An oxide superconductor current lead in which generation of Joule heat at joint portions with a system side conductor and a power supply side conductor is reduced with use of an oxide superconductor with less heat penetration into a super conducting equipment system is provided. A columnar oxide superconductor molten bodies (interelectrode superconductor 260, in-electrode superconductors 280a and 280b) are produced, the in-electrode superconductor 280a and a left end portion of the interelectrode superconductor 260 are placed into a power supply side metallic electrode 210, and the in-electrode superconductor 280b and a right end portion of the interelectrode superconductor 260 are similarly placed in a system side metallic electrode 211, then degassed joining metal is used to join them to form an oxide superconductor current lead 201, a power supply side conductor 5 from a power supply is joined to the power supply side metallic electrode 210, and a system side conductor 202 from a superconducting system side is joined to the system side metallic electrode 211 with use of respective clamps 203a and 203b.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an oxide superconductor current lead to be used when supplying a current to a superconducting system used in an MRI, linear, SMES and the like, and to a method of manufacturing the same, and a superconducting system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A current lead, which is used when a large current is supplied to superconducting equipment such as a superconducting magnet, is for supplying a current of several hundreds to several thousands amperes to a cryogenic superconducting system from a power supply in a room temperature region. As the current lead, a copper wire with a low electrical resistance value is conventionally used. However, when the copper wire is used as a current lead, and a predetermined large current is passed through this, Joule heat is generated. Then, when a copper wire with a large wire diameter is used to reduce generation of Joule heat, heat penetration due to thermal conduction occurs to a side of the super conducting system via the copper wire having the large wire diameter, this time. As a result, power loss of a cryocooler and loss of a He gas as a refrigerant due to the heat penetration become serious. Thus, it is proposed in Patent Document 1 to include an oxide superconductor, which does not generate Joule heat even if a large current is passed through it, in the middle of this current lead.
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Utility Model Laid-open No. 63-200307
Recently, development of superconductivity application equipment is advanced, and the level of the performance demanded of the oxide superconductor current leads becomes high, as a result of which, less heat penetration from the outside is demanded in addition to capability of passing a larger current, and less generation of Joule heat.
Here, the following factors are considered as the factors of Joule heat generation.
1) There is heat generation caused by contact resistance of joint portions of the oxide superconductor in the oxide superconductor current lead and metallic electrodes. The heat generation occurs because the oxide superconductor used for the oxide superconductor current lead is made of ceramics and has unfavorable joinability with metal, and thus the electric resistance (hereinafter, described as contact resistance) which cannot be ignored occurs to joint surfaces with the metallic electrodes (generally, a copper electrodes are used). Consequently, when a predetermined current is passed through the oxide superconductor current lead, heat is generated.
2) There is heat generation caused by resistance of the metallic electrodes themselves.
3) There is heat generation caused by contact resistance, following the transfer of a current at the joint portion of a mating conductor drawn out of the superconducting system side (hereinafter, described as the system side conductor) and the metallic electrode.
4) There is heat generation caused by contact resistance following the transfer of a current at the joint portion of a mating conductor drawn out of the power supply side (hereinafter, described as the power supply side conductor) and the metallic electrode.
Consequently, in order to reduce the value of the aforementioned contact resistance, interposing silver between the oxide superconductor and the copper electrodes in the form of the silver coat was tried first. Namely, paying attention to the fact that the contact resistance value between silver and the oxide superconductor is lower than the contact resistance value between copper and the oxide superconductor, silver foil is crimped to, a silver paste material is coated on, or silver is attached by thermal-spraying to the oxide superconductor, thereafter this is baked to be made silver coat, and this oxide superconductor with the silver coat and the copper electrodes are joined by using joining metal such as, for example, solder to form the oxide superconductor current lead.
However, as a result that a current passed through the current lead increases, generating Joule heat is not be ignorable with the current lead using the aforementioned oxide superconductor with the silver coat. Consequently, in order to reduce generation of Joule heat as passing a predetermined current though the current lead, the oxide superconductor is upsized, and the contact area with the copper electrodes is made larger.
As a result, though generation of Joule heat can be reduced, it becomes necessary to upsize the oxide superconductor to take the contact area of the oxide superconductor and the copper electrodes, and heat penetration from the high temperature side to the low temperature side is increased via the upsized oxide superconductor.
Thus, the oxide superconductor current lead as shown in, for example, FIG. 6 is considered.
In an oxide superconductor current lead 100 shown in FIG. 6, copper electrodes 120 as metallic electrodes are connected to both sides of a rare-earth based oxide superconductor 110 produced by the melting method, which is capable of passing a large current even with a small sectional area. Both end portions 112 of the rare-earth based oxide superconductor 110 have large sectional areas, but a central portion 111 has a small sectional area. Meanwhile, in the copper electrodes 120, contact portions 121 in contact with both the end portions 112 of the oxide superconductor are scraped to wrap up the both end portions 112, so that both of them can secure the large contact area.
This oxide conductor current lead 100 can restrain both the generation of Joule heat, and heat penetration from a high temperature side to a low temperature side even if a predetermined current is passed through it.
However, in the rare-earth based oxide superconductor produced by the melting method, which is suitable for the current lead among the oxide superconductors, it is difficult to produce a molded body with only a central portion being constricted to be slim as shown in FIG. 6. For this reason, in order to produce an oxide superconductor in such a shape, it is firstly necessary to produce a rare-earth based oxide superconductor in a rectangular parallelepiped shape of a size capable of securing a sufficient contact area with the metallic electrodes, and next, it is necessary to take a step of making a sectional area small by performing cutting work for the central portion in order to reduce heat penetration via the rare-earth based oxide superconductor. However, with this method, when a predetermined current value passed through the oxide superconductor current lead is large, a large-sized rare-earth based oxide superconductor is produced, and the large-sized rare-earth based oxide superconductor has to be cut large, thus reducing yields of the rare-earth based oxide superconductor and requiring a large number of man-hours. Further, the portions of the metallic electrodes are upsized, and therefore it is difficult to reduce the size of the entire oxide superconductor current lead.
Further, it has been considered that the contact resistance values at the joint portions of the metallic electrode and the system side conductor, and the metallic electrode and the power supply side conductor are reduced if the joint areas in the joint portions are made large. However, the problem that the reduction effect of the contact resistance value remains small even if the aforesaid joint area is only made large.
Thus, improvement in the joining method in the joint portions of the metallic electrodes, and the system side conductor and the power supply side conductor is tried by using different methods from the aforementioned silver coat interposal, and upsizing of the contact areas of the oxide superconductor and the copper electrodes, and various methods such as welding, brazing, crimping with various kinds of plating treatment being applied to the joint interfaces of both of them, and crimping with soft metal such as In flake at room temperature or the like being sandwiched between the joint interfaces of both of them have been carried out.
However, if the methods of heating the joint portions, such as welding and brazing are adopted for improvement in joining, thermal load is applied to the oxide superconductor in the current lead, as a result of which, the phenomenon that the oxide superconductor becomes rid of oxygen occurs, and the characteristics of the oxide superconductor are sometimes deteriorated. Further, even if the joint portions are welded or the like, variations in the contact resistance value in the joint interface of both of them cannot be restrained completely, and when a large current is passed, a drift current occurs to cause an increase in the contact resistance value.
When soft metal at room temperature, such as an. In flake or the like is sandwiched in the joint interface of the metallic electrode and the system side conductor and crimped or the like, variations in the contact resistance value in the joint interface of both of them cannot be restrained completely, and when a large current is passed, a drift current occurs to cause an increase in the contact resistance value.
Consequently, the object which the present invention is to attain is to provide an oxide superconductor current lead in which generation of Joule heat at joint spots with a system side conductor and a power supply side conductor is reduced, with use of an oxide superconductor with less heat penetration to a superconducting equipment system.

Oxide superconductor current lead and method of manufacturing the same, and superconducting system


The present invention relates to a microfluidic chip for measuring the magnetic susceptibility of a superparamagnetic nanoparticle droplet and a method for measuring magnetic susceptibility using the same. According to the invention, the magnetic susceptibility of a superparamagnetic nanoparticle can be continuously and accurately measured in a flowing fluid using a microfluidic chip including microfluidic channels.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microfluidic chip for measuring the magnetic susceptibility of a superparamagnetic nanoparticle bead and droplet and a method for measuring magnetic susceptibility using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Superparamagnetic nanoparticle beads have been used in magnetic biosensors to detect the biomaterials to be analyzed. The superparamagnetic nanoparticle beads are materials which show magnetic properties upon the application of an external magnetic field, but lose the magnetic properties when the magnetic field is removed. Using the properties of such superparamagnetic nanoparticle beads, magnetic biosensors can detect biomaterials in liquid media, classify the type of biomaterial, and provide information on the position of the biomaterials. Thus, the magnetic properties of the superparamagnetic nanoparticle beads play an important role in determining the abilities of the biosensors, such as the ability to diagnose and resolve the biomaterial to be analyzed, and the ability to transport biomaterials.
The superparamagnetic nanoparticle beads are characterized in that they are magnetized by an externally applied magnetic field to produce a stray magnetic field (Hstray). For this reason, when the superparamagnetic nanoparticle beads are present around a sensor, the total effective magnetic field (Heff) in the sensor can be determined by the sum of vectors of an externally applied magnetic field (Happ) and an induced magnetic field generated from the superparamagnetic nanoparticle beads magnetized by the externally applied magnetic field (Happ).
Thus, using the characteristic in that a magnetic field in a magnetic biosensor changes depending on the presence or absence of superparamagnetic nanoparticle beads, the magnetic biosensor can sense magnetic resistance caused by the change of the magnetic field to detect the biomaterial to be analyzed.
The superparamagnetic nanoparticle beads are generally in a form in which superparamagnetic nanoparticles such as iron oxide (Fe3O4) or γ-iron oxide (γ-Fe2O3) nanoparticles are dispersed on spherical polymer matrices, and have a very small volume, and thus magnetic signals generated therefrom are also very fine. Accordingly, studies on the effective detection of magnetic signals from the superparamagnetic nanoparticle beads have been conducted.
Conventional methods for measuring the magnetic properties of superparamagnetic nanoparticle beads, such as their magnetic susceptibility, magnetic field dependence and saturation magnetization, include a method employing a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID), a method employing a vibrating sample magnetometer, and the like.
PCT Patent Application No. PCT/US00/007829 discloses a method for measuring the magnetic susceptibility of a magnetic material using a superconducting quantum interference device. Specifically, PCT Patent Application No. PCT/US00/007829 discloses a method for measuring the magnetic susceptibility of a magnetic material using an apparatus comprising a superconducting material disposed on a flexible metallic substrate, a permanent magnet for applying a magnetic field, a superconducting quantum interference device, and a magnetic flux transformer. The above method has disadvantages in that, because the superconducting quantum interference device is used, a large number of control elements for performing the process are used, the method is not suitable for use for point-of-care testing due to elements that are used at very low temperatures, and high costs are incurred.
In addition, the method for measuring the magnetic susceptibility of superparamagnetic nanoparticle beads using a vibrating sample magnetometer comprises forming a strong magnetic field in a system to magnetize a sample, and measuring the susceptibility of the sample while vibrating the sample upward and downward. This method is not suitable for use for point-of-care testing, because it consumes a large amount of power.
In the above measurement methods, the magnetic susceptibility of a sample is measured using a nanoparticle bead cluster, which has a volume of about 100 μg and comprises 10,000 or more nanoparticles. Thus, in the above methods, the magnetic susceptibility of the nanoparticle bead cluster is measured, and the magnetic susceptibility of the nanoparticles is deduced from the results of the measurement. For this reason, there are limitations in the quantitative measurement or high-sensitivity measurement of each nanoparticle bead.
Meanwhile, with respect to methods for measuring the magnetic properties of a sample using superparamagnetic nanoparticle beads, studies as described below have been reported. For example, the literature [G. Mihajlovic, K. Aledealat, P. Xiong, S. v. Molnar, M. Field, G. J. Sullivan, "Magnetic characterization of a single superparamagnetic bead by phase-sensitive micro-Hall magnetometry", Appl. Phys. Lett. 91 (2007) 172518] discloses a method of measuring the magnetic susceptibility of a superparamagnetic nanoparticle bead having a diameter of 1.2 μm, in which the magnetic susceptibility of the superparamagnetic nanoparticle bead is measured using a micro-sized semiconductor Hall sensor, in which the sensor element does not produce an induced magnetic field. Specifically, in this method, the magnetic susceptibility of the nanoparticle bead in a region to which a low magnetic field is applied is formulated by the Langevin function, and its value is obtained by fitting a curve to the Hall sensor output voltage versus an externally applied magnetic field, with the fitting parameters being the distribution median and the constituent magnetic nanoparticles. This method is characterized in that the curve of the Hall sensor output voltage versus the externally applied magnetic field is well fitted, because a single bead sample is used, unlike the method that uses the nanoparticle bead cluster as a sample.
In addition, magnetic sensors are used in various fields to sense magnetic fields, store data, sense the position of proximity switches, sense speed, and sense electric currents.
Magnetoresistive sensors have high sensitivity even in a very low magnetic field at room temperature and can be used to sense biomolecules (P. P. Freitas, R. Ferreria, S. Cardoso and F. Cardoso, "Magnetoresistive sensors", J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 19, 165221 (2007), D. L. Graham, H. A. Ferreira and P. P. Freitas, "Magnetoresistive-based biosensors and biochips", Trends Biotechnol. 22, 455 (2004), B. Srinivasan, Y. Li, Y. Jing, Y. Xu, X. Yao, C. Xing and J. Wang, "A detection system based on giant magnetoresistive sensors and high-moment magnetic nanoparticles demonstrates zeptomole sensitivity: potential for personalized medicine" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 48, 2764 (2009), R. S. Gaster, L. Xu, S. Han, R. J. Wilson, D. A. Hall, S. J. Osterfeld, H. Yu and S. X. Wang, "Quantification of Protein Interactions and Solution Transport Using High-Density GMR Sensor Arrays" Nature Nanotech. 6, 314 (2011), R. S. Gaster, D. A. Hall, C. H. Nielsen, S. J. Osterfeld, H. Yu, K. E. Mach, R. J. Wilson, B. Murmann, J. C. Liao, S. S. Gambhir and S. X. Wang, "Matrix-insensitive protein assays push the limits of biosensors in medicine", Nature Med. 15, 1327 (2009), Y. Li, B. Srinviasan, Y. Jing, X. Yao, M. A. Hugger, J. Wang and C. Xing, "Nanomagnetic competition assay for low-abundance protein biomarker quantification in unprocessed human sera", J. Am. Chem. Soc. 132, 4388 (2010)). When a protein, an antibody or a nucleic acid is attached to nanoparticles or nanoparticle beads which are immobilized onto the surface of magnetic sensors, it can assist in finding molecules. Many types of magnetic nanoparticles perform roles such as biological labels in colloidal suspensions and can be integrated according to functions and application fields (D. L. Graham, H. A. Ferreira and P. P. Freitas, "Magnetoresistive-based biosensors and biochips", Trends Biotechnol. 22, 455 (2004)). Superparamagnetic nanoparticles having a size of 10 nm have no remnant magnetism and show good dispersibility. Magnetic fluids are stable colloidal suspensions of magnetic nanoparticles.
Most initial studies were focused on improving the detection limit of magnetic sensors in magnetic fields. Many kinds of sensors have been developed, including giant magnetoresistive (GMR) sensors, anisotropic magnetoresistive (AMR) sensors, semiconductor Hall sensors, planar Hall resistive (PHR) sensors, and magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) (D. L. Graham, H. A. Ferreira and P. P. Freitas, "Magnetoresistive-based biosensors and biochips", Trends Biotechnol. 22, 455 (2004)). These sensors can sense even single magnetic nanoparticle beads and include semiconductor Hall sensors (P. Besse, G. Boero, M. Demierre, V. Pott and R. Popovic, "Detection of a single magnetic microbead using a miniaturized silicon Hall sensor", Appl. Phys. Lett. 80, 4199 (2002)), magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) (W. Shen, X. Liu, D. Mazumdar and G. Xiao, "In situ detection of single micron-sized magnetic beads using magnetic tunnel junction sensors", Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 253901 (2005)), and planar Hall effect sensors (L. Ejsing, M. F. Hansen, A. K. Menon, H. A. Ferreira, D. L. Graham and P. P. Freitas, "Planar Hall effect sensor for magnetic micro- and nanobead detection", Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 4729 (2004)). Measurement systems have developed toward the use of a lock-in amplifier to increase signal-to-noise ratio.
For application to biosensors, systems comprising a magnetic sensor integrated with a microfluidic system (P. Besse, G. Boero, M. Demierre, V. Pott and R. Popovic, "Detection of a single magnetic microbead using a miniaturized silicon Hall sensor", Appl. Phys. Lett. 80, 4199 (2002)) have been developed. When magnetic nanoparticle beads and nanoparticles are exposed on the sensor, a magnetic signal is measured as an electrical signal. The sensor integrated with the microfluidic system can sense the nanoparticles and nanobeads that flow.
When a valve, a pump and a mixer together with a magnetic sensor are added to a microfluidic system, an automated and complex analysis system can be developed.
Magnetic fluids have been widely used in experiments on the performance of magnetic materials (L. Ejsing, M. F. Hansen, A. K. Menon, H. A. Ferreira, D. L. Graham and P. P. Freitas, "Planar Hall effect sensor for magnetic micro- and nanobead detection", Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 4729 (2004)). Most reported magnetic fluid signals had problems in that slowly flowing signals were sensed, the sensed signals were weak, and the time resolution of the signals was also poor.
Accordingly, the present inventor has developed a microfluidic chip including a planar Hall resistive sensor and has found a method for measuring the magnetic susceptibility of a superparamagnetic nanoparticle bead and droplet in a flowing magnetic fluid using the microfluidic chip, thereby completing the present invention.

Microfluidic chip for susceptibility of superparamagnetic nanoparticles of bead and droplet types and measuring method for susceptibility using the same

The Industry & Academic Cooperation in Chungnam National University (IAC)


A cash recycler or other currency handling device includes an integrated controller located within the cash recycler. The integrated controller provides enhanced security and compatibility in cash recycler or other currency handling devices. For example, by using an integrated controller that is pre-configured according to the components of the cash handling device, no additional configuration may be needed and compatibility issues may be reduced or eliminated altogether. In addition, the controller may include a user interface, such as a touch-sensitive display, for receiving user input regarding cash transactions at the cash handling device.

Cash flow refers to the movement of cash over a particular time period within a business or enterprise. The calculation of cash flow may be used as one measure to gauge financial health of the business. Managers in charge of cash flow management may use various tools to assist in making decisions involving cash flow including cash recyclers which allow a retail establishment to maintain and re-use an amount of currency on-site. The cash recycler may further calculate and manage use of cash flows in real-time.
While cash recyclers allow a business to manage their cash flows in a more seamless manner, recyclers often include additional peripheral devices and components that require additional space for storage and require compatibility between the cash recycler and the peripheral device. For instance, cash recyclers generally include a controller that is an external component (e.g., a separate computer) connected to the cash recycler. External controllers require additional space for storage and may require additional labor and knowledge during installation, configuration and operation to ensure compatibility between the controller and the cash recycler. In addition, the external controller requires separate security features to maintain the security of the controller and the transactions associated with it.

Cash handling device having integrated controller


A method and system for logging voice quality issues for a communication connection includes receiving a signal for logging quality information for a voice connection at an endpoint of the voice connection. Voice samples are collected from the voice connection at the endpoint. The voice samples are stored in an error log at the endpoint.

Telephones and other communications devices for sending audio information through the public switched telephone network (PSTN) have existed for a substantial period of time and are well understood. Recently, however, telephones have been created that exchange audio information through packet switched networks such as the Internet. These telephones use a digitized format that breaks down audio information into discrete Internet protocol (IP) packets. These voice over IP (VoIP) packets are sent and received through the packet switched network.
Exchanging audio information through a packet switched network presents a variety of problems. For example, errors in the packet transmission may result in echo, scratchy audio, dropped calls, delay and jitter in the audio string. These problems are compounded by the inability to debug intermittent voice quality issues in VoIP systems. Methods of notifying a repair staff are ineffective because users are unable to convey relevant information, such as the delay, and/or volume of an echo or the frequency of a buzz. Furthermore, often critical information is completely unavailable to the user, such as operating statistics. As long as the voice quality of VoIP is perceived to be inferior to the voice quality of traditional telephony systems, users will remain reluctant to employ VoIP systems.
Previous attempts to solve these problems include allowing a user to initiate a one-second recording of a call by depressing a certain series of buttons on a telephone keypad. This and other functionality using network-based resources was not completely effective in that the particular second of audio recorded may not have been the same audio in which the user was experiencing a problem or may not have provided an accurate representation of the audio the user was experiencing.

Method and system for logging voice quality issues for communication connections


A hybrid power conversion system (60) for an air conditioned transport vehicle (24) including a plurality of refrigeration components (52, 54, 56) for heating and/or cooling a refrigerated volume (40). Also included is a battery (62) storing electrical power to be provided to at least one of the plurality of refrigeration components (52, 54, 56). Further included is at least one supplemental power source (68, 70, 72, 76) providing electrical power to the battery (62) to provide a total available DC power for the refrigeration components (52, 54, 56). Yet further included is a power converter (64) converting the total available DC power to a total AC power, the total AC power provided to at least one of the plurality of refrigeration components (52, 54, 56).

Exemplary embodiments pertain to refrigerated transport vehicles and, more particularly, to a hybrid power conversion system for a refrigerated transport vehicle.
Transport refrigeration unit (TRU) systems are employed to condition one or more compartments within a trailer. The compartment(s) is used to contain perishable products that are to be maintained at or proximate a desired temperature during storage and/or transportation of the trailer. The TRU typically requires an engine to power one or more refrigeration components, such as a compressor. The engine requires fuel during operation. Pending or existing regulations in certain regions may restrict where diesel engines may be operated and impose fuel consumption restrictions. Therefore, alternative power sources for TRU systems may be beneficial.

Hybrid power conversion system for a refrigerated transport vehicle and method


An inhaling device for treating the lungs and respiratory tracts of humans or animals has a pressurized gas source, an atomizer connected to the gas source in a pressure conveying manner, a mouthpiece connected to the atomizer, and a spent gas flue. A valve for periodically interrupting the flow of exhaled air is provided in the region of the spent gas flue. The valve is activated by a control unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device, in particular an inhalating device for treating the lung and the respiratory tracts of humans or animals, comprising a pressurized gas source, an atomizer connected with this in a pressure conveying manner, and a mouthpiece connected with the atomizer and a spent air flue.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A device of this type is already known from EP 0 311 770. This document describes a breathing therapy device for persons suffering from asthma or spastic bronchitis and has a housing comprising a mouthpiece, an air intake duct and an air discharge duct. The air intake duct includes a connection for an inhalating substance applicator in which a medication can be atomized. For the peak flow measurement, a standpipe leading to atmosphere comprising a floated element, the rise of which indicates the volumetric flow of the exhaled air, is connected with the air discharge duct. A valve arrangement closes the air discharge duct during inhalation and the air intake duct during exhalation.
With this kind of inhalating device, however, medications can only be administered to the respiratory tracts in a finely atomized manner or in the form of vapor without the normal flow of inhaled or exhaled air being interrupted.
Problems arise with the mucus expectoration, in particular in patients with chronic obstructive bronchitis and increased collapsibility of the respiratory tracts. However, in forced breathing maneuver, such as coughing, for example, in which mucus is to be removed from the respiratory tracts, the mucus transport is stopped as a result of the closure of a part of the bronchi.
A device for inducing artificial coughing is also known from DE 31 19 814. A treatment is conducted with such a device in which a sudden pressure drop is induced in the respiratory tracts of the patient to generate a flow of exhaled air with the strength of a strong cough. Such treatment leads to reduction in the collapse of the bronchi but on the other hand includes the disadvantage of reducing the rate of flow of breath with the resulting weaker transport force for the mucus.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a device, in particular an inhaling device of the type initially mentioned with which the transport of mucus out of the respiratory tracts of the patients can be improved.

Device in particular and inhalating device for treating the lung and the respiratory tracts


An internal combustion engine is provided with an oil filter 10 through which lubricant oil having pulsating pressure passes. The oil filter 10 has an oil filter body 11 attached to a filter base 20, and a cover 30 formed integrally with the filter base 20 and circumferentially surrounding the oil filter body 11. The cover 30 is provided with a window part 36 through which a space 35 formed between the oil filter body 11 and the cover 30 opens outward. The cover 30 has a circumferentially endless annular end wall 33 provided between the window part 36 and an end wall 33a. The cover 30 has a reinforcing member 41 provided with an opening part 46 and attached to the outside surface of the cover 30 so that the opening part 46 coincides with the window part 36 of the cover 30. The oil filter 10 can be properly cooled and sounds radiated by the oil filter 10 and the cover 30 can be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine provided with an oil filter through which lubricant oil discharged from a positive-displacement oil pump flows. More specifically, the present invention relates to an oil filter including a filter base, an oil filter body attached to the filter base, and a cover for covering the oil filter body.
2. Description of the Related Art
During the maintenance work for an oil filter including a filter base attached to an internal combustion engine and an oil filter body attached to the filter base, such as oil filter body changing work, oil leaks in some cases from the filter base. A known oil filter disclosed in, for example, JP-U 62-45315 includes a filter base provided with an oil guard or a wall to prevent the oil that has leaked from the filter base from contaminating components of the internal combustion engine placed around the filter base.
The volume of the pump chamber of a positive-displacement oil pump is varied to suck oil into and to discharge oil from the pump chamber. Therefore, the pressure of the oil in the discharge passage through which the oil discharged from the oil pump flows pulsates. An oil filter placed in the discharge passage is vibrated by the pulsating pressure of the oil and radiates noise or sound.
If a cover covering the oil filter body is enlarged to reduce the radiation of sound and to enhance the oil stopping effect of the cover, the oil filter cannot be satisfactorily cooled by air around the oil filter and by wind that flows against a vehicle provided with the internal combustion engine when the vehicle runs.
Referring to FIG. 12, when a cylindrical cover b covering an oil filter a formed integrally with a filter base is provided with an opening c extending from an open end part b2 toward a base end part b1 to allow air to flow through the cover b, corners of the edges e of the opening c are likely to be vibrated by the pulsating pressure of the oil in an oil passage formed in the filter base and the sound radiated by the oil filter a. Thus, in some cases, the cover b radiates sound.
When a component member or an engine body of an internal combustion engine is disposed near the cover b opposite to the cover b with respect to a diametrical direction, it is possible that large sound are generated by the resonance of the cover b or the component member or the engine body due to the propagation of the sound generated by the cover b and the sound radiated by the component member or the engine body in a space between the cover b and the component member or the engine body.

Internal combustion engine provided with oil filter


An embedded device includes a web interface configured to receive a request for an electronic product information (EPID) report, and send the request to a request handling service. The embedded device further includes the request handling service, configured to deploy one or more event handling components based on the request. The embedded device further includes the one or more event handling components configured to generate an EPID event cycle based on an EPID read cycle, according to an event cycle boundary condition, generate the EPID report based on the EPID event cycle, and transmit the EPID report to a client. The embedded device further includes a reader adapter configured to obtain the EPID read cycle, and transmit the EPID read cycle to the one or more event handling components.

Technologies currently exist for identifying products (i.e., physical items) electronically, using electronic identification transmissions generated by transmitters associated with the products. Identifying products electronically may be useful in a variety of situations. For example, electronic product identification may be useful for tracking the location of a product, managing product inventory, etc. Further, in some situations, it may be useful to generate an electronic product identification (EPID) report, i.e., a report providing information about products that have been electronically identified.

Method and system for generating an electronic product identification report in an embedded device


The improved thermal image recording apparatus and method have a cleaning mode in which after a specified number of image prints have been produced, the thermal head is cleaned by delivering the thermal recording material without applying energy to the thermal head or with low energy below a specified value being applied to the thermal head. The improved thermal image recording apparatus and method are capable of removing stain from the thermal head before it adheres tenaciously to the head. These offer also the advantage of eliminating the need on the part of the user to perform a special maintenance program, and the cleaning operation performed with the apparatus and the method of the invention is less noisy than in the case of using the lapping film.

This invention relates to a thermal image recording apparatus (hereunder referred to as a "thermal recording apparatus") with which an image corresponding to image data is formed on a thermal recording material (hereunder referred to as a "thermal material") using a thermal head. This invention also relates to a thermal image recording method.
Thermal materials comprising a thermal recording layer on a paper or film substrate are commonly used to record images produced in diagnosis by ultrasonic scanning. This recording method, commonly referred to as thermal image recording, eliminates the need for wet processing and offers several advantages including convenience in handling. Hence, the use of the thermal image recording system is not limited to small-scale applications such as diagnosis by ultrasonic scanning and an extension to those areas of medical diagnoses such as CT, MRI and X-ray photography where large and high-quality images are required is under review.
As is well known, the thermal recording apparatus uses the thermal head having a glaze in which heat generating elements corresponding to the number of pixels of one line are arranged in one direction and, with the glaze a little pressed against the thermal recording layer of the thermal material, the thermal material is relatively moved in a direction approximately perpendicular to the direction in which the heat generating elements are arranged, and the respective heat generating elements of the glaze are heated in accordance with the image data to be recorded to heat the thermal recording layer, thereby accomplishing image reproduction.
When the thermal material is pressed under the heated thermal head, the heat-sensitive substances, the lubricant and other substances in the thermal recording layer are fused on the surface to permit image reproduction. Hence, with the continued image recording, stain and the fusion products of the lubricant and other substances in the thermal recording layer tend to accumulate on the surface of the thermal head and unevenly recorded images will occur if the excessive accumulation of the fusion products gets stuck between the thermal material and the thermal head.
In addition, the fusion products adhering to the surface of the thermal head will gradually increase in the strength of adhesion as they are kept heated with the thermal head and in some cases, they will stick so tenaciously that they cannot be easily removed by means of liquid detergent or other cleaning solutions. If the tenacious substances are difficult to remove by the cleaning operation, the only practical way to be adopted has been to scrape off the deposits from the surface of the thermal head by a suitable means such as a lapping film having a strong abrasive effect.
The lapping film has an abrasive such as alumina particles buried in the surface of a substrate film and the deposits adhering tenaciously to the surface of the thermal head can be scraped off by delivering this lapping film in place of the thermal material. However, the abrasive effect of the lapping film is so great as to remove the protective ceramic coating on the thermal head and, hence, the thermal head will wear prematurely before the end of its expected service life.
The lapping film has the advantage of being able to remove any tenacious stain and deposits but, on the other hand, the application of the lapping film is very noisy and, hence, is not suitable in hospitals.
As a further problem, the user has to perform periodic maintenance of the thermal recording apparatus, which is simply a waste of time.

Apparatus and method for recording thermal image


A variable magnification optical system includes a relay lens group (a fifth lens group) substantially consisting of a relay front group and a relay rear group with a predetermined air space therebetween, and which is fixed during magnification change and has image formation action, and an extender lens group insertably and detachably arranged between the relay front group and the relay rear group, and which extends a focal length toward a telephoto side without changing an image formation position. The extender lens group substantially consists of a first lens group having positive refractive power and a second lens group having negative refractive power in this order from an object side. The second lens group is a cemented lens substantially consisting of a convex meniscus lens, a biconcave lens and a convex meniscus lens in this order from the object side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a variable magnification optical system and an imaging apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to a variable magnification optical system usable in a video camera, an electronic still camera and the like, and appropriate especially for a surveillance camera, and also to an imaging apparatus including the variable magnification optical system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, variable magnification optical systems for CCTV (Closed-circuit Television) were developed, as optical systems for imaging apparatuses, such as a video camera, an electronic still camera, and a surveillance camera, which use imaging devices, such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) and a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor), as recording media.
As such variable magnification optical systems for CCTV, an optical system with a built-in extender, which can extend the focal length of the optical system toward a telephoto side, has been proposed (please refer, for example, to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7(1995)-325252 (Patent Document 1), U.S. Pat. No. 6,965,481 (Patent Document 2), Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-126631 (Patent Document 3), and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20050099699 (Patent Document 4)).

Variable magnification optical system and imaging apparatus


An implantable medical device includes a controlling device for transmitting a first series of command signals, the controlling device comprising a connector block, a first lead body including at least one electrical lead, and a hermetic encasement. The hermetic encasement includes a housing defining an interior space, an electronic network housed within the interior space and configured to receive the first set of command signals from the controlling device and output a second series of command signals based on the first set of command signals, a first set of one or more feedthrough terminals extending through the housing and directly coupling the electronic network to the connector block, and a second set of one or more feedthrough terminals extending through the housing and directly coupling the electronic network to the first lead body.

An implantable medical device (IMD) is an apparatus that is typically placed inside a living body to monitor certain physiological signals and provide therapy to an organ or tissue in response to the physiological signals. An example of an IMD is an implantable cardiac device (ICD) such as a pacemaker that stimulates the heart into a contraction if the sinus node is not properly pacing such contractions. Modern cardiac devices also perform many functions beyond that of pacing. For example, some ICDs perform defibrillation and cardioversion therapies. Other ICDs are able to select among several different pacing therapies depending upon the physiologic condition of a patient's heart.
A pacemaker device, as an example of an ICD, is typically implanted in a convenient location beneath a patient's skin and in the vicinity of one or more major arteries or veins. One or more electrical leads connected to the pacemaker are typically placed on or inside the patient's heart via a convenient artery or vein. The ends of the leads are placed in contact with the inside walls or the surface of one or more chambers of the heart, depending upon the particular therapies deemed appropriate for the patient.
One or more leads are adapted to carry a current from the pacemaker to the heart tissue to stimulate the heart in one of several ways, again depending upon the particular therapy being delivered. The leads are also used for sensing the physiologic signals provided by the heart to determine when to deliver a therapeutic pulse to the heart, and the nature of the pulse, e.g., a pacing pulse or a defibrillation shock. Further, one or more catheters may be connected to the IMD to deliver drugs to various body parts for pain relief, defibrillation threshold reduction, and so forth.
Distributing a variety of leads, catheters, and medical activators about a patient's body from a single IMD is a complex procedure. Further, many lead conductors and connections to the IMD are required in order for many electrodes to be distributed. Leads and connections are expensive and increase the overall IMD size. Further, as the number of leads extending from a central device increases, the overall system reliability is reduced.
Another type of IMD includes a plurality of leads for applying a pain therapy stimulus to various body areas such as the spinal column or the brain. For example, chronic pain originating in the lower back is a quite common ailment, and spinal cord stimulation is an accepted therapy for such pain. However, physicians have found that it can be difficult to properly position the spinal cord stimulation (SCS) lead to achieve good pain relief for lower back pain. Nerve fibers associated with lower back pain are only close to the dorsal column surface of the spinal cord for a short distance and are consequently difficult to locate. Physicians who consider properly treating lower back pain must develop an effective SCS technique and must learn to manipulate a stimulating lead with unusual skill and patience. Such a technique often involves implanting a stimulating device and carefully positioning at least one stimulating lead into a patient's spinal area. Even if the technique is performed properly, the leads may need to be repositioned over time. Repositioning the stimulating leads is typically an invasive surgical procedure that carries risks and requires great patience, care, and skill.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a simple and cost efficient system for distributing leads and associated medical activators from an IMD to one or more body locus. In addition, it is desirable to reduce the number of components associated with an IMD and thereby improve the reliability of the IMD and the associated system. It is further desirable to provide a system for non-invasively relocating an electrical field after the system is implanted. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Implantable medical device including a hermetic connector block extension


Terminals are connected via cables in a star-shaped fashion with respect to a HUB in a LAN. Each of the cables includes therein signal lines and power feed lines. The HUB includes therein a power feed section. The power feed section and the power feed lines of each cable are connected to measure a value of current which flows in the power feed lines. If it is judged based on the measured current value that the terminal connected to the corresponding cable is a telephone terminal, the power feeding to the corresponding power feed lines is continued. On the other hand, if the terminal is judged to be a terminal other than the telephone terminal, the power feeding is stopped.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for feeding the power to a telephone terminal/terminals connected to a LAN (Local Area Network).
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the so-called downsizing has been rapidly developed in the information processing field. For facilitating the downsizing, technology of LAN's has been developed for achieving distributed processing or horizontal distributed processing using a plurality of work stations or personal computers. Simultaneously, technology of LAN telephone terminals adapted for the LAN environment has also been developed. In this case, it is important to realize a power feeding system for the LAN telephone terminals.
Specifically, in transmission lines forming the LAN environment, data signals are flowing. Thus, it is difficult to use those transmission lines as power feed lines as in the public network. In particular, this is almost impossible in Ethernet LAN's wherein Manchester codes having no DC components are used as transmission codes. As is known in the art, the Manchester code is a code whose polarity is inverted at the center of a bit sequence so as to define a logical value of 1 or 0 by a direction of the inversion. Under the circumstances, the telephone terminals in the LAN receive the power from the commercial power source via AC adapters, respectively.
In this technique, however, since the respective telephone terminals receive the power from the commercial power source via the AC adapters, installation of the telephone terminals is troublesome. Further, every time an installed position of the telephone terminal is changed, an operator is required to make the installed position thereof clear relative to the network, thereby lacking in portability.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Power feeding system for telephone terminal in LAN


This invention discloses a system and method for extracting VF signal in ECG recorded during uninterrupted CPR. The method and system applies an adaptive algorithm incorporating the EMD and least mean square (LMS) filtering to effectively model the CPR artifacts such as chest compression signals. Thus, A VF signal in ECG recorded during uninterrupted CPR can be extracted without deteriorating the reliability of the waveform parameter (i.e. AMSA) of shockability. The present invention enables uninterrupted CPR performed during recording ECG for accessing the shockability, so that an increase the probability of successful resuscitation is achieved.

Ventricular fibrillation (VF) is the most common etiology leading to sudden cardiac death. Early defibrillation and non-interrupted Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) are the most important determinants for restoration of spontaneous circulation in patients with VF. The occurrence of VF out of hospital makes early defibrillation hard to be realized. Fortunately, the VF waveform analysis such as amplitude spectrum analysis (AMSA) could help estimate the duration of VF, determine the shockability by assessing the VF waveform as being fine or coarse, and predict the probability of successful defibrillation, and has been applied to the conventional Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) for providing early defibrillation during the occurrence of VF out of hospital.
Although studies have demonstrated interruption of CPR greatly decreases the probability of successful resuscitation, non-interrupted CPR during recording Electrocardiography (ECG) for the VF waveform analysis is still a challenge. As shown in FIG. 1, chest compression related signals appearing in ECG which are caused from the CPR are often nonstationary and nonlinear rendering the linear-based analytic methods such as Fourier or wavelet-based analysis ineffective. Even though AMSA was claimed to be estimated with no interruption of CPR, CPR artifacts such as chest compression related signals are supposed to deteriorate the reliability and accuracy of VF waveform analysis because of power leak in spectrum analysis. As a result, it is usually required to discontinue CPR during recording ECG for the current VF waveform analysis to avoid the chest compression related signals mixing in ECG.
There are many solutions to the above challenge. The conventional filtering methods such as fixed coefficient high-pass filtering and adaptive band-stop filtering are still not desirable. Therefore, persons of ordinary skill in the art are imperative to develop a new analysis method which can be applied on the ECG recorded during uninterrupted CPR to not only reconstruct the morphology of VF waveforms but also to preserve the waveform parameter (i.e. AMSA) of shockability.

Method and system for extracting ventricular fibrillation signals in electrocardiogram


A method of reading a data block from a sector of a recording media is described. The data block from the sector of the recording channel is decoded with an ECC decoder (first trial). The data block is re-decoded (second trial) using an adjusted timing recovery block that is adjusted based on the decoded data block, if the number of errors exceeded an error correction capability of the ECC decoder on the first trial. In one embodiment, the data block is reread from the same sector of the recording channel using the adjusted timing recovery block that is adjusted based on the re-decoded data block. The data block is subsequently jointly decoded with the waveforms obtained from the second trial by a possibly modified sequence detector, if the number of errors exceeded the error correction capability of the ECC decoder during the second trial.

Storage systems typically employ a number of different techniques for minimizing errors in reading from a storage media. For example, redundant symbols of an error control code are appended after each data block recorded on the storage media. The redundant symbols can be utilized to detect data block errors when the storage system attempts to read a data block. A block read fails when the number of symbol errors exceeds the capability of an error correcting code (ECC). Conventionally, when a read failure is detected by the error control code, the storage system reads the block of data a second time. Unfortunately, reread operations increase system latency and degrade system throughput, in part, due to the process of repositioning the read head and to the associated rereading of the data block.
Due to the overhead associated with reread operations, techniques have been developed to exploit the reread signals more efficiently than simply independently decoding the reread signals. One technique for exploiting the reread signals more efficiently may be referred to as a waveform averaging retrial, which is described in an article entitled "Improving Re-read Strategies by Waveform Averaging" by A. Patapoutian et al., IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 37, No. 6, November, 2001, pp. 3969-3976, and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The waveform averaging retrial technique involves-averaging the reread signal with samples obtained from the first read attempt and decoding the averaged samples. The averaging process reduces non-repeatable noise, thereby increasing the signal-to-noise ratio.
Another technique for exploiting the reread signals more efficiently may be referred to as an erasure ECC retrial, which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,389,573, entitled "Enhanced Read Retrial Scheme" and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The erasure ECC retrial generally compares the decoded results of the first read and the reread of the data to identify symbols locations for which corresponding symbols are of unequal value. At least one of the codeword copies is decoded by an error-erasure decoding operation using the identified symbol locations as erasures. By converting the errors to erasures, the ECC decoder can tolerate up to twice as many symbol errors than would ordinarily be acceptable. Thus, the retrial procedure is enhanced.
A third technique involves ECC aided bias-detection, which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,342 entitled "Disk Drive Employing a Multiple-Input Sequence Detector Responsive to Reliability Metrics to Improve a Retry Operation" and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. ECC aided bias-detection utilizes correctly decoded bits from the first read operation to bias or "guide" the sequence detection for the reread signal.
In general, there is an on-going need for improvements in the bit error rate (BER) at realistic signal-to-noise ratios without adversely impacting performance criteria, such as capacity, throughput, latency and the like. Embodiments of the present invention provide solutions to these and other problems, and offer other advantages over the prior art.

Retrial and reread methods and apparatus for recording channels


A system and method of processing an image before printing of the image by a print provider includes defining a print processing system controller having a network communication link. The print processing system controller receives a print request and a data file for the image via the network communication link, and processes the print request and the data file to determine an appropriate application for the image.

Commonly, a party can have an image reproduced for a variety of applications. The party can have the image reproduced, for example, for a poster, a mug, a T-shirt, greeting cards, etc. As such, each potential application for the image requires different print resolution and/or print quality needs. In addition, the image is often created by the customer or extracted from another source by the customer. Thus, print resolution and/or print quality of different images can vary considerably.
Unfortunately, when a party requests reproduction of the image for a specific application, the party may not recognize potential print resolution and/or print quality problems associated with reproducing the image for the specific application. Usually, such problems only become apparent once the image has been printed. Thus, the party may be disappointed and, more importantly, may have wasted valuable resources by reproducing the image for the specific application.
Accordingly, a need exists for processing an image before printing of the image by a print provider to automatically check for print resolution and/or print quality problems before the image is reproduced. In particular, a need exists for checking the appropriateness of an image for a potential application.

Print processing system and method with image advisor service

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The present invention provides a method for initiating a fuel cell power system by directly introducing a gas containing oxygen into the fuel cell stack 10. A gas storage source 28 provides oxidizer to the fuel cell 10 such that there is enough initial power to generate a load. The air compressor 24 is started electrically by a portion of the load, and begins to supply compressed air to the cathode 14. The fuel cell stack 10 thereby obtains a further quantity of oxidizer from the compressed air. The air system valve 32 then operates to transfer the fuel cell stack 10 from the gas storage source 28 to the air compressor 24.

1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to a power generation system using a fuel cell. More particularly the present invention relates to a method of initiating a fuel cell power system by introducing a stored gas containing oxygen into the fuel cell stack such that there is sufficient electrical power generated to start an air compressor.
2. Description Of The Related Art
Fuel cells are energy conversion devices which produce heat and direct current electrically from a chemical fuel and an oxidizer through a continuous electrochemical reaction. There are multiple types of fuel cells and a typical fuel cell stack is made of a number of cells wherein each cell has an anode, a cathode, and an electrolytic layer therebetween. The main difference between various fuel cell stacks is the type of electrolytic layer used. In Proton Exchange Member (PEM) fuel cells, fuel containing hydrogen is supplied to the fuel chamber at the anode and a gas containing oxygen is supplied to the air chamber at the cathode to generate electric power.
It is generally known that a primary difficulty associated with fuel cells is initiation of the electrochemical reaction within the stack. Various methods are currently used and each suffers the disadvantages of requiring a great amount of energy and or an unacceptably long time period prior to achieving full power continuous operation. A typical method currently used to initiate a fuel cell stack requires a separate stored power generating subsystem, such as a high voltage battery.
Currently, conventional vehicles contain a 12 volt battery subsystem to power electrical components and start an internal combustion engine. The use of a 12 volt battery subsystem would ideally be used to initiate the fuel cell stack in a fuel cell powered vehicle as it would be advantageous to provide a 12 volt subsystem to maintain the common usage of readily available electrical accessories. However, to increase overall system efficiency and to assure initiation, ancillary components of fuel cell systems are operated at a high voltage. Therefore, it is common for fuel cell battery storage systems and ancillary components to be operated in the 300 volt range. However, 12 volt systems are incapable of directly providing the requisite power output to initiate a fuel cell. Further, any DC voltage conversion proves to be inefficient and likely to quickly drain a 12 volt storage battery under difficult starting conditions.
It is therefore desirable to provide a method of fuel cell initiation in which auxiliary equipment and operation procedures necessary for initiation are simplified and expedited.


An end configuration for a bat includes in one embodiment an end cap that has a base that is shaped to fit within the open end of the bat thereby to attach the end cap to the bat. The end cap also includes a convexly contoured end surface that is exposed when the end cap is attached to the bat. The end surface is roughened to reduce the aerodynamic drag when the bat is swung, thereby to increase the momentum of the bat for a given amount of force applied to swing the bat.

It is well known that a baseball bat is used for striking a ball during the game of baseball. The bat may be used with a conventional hardball or with a larger ball that is known as a softball. For the purposes of this description, the terms bat, ball, and baseball are used in their generic sense, and the invention described below may be adapted for use in any sport where an elongated member such as a bat is swung for the purpose of striking an object such as a ball.
The action of striking a baseball with a bat changes the momentum of the ball. Much of the momentum of the bat is thus transferred to the ball.
The momentum of the swung bat is the product of the mass of the bat and its velocity. The velocity of the bat primarily depends upon how much force a batter applies to the bat during the swing. It is helpful to think of the force applied to the bat by the batter as a "swinging force."
Aerodynamic drag is a force that resists the swinging force. The magnitude of the drag force depends in part upon how fast the bat is swung or, more precisely, upon the relative speed of the bat through the air. The drag force has two components. One component is known as "pressure drag" or "form drag." Pressure drag is caused by the pressure difference between the front or leading end of an object and the rear or trailing end of the object as that object is moved through the air. The magnitude of the pressure drag depends primarily upon the size and shape of the object, as well as the velocity of the object. A blunt object, such as a cylinder, will incur more pressure drag than a streamlined object, such as an airfoil.
It is noteworthy here that the movement of fluid (air) relative to an object such as a bat can be considered in terms of streamlines. A streamline is an imaginary line that is tangent to the direction of flow of the air. Every air particle in a streamline will follow the same direction or path around an object.
The other drag component that combines with pressure drag is known as "frictional drag" or "viscous drag." Essentially, viscous drag is present within the boundary layer of the air. The boundary layer is the thin layer of air adjacent to the surface of any object moving through air. At the surface of the object the air in contact with the surface moves with a velocity of zero relative to the surface. The upper edge of the boundary layer is where the air moves at the same velocity as the surrounding streamlines (that is, where the velocity of the air near the object is not dependent on viscous effects).
The magnitude of viscous drag is influenced in part by the state of the boundary layer. The boundary layer state may be laminar or turbulent. In a laminar boundary layer, all of the streamlines lie in approximately parallel layers and do not cross. The slowest air particles are in the streamlines or layers nearest the surface of the object, and the air particles in each higher layer move in streamlines that are faster than the one below. This pattern is termed a velocity gradient.
As a laminar boundary layer continues along a surface, the height of the boundary layer increases until it eventually undergoes a transformation to a turbulent boundary layer through a process known as transition. In a turbulent boundary layer, the flow is comprised of an average velocity gradient with many random temporal and spatial internal fluctuations. Generally, turbulent boundary layers are thicker and produce more viscous drag than laminar boundary layers.
The roughness of the surface of the object affects the state of the boundary layer (laminar or turbulent). Roughened surfaces will generally cause a laminar boundary layer to experience an earlier transition to a turbulent boundary layer.
Laminar air flow around an object will produce less viscous drag (as compared to turbulent flow), but such flow is also prone to a phenomenon called flow separation whereby the air traveling over a surface becomes detached from the surface, creating a low pressure region immediately downstream from where the flow separates from the object. Such low-pressure regions near the trailing side of an object add a significant amount of pressure drag. Turbulent-boundary-layer flow, as compared to laminar flow, is less likely to separate from an object. Accordingly, in some instances where laminar boundary layer separation is likely to occur (as with a blunt object), it is desirable to reduce flow separation by (i) contouring or streamlining the shape of the object and/or (ii) by intentionally roughening the surface of the object, thereby to induce turbulent-boundary-layer flow and eliminate or reduce pressure drag that might otherwise be produced by flow separation.


A power supply system having a primary control power line for supplying electric power to control systems indispensable to driving the vehicle from an electric power source. The power supply system is provided with an ignition switch cooperating with an ignition switch system so as to connect the electric power source to the indispensable control systems when an ignition key is turned to the ignition position and to disconnect the electric power source when the ignition key is turned to the off position. The power supply system also includes a subordinate control power line including a removable fuse for supplying electric power from the electric power source through the ignition switch system to at least those control systems indispensable to driving the vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power supply system for a vehicle, and, more particularly, to a power supply system for a vehicle which can be disabled from supplying electric power to at least those control systems dispensable to driving until the ignition key is turned to the ignition position.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, a power supply apparatus for a vehicle which includes a single master station and a plurality of remote stations grouped according to functions of electric equipments, which are connected to multiplex communication lines, is provided with a mode control switch for changing the remote stations between a sleep mode and an alive mode. The mode control switch places the remote stations in the sleep mode when all switches including an ignition switch and switches of the electric equipments are off so as to reduce a dark current. Such a power supply apparatus is known from, for instance, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-283140.
The prior art power supply apparatus leaves the remote stations still connected to a power source in the sleep mode, yielding a fall in dark current only to a certain limited extent and providing consumption of electric power even in the sleep mode. If the vehicle is left with the power supply apparatus in the sleep mode for a long time, for instance, before shipping, the battery possibly runs down.


A device for reducing laser speckle using a micro scanner and a holographic diffuser. The micro scanner includes a first transparent optical substrate with an input surface and an output surface and a second transparent optical substrate with an input surface and an output surface and a variable refractive index medium sandwiched between the output surface of the first substrate and the input surface of the second substrate. Transparent electrodes are applied to the output surface of the first substrate and the input surface of the second substrate. The electrodes are coupled to a voltage generator. The input surface of the first substrate is optically coupled to a laser source. The input surface of the second substrate is configured as an array of prismatic elements. At least one of the input surface of the first substrate or the output surfaces of the second substrate is planar.

The present invention relates to an illumination device, and more particularly to a laser illumination device based on electrically switchable Bragg gratings that reduces laser speckle.
Miniature solid-state lasers are currently being considered for a range of display applications. The competitive advantage of lasers in display applications results from increased lifetime, lower cost, higher brightness and improved colour gamut. Laser displays suffer from speckle, a sparkly or granular structure seen in uniformly illuminated rough surfaces. Speckle arises from the high spatial and temporal coherence of lasers. Speckle reduces image sharpness and is distracting to the viewer.
Several approaches for reducing speckle contrast have been proposed based on spatial and temporal decorrelation of speckle patterns. More precisely, speckle reduction is based on averaging multiple sets of speckle patterns from a speckle surface resolution cell with the averaging taking place over the human eye integration time. Speckle may be characterized by the parameter speckle contrast which is defined as the ratio of the standard deviation of the speckle intensity to the mean speckle intensity. Temporally varying the phase pattern faster than the eye temporal resolution destroys the light spatial coherence, thereby reducing the speckle contrast. Traditionally, the simplest way to reduce speckle has been to use a rotating diffuser to direct incident light into randomly distributed ray directions. The effect is to produce a multiplicity of speckle patterns while maintaining a uniform a time-averaged intensity profile. This type of approach is often referred to as angle diversity. Another approach known as polarization diversity relies on averaging phase shifted speckle patterns. In practice neither approach succeeds in eliminating speckle entirely.
It is known that speckle may be reduced by using an electro optic device to generate variations in the refractive index profile of material such that the phase fronts of light incident on the device are modulated in phase and or amplitude. The published International Patent Application No. WO/2007/015141 entitled LASER ILLUMINATOR discloses a despeckler based on a new type of electro optical device known as an electrically Switchable Bragg Grating (SBG). An (SBG) is formed by recording a volume phase grating, or hologram, in a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) mixture. Typically, SBG devices are fabricated by first placing a thin film of a mixture of photopolymerizable monomers and liquid crystal material between parallel glass plates. Techniques for making and filling glass cells are well known in the liquid crystal display industry. One or both glass plates support electrodes, typically transparent indium tin oxide films, for applying an electric field across the PDLC layer. A volume phase grating is then recorded by illuminating the liquid material with two mutually coherent laser beams, which interfere to form the desired grating structure. During the recording process, the monomers polymerize and the HPDLC mixture undergoes a phase separation, creating regions densely populated by liquid crystal micro-droplets, interspersed with regions of clear polymer. The alternating liquid crystal-rich and liquid crystal-depleted regions form the fringe planes of the grating. The resulting volume phase grating can exhibit very high diffraction efficiency, which may be controlled by the magnitude of the electric field applied across the PDLC layer. When an electric field is applied to the hologram via transparent electrodes, the natural orientation of the LC droplets is changed causing the refractive index modulation of the fringes to reduce and the hologram diffraction efficiency to drop to very low levels. Note that the diffraction efficiency of the device can be adjusted, by means of the applied voltage, over a continuous range from near 100% efficiency with no voltage applied to essentially zero efficiency with a sufficiently high voltage applied. U.S. Pat. No. 5,942,157 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,751,452 describe monomer and liquid crystal material combinations suitable for fabricating SBG devices. An SBG device typically comprises at least one SBG element that has a diffracting state and a non-diffracting state. Typically, the SBG element is configured with its cell walls perpendicular to an optical axis. An SBG element diffracts incident off-axis light in a direction substantially parallel to the optical axis when in said active state. However, each SBG element is substantially transparent to said light when in said inactive state. An SBG element can be designed to diffract at least one wavelength of red, green or blue light. SBGs may be stacked to provide independently switchable layers.
SBGs with Bragg grating pitches much smaller than the operating wavelength exhibit form birefringence in other words they behave like a negative uniaxial crystal with an optic axis perpendicular to the Bragg planes. They are referred to as sub-wavelength gratings. The incident wave cannot resolve the sub-wavelength structures and sees only the spatial average of its material properties. Only zero order forward and backward "diffracted" waves propagate and all higher diffracted orders are evanescent. The birefringence is switched off when the refractive indices of the PDLC and polymer planes are equal. The retardance of a sub wavelength grating is defined as the difference between the extraordinary and ordinary refractive indices multiplied by the grating thickness. As will be discussed later subwavelength gratings can be used to provide a variable refractive index medium.
There are two types of speckle known as objective speckle and subjective speckle. Objective speckle occurs as a two dimensional random pattern on a projection screen and has the effect of degrading the resolution of the projected image. Subjective speckle manifests itself as floating light spots that the eye cannot focus on. It does not affect the image on the screen surface. Classical methods for overcoming speckle rely on the principle of randomly displacing a diffusing surface relative to the laser illumination beam. The relative displacement is usually provided by a rotating diffusing screen. Another equivalent solution is to have a static diffusing screen and a means for scanning the laser illumination across the screen. However, such approaches have failed to deliver the levels of speckle contrast reduction required by modern laser display technology. Mechanical scanning solutions also suffer from the problems of mechanical and optical design complexity, noise and cost of implementation. There is a need for a compact solid state solution to the problem of speckle reduction using the principle of angular diversity.
There is a requirement for a despeckler with improved speckle contrast reduction.

Laser despeckler based on angular diversity


A tire information detecting apparatus includes an interrogator which transmits an interrogation signal toward a tire in a vehicle at a transmitting timing, and receives a reply signal including tire information at a receiving timing so as to process the signals. A responder is disposed in the tire and has a sensor excited by a predetermined frequency signal for detecting tire information so as to return the reply signal to the interrogator at the receiving timing in responding to the interrogation signal. A mixer unit receives the interrogation signal having a first signal and a second signal which is spaced the predetermined frequency away from the first signal, from the interrogator, and outputs a signal of the frequency difference between the two signals to the responder by mixing the first and second signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tire information detecting apparatus for monitoring the pneumatic pressure of tires
2. Description of the Related Art
A tire information detecting apparatus according to the related art will be described with reference to FIG. 3. A controller includes at least one generator G1 for generating radio frequency with respect to a carrier signal f1 at a microwave frequency band of about 2.4 GHz. The carrier signal f1 is modulated by at least one low frequency signal f2 which is generated by a generator G2 and preferably at a frequency band in the range of 1 to 30 MHz. As a result of the modulation, a desired supply frequency is generated. A signal of the generated frequency is amplified and transmitted via an antenna A1 disposed around a tire.
Preferably, the modulation means an amplitude modulation. According to the above-mentioned modulation method, a sideband is generated along the carrier frequency, at both right and left sides in a spectrum, for example, at portions of f1+f2 and f1−f2 by the amplitude modulation. When a plurality of frequencies f2 is used, by summing them, the sideband shown in the drawing generates a spectrum. The modulation is switched off by an electronic switch S1, and the electronic switch S1 is periodically controlled by a timer T1.
The tire includes at least one measured value transmitter MG1 (transponder), the measured value transmitter MG1 includes at least one antenna A2, a receiver having at least one diode, and a crystal resonator Q1 which is excited by a received modulation signal. The crystal resonator Q1 changes the resonant frequency on the basis of the tire pneumatic pressure, and again the crystal resonator Q1 is coupled to its own modulator diode or a mixer diode D2, or preferably, a varactor diode which allows parametric gains to be used. Further, the frequency varies on the basis of the measured values. The modulation is switched off at time t1 by the switch S1. Immediately after that, a receiver E1 becomes active at time t2 which is 1 μs after the time t1.
When the modulation of the supply frequency is switched off, the crystal resonator Q1 further excites for about 1 ms. Since the carrier is still in presence, the supply frequency is modulated by the modulation diode D2. However, this happens when only a modulation frequency f2 excites the crystal resonator G1, that is, when the modulation frequency f2 substantially corresponds to a predetermined measured value. Since a supply signal is not modulated by the antenna A1 which can cause interference, the receiver recognizes a modulated signal of an antenna A3 by using an antenna A4, thus a measured value can be obtained through the modulation. When the modulation is not performed or it is performed a little, a predetermined measured value can be repeatedly sampled (see Japanese Patent No. 3494440).
In the transponder MG1, an amplitude modulation wave is detected by a diode D1 so that a modulation wave of the modulation frequency f2 is detected, and then the crystal resonator Q1 is excited by the detected modulation wave. However, it is necessary to increase the modulation degree of the amplitude modulation wave, in order to cause the crystal resonator Q1 to sufficiently excite. On the other hand, when the modulation degree increases to cause the crystal resonator to easily excite, the modulation wave is greatly distorted, thereby causing a spurious problem. Further, if the modulation degree decreases in order to escape the problem, the modulation level is lowered, whereby it is impossible to cause the crystal resonator to sufficiently excite.

Tire information detecting apparatus without distortion


A portable electronic device is provided. The portable electronic device includes a display module, a speed sensor and a control module. The display module is for displaying an image. The speed sensor is for determining a moving speed of the portable electronic device. The control module, coupled to the speed sensor and the display module, is for determining a rotation sensitivity for the control module to rotate the displayed image according to the moving speed of the portable electronic device. A control method of the aforementioned portable electronic device is also provided.

With the development of technology, more and more various portable electronic devices (such as smart phones or tablet computers) are equipped with a g-sensor for sensing the change of rotating angle of the portable electronic device itself. Specifically, if the change of rotating angle is greater than a predetermined value, the portable electronic device automatically rotates the displaying image 90 degrees, so that a user can watch or view the image more comfortable and convenient.
However, a user may have various motion states and usage modes while watching or viewing the images displayed by the portable electronic device, thus, the displaying image may have too high or too low rotation sensitivity if the rotation mechanism for rotating the displaying image is determined only based on the sensing result of the g-sensor. In other words, when the user sits down and uses the portable electronic device, the portable electronic device may not automatically rotate the image when the image is needed to be rotated. Or, when the user walks and uses the portable electronic device, the portable electronic device may automatically rotate the image when the image should not be rotated. Consequentially, it is quite inconvenient and uncomfortable for a user while using the portable electronic device to watch or view images.

Portable electronic device and control method thereof


Method and apparatus for limiting access to control units channel-connected to host computers through a FICON switch. The control unit port of the FICON switch receives a requests from an attached host to provide configuration information regarding the switch ports. The control unit port deliberately misrepresents the port configuration of the switch by reporting that ports outside the zone of the requesting host are not installed, even though these ports may in fact be installed for use by other hosts that belong to other zones.

IBM Fiber Connection, known more commonly as FICON, provides high-speed links used for attaching S/390 control units to S/390 systems, allowing interconnection of input/output (I/O) devices and host systems that are separated by tens of kilometers. For example, FICON may be used with the IBM Enterprise Storage Server. FICON is based on the industry-standard Fibre Channel architecture; consequently, the two have much in common. FICON is described in detail by C. M. DeCusatis, et al., in "Fiber optic interconnects for the IBM S/390 Parallel Enterprise Server G5," IBM Journal of Research and Development, Vol. 43, No. 5/6 (September/November 1999), pp. 807–828. IBM, FICON, IBM Enterprise Storage Server, and S/390 are trademarks of the International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y.
FICON supports several topologies, including point-to-point and switched. In a switched topology, one link is connected from a FICON channel to a port on a switch, and another link is connected from a port on a FICON control unit to port on the same switch. Typically, switched topology is used to connect two or more hosts to two or more control units such as I/O devices.
Fibre Channel switches used for FICON traffic are sometimes called "directors." One example of such a switch is the ED-5000 Enterprise Director by McDATA Corporation of Broomfield, Colo.
Control of a FICON switch is based on port connectivity definitions, which partition switch ports into port groups, where ports within a given port group are intended to communicate only with other ports in that same port group. Fibre Channel itself supports two kinds of zoning: hard zoning, which is enforced by the switch hardware, and soft zoning, which relies on the good intentions of the connected devices. In contrast to Fiber Channel, FICON supports only port connectivity definitions.
Traditionally, this shortcoming has not been important, because all of the ports have traditionally belonged to the same user. This is now changing with the increasing importance of applications such as Storage Area Networking, wherein a service provider offers data storage to a number of unrelated customers who share the service provider's common hardware, and in particular share a common FICON switch. In such cases, it is important that one customer not be able to gain access to data belonging to another customer. Thus there is a need to improve the separation of customers who share a common FICON switch.

Limited knowledge of configuration information of a FICON controller


A method and apparatus for a loop predictor for predicting the end of a loop is disclosed. In one embodiment, the loop predictor may have a predict counter to hold a predict count representing the expected number of times that a predictor stew value will repeat during the execution of a given loop. The loop predictor may also have one or more running counters to hold a count of the times that the stew value has repeated during the execution of the present loop. When the counter values match the predictor may issue a prediction that the loop will end.

Processors may fetch instructions from various sources of instructions that may hold instructions. A source of instructions may be a traditional cache, a trace cache, an instruction buffer, or even just system memory. One recent form of a cache is the trace cache. Rather than storing macro-instructions as is done in other caches, the trace cache contains sequences of previously-decoded micro-operations (micro-ops) of macro-instructions. The sequence of micro-ops may be stored in a sequence of set and way locations in the trace cache called a trace, where the micro-ops at a given set and way location may be called a traceline or trace element. Then, in further cases of executing the particular macro-instruction, decoding is not necessary and the sequence of micro-ops may be accessed from the corresponding trace in the trace cache.
Along with the use of caches, processors may further enhance processing throughput by using branch predictors. Often which direction is to be taken subsequent to a branch instruction is not known until the instruction reaches the execution stage at the very end of the pipeline. Not knowing the direction following the branch instruction would require that the pipeline be stalled until after the branch instruction executes, which would severely impact performance. For this reason, processor designers may use one or more branch predictors that predict, during the early stages of a pipeline, which direction the branch is likely to take. The pipeline may then be kept full, and the predicted direction may be compared with the actual direction at execution time. Only if a misprediction occurs does the pipeline need to be flushed and the instructions re-executed.
Several varieties of branch predictors may be used, and in some cases several may be used and a mechanism may be used to select a prediction from among several proffered. A bimodal predictor may make a prediction based upon recent history of a particular branch's execution, and give a prediction of usually taken or usually not-taken. A global predictor may make a prediction based upon recent history of all the branches' execution, not just the particular branch of interest. In some cases the global predictor may hash together recent history (taken or not taken) along with a portion of the address (linear instruction pointer) involved for the branches to form what may be called a "stew". Using the current stew values for prediction may give good results with branches that are dependent on the direction of previous branches.
Neither the bimodal nor the global predictor perform well with branches used in loops. Note that a loop may be coded so that the loop direction may be either the taken or the not-taken direction of the branch. Therefore the present disclosure uses the terminology "loop direction" and "not loop direction" as indicating alternately the branch taken or not-taken directions depending upon the coding of the loop. The bimodal predictor may simply predict loop direction and mispredict the end of the loop (fall-through, e.g. not loop direction). The global predictor, using a stew value, may also mispredict the end of the loop. With a long enough loop, the hashing used to form the stew may end up giving a constant or constantly-repeating value for the stew. Using more stew bits may extend the usefulness of the global predictor but at a substantial cost in terms of circuit complexity and also in the time required to initially train the predictor.

Method and apparatus for a stew-based loop predictor


Sampling of a broad range of chemicals using a handheld sampler body, having a sample screen in a sampling cassette; where a sample screen housing further consists of a locking arm arrestor body, where, the locking arm arrestor body including a draw tube, and where the sampling screen can be positioned in either a retracted or extended positioned regarding a sample access face. When activated, the system executes collecting and sampling operations of chemicals, by exposing the extended sampling screen to a sampling environment, drawing through the draw tube, air from the sampling environment, further collecting, onto the surface of the sample screen solid particles and/or pressing the sample screen against the surface(s) of object in the sampling environment. Then, removing the sampling screen from the sampling environment and isolating the plurality of airborne chemical contaminants, by retracting a sample screen into the sample screen housing.

Toxic chemicals can be effective at very low concentrations and are usually colorless and odorless in the form of gas or vapors. Some toxic chemicals can be classified as non-persistent and their effects drop off after hours or minutes.
Other toxic chemicals can be classified as persistent and have a relative low vapor pressure and are usually delivered as liquid droplet particles or aerosols. Their effects can last for a week or more in such liquid and/or particulate forms.
Low vapor pressure toxic chemicals are recognized as threats by both military and Homeland Security agencies. These chemicals exhibit vapor pressures on the order of 10−6 to 10−8 torr, (where, a torr is equal to the pressure required to raise a column of mercury 1 mm) and can exist as either liquid droplets or solid particulates, and present an inhalation threat as an aerosol and a contact threat as surface particulates and/or droplets.
Sorbent tubes have been used for over a decade to collect vapor phase samples as well as solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) fibers. However, neither of these vapor collection technologies is capable of collecting aerosols or particulates on surfaces. Aerosol collection can be performed using either a filter based collector where the aerosols are trapped by the fibrous nature of the filter or a cyclonic type of collector where the different sized particulate samples are concentrated and separated by the use of an air cyclone. Currently particulate samples are collected using specialized wipes that are designed to collect particles from surfaces based on electrostatic attraction between the wipe and the particulates. None of these systems is capable of collecting all forms of target analyte; aerosols, and particulates on surfaces, and vapors in the air, and being easily interfaced with analytical instruments.
Because of their extremely low vapor pressures, low vapor pressure toxic chemicals cannot be detected using state-of-the-art chemical agent detectors, which all require that the sample be in the vapor phase for detection. Therefore, there exists a need for the capability to collect these toxic aerosols and particulates on surfaces as well as the more volatile chemicals existing as vapors using a common collection platform that can be integrated into various chemical agent detectors for ease of delivery of vapors (of the low vapor pressure toxic chemicals) for analysis.

System apparatus and method of sampling a broad range of chemicals (SBRC) by collection and analysis of chemical vapors aerosols particulates and liquid droplets on surfaces

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy