Provided is a measurement unit and measurement method for reducing attenuation due to optical fiber length and SN degradation due to background in a dosage rate monitor that uses optical fiber. This system comprises: a radiation detector for detecting radiation dosage; a light source for irradiating stimulating light on the radiation detector; a photodetector for detecting light generated by the radiation detector; an optical fiber for connecting the photodetector and the radiation detector and light source, and transmitting light from the light source and light from the radiation detector; a measurement unit for counting the pulses outputted from the photodetector; and an analysis unit for extracting the luminous energy originating from the radiation detector, from time information, wave height information, and the count value, which are measurement results obtained by the measurement unit, and converting the luminous energy to a dosage and dosage rate.

As a radiation detector for measuring a dosage based on radiation, a detector such as an ionization chamber, a GM (Geiger-Muller) counter tube, a scintillation detector or a semiconductor detector is widely used as a dosage monitor such as an area monitor, a process monitor or a survey meter. A radiophotoluminescence glass dosimeter, a thermoluminescence dosimeter, or an optically stimulated luminescent dosimeter is used as an individual radiation exposure management or imaging plate. These dosage monitor, individual dosimeter and imaging plate are used mainly in atomic energy facilities, medical facilities using radioactive isotope, or research accelerator facilities.
In a conventional method using a dosage monitor, it is general that an application voltage of several volts to thousands of volts is supplied to the aforementioned detector to operate the detector an electrical signal associated with radiation is sent from the detector via a coaxial cable or the like to a measurement device provided at a downstream stage to analyze the signal. As an example, the detector applied to the dosage monitor used in atomic energy facilities is one of a silicon semiconductor detector, an NaI (TI) scintillation detector and an ionization chamber, any of which requires electricity supply thereto.
In the aforementioned various facilities, dosage monitoring based on these detectors can be achieved without any troubles in a usual operating situation. However, when power supply cannot be achieved due to a power failure or the like, it becomes difficult to measure a dosage.
As a radiation measurement means which eliminates the need of power supply to the detector, a dosage monitor using optical fiber is suggested. The arrangement is that scintillation element is connected at a tip end of an optical fiber, light applied to the element is converted to an electrical signal by an optical detector provided at a downstream stage of the fiber for analysis thereof. As a position measurement means, an optical detector is provided at each of both ends of an optical fiber and a detection position is derived by using a time difference between light detections of the detectors.
However, even in any of the above systems, the amount of scintillation light is very small and it is difficult to prolong an optical fiber length from the viewpoint of SN ratio. Accordingly, such a system cannot be applied to such atomic energy facilities as to require long wiring of the cables. In order to achieve dosage monitoring using optical fiber in such facilities, a measurement system and a measurement method for reducing attenuation due to optical fiber length and SN degradation due to background are required.
Typical fluorescent materials for converting a dosage to a light quantity include NaI (TI), BGO, and GSO, and light irradiated immediately after occurrence of an interaction with radiation is used to analyze a dosage, a radiation energy and so on. An optically stimulated luminescent (OSL) element, utilizing a proportional relationship between the formation amount of a color center and an accumulated dosage, analyzes an accumulated dosage from OSL light irradiated when optically stimulated light from a light source is transited from an excited state to a base state.
PATENT LITERATURE 1 is characterized in that an OSL element is connected at a tip end of an optical fiber, stimulated light is irradiated from a laser light source thereto to thereby generate scintillation light originated from the OSL, and the light is measured by an optical detector provided at a stage downstream thereof.
PATENT LITERATURE 2 is characterized in that a device for analyzing the fluorescent dosage of a fluorescent material contained in a sample includes a means for increasing a multiplication factor of an optical detector only in a time range where the fluorescent dosage of a fluorescent material is dominant on the basis of a pulse light generation timing signal of a light source.

Dosage rate measurement system and dosage rate measurement method


A computer-implemented method for generating a description of a component of an automation system comprises describing the component as a plurality of inputs and outputs, generating a vendor-independent component description file based on a description of the component as the plurality of inputs and outputs, updating the vendor-independent component description file to include vendor-specific hardware information and hardware control logic, and creating the component based on an updated vendor-specific component description.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to component-based automation systems, and more particularly to a system and method for generating and implementing descriptions of components.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A trend in the automation industry has been to move away from central control architectures and towards distributed local units. End users of automation systems, system integrators, and original equipment manufactures (OEMs) are looking at ways and means to utilize the benefits of decentralized control and distributed automation in manufacturing processes.
Benefits for distributed automation include: immediate local processing of time sensitive signals and data leading to more efficient plant operation; improved design flexibility through the use of plug-and-play automation software and the utilization of different devices and different field bus technologies from different vendors; improved reuse of knowledge through the utilization of fully trusted stand-alone automation solutions in different plant configurations for different automation tasks; improved ability to handle changes to device configurations; and vertical integration of plant automation systems with the enterprise information technology (IT) infrastructure, etc.
An example of a distributed control system is shown in FIG. 1. The distributed parts of the control system include smart devices, such as pumps 101, valves 102, and sensors 103-104 that have built-in control functionality that can be linked by software to other peripherals, such as a human/machine interface (HMI) panel 105, temperature controllers 106, and soft-controllers 107 to enable control system functionality. For example, a pressure sensor 104 can be coupled by software to a valve actuator 102 and to the HMI panel 105 to display bar graph. A slider on the HMI panel 105 can be coupled via software to the set point of a PID (Proportional, Integral, Derivative) controller controlling the speed of a pump 101.
To facilitate decentralized control and distributed automation, the individual distributed field devices and applications need to communicate seamlessly irrespective of the manufacturers of the devices and systems, and irrespective of the field-bus technology that particular devices are designed for.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method for generating and implementing descriptions of components in a component-independent automation system.

Method of generating a component of a component-based automation system


An anchor component having a stem portion terminating in an enlarged end portion is used to anchor cap strip to a surrounding mortar bed. The stem portion is attached to the cap strip by an integrally formed head which interlocks with a hole in the cap strip or by being prefabricated to be punched out of the cap strip. The assembly is designed to prevent cracking of overlying V-Cap.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates generally to tile installation and more particularly to an improved method and apparatus for installing V-Cap so as to avoid cracking thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
So-called "V-Cap" is a tile component typically used to finish off the front of tiled countertops. The V-Cap is typically bonded to an underlying mortar bed by an adhesive, which is typically a thin set mortar. Since at least 1968, punched metal strip or "cap strip" has been used to support V-Cap in tile installations. Since at least that date, a problem has existed with thin hairline cracks developing in V-Cap installations.
Various approaches have been tried to solve this cracking problem. In 1995, the Ceramic Tile Institute of Northern California Technical Committee reported on such approaches as follows:
Throughout the years installers have improvised in an attempt to eliminate cracking in their countertop installations. Some have resorted to eliminating the adhesive to only the apron, allowing the top surface of the V-Cap to freely float upon the mortar bed. Still others have fastened the V-Caps with thin set applied only on the top surface, allowing the Cap to hang freely against the apron, sometimes allowing a space for movement there. Still others have experimented with different types of adhesives, substituting organic adhesives, mastics, and other flexible adhesives for the traditional portland cement thin set. In addition, some installers will cut a control joint into the mortar bed between the V-Cap and field tile, in an attempt to direct any movement to the grout joint and not the time.
None of these approaches have proved satisfactory, however.

Method and apparatus for installing V-Cap in countertop assemblies


An overridable data protection mechanism for unlocking/locking a PLD includes a data protect override key register, an input key register, and a comparator. After the user inputs an access code to the input key register, the software program sends an enabling signal to the comparator which in turn compares the bits stored in the data protect override key register and the bits in the input key register. If the bits in the two registers are identical, then the comparator outputs a disable data protect signal, thereby allowing the user to modify the configuration data in that PLD. After an incremented version control number and the new configuration data are downloaded to the PLD, the program sends a disabling signal to the comparator, thereby preventing further modification to the configuration data on that PLD.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to programmable logic devices (PLDs), and in particular to an overridable data protection mechanism for PLDS.
2. Description of the Related Art
Programmable logic devices (PLDS) include non-volatile (e.g. EPROM, EEPROM, Flash EPROM, Flash EEPROM, or antifuse) or volatile (e.g. SRAM or DRAM) memory cell arrays which programmably create data paths and logic functions within the devices that are specific to the user's design. The information stored in these arrays is known as configuration data. Typically, these arrays are erasable, thereby allowing the desired functionality of the PLD to be changed many times.
The industry is increasingly using PLDs that can be programmed, erased, and verified in-system, that is, while these devices are soldered into place on the circuit board in which the devices will be used. As is well known to those in the art, the term in-system programmable refers to the entire process of programming a device in-system, and, therefore, encompasses the actions of erasing and verifying the design in the device in addition to the specific action of memory cell programming.
In complex systems that use multiple ISP PLDs, tracking the specific device configuration version in each device is difficult. Typically, multiple ISP PLDs are serially connected for both programming as well as data read out (i.e. verifying). Additional information on the programming, erasing, and verifying of ISP devices is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,734,868, entitled "Efficient In-System Programming Structure and Method for Non-Volatile Programmable Logic Devices", which is incorporated herein by reference. If no version information is provided on-chip, a user would have to read out the configuration data from each device to determine the configuration version stored in that device. Clearly, as the number of PLDs increase, this read out procedure becomes increasingly time-consuming and thus undesirable.
To solve this problem, some PLDs include "user signature" registers that store user-specified information. For example, the user may use a user signature register on a PLD to store a short descriptive name and configuration version number for that PLD. The IEEE Standard 1149.1 Test Access Port and Boundary-Scan Architecture (commonly known as JTAG) provides a 32-bit register (referred to as a user code register) which can be used as a user signature register. However, updating the data stored in the user signature register is dependent upon the user manually providing the correct information. Thus, because the correct version may be accidentally overwritten with an incorrect one, a user has no assurance of the correctness of the version information.
Another problem commonly encountered in a complex ISP multiple PLD system is that of unauthorized users programming various PLDs. To solve this problem, some PLDs include a "data protect" bit that disables device programming when set. FIG. 1 illustrates a flowchart for the programming operation of a PLD with a data protect bit. Step 101 starts the programming operation. In step 102, the system (i.e. a computer program for programming the PLD) determines whether the data protect bit has been set. If set, then the system skips to step 104 which ends the programming operation. If the data protect bit has not been set, the system inputs the configuration data in step 103, thereby programming the device. After programming in step 103, the system ends the programming operation in step 104. In some systems using electrically programmable logic devices (EPLDs), programming of the data protect bit is done in conjunction with the programming of the PLD. Thus, reversing the set data protect bit in those systems requires removing the PLD from the board for UV erasing, thereby undesirably consuming engineering time and resources. Moreover, in other systems, the programming of the data protect bit is hard-wired into the PLD, thereby making the bit set operation irreversible.
Therefore, a need arises for an accurate, overridable method of tracking versions of the PLDS, as well as preventing unauthorized users from programming the PLDs.

Overridable data protection mechanism for PLDs


A method of determining the thrombogenicity of an implantable medical device is disclosed. The implanted device is exposed in vitro to platelet rich plasma, the activity of an indicator is assayed, and the thrombogenicity is determined.

A leading cause of mortality within the developed world is cardiovascular disease. Coronary disease is of significant concern. Patients having such disease have narrowing in one or more coronary arteries. Generally, however, patients have narrowing in multiple coronary arteries. One treatment for the narrowing is stenting the blood vessel. Stenting involves the placement of a stent at the site of artery closure. This type of cardiac intervention has proved effective in restoring vessel patency and decreasing myocardial ischemia. However the exposure of currently used metallic stents to flowing blood can result in thrombus formation, smooth muscle cell proliferation and acute thrombotic occlusion of the stent.
Drug eluting stents ("DES") generally result in lower restenosis and revascularization rates as compared to bare metal stents especially in vessels having a diameter greater than approximately 3.0 mm ("large vessels").
A safety concern associated with drug-eluting stents is the occurrence of stent thrombosis ("ST"), a condition that occurs when a blood clot or thrombus forms on the surface of a stent, raising the risk of reduction of blood flow or vessel closure. If thrombus forms, the complications can include recurrent chest pain or heart attack. It is understood that ST can occur within 24-48 hours after deployment of the stent, referred to as "acute thrombosis." The occurrence of ST within one year after deployment is referred to as "late thrombosis." ST which occurs more than one year after deployment is referred to as "very late thrombosis."
"Thrombogenicity" refers to the tendency of a vascular implant or other material such as a stents, embolic protection devices, artificial valves, drug coated balloons, guidewires, or other percutaneously introduced device, to produce a thrombus in contact with the blood. Furthermore, ST could lead to peripheral embolization caused by thrombi detached from the stent. Thrombogenicity resulting from stent implantation is influenced by several factors: (a) blood borne factors, (b) stent related factors, and (c) vessel wall factors.
Blood borne factors include the activity of platelets and fibrinogen in the bloodstream, etc. Both platelet adhesion and fibrin deposition are considered a significant step in thrombus formation. These factors—platelet adhesion and fibrin deposition—occur simultaneously in a positive feed back mechanism. In other words, the occurrence of one factor reinforces the occurrence of the other factor. For instance, contact with a foreign surface induces platelet activation. Activated platelets attach and detach and roll before ultimately forming stable adhesive interactions. Activated platelets also bind soluble fibrinogen, which leads to platelet aggregation. The deposition of insoluble fibrin results in more platelet adhesion, more fibrin deposition and growth of thrombus. The same processes can also be triggered by an initial fibrinogen adsorption to the foreign surface, followed by platelet activation, adhesion, aggregation, fibrin deposition and thrombus formation.
Stent related factors, such as, the material from which the stent is constructed, the design of the stent, the type of surface of the stent, and stent apposition can influence the thrombogenicity of a stent. Thrombogenicity can also be influenced by vessel wall factors, such as tissue factor, plaque material and/or plaque rupture, and vessel wall inflammation, etc. Stent thrombosis can occur despite anti-coagulative treatment particularly on stents of poor biocompatibility.
While vessel wall factors are necessarily considered by the physician during an evaluation of the patient's condition, it is possible to test the blood borne and stent related factors in vitro. Current techniques for thrombogenicity testing in whole blood include Chandler Loop and the "rocker method." According to such techniques, stents were evaluated by first weighing each unit prior to experimentation, incubating with whole porcine blood in devices in tubing/test tubes in Chandler loop or mechanical rocker for approximately ninety minutes at 37° C., and subsequently washing, drying and weighing the stents to determine net weight gain, which is related to thrombus size. This approach to evaluating the thrombogenicity of the stent configuration has several disadvantages. One disadvantage, for example, is that the measurement of the weight gain by the medical device is typically highly variable. Moreover, the correlation between the weight gain of the device and its associated thrombogenicity has not been found to be reliably related to the size of the device. Consequently, results of this test for one type of device are not broadly comparable to results for other devices that are different, e.g., larger or smaller than the tested device.
Due to the risk of acute ST, it is useful to provide a technique which allows for a sensitive and reproducible determination of the thrombogenic potential of implanted medical devices, e.g., coronary stents, embolic protection devices and biosorbable coronary scaffolds.

Method for thrombogenicity testing of implanted medical device


An optical assembly for an eye-tracking camera includes an aperture stop, a first optical surface, and a second optical surface. The optical assembly is configured to receive non-visible light reflected or scattered by an eye and to direct the non-visible light to an image sensor along an optical path, where the non-visible light is received from an optical combiner of an eye-tracking system. The first optical surface is disposed on the optical path and is configured to correct for field-independent optical aberrations induced by the optical combiner. The second optical surface is disposed on the optical path and is configured to correct for field-dependent optical aberrations induced by the optical combiner.

A smart device is an electronic device that typically communicates with other devices or networks. In some situations the smart device may be configured to operate interactively with a user. A smart device may be designed to support a variety of form factors, such as a head mounted device, a head mounted display (HMD), or a smart display, just to name a few.
Smart devices may include one or more electronic components for use in a variety of applications, such as gaming, aviation, engineering, medicine, entertainment, video/audio chat, activity tracking, and so on. In some examples, a smart device may perform eye-tracking which may enhance the user's viewing experience. Eye-tracking may be aided, in some cases, by illuminating the eye of the user. Thus, some smart devices may incorporate an eye-tracking system that includes an illumination source as well as a camera for tracking movements of the user's eye. However, various contexts may generate challenges to capturing images of the eye that are sufficient for analysis. In particular, various optical elements included in the eye-tracking system may induce optical aberrations that distort the captured images.

Optical combiner aberration correction in eye-tracking imaging


The invention relates to a connecting element (11, 21, 41, 51) for a mechanically and electrically conductive connection, comprising at least one expansion element (14, 15, 16, 17, 23, 24, 44, 45) which is tensed in a recess which is arranged in the outer contour of the electric conductor (12, 13). The tensing of the at least one expansion element in the recess occurs by means of control elements (18, 26, 47, 48, 56, 57).

A connecting element is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,589,328. In the known arrangement, two elongate electrical conductors are coupled to one another at the ends. Owing to their design as a tube, the two conductors each have a cutout on their end faces. Spreading elements of a connecting element can be inserted in these cutouts. The connecting element essentially has a rotationally symmetrical design and is matched to the diameters of the tubular conductors. The connecting element is of hollow-cylindrical design, the inner diameter being constant over the entire length, and the outer diameter of the connecting element increasing stepwise, starting from a central section towards the two ends. The connecting element has a slit, which passes completely through the hollow cylinder wall, along its rotation axis. This slit forms in each case a spreading element at the ends of the connecting element, the spreading element being elastically deformable. The end-face spreading elements can each be plugged into the tube openings in the two electrical conductors. As they are plugged in, the spreading elements are elastically deformed and ensure a mechanical and electrically conductive connection of the two electrical conductors.
An elastic deformation of the spreading elements limits the mechanical loading of such connections. It is possible only in a very complex manner to ensure the required mechanical robustness for such connections on a permanent basis. Furthermore, such connections are only insufficiently protected against vibrations. It is thus possible for an electrical conductor to be released from one of the spreading elements owing to vibrations.

Connecting element for a mechanically and electrically conductive connection


A divided type aligning rolling bearing comprises a spherical groove of a lower bearing housing for slidably receiving an outer peripheral surface in a spherical shape of an outer ring lower member. A dowel pin is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the outer ring lower member and fitted in a recess provided on the bottom of the spherical groove of the lower bearing housing so as to have a backlash. The range of the backlash is an aligning range. The outer ring lower member is rotated around the dowel pin, thereby causing both ends of the outer ring lower member to escape from the spherical groove. In order to allow the escape, the lower bearing housing is in a non-rib shape. The outer ring lower member is brought into a detachable state by changing the posture thereof in a stable state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a divided type rolling bearing unit of such a type that a raceway is divided along a shaft center.
2. Description of the Related Art
In this type of divided type rolling bearing unit, each of components such as an inner ring, an outer ring, and a bearing housing is divided into two parts along a shaft center such that it is easily attachable to or detachable from a shaft member or a neck portion of a roll.
In order to assemble the bearing in a guide roll or the like of continuous casting facilities of an iron mill, for example, which is the shaft member, the lower half of each of the divided components is assembled in the roll, the upper half of the component is then assembled, and the upper half and the lower half are integrated upon being tightened by a bolt.
When a high load at the time of casting is applied, the guide roll is deflected downward. Further, at the time of mounting the roll, a shaft center of the bearing integrally assembled may, in some cases, be shifted by a very small amount in a direction in which castings are fed (in the horizontal direction in this case). In such a case, the aligning characteristics of the bearing are important so as not to exert an excessive force on the bearing.
Conventionally in this type of divided type aligning rolling bearing unit, the outer ring is constituted by a semicircular upper member and a semicircular lower member, and the outer ring upper member is also used as an upper housing of the bearing housing. The outer ring lower member which receives a load is supported by a lower housing of the bearing housing. The outer ring lower member has its outer peripheral surface formed in a spherical shape in order to obtain an automatic aligning function. In order to regulate the aligning range of the outer ring lower member, both ends in the axial direction of the lower housing which receives the outer ring lower member are provided with ribs, and the ribs are used as stoppers upon being abutted against both end surfaces of the outer ring lower member.
If the ribs for regulating the aligning range thus exist on both sides of the outer ring lower member, a lower housing 91 must be rotated in its circumferential direction when an outer ring lower member 90 is detached from the lower housing 91 for the purpose of maintenance, as shown in FIG. 8. In this case, the posture of the outer ring lower member 90 is unstable because the outer ring lower member is likely to slide, so that work is very difficult.


An antenna device includes a coupler rotatably attaching to a support device, a connector rotatably attached to the coupler with a pivot axle and having an aperture formed in a free end, and having a stop. An antenna member includes an extension extended from one end for rotatably engaging into the aperture of the connector. The antenna member includes a stop for engaging with the stop of the connector, and for limiting the antenna member to rotate relative to the connector. The connector includes a number of grooves, for engaging with a projection of the antenna member, to position the antenna member to the connector at selected or predetermined angular position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antenna device, and more particularly to an antenna device having a rotatable structure for allowing the antenna device to be freely rotated relative to the support object or device to any angular direction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical antenna devices comprise an antenna housing or member solidly attached or secured onto a telecommunicating facility or the other support objects or devices, and some of the antenna housings or members may include a telescopic structure for selectively extending out of the telecommunicating facility or the other support objects or devices.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,005 to Chang discloses one of the typical portable telephones including a mobile telephone antenna that is extendibly secured to the typical portable telephone, and extendible inwardly and outwardly relative to the typical portable telephone. However, the antenna may not be rotated relative to the typical portable telephone to selected angular positions, such that the typical portable telephones may not easily receive telecommunicating signals.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,973,645 to Zigler et al. discloses another typical electric facility including an antenna device rotatably secured to the typical hand held electric facility, for being rotated relative to the typical electric facility to various angular directions. However, the antenna device of the typical electric facility may only be rotated relative to the typical electric facility in one direction only, and may not be freely rotated relative to the typical electric facility to any suitable or selected directions.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional antenna devices for telecommunicating facilities.

Antenna device having rotatable structure

Chongli Gonyeh Chu, Chongli Tauyuan Hsien


A substrate having a vent (20) and a method of forming the vent (20). A substrate (11) has conductive traces (14) and a semiconductor chip attach pad (17) on a top surface and conductive traces (12) and a bonding pad (13) on the bottom surface. A masking layer (18) is formed over the substrate (11) and openings are formed in the masking layer (18) to expose the conductive traces (14) and a semiconductor chip attach pad (17). The vent (20) is formed in the masking layer (18). A semiconductor chip (31) is mounted to the semiconductor chip attach pad (17). During a step of encapsulating the semiconductor chip (31) with a mold compound, the vent (20) provides pressure relief.

The present invention relates, in general, to articles such as semiconductor devices and, more particularly, to encapsulating the articles.
Semiconductor devices are typically manufactured from a semiconductor wafer. The wafer is then diced up to form chips or dice, which are mounted to a substrate such as a leadframe or a printed circuit board. The leadframe or printed circuit board is then placed in a mold and encapsulated in a molding compound.
The molding compound is typically injected into the mold under a high pressure and an elevated temperature. Because of the high pressures exerted in liquefying and extruding the molding compound, vents are included in the mold to provide a pressure release mechanism. However, the vents tend to accumulate molding compound during each encapsulation step necessitating cleaning of the molds after each use. Further, the vents become worn over time and are subject to damage. Once worn or damaged, the molds need to be replaced. As those skilled in the art are aware, molds are very expensive.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus for encapsulating semiconductor devices that is useful for a large number of device types and that extend the useful life of a mold. It would be of further advantage for the method and apparatus to be cost efficient and easily integrable into existing manufacturing processes.


The present invention provides a method for treating a viral infection in a subject. The method comprises administering to the subject an amount of 5-aminolevulinic acid and an iron-chelating agent to cause virus-infected cells to accumulate protoporphyrin in amounts such that upon application of a sufficient dose of red light, the virus-infected, protoporphyrin-accumulated cells will be destroyed; and applying a sufficient dose of red light to the virus-infected, protoporphyrin-accumulated cells to destroy the virus-infected, protoporphyrin-accumulated cells.

5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is a precursor of haem biosynthesis and its synthesis is a rate-limiting step in this pathway. When ALA is supplied to certain cells exogenously, protoporphyrin IX is accumulated in the cells because conversion of protoporphyrin to haem by ferrochelatase becomes rate-limiting (Malik, Z. and M. Djaldetti, Cell Different. 8:223-233 (1979)). Because protoporphyrin is a photosensitizer, subsequent exposure to light leads to cell destruction, primarily by damage to the mitochondria (Linuma, S., et al., Br. J. Cancer 70:21-28 (1994)).
Photodynamic therapy mediated by ALA was proposed in 1990 as a new cancer treatment (Kennedy, J. C., et al., J. Photochem. Photobiol. B:Biol. 6:143-148 (1990)). Topical application of ALA followed by exposure to light has been used successfully for eradication of various skin cancers in clinical studies (Kennedy, J. C. and R. H. Pottier, J. Photochem. Photobiol. B:Biol. 14:275-292 (1992); Fijan, S., et al., Br. J. Dermatol. 133:282-288 (1995); Roberts, D. J. H. and F. Cairnduff, Br. J. Plastic Surg. 48:360-370 (1995)). In addition, the combination of ALA and. light has been suggested for treating mycosis fungoides (Wolf, P., et al., J. Am. Acad. Dermatol. 31:678-680 (1994)), as well as the ablation of the endometrium as an alternative to hysterectomy or for sterilization (Yang, J. Z., et al. Am. J. Obst. Gynecol. 68:995-1001 (1993)). However, prior to the present invention, the combined use of ALA and light has not been demonstrated to be useful for inactivating intracellular viruses either in vitro or in vivo.


A portable truck crane which mounts in the hitch receiver of a vehicle, and lifts objects. The crane is guyed so that the crane beam is subjected only to compressive forces, not rotational forces. A support leg allows the lifting of heavier loads, and a winch on the crane or the front bumper winch of the vehicle can be used to lift objects. The truck crane assembles without the use of tools, and stores either the seat of a pickup, in the bed of a pickup, in a tool box, or in a suitcase sized storage container.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to vehicle mounted lifting cranes, and more particularly to cranes for mounting in hitch receivers of vehicles.
2. Background Information
It is common for the operator of a vehicle, especially a pickup or heavier duty truck, to need to lift objects. In response to this need, there are numerous devices for lifting objects which operate with a vehicle. Some of these bolt on to the bumper of a pickup or a passenger car, others are mounted in the bed of a pickup, and some mount into the hitch receiver of a vehicle. These lifting devices are usually designed to lift an object and to allow it to be rotated and swung into the bed of a pickup. Cranes such as this are generally fairly heavy, are welded or bolt together with the use of tools, and many of them form a rather permanent installation on the pickup or vehicle. Others which mount in the hitch receiver of a vehicle are not permanent, but may be awkward and time consuming to disassemble and remove, and remain heavy and require the use of tools.
What is needed then is a pickup crane which mounts in a hitch receiver, which is easily assembled and does not require the use of tools to assemble it. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a pickup crane which mounts in a towing hitch receiver and which assembles without the use of tools. Another object of the invention is to provide a pickup crane which is suitable for lifting objects which are too heavy for a person to lift. A further object of the invention is to provide a pickup crane which utilizes the front bumper winch of a pickup, as a lifting device of a rear mounted pickup crane.
Another object of the invention is to provide a pickup crane which disassembles easily, and without the use of tools, and fits in a storage container small enough to fit behind the seat of a pickup or to fit in the tool box of a pickup.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description as follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.


Short-quasi-unique-identifiers (SQUIDs) are generated and assigned to the data objects stored in memory. Pointers to a particular data object contain the data object's assigned SQUID. If a data object is moved to a second allocated memory segment, a new pointer to the second allocated memory segment is placed at the original memory segment, so that any pointers to the original memory segment now point to the new pointer. The distribution of SQUIDs is uniform. SQUIDs can be generated by counting, generated randomly, generating through some hashing mechanism, or other means. In comparing two different pointers, it is determined that the two pointers do not reference the same data object if the SQUIDs are different. On the other hand, if the SQUIDs are identical and the address fields of the two pointers are identical, then the two pointers reference the same data object. In addition, a pointer is associated with a migration indicator field which indicates the number of migrations of the referenced data object prior to the pointer being created. The comparator determines that two pointers do not reference the same data object if their associated migration indicators indicate identical numbers of migrations and their corresponding addresses are different.

Forwarding pointers are an architectural mechanism that allow references to a memory location to be transparently forwarded to another location. Known variously as "invisible pointers," "forwarding pointers" and "memory forwarding," they are familiar to the hardware community but to date have been incorporated into very few architectures.
One reason that forwarding pointers have received little support is that they have been perceived as possessing limited utility. Recently, however, it has become apparent that forwarding pointers are indeed useful constructs that can expedite program execution. Chi-Keung Luk and Todd C. Mowry, "Memory Forwarding: Enabling Aggressive Layout Optimizations by Guaranteeing the Safety of Data Relocation," Proc. ISCA 1999, pp. 88–99 (hereafter "Luk"), incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, show that using forwarding pointers to perform safe data relocation can result in significant performance gains on arbitrary programs written in C, speeding up some applications by more than a factor of two. Jeremy Brown, "Memory Management on a Massively Parallel Capability Architecture", Ph.D. thesis proposal, M.I.T., December 1999, gives an algorithm for performing asynchronous local compacting garbage collection in a massively parallel distributed system. This algorithm uses forwarding pointers to avoid the high run-time costs usually associated with such a system. Thus, there is growing motivation to include hardware support for forwarding pointers in novel architectures.
A second and perhaps more significant reason that forwarding pointers have received little attention from hardware designers is that they introduce aliasing—that is, it is possible for two different pointers to resolve to the same word in memory.
FIG. 1A illustrates how aliasing occurs. A first pointer P2 14 points directly to some target data 16. A second, indirect pointer, P1 10 points to a forwarding pointer 12 which in turn points to the target data 16. Thus, pointers P1 and P2, which hold different values, resolve to the same target data 16.
FIGS. 1B and 1C illustrate one manner in which such a scenario can occur. Here, two data objects A 4 and D 16 are stored in a memory 2A (FIG. 1B), with a pointer P1 10 directly referencing data object D 16. As a result of data compaction or other operations, data object D 16 is moved, as shown in memory 2B (FIG. 1C), and a new forwarding pointer 12 is inserted into data object D's old location. Thus pointer P1 10 now points to the forwarding pointer 12 which points to the new location of data object D 16. Pointer P1 10 is therefore now an indirect pointer. Meanwhile, a new direct pointer P2 14 has been created which points to the new location of data object 16, resulting in the combination of pointers pictured in FIG. 1A.
The presence of this aliasing necessarily introduces run time costs in order to ensure correctness of execution. In Luk, two specific problems are identified. First, direct pointer comparisons are no longer a safe operation; some mechanism must be provided for determining the final addresses of the pointers. Second, seemingly independent memory operations may no longer be reordered in out-of-order machines.
In Luk, the problem of pointer comparisons is addressed by inserting code to determine the final address for each pointer, unless the compiler is able to determine that the pointers do not point to relocated objects. The overhead of this approach is potentially large.
In the best case, both target memory words will be resident in the cache, neither of them will contain a forwarding pointer, and the pointer comparison will be slowed down by roughly an order of magnitude. However, since pointer comparisons often precede a decision to perform operations on an object, a common case will be when one or both dereferences cause a cache miss, slowing down the comparison by another order of magnitude.
The solution proposed by Luk for reordering memory operations is to use "data dependence speculation," which allows loads to execute speculatively before it is known that they are independent of any preceding stores. In an architecture that supports data dependence speculation, it is fairly easy to extend the hardware to operate correctly in the presence of forwarding pointers. Luk found that this solution is effective as incorrect speculation occurs only rarely. However, Luk assumes the presence of some fairly complex hardware. For architectures in which silicon area efficiency is a concern, a lower cost alternative is preferable.
The forwarding pointer aliasing problem is an instance of the more general challenge of determining object identity in the presence of multiple and/or changing names. This problem has been studied explicitly. See, for example, Setrag N. Khoshafian, George P. Copeland, "Object Identity", Proc. 1986 ACM Conference on Object Oriented Programming Systems, Languages and Applications, pp. 406–416, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
A natural solution which has appeared time and again is the use of system-wide unique object IDs or UIDs. UIDs completely solve the aliasing problem, but have two disadvantages.
First, the use of UIDs to reference objects requires an expensive translation each time an object is referenced to obtain the virtual address of the object.
Second, quite a few bits are required to ensure that there are enough UIDs for all objects and that globally unique IDs can be easily generated in a distributed computing environment. In a large system, at least sixty-four bits would likely be required in order to avoid any expensive garbage collection of UIDs and to allow each processor to allocate UIDs independently.

Mechanism to reduce the cost of forwarding pointer aliasing


A yoke member comprises a pair of handle-engaging members supported from a connecting member with at least one of the handle-engaging members attached to the connecting member with a living hinge to provide a one-piece attachment for a tool to enable a tool handle to be secured between the handle-engaging members.

The concept of tools, wherein a yoke or some type of holder, connects the tool to the handle is old in the art. In one embodiment, the present invention provides an improved one-piece yoke that can be secured to a tool and to a handle to hold the handle in either a fixed position relative to the tool or in a pivotable condition relative to the tool.
In certain applications, such as painting tools, the operator may want to hold the handle in either a pivotable position with respect to the painting tool or in a fixed position with respect to the painting tool. In addition, since painting tools are often used for a limited time before disposal, the yoke should be inexpensive and preferably made from a material such as a polymer plastic.
The present invention provides a yoke that can be molded from a single piece of plastic with one embodiment of the yoke having yoke members that can be pivoted within an arc of 180 degrees to present one of two surfaces to a handle. In another embodiment, the yoke can be integral with at least a portion of the tool so that an operator can attach a handle thereto.


A casual agent pool is provided to facilitate the management of a light load of inbound calls to a calling center where many employees (agents) may optionally answer those calls as part of their work duties. Agents may transact other business while logged onto the pool, and are alerted to the presence of an incoming call by, for example, the telephone ringing or a computer screen message. Casual agents may then choose whether or not to take an inbound call, depending on their circumstances. The system thus optimizes call agent resources in lightly-loaded applications having many potential agents available, allowing agents to transact other business while being potentially available to take calls, thereby obviating the need to manage a dedicated agent pool.

In a traditional call processing model, an answering agent pool typically comprises a fixed number of dedicated agents whose sole job it is to answer inbound calls. Such dedicated agents generally participate in the pool by headset and computer terminal. As a call comes in, an Automated Call Distribution ("ACD") resource queues the call for the next available agent. Dedicated agents enter and exit the pool from time to time. Upon entering, they attach to the ACD functionality by logging onto the pool, thereby making themselves available to receive calls. Upon exiting, they log off the pool and remove themselves from call answering availability.
In such dedicated pools, an agent's sole responsibility, generally, is to answer inbound calls. Systems are known where agents can make outbound sales calls while idle, but such systems tend to be expensive because the additional functionality greatly complicates the call distribution logic and the hardware that establishes audio paths to agents.
In a traditional call processing model using dedicated agents solely to answer calls, therefore, optimum use of call agent resources occurs when all agents are busy, since no single agent is then being paid to sit idle.
Modern businesses, however, are often characterized by having numerous employees who are capable of answering calls in an environment of light call load. A dedicated pool model can, in theory, be applied to such businesses by logging on selected employees as dedicated agents for full-time telephone answering duties. As call volume increases during a shift, a public address system advantageously calls up for dedicated agents to stop other duties and log on to take calls. This solution has disadvantages, however, in that the call distribution, call volume, and agent pool size have to be actively managed.
A better solution for businesses that typically experience light call volume is to provide a pool where a large group of employees may all be agents answering incoming calls on a casual basis. All casual agents log on to the casual agent pool, but may then immediately commence to transact other business. As incoming calls arrive and are distributed according to established distribution algorithms, casual agents may elect to either take calls or pass them, depending on what they are doing at the time.
It will be appreciated that there are many types of employees in modern businesses whose duties could include being an agent on a casual basis. Alternatively, or additionally, a casual agent pool could be used occasionally, and for brief periods, as an overflow pool to assist a dedicated pool at times when all available dedicated agents were busy. Such overflow responsibility, however, would have limited value over simply adding more agents to the dedicated pool.
There is therefore a need for a casual agent functionality in call processing systems. More specifically, there is a need for an ACD system enabling a casual agent pool for use by businesses typically experiencing low call traffic, and in which almost any employee may be a casual agent answering calls as well as performing other duties.


A system for differentiating between a signal from a physical source and a nonlinear signal effect includes an array, a delay control element and a signal processing element. The array is configured to detect a signal at a particular location using an initial time delay. The delay control element is configured to modify the initial time delay by a selected value and to apply a phase delay in an amount equal to the selected value and at a frequency of the signal. The signal processing element is configured to determine whether the signal corresponds to one of a physical source or a nonlinear signal effect based on whether a shift in a perceived location of the signal occurs.

Radar has long been employed in applications such as air traffic control, fire control, navigation, etc. Due to the many advantages of radar usage in such applications, radar has also been the subject of continuous improvement efforts. One of the fundamental requirements of many types of radar is the implementation of some form of beam steering in order to conduct a sweep of a particular area in an effort to, for example, detect contacts, targets, navigation aids, etc. Conventional radars typically employed mechanical beam steering methods. For example, a commonly recognized image of a radar antenna is a parabolic antenna mounted on a rotating apparatus which steers the antenna. Such rotating radars often utilize complex mechanical mechanisms such as hydraulics, electric motors or hinge appendages in order to achieve the rotation that provides beam steering. However, mechanical apparatuses such as those listed above often require intensive maintenance in order to ensure optimal performance. Additionally, failure of a single element of rotating radars may render the entire apparatus unusable. Rotating radars also suffered limitations in scanning rates due to the mechanical rotation, which translated into limitations with respect to contact or target detection.
In order to overcome several of the disadvantages of conventional radars, electronic scanning antennas (ESAs) have been developed, which are also known as phased array radars. ESAs are a revolutionary type of radar whose transmitter and/or receiver functions are composed of numerous small modules which may either receive or both transmit and receive. ESA radars perform electronic beam steering which can be done without the limitations caused by physical rotation. Accordingly, ESAs feature short to instantaneous (millisecond) scanning rates. Additionally, since ESAs do not rotate, ESA radars have vastly simpler mechanical designs and require no complex hydraulics for antenna movement or hinge appendages that may be prone to failure. The ESA radar also occupies less space than a typical radar because ESAs have reduced infrastructure requirements as compared to rotating radars. The distributed nature of the transmit function in an ESA also eliminates the most common single-point failure mode seen in conventional rotating radars of lost ability to rotate. Given the improvements above, ESA maintenance crews are far less severely taxed, and the ESA radar is much more reliable than a comparable rotating radar. In addition to having much higher scanning rates than conventional radar, ESAs also typically have a much longer target detection range, higher capabilities in terms of the number of targets that can be tracked and engaged (multiple agile beams), low probability of intercept, ability to function as a radio/jammer, simultaneous air and ground modes, etc.
Although ESA radars represent a significant improvement over conventional radars, there is still a desire to improve the capabilities of ESA radars. In this regard, wideband receive-only microwave phased array antennas, for example, have been introduced into many new applications on naval, airborne and space platforms. However, due to microwave device nonlinearity, ESAs have shown inherent problems with creating spurious signals. For example, spurious signals known as "ghost beams" (i.e., signals that are internally generated and appear to originate at angles and frequencies other than their true origin) are particularly prone to creation in signal rich environments (i.e., environments with relatively large numbers of targets) due to a combination of the signal environment with nonlinear device properties. The ghost beams may result in false alarms, confusion, or other problems since the ghost beams indicate the presence of targets at locations and frequencies where no targets actually exist.
ESAs typically use time delay circuitry in order to demonstrate wider bandwidth and improve directionality of the antennas. Nonlinearities that follow the time delay circuitry cause harmonic responses and intermodulation of detected signals. Accordingly, a resulting superset of perceived signals includes not only signals corresponding to actual signal sources, but also includes harmonics of each signal corresponding to the actual signal sources and additional signals corresponding to the combined effects of each pair of signals corresponding to the actual signal sources (i.e., sum and difference of distinct frequencies). The resultant ghost beams are indiscernible from responses corresponding to actual signal sources and thereby generate clutter that may obscure true sources, scramble signals from the true sources, or masquerade as true sources themselves. In order to deal with ghost beams, conventional systems have attempted to improve microwave device linearity, which requires problematic amounts of direct current (DC) power inserted into the post-time delay circuitry. Additionally, conventional systems have employed very complex channelizing filters.
Accordingly, in light of the discussion above, it may be desirable to provide a method of overcoming the problems related to ghost beam generation in a way which would not require large amounts of DC complex channelizing filters.

Method, computer program product and system for differentiating physical sources from second order nonlinear signal effects


A method of performing a plurality of friction stir spot welds with a friction stir spot welding (FSSW) system includes measuring a length of a pin of a weld tool of the FSSW system. The length is compared to a first limit to determine if the length is above or below the first limit. Debris is removed off of a tip of the pin when the length is determined to be above the first limit. The length is also compared to a second limit to determine if the length is above or below the second limit. At least one friction stir spot weld is performed on a workpiece when the length is determined to be less than the first limit and above the second limit.

Welding is a manufacturing or fabrication process that bonds materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence—the process by which two separate units grow together, fuse, or merge into a single body. The materials are joined by liquefying or plasticizing (e.g., soften without liquefying) the areas to be bonded together, generally through the application of heat and/or pressure over time, promote coalescence of the liquefied or plasticized material, and allow the coalesced material to cool, thereby completing the bond. Welding can be used, for example, to join two or more workpieces or for operating on a single workpiece (i.e., to repair a crack or join a member).

Method of calibrating a friction stir spot welding system


A hydration system that utilizes a disposable drink container and a leak-resistant cap. The cap can be screwed into the disposable drink container before use. The disposable drink container has a safety foil region with a foil disk having one or more output holes, which is covered with a liner. The user should remove the liner to uncover the output holes and reattach the cap before drinking the liquid in the container. The cap can have a spout section with a leak-resistant section to draw out the liquid. The leak-resistant section can have a curved lip that creates a narrow liquid opening, such that liquid is held in place (does not spill) by surface tension when the system is accidentally inverted or overturned. The cap can also have a sealing ring to create a liquid-tight seal between the cap and the drink container.

Since 1846, efforts have been made to create a child's drinking container that enables the child to easily consume the drink while limiting spillage if dropped. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,138. In 1930, a further attempt was made to create a container that would limit the spillage when the bottle was laid on its side. See U.S. Pat. No. 1,865,555. In both cases, the focus was on a container with a baby nipple. The concept of the "SIPPY CUP™" made its first appearance in 1949 with the invention of the weaning cup. See U.S. Pat. No. 2,534,614. This introduced a series of holes or elongated slot for the conveyance of a liquid. One of the purposes for this product was to make it easier for a child to transition from a bottle nipple to drinking from an open glass. Another purpose was to limit the spillage of the liquid being consumed. In 1955, Earl Tupper, of Tupperware fame, patented a "SIPPER SEAL™" system that relied on a conical shape and small slot to minimize the leakage when the container "accidently" was found lying on its side. See U.S. Pat. No. 2,816,548. While there were other inventions that addressed the "weaning" concept style spout, this invention, based on its geometry, had both a spout and leak resistance without depending on a valve body. In the 1960's a child's cup was developed which became the "TOMMEE TIPPEE™" Brand. While not the sippy cup we know today, it was developed to minimize spilling and designed as a child's cup. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,096,966. Shortly after this (1981) another version of the self-righting concept was invented. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,170. This one shows a "SIPPY CUP™"-like spout though the patent does not address this.
All of the prior art to this point has been intended to be reusable, not disposable. An invention, filed in 1988, was specified as a disposable closure and claimed to be spill-proof. This was accomplished by a series of small holes to prevent a free flow of liquid, unless flow was initiated by a person sucking on the mouth piece of the closure. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,440. The patent does not go into detail as to the science involved to create the spill-proof feature.
Interestingly, the accepted father of the "SIPPY CUP™" is Richard A. Belanger, the inventor of the "SIPSTER CUP™". See U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,013. This patent was licensed to Playtex and variations continue to be made to this day. This system depended on the use of mechanical valves to make a spill-proof cap. There are numerous systems that use a variety of valve configurations and are meant to be used as a reusable product. Some patents address the disposable market and usually involve a throwaway coffee cup or drink cup. One notable patent is intended for the disposable child "SIPPY CUP™" market. See U.S. Pat. No. 8,540,112. This is a LEARNING CURVE™ product called TAKE & TOSS™. The patent goes into great detail as to the science behind the spill-proof or spill-resistant closures that incorporate small holes as the orifice(s) through which liquid flows.
What is needed is a children's hydration system having a disposable child's cup container with a leak-resistant child's cup cap, wherein the child's cup is single use and the leak-resistant child's cup cap is disposable.


An alignment mechanism for aligning a twin container spreader for simultaneous engagement with two containers positioned beneath the spreader. A frame is connected between the spreader's main beams to position two cross beams transversely across the main beams. Twist-lock devices are provided on each end of each cross beam and on each outer end of each main beam. First and second biasing mechanisms are respectively connected between the first and second cross beams and the frame, with a third biasing mechanism connected between the two cross beams. If either container is mis-aligned, the corresponding twist-locks on the cross beams will not be aligned over the corresponding corner fittings on the top inner ends of the containers. However, the biasing mechanisms compensate by permitting the cross-beams to shift in three dimensions, thus realigning the twist-locks as they penetrate the corner fittings. As long as the container mis-alignment is not so great that the twist-locks cannot begin to enter the corner fitting apertures, the biasing mechanisms compensate by allowing the cross-beams to move as aforesaid. The biasing mechanisms thus permit the cross beams' twist-locks to center themselves within the four corner fittings on the top inner ends of the containers as they penetrate those fittings. The operation is passive, requiring no operator intervention to assist in alignment of the cross beams' twist-locks.

Container spreaders are crane-operated devices used to transport freight containers between a dock and a ship berthed adjacent the dock. Spreaders are also found on container yard equipment and on other container handling equipment. Many freight containers are built according to internationally recognized standards such as ISO 668. Typically, two types of ISO standard containers are encountered: 20 and 40 foot nominal length containers.
ISO standard corner fittings are built into the four corners atop each container. ISO standard pickup devices on the spreader mate with the corner fittings. The pickup devices are hydraulically, pneumatically or mechanically actuated twist-lock devices located on the ends of slide frames which extend longitudinally from the spreader's main beams. The slide frames can be extended to lift a single 40 foot container or retracted to lift a single 20 foot container. If another set of twist-lock devices is provided in the centre of the main beams, then the spreader can simultaneously lift two 20 foot containers when the slide frames are extended. Spreaders having the latter capability are known as "twin twenty" spreaders.
If a single 40 foot container located beneath the spreader is to be lifted, the slide frames are extended to position the outer twist-locks over the container's top corner fittings. The spreader is then lowered onto the container so that the twist-locks engage the corresponding corner fittings on the container. The twist-locks are then actuated to lock them onto the corner fittings, thus firmly attaching the container to the spreader. The spreader and container are then lifted to move the container to a desired location, following which the twist-locks are released from the corner fittings so that the spreader can be raised away from the container and maneuvered into position over another container. The same sequence is used to move a single 20 foot container, the only difference being that the spreader's slide frames are retracted to position the outer twist-locks relative to the corner fittings of a 20 foot container.
Eight twist-locks are provided for configuration as a twin spreader: four twist-locks for each of the two containers. The additional four twist-locks are located centrally on the spreader. The slide frames are extended to position the outer twist-locks over the outer corners of the two containers, with the central twist-locks remaining over the inner corners. The spreader is then lowered onto the containers. Ideally, all eight twist-locks simultaneously engage the corresponding corner fittings on the containers. However, problems are often encountered because the two containers may not be perfectly aligned relative to the spreader. The twist-locks are fixed on the spreader and thus cannot be adjusted to compensate for container mis-alignment.
In particular, unless the two containers are carefully positioned within a frame provided beneath the spreader, they may be mis-aligned relative to the spreader. Such frames are not commonly used because they are relatively expensive, require increased labour to position the containers, and must be moved if the spreader moves to a new pickup location. Accordingly, container mis-alignment is often encountered. Depending upon the degree of misalignment, it may not be possible for the twist-locks to simultaneously engage both containers. Specifically, if the containers are mis-aligned by more than about .+-.1/2" it may only be possible for one of the two pairs of four twist-locks to simultaneously engage all four corner fittings on one of the containers. The operator often wastes time attempting to position the spreader so that all eight twist-locks will engage the two containers, only to give up in frustration and lift the containers one at a time. This wastes considerable time and defeats the purpose of the twin spreader.
A further problem termed "swaybacking" is encountered if two 20 foot containers are to be simultaneously lifted from the bed of a transport vehicle. The weight of the containers bends the vehicle bed downwardly, causing the top surfaces of the containers to form a shallow "v" instead of remaining level and coplanar with one another. When a twin spreader is lowered atop the two containers, the outer twist-locks may engage the outer corner fittings on the two containers, but the central twist-locks may not be able to protrude sufficiently far into the "V" recess to engage the inner corner fittings. This again wastes time by necessitating separate removal of each container from the vehicle, defeating the purpose of the twin spreader.
Another problem is encountered in lifting pairs of 20 foot containers from atop a stack of containers. As pairs of containers are stacked, cones are often placed beneath the inner corner fittings located on the bottoms of each container. The cones guide the placement of each layer of containers. Because cones are not usually placed beneath the containers' outer corners, the inner ends of the containers are raised slightly relative to the outer ends. As successive layers of containers are added to the stack, the cumulative effect of the cones beneath each layer causes the top surfaces of the uppermost containers to form a shallow " " instead of remaining level and coplanar with one another. When a twin spreader is lowered onto two containers atop a stack of such containers, the central twist-locks may engage the inner corner fittings on the two containers, but the outer twist-locks may not be able to protrude sufficiently far into the recesses left at the ends of each container to engage the outer corner fittings. Time is again wasted as each container is separately removed from the stack and the twin spreader's purpose is again defeated.
The present invention provides a self-adjusting alignment mechanism which compensates for container mis-alignment by allowing the four central twist-locks of a twin spreader to shift in three dimensions as they engage the container corner fittings, thus enabling simultaneous lifting of two containers which are mis-aligned by as much as .+-.3 inches.


A vehicle anti-theft device that blocks and unblocks the flow of hydraulic fluid between a vehicle's master brake cylinder and wheel brake cylinder. When the invention is in a fluid blocking position, it locks the brakes and prevents movement of the vehicle on its wheels. Conversely, when the invention is in the nonblocking position, the brakes are unlocked and the wheels turn freely as in normal operation. The anti-theft device can be deactivated within the vehicle or by remote control.

Vehicle theft continues to increase in society today with added expense to consumers in insurance cost, time loss and inconvenience. Consumers are looking for vehicles that are more secure from theft. Insurance companies are offering premium discounts for vehicles equipped with different types of vehicle anti-theft devices, such as steering wheel locking devices, alarm systems, and ignition switches which use electronically controlled keys, etc.
There are many different types of vehicle anti-theft devices to deter thieves. Some are intended to audibly alert the owner of a vehicle that their vehicle is being tampered with, and are of the alarm or noise making type. Some inventions are anti-theft devices which lock the vehicle steering system in an attempt to prevent theft. Other anti-theft devices close off the fuel supply to prevent theft. If a vehicle equipped with such a device were stolen, it could be driven only a few blocks before running out of the remaining fuel in its fuel line.
Some inventions are used in conjunction with the vehicle hydraulic brake system to prevent theft. The following are a few examples: U.S. Pat No. 4,873,824 issued to Cox explains an anti-theft brake locking mechanism placed between the master cylinder and the brake actuator, that can be operated from the driver area, by key or combination mechanism. The mechanism can lock mechanically or electronically. Although this device appears to fulfill the function of locking the brakes, it appears to lack the ability to lock the brakes if the brakes are out of adjustment. Also, it would entail elimination of the brake light pressure switch with added cost of a mechanical switch added to the system. If the pressure switch were not eliminated, the brake lights would remain on while the mechanism was operational, thus discharging the battery.
U.S. Pat No. 4,951,776 issued to Jetter explains an anti-theft system that includes an actuating means to temporarily disable a vehicle from theft. This invention assembly has a solenoid valve which is installed in the hydraulic brake system. When the solenoid is energized, the valve is open and the brake system operates in a normal manner. When the assembly is de-energized, the valve closes and prevents the release of the brakes. This invention appears to have the ability to lock the brakes, except that it has a self-equalizing drawback. This drawback allows the brake pressure trapped between the brake drum (or rotor) and the invention to dissipate in approximately one hour, thereby allowing the brakes to release. This defeats the anti-theft function.
U.S. Pat No. 5,351,781 issued to Pritchard et al., explains an anti-theft device consisting of a housing unit located between the master cylinder and proportioning valve. The housing unit has a fluid blocking means to block and unblock the flow of brake fluid. It is controlled by a 12 volt DC motor which is actuated between limit switches to open and close the valve. Although this invention attempts to fulfill its intended purpose, the problem of having many mechanical and electrical moving parts could lead to premature failure. Additionally, this factor increases manufacturing costs.

Brake fluid blocking vehicle theft prevention system


The present invention relates to a free radical initiator and a method for peptide sequencing using the same. Compared with diazo or peroxy functionalized precursors, the precursors using the present compounds are chemically more robust and can generate radical species by homolytic cleavage upon thermal activation, enabling sequencing of a wider variety of peptides. In addition, the present invention makes it feasible to sequence peptides carrying disulfide bonds.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a free radical initiator and a method for peptide sequencing using the same.
2. Background Art
Mass spectrometry has played a major role in opening up the new field of proteomics. Identification and characterization of a collection of proteins generally rely on gas-phase sequencing of peptides prepared by enzymatic proteolysis of proteins. Collisionally activated dissociation (CAD) of peptides has been the most widely used tool for sequencing. In recent years, electron capture dissociation (ECD) and electron transfer dissociation (ETD) have received extensive attention as an alternative tool, particularly useful for characterization of posttranslational modifications (PTMs) of proteins as well as for routine peptide analysis.
Top-down analysis of intact proteins by ECD is particularly appealing due to its promising capability for thorough survey of PTMs. In both ECD and ETD, odd-electron radical cation peptide species are prepared as a precursor to peptide backbone dissociations. In ECD and ETD, radical peptide species are formed by capturing an electron provided from a separate e-source or through collisions with anion species, respectively. Peptide backbone cleavage products in ECD/ETD are characterized with c/z ions as major products as well as with a/x ions as minor products, while b and y are main products of collision-based dissociation methods including CAD.
Alternatively, collisional activation of transition metal-peptide complexes has been shown to induce radical cation species. The subsequent collisional activation of the generated radical species followed ECD/ETD-like peptide dissociation pathways, giving rise to a, c, x, and z ions. Laskin et al. showed that charge-remote radical-driven fragmentation pathways are responsible for this type of peptide backbone dissociation (Anal. Chem. 2007, 79, 6607). Hydrogen abstraction by the radical site was suggested to initiate the subsequent backbone cleavages, which is also relevant to other odd-electron involving dissociation methods like ECD and ETD.
Another approach to introduce radical species is to attach a free radical initiator to peptide itself. Porter et al. converted N-terminal amines of lysine side chains to peroxycarbamates (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 720; Med. Chem. 2006, 14, 6213; J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 2007, 18, 807). Collisional activation of peroxycarbamate peptide adducts complexed with Li, Na, K, or Ag ion gave rise to the neutral loss of the N-terminal side chain, i.e., radical species. Further fragmentation of the generated radical species showed an m/z shift of the b-ions corresponding to the loss of the N-terminal side chain. This shift labelled the b-ion series, which is useful for de novo analysis of peptides with the aid of SALSA algorithm. The Beauchamp group also investigated the use of free radical reactions as an tool for peptide and protein structure determination (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 12436). They conjugated the water-soluble free radical initiator Vazo 68 to the N-terminus of a peptide. The MS/MS of the doubly protonated Vazo 68 conjugated peptides led to a free radical species generated by cleavage at the azo carbon. The product mass spectrum obtained by the subsequent CAD on the radical species showed a number of fragment ions, including many a and z ions, which are the signatures of odd-electron radical-driven fragmentation pathway. This approach was referred to as free radical initiated peptide sequencing (FRIPS).
In this patent application, we expand this FRIPS approach by employing a so-called 'persistent radical' precursor to the N-terminus amino groups or N-terminal amines of lysine side chains. The employed persistent radical species is 'TEMPO (2,2,6,6-Tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl)' which is a stable radical widely used as a free radical initiator in polymer chemistry as well as a structural probe in electron spin resonance spectroscopy (Scheme 1).

Compared with diazo or peroxy functionalized precursors, a TEMPO-based precursor of the present invention is chemically more robust and can generate radical species by homolytic cleavage upon thermal activation. In addition, the position of the radical site can be easily designated by placing a TEMPO group at the point of interest around the benzyl ring (see the molecular structure of 1 in Scheme 1).
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
Throughout this application, several patents and publications are referenced and citations are provided in parentheses. The disclosure of these patents and publications is incorporated into this application in order to more fully describe this invention and the state of the art to which this invention pertains.

Method for free radical initiated peptide sequencing

University-Industry Cooperation Foundation, Sogang University


Flame retardant compositions for cable jacketing and wire insulation that contain:. (a) polyvinyl chloride resin; PA1 (b) a pentaerythritol ester plasticizer; PA1 (c) aluminum trihydrate; PA1 (d) antimony trioxide flame retardant; PA1 (e) a brominated phthalate ester; PA1 (f) isodecyl diphenyl phosphate plasticizer; and PA1 (g) zinc borate flame retardant and that are free of chlorinated polyvinyl chloride resin are disclosed.

This invention relates to flame retardant compositions for cable jacketing and wire insulation based upon polyvinyl chloride.
A variety of flame retardant compositions for cable jacketing and wire insulation based upon polyvinyl chloride are known. These compositions typically contain, in addition to polyvinyl chloride, one or more flame retardants, plasticizers, lubricants, and/or fillers. It is desirable for these compositions to exhibit low smoke generation and low flame travel.


A method for processing data in a computer system using two main concepts for addressing this situation, from which numerous other implementations is achieved using a first and second main concept. The first is a method of managing a common data path among a plethora of facilities with a decentralized distributed management scheme. The second concept is a method for managing a shared data buffer or group of buffers between multitudes of facilities. By employing the concepts discussed in this invention, one can contemplate a complex dataflow consisting of a multiplicity of resources and data paths, whereby virtually any combination of sharing is possible. A single data path can be shared among multiple sources or sinks. A single resource can be shared, but may have many separate data paths, or all elements of the present invention can be combined to comprise a dataflow with shared resources and shared data paths, both of which are actively managed by completely independent controllers on a separate chip or on the same chip, but with a segregated dataflow.

Historically, resource management and contention between resources were handled through central management facilities, which favored one request over another or through any of a multitude of other contention handling methods. This management scheme normally took the form of a central arbitration facility which requesters would raise requests to, while the arbitration facility would determine points of contention and return grants to the appropriate requester, effectively giving it priority to use a shared facility.
Shared management of resources within a computer system is undoubtedly an area of growing importance with the increasing complexity of the computing environment. There are many examples of prior art relevant to the present subject matter. U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,504, entitled Method and Means for the Sharing of Data Resources in a Multiprocessing, Multiprogramming Environment, issued to Obermarck et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,694, entitled Shared and Exclusive Access Control, issued to Hough, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,856, entitled Multiprocessor Shared Resource Management System Implemented as a Virtual Task in One of the Processors, issued to Yokota are three examples employing methods of locking and sharing computer system resources required by applications or tasks running in a multiprocessing environment. These applications focus primarily on the software interaction with the operating system and employ programming facilities to implement the inventions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,499, entitled Shared Computer Resource Allocation System Having Apparatus for Informing a Requesting Computer of the Identity and Busy/Idle Status of Shared Resources by Command Code, issued to Stiffler et al., teaches a resource allocation system to permit each processor in a multiprocessing environment to gain temporary exclusive control of a resource to accomplish a particular task. This invention employs both hardware and software facilities wherein the hardware facilities permit a test-and-set procedure to interrogate the status of a resource and provide a means for locking said resource on behalf of a requesting processor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,160, entitled Method and Apparatus for Communicating Integer and Floating Point Data Over a Shared Data Path in a Single Instruction Pipeline Processor, issued to Lauritzen et al., demonstrates a processor pipeline data flow in wherein the same data path is used to convey integer and floating point results to and from various stages of the pipeline without the need for the Floating Point and Integer Units to employ separate and distinct data flows.
While all of the aforementioned inventions teach various methods related to resource management in a computer system, they individually and collectively, fail to provide a hardware means for arbitrating and managing general purpose, shared data paths in high frequency, large scale SMP systems.
With the growth in the number of requesters, resources, data sources, data sinks, increasing chip density, and increasing clock frequency, the level of interconnection in a system has become difficult at best to manage. Problems with wiring contention, timing issues, and space within a chip floorplan have driven the need for an alternative solution to this. This solution must be scalable and does not result in other problems in a system design or performance.

International Business Machines Corporation


A computer-implemented method according to one embodiment includes receiving a training data set to be applied to a model; selecting a subset of the training data set as a sample set; for each of a plurality of predetermined augmentations, applying the predetermined augmentation to the sample set to create an augmented sample set, training the model with the augmented sample set, determining a performance of the trained model, and assigning a weight to the predetermined augmentation for the training data set, based on the determined performance; and selecting one or more of the plurality of predetermined augmentations to be applied to the training data set before the training data set is applied to the model, based on the weight assigned to each of the plurality of predetermined augmentations.

The present invention relates to machine learning, and more particularly, this invention relates to augmenting training data for machine learning models.
Machine learning models are often used to perform tasks such as classification, identification, etc. Such models need to be trained before they are implemented; however, an inadequate quality and/or quantity of training data may result in overfitting or underfitting of such training data to a model, which may negatively impact a performance of the trained model.

Determining optimal augmentations for a training data set


A catalyst and a process for preparing carboxylic acid esters from an aldehyde and an alcohol in the presence of molecular oxygen are disclosed. The catalyst comprises metals supported on a silica-containing support, wherein the metals consist essentially of palladium, lead, an alkali or alkaline earth metal, and at least one of niobium and zirconium. The process for preparing a carboxylic acid ester comprises reacting an aldehyde with an alcohol in the presence of molecular oxygen and the aforementioned catalyst.

The present invention relates to a catalyst for producing carboxylic acid esters, and more particularly, to a catalyst for producing carboxylic acid esters from aldehydes and alcohols in one-step reaction and a process using such catalyst.
One known process for preparing a carboxylic acid ester from an aldehyde involves first manufacturing a carboxylic acid by oxidizing an aldehyde, and then reacting this carboxylic acid with an alcohol. This process, however, has disadvantages in that it necessitates large equivalent of starting materials since the process involves two-step (oxidation and esterification) reaction operations. Furthermore, the process suffers from poor performance of the catalyst used in the reactions, and the yield of obtained carboxylic acid ester is inadequate.
Several methods have been disclosed with regard to producing high yield carboxylic acid esters in a one-step liquid phase reaction from an aldehyde and an alcohol in the presence of specific catalysts. For example, JP-B-57-135856 proposes Pd and Pb based catalysts using calcium carbonate as a carrier, JP-B-4-72578 proposes Pb based catalysts using zinc oxide as a carrier, JP-A-57-50545 and JP-A-61-243044 propose various types of Pd/Pb based catalysts, JP-B-61-60820 proposes Pd/Bi based catalysts, JP-B-62-7902 and JP-A-5-148184 propose the catalysts composed of Pd and at least one element selected from Pb and Bi, and, JP-B-57-35860 proposes Pd/Tl/Hg based catalysts.
The processes for preparing carboxylic acid ester using aforementioned catalysts, however, have low reaction rates and undesirable by-products.
Thus, further process improvements for preparing a carboxylic acid ester from aldehydes and alcohols are desirable.

Catalyst and process for preparing carboxylic acid esters

Lee Chang Yung Chemical Industry Corporation


A lift mechanism includes a balance structure configured to hold an object, wherein the balance structure is rotateably connected to an arm structure at a pivot point. The pivot point is configured, and the object is positioned, such that the pivot point is substantially coincident with the center-of-mass of the object being moved. Weights may be selectively attached to the balance structure to adjust the center-of-mass. In one embodiment, the lift mechanism includes a base and an arm configured to rotate with respect to the base, wherein the arm is attached to the balance structure at the pivot point. In this way, heavy objects may be lifted, translated, and rotated into place safely in an efficient manner.

During the maintenance and assembly of large machinery (e.g., aircraft and the like), it is often necessary to move, lift, and rotate relatively heavy objects in order to place them in the correct position and orientation with respect to other components. In general, with reference to FIG. 1, an object 102 having a center-of-mass 106 must be moved from a position 110(a) to a position 110(b) such that it can be attached to a mating component 104. This repositioning generally requires a combination of lifting, translating, and rotating the object, which may be accomplished in any number of steps and in any number of ways. Various types of lift mechanisms are traditionally used for this purpose, including, for example, transmission jacks, trunnions, and other such devices.
Prior art lift mechanisms are unsatisfactory in a number of respects. For example, as it is often necessary to rotate the object into place, there is a risk that the object will pivot into an undesirable position, causing danger to the object as well as the individuals operating the mechanism. The object's center-of-mass may fall outside the base of the lift mechanism, for example, leading to tipping of the entire assembly.
Furthermore, prior art devices generally require three or four operators to move and hold the object in place, leading to inefficiencies during operation. Likewise, such devices are typically very large, and thus cannot be effectively used in tight spaces.
Accordingly, there is a need for a lift mechanism that is both safe and efficient, requiring a minimum number of individuals to operate, and allowing for a wide range of motion in a confined space.


A perimetrically acting collet includes a body and at least one mating profile opening in the body. A plurality of resilient members located adjacent one side of the at least one mating profile opening and a profiled body is biased perimetrically by the plurality of resilient members.

In the hydrocarbon exploration and recovery arts, a collet is a well known and and well used tool. Traditionally, collets have been configured to locate and/or lock and/or position tools in a borehole. These tools are invaluable with respect to confidence about an ongoing operation whether the purpose of the specific collet is locating, locking or positioning. As downhole tools become more complex however, with zones and seals ubiquitously positioned, and restrictions in the casing becoming more problematic, and with advanced tools (considered necessary to enhance production) needing to be run through the tubing, collets have in some instances been identified as a source of consternation. Further, because collets operate on a radial deflection principal (inward or outward) and because in general collets run in tubing operate on a deflection inward/bias outward principal, the collet fingers necessarily scrape the inside dimension of the tubing in which they are run. This creates little wear on the inside of a blank tube but can be deleterious to seals exposed at that inside dimension. Moreover, because modern downhole systems often include many profiles therein, whether intended as profiles or simply defacto profiles, conventional collets can become stuck. Therefore well operators must expend time and effort tracking the potential snags downhole before employing a conventional collet.


A sound direction/stereo effect 3D adjustable earphone in one aspect contains an adjustable headband clip to hold the left and right earphone parts. An adjustable holder is at the left and right ends of the earphone and at the topside of an ear cup. The ear cup contains a 3D adjustable ear speaker at the center of the earphone for delivery of sounds from the earphone to a user. A 3D direction adjustable unit works with the ear speaker. The adjustable unit contains a connector such as a little ball at one end to fit in a corresponding connector such as a hole at the holder and another connector such as a little ball to fit into another corresponding connector such as a hole at the speaker. In this way, the ear speaker can be freely pushed out/pulled in and pulled/pushed/rotated adjustably in X-Y-Z or three dimensions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an earphone for use with audio systems and communication systems and more particularly to an adjustable earphone for achieving stereo sound direction and effect with adjustment in three dimensions.
2. The Prior Art
There are many types of adjustable earphones already on the market. Nevertheless, two problems remain unsolved. The first problem results when a user of an earphone uses the earphone for too long a period of time. Such extended use creates in the user an uncomfortable feeling or possibly damages the user's hearing because the sound is directed continuously at and hits one point of the user's ear nerve, which causes exhaustion in the ear nerve. The second problem results when a user uses an earphone with a center speaker that does not fit his or her ear shape or ear tunnel. Again, such earphones creates in the user an uncomfortable feeling or possibly causes harm to the user's hearing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,822 to Toole et al. discloses a multi-adjustable headband including earcups or earphone elements having speaker elements. When the headband is adjusted up or down, the earcup containing the ear speakers will be moved up and down also (in X axis direction, i.e. in one direction only). Adjustment or rotation of the ear speakers in three dimensions (3D) for the comfort of a user's hearing is neither disclosed nor contemplated.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,827 to Yang discloses an adjustable earphone with a microphone and a hook for mounting the earphone on a user's ear. The speaker of the earphone is mounted in a speaker chamber that connects to the hook by an outrigger. The user can slide the outrigger connected to the speaker chamber upwardly or downwardly in a tunnel of a housing along the tunnel. The user can also rotate the outrigger in the tunnel of the housing. Therefore, the speaker chamber can be moved up and down in one direction along an X axis and rotated 360 degrees along the X axis (Y axis level) or in X-Y two dimensions. This device, however, does not and cannot achieve adjustment of the speaker chamber for the user's hearing comfort in a third Z dimension or adjustment in three (3D) dimensions because of the way the tunnel is fixed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,018 to Keliiliki discloses an adjustable earphone for personal audio and communication systems. The ear mounted earphone includes a speaker housing for positioning a speaker at the entrance to the auditory canal of an ear of a user. An elongate boom extends from the speaker housing so that the boom may be moved longitudinally and rotationally for adjustment purposes. As a result of that adjustment, the speaker can be moved up and down along the boom in one X axis direction and be rotated 360 degrees along the boom in Y axis level. This device, however, does not and cannot achieve the adjustment of the speaker for the user's hearing comfort in a third Z dimension or adjustment in three (3D) dimensions because of the way the boom is fixed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,434,250 to Tsuhako discloses a stereo headset with angled speakers. The speaker units may be positioned at optimum angles of incidence and distances relative to the ears of a listener. Adjustable positioning means are provided to enable control over the horizontal spatial dimension of the stereo sound. The patent provides for the positioning of the speaker unit at a distance from the ears of a listener, and at an angle (best angle at 27 degrees) relative to an imagined vertical plane bisecting the head of a listener into symmetrical halves. The speakers have no sound conceal function and have only a one dimensional angle adjustment. Accordingly, this device does not and cannot achieve the adjustment of the speaker for the user's hearing comfort in a third Z dimension or adjustment in three (3D) dimensions because the adjustment angle is in only one dimension and the speaker is open for noise.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,369,952 to Rallison et al. discloses a head-mounted personal visual display apparatus with an image generator and a holder. With this device, when a user wishes to adjust the position of the earphone, the user rotates an earphone arm about an axis to adjust the vertical distance and slides the arm along an axis slot to adjust the horizontal or lateral location of the earphone. It is apparent that the device does not and cannot achieve the adjustment of the speaker for the user's hearing comfort in a third Z dimension or adjustment in three (3D) dimensions because the adjustment axis arm operates in one dimension only.
Bluetooth wireless earphones have been successfully received in the market for years. The bluetooth earphone is combined in an earphone unit with an ear clip. The earphone speaker of a bluetooth earphone is obviously not adjustable in three (3D) dimensions. Moreover, discomfort is experienced when the ear clip is too heavy or hangs too long on the bottom of the user's ear.
Another problem is that all old and current earphones are preset for sound direction and channel stereo effects and usually focus on the back head center of the earphone user. When an earphone user moves his head up or down, or turns his head left or right, the sound stereo effect from the earphone is always the same, which is not real time sound.
Generally speaking, with known earphones there is no way to adjust the earphone speaker in a 3D stereo sound direction and effect if a user feels uncomfortable. A user can move only the whole ear cup up/down or back/forth in one direction with no Z depth adjustment.
Therefore, in order to solve the foregoing problems and drawbacks, a need exists for an easily adjustable earphone that avoids sound hitting directly and continuously on one point of a user's ear nerve and that provides the most flexible adjustment of stereo sound direction and effect in three dimensions to minimize hearing damage and loss to an earphone user and maximize the stereo sound instantaneous real time effect experienced by the earphone user.

Sound direction/stereo 3D adjustable earphone