds to the intended course, the drilling continues in straight-through mode for a further defined period, before halting and surveying again. If the current position is off-course, then BHA position is adjusted accordingly and the drilling assembly is driven with a stationary (non-rotating) drill pipe in a course correction mode. Operation of the drill assembly in the course correction mode (with a stationary drill pipe) is extremely difficult and requires a high level of operator expertise. After a further period of drilling the drilling is halted, further surveys are taken and evaluated to determine whether further course adjustment is required or whether straight-through drilling can be resumed. If no deviation is required, straight through drilling is resumed in which the drill pipe is rotated with the BHA.
Embodiments of the invention seek to provide an apparatus which overcome some or all of these problems.

Apparatus for providing directional control of bore drilling equipment


The present invention provides an information recording medium having a liquid crystal phase, which can be repeatedly used. In an information recording medium where an information recording layer comprising a liquid crystal phase and a resin phase is laminated on an electrode, a mixture containing a smectic liquid crystal having good memory property and a liquid crystal having low memory property is used as the liquid crystal phase, the information recorded on the liquid crystal disappears as time elapses without being heated and the information recording medium can be repeatedly used for further information recording.

The present invention relates to an information recording medium comprising an information recording layer, which has a liquid crystal phase and a resin phase, and in particular to an information recording medium, in which information recorded on the information recording medium can be easily erased and the same information recording medium can be repeatedly used. The invention also relates to an information recording apparatus using such an information recording medium.
The present applicants have previously proposed an information recording medium, and an information recording apparatus and an information recording method using said information recording medium in Japanese Patent Publications Laid-Open 5-165005 and 6-130347. This information recording medium in the previous applications has an information recording layer laminated on an electrode, said information recording layer is formed by a polymer dispersion type liquid crystal, which comprises a resin phase and a liquid crystal phase. Using a UV-setting resin as the resin phase of the information recording layer, the UV-setting resin particles are filled and dispersed in the liquid crystal phase and surface of the information recording layer is used as a skin layer of the UV-setting resin. The invention also provides an information recording apparatus and an information recording method, in which said information recording medium is placed face-to-face to an optical sensor having a photoconductive layer laminated on an electrode, and by image exposure and voltage application, an image is formed on the information recording medium.
Further, to reproduce the recorded information after information has been recorded, an information recording apparatus having an information reproducing unit on it was also filed as Japanese Patent Application 6-119053. Also, an information recording apparatus having a mechanism to erase the recorded information by heating has been proposed.
In the information recording layer as described above, the surface is formed by a resin layer only. As a result, no bleeding phenomenon of the liquid crystal occurs, and noiseless recording can be performed in the information recording using a photoelectric sensor. Because this information recording layer retains the recorded information after the voltage applied on the electrode has been removed, the liquid crystal phase contains liquid crystal with smectic property to a great extent, and an information recording medium having an information recording layer to stably maintain the recorded information has been used. Taking an example, a liquid crystal mixture is used, which contains a liquid crystal having nematic property and a liquid crystal having smectic property in mixing ratio of 5/95-20/80.
However, strong memory property is generated and continuously retained unless it is heated above the isotropic phase transition temperature, and it is necessary to heat to higher than the isotropic phase transition temperature in order to erase the recorded information and to repeatedly utilize the same information recording medium. For this reason, in an information recording apparatus using the above information recording medium, it is necessary to provide a heating mechanism, which can heat the information recording medium sufficiently to erase the recorded information because the information recording medium has strong memory property and the information recording medium is repeatedly used by erasing the recorded information.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an information recording medium, by which it is possible to record information by an electrode laminated on an information recording layer by information exposure, to easily erase the recorded information, and to repeatedly use it as the information recording medium.

Information recording medium and information recording apparatus


A user is provided with means to sample memory hierarchy via software. This allows a user to enhance memory-level parallelism via software. A status of information needed for execution of a second computer program instruction is read in response to execution of a first computer program instruction. Execution continues with execution of the second computer program instruction upon the status being a first status. Alternatively, a third computer program instruction is executed upon the status being a second status different from the first status. Thus, execution of the first computer program instruction allows control of the memory hierarchy, which in turn give the user control of the memory hierarchy.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to enhancing performance of processors, and more particularly to methods for enhancing memory level parallelism.
2. Description of Related Art
Many modern processors attempt to exploit instruction-level parallelism to enhance performance. One common approach is to use dynamic scheduling for out-of-order execution and out-of-order completion for non data-dependent operations.
Typically, a processor 170 used a scoreboard 173 to monitor instructions in flight and to provide status information for each instruction waiting to be dispatched. Typically, once all the source operands were available in a register file 171 or directly from a functional unit and the required functional unit(s) of functional units 172A to 172D were available, as indicated by scoreboard 173, the instruction was dispatched for execution. This centralized the decision-making.
Out-of-order execution exposes more instruction level parallelism to reduce the execution time of source program 130. In out-of-order execution, a number of sequential instructions are fetched into a window where the instructions are executed according only to data dependencies, potentially out-of-order with respect to sequential order.
Exploiting instruction-level parallelism via out-of-order execution facilitated rapid processor performance improvements during the past decade. Continuing this performance growth requires larger and wider instruction windows. However, processor performance is outstripping memory performance and so greater instruction-level parallelism may not result in the expected performance benefits.
Typically, for memory intensive workloads with heavy pointer chasing, for example, sequential cache-misses dominate the overall execution time and enhanced instruction-level parallelism would not result in much, if any, improvement in processor performance in such situations. It has been recognized that memory-level parallelism is needed to significantly reduce execution times for such memory intensive workloads. In fact, memory-level parallelism is currently the number one target for a variety of techniques such as on-chip multiprocessor (CMP), coarse-grained multithreading (CMT), hardware scout, which uses multithreaded capability to scan ahead in the instruction stream to look for opportunities to prefetch data and speculatively traverse an instruction path, deep instruction windows, execute ahead, etc.
Unfortunately, all of these techniques are implemented in hardware and so are typically not accessible to software. Consequently, the software programmer cannot control the memory hierarchy or access to information concerning the memory hierarchy. This makes it difficult to enhance memory-level parallelism via software.

Method and structure for explicit software control using scoreboard status information


There is provided a printer including: a head including head chips; a conveyor; and a controller. The head chips are arranged in an intersecting direction that intersects with a conveyance direction, and two head chips adjacent to each other in the intersecting direction are shifted from each other in the conveyance direction. The controller is configured to execute: print a bar code having a first portion and a second portion; determine based on the printing data whether a seam between the two head chips is positioned in the first portion; and adjust a printing position of the bar code with respect to the head so that the seam is positioned in the second portion.

The present disclosure relates to a printer, a control method of a printer, and a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a control program of a printer.
In a publicly-known printer, when a line head has a defective printing element, a group of printing elements capable of printing a bar code normally are retrieved, and the bar code is printed by using them.

Printer, control method of printer, and non-transitory computer readable medium storing control program of printer


A composition of matter is provided comprising a catalytic mixture resulting from contacting at least one of each of the following compounds, an pyridine compound, a clay compound, and an organo-nickel compound. Additionally, a process is provided comprising contacting, under polymerization conditions, at least one alpha-olefin, with a catalytic mixture resulting from contacting at least one of each of the following compounds, an pyridine compound, a clay compound, and an organo-nickel compound.

This invention relates to the field of alpha-olefin polymerization.
Various polymerization processes are known in the art. For example, both chromium and titanium catalyst systems are known to polymerize ethylene. However, even these two popular polymerization systems do not provide solutions to all consumer demands. Consequently, research has been conducted to find new and better polymerization schemes.
One of the important polymer properties is the molecular weight of the polymer. For example, the molecular weight of polyethylene can influence the following properties of the resin: tensile strength; tear strength; low temperature toughness; softening temperature; impact strength; environmental stress crack resistance; melt fluidity; and melt drawability. Consequently, methods are constantly sought which would provide a means to control the molecular weight of a polyolefin.


A system may be configured to host a virtual space for access by users. The virtual space may be a game space in which users control one or more characters (or sets of characters) to achieve game objectives. The system may be configured such that the travel paths within the virtual world are determined dynamically. This may provide for travel which may have dynamic aspects at a lower cost than providing full interactivity between destinations.

Computer games in which a virtual space is divided into discrete places are known. Travel between the separate places by a user character may be accomplished with limited interactivity by the user character during travel. In such games, or environments, travel between destinations may be experienced by the user character as if the user character has "jumped", or teleported, from one location to another. Another example, may include a path between destinations in which the user character may travel along a narrow path having little to no interaction with the virtual space between the destinations.
Typically, this device of splitting the virtual space into separate places may be utilized to provide individual locations with deep interactivity. Travel between the separate places may be accomplished in this somewhat disjointed manner to limit the cost (e.g., in bandwidth, storage, processing, and/or other resources) associated with the regions between the separate places.

System and method for dynamically determining paths between destinations in a virtual space


A piezoelectric-driven MEMS device can be fabricated reliably and consistently. The piezoelectric-driven MEMS device includes: a movable flat beam having a piezoelectric film disposed above a substrate with a recessed portion such that the piezoelectric film is bridged over the recessed portion, piezoelectric drive mechanisms disposed at both ends of the piezoelectric film and configured to drive the piezoelectric film, and a first electrode disposed at the center of the substrate-side of the piezoelectric film, and a second electrode disposed on a flat part of the recessed portion of the substrate and facing the first electrode of the movable flat beam.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piezoelectric-driven micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) device having piezoelectric drive mechanisms using a piezoelectric thin film and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, a variable capacitor diode utilizing a change in thickness of the depletion layer of a PN junction have been used as a variable capacitor. The variable capacitor diode, however, has limited applications due to a capacitance change of only on the order of at most 5 times, and a small Q factor of on the order of 20-30 where a higher Q factor indicates less loss.
On the other hand, a variable capacitor fabricated using MEMS technology has recently attracted attention. A microswitch or a variable capacitor according to conventional MEMS technology utilizes an electrostatic force as a driving force. A MEMS device utilizing an electrostatic force has an advantage of a simple operating mechanism in which it can be operated only by applying a driving voltage to a pair of spaced electrodes (for example, see "Smart Structure and Materials 2002: Smart Electronics, MEMS and Nanotechnology", V. K. Varadan, Editor, Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 4700 (2002), pp. 40-49).
On the contrary, the electrostatic force being essentially inversely proportional to the square of the distance results in a phenomenon called pull-in in which the space is discontinuously closed within the two-third of the initial space where the relationship between the applied voltage and the travel of electrons is nonlinear. The operating range is therefore narrow and generally a driving voltage of 20 volts or greater is required to move the electrodes a distance of 1 μm or greater. Under the present situation, the problem of high driving voltage hinders the applications in general consumer products.
Consequently, a variable capacitor can be conceived which has a movable electrode of the variable capacitor on a beam supported in the air above a substrate and provided with a piezoelectric thin film, and a fixed electrode of the variable capacitor on the confronting substrate, and in which the beam is driven with a piezoelectric force to change the distance between the movable and fixed electrodes.
Conventional methods for fabricating a beam structure supported in the air using MEMS technology include a method that involves fabricating a beam structure on a Si layer of an SOI substrate and removing part of the Si layer to thereby support the beam structure in the air, and a method that involves fabricating a beam structure on a Si substrate and forming a trench penetrating through the surface of the substrate by wet etching or RIE from the back side of the substrate to thereby support the beam structure in the air. Although these methods can create a movable beam and a movable electrode, it is difficult to form a fixed opposing electrode on the underlying substrate.
Alternatively, a fixed electrode is first formed on a substrate; then a sacrificial layer is formed thereon; a movable beam and a movable electrode are then formed so that they are bridged over the sacrificial layer; and then the sacrificial layer is removed, so that a beam structure supported in the air is fabricated. In this manner, a cantilever beam or fixed beam bridge structure having bend portions on the substrate is fabricated.
In the case of a cantilever beam structure, there is a problem that a slight residual stress in the material forming the beam causes the beam to warp upward or downward, and it is thereby significantly difficult to fabricate the structure with a constant distance between the movable and fixed electrodes, resulting in inconsistent manufacturing.
In the case of a fixed beam bridge structure, the fabrication can be performed somewhat more consistent than in a cantilever beam structure. Again however, there is a problem that a compression residual stress in the film material forming the beam causes the beam to warp upward or a tensile residual stress conversely causes the beam to warp downward, and it is thereby also significantly difficult to fabricate the structure with a constant distance between the movable and fixed electrodes, resulting in inconsistent manufacturing.
Also, both the cantilever and fixed beam structures have a common reliability problem, as described later, such that drive electrodes forming the piezoelectric drive mechanism are cut and shifted or the beam is cracked at the bent structures formed on the corners of the sacrificial layer.

Piezoelectric-driven MEMS device and method for manufacturing the same