A dust collector for a power drill is provided that includes a cylinder of sufficient size to accept at least a foremost portion of a power drill. The cylinder includes a gasket or seal at the forward end for contact with the wall or working surface to be drilled. A rubber or other elastic membrane or web is provided over the opposite end of the cylinder and an opening is formed in the membrane or web to fit snugly around the forward end of a power drill. A narrowing or neck may be used in place of the web to provide an opening for the forward end of a power drill. An arrangement of holes is formed in the wall of the cylinder. A vacuum hose is connected to the cylinder by a direct connection to the cylinder or by connection of the vacuum hose to a pistol grip handle attached to the cylinder. By connecting the vacuum hose to a shop vacuum, household vacuum or other vacuum source, the power drill may be inserted into the opening in the web and holes drilled in walls or other surfaces without disbursing dust into the surrounding area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a dust-collecting apparatus for use with a drill and in particular to a vacuum-operated dust collector adapted to fit onto a power drill.
2. Description of the Related Art
Use of a power drill in which is mounted a high-speed drill bit results in the generation of debris and dust as a hole is drilled into a surface. For some materials such as wood the debris is easily collected near the drilling site after drilling is completed. However, for other materials such as gypsum board, or as it is commonly referred to, drywall, fine dust particles spread through the air and accumulate on services over a widespread area. The dust from drilling into drywall is not only troublesome to clean up following maintenance work or installation of new lights, for example, but is also potentially damaging to valuables around the area of the drilling. For example, it is common that art collections and other collections of valuable items in homes, private institutions, and museums, are lit by specialized lightings such as directional lighting, lighting of a particular color temperature or subdued lighting for light sensitive items. Further, it is not uncommon that the high value of such items necessitate their protection with security systems including motion detectors, video cameras or other security devices. Installation of such security devices frequently involves the drilling of holes into the walls and other surfaces in the area where the valuables are kept. The resulting dust from the drilling can adhere to the unprotected surfaces of the valuables, thereby necessitating removing or covering the valuables.
Not only does dust from drilling drywall permeate the air, but many other types of dust such as concrete dust, asbestos fiber or other types of particulates, can be carried in the air and scatter about onto nearby surfaces. Even when less valuable items are in the area around the maintenance work, it is necessary to clean the dust and debris which results from the drilling. It possible that the dust and debris of drilling and working some materials may be harmful should the dust be carried into the air. The dust from some plasters and drywall can harm paintings, for example. Others can be harmful when inhaled.


The light emitting device comprises a point light source, a solid and transparent light guide, a recess arranged on center of a light receiving surface of the light guide, a concave lens formed on a surface of the recess. A reflecting side surface is a revolving surface determined by revolving a parabola passing through one point of peripheral border of the light receiving surface and the other point of peripheral border of the light radiating surface, and having a focal point on the other point of peripheral border. The point light source is arranged apart from the light receiving surface so as to divide the light from the point light source into light entering into the light guide through the surface of the recess and light entering into the light guide through some part of the light receiving surface other than the recess.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light emitting device that regulates a light distribution angle and illuminates a lighting field with high uniformity.
2. Description of the Related Art
To concentrate light, which is radiated from a light source, for illuminating a lighting field efficiently is important for designing a light emitting device. Various light emitting devices have been developed to work out such issue. (For example, see Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-128041.)
As shown in FIG. 8, a light emitting device 1 described in the Patent Document 1 comprises mainly a surface light source 2; a bowl-shaped reflector 6 having an opening for incidence 3 through which the light from the surface light source 2 passes inside; an opening for radiation 4 facing to the opening for incidence 3; and a reflecting surface 5 reflecting the light from the opening for incidence 3 to the opening for radiation 4.
When a plane M containing a center axis CL is assumed, two points of peripheral border 7a, 7b of the opening for incidence 3 and two point of peripheral border 9a, 9b of the opening for radiation 4 are determined. And a coordinate system having a horizontal axis passing through the point of peripheral border 7b, and parallel to a straight line X passing through the points of peripheral border 7a and 9 is determined. The reflecting surface 5 of the reflector 6 is a paraboloid of revolution that is determined by revolving a parabola 8 around the center axis CL. The parabola 8 passes through the points of peripheral border 7a and 9a, and has a focal point on the other point of peripheral border 7b of the opening for incidence 3.
According to this light emitting device 1, the light from the surface light source 2 is radiated within an aperture angle θ that is determined with a straight line X passing through the points of peripheral border 7a, 9b and a straight line Y passing through the points of peripheral border 7b, 9a. For example, when the light emitted from the point of peripheral border 7b of the opening for incidence 3 directly passes through the opening for radiation 4 without reflecting on the reflecting surface 5, the light forms an angle with the center axis CL. The angle is the same angle between the straight line Y and the center axis CL (=θ/2). In contrast, the light reflected on the reflecting surface 5 is parallel to the straight line X, because the point of peripheral border 7b is on the focal point of the parabola 8. All light from outer edge of the opening for incidence 3 is in the same manner, because the outer edge of the opening for incidence 3 is determined with a circle that is around the center axis CL of the point of peripheral border 7b. The point of peripheral border 7b is on the focal point of the parabola 8 in the plane M. The light that is radiated from inner side of the opening for incidence 3 is radiated in an angle. The angle between the light and the center axis CL is smaller than ½θ.
Therefore, a lighting area S of the light from the surface light source 2 is regulated within predetermined angle θ by the reflector 6.


A nanocarbon separation device includes a first porous structure configured to hold a solution containing a surfactant, a second porous structure configured to hold a dispersion medium, a holding part provided between the first porous structure and the second porous structure and configured to hold the dispersion liquid containing the nanocarbons and the surfactant and having a smaller content of the surfactant than that of the solution, a separation tank in which the first porous structure, the holding part and the second porous structure are disposed and accommodated in an order of the first porous structure, the holding part and the second porous structure, a first electrode provided on a lower section of the first porous structure, and a second electrode provided on an upper section of the second porous structure.

Since single-walled carbon nanotubes have a high electron mobility, it is thus expected that they will have applications in various fields due to the mechanical properties, electrical properties, chemical properties, and the like, thereof. Since single-walled carbon nanotubes are synthesized as mixtures containing materials having different properties such as semiconductor and metallic properties in which the materials are mixed at a ratio of 2:1, they need to be separated quickly and with a high purity for industrial applications.
As a method of separating a mixture of single-walled carbon nanotubes, for example, a nanocarbon material separation method including an introduction/configuring process and a separating process is known (for example, see Patent Literature 1). In the introduction/configuring process, a dispersion solution of a nanocarbon material and a holding solution having a specific gravity different from that of the nanocarbon material, which are distributed in nanocarbon micelle groups having a plurality of different charges, are laminated in an electrophoretic tank in a predetermined direction and introduced and disposed. In the separating process, the nanocarbon micelle groups are separated into two or more nanocarbon micelle groups by applying a direct current voltage to the dispersion solution and the holding solution, which are laminated, introduced, and disposed, in a serial direction. In addition, there is a single-walled carbon nanotube separation method including a process of applying a direct current voltage to a single-walled carbon nanotube-containing micelle dispersion solution in which single-walled carbon nanotubes are distributed in a nonionic surfactant solution in a separation tank installed as a vertical type, and separating the solution into at least two layers including a single-walled carbon nanotube-containing micelle dispersion liquid layer and a semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube-containing micelle dispersion liquid layer.
The single-walled carbon nanotube-containing micelle dispersion liquid layer is an enriched layer of metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes, in which micelles have positive charges as a whole.
The semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube-containing micelle dispersion liquid layer is a layer in which micelles have extremely weak charges only as a whole. In the single-walled carbon nanotube separation method, a method of applying a direct current voltage using a negative electrode installed in an upper section of a separation tank and a positive electrode installed in a lower section and directing an orientation of an electric field upward parallel to the direction of gravity is known (for example, see Patent Literature 2).

Nanocarbon separation device and nanocarbon separation method


It is a common practice with orthodontists in planning treatment for a patient to prescribe dental changes to cure the malocclusion condition of the patient in terms of mesial or distal, buccal or lingual, and occlusal (coronal) or gingival translational displacements; and facial or lingual torque; mesial or distal angulation and mesial or distal rotation displacements. A method and workstation for measuring the dental displacements, or conversely placing the dental elements in desired positions as per the prescriptions for their displacements in a consistent, reproducible and accurate manner is disclosed. A novel orthogonal curvilinear coordinate system is disclosed that enables the measurement of the tooth displacements in conjunction with the individual tooth axes system.

A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of computerized techniques for orthodontic treatment planning for human patients. More particularly, the invention is directed to measuring tooth displacements in a consistent and accurate manner during virtual orthodontic treatment planning using a novel orthodontic reference coordinate system in conjunction with a tooth axes system. The invention is also directed to moving the teeth from initial positions to desired positions in an accurate, consistent and reproducible manner.
B. Description of Related Art
The traditional process of diagnosis and treatment planning for a patient with orthodontic problems or disease typically consists of the practitioner obtaining clinical history, medical history, dental history, and orthodontic history of the patient supplemented by 2D photographs, 2D radiographic images, CT scans, 2D and 3D scanned images, ultrasonic scanned images, and in general non-invasive and sometimes invasive images, plus video, audio, and a variety of communication records. Additionally, physical models, such as made from plaster of paris, of the patient's teeth are created from the impressions taken of the patient's upper and lower jaws. Such models are manually converted into teeth drawings by projecting teeth on drawing paper. Thus, there is a large volume of images and data involved in the diagnosis and treatment planning process. Furthermore, the information may require conversion from one form to another and selective reduction before it could become useful. There are some computerized tools available to aid the practitioner in these data conversion and reduction steps, for example to convert cephalometric x-rays (i.e., 2 dimensional x-ray photographs showing a lateral view of the head and jaws, including teeth) into points of interest with respect to soft tissue, hard tissue, etc., but they are limited in their functionalities and scope. Even then, there is a fairly substantial amount of manual work involved in these steps.
Orthodontists routinely prescribe translational displacements and rotational movements of teeth of orthodontic patients during treatment planning. The translational displacements include mesial or distal (miseodistal), buccal or lingual (buccolingual), and coronal or gingival displacements. The rotational movements include torque, angulation and rotation. Generally, the translation displacements are specified in mm; and the torque, angulation and rotation movements in gradient or degrees. Additionally, measurements of tooth positions in terms of these translational displacements and rotational movements are used in assessing the treatment needs. Often, a physical model of the dentition of a patient is created and used by the practitioner in manually measuring the tooth positions and assessing the required teeth displacements and movements. The measurements are basically done in two-dimensions and are time consuming, prone to inherent inaccuracies; and lack consistency and reproducibility.
Consequently, the practitioner is left to mental visualization, and chance process to select the treatment course that would supposedly work. Furthermore, the diagnosis process is some-what ad-hoc and the effectiveness of the treatment depends heavily upon the practitioner's level of experience. Often, due to the complexities of the detailed steps and the time consuming nature of them, some practitioners take a shortcut, relying predominantly on their intuition to select a treatment plan. For example, the diagnosis and treatment planning is often done by the practitioner on a sheet of acetate placed over the X-rays. All of these factors frequently contribute towards trial and error, hit-and-miss, lengthy and inefficient treatment plans that require numerous mid-course adjustments. While at the beginning of treatment things generally run well as all teeth start to move at least into the right direction, at the end of treatment a lot of time is lost by adaptations and corrections required due to the fact that the end result has not been properly planned at any point of time. By and large, this approach lacks reliability, reproducibility and precision. More over, there is no comprehensive way available to a practitioner to stage and simulate the treatment process in advance of the actual implementation to avoid the often hidden pitfalls. And the patient has no choice and does not know that treatment time could be significantly reduced if proper planning was done.
In recent years, computer-based approaches have been proposed for aiding orthodontists in their practice. However, these approaches are limited to diagnosis and treatment planning of craniofacial structures, including the straightening of teeth. See Andreiko, U.S. Pat. No. 6,015,289; Snow, U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,482; Kopelmann et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,314; Doyle, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,158; Wu et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,198, and Chisti et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,975,893 and 6,227,850, the contents of each of which is incorporated by reference herein. Also see imaging and diagnostic software and other related products marketed by Dolphin Imaging, 6641 Independence Avenue, Canoga Park, Calif. 91303-2944.
A method for generation of a 3D model of the dentition from an in-vivo scan of the patient, and interactive computer-based treatment planning for orthodontic patients, is described in U. U.S. Pat. No. 6,648,640 to Rubbert, et al., the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.
Other background references related to capturing three dimensional models of dentition and associated craniofacial structures include S. M. Yamany and A. A. Farag, "A System for Human Jaw Modeling Using Intra-Oral Images" in Proc. IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Soc. (EMBS) Conf, Vol. 20, Hong Kong, October 1998, pp. 563-566; and M. Yamany, A. A. Farag, David Tasman, A. G. Farman, "A 3-D Reconstruction System for the Human Jaw Using a Sequence of Optical Images," IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, Vol. 19, No. 5, May 2000, pp. 538-547. The contents of these references are incorporated by reference herein.
The technical literature further includes a body of literature describing the creation of 3D models of faces from photographs, and computerized facial animation and morphable modeling of faces. See, e.g., Pighin et al., Synthesizing Realistic Facial Expression from Photographs, Computer Graphics Proceedings SIGGRAPH '98, pp. 78-94 (1998); Pighin et al., Realistic Facial Animation Using Image-based 3D Morphing, Technical Report no. UW-CSE-97-01-03, University of Washington (May 9, 1997); and Blantz et al., A Morphable Model for The Synthesis of 3D Faces, Computer Graphics Proceedings SIGGRAPH '99 (August, 1999). The contents of these references are incorporated by reference herein.
The computerized treatment planning has created a vital need for realizing desired tooth displacements and movements, and making tooth position measurements in a consistent, accurate and reproducible manner during virtual orthodontic treatment planning.
Therefore, a novel method and system are disclosed for realizing the desired tooth displacements and rotational movements; and measuring tooth positions in a consistent, accurate and reproducible manner. This is enabled by a novel orthodontic reference coordinate system for calculating tooth displacements and movements in a meaningful manner that obviates the shortcomings of the traditional approach discussed above.

Method and system for measuring tooth displacements on a virtual three-dimensional model


Golf cart movements at a golf course are controlled by a limited access controller that compares a golf cart's GPS-determined position against a limited access map to restrict performance of inputs by the golf cart's driver to the golf cart's motor under predetermined conditions, such as if a golf cart enters or has a predetermined likelihood of entering a limited access area. The limited access controller inhibits motor responses, such as by preventing motor operation, limiting available motor speeds, or allowing motor operation only in a vector that removes the golf cart from the limited access area, such as operation in reverse. Golf carts of a golf course communicate with a base station that updates the limited access map by defining limited access area perimeters and allowable actions within a limited access area and that directly commands allowable motor operations. For example, golf carts are prohibited from entering green areas, are restricted to golf cart paths during cart-path-only periods, and are restricted to reduced speeds in driving hazard areas.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of vehicle control, and more particularly to a method and system for control of a golf cart based on location of the golf cart.
2. Description of the Related Art
Golf course owners generally make a substantial financial investment in a golf course in order to develop and maintain the appearance and quality of play expected by golfers. A significant portion of the investment is made in the preparation and maintenance of golfing areas such as greens, fairways and golfing hazards. In addition to the financial investment made to develop and maintain golfing areas, a substantial investment is made in the time that it typically takes for grass and other greenery to grow and mature into acceptable playing surfaces. Another significant portion of the investment made in a golf course is the equipment and maintenance needed to keep a golf course operating on a daily basis, including the purchase and maintenance of golf carts for golfers to drive. Generally, golf courses protect the grounds and equipment with a marshal who keeps watch over golfers and attempts to ensure that golfers maintain a desired pace of play. However, golf courses are typically large areas with hills and foliage that makes a marshal's job difficult to accomplish. In a relatively short period of time, a thoughtless golfer can create considerable damage to sensitive golfing areas, such as greens, simply by driving a golf cart in the wrong place, such as locations having wet turf that is particularly susceptible to damage. Inattentive and even malicious golf cart drivers can cause even greater amounts of damage and also present a safety hazard by driving too fast or recklessly near other golfers or natural hazards, such as cliffs, water, steep inclines or sharp turns.
One solution that aids in the monitoring of golf course activity by a marshal is the use of golf carts equipped with positioning equipment, such as Global Positioning System ("GPS") equipment. GPS positions of a golf cart are compared with a map of the golf course so that the golfer knows his position for play, such as distance from the green, and is given tips and instructions for more efficient play. GPS positions available at a golf cart can be used to inform a golf cart driver when the golf cart travels to an unauthorized location and may be stored for later analysis to identify the source of damage caused on a golf course by a golf cart. However, even if a marshal knows the location of a golf cart on a golf course and foresees the potential for damage to the golf course or injury to the golf cart driver, the marshal is unlikely to be close enough to the golf cart to preempt the damage or driving safety hazard.


An intake manifold according to the present invention comprises a housing defining an interior cavity and having an exterior surface. The housing has at least one air in-flow passage from the exterior surface of the housing to the interior cavity. The housing includes at least one side wall, the side wall having a substantially planar side wall interior cavity surface and a side wall exterior surface. The side wall defines at least one air-fuel out-flow passage from the interior cavity to the side wall exterior surface, wherein the intake manifold is mounted to engage an engine block so that the air-fuel out-flow passage and an engine cylinder inlet are aligned to allow the air-fuel mixture to pass from the air-fuel out-flow passage to the engine cylinder inlet.

This invention relates generally to an intake manifold for a vehicle engine, and more particularly to an intake manifold with a low-profile design.
An intake manifold in a vehicle engine is used for receiving air for delivery to the engine. A conventional intake manifold is a one piece design mounted to the top of the engine. The intake manifold generally includes a housing, one or more air inlets, or access ports, opening into an internal plenum area, and one or more conduits, or runners, leading from the plenum area to each engine cylinder. The conventional intake manifold is part of an engine intake system, which includes one or more intake tubes and fuel injectors. The intake tubes receive air from the environment and deliver the air to the intake manifold. Air is received into the plenum area via the air inlets. The air then disperses to the runners for delivery to each engine cylinder. Fuel is typically delivered to the runners via fuel injection passages which receive the fuel from fuel injectors. The fuel and air then mix together, and the air-fuel mixture in the intake manifold runners is delivered via cylinder inlets to each cylinder of the engine.
An important feature of the intake manifold is the runner length. The intake manifold runners must be of a sufficient length to provide a fuel-flow velocity which efficiently delivers the air-fuel mixture to the engine cylinders. Conventional intake manifold runners typically extend into the plenum area of the intake manifold or extend externally of the intake manifold housing in order to provide the necessary runner length. This results in the intake manifold being too large to accommodate an air compressor mounted on top of the intake manifold within the engine compartment.
Optionally, an air compressor can be mounted within the engine compartment to receive the air from the intake tubes, compress the air, and deliver the compressed air to the intake manifold. The air compressor functions to provide additional air to the engine and enables more power to be generated by the engine. A bypass valve can also be mounted on the intake manifold to allow air from the intake manifold to be recirculated to intake tubes based on the vacuum state in the plenum area.
The original equipment manufacturer (OEM) hood for vehicles is designed to close over an OEM intake manifold and other engine components. The OEM hood is minimized in height over the components in the engine compartment in order to improve the vehicle's aerodynamics, as well as to minimize any detrimental effect on the vision of the vehicle operator. If one desires to install an air compressor to provide increased air flow to the intake manifold, the air compressor is usually installed in locations other than on top of the OEM intake manifold due to the lack of space. If the air compressor is mounted on top of the intake manifold, there is usually not enough space available under the OEM hood. Rather, the original hood must be replaced with an enlarged-space hood, which increases the cost associated with installing an air compressor, as well as reducing the vehicles aerodynamics and vehicle operator vision. Alternatively, an area is cut out of the original hood, which can lead to issues with structural instability, as well as increasing the cost due to the cutting involved and makes the hood of less value for resale.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for an intake manifold having a low-profile design. The new intake manifold should allow a user to mount an air compressor on top of the intake manifold without having to replace or modify the OEM hood.


An input image signal 101 is divided into MC block units and, when coding processing is performed in these divided units, a motion compensation section 107 generates a motion-compensated prediction image 106a by detecting movement amounts in predetermined MC block units, a smoothing filter section 124 performs, with respect to the prediction image 106a, smoothing of pixels located at the boundaries of adjoining MC blocks on the basis of predetermined evaluation criteria, and a prediction residual signal 108, which is obtained from the difference between the prediction image 106b obtained by the smoothing, and the input image (input image signal 101), is encoded. Accordingly, it is possible to use relatively straightforward computation to perform processing, with respect to a prediction frame image generated by block-unit motion-compensated interframe prediction (MC), to adaptively smooth a discontinuous waveform generated between MC blocks of the prediction frame image, whereby the efficiency of low bit rate coding that employs interframe MC is improved.

Conventional image coding systems are constituted to divide image frames into blocks of a fixed size and then perform coding processing in these divided units. Typical examples of conventional image coding systems include the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) 1 coding system as described in Le Gall. D: "MPEG: A Video Compression Standard for Multimedia Applications", Trans. ACM, 1991, April.
MPEG 1 performs motion-compensated interframe prediction (MC: Motion Compensation) by dividing image frames into fixed block units known as macroblocks, detecting movement amounts (or motion vectors) by referencing a local decoding frame image encoded in units, specifying similar blocks from within a reference image and employing these similar blocks as predictive data. By means of this technique, even when there is motion in an image, the prediction efficiency can be improved by tracking the motion, and redundancy in a temporal direction can be reduced. Furthermore, redundancy that remains in a spatial direction can be reduced by employing the DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform), using units that are blocks consisting of 8×8 pixels, with respect to a prediction residual signal. A variety of standard image coding systems that start with MPEG1 perform data compression of image signals by combining MC and the DCT.
FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing the constitution of a conventional image coding apparatus based on an MPEG1 image coding system. An input image signal 1 which is inputted to the image coding apparatus shown in FIG. 20 is a temporal array of frame images and will subsequently embody the signal of each frame image unit. Further, an example of a frame image that is to be encoded is shown in FIG. 21. The current frame 601 is divided into fixed square/rectangular regions of 16 pixels×16 lines (called macroblocks), and the processing that follows is performed in these units.
The macroblock data of the current frame (current macroblocks) produced by the input image signal 1 are first outputted to a motion detection section 2 where detection of motion vectors 5 is carried out. A motion vector 5 is detected by referencing a predetermined search region of a previous encoded frame image 4 (called a local decoding image 4 hereinafter) stored in a frame memory 3, locating a pattern similar to the current macroblock (called a prediction image 6 hereinafter), and determining the amount of spatial displacement between this pattern and the current macroblock.
Here, the local decoding image 4 is not limited to only the previous frame. Rather, a future frame can also be used as a result of being encoded in advance and stored in the frame memory 3. Although the use of a future frame generates switching of the coding order and in turn an increase in the processing delay, there is the merit that variations in the image content produced between previous and future frames is easily predicted, thus making it possible to effectively reduce temporal redundancy still further.
Generally, in MPEG1, it is possible to selectively use three coding types which are called bidirectional prediction (B frame prediction), forward prediction (P frame prediction) that uses previous frames alone, and I frame prediction which does not perform interframe prediction, instead performing coding only within the frame. FIG. 21 is limited to P frame prediction alone, a local decoding image 4 being recorded with a previous frame 602.
The motion vector 5 shown in FIG. 20 is rendered by a two-dimensional parallel displacement amount. Block matching as represented in FIGS. 22A to 22D is generally used as the method of detecting the motion vector 5. A motion search range 603 centered on the spatial phase of the current macroblock is established, then, from the image data 604 within the motion search range 603 of the previous frame 602, the block for which the sum of the squares of the differences or the sum of the absolute values of differences is minimum is determined as the motion predictive data, and the relocation amount of the motion predictive data in relation to the current macroblock is determined as the motion vector 5.
The motion predictive data for all the macroblocks in the current frame is determined, and this data, which is rendered as a frame image, is equivalent to the motion prediction frame 605 in FIG. 21. The difference 606 between the motion prediction frame 605 shown in FIG. 21 obtained by way of the above MC processing, and the current frame 601, is obtained (obtained by the subtraction section 21 shown in FIG. 20), and this residual signal (called the prediction residual signal 8 hereinafter) undergoes DCT coding. Specifically, the processing to extract the motion predictive data for every macroblock (prediction image 6 hereinafter) is performed by a motion compensation section 7. The processing performed by the motion compensation section 7 involves using a motion vector 5 to extract the prediction image 6 from the local decoding image 4 stored in the frame memory 3.
The prediction residual signal 8 is converted into DCT coefficient data 10 (also called DCT coefficients 10 hereinafter) by a DCT section 9. As shown in FIG. 23, the DCT converts spatial pixel vectors denoted by 610 into a set of normalized orthogonal bases that render fixed frequency components denoted by 611. 8×8 pixel blocks ('DCT blocks' below) are normally adopted for the spatial pixel vectors. Because the DCT is discrete transform processing, the DCT actually performs conversion for each of the horizontal and vertical 8 dimensional row and column vectors of the DCT block.
The DCT uses the correlation between pixels present in a spatial region to localize the power concentration in the DCT block. The higher the power concentration, the better the conversion efficiency is, and therefore the performance of the DCT with respect to a natural image signal is not inferior when compared with a KL transform which is the optimum transform. Particularly in the case of a natural image, the power is concentrated in the lower regions including the DC component as a main part, and there is barely any power in the higher regions, and therefore, as shown in FIG. 24, by scanning from the lower regions to the higher regions as indicated by the arrows in the DCT block such that the quantized coefficients denoted by 612 are denoted by 613, and by including a large zero run, the overall coding efficiency which also includes the results of entropy coding is improved.
The quantization of the DCT coefficients 10 is performed by a quantization section 11 and the quantized coefficients 12 obtained thereby are scanned, run-length encoded, and multiplexed in a compressed stream 14 by a variable length coding section 13 before being transmitted. Further, the motion vectors 5 detected by the motion detection section 2 are also multiplexed in the compressed stream 14 and transmitted, one macroblock at a time, because these vectors are required in order to allow the image decoding apparatus described subsequently to generate a prediction image that is the same as that of the image coding apparatus.
In addition, the quantized coefficients 12 are decoded locally via a reverse quantization section 15 and a reverse DCT section 16, and the decoded results are added to the prediction image 6 by an addition section 22, whereby a decoding image 17 which is the same as that of the image decoding apparatus is generated. The decoding image 17 is used in the prediction for the next frame and is therefore stored in the frame memory 3.
A description is provided next for the constitution of a conventional image decoding apparatus that is based on an MPEG1 image decoding system as shown in FIG. 25. After receiving the compressed stream 14, the image decoding apparatus detects a sync word indicating the start of each frame by means of a variable length decoding section 18, and subsequently decodes motion vectors 5 and quantized DCT coefficients 12 in macroblock units. The motion vectors 5 are outputted to a motion compensation section 7d and the motion compensation section 7d extracts, as a prediction image 6, the image parts which have moved to an extent equivalent to the motion vectors 5, from a frame memory 19 (used in the same way as the frame memory 3), this operation being similar to the operation of the above-mentioned image coding apparatus. The quantized DCT coefficients 12 are decoded via a reverse quantization section 15d and a reverse DCT section 16d, and then added by the addition section 23 to the prediction image 6 to form the final decoding image 17. The decoding image 17 is outputted using predetermined display timing to a display device (not shown) where the image is played back.

Image encoder, image decoder, image encoding method, and image decoding method


This document provides a solution where a requesting wireless apparatus indicates in a probe request message that the requesting wireless apparatus supports a collision avoidance mechanism that enables a responding wireless apparatus to reduce a number probe response messages by responding to a plurality of probe response messages with a single probe response message.

Some wireless networks utilize active scanning in which a scanning device probes for other devices by transmitting a request message which obliges a responding device to respond. In the response, the scanning device gains information on the wireless network(s) available. Such a request-response procedure may be used as a preliminary procedure for a connection establishment.

Request-response procedure for wireless network


The disclosure provides methods for the direct optical visualization of graphene and its nanoscale defects on transparent substrates.

Graphene, a single layer of bonded carbon atoms and a rising two-dimensional material, possesses outstanding electrical, optical, and mechanical properties and thus great commercial values. In particular, the high electrical conductivity and low light absorption (2.3%) of graphene, combined with its excellent mechanical strength and flexibility, chemical stability, and low contact resistance to organic materials, offer tremendous advantages as transparent and flexible electrode materials in applications ranging from solar cells, organic emitting diodes, liquid crystal displays, to touch screens.

Method for direct optical visualization of graphene and its nanoscale defects on transparent substrates

The Regents of the University of California


There is described a method of determining a reactive torque factor for use in controlling a toolface of a downhole tool. For each of one or more sliding operations, a change in a top drive position of a drive unit operable to rotate a drill string connected to the downhole tool is determined, a change in a toolface of the downhole tool is determined, and a change in a differential pressure is determined. Based on the change in the top drive position, the change in the toolface, and the change in the differential pressure, a reactive torque factor is determined.

During oil and gas drilling, a drill bit located at the end of a drill string is rotated into and through a formation to drill a wellbore. One form of drilling is directional drilling, in which the drill string has a slight bend near its distal end. During directional drilling, it is common practice to alternate between sliding and rotating. When sliding, the drill string is rotated to a particular orientation, and then drilling proceeds with the drill string maintained in this constant orientation, allowing the driller to alter the direction of the wellbore via the bend in the drill string. When rotating, the entire drill string is rotated, allowing the driller to drill forward in a straight line from the last slide. The driller alternates between rotating and sliding, to steer the wellbore as desired.
During the sliding portions of the drilling operation, the driller needs to ensure that the toolface (e.g. the orientation) of a mud motor/bent sub connected to the downhole tool is properly set, to point, using the bend in the mud motor, the drill bit in the desired direction. However, a reactive torque is produced by the mud motor that may cause the toolface to rotate to the left, and for which the driller must account. If the reactive torque is not properly accounted for, then the driller may be required to lift off bottom, shut off automated toolface control and make quill and/or autodriller adjustments, or else allow automatic toolface control to make quill and/or autodriller adjustments. All of these options, however, will result in less optimal results, i.e. the drilling taking more time and/or the drilling proceeding at a suboptimal toolface.

Methods, systems, and media for controlling a toolface of a downhole tool


An interactive entertainment system including numerous thematically-related elements, and particularly including one or more pliant, design-bearing ornaments which are transferable and/or attachable nearly anywhere. Each ornament includes and defines a character embodied in a design fixed thereupon, and such characters provide a thematic-basis and continuity throughout the numerous features and elements of the invented entertainment system. The ornaments are typically universally-interchangeable within the system embodiments, being operably attachable and detachable via reciprocal hook and loop fastener, for example, with any of a great variety of structures, each structure configured for coupling an ornament with one or more of a great variety of substrates. Other thematically-related elements include but are not limited to an interactive game, a combination greeting card/gift box/display unit, alternative means for affixing and/or transferring ornament-embodied designs to substrates, ornamental ‘trading’ cards, a collection/display means configured, for example, as an album, and others.

The invention relates generally to the field of functional entertainment systems for youth. More particularly, the invention relates to a fun, interactive system of elements including and thematically-related to interchangeable, attachable design-bearing ornaments.
Children generally love to decorate things, and they frequently prefer ordinary articles (e.g., clothing, backpacks, hats, their hair, etc.) which include or can be altered to include interesting, colorful, fun designs.
Many products exist that allow children to decorate articles. For example, paints, dyes, and even sparkly gels can be applied to fabrics and other surfaces. However, some of these products, once applied, become permanent, and cannot be removed without damaging the article. Therefore, the applied design becomes relatively inalterable. Conversely, for those products that can be removed once applied (e.g., washed or otherwise treated to remove the product), removal permanently destroys the design.
Alternatively, designs in the form of patches can be sewn onto fabric articles, such as clothing, hats, backpacks, etc. While sewn patches can be later removed, removal may be difficult, can damage the product, and repeated application is very time consuming.
Decorative pins (and rivet-type devices) can be fastened to articles, but repeated attachment and removal of sharp pins from an article each time a child wishes to change his or her design choice presents an increased danger from accidental pin sticks of a child's fingers. Additionally, repeated perforation of the fabric can cause premature wear in a fabric. Further, each pin is nothing more than what it is. A pin featuring, for example, the HELLO KITTY™ character design is and always remains just a pin, and likewise continues to embody just the HELLO KITTY™ character. Thus, such items are static, and their popularity and use is subject to a child's waxing and waning enthusiasm for that design.
Some prior art concepts confine their applicability to items of apparel and/or require such times to be specially manufactured and/or irreversibly altered to include specialized structural features (smooth PVC substrate, sewn-on hook-and-loop fasteners, etc.), to enable attachment of detachable design elements. Examples include U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,982,115, 5,845,334 and 5,136,726, among others. Some such concepts include a graphic design formed at the surface of the apparel item and/or corresponding designs at one or more of the attachable elements. However, as stated, the design and any theme (i.e., a game or scene) embodied therein does not extend beyond the apparel item and the attachable elements. Examples include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,734,991 and 6,982,115.
Other concepts include each of a self-contained story board and/or story quilt, with attachable design elements and a theme (i.e., doll house) embodied thereupon (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,540,609 and 5,733,166). These patent documents also describe a wristband with a hook-and-loop fastener element provided thereupon for attaching a doll (i.e., human- or animal-shaped) thereto.
Various children's books and/or wall-mounted structures are known which include pockets and/or hook-and-loop fastener portions configured to receive design-bearing items, such as stuffed, cloth dolls. Although such books, etc. typically have a design theme provided therein, neither the theme and thematic features, nor the attachability, extend beyond the scope of the book or other structure and the included dolls or other design-bearing items. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,853,994, 5,523,129.
Another shortcoming in kids' play articles is the absence of a rich, interactive story underlying easily and universally transferable design-bearing items, and extending throughout a plurality of other interactive play structures, locations, and contextual variations. Certainly there's no on-going story behind a tube of paint or glitter-gel. The purpose of such passive products is simply to decorate an article according to a child's whim, and any interconnection or relationship with other designs or activities is quite limited. The fact that the prior art is devoid of such systems indicates either or both of non-recognition of such a system, or the presence of a long-felt but unmet need.

Interactive, thematically-related entertainment system including universally-interchangeable, attachable, design-bearing ornaments


A light-emitting device is provided. The light-emitting device comprises a substrate and a light-emitting element. The substrate comprises a first variable resistor, a second variable resistor, an insulation portion and a carrier. The insulation portion is located between the first variable resistor and the second variable resistor. The carrier is surrounded by the insulation portion, and the light-emitting element is disposed on the carrier. The first variable resistor, the second variable resistor and the insulation portion respectively penetrate the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a light-emitting device, and more particularly to a light-emitting device capable of diverting static electricity.
2. Description of the Related Art
To divert static electricity, a Zener diode is additionally required to be disposed on a substrate of conventional light emitting diode. However, the Zener diode occupies extra space of the light emitting diode and the disposition of the Zener diode requires additional processing procedures.


A Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance detection system with features that include:                a) slab radiating structure for the transmit path;        b) reduced impedance transmit radiator;        c) portal-embedded stripline couplers for receive path;        d) wideband chirps each encompassing multiple simultaneous resonances;        e) chirp sequencing enabling three channel architecture;        f) magnetic amplification effect of ferrite-based directional couplers;        g) determining position of substance within portal.

1. Technical Field
This application relates to chemical analysis and more particularly to systems and methods that use the Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance effect to determine the identity of a substance.
2. Background
As described in the above-referenced co-pending patent applications, a system that uses the Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance (NQR) effect for detecting a substance typically uses one or more conductive surfaces to define an area, or portal, that is to be monitored. Two or more conductors, typically thin wires, are disposed within the portal adjacent the conductive surfaces. The wires are each individually electrically terminated; alternatively, they can be arranged as balanced transmission lines. The wires are driven with a Radio Frequency (RF) transmitter that generates one or more continuously varying radio frequency modulated chirp signals. The wires then radiate electromagnetic energy into the portal.
The resulting time varying electromagnetic fields then stimulate Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance in any material with an electric quadrupole moment located within the portal to cause the material(s) to emit coherent Radio Frequency (RF) emissions. These coherent RF emissions are then detected and further processed to determine characteristics of the substance, such as by detecting their amplitude, phase and/or frequency.


Described here are devices, systems, and methods for moving and/or supporting an internal organ or other tissue, such as during minimally-invasive surgery. Generally, a system for moving and/or supporting tissue may comprise a magnetic control component and a retractor having at least one magnetic portion. The retractor may have a first low-profile configuration for passing through an incision into a surgical site within a patient and a second expansive configuration for engaging tissue. The magnetic control component may be placed over the surgical site external to the patient and generate a magnetic field to manipulate the retractor and engaged tissue.

Moving organs within a patient is often required to perform internal surgery. For instance, moving one organ may provide access and/or visualization of another organ undergoing surgical treatment, or it may be necessary to move and manipulate an organ to surgically treat that organ. Additionally, to minimize trauma during minimally invasive surgery, it is often desirable to operate through as few incisions as possible, while maintaining access to the organs being moved and/or treated. Typically, such minimally invasive surgery involves inserting tools through a trocar that provides access into a patient (e.g., through the abdominal wall and into the abdominal cavity, or through another wall of the patient) into a surgical site.
Displacing internal organs from a surgical site during minimally invasive surgery is typically performed with a rod-like retractor with various bends, hooks, and/or grasping mechanisms to manipulate organs. Since a trocar port is reserved to provide access for surgical tools, these retractors must be delivered to the surgical site through separate incisions, which increases patient pain, recovery time, and scarring. Additionally, once delivered, the retractors have limited maneuverability due to their single entry point into the patient. The retractors may be removed and reinserted through a new incision, but this repositioning further increases patient trauma. Furthermore, internal organs are fragile and tend to be heavy and have slippery surfaces, and many current retractors tend to inflict damage on internal organs during organ retraction. Due at least in part to these inadequacies, current retractor systems, devices, and methods are less than ideal for retracting internal organs during minimally invasive surgery. It may therefore be useful to find improved ways to support and/or move an internal organ.

Retractor systems, devices, and methods for use


A connector assembly includes a connector and a cable connected thereto. First and second inner conductor contacts are disposed within an outer conductor sleeve of the connector. The cable has first and second insulated inner conductors. The inner conductor contacts each have a mating portion, for mating with a mating connector, and a connecting portion, in which the inner conductors are connected, with a transition portion extending therebetween. The inner conductor contacts have a first contact spacing in the mating portion and a smaller second contact spacing in the connecting portion. In the transition portion, a transition from the first to the second contact spacing occurs continuously. In an end portion of the cable, the inner conductors are disposed parallel to each other within the outer conductor sleeve and are spaced apart from each other by a conductor spacing equal to the second contact spacing.

In order to releasably connect cables to electrical components or to another cable, connector systems are used in practice. Connector systems provide an electrically conductive and mechanically stable connection between the cable and the desired connection partner. To this end, typically contact elements are mounted to the cable, the contact elements being capable of being coupled to complementary contact elements on the connection partner. Due to the increasing digitalization and automation, increasingly higher demands are being placed on the data transfer rates of, in particular, high-frequency data cables. However, the desire for releasable connections poses a particular problem in this context. This problem resides particularly in that the connector systems required for this purpose represent discontinuities with respect to the electrical characteristics. For example, a pluggable connection generally has a negative effect on the attenuation of a high-frequency signal to be transmitted.
This problem is particularly pronounced in cables having twisted pairs of inner conductors, which are commonly known as twisted pair cables. In order for contact elements that enable connection to a connection partner to be attached to the inner conductors of the cable, it is usually unavoidable to dissolve the twisted arrangement of the inner conductors along a portion thereof. Moreover, to improve signal transmission, such cables may have additional shields surrounding the twisted inner conductors. Generally, this shielding must also be removed in a certain portion to enable the connecting elements to be attached to the inner conductors.
However, such measures have a particularly negative effect on the signal transmission characteristics of the cable or of the connection. In order to ensure compatibility between different connector systems, there is also a requirement for standardized connector systems, for example through a defined connector geometry, especially in the automotive field. However, since this limits the design freedom of the respective connection system, this requirement makes it more difficult to provide connection systems that affect the electrical characteristics of the cable as little as possible.
DE 10 2018 104 253 A1 discloses a connector arrangement having a connector and a cable that has a first and second conductor for transmitting a differential signal. The cable has a first portion and the connector has a second portion in which the conductor pair has electric contacts. The cable is fastened to the connector at a connector-side end of the first portion. The conductors of the conductor pair are fastened to the conductors of the connector at a cable-side end of the second portion. An intermediate portion is formed between the first portion and the second portion, the conductor pair being surrounded by an outer conductor in the intermediate portion. The outer conductor has a deformation in at least one part of the intermediate portion, the deformation reducing a distance between the outer conductor and the conductors or a distance between the conductors in a region of the deformation.
DE 10 2018 132 823 A1 discloses a cable connector arrangement having a cable connector and an electrical cable having a plurality of individual lines each having an insulation and an electrical conductor. The cable connector arrangement has a front section, which is configured for connection to a corresponding mating connector, a rear section, in which the individual lines are surrounded by a cable sheath, and an interposed central section. The electrical conductors of two of the individual lines have a first mutual nominal distance in the rear section and have a second mutual distance in the front section, which second distance is greater than the first distance. The distance between the electrical conductors of the two individual lines increases in the central section in the direction of the front section. In the central section, at least one pressing means is provided and configured to press the two individual lines together such that the insulations thereof undergo a mechanical deformation.


A check valve includes two opposing sheets surfaces that are coupled together to form a flow channel there between. The flow channel has a first end, a second end and at least one direction-changing portion in between the first and second ends. A first opening is provided at the first end of the flow channel and a second opening is provided at the second end of the flow channel.

There is often a need to limit the flow of a material within a system or device to one direction. Check valves are often employed for this purpose. Check valves are configured to allow flow of material in a forward direction and to not allow flow of material in a reverse direction. Check valves come in various sizes and types.
Some devices require compact and/or efficient check valves that meet certain operating requirements. One example, is an inkjet printing device wherein there is a desire to prevent ink from draining in a reverse direction from a printhead back to an ink supply. If enough ink were to drain out of the printhead, then the printhead may fail to function properly. Furthermore, many such printing devices are designed to be compact, and or requiring little maintenance.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a check valve that is compact, efficient, and/or robust enough to provide such protection within such a printing device. These and other desires may also apply to the design of other types of devices or systems.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A motor vehicle, in particular an automobile, has a trim that constitutes an end section of the motor vehicle on which at least one cooling air opening and one lamp or one lamp cluster are provided. At least one elongated fin is arranged on the at least one cooling air opening. In order to omit additional valves in a kit for installation of the lamp or lamp cluster, the lamp or lamp cluster is arranged within the at least one cooling air opening and is mounted on a fin that extends within the cooling air opening.

This invention concerns a motor vehicle, in particular an automobile, having a trim that constitutes an end section of the motor vehicle, on which at least one cooling air opening and one lamp or one lamp cluster are provided, and in which at least one elongated fin is arranged on the at least one cooling air opening.
German document DE 33 38 466 C2 discloses an automobile having an elastic trim that constitutes a front end section, on which are provided at least one cooling air opening and one lamp or lamp cluster, and in which at least one elongated fin is arranged on the at least one cooling air opening. In this arrangement, the at least one lamp or lamp cluster is provided on a flat section of the trim, separately from the cooling air openings. Separate recess-shaped receptacles, the manufacture of which adds cost to the kit, are therefore provided in order to accommodate the lamp or the lamp cluster.
It is an object of the invention to arrange a lamp or a lamp cluster on the trim in such a way that such additional cost can be avoided in the kit.
This object is attained in accordance with the invention by having the lamp or lamp cluster arranged within the at least one cooling air opening and mounted on the at least one elongated fin. Further features that configure the invention in an advantageous manner are set forth in the dependent claims.
The main advantages obtained with the invention are that, by arranging the lamp or the lamp cluster within the at least one cooling air opening and by mounting it on a fin that extends within the cooling air opening, a cost-effective attachment of the lamp or lamp cluster on the trim is achieved, since additional valves for accommodating the lamp can be omitted. Furthermore, the number of breakthroughs in the flat areas of the trim is reduced. By adapting the lamp or the lamp cluster to the cross sectional shape of the adjacent fin, the optical appearance of the trim is optimized. The lamp or lamp cluster is mounted on the trim in a simple manner by means of a socket and screw connection. Since the lamp or lamp cluster is provided toward the outside with an inwardly directed indentation, the lamp or lamp cluster appears to be arranged unsupported within the cooling air opening. The lamp or lamp cluster in the exemplary embodiment comprises a flashing light and/or a position light. LED technology allows a relatively small construction of the blinking light, with less installation depth required.
The front boundary edge of the lamp or lamp cluster seen in plan view is configured in such a way that it projects slightly relative to the contour of the adjacent trim. The first contact point of the pendulum during a 30° pendulum impact according to USA-PART 581 or CMVSS215 thereby moves inwardly, and is within the area of the lamp or lamp cluster. During a pendulum impact, the bumper mount located relatively far inward is thus struck, the function of the lamp or the lamp cluster and a main headlight is maintained in the case of a pendulum impact, and the radiator, which is arranged in the lateral external area at a distance from the trim, is not damaged by the pendulum.
An exemplary embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings.

Trim and lamp or lamp cluster for motor vehicle

Dr. Ing. h.c.F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft


A presence enabled media host device is provided for accessing presence information associated with a number of communication endpoints and requesting the initiation of a communication session with at least one of the communication endpoints. The presence enabled media host device may access presence information, which includes information relating to the availability of a number of first communication endpoints. The presence enabled media host device may also receive a command requesting establishment of a communication session between at least one of the first communication endpoints and one or more second communication endpoints. The presence enabled media host device may then communicate a request for the communication session to a proxy server.

People often wish to communicate with others in a variety of different ways, such as text messaging, phone conferencing, and video conferencing, for example. However, it is often difficult to know whether other users are available for a communication session or whether other users are currently engaged in an ongoing communication session. Many people have media host devices (set-top boxes, digital video recorders, etc.) that may receive and source content to a display device, such as a television. The current state of the art could be advanced if users could access information regarding the availability of other users and either initiate new communication sessions or join ongoing communication sessions using their media host devices.

Initiating a communication session from a presence enabled media host device


A Stall Warning System (SWS) utilizing the detection and analysis of stress waves, (i.e., ultrasound) emitted by combustion and/or turbulent flow processes of an apparatus, such as a turbine engine, for example. Upon detection of an impending stall condition, the SWS can inform the operator, inform another electronic device (computer, etc.) and/or latch the event for review by maintenance personnel.

The use of "stress waves" and their analysis is the topic of a number of patent applications, which will be briefly described hereinbelow:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,240, titled "Method and Apparatus for Diagnosing Machine Condition, and which is incorporated herein by reference, teaches a means for predicting machine failure by monitoring stress waves produced by friction and shock events.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,852,793, titled: METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PREDICTIVE DIAGNOSIS OF MOVING MACHINE PARTS, and incorporated herein by reference, describes Stress Wave Analysis (SWAN) technology resulting from more than a decade of research and development activity. The technology includes analog and digital hardware designs, as well as software, that significantly increase signal to noise ratio, implement SWAN technology in low cost PC based platforms, and provide data logging and predictive maintenance capability. The disclosed method includes new ways of displaying SWAN data for simplified analysis, as well as Time Domain Feature Extraction software that provides "intelligent data compression" for use with Artificial Intelligence software.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,351,713, titled: DISTRIBUTED STRESS WAVE ANALYSIS SYSTEM, and incorporated herein by reference, discloses a next generation of SWAN products, which combine Stress Wave Analysis with Artificial Intelligence to provide automation to the interpretation of SWAN data. This improvement provides a further reduction in the skill levels and training required to use SWAN technology for accurate predictive maintenance, and extends SWAN capabilities for fault location/isolation and remaining useful life projection. A Frequency Domain Feature Extraction method and a proprietary Data Fusion Architecture are disclosed for providing very accurate fault detection, with very low probability of false alarms. The hardware designs described in this patent provide additional improvement of signal to noise ratio, while significantly reducing the size, weight, and power consumption of SWAN hardware, so that it becomes more practical for a variety of mobile and fixed base applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,499,350 titled: FOREIGN OBJECT DETECTION (FOD), and incorporated herein by reference, teaches the use of a specialized hardware implementation of SWAN technology for application to turbo machinery, which can be seriously damaged by the ingestion of foreign objects. The disclosed design is applicable for airborne, marine, and ground based applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,700 titled: STRESS WAVE SENSOR, incorporated herein by reference, defines functional performance requirements for a sensor specifically designed to detect stress waves. This reference also defines the quantitative relationships between the sensor specifications and the analog signal conditioning that is used to filter, amplify, and demodulate the sensor's broad band output.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,553,839 titled: METHOD FOR STIMULATING A SENSOR AND MEASURING THE SENSOR'S OUTPUT OVER A FREQUENCY RANGE and incorporated by reference, describes a calibration technique tailored to the peculiar functional specifications of certain stress wave sensors.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,679,119 titled: MULTI-FUNCTION SENSOR, and incorporated herein by reference, teaches that, for many predictive maintenance applications, SWAN and vibration analysis are complimentary technologies. The sensor described in this patent provides electrical signals proportional to both vibration and stress waves from a single device. This multi-function sensor significantly reduces cost, weight and power requirements compared to separate sensors. This device is applicable for both airborne and industrial applications.
Aerodynamic stall within the compressor and turbine sections of a gas turbine engine has always been a major concern of turbine engine manufactures and users. Aerodynamic stall can lead to sudden and complete loss of power, flameout, and unplanned shutdown, often with catastrophic consequences. Stalls can also cause undetectable High Cycle Fatigue (HCF) damage to the fan, compressor, and turbine blades in a turbine engine. This fatigue leaves a window for the damage to propagate into a catastrophic failure that would endanger lives and/or equipment.
Current attempts to provide stall warning are based upon applying thermodynamic modeling to temperature and pressure measurements made at various points in the engine gas path (Gas Path Analysis), but have been less than satisfactory.
Accordingly, the prior art, fails either alone or in combination with other references, to teach or suggest any apparatus or processes applied to detecting faults or stall conditions in aircraft engines. The prior art does not address, disclose or illustrate many of the components, software, functions or benefits of the instant turbine engine stall warning system, nor the hybrid functionality.
It would be useful to adapt various SWAN techniques to the problem of turbine engine stall problems.


The invention provides a red fluorescent material of which the chemical formula is (Li1−a−bMIaMII2b)2+m(Gd1−x−yEuxLny)4−2b(MoO4)7−c−z(WO4)c(A)Z. The invention further provides a preparation method of the red fluorescent material, and an electric light source prepared from the red fluorescent material and a preparation method of the electric light source. The invention has the beneficial effect that the red fluorescent material uses Eu3+ ions as the main activator; under the excitation of near ultraviolet light or blue light emitted by a semiconductor LED chip, the red fluorescent material has high light conversion efficiency, and emits light in a mode of red sharp lines of characteristic 4f electron-configuration 5D0−>7F2 energy level transition of Eu3+; and the red fluorescent material has high color purity, high emissive power and stable performance.

White LED solid lighting that rose in the early 21st century is commonly known as semiconductor lighting and has been developed rapidly due to such advantages as high light efficiency, good energy-saving property, no pollution, environmental protection, long service life, etc.
After years of efforts, white LED will be pushed into the area of general (indoor) lighting, general white LED bulb were commercially available from 2009 to 2012, and even straight-tube LED fluorescent lamps were also available on the market. They all need to meet the strict parameters in China Standard and U.S. Energy Star standard (which came into force on Aug. 31, 2010). In addition to light efficiency, LED's colorimetric parameters (color temperature, chromaticity coordinate, color rendering property) are particularly important. It is quite urgent to develop a white LED with different color temperature, high color rendering property and high light efficiency. At present, the demand on high-color-rendering lighting of LED cannot be met and achieved by traditional manufacturing of a white LED only through a YAG:Ce yellow fluorescent material, this is because this light source is under a shortage of red component and has low color rendering index. A top-quality red fluorescent material is needed for implementing the white LED regardless of use of a semiconductor blue light LED chip or use of combination of a near ultraviolet light LED chip and a photoconversion fluorescent material.
In summary of various fluorescent materials that can be used for white LED (p 321-329 in Luminescence and Luminescent Materials edited by X U, Xurong, S U, Mianzeng, published on October 2004, Chemical Industry Press), LIU, Xingren indicates that, there is particularly a shortage of red fluorescent material with excellent performances at present.
To improve the color rendering index (Ra) of white LED, Ce3+ and Pr3+ co-excited YAG (See P326 in Luminescence and Luminescent Materials; H. S. Jang, et al, J. Lumin. 2007, 126: 126) and TAG:Ce(Tb3Al5O12:Ce) fluorescent material (See A. A. Setlur et al, Proc. of SPIE, 2004, Vol. 5187: 142; M. Nazarov et al, J. Solid State Chem, 2007, 180: 2493) have been acquired by research on the basis of YAG:Ce yellow powder. The former is characterized by superposition of a weaker 611 nm (Pr3+) red emission line on the emission spectrum of Ce3+, and the latter is characterized by little movement of the emission spectrum of Ce3+ towards long wave. These measures aim at increasing the red component a little in the emission spectrum of Ce3+, which contributes to improving the color rendering index Ra of LED. However, this scheme is at the cost of brightness reduction, furthermore, improvement of the color rendering index Ra is quite limited and cannot meet the demands of a white LED with high color rendering property and medium/low color temperature. The (Ca, Sr)S:Eu2+ red fluorescent material can be effectively excited by a blue light LED to emit fresh red light and can be used in a white LED with high color rendering property, but such an alkaline earth sulfide that is very poor in chemical stability absorbs moisture and is decomposed to generate toxic hydrogen sulfide gas, thereby blackening and damaging the fluorescent material. In addition, this fluorescent material cannot be used in a near ultraviolet light (NUV) white LED due to its low NUV excitation efficiency.
It has also been proposed that the well-known Y2O3:Bi, Eu fluorescent material is used as a red material for NUV white LED (U.S. Pat. No. 6,255,670B1), so does the Y2O2S:Eu red fluorescent material for television (Taguchi Tsunemasa et al, J. Lingt, Vis. Env. 2003, 27(3):131), however, they have a common problem of low luminous efficiency under the excitation of NUV (390-410 nm) and blue light.
Recently, Eu2+-excited nitride and nitrogen oxide red fluorescent materials have been successfully developed to bring excellent effect, such as MSi5N8:Eu(M:Ca, Sr, Ba), CaAlSiN3:Eu2+ and the like. But these red fluorescent materials are unstable in the air above 200° C., and special, inaccessible and dangerous raw materials as well as a high-temperature (1600-2000° C.) high-pressure special synthesis method are needed in preparation of such red fluorescent materials, which imposes a limitation to their development. Moreover, such nitrogen oxide fluorescent materials are extremely expensive, which restricts their application in white LED.

Red fluorescent materials and preparation methods thereof


A tent assembly (10) for sheltering a personal riding vehicle and one or more people that is lightweight, compact and easy to set up is disclosed. The tent assembly (10) comprises a floor section (12) having one side (14) secured to the ground along side a parked vehicle and extending away from the vehicle, a wall section (32) connected to the side (16) of the floor section (12) farthest from the vehicle and a roof section (44) extending from the top of the wall section (32) over the floor section (12) and over the vehicle. The roof section (44) is secured to either the vehicle or to the ground on the opposite side of the vehicle from the floor section (12) and is supported at one side (46) by the wall and at an intermediate portion (50) by the vehicle. Storm flaps (52) may be connected to either end (70,72) of the roof section (44). The storm flaps (52) extend down to the floor section (12) and can be secured to the floor section (12), wall section (32) and vehicle, to further enclose and protect the inside of the tent assembly.

The prior art is replete with portable tent constructions for people or for equipment and machinery. Only a few such structures are designed to not only provide shelter for a person but also enclose or incorporate a personal riding vehicle within the structure.
A two compartment tent assembly which encloses and uses a motorcycle as partial support is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,633. The tent disclosed in that patent is designed in the form of a penthouse which is mounted against the side of a motorcycle. A separate roof section is used to cover and enclose the motorcycle, which is completely outside of the penthouse. The occupants of the tent are separated from the motorcycle by a vertical wall mounted against the motorcycle within the tent. It is evident that the setting up of this structure is complicated and, further, requires special attachments that must be mounted on the motorcycle. These attachments, along with the additional roof section, add to the packed size and weight of the tent. Also, the vertical wall in the tent that is mounted against the motorcycle forms a barrier so that heat generated by the motorcycle engine cannot effectively warm the tent.
Accordingly, there is a need for a tent construction that can be easily carried by people and transported on vehicles, such as motorcycles, that is lightweight and compact so as to fit in limited storage areas. Also, there is a need for an uncomplicated structure that is easy to assemble and keep in good repair.


A bone fastener assembly instrument that can assemble a two-component bone fastener during surgery is provided. The bone fastener may be of a type that comprises a threaded bolt and nut for securing an implantable device to bone, such as a spinous process. A method for using the bone fastener assembly instrument is also provided.

Diseases of the spine cause significant morbidity. These diseases include abnormalities of the vertebrae, the intervertebral discs, the facet joints, and connective tissue around the spine. These abnormalities can be due to a number of causes, including mechanical injury or degenerative disc disease. Such abnormalities can cause instability to the spine, allowing the vertebral column to become misaligned and producing micromotion between adjacent vertebrae. Vertebral misalignment and micromotion may result in wear to the vertebral bony surfaces and ultimately cause severe pain. Further, these conditions are often chronic and progressive problems.
The treatments for spinal disorders can include long-term medical management or surgery. Medical management is generally directed at controlling the symptoms, such as pain, rather than correcting the underlying problem. For some patients, this may require chronic use of pain medications, which may alter patient mental state or cause other negative side effects.
Recently, a variety of interspinous stabilization devices have become available. These devices may be implanted between the spinous processes of two or more adjacent vertebrae. By stabilizing the spinous processes in this way, significant stress may be taken off the intervertebral discs to prevent disease progression or to improve conditions such as spinal stenosis. In addition, vertebral motion may be controlled without severely altering spinal anatomy.
Currently available interspinous stabilization systems can be secured between adjacent spinous processes using a number of different mechanisms. For example, such devices can include sharp barbs or other surface projections that engage the bony surface of a spinous process. In addition, flexible ligaments or sutures can be placed around the implants and adjacent bone. However, it may be desirable to provide a more rigid and secure attachment to the spinous processes. For example, a rigid attachment may be desirable to prevent the interspinous device from migrating or slipping out of position. In addition, a rigid attachment may be desirable to limit movement and promote fusion at a selected vertebral level. Even further, it may be desirable to provide a device that can also fit interlaminarly between adjacent vertebrae, thereby enhancing the stability of the region.
An interlaminar-interspinous vertebral stabilization system that can be easily implanted and can be securely attached to the spinous processes while being seated interlaminarly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,922,750. The vertebral stabilization system utilizes a bone fastener to secure the system to bone. The bone fastener comprises two separate, engageable components that are assembled together during the implantation process. An insertion tool, along with a tightening instrument, is provided for the assembly of the bone fastener.
It would be desirable to provide an improved insertion tool that can be used to assemble the bone fastener of this system, as well as other systems, having a slim profile for ease of use. It would further be desirable to provide such an improved insertion tool enabling a shorter assembly time while also being compatible with the same components and tools available with this system.


Embodiments of systems and methods disclosed herein may isolate the working set of a process such that the data of the working set is inaccessible to other processes, even after the original process terminates. More specifically, in certain embodiments, the working set of an executing process may be stored in cache and for any of those cache lines that are written to while in secure mode those cache lines may be associated with a secure descriptor for the currently executing process. The secure descriptor may uniquely specify those cache lines as belonging to the executing secure process such that access to those cache lines can be restricted to only that process.

Computer viruses and other malicious software present a massive problem for the information technology industry. Since a general purpose computer can, by definition, run arbitrary code, it can be very difficult to maintain control over exactly which software is allowed to run, either in part or in whole, on a given general purpose computer platform. For this reason, it can be difficult to prevent the execution of malware or other types of undesirable software. There are a number of methods by which this level of control is currently attempted, but most efforts to isolate the processor from attack suffer from two fundamental problems: loss of generality in the processor platform or loss of performance. These losses stem from the basic issue of how to isolate data that must be kept secure from data that can be published freely and how to quickly and unequivocally distinguish between authorized and unauthorized usage modes.
A secondary, but related problem is that of copyright control. The vast majority of written, audio and visual works of art that are created today either begin or end up in digital format. One of the characteristics of digital data is that it can easily be substantially exactly duplicated. This property facilitates a wide variety of inexpensive distribution mechanisms, most of which are not easily controlled. The inherent inability to limit the distribution of digital content has had far-reaching implications on the field of copyright law over the last couple of decades. While certain systems and methods have been developed to control the copying and distribution of such duplicated data, one problem with these systems and methods is that they may be circumvented through the execution of certain types of software in conjunction with these systems and methods, for example, code which modifies the systems and methods, or obtains data utilized by such systems and methods in an unauthorized or unintended manner.
In particular, certain techniques may be utilized to obtain data accessed (e.g., read or written) by such security systems executing on a computer. This data may then be utilized in attempts to circumvent such security systems and thus circumvent the control over the copying and distribution of digital data.
Accordingly, there is a need to find systems and methods by which the data of such security systems may likewise be secured, where by securing such data the effectiveness of such a security system may be enhanced.

Method and system for process working set isolation


A system and methods for remotely viewing a dynamically generated page layout is described. The page layout can represent a reader ordering of pages defined as part of a print production job. Alternatively, the page layout can represent an arrangement of pages based on information defined as part of a print production job.

Historically, facsimiles (or proofs) of final printed matter have been generated to enable the printer and print buyer to increase confidence in the final printed matter before the resources required to produce them have been committed.
Production of printed proofs, using less expensive resources (e.g. inkjet printer), was one method of proofing the content and printing processes. A proof could comprise a single page from a multiple page print job. Alternatively a proof could comprise a layout of an arrangement of pages from one or more print jobs. The layout could include selected pages that have specific proofing requirements (e.g. verifying content or verifying color). The layout could also include pages arranged as they would finally be printed to verify registration, layout or other aspects of the content or printing process. Production of printed proofs still included the cost of ink and paper consumables and presented logistical challenges for approval by reviewers located in one or more remote locations.
Soft proofing addressed some of the limitations of printed proofs by eliminating consumable costs and enabling remote and collaborative review of electronic proofs of the printed matter. The prior art teaches creation of electronic data (soft proof) representing a single page or imposed page layout. Independent remote viewing of the soft proof was enabled by delivering the soft proof to each reviewer. Delivering the soft proof to each location at one or more resolutions required for effective reviewing was problematic because of the computing and communication resources consumed and the latency in delivering the proof. Collaborative viewing was problematic with this method.
The prior art also teaches collaborative viewing of single pages where a server delivers a soft proof to multiple reviewers. The server rendered the same view of the page for each reviewer. By delivering only a part of the rendered page at the desired resolution the resource consumption and latency was reduced.
Remote and collaborative viewing of page layouts that is efficient and convenient remain as limitations in the prior art.

Systems and methods for remotely viewing page layouts

Kodak Graphic Communications Canada Company


A lip enhancement and enlargement device includes a suction element and a lip shaper coupled to the suction element. A lip shaper may include one or more features that allow the device to shape and contour lips. A lip shaper may include one or more contouring elements that change the shape of an upper lip, for example. A lip shaper may also include shaping and contouring elements that form a fuller, unitary lip lobe or two fuller, lip lobes. Lip enhancement and enlargement kits and methods are also disclosed.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to lip enhancement and enlargement devices, kits, and methods.
2. Background
Lip size and shape are facial features, which directly impact attractiveness levels. Many believe a person's lips and smile to be an indicator of beauty. Full lips, especially in Western cultures, are considered attractive. Some suggest that the trend towards fuller lips developed because lips become less full with age. As one ages, gravitational effects and atrophy of tissue and muscles on and surrounding the lips often lead to lips which appear deflated and disproportionate. Fuller lips, however, are often associated with a healthy lifestyle, youth, and beauty.
In one study, it was found that men give more attention to women with fuller lips. Women having "luscious pouts" were found to attract more attention from men compared to thin-lipped women. In this same study, lips were found to represent one of the most sensual areas on a woman's body and serve as a biological indicator of a woman's health and fertility.
Because of the trend toward fuller lips, many go to considerable lengths to enhance lip shape and size. Therefore, several procedures and devices have been developed to enlarge lips and change lip shape. Lip augmentation, for example, is used frequently in surgical and non-surgical procedures to increase lip fullness. These procedures include injecting and implanting various types of materials into the lips.
But, many risks are associated with lip augmentation. Lips can be overfilled with injected materials. Allergic reactions to anesthetics and injected and implanted materials can occur, resulting in redness, swelling, itching, etc. Abnormal lip shapes may develop, e.g. trout pout, duck lips, sausage lips, fish lips, etc. Bruising and scarring may occur at injection and surgical sites. Implants may move and/or break through skin. Nonetheless, many are still willing to bear these risks.
In addition to these known risks, lip augmentation is considered extremely expensive by many. Costs for an injection can easily range from five hundred to one thousand dollars (US$). Because lip fullness will decrease over time, additional sessions—totaling multiple thousands of dollars—may be required to maintain fuller lips.
Because of the multitude of risks associated with lip augmentation, some have turned to using a nonsurgical device, commonly known as a lip pump, to increase lip size. These types of lip enlargement devices use some form of suction, i.e. negative pressure, applied over both lips to increase blood flow and cause lip size to temporarily increase. Although useful for their intended purpose, currently available lip pumps can have negative side effects. After use, some lip pumps will leave unattractive marks, bruising, indentations, and grooves around a user's lip area. In addition, some lip pumps continuously apply suction to both lips. Unfortunately, these types of lip pumps can cause misshaped lips and fail to address various lip problems. A user who only wants to increase a smaller lower lip, for example, may come away with a "ducky" upper lip that appears similar to a duck bill.
Considering the limitations of known lip pumps and the numerous risks associated with lip augmentation, the need for improved lip enhancement and enlargement devices is clear. The present invention fulfills this need and provides further related advantages, as described in the following summary.