A system for generating a digital promotion may include mobile wireless communications devices each associated with a respective user, and a promotion generation server. The promotion generation server may obtain a group chat code from a given mobile wireless communications device for starting a group chat with other users, and obtain a unique identifier from the given mobile wireless communications device and add a respective mobile wireless communications device to the group chat based upon the unique identifier. The promotion generation server may also generate tasks for the users to complete via the respective mobile wireless communications devices for display within the group chat, and determine when each of the tasks has been completed based upon input from at least one of the mobile wireless communications devices, and when so generate and communicate the digital promotion to the mobile wireless communications devices for display within the group chat.

Sales of a particular product or service may be based upon how well that product or service is marketed to a consumer. One form of marketing is a coupon, typically in paper form, for a discount toward the product or service. Some coupons may be retailer-specific, for example, only redeemable for the discount at a particular retailer, while other coupons may be product-specific from a manufacturer and redeemable at any retailer.
A coupon, while typically in paper form, may be in digital form and may be referred to as a digital promotion. A digital promotion may be selected or "clipped" via a mobile phone and saved to a digital wallet for redemption at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal, for example. A typical coupon is applicable to a given product and has a redeemable value that may vary based upon the quantity of a given item, for example, brand of item, size of the product in terms of packaging, and/or the price point of the given item. A typical coupon may also be redeemable only at a given retailer and/or within a threshold time period.
An online chat may refer to any kind of communication over the Internet that offers a real or near real-time transmission of text and/or multimedia messages among chat participants. Chat messages are generally short in order to enable other participants to respond quickly. An online chat may include more than two participants, for example, and may be called a group chat.

System for generating a digital promotion based upon completed tasks within a group chat and related methods


A method and apparatus for separating solids from liquid containing same comprises a cylindrical casing within which a rotor assembly or block having a conicalmesh rotates about a vertical axis with the mesh walls upwardly diverging. A liquid-solid slurry is introduced tangentially to the inside of the mesh at a top inlet. Stationary wiper arms inside the mesh remove the solids from the mesh as it rotates. Fluid pressure inside the mesh, pumping effect of the rotating blades, gravity force on the slurry and particularly tangential pump suction at the bottom of the casing, drive the liquid out through the mesh, while the solid material is expelled vertically downwards through a central outlet opening in the bottom of the mesh.

The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for separating solids, such as solid particles (e.g. seeds) from a liquid containing same.
In the processing of slurries, it is often desired to separate the solid particles or material from the liquid. In the processing of seeds f or example, the seeds may be washed and then the water must be removed. The present invention is directed to novel arrangement for separating the solids from the liquid, particularly in a continuous process in a highly efficient manner and with high throughput.

Method and apparatus for separating solids from liquid containing same


A computer server system comprises a communications module; a processor coupled with the communications module; and a memory coupled to the processor and storing processor-executable instructions which, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to receive, via the communications module and from a server associated with a first device, a request to perform an operation; determine that the first device cannot perform the operation; send, via the communications module and to the server associated with the first device, a signal causing the first device to output a message indicating that the first device cannot perform the operation and requesting authentication from a second device; receive, via the communications module and from the second device, a signal including authentication information; and send, via the communications module and to the second device, a signal including a selectable option to perform the operation.

Smart speakers such as the Amazon™ Echo™ and the Google™ Home™ provide interactive voice assistance that can respond to voice queries from users and undertake tasks responsive to such voice queries.
Smart speakers may allow third-parties to provide software to expand the capability of their voice assistants. For example, the Amazon Echo can be expanded with software plug-ins Amazon refers to as Alexa Skills and the Google Home can be expanded with similar plug-ins called Google Assistant Actions.
Although the capability of smart speakers and/or their voice assistants may be expanded, smart speakers and/or their voice assistants have limited functionality when it comes to interacting with third-party mobile applications.
Like reference numerals are used in the drawings to denote like elements and features.

Method and system for completing an operation


Managing hybrid cloud resources by grouping at least a portion of the elements of a data set according to attribute sensitivity into a cluster of elements, computing a resource allocation impact of the cluster of elements, computing an information gain associated with the set of elements, and allocating cloud resources according to the resource allocation impact and information gain.

The disclosure relates generally to managing hybrid cloud resources for application execution. The disclosure relates particularly to distributing machine learning and data storage activities in a hybrid cloud structure.
Distributed hybrid cloud systems including multiple distinct entities bound together by application software are well known. Such systems allow machine learning activities to be distributed such that the learning activities occur in one entity of the hybrid cloud while the data associated with the learning activities is stored in another entity of the hybrid cloud. Learning activities often occur in a public cloud entity while data is stored in a private cloud entity. Such hybrid cloud systems enable users to leverage the extensive resources afforded by public cloud entities while maintaining control over the security of their data.

Management of data in a hybrid cloud for use in machine learning activities


Methods of controlling seeking of a transducer that is adjacent to a rotatable disk in a disk drive are disclosed. The methods may include accelerating the transducer radially across the rotatable disk from an initial track on the rotatable disk toward a destination track on the rotatable disk, estimating a deceleration switching position/velocity point, estimating a maximum deceleration position/velocity point following the deceleration switching position/velocity point, and estimating a deceleration current required to decelerate the transducer from a non-zero velocity at the maximum deceleration position/velocity point to zero velocity at the destination track. The estimated deceleration current is compared to a maximum available deceleration current, and responsive to a determination that the current required to decelerate the transducer from the maximum deceleration point to the destination track exceeds the maximum available deceleration current, the estimated deceleration switching point is adjusted. Related disk drive apparatus are also disclosed.

Disk drives are digital data storage devices that can store and retrieve large amounts of data in a fast and efficient manner. A typical disk drive includes a plurality of magnetic recording disks that are mounted to a rotatable hub of a spindle motor and rotated at a high speed. An array of read/write transducers is disposed adjacent to surfaces of the disks to transfer data between the disks and a host computer. The transducers can be radially positioned over the disks by a rotary actuator and a closed loop, digital servo system, and can fly proximate the surfaces of the disks upon air bearings.
A plurality of nominally concentric tracks can be defined on each disk surface. A preamp and driver circuit generates write currents that are used by the transducer to selectively magnetize the tracks during a data write operation and amplifies read signals detected by the transducer from the selective magnetization of the tracks during a data read operation. A read/write channel and interface circuit are connected to the preamp and driver circuit to transfer the data between the disks and the host computer.
The servo system can operate in two primary modes: seeking and track following. During a seek operation, a selected transducer is moved from an initial track to a destination track on the corresponding disk surface. The servo system applies current to an actuator coil to first accelerate and then decelerate the transducer toward the destination track.
During the seek, the servo system may sequentially measure the actual velocity of the transducer and adjust the current in relation to velocity error (i.e., the difference between the actual velocity and a target velocity). As the transducer approaches the destination track, the servo system initiates a settle mode to bring the transducer to rest over the destination track within a selected settle threshold, such as a percentage of the track width from track center. Thereafter, the servo system enters the track following mode wherein the transducer is nominally maintained over the center of the destination track until another seek is performed.
As will be appreciated, a disk drive is primarily utilized to transfer data between the tracks of the disks and the host computer. Such data transfer operations usually cannot occur during a seek, but rather require the drive to be in track following mode. Hence, to maximize disk drive data transfer rate capabilities, it is desirable to reduce average seek times.
As noted above, disk drives typically use current driven actuators that include voice coil motors, which respond to a current signal by accelerating or decelerating the transducer depending on the polarity of the current signal applied to the motor. The seek time may depend upon the maximum available current for acceleration and/or deceleration, which in turn may be affected by fluctuations in the voltage supply and/or the operating temperature. Variations in voltage supply and/or operating temperature may be particularly problematic for disk drives used in battery powered portable electronic devices.

Dynamically controlling seek profile in an acceleration tracking seek controller


A corrosion inhibiting composition for use in reinforced concrete structures, the inhibitor composition reducing the rate of corrosion in metallic reinforcing rods placed within the structures. The composition includes a combination of one or more corrosion inhibiting agents and one or more silica neutralizing agents.

Concrete structures, particularly highways and bridges, typically utilize metallic reinforcement members embedded therewithin to provide stability and additional strength to the concrete, as well as to enhance the ability of the concrete to withstand shear forces. These reinforcements are used in a variety of configurations, and are typically present in the form of reinforcing rods, wire mesh, metallic fibers, and the like. Reinforcements are usually situated within the cured concrete by pouring raw or uncured concrete therearound or, in the case of metallic fibers, added during the concrete mixing operation for subsequent curing. The term "raw concrete" is utilized herein in a comprehensive sense, and is intended to relate to wet workable concrete mixtures which have not yet cured to their solid form.
Upon the passage of time, the metallic reinforcements have a tendency to corrode as external elements including moisture and pollutants such as carbon dioxide, oxides of sulfur, oxides of nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and road treatment chemicals permeate along and through the concrete structure and reach the surface of the metal reinforcement. When utilized, for example, in highways, bridges, and parking structures, chlorides including sodium chloride and calcium chloride may permeate the concrete structure due to the widespread utilization of such materials as a mechanism to melt ice and snow from the road surfaces. Both calcium chloride and sodium chloride are widely used for this purpose, and their use, although necessary for safety reasons, has been linked to the rapid deterioration of certain concrete structures.
A characteristic of common concrete mixtures that exacerbates corrosion of, for example, metallic elements embedded within a mass of concrete is alkaline silica reactivity (ASR), a condition in which alkali in cement attacks silica-based aggregates to form gels that can absorb water. Such water absorption can lead to crack formation in the concrete mass due to freeze-thaw cycles, as well as the reception and retention of moisture adjacent to metallic elements that may corrode in the presents of water. One approach to reduce and/or eliminate the alkaline silica reactivity in concrete admixtures is through the use of lithium salts such as lithium nitrate to neutralize the silica found in common concrete admixture recipes. An example of the use of lithium salts to thwart alkaline silica reactivity in concrete mixtures is found in WO 04044267 published in the name of the Virginia Transportation Research Counsel. Though the use of lithium salts has proven to be beneficial in minimizing alkaline silica reactivity in concrete mixtures, such utility alone does not provide a total preventative and/or restorative corrosion protection solution for corrosion-susceptible elements disposed in concrete mixtures.
In order to facilitate the access of corrosion inhibiting materials to concrete reinforcements, it is normally desirable for such materials to be added to the raw concrete mixture in order to provide for contact with the surfaces of the metallic reinforcement members or structures prior to concrete curing. The corrosion inhibiting materials added in this fashion normally migrate throughout the concrete mixture at a rate sufficient to provide ongoing protection over relatively extended periods of time, and hence have the ability to protect the metallic reinforcements over such extended periods of time.
In other embodiments however, such corrosion inhibiting materials need to be applied to cured concrete structures having corrosion-susceptible reinforcements encased therewithin. As such, the corrosion inhibiting materials are preferably applied to the surface of the concrete structure and thereafter migrate inwardly to protect the surface of the metallic reinforcements.
As a further aspect of corrosion inhibiting materials, it is a common objective to utilize ecologically friendly components wherever possible. In this connection, the formulation of the present invention preferably provides for the use of ecologically friendly materials, and thus the goals and objectives of inhibiting corrosion in large structures can be undertaken without significantly contributing to the release of ecologically harmful products into the environment.
In view of the above, it is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a corrosion inhibiting composition that may be applied to raw or cured concrete mixtures for protecting corrosion-susceptible elements disposed within such concrete mixtures, with the corrosion inhibiting composition incorporating one or more alkaline silica reactivity suppression agents and one or more corrosion inhibiting agents.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a corrosion inhibiting composition having the capability to migrate within cured concrete mixtures along the surface of embedded corrosion-susceptible elements so as to provide corrosion protection thereto over a prolonged period of time.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a corrosion inhibiting composition comprising ecologically friendly components.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a corrosion inhibiting composition for protection of metallic reinforcements embedded within concrete mixtures without adversely affecting the curing rate or ultimate strength of the respective concrete mixtures.
Other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a study of the following specification and appended claims.

Corrosion inhibiting materials for reducing corrosion in metallic concrete reinforcements


A flexible display module and a flexible display device are disclosed. The flexible display module includes a flexible display panel, a circuit board, and a display panel protective structure. The flexible display panel includes an effective display portion and a bonding portion. The display panel protective structure is located one a rear of the effective display portion. An indentation is defined in a side of the display panel protective structure away from the effective display portion. The bonding portion is disposed in the indentation and is electrically connected to the effective display portion, and the circuit board is disposed in the indentation and is electrically connected to the bonding portion.

A flexible active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) is a flexible display technology with competitive advantages in the future. By installing flexible display dielectric electronic elements and materials on a flexible or bendable substrate, a display can has a capability of curving and wrapping into any shapes and has characteristics such light weight and compactness for carriage. Especially, a foldable characteristic thereof makes the display panel have a greater displaying region without occupying a greater space. Furthermore, it can cooperate with cover plates with different shapes to achieve display products of different appearances, which facilitates improving a mark share of the product.
A commonly used flexible display screen application solution is bending a bonding end of a display panel such that the bonding end is bent to a rear of the display panel to be bonded to a flexible circuit board on the rear to reduce a bezel region of the display panel and increase a ratio of an effective displaying region of the display panel.
However, the above flexible display screen application solution may encounter the following issue: Because a material of the flexible display screen is soft, the bonding end after bent to the rear of the display panel becomes curved, easily deformed and unstable. The bending process of the bonding end is difficult and the bonding end on the rear of the display is easily contacted wrongly in later processes to cause broken wires of the display panel. Therefore, providing a more reliable bendable display device becomes an important issue.

Flexible display module and flexible display device

WUHAN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS SEMICONDUCTOR DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A prayer rug stand having a base, a centrally located vertical post rising from the base, a horizontal cross bar supported at is central portion by the vertical post. The cross bar serves as a rug suspension bar. Another embodiment has arched brackets extending outward from each end of the cross bar with a rug suspension bar attached between the arched brackets so as to space the rug suspension bar from the cross bar. In an augmented version, a book holder for the QURAN is provided on the upper end portion of the vertical post on the side opposite the arched brackets and rug suspension bar. The book holder is supported at an angle to retain the book in the holder when the book is not in use. The book may be opened to a desired page while remaining stable supported by the book holder or support.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to support stands. More particularly, the present invention relates to a prayer rug stand that may have a book holder incorporated therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
The practice of religion, particularly the Muslim religion, requires the use of a prayer rug. Such a rug is normally rolled and stored in a closet, a corner of the room or on a shelf, for example. It would be desirable to provide a stand for a prayer rug that makes it easily reachable and compactly stored between uses, while displaying the rug for easy identification of the rug when stored among several rugs on similar stands. This would allow the convenient recognition and use of the rug by the owner/worshiper that, in turn, makes it practical to store a large number of rugs on such stands within a single place of worship such as a mosque. The stand should be easily transportable so as to be easily moved from room to room in a building. It would also be desirable to provide such a stand having a support for a book such as a holy book, more particularly the QURAN making it available to the owner for studying and reading in the prayer setting. The stand would then be conveniently available to store the prayer rug and holy book after use.
Thus a prayer rug/QURAN stand solving the aforementioned problems is desired.


In order to prevent reduction in performance due to variations in illuminance of external light, a liquid crystal display unit includes: a pixel section including pixels arranged at each of intersections where a plurality of scanning lines and a plurality of signal lines intersect, and optical sensor circuits provided to at least part of the pixels; an imaging section which generates a multi-gradation image based on detection results of the optical sensor circuits; and a gradient value calculation section which calculates a gradient value which is a ratio of a variation in a gradation tendency value of the multi-gradation image to a variation in sensitivity of the optical sensor circuits.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display apparatus in which reduction in performance due to illuminance of external light can be prevented.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a liquid crystal display apparatus which includes an optical sensor circuit in each pixel of a liquid crystal panel and which recognizes a recognition object on a pixel section based on detection results of the optical sensor circuits, an example is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-93894.
In this liquid crystal display apparatus, when illuminance of external light changes, for example, a recognition rate is sometimes reduced. Specifically, even if the sensitivity of the optical sensor circuits is set so that the recognition rate is high when the illuminance is low, the recognition rate is reduced in some cases when the illuminance is high.
In a liquid crystal display apparatus including a backlight on the back of the liquid crystal panel, when the illuminance is low, the recognition rate is sometimes reduced when the backlight has high luminance. In addition, the high luminance of the backlight increases power consumption thereof.

Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., Ltd.


A neural network, trained on a plurality of random size data samples, can receive a plurality of inference data samples including samples of different sizes. The neural network can generate feature maps of the plurality of inference data samples. Pooling can be utilized to generate feature maps having a fixed size. The fixed size feature maps can be utilized to generate an indication of a class for each of the plurality of inference data samples.

A common artificial intelligence (AI) application includes image recognition. A neural network is commonly used to determine a probability that an input image belongs to a particular class, or includes one or more portions that belong to one or more classes. For example, a neural network can determine that there is a 90% probability that a given image includes a cat. Referring now to FIG. 1, a neural network system according to the conventional art is shown. The conventional neural network system 100 is configured to receive input data samples of a predetermined size 110. For example, the neural network system 100 can be configured to receive image data samples of 224×224 pixels. The accuracy of the output 120 of neural network system 100 can be increased by processing input data samples of a predetermined size. If the input data samples have a variable size, the input data samples are typically resized to a predetermined size. For example, a data resized engine 210 can be configured to receive input data samples of variable size 220 and generate corresponding input data samples of a predetermined size 230, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The neural network system 240 can then generate an output 250 based on the input data samples of the predetermined size 230. However, the resizing of the input data adds to the computational workload. Therefore, there is a continuing need for improved neural network systems that can achieve improved accuracy for input data of variable sizes.

Variable input size techniques for neural networks


A memory card (103) for use in an electronic apparatus (101) is proposed. In order to control an electronic apparatus (101) with an inbuilt processor (301) incapable of exporting digital data externally of the electronic apparatus (101), a user local at the electronic apparatus (101) is required to operate the electronic apparatus (101). This is not always convenient. The proposed memory card (103) has a wireless module (207) for receiving an instruction wirelessly from a remote wireless-enabled apparatus (105), and also a central processor (201) for controlling the inbuilt processor (301) of the electronic apparatus (101) in accordance with the received instruction.

In order to control an electronic device such as a digital camera and a digital video recorder, a user local to the electronic device is required for control. For example, the user is able to capture an image using a digital camera or to view images stored in the digital camera only if he is local at the digital camera.
This is not always convenient. For example, if the user of the digital camera wants to take a picture of himself, he may either have to request a third party to operate his digital camera or use a time delay function (if available) in the digital camera. If the time delay function is used, there is chance that the user is not adequately prepared for photo-taking which means that the photo is not well-taken.
This invention therefore proposes an improved memory card for use in an electronic apparatus, and also a method of controlling the electronic apparatus with the memory card, which at least reduces inconvenience.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Memory card for providing menu items to a remote wireless-enabled apparatus


A method of and apparatus for enhancing an audio signal to reflect positional information of a sound emitting object in a simulation are described. The method includes determining a parameter describing a location of the sound emitting object. A setting for the audio signal is adjusted based on the first parameter by sending an adjustment command to an audio interface device. Either the whole audio signal, or a portion thereof is transferred to the audio interface device after the adjustment command. The apparatus includes a processor, a memory, and an audio interface coupled to a bus. The memory contains an audio adjustment routine which, when executed by the processor, sends an adjustment command to the audio interface device to adjust a characteristic of an audio signal. The adjustment command reflects a spatial location of an emitter in a simulated environment.

Advances in computing technology have fostered a great expansion in computerized simulation of scenes ranging from rooms and buildings to entire worlds. These simulations create "virtual environments" in which users move at a desired pace and via a desired route rather than a course strictly prescribed by the simulation. The computer system tracks the locations of the objects in the environment and has detailed information about the appearance or other characteristics of each object. The computer then presents, or renders, the environment as it appears from the perspective of the user.
Both audio and video signal processing are important to the presentation of this virtual environment. Audio can convey a three hundred and sixty degree perspective unavailable through the relatively narrow field of view in which eyes can focus. In this manner, audio can enhance the spatial content of the virtual environment by reinforcing or complementing the video presentation. Of course, additional processing power is required to properly process the audio signals.
Various signal processing tasks simulate the interaction of the observer with the environment. A well known technique of ray tracing is often used to provide the appropriate visual perspective of objects in the environment, and the propagation of sound may be modeled by "localization" techniques which mathematically filter "digitized audio" (a digital representation of analog audio using periodic samples). Audio localization is filtering of an audio signal to reflect spatial positioning of objects in the environment being simulated. The spatial information necessary for such audio and video rendering techniques may be tracked by any of a variety of known techniques used to track locations of objects in computer simulations.
The image processing tasks associated with such simulations are well known to be computationally intensive. On top of image processing, the additional task of manipulating one or more high quality digitized audio streams may consume a significant portion of remaining processing resources. Since the available processing power is always limited, tasks are prioritized, and the audio presentation is often compromised by including less or lower quality audio in order to accommodate more dramatic effects such as video processing.
Furthermore, high quality digitized audio streams require large portions of memory and significant bandwidth if retrieved using a network. Audio thus also burdens either a user operating with limited memory resources or a user downloading information from a network. Such inconveniences reduce the overall appeal of supplementing a virtual environment with localized audio.
Audio information can, however, be represented in a more compact format which may alleviate some of the processing, memory, and network burdens resulting from audio rendering. The Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) format is one well known format for storing digital musical information in a compact fashion. MIDI has been used extensively in keyboards and other electronic devices such as personal computers to create and store entire songs as well as backgrounds and other portions of compositions. The relatively low storage space required by the efficient MIDI format allows users to build and maintain libraries of MIDI sounds, effects, and musical interludes.
MIDI provides a more compact form of storage for musical information than typical digitized audio by representing musical information with high level commands (e.g., a command to hold a certain note by a particular instrument for a specified duration). A MIDI file as small as several dozen kilobytes may contain several minutes of background music, whereas several megabytes of digitized audio may be required to represent the same duration of music.
MIDI does, however, require a processing engine to recreate the represented sounds. In a computer system, a sound card or other MIDI engine typically uses synthesis or wave table techniques to provide the sound requested. The MIDI commands are passed to the sound card. By doing so, the system does not perform a conversion of the commands to raw digital data which could be manipulated by the main processing resources of the system. The synthesized sound may also be mixed by the sound card with digitized audio received from the system and played directly on computer speaker system.
Thus, when MIDI sounds are played, the main processor does not have access to the raw digital data available when digitized audio is played. This precludes digital filtering by the main processor and prevents MIDI compositions from being manipulated as a part of the presentation of a virtual environment. This inability to manipulate MIDI limits the use of a vast array of pre-existing sounds where audio localization is desired. Additionally, the need to localize sounds using cumbersome digitized audio, rather then a compact representation such as MIDI, exacerbates the processing, storage, and networking burdens which impede further incorporation of sound into virtual environments.

Midi localization alone and in conjunction with three dimensional audio rendering


In response to receiving a request to perform a transaction with two or more memory operations on one or more tiered data structures, the memory controller: writes a start transaction record to the log stream including a transaction identifier corresponding to the transaction; and performs the two or more memory operations. For a first memory operation associated with a key, the memory controller: writes a new data object in a datastore; assigns, in a key-map, a location of the new data object to the key; maintains an old data object in the datastore whose location was previously assigned to the key; and writes an operation commit record to a log stream upon completion of the first memory operation. In accordance with a determination that the two or more memory operations are complete, the memory controller writes a transaction commit record to the log stream including the transaction identifier.

The speed of many computer operations is frequently constrained by the speed and efficiency with which data can be stored and retrieved from data structures associated with a device. Many conventional data structures take a long time to store and retrieve data. However, tiered data structures can be used to dramatically improve the speed and efficiency of data storage. Some tiered data structures enable data searches, data insertions, data deletions, and sequential data access to be performed in logarithmic time. However, further improvements to tiered data structures can further increase the speed, efficiency, and reliability with which data can be stored and retrieved, thereby improving the performance of devices relying on such tiered data structures.

Methods and systems for efficient non-isolated transactions


A high speed flexible interconnect cable for an electronic assembly includes a number of conductive layers and a number of dielectric layers. Conductive signal traces, located on the conductive layers, combine with the dielectric layers to form one or more high speed electrical transmission line structures. The cable can be coupled to electronic components using a variety of connection techniques. The cable can also be terminated with any number of known or standardized connector packages.

Many telecommunication and data communication systems support very high speed data and/or clock rates. For example, many practical digital communication systems process data at speeds of up to 40 Gigabits/second ("Gbps"), and the fiber optics telecommunication industry (and other technology sectors) continue to develop communication systems capable of handling even faster data rates. Practical high speed data communication systems employ a number of interconnected elements such as electronic devices, components, modules, circuit boards, subassemblies, and the like. High speed clock/data inputs and outputs of such elements must be interconnected at the subsystem and system levels.
The prior art contains a limited number of interconnect solutions suitable for use at very high speeds (e.g., 40 Gbps and higher). For example, single-ended threaded microwave connectors and microwave interconnect cabling is often utilized between integrated circuit packages, electronic components, and optical modules. Such connectors, however, require cumbersome cable layouts, require large specialized component packages, and preclude the use of differential signaling (which provides a number of advantages such as common mode immunity). In an effort to eliminate bulky connectors and cabling altogether, recent industry proposals have centered around complex interconnections between the integrated circuit substrate and the optics module substrate, where such interconnections utilize various wire bonding and specialized signal launch techniques (an approach requiring intimate device co-location and precise package alignment).
Very high speed integrated circuit chips are often manufactured in the form of a flip chip die having a number of high speed inputs and outputs. A common interconnect technique employs a circuit substrate (such as a ball grid array (BGA) substrate) upon which the flip chip die is mounted. The circuit substrate includes multiple conductive layers separated by insulating layers and conductive vias that form an interconnect structure for both high speed and low speed signals; the circuit substrate itself is then mounted to a circuit board or card. The substrate acts as an interposer, redistributes signals from the fine pitch chip solder bumps to the BGA solder balls, and provides coefficient of thermal expansion matching. The design of the high speed signal interconnects in the circuit substrate can be complex and time consuming, resulting in added manufacturing costs. In addition, such circuit substrates must be custom designed to accommodate the physical and electrical characteristics of the flip chip die and/or the physical and electrical characteristics of the subassembly circuit board/card.

Flexible interconnect cable for an electronic assembly


The present disclosure relates to systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media that utilize machine learning models to generate identifier embeddings from digital content identifiers and then leverage these identifier embeddings to determine digital connections between digital content items. In particular, the disclosed systems can utilize an embedding machine-learning model that comprises a character-level embedding machine-learning model and a word-level embedding machine-learning model. For example, the disclosed systems can combine a character embedding from the character-level embedding machine-learning model and a token embedding from the word-level embedding machine-learning model. The disclosed systems can determine digital connections between the plurality of digital content items by processing these identifier embeddings for a plurality of digital content items utilizing a content management model. Based on the digital connections, the disclosed systems can surface one or more digital content suggestions to a user interface of a client device.

Recent years have seen significant improvements in computer systems that implement relational models for comparing and identifying digital content. For example, conventional systems have applied relational models in a variety of different applications to recommend digital content to client devices across computer networks. For example, some conventional systems utilize relational models to analyze contents of digital content items to generate digital suggestions for client devices. Although these conventional systems can utilize relational models to generate digital content suggestions, they have a number of technical shortcomings, particularly with regard to accuracy, efficiency, and flexibility of implementing computing systems.
For example, conventional systems often generate inaccurate predictions with respect to related digital content. Indeed, most conventional relation systems are unable to accurately analyze digital content to determine digital relationships between digital content items within a content management system. Specifically, conventional relation systems are often unable to extract sufficient contextual information to generate accurate predictions. In turn, without sufficient context, the conventional relation systems often provide inapplicable suggested content or recommendations to users based on an inaccurate predictions of related digital content.
With inaccurate relation predictions perpetuating inaccurate or inapplicable suggested content, conventional relation systems are also prone to waste computing resources. For example, conventional relation systems expend significant computing resources and system bandwidth in generating, transmitting, and surfacing inaccurate suggestions or recommendations to client devices. In addition, because of these inaccurate suggestions, conventional systems also often require significant user interactions to locate and identify desired digital content. Indeed, conventional systems often require dozens of user interactions (and significant corresponding computing resources) to identify and provide a particular digital content item within a large, complex file architecture.
In addition, conventional relation systems are often rigid and inflexible. For example, many conventional systems utilize models that are tied to a specific and fixed data structure. To illustrate, some conventional systems can analyze historical user selections and generate digital content predictions utilizing these specific historical selections. This rigid approach, however, fails to analyze the wide variety of available information for extracting context in determining pertinent digital content items. This rigidity only exacerbates the accuracy and efficiency problems outlined above.

Utilizing machine-learning models to generate identifier embeddings and determine digital connections between digital content items


A clutch includes an input element with an engaged input shaft and clutch plate rotatable in concert. The clutch plate has an annular portion with a clutch plate set of lands and grooves mating with a housing set of lands and grooves to define a shear zone space. A cover is included as part of the housing and engages the body and includes a reservoir. A pump plate is captured between the cover and the body separating out a working chamber generally within the body and includes a pump port. The pump port includes an outer extreme edge that is substantially in line with the outer surface of the clutch plate. A valve port in the pump plate is positioned near the radial outside of the reservoir. A control arm normally closes the valve port and is movable to open the valve port. When the valve port is closed, fluid carried in the working chamber moves radially outward under centrifugal force and is forced through the pump port under operation of a wiper due to relative rotation between the clutch plate and the pump plate so that substantially all of the fluid is pumped out of the working chamber and a high slip speed is established between the housing and the clutch plate. A rotating peripheral accumulator is defined between the depleted surface of the clutch plate and the annular step of the body that accommodates fluid inertia and provides volumetric compensation for fluid pressurization and compression caused by an externally applied torque change.

Fan clutches operating on viscous fluid torque transfer principles conventionally consist of a driving clutch plate coaxially mounted on a drive shaft that is driven at engine speed or some selected proportion thereof. A driven clutch body having a central bearing is generally coaxially located on the same drive shaft as the clutch plate to rotate at some range of speeds, effecting slip-speeds between the clutch body and the clutch plate. Both the clutch plate and the clutch body display intermeshing lands and grooves that act to transfer forces as the drive surfaces of the clutch. The space between the grooves is filled with a viscous fluid such as silicone that transfers drive torque from the clutch plate to the clutch body. A pump plate typically separates the interior of the clutch body into two chambers including a working chamber containing the drive surfaces and a reservoir chamber. A combination of raised diverters formed into or fastened onto the pump plate, and holes in the plump plate itself, form a pumping mechanism that uses the relative motion of the face of the clutch plate to force fluid out of the working chamber containing the drive surfaces, and into the reservoir chamber. This action removes the viscous fluid from the space between the drive surfaces, thereby reducing the driving torque transfer effected in the clutch.
A temperature responsive actuator is generally located on the face of a cover that seals the clutch mechanism. When subjected to temperatures higher than a preselected calibration temperature of the clutch, the actuator opens a valve formed into the pump plate and permits the fluid contained in the reservoir chamber to flow back into the working chamber. Once in the working chamber, centrifugal force causes the fluid to flow into the space between the drive surfaces, thereby restoring drive torque. The clutch pump and valve are sized so that when the valve is open, it returns fluid to the working chamber faster than the pump can remove it to the reservoir chamber, so that substantially all of the fluid carried by the clutch remains in the working chamber when the clutch is engaged.
Terminal disengage speed refers to the clutch output speed effected by residual fluid after fluid pump-out from the working chamber. With a viscous fluid clutch, conventional knowledge requires a relatively high terminal disengage speed of approximately 1.2-1.4 times engine speed, at least partially based on the premise that fan speed should never be lower than engine speed at idle. Generally, a disengage speed is required that is sufficient to supply cooling air flow to meet desired engine cooling temperatures and air conditioning compressor pressures, without completely engaging the clutch under all typical operating conditions. The fan drive is used to maintain air flow, pulling air through the heat exchangers under all conditions, even when the clutch is disengaged.
To minimize fan drive power consumption, disengaged fan speed is preferably minimized. Some cooling systems, such as those that use a viscous clutch driven fan in series with an electrically driven fan that supplies all but the most severe cooling requirements, would permit reducing the disengage speed. However, with a conventional viscous fluid fan clutch, an over-reduction in disengage speed results in inadequate filling for re-engagement. This is because the typical viscous fluid clutch relies on rotation of the output element, including the reservoir chamber, to provide impetus for moving the fluid to fill the lands and grooves during re-engagement. Accordingly, a required, relatively high minimum disengage speed stands as a barrier to reducing disengage speeds in a conventional viscous fluid clutch. Typically, fluid is constantly being pumped out from between the plates, from the working chamber, through pump holes, and into the reservoir chamber. This continuous fluid expulsion serves as another barrier to reducing disengage speed. If the pumping action were efficient enough to reach a very low disengage speed, it would remove fluid from the working chamber faster than it can be added to engage the clutch.
To set the disengage speed, a minimum fluid quantity that cannot be pumped out is generally maintained in the working chamber. To engage the clutch, additional fluid quantities are introduced to the working chamber by opening a port of the valve that is located radially inside the pump holes. Since centrifugal force tends to prevent the fluid from moving radially inward, other forces must be created to move the fluid to a position from which, it can move through the port and into the working chamber to engage the clutch. To enable the refilling function to engage the clutch forces must be applied to the fluid, in addition to the centrifugal force acting on the fluid as a result of rotation of the clutch. Accordingly, the reservoir chamber typically subjects the fluid to centripetal type forces to move the fluid radially inward against the centrifugal force. With the relative velocity (slip-speed), between the input and output elements determining the pump-out rate, and the rotational speed of the output element (which carries the reservoir chamber), determining the feed-in rate, too slow of a disengage speed can result in fluid being pumped out of the working chamber faster than it can be fed in. In other words, a conventional viscous fluid clutch will not operate if the disengage speed is too slow. With these conditions being present, the challenge exists to provide a viscous fluid clutch that operates with a low disengage speed that is steady state regardless of torque loading variances, and that operates to re-engage under very high disengage slip-speed ratio conditions.


This concerns a hinge mechanism comprising a fixed end plate, a movable end plate lockable by two wedges controlled by a sliding pushrod, itself activated by pivoting of a control plate in a first or second direction in order to free the movable end plate. A circular guide comprises radial breaks receiving the wedges, and holding the wedges in a withdrawn position when they disengage from the radial breaks under the pivoting effect of the control plate in the second direction, which fixes in addition the circular guide to the movable end plate. The movable end plate can thus turn freely before relocking in its initial angular position when the radial breaks of the circular guide return opposite the wedges.

The document EP-A-0 770 514 describes an example of such a hinge mechanism, which can stay unlocked even after releasing the control part when the seat back is tipped forward, for example in order to access rear places in the vehicle if the mechanism in question is assembled on a front seat. When the back is then set upright again, the mechanism automatically re-locks itself as soon as the first peg comes opposite the corresponding break of the circular guide.
The mechanism described in this document gives complete satisfaction, but has however the disadvantage of always re-locking in the same angular position of the back when this back is set upright again after having tipped it forward, and this regardless of the previous adjustment of the aforesaid back.
The user of the seat must therefore again adjust the inclination of his back each time he sets it upright again after having tipped it forward.
Furthermore, the document EP-A-0 694 434 describes a hinge mechanism with toothed wedges which allows tipping the seat back forward and which automatically re-locks in the previously adjusted position of the back: this mechanism operates perfectly, but the toothed wedges of this mechanism, which allow the adjustment of the back inclination, mesh with a toothed segment which is itself movable relative to the second end plate and which is interlocked with this second end plate by means of other toothed wedges.
In this case, the two end plates are therefore connected to each other by means of two stages of toothed wedges, which tends to make the mechanism heavier and more complex.

Hinge mechanism for vehicle seat, and vehicle seat fitted with such a mechanism


A progressive differential motion JPEG codec is disclosed. The compression encoder of the progressive differential motion JPEG codec comprises a video capture unit, a video capture buffer, a detection unit, a compression unit, and a quality level buffer. The video capture unit is used for receiving an image data and dividing a component of the image data into a plurality of image data blocks. The video capture buffer stores the image data block. The detection unit is electrically coupled to the video capture unit and the video capture buffer for detecting whether a content of the image data block input from the video capture unit is different from a content of the image data block retrieved from the video capture buffer. The compression unit is electrically coupled to the detection unit for compressing the image data block retrieved from the video capture buffer with a predetermined level compression scheme depending on the difference between the content of the image data block input from the video capture unit and the content of the image data block retrieved from the video capture buffer. The quality level buffer assigns and stores an index value indicative of level compression scheme in the quality level buffer when the compression unit compresses the image data block retrieved from the video capture buffer.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a compression encoder, and more particularly to a progressive differential motion JPEG codec.
2. Description of Related Arts
With the convergence of computers, communications and media, video compression techniques have become increasingly important. Video compression is often used to translate video images (from camera, VCR, laser discs, etc.) into digitally encoded data. The digitally encoded data may then be easily transferred over a network such as the Internet. When desired, the compressed images are then decompressed for viewing on a computer monitor or other such device. Usually it is necessary to compress the digital images due to constraints of limited bandwidth of the Internet for the transmission of compressed digital images and the desire to decrease access or download time of the picture via the Internet. Higher compression of a digital image means that more digital images can be stored on a memory device (such as diskette, hard drive or memory card) and these images can be transferred faster over limited bandwidth transmission lines (such as telephone lines, internet, etc). However, the problem is that it is insufficient to sustain high-quality decomposed images with higher compression of images. Besides, the problem with Internet streaming is that presently there is still relatively low bandwidth available, and thus picture quality tends to be poor. For example, a 1 Mps download capability (e.g., with DSL) limits a consumer's real-time ability to 1 Mps (at best), which is insufficient to sustain high-quality images. As a result, the streaming approach generally provides a much poorer viewing experience. Thus, efficient and effective compression and decompression of images is highly important and desirable.
One of the most popular and widely used techniques of image compression is the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) standard. The JPEG standard operates by mapping an 8×8 square block of pixels into the frequency domain by using a discrete cosine transform (DCT). Coefficients obtained by the DCT are divided by a scale factor and rounded to the nearest integer (a process known as quantizing) and then mapped to a one-dimensional vector via a fixed zigzag scan pattern. This one-dimensional vector is encoded using a combination of run-length encoding and Huffman encoding.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are a high level block diagram illustrating the basic operations of JPEG in the compression, transmission, and reconstruction of a source image. The source image is represented by one or more components, each of which includes an array of multi-bit pixels. A grayscale image would include a single component while a color image would include up to three components. The operations shown apply to each component.
Data representing a source image data 110 is communicated to a compression encoder 120 to provide compressed image data 160. This data may be stored as a file for subsequent retrieval and reconstruction, or it may be transmitted on some communication medium to a remote location for immediate or subsequent reconstruction. In any event, it is contemplated that the compressed image data 160 will be communicated to a decompression decoder 130 to provide reconstructed image data. The compression encoder 120 uses certain data structures for the compression, and relevant portions of these must be communicated as side information for use by decompression decoder in the image reconstruction. The particular compression technique under discussion contemplates a single set of side information that applies to the entire image component.
In the proposed JPEG standard, the compression encoder 120 includes a discrete cosine transform (DCT) stage 121, a quantizer 122, and a Huffman encoder 123. The decompression decoder 130 includes a Huffman decoder 131, a dequantizer 132, and an inverse discrete cosine transform (IDCT) stage 133. The side information includes a quantization table 140 used by the quantizer 122 or the dequantizer 132 and a set of Huffman code tables 150 used by the Huffman encoder 123 or the Huffman decoder 131.
The image data is divided into blocks of 8 pixels by 8 pixels, and each block is separately processed. Positions within an 8×8 block are denoted by a double subscript, with the first subscript referring to the row and the second subscript referring to the column.
In addition, the source image data could be grayscale image data or color image data. There are a number of ways in which a color image can be broken into components. Standard monitors use the RGB characterization where R, G, and B are the red, green and blue components. Standard television broadcasting (NTSC) uses the YUV characterization where Y is the luminance component and U and V are the chrominance components (approximately red and blue). Printers use the CMYK characterization where C, M, Y, and K are the cyan, magenta, yellow, and black components. The CCIR 601 standard describes a linear transformation between the RGB characterization and the YUV characterization. As shown in FIG. 1A, the source image data 110 are linearly transformed from RGB domain into YUV domain. As shown in FIG. 1B, the decompressed image data are linearly transformed from YUV domain into RGB domain.
Although JPEG is a popular and widely used compression technique, it has several disadvantages. For example, one disadvantage of JPEG is that at low bit rates the DCT produces irregularities and discontinuities in a reconstructed image (known as tiling or blocking artifacts). Blocking artifacts cause the boundary between groups of 8×8 blocks of pixels to become visible in the reconstructed image. These blocking artifacts cause an undesirable degradation in image quality. Another disadvantage of JPEG is that JPEG cannot perform image reconstruction that is progressive in fidelity. In other words, if an image is encoded at a certain fidelity and a lower fidelity is later desired (for example, due to limited bandwidth or storage availability), the image must be decoded and re-encoded.
In order to overcome these shortcomings of JPEG, most modern image compression techniques use a wavelet transform technique followed by a quantization and entropy encoding. Wavelet transform (WT) is preferred over the DCT used in JPEG because WT does not have blocking artifacts and WT allows for image reconstruction that is progressive in resolution. Moreover, WT leads to better energy compaction and thus better distortion/rate performance than the DCT.
Most current WT-based compression techniques decompose an image into coefficients and use some form of entropy encoding (such as adaptive Huffman encoding or arithmetic encoding) of the coefficients to further compress the image. These types of encoding, however, can be quite complex and use, for example, complex symbol tables (such as in adaptive Huffman encoding) or complex data structures (such as zerotree data structures) that depend on the data types. Thus, most current WT-based techniques are complex and difficult to implement.
In order to accomplish a high quality level of decompressed images, lower latency time due to compression procedure, decompression procedure, and network latency, and smooth network loading, the present invention provides a solution for the above needs.

Progressive differential motion JPEG codec


A process for preparing a phthalide compound represented by the formula (1): ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3, R.sup.4, R.sup.5 and R.sup.6 are individually an alkyl group, and R.sup.1 and R.sup.2, R.sup.3 and R.sup.4, and R.sup.5 and R.sup.6 can respectively bond to each other to form a heterocyclic ring together with a nitrogen atom, comprising oxidizing a triphenylmethane compound represented by the formula (2) ##STR2## wherein R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3, R.sup.4, R.sup.5 and R.sup.6 are the same as above, is oxidized in the presence of activated carbon in an aqueous solvent by an oxidizing agent.. The process can provide a fast reaction that produces a high purity product with high yield.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a preparation process of a phthalide compound useful as a color former of color-developing recording materials.
2. Related Art of the Invention
A 3,3-bisarylphthalide compound having amino groups, 3,3-bis(4-dimethylaminophenyl) -6-dimethylaminophthalide(crystal violet lactone) in particular, is widely used for pressure sensitive copying papers and thermal recording papers as a color former which develops blue color.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent SHO 62-184061, SHO 55-120562 and HEI 02-47160 have described processes for preparing a phthalide compound by oxidizing a triarylmethene compound. However, these preparation processes have led to problems. For example, the reaction system increases alkali concentration with the progress of the reaction in these preparation processes and causes problems of permanently remaining unreacted raw materials. Further, a metal compound is added in order to accelerate the reaction and remains in the waste water in the step of filtering and washing the phthalide reaction product. Such residual materials have caused problems of increasing the cost of waste water disposal.

Preparation process of phthalide compound


A laboratory balance (1) has a base body (2), a weighing chamber (10) with a weighing chamber floor (3), a weighing chamber rear wall (4), and a draft shield (5,5′,5″). The draft shield has a top wall (6), a first side wall (7), a second side wall (8) arranged parallel to the first side wall, and a front wall (9). The weighing chamber floor, the draft shield and the weighing chamber rear wall act together to enclose the weighing chamber. The weighing chamber rear wall has a modular construction, with at least a base module (15) and a top module (16,16′,16″). The base module is connected to the base body, and the top module is connected to the top wall of the draft shield.

The invention relates to a balance that is used to weigh small objects with a very high precision of, typically, a fraction of a milligram. The sensitivity which enables a balance to measure weight so precisely also makes the balance susceptible to any air circulation in the area of the weighing pan. The weighing pan and the space above it are therefore separated from the ambient environment by an enclosure which is commonly referred to as a draft shield. The space inside the draft shield is referred to as the weighing chamber. The term laboratory balance in the present context means any high-precision weighing instrument with a draft-shield-enclosed weighing chamber. Such balances are used in chemical and pharmaceutical laboratories, industrial quality control, the jewelry trade, numismatics, weighing of air-pollution filters, and many other applications.
While a draft shield keeps out drafts of ambient room air, the weighing accuracy and speed of operation of a laboratory balance may still be negatively affected by temporary turbulence when a door of the draft shield is opened, and by convective air currents inside the weighing chamber due to heat dissipation from the electrical and electronic parts of the balance. These air movements inside the draft shield tend to be stronger and take longer to subside the larger the volume, in particular the height, of the weighing chamber. To achieve the best accuracy and operating speed with a laboratory balance, the volume, and in particular the height, of the weighing chamber should therefore only be as large, and in particular as tall, as is necessary to accommodate the objects that are being weighed.
To meet the need for balances whose weighing chamber height matches the height of the samples to be weighed, the present state of the art offers balances with height-adjustable draft-shielding enclosures. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,686, a draft protection device is proposed with two or more hollow bodies that surround the weighing pan and can be telescopically slid inside each other to adjust the draft protection device to a desired height which is maintained by a locking device. The open top of the telescopic draft shield can be covered with a lid if necessary. With the draft protection device according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,686, the weighing object is brought to, and removed from, the weighing pan through the top opening of the draft shield, which makes this type of draft shield undesirable for the delicate manipulation of small samples. Furthermore, placing the lid on or off the draft shield causes a gust of air turbulence inside the weighing chamber. Due to these drawbacks, the practical applications of the telescopic draft shield of U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,686 remain largely limited to balances of a lower class of precision than the laboratory balances described above.
Another state-of-the-art draft protection device for a laboratory scale, described in US 2010/0288566 A1, has planar panels, i.e. a rear wall, a front wall, two sidewalls, a top cover, and a floor, which together enclose a weighing chamber. The front wall and sidewalls are suspended from the edges of the top cover and overhang the front and sides of a base housing of the balance. The top cover with the suspended front- and sidewalls can be raised and lowered, with the front- and sidewalls sliding up and down over the front and sides of the base housing, whereby the height of the weighing chamber can be adjusted. Obviously, the range of downward movement ends at the point where the bottom edges of the front- and sidewalls reach the level of the work surface on which the balance is set up. Thus, the possible range of height adjustment of the weighing chamber with the draft protection device described in US 2010/0288566 A1 is rather limited.
According to a further solution, which is proposed in US 2013/0068542, the ceiling height of the weighing chamber is reduced by installing a horizontal partitioning panel, for example a glass plate inside the draft shield compartment, whereby the space inside the draft shield compartment is divided into the actual weighing chamber at the bottom and a stagnant air space at the top. This concept has the disadvantage that the horizontal partitioning panel obstructs access to the weighing compartment from the top.
In view of the aforementioned disadvantages of the height-adjustable weighing chambers of the prior art, the applicants searched for a new solution that would allow a laboratory balance of a given base model to be equipped, either at the factory or through field installation, with draft shield devices of different standardized heights. This differentiation in height affects the vertical walls, i.e. the front-, rear- and sidewalls of the weighing chamber. It occurred to the inventors that economies in manufacturing, inventory and delivery logistics could be achieved in particular by a modular design of the rear wall of the weighing chamber, so that weighing chamber rear walls of different heights could be assembled by stacking modular wall elements on top of each other.
The special attention to the weighing chamber rear wall over the front- and sidewalls of the weighing chamber is due to the fact that the rear wall is manufactured of metal, while the draft shield walls are configured as glass panels, as the logistics of manufacturing rear walls of different heights are significantly more complicated than providing glass panels of different dimensions.
Thus, the object of the present invention is to provide a laboratory balance with a weighing chamber rear wall which can be configured in different heights by stacking modular wall elements on top of each other.

Laboratory balance with a weighing chamber rear wall of modular construction


A method (400) for accessing one or more service processes (222) of service (250) includes executing at least one service enclave (220) and executing an enclave sandbox (200) that wraps the at least one service enclave. The at least one service enclave provides an interface to the one or more service processes. The enclave sandbox is configured to establish an encrypted communication tunnel (210) to the at least one service enclave interfacing with the one or more service processes, and communicate program calls (302) to/from the one or more service processes as encrypted communications through the encrypted communication tunnel.

Service processes executing in a cloud environment handle client stored data such as authentication credentials, confidential documents, or other sensitive data the client wants to keep secret. In addition to keeping client data safe from exposure and disclosure to unwanted external parties, clients further require an increased assurance that their data stored in the cloud environment and manipulated by service processes remains confidential from operators/administrators of the service processes. As such, providing safeguards that prevent access to customer stored data from malicious actors—even when those attacks originate from privileged software, increases customer confidence by alleviating the risk of security breaches that expose client data to unwanted panics.


Various aspects of the subject technology relate to systems, methods, and machine-readable media for learning a foreign language. The method includes executing a video game in a first human language. The method includes pausing gameplay of the video game for a paused time instance. The method includes executing a digital mini-puzzle game during the paused time instance in the gameplay of the video game, the digital mini-puzzle game executed in a second human language, the digital mini-puzzle game executed utilizing assets of the video game. The method includes receiving a response to the digital mini-puzzle game from a player-computing device corresponding to a player, the response comprising at least one of the first human language and/or the second human language. The method includes determining a score of the response corresponding to the player based at least in part on a comparison of the response with translation pairs in a database.

Educational entertainment (edutainment) includes media that is designed to educate through entertainment. Edutainment commonly includes content that is intended to teach, which also has incidental entertainment value. It is well-known that being entertained increases learning and engagement, and so edutainment techniques have been used by academia, corporations, governments, and other entities in various countries to disseminate information in classrooms and/or via television, radio, and other media for learning purposes.

Edutainment overlay for learning foreign languages in video games


An elevator may include a hoisting machine, a set of hoisting ropes, a traction sheave, an elevator car, elevator car guide rails, and a brake. The hoisting machine may engage the set of hoisting ropes via the traction sheave in order to move the elevator car along the elevator car guide rails. The brake may be configured to affect rotational movement of the traction sheave. The brake may include a brake shoe and a braking surface. In an emergency braking situation in which the elevator car is moving upward, the brake shoe may be configured to move in a direction of rotation of the braking surface. An elevator brake may include a brake frame, a brake plate, a wedge piece, a brake shoe, at least one spring element, and at least one electromagnet.

1. Field
The present invention relates to an elevator and an elevator brake.
2. Description of Related Art
According to the regulations elevators must contain an emergency brake, which is switched on in exceptional situations, such as during an electricity power cut. The normal holding brake of the elevator, for example, is used as an emergency brake, which keeps the elevator car in its position in normal situations when the car is at a landing. Deceleration of the car in normal situations is usually effected as motor braking. Connection of the emergency brake when moving upwards in elevators without counterweight, combined with the earth's gravity, can cause such large deceleration of the elevator car that the safety of the passengers can be endangered. Thus when traveling upwards the emergency brake should not decelerate the elevator car of an elevator without counterweight too effectively or not necessarily at all.


A device is provided having a housing with a housing wall consisting of a non-transparent plastic with an outer surface and an inner surface; and an operating mode display unit with at least one light-emitting element which is/are located inside the housing, underneath the inner surface of the housing wall. The housing wall has at least one recess in the area of the light-emitting element and the light intensity of the at least one light-emitting element is adjusted in such a way that in its light-emitting mode, said at least one light-emitting element is only optically perceptible in a localizable manner through the housing wall in this area.

The invention relates to a device, comprising a housing and a display unit, which can be optically perceived through the housing wall. The device is preferably a medical device.
There are known illuminated switches with a housing, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,967. An illuminated operating element, such as a button, which has a receptacle made of transparent material and acts as a light guide is known from DE 37 15 528 C2.
The prior art also discloses devices comprising a housing and a display unit with light-emitting elements, the light-emitting elements usually being optically perceptible through a window which is fitted in a clearance in the housing wall.
Such devices are customary in particular in the medical sector, in cases where it is desired to make information optically perceptible.
The disadvantage of such devices is that, owing to the window made in the housing wall, there are crevices, fissures or recesses in the housing wall, which easily become soiled but can only be cleaned, in particular disinfected, with great difficulty.
Added to this is the fact that, owing to the considerable number of parts, these devices are relatively complicated to produce and consequently lead to relatively high costs in production.
Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device which avoids these problems.
It can be regarded as a further object to provide a device which permits the detection of items in the vicinity of the device.
This object is achieved by a device such as that described in the claims.
The terms "comprise" or "include" introduce a list of features which is not considered to be exhaustive. The fact that the word "a" is used in the claims before stating a feature does not exclude the possibility that the features stated may be present as a plurality, in the sense of "at least one".
The invention has the following advantages:
The device according to the invention can be cleaned easily and effectively, since the device does not have to have clearances in the area of the display unit for incorporating a window in order for the light-emitting elements to be optically perceptible.
The largely uninterrupted surface of the housing of the device has the effect of making production easier, since no cutouts need be made in the housing.
For the purposes of the present invention, a housing is understood as meaning any external enclosure of a device which has any light-emitting display unit. The housing may be produced from just one part and consist of one and the same material, but may also be made up of different elements, which for their part contain different materials.
The primary purpose of the housing is to protect the components located in the housing from external influences, in particular mechanical influences. In this respect, the housing is preferably produced from a material that is resistant to rupture. The housing is preferably also largely encapsulated and, apart from necessary apertures in the form of ventilation slits or apertures for cables, has no openings.
The housing wall is preferably made from one and the same material. The housing wall is predominantly of the same thickness. Housing wall thicknesses in the range from 1 to 5 mm, preferably from 2 to 3 mm, are customary.
The term non-transparent comprises materials which, when held against a dark surface, under normal lighting intensity do not allow this surface to be optically perceived, preferably by the human eye or an optical sensor, for example a photocell, through the material. Consequently, translucent materials such as acrylic glass are not included.
A display unit is to be understood as meaning electrically operable component parts of a device which optically displays information on some operating state or other of the device. Such information may be, for example, the charging state of the batteries of a battery-operated device, information on the light intensity given off by an illuminating device, the on state, the operating mode or error messages.
The term light-emitting elements comprises all elements which, when operated with electric current, can emit light, such as incandescent lamps, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), 7-segment displays and/or laser diodes.
The radiation transmitted by the light-emitting elements lies in the range from 400 to 1300 nm. For use as a display, wavelengths in the range from 400 to 700 nm have proven successful; for the application for detecting items, wavelengths in the range from 600 to 1300 nm have proven successful.
The radiant power lies, for example, in the range from 0.1 to 30 mW, preferably in the range from 1 to 10 mW.
The device according to the invention has at least one light-emitting element, preferably two, three or more light-emitting elements.
For the purposes of the invention, optically perceptible means that, under customary artificial or natural lighting, it can be perceived, preferably with the human eye, whether or not a light-emitting element is radiating light. Depending on the desired embodiment, however, radiation sensors such as photocells, photodiodes or phototransistors may also be used for the optical perception.
The presence of a light-emitting element is not perceptible from the outside in the non-emitting state, whereas in the emitting state the emission of the light-emitting element is optically perceptible from the outside through the housing wall in an area which can largely be sharply delimited. This must be distinguished from a diffuse emission, which cannot be clearly assigned to an area which can be delimited, as is known for example in the case of internally illuminated switches.
Of course, the device also has a switching unit, by means of which the device can, for example, be put into the operating state. The switching unit may be formed as a power switch, a changeover switch and/or an on switch. The switching unit is usually in the form of a pushbutton, a toggle switch or a rotary switch. The housing usually has no clearance at this point.
The optical perceptibility of the light-emitting elements is achieved through the housing wall by reducing the wall thickness of the housing wall, preferably on the inner side of the housing. This leads to a reduction in the layer thickness of the housing wall (recess) and consequently to an increase in the transparency at this point.
For the purposes of the invention, a recess exists when the layer thickness of the housing wall is less at this point in comparison with the customary layer thickness of the housing wall. A reduction by at least 50%, preferably in the range from 60 to 90%, has proven to be advantageous. In this range, the housing wall is, for example, only about 0.2 to 0.8 mm, preferably 0.3 to 0.6 mm, thick.
Consequently, the term recess covers notches, drilled holes, fissures and material deficits, in particular on the inner side of the housing wall, which do not penetrate as far as the outer surface of the housing wall.
By contrast with this, for the purposes of the invention, apertures are understood as meaning material deficits which reach from the inner surface to the outer surface of the housing wall, for example windows or drilled holes.
The recess preferably takes place only in the areas in which light-emitting elements are located and preferably in the form that the light-emitting elements can be introduced or fitted into the recess.
Circular recesses in the form of a drilled hole have proven to be favorable when using LEDs as light-emitting elements. The diameter of the drilled holes is usually slightly larger than the diameter of the light-emitting element and normally lies in the range from 2 to 6 mm, preferably 3 to 5 mm.
In principle, the distance of the light-emitting elements from the inner surface of the housing wall in the recess is arbitrary, but a small distance is to be preferred. The perception of the light-emitting elements in the emitting state through the housing wall can be localized particularly well if the distance of the light-emitting element from the inner surface of the housing wall in the recess lies in the range from 0.5 to 2 mm, preferably in the range from 0.7 to 1 mm.
The device according to the invention has no recesses, clearances and/or apertures on the outer surface, at least in the area of the display unit. This ensures a uniformly smooth surface, which can be easily cleaned.
Suitable materials for a housing of the device according to the invention comprise plastics in particular, such as polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), polybutylene terephthalate (PBTP), styrene acrylonitrile (SAN), polyamide (PA), polyoxymethylene (POM), polyphenylene oxide (PPO), PE, PP, PTFE and homopolymers and copolymers of these plastics. The plastics may also be used in a filled or fiber-reinforced form.
Depending on the application area, the plastics may also be surface-coated, for example with paints, varnishes or lacquers.
The use of color plastics, for example colored with pigments, is also possible.
To ensure the optical perceptibility of the light-emitting elements through color materials, either the light power of the light-emitting elements must be increased or the wall thickness of the housing wall must be reduced, at least in the area of the display unit.
The production process for the housing of the device according to the invention is based on the materials used.
The housing of the device according to the invention is preferably produced by injection molding. However, production by machining, such as by milling from a shaped body, is also conceivable and possible.
The devices according to the invention can be used in all sectors in which a uniform, in particular easy to clean, surface is desirable.
The devices according to the invention are preferably used in the medical sector. In this sector, it is often of eminent importance that the devices can be easily and effectively cleaned, if appropriate disinfected.
The following may be mentioned as examples of such devices: exposing devices, mixing devices, in particular devices which are used in the dental sector.
The device may also be used to detect the presence, absence or identification of an item which is at a comparatively close distance in the area of the housing wall having the recess.
For this purpose, the housing wall of the device has, preferably more or less alongside the first recess, a further recess, in which an element suitable for the detection of electromagnetic radiation is located. Furthermore, the item is preferably to be formed on its outer surface in such a way that it is able to reflect in a suitable way the light radiated by the light-emitting element through the housing wall.
According to experience, the detection of the presence or absence of the item works all the better the closer the item is to the housing wall of the device. A usable distance lies in the range from 0.01 to 3 cm, preferably from 0.5 to 10 mm.
For its part, the item does not otherwise have to be individually identified any more specifically.
Suitable elements are, in particular, reflecting surfaces, specularly reflecting materials or else diffusely scattering materials.
The problem of determining the presence or absence of items or identifying their nature is known in principle. In this respect, reference is made to WO00/38841 or EP 0 699 582 A1. As a difference from the solutions proposed there, the present invention is distinguished by the fact that the detection system is of a comparatively simple construction and, as a result of the arrangement of the electrical components behind a housing wall which has no apertures, at least in this area, is very easy to clean, should this be necessary.
In one particular embodiment, the device is a mixing device, in particular for mixing dental impression compounds, such as that described for example in EP 0 492 413 B1. The items to be detected are in this case preferably containers or cartridges to be placed in the mixing device, as are described for example in EP 0787655 A2.
As soon as a cartridge has been placed in the mixing device, the type of container and the compound with which it is filled can be determined by the mixing device in a simple way and the mixing device can be controlled according to the container placed in.
In this way it is also possible to prevent unsuitable containers, which could lead to the mixing device being damaged during its operation, from being placed in the mixing device.
The device specified above, in particular in the form of a mixing device, consequently has, in the area of the receptacle for the containers to be placed in, a transmitter and a receiver, which are respectively located in recesses of the housing wall. The light emitted by the transmitter is reflected to a greater or lesser degree by the container to be placed in, according to the nature of the surface of the container. The reflected light is detected by the receiver and generates a signal there. In the simplest case, the container to be detected has on the surface a light/dark shadowing, for example in the form of a barcode, which can be applied in a simple way by means of an inkjet printer during the production of the container or parts thereof.
By providing, if appropriate, a number of transmitters and/or a number of receivers, it is possible in this way not only to detect the presence or absence of the container but also to transmit additional information on the container or the compound located in it.
The embodiment described is consequently distinguished by a series of advantages, such as simple construction of the detection system comprising a transmitting and reading unit using low-cost components, inexpensive application of a coding to a container and easier cleaning of the transmitting and reading unit in the event of soiling, since the device has no apertures, at least in this area.

Medical device with partially transparent housing


An aqueous solution of droperidol suitable for injection having a concentration from about 0.1 to about 10.0 mg/ml, and a sufficient amount of tonicity adjusting agent to render the solution isotonic, the solution being in a sealed container. Also provided is an aqueous solution of droperidol suitable for injection, comprising droperidol at a concentration from about 2.75 to about 10 mg/ml, and the solution being in a sealed container.

The prevalence of migraine is said to be approximately 6% of the male population and 18% of the female population. Treatment for many patients having the occasional migraine usually involves simple analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, or specific agents such as ergotamines or triptans. Approximately 10% of migraine sufferers have three or more attacks per month and warrant prophylactic treatment. Preventative agents such as beta-blockers, tricyclic antidepressants and divalproex sodium can reduce but not eliminate migraine attacks in some patients. Thus, there remains a need for migraine specific medications such as sumatriptan. In the remaining population of migraine sufferers, and in those with intolerable side-effects from available drugs, there is a lack of conventional pharmaceutical preparations that exhibit therapeutic effect, without severe side-effects.
Droperidol presently is marketed by Akorn, Inc. under the trademark Inapsine, as an injectable formulation used in anesthesia for preoperative surgery. It has never been approved for use in the treatment or management of migraine attacks. The concentration of droperidol in the Inapsine is 2.5 mg/ml. That is the only concentration of droperidol that has been approved for human injection. Further, droperidol is present as the lactate salt in Inapsine. No droperidol salt, other than the lactate, has been used for human injection.
A limited, uncontrolled, non-blinded, use of droperidol lactate (2.5 mg/ml droperidol) to treat migraine attacks was attempted and the results published in Headache, April 1996, p.280. In that publication it was reported that 20 patients received from 2.5 to 7.5 mg droperidol intravenously, in increments of 2.5 mg every 30 minutes until the patient was headache free or until a total of three doses had been administered. All of the patients received prior treatment with migraine therapies. Eighteen of the patients reported to be headache-free by the last dose. Although the article reports on apparently encouraging results in treating migraine attacks with droperidol, no definitive conclusions can be reached from the results reported in that article as the number of patients treated was small, the study was not blinded, all patients received other agents to treat the migraine episode prior to receiving droperidol, and there was no placebo control. Also, there was no attempt to repeat the results with the patients. Further, no attempt was made to prolong therapy beyond the initial treatment to a headache-free state and most patients had continuing symptoms to some degree within 24 hours after the last droperidol treatment.
The study used multiple treatments of droperidol, with many patients receiving more than 2.5 mg of droperidol to reduce the migraine symptoms. The problem with administering droperidol at such a concentration is that the patient receives a significant volume of fluid in order to achieve a therapeutically effective amount of droperidol. This is of particular concern if the patient is receiving the droperidol through intramuscularly (I.M.) injection. Muscle pain and irritation and other problems may be associated with such large fluid injections.

Compositions and method for treating migraine


A process is provided for the precipitation of phosphates from phosphate-comprising waters which utilizes iron hydroxide of the formula Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3.nH.sub.2 O wherein n=0.5-3.0. The iron hydroxide is prepared from natural or technical muds comprising iron in a process which involves dissolving with mineral acid and precipitation with a base. Other metal hydroxides are used together with the iron hydroxide.

Fertilizers, human and animal discharge, household garbage and detergents and cleansing agents give rise to dissolved phosphate in surface waters.
Increased growth of plants, especially algae, is a result thereof. As little as 1 g of phosphorus leads to the formation of 100 g of biomass, the mineralization of which ultimately also uses 150 g of oxygen. This results in lack of oxygen so that fish will suffocate and an anaerobic rottening processes will develop; i.e., the water source "tilts over".
5-10 mg of phosphorus/liter are present in municipal sewage, the major part being o-phosphate in the form of an easily soluble sodium salt. As far as the phosphates are derived from detergents and cleansing agents, polyphosphates (e.g. sodium tri-polyphosphate) are also present. They will, however, be hydrolyzed to o-phosphates, although this will already take place in the sewage pipe.
According to the Sewage Treatment Regulation (Rahmen-Abwasser-Verarbeitungsvorschrift) from Sep. 8, 1989 (the Secretary for Environment, Protection of Wildlife and Reactor Safety) (Bundesminister for Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit) sewage from plants with more than 100,000 person units may have a maximum content of 1 mg phosphorus/liter in the effluent.
The desired value is, however, below 0.5 mg phosphorus/liter.
It is known to remove the dissolved phosphates by precipitation with dissolved metal salts.
For the removal of dissolved phosphates all metal cations which form water-insoluble or only slightly soluble phosphates can be used. Specific and preferred examples of cations are iron, aluminum and alkaline earth metals. In simplified form, the precipitation processes proceed as follows: EQU FeCl.sub.3 +Na.sub.3 PO.sub.4 .fwdarw.FePO.sub.4 .dwnarw.+3 NaCl EQU 3 CaCl.sub.2 +2 Na.sub.3 PO.sub.4 .fwdarw.Ca.sub.3 (PO.sub.4).sub.2 .dwnarw.+6 NaCl EQU 3 MgSO.sub.4 +2 Na.sub.3 PO.sub.4 .fwdarw.Mg.sub.3 (PO.sub.4).sub.2 .dwnarw.+3 Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4 EQU 2 Na[Al(OH).sub.4 ]+2 Na.sub.3 PO.sub.4 .fwdarw.2 AlPO.sub.4 .dwnarw.+8 NaOH
The pH in municipal clarification plants ranges between 7.5 and 8.2. The pH of the precipitating agent used is almost without significance because the added amounts are far too small to be able to perceptibly change pH in the total mass. For the precipitation of phosphate it is, therefore, equally possible to use strongly alkaline products (e.g. aluminates) and strongly acidic products (e.g., mixed halogenides of Al.sup.3+, Fe.sup.3+, Ca.sup.2+ and Mg.sup.2+ from the montmorrilonite chemistry, with pH<1).
The selection of preferred products to be actually used depends on a number of criteria such as availability, price, the supplier's application technology service and the qualitative balancing of one precipitating agent against another.
One of the qualitative criteria is the productivity, i.e. the amount theoretically necessary to obtain as quantitative a precipitation as possible. That depends on the stoichiometric ratio between the molecular weight of phosphorus and of the metal in the precipitating agent.
For the precipitation of 1 mol of phosphorus (31 g) the theoretically necessary amounts are:
27 g Aluminum PA1 36.5 g Magnesium PA1 56 g Iron or PA1 60 g Calcium.
Another qualitative criteria is the solubility in water of the precipitated phosphate. The smaller the solubility in water, the smaller the amount of necessary precipitating agent, and the smaller will also be the remaining dissolved phosphate. Among the o-phosphates aluminum phosphate (AlPO.sub.4) has the lowest solubility in water, closely followed by iron phosphate. Among the cations mentioned above, magnesium forms the most water-soluble phosphate.
In general, the solubility of the phosphates in water increases with increasing pH.
The above-mentioned considerations form only a part of the complex quality criteria. In reality, nowadays the most often used agents are iron chloride, iron sulfate and iron chloride sulfate in the form of aqueous solutions, not only because of cost reasons and the general availability (Titanium Chemistry) but also because iron in contrast to aluminum and the alkaline earths bind hydrogen sulfide as insoluble iron sulfide and ensures sulfur-free fermentation gas. The disadvantage connected to the use of iron salts for the precipitation of phosphate is the secondary loading of the waters by soluble halogenides and sulfates.
It is true that the aluminates nowadays have a considerable share of the market, but they also have the disadvantage connected to their inability to bind the hydrogen sulfate.
Furthermore, it is known from the literature (Alan, Appleton et al, Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 15, No. 11, p. 1383-1386, Nov. 1981 or Kawashina et al., Water Research, Vol. 20, No. 4, p. 471-475, April 1986), that iron hydroxides are usable in the precipitation of phosphate.
It has, however, not yet been proved in practical verification in large scale because the aging processes inactivates the surface of iron hydroxide and constantly diminishes the precipitation capacity of iron hydroxide. It is also not possible to work with freshly precipitated iron oxide in practice. It is necessary to ensure storage stability. Storing takes place both at the production site, in the transportation and at the consumption site. It is also not possible to completely empty the storage tanks at the production site or at the consumption site. Some parts of the product will remain and they will proceed in the aging process. The aging stability is the determining criteria for the use of iron hydroxide in the precipitation of phosphate. The patent literature offers suggestions with iron hydroxides only from certain sources and blends (DE-A-30 01 929; DE-A 32 00 164; Ep-A-0 009 718).

Process for the precipitation of phosphate with iron hydroxide

Industrie Automation Sondertechnik GmbH & Co.