A thin film of ignition inhibitor is applied uniformly to a rocket propelt grain which may be large and have a complex shape. The film is applied by condensation and polymerization of a vaporized monomer to which the grain is subjected. The monomer is prepared by thermally cracking the dimer of paraxylylene or a halogenated paraxylylene derivative.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to controlling the ignition rate of a solid propellant rocket grain and, more particularly, this invention relates to the vapor deposition of a thin polymer film on the surface of a rocket grain from a vaporized monomer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The maximum performance of future missiles is limited by booster rocket and overall system constraints such as the ignition mass flow rise rate. This rate is typically controlled by an inhibitor on the surface of a solid propellant rocket grain.
For the purposes of the present invention, such a grain is defined as a relatively large mass of solid propellant material, which is shaped into a suitable geometric pattern and is used by itself or with only a few other corresponding and relatively large masses, rather than as one particle of a very large number of propellant particles which, for use, may be poured or packed into any suitable container or which are for subsequent incorporation in a binder. A grain of the present invention may be tubular or have a more complex centrally perforated shape or may have the configurations known in the art as cruciform, star, and multitubular.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,523,839, which issued Aug. 11, 1970 to Shechter et al and which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes the application of coatings of paraxylylene polymers to particulate propellant components by condensation thereon of monomers produced by pyrolytic cleavage of the corresponding dimer. However, this patent only discloses the application of such polymers to propellant components which are in particulate form and which are kept in continuous motion in a coating chamber during subjection of the particle exteriors to the monomer.
The general state of technology relating to the inhibition of ignition of a solid propellant rocket grain is either to paint some material on the surface of the grain, or to coat a mandrel with an inhibitor and cast the propellant onto it. The most common method is to paint a liner material on the grain surface. These methods are not uniformly controllable and are labor intensive. The liner material requires a separate cure and it is also very difficult to inspect the liner coating to ascertain whether it is uniformly applied and in the correct thickness. The liner coating formulations contain compounds that can react with and/or migrate into or out of the propellant surface, and thus cause degradation of underlying propellant over time.
It is particularly difficult and expensive to apply a uniformly thick liner coating to shaped or large rocket propellant grains so that the design of rocket motors has been constrained to special configurations to satisfy the limits imposed on the duration of the ignition transient.

Vapor deposition of a thin polymer film on solid propellant rocket grain surface

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


A cleaning apparatus comprises a housing, a driving mechanism and a plurality of cleaning elements. The driving mechanism is disposed in the housing. The cleaning elements are connected to the driving mechanism. The driving mechanism rotates the cleaning elements to clean the emitters.

The invention relates to a cleaning apparatus, and more particularly to a cleaning apparatus for cleaning emitters of an ionizer.
A glass substrate of a flat panel display is electrically isolated, and gathers static electricity during the manufacturing process of a flat panel display. The static electricity deteriorates characteristics of electric elements disposed on the glass substrate, and decreases reliability of the flat panel display. Thus, in the manufacturing process of flat panel display, an ionizer is provided to increase the amount of charged ions in the air for neutralizing static electricity on the glass substrate.
As shown in FIG. 1, ionizer 1 comprises a plurality of emitters 2 disposed on a side thereof. Emitters are made of silicon, titanium or other materials and tips thereof are cone-shaped. Charged ions are produced around the tips of emitters 2. Ionizer 1 is vertically or horizontally disposed in process equipment, particularly in a passage for transporting glass substrates or a process chamber.
Tips of emitters 2 attract particles in the air and react with chemical gas in the process; thus, ion production efficiency thereof decreases over time. Conventionally, each emitter 2 is cleaned manually with a foam plastic and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to recover ion production efficiency, which costs additional time and effort, and delays the manufacturing process.


The present invention relates to a system and methods for noninvasively providing therapy for movement disorder symptoms. The present invention provides such a therapy system which provides trans-cranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in order to treat those symptoms and the disorders. The present invention further provides such tDCS therapy while the subject sleeps in order to minimize the time required and impact of the therapy on the subject's waking life. The system, methods, and devices of the present invention are intended to provide a low-dose electrical current, trans-cranially, to a specific area of the subject's brain while he or she sleeps in order to decrease the occurrence, severity, and duration of the symptoms of movement disorders. The present invention aims to reduce the amount of medication necessary, counteract the effects of medication wearing off during sleep, and to overall improve the quality of life of subjects suffering from movement disorders.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to therapeutic medical apparatus, systems, devices and/or methods, and more particularly, to apparatus and methods for using neural stimulation to alleviate the symptoms of movement disorders, such as those associated with Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, dystonia, and Tourette's syndrome, including tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, gait/balance disturbances, and dyskinesia, as well as sleep disorders such as REM sleep behavior disorder and restless leg syndrome.
2. Technical Background
There has been tremendous growth and active research into disease modifying agents of Parkinson's disease (PD) as well as pharmaceutical and surgical treatments for associated motor symptoms. PD, a neurodegenerative disorder that affects the motor system, is characterized by tremor, slowed movements (bradykinesia), and rigidity. With approximately 1.5 million Americans diagnosed with PD and over 50,000 new cases each year, the need for intervention to both treat the symptoms and alter disease progression cannot be understated. Overnight transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), which provides a noninvasive painless electrical polarization to the cerebral cortex, could provide a non-pharmaceutical and non-surgical therapeutic option to complement current treatments for PD motor symptoms and related sleep disturbances.
PD is caused by a loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra, but the exact reason for neurodegeneration remains unknown. A current trend in the treatment of diseases identified as being associated with the central nervous system is the stimulation of target areas of the central nervous system to effect therapeutic benefit. Such stimulation has been accomplished with, for example, implanted electrodes that deliver electrical stimulation to target brain regions; one class of electrical neural stimulation devices has been categorized under the name "deep brain stimulation" (DBS). Although the exact neurological mechanisms by which DBS therapies succeed are complex and are not yet fully understood, such therapies have proven effective in treating Parkinson's disease motor symptoms (such as tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, and gait disturbances), and investigation into the use of DBS for the treatment of this and other neurological and mental health disorders, including major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, tinnitus, obesity, criminal tendencies, and antisocial disorders, is ongoing.
Typically, medication for Parkinson's disease (PD) consists of Levodopa to alleviate symptoms. Over time, however, the medication has reduced efficacy and shows increased occurrence of side effects such as dyskinesias. Once side effects outweigh benefits, subjects consider deep brain stimulation (DBS). An electrode/wire lead is implanted in a specific location in the brain which shows hyperactivity in PD subjects and is sensitive to electrical stimulation. PD target sites are the subthalamic nucleus (STN) or globus pallidus internus (GPi). The essential tremor and Parkinson tremor target site is generally the ventral intermedius nucleus of the thalamus (VIM). Electrical pulses characterized by amplitude (volts), current (amps), frequency (Hz), and pulse width (microseconds) are regulated by an implantable pulse generator (IPG) placed beneath the skin on the chest. Stimulation affects motor symptoms on the contralateral side, i.e., right side tremor will be treated on the left brain. After a subject has been implanted and recovered, programming sessions will fine tune stimulation settings described above in order to minimize symptom severity, minimize side effects, and maximize IPG battery life span. Although medication is not eliminated, it is typically reduced significantly. DBS efficacy decreases over time as the body adjusts to stimulation and protein buildup around electrode lead attenuates electrical field. Programming sessions are required throughout the subject's lifetime, though the frequency of adjustments are typically greater at first.
A typical implanted DBS stimulation lead consists of a thin insulated needle comprising four platinum/iridium electrodes spaced 0.5 or 1.5 mm apart along the length of the lead. One or multiple leads may be implanted in a target brain region or regions to provide symptom-inhibiting high-frequency stimulation, although some research suggests that excellent results can be achieved even when the lead is implanted distant from a target region. A DBS lead is connected to an implantable pulse generator (IPG), which serves as a controller and power source, via an extension cable tunneled subcutaneously to a subcutaneous pocket in the chest or abdominal cavity. The IPG typically includes a battery and circuitry for telemetered communication with an external programming device used to adjust, or "tune," DBS lead stimulation parameters, which may include stimulation frequency, amplitude, pulse width (or wavelength), and contact configuration (that is, the selection of which electrodes are utilized from among the four electrodes available on a lead, and, if two or more electrodes are active, the relative polarity of each). These parameters are initially set during implantation surgery and are then further fined-tuned in the outsubject clinic or in a doctor's office following surgery to maximize therapeutic benefit and minimize undesirable stimulation-induced side effects. The first such tuning session usually takes place several weeks following implantation surgery, after the subject has recovered and inflammation at the lead placement site has subsided.
While existing drug and DBS treatments do alleviate motor symptoms, new data has documented that tDCS has therapeutic potential in PD both acutely and chronically. tDCS is a noninvasive brain simulation modality in which direct current is steadily applied via electrodes on the surface of the scalp. tDCS polarizes the brain using weak direct currents that are applied via scalp electrodes. Finite element models (FEM) show that current densities in the cortex resulting from tDCS are 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than action potential thresholds, thus, tDCS does not stimulate cortex, but rather modulates cortical excitability. Fregni et al. found that Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) scores improved significantly after anodal stimulation to primary motor cortex (M1) (p<0.001). F. Fregni et al., Noninvasive cortical stimulation with transcranial direct current stimulation in Parkinson's disease, Mov. Disord. 2006 October; 21(10):1693-1702. The current standard in evaluating the severity of movement disorder symptoms in Parkinson's disease is the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) used to score motor tests, many of which involve repetitive movement tasks such as touching the nose and drawing the hand away repeatedly, or rapidly tapping the fingers together. A battery of exercises, typically a subset of the upper extremity motor section of the UPDRS, is normally completed during DBS lead placement surgery and subsequent programming sessions to evaluate performance while a clinician qualitatively assesses symptoms. Each test is evaluated by a clinician based solely on visual observation and graded on a scale that ranges from 0 (normal) to 4 (severe). More recently, Benninger et al. found that tDCS did not significantly improve overall UPDRS scores; however, bradykinesia, the primary complaint in many PD subjects, did significantly decrease (p<0.0001). D. H. Benninger et al., Transcranial direct current stimulation for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. 2010 September; 81(10):1105-1111. The fact that Chen states that tDCS as a treatment for PD is "not ready for prime time," but does emphasize that pilot studies are needed and "useful adjunctive treatments are clearly welcome," serves to point out that tDCS for movement disorder therapy is far from known in the art, but has shown potential for utility in this field. R. Chen, Transcranial direct current stimulation as a treatment for Parkinson's disease—interesting, but not ready for prime time. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. 2010 June; 81(10):1061-1061. In addition to likely improving motor function in PD subjects, tDCS has been established and shown to have efficacy in various other fields, such as to aid in rehabilitation after stroke, improve motor learning in healthy adults, improve memory in subjects with Alzheimer's disease, improve mood in subjects with major depression, and improve memory during slow-wave sleep. Recent studies have shown that DBS during sleep either directly or as a function of increased mobility improves sleep quality in PD subjects, suggesting the tDCS may too improve sleep quality. A. W. Amara et al., The effects of deep brain stimulation on sleep in Parkinson's disease, Ther. Adv Neurol. Disord. 2011 January; 4(1):15-24.
Unlike other noninvasive stimulation modalities such as transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) and rapid transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) that can be costly, painful, and cause side effects including seizures and psychotic symptoms, tDCS is painless, poses few side effects, and is ideal for home use since it can be provided in an inexpensive and compact package. The only sensation from tDCS is tingling during stimulation onset. This is in sharp contrast to rTMS, which induces a strong scalp sensation along with facial and scalp muscle twitches. Additionally, rTMS systems are extremely bulky, require a large power supply, cost $20,000-$100,000, and are not suitable for home use. Conversely, the disclosed tDCS system will be specifically designed for home use and be much more cost effective.
In light of the above, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a noninvasive movement disorder therapy system, and methods of using the same, which can reduce the severity and frequency of a subject's symptom occurrence, improve the subject's sleep quality, and improve the subject's overall quality of life while reducing the amount of the subject's waking life required to receive such therapy.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Wearable, unsupervised transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) device for movement disorder therapy, and method of using


The present invention provides an improved lenticular display unit for advertising, information, or decoration. The unit comprises means for maintaining the required spatial relationship between the indicia carrier, on which the information to be displayed is contained, and the lenticular panel containing the lenses used to display the information. In some embodiments, the unit employs spring means for maintaining the required spatial relationship, which is maintaining the required distance between the indicia carrier on which the information to be displayed is contained, and the lenticular panel containing the lenses used to display the information.

Lenticular technology, in particular, as applied in known dynamic display units, requires accurate relationships between the lithographic print and the frontal lenticular panel, if adequate imaging is to be achieved.
One of the most important of these relationships is the maintenance of an exact distance between the printed information and the lenses of the lenticular panel. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,906 by the same applicant hereof, the description of which is incorporated herein by reference, the correct distance is maintained by placing the printed indicia carrier within a narrow gap between the front lenticular panel and a rear supporting one.
In small format units, a uniform width, narrow gap can be easily achieved. However, for large format lenticular panels, for example of size A2, A1, or A0, a uniform gap cannot be achieved. This difficulty is inherent to large plastic panels produced by extrusion or injection, since the panel will always deform upon cooling down, after production, and therefore will be non-planar.
The difficulty of maintaining the exact distance becomes even more difficult to solve when relative motion takes place between the image carrier and the lenticular panel in a dynamic display unit. No prior art, large format display unit provides an adequate answer to this problem and an innovative solution is needed.
A second condition for satisfactory presentation of the images is that perfect alignment must be maintained between the lines of printed information and the axis of the lenses. In small format units, this relationship is relatively easy to accomplish, but in larger units even the smallest deviation in angular alignment will result in a large vertical displacement at one or both edges of the display.
The problem is exacerbated in display units where the sheet containing the printed material is replaced with another in order to change the display. In this case, even if perfect alignment of the printed lines and lenses existed with the original sheet, the alignment will not necessarily be preserved on changing sheets since, for example, the lines on the second sheet might be printed at a slight angle to the edge of the sheet.
It is therefore a purpose of this invention to provide means for maintaining the required distance between the indicia carrier, on which the information to be displayed is contained, and the lenticular panel, containing the lenses used to display the information, and also to provide both static and dynamic display units incorporating these means.
It is another purpose of this invention to provide means for acquiring and maintaining the required angular alignment between the printed lines on the indicia carrier, on which the information to be displayed is contained, and the axes of the lenses, contained on the lenticular panel, which are used to display the information, and also to provide both static and dynamic display units incorporating these means.
Further purposes and advantages of this invention will appear as the description proceeds.

Means for maintaining spatial relationships in lenticular display units


Method and apparatus for creating the appearance of a network device and its communications, and in particular, an SNMP agent and its SNMP communications. A device dataset contains a plurality of counter variables having instance values which change over time and describe the behavior of the device on the network. A characterization file is created from the device dataset based on correlations among the variables and their instance values. The characterization file is used to generate predicted instance values for a simulated device.

Devices on a computer network use a common underlying protocol to communicate with each other, such as the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). Above the carrier protocol, various upper level protocols are used for specific tasks such as the File Transfer Protocol (FTP), the Telnet Protocol, and the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).
SNMP handles management of devices on a computer network. As an example, suppose a communications port, located on a router connecting subnets of a computer network, is handling data at too slow of a rate of speed. If the network manager wants to increase the speed of that router port, he or she, instead of traveling to where the router is physically located, can use the SNMP protocol to remotely instruct the router to increase the port speed. The instructions are sent via a (localized or distributed) network management station (NMS) which communicates with the router via the SNMP protocol. The router executes a program called an SNMP agent on the router's computer processor. The SNMP agent accepts the message from the NMS, determines the port which is to be altered, and then adjusts that port's speed as instructed in the SNMP message. This is just one example of how SNMP may be used to perform network management. It should be noted that SNMP may be used to control and monitor many types of network devices such as printers, routers, bridges, and even general purpose computers.
Devices managed via SNMP have many features, called objects, which can be manipulated remotely, via the SNMP protocol. The characteristics of the router port in the above example may be described by a set of objects. The network management station (NMS) sends a command to the network management agent to change an object's value within the device. The object's value is called the object instance. SNMP also allows the device to report the status, or value, of its various object instances back to the NMS. The device can have many objects associated with it, each having an instance, and the instances of those object may change over time. The SNMP agent running on the device tracks and updates these objects and their instances. Objects such as port speed, active connections, packets in, and packets out are but a few examples of objects that an SNMP agent, executing on a device, may keep track of. Being able to query a device using SNMP is useful so that the network manager is able to determine the status of that device on the network at any one point in time, as well as over a period of time. Things such as network congestion and peak-use rates may be determined from SNMP queries of objects in a remote device.
FIG. 1 illustrates the relationship between a network management computer station 11 and a real network device 12 controlled via SNMP, which communicate across a TCP/IP network 13. An SNMP agent 14, which executes on the remote network device 12, accesses (i.e., reads and writes to) a local database 15 which describes the objects of the device accessible by SNMP. This database is referred to as a Management Information Base (MIB). The MIB contains object identifiers (names) and corresponding instance values. For example, if a printer on a network uses SNMP, its MIB may contain objects which describe the operation of the printer from a network management standpoint, e.g., online/offline, paper available, tray empty, toner low, envelope tray empty, etc. These objects' instances are kept up-to-date by the SNMP agent running on the printer, and may be queried via SNMP over the network to check or alter the status of the printer.
The SNMP communications described above are independent of other communications which take place within a device. For instance, in the router example above, the SNMP communications between the NMS and the SNMP agent in the router are separate from the data communications which are being routed via the router. In the printer example, the SNMP messages which, for example, check to see if the toner is low in the printer, are distinguished from the data communications the printer receives which represent a document to be printed. The underlying medium, such as an Ethernet cable, is the same for both types of communications, and they may both use TCP/IP as the protocol to get the message from one device to the other, but upon arrival at the device, the SNMP communications are handled by the SNMP agent, whereas the other data communications are handled by other mechanisms within the device.
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for simulating a network device, wherein the simulated device can respond to management requests and otherwise appear to other devices on the network as a "real" device.


A pneumatic tool includes a shell defining first, second, third and fourth communicating spaces, a channel communicated with the second space, an inlet communicated with the channel, and an outlet communicated with the second space. A cylinder in the first space defines first, second and third ports. Pressurized air drives a rotor in the cylinder in a direction while entering the cylinder through the first port and leaving the cylinder through the third port and in an opposite direction while entering the cylinder through the second port and leaving the cylinder through the third port. A cover connected to the shell defines an aperture communicated with the second space, a first channel communicated with the third space on one hand and the first port on the other hand, a second channel communicated with the fourth space on one hand and the second port on the other hand. A rotational switch extends into the second space through the aperture and defines two cutouts. Different portions of the channel open to selective one of the cutouts as the rotational switch is rotated so that the rotor is driven at different speeds.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a pneumatic tool and, more particularly, to an inexpensive pneumatic tool.
2. Related Prior Art
In Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 513992, there is disclosed an air-directing device of a pneumatic tool. This pneumatic tool includes a shell 20 defining spaces 21 and 26, a cylinder 23 put in the space 21, a rotor 22 put in the cylinder 23, a sleeve 32 put in the space 26, and a rotational switch 33 put in the sleeve 32 except an end by which the rotational switch 33 can be rotated. The air-directing device is made of the sleeve 32 and the rotational switch 33. The rotational switch 33 includes blocks 331–334. The sleeve 32 includes aperatures 321–325. As the rotational switch 33 is rotated in the sleeve 32, the blocks 331–334 are rotated relative to the apertures 321–325. Thus, the direction and rate of the rotation of the rotor 22 is changed. It is, however, troublesome and, hence, expensive to independently make the sleeve 32 and then to fit it in the space 26. Moreover, it is difficult and, hence, expensive to make the apertures 321–325 in the sleeve 32 and form the blocks 331–334 on the rotational switch 33.
In Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 367926, there is disclosed a controlling and regulating device for a pneumatic tool. This pneumatic tool includes a shell 40 defining spaces 41 and 45, a rotor (not shown) put in the space 41, and a rotational switch 70 put in the space 45 except an end by which the rotational switch 70 can be rotated. The rotational switch 70 includes two channels 711 and 712 and two slots 714 and 715. The channels 711 and 712 are communicated with and extended perpendicular to each other. As the rotational switch 70 is rotated, the channels 711 and 712 and the slots 714 and 715 are rotated. Thus, the direction and rate of the rotation of the rotor is changed. However,it is difficult and, hence, expensive to make the channel 711 and 712 that are communicated with and extended perpendicular to each other. Furthermore, it entails a cost to make the slots 714 and 715.
The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at least alleviate the problems encountered in the prior art.


A delay adjustor for adjusting the delay time of a signal, the adjustor comprising: a first capacitance unit and a variable capacitance unit serially coupled to the first capacitor wherein the capacitance of the variable capacitance unit is adjusted according to a first control signal and the variable capacitance unit comprises a plurality of second capacitors and at least a first switch coupled to the at least one capacitor of the second capacitors.

(a) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a delay adjustor, and particularly to a delay adjustor having high propagation delay time resolution.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Inside an integrated circuit, signal could be influenced by the parasitic capacitor of metal line, driving current, supply voltage and other factors and thereby generating the propagation delay time when the signal is transmitting. Such propagation delay time should be properly considered in some circuit applications. In general, the propagation delay time is given by:
                    Td        =                              C            I                    ×                      (                          1              2                        )                    ×          Vdd                                    (        1        )
where Td is the propagation delay time, C is the parasitic capacitor, I is the driving current, and Vdd is the supply voltage. As an integrated circuit is influenced by process, voltage and temperature variation, the propagation delay time becomes unpredictable and may cause the integrated circuit to operate abnormally. Therefore, under certain circumstances, the propagation delay time needs to be well compensated. In the related prior arts, it is common to use the capacitor-paralleling method to adjust propagation delay time. In current processes, this approach can achieve about 10 ps adjustable resolution for propagation delay time. However, in some high-speed circuits or some special circuit applications, higher adjustable resolution is needed in order to improve the overall circuit characteristics.


A method and an apparatus for synchronizing a data stream are disclosed. The method comprises: decoding the data stream to generate a decoded data stream and program clock references; generating a local clock reference; generating a simulated clock reference according to the program clock references and the local clock reference; comparing the local clock reference with the simulated clock reference; adjusting a processing timing of the decoded data stream according to the comparison result; and processing the decoded data stream according to the processing timing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a multimedia data stream, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for synchronizing a multimedia data stream.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When processing a multimedia data stream, it is crucial that the synchronization of data included in the multimedia data stream be accurately controlled. Digital television (DTV) for example, comprises a video data stream, an audio data stream, and a plurality of program clock reference (PCR) values within its multimedia data stream. The PCR values included in the multimedia data stream are utilized by a DTV receiver as a reference basis. The DTV receiver further refers to decoding time stamps (DTS) and presentation time stamps (PTS) included in the video data stream to process the video data stream. Similarly, the DTV receiver also refers to presentation time stamps (PTS) included in the audio data stream to process the audio data stream.
In the prior art, a phase lock loop (PLL) is utilized to generate a local clock. Counter values accumulated through counting the local clock are used as a local clock reference for approaching the program clock reference (PCR) of the multimedia data stream. However, the local clock reference does not accurately approach the PCR of the multimedia data stream, and problems will occur in the synchronization process for the video and audio data streams of the multimedia data stream.

Method and apparatus for synchronizing multimedia data stream


Method of using an esophageal catheter. A distal end of the catheter is passed through the esophagus into the stomach of a patient. A constant pressure of gas is applied to the catheter. The back pressure of the gas is measured. The distal end of the catheter is pulled from the patient. An increase in the pressure measured is noted. A subsequent decrease in the pressure measured is then noted. The upper boundary of the lower esophageal sphincter is identified as a function of such decrease. The catheter is then used to place a remote monitoring device to the esophagus.

Gastroesophageal reflux occurs when stomach acid intermittently surges into the esophagus. It is common for most people to experience acid reflux activity occasionally as heartburn. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a clinical condition in which the reflux of stomach acid into the esophagus is frequent enough and severe enough to impact a patient's normal functioning or to cause damage to the esophagus.
In the lower part of the esophagus, where the esophagus meets the stomach, there is a muscular valve called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). Normally, the LES relaxes to allow food to enter into the stomach from the esophagus. The LES then contracts to prevent stomach acids from entering the esophagus. In GERD, the LES relaxes too frequently or at inappropriate times allowing stomach acids to reflux into the esophagus.
The most common symptom of GERD is heartburn. Acid reflux also leads to esophageal inflammation, which causes symptoms such as painful swallowing and difficulty swallowing. Pulmonary symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, asthma, or inflammation of the vocal cords or throat may occur in some patients. More serious complications from GERD include esophageal ulcers and narrowing of the esophagus. The most serious complication from chronic GERD is a condition called Barrett's esophagus in which the epithelium of the esophagus is replaced with abnormal tissue. Barrett's esophagus is a risk factor for the development of cancer of the esophagus.
Accurate diagnosis of GERD is difficult but important. Accurate diagnosis allows identification of individuals at high risk for developing the complications associated with GERD. It is also important to be able to differentiate between gastroesophageal reflux, other gastrointestinal conditions, and various cardiac conditions. For example, the similarity between the symptoms of a heart attack and heartburn often lead to confusion about the cause of the symptoms.
One method of diagnosing GERD is to monitor the pH in the lower esophagus at or somewhat above the upper boundary of the lower esophageal sphincter.
Existing esophageal pH monitoring devices are often intubated nasally using a wired monitor. Such systems are often left in place for twenty-four hours or longer. Such systems are typically unpopular with patients who sometimes find the protrusion of a wire for such an extended period of time.
At least one other esophageal pH monitoring has been used which deposits a remote monitoring capsule in the esophagus of a patient using a catheter. The remote monitoring capsule transmits pH information from the esophagus to an external receiver and remains in place up to a day or longer before detaching from the esophagus and passing harmlessly through the digestive system.
In either of these esophageal pH monitoring systems, it is important to place the monitoring device in the proper location in the esophagus. Typically, the proper location is determined as a function of the lower esophageal sphincter. Since the most severe effects of GERD are found in the lower esophagus nearest the lower esophageal sphincter, it is important to be able to locate a location in the esophagus as a function of the lower esophageal sphincter.
Such a position can be located, for example, visually through the use of an endoscope. However, while some doctors are comfortable in the use of an endoscope, others, principally surgeons, typically rely on manometry to determine the proper location.
Conventionally, manometry is done trans-nasally since a trans-nasal intubation is typically considered less intrusive for the patient. Further, manometry is also typically done with water due to its compatibility with the patient and because it can provide accurate pressure measurements.
Manometry accomplished in this manner involves placing a catheter trans-nasally into the esophagus through the lower esophageal sphincter and into the stomach. Water at a pressure is applied through the lumen in the catheter and the distal end of the catheter is moved upwards through the lower esophageal sphincter. The pressure sensed from the applied water pressure will increase as the distal end of the catheter passes through the restricted area of the lower esophageal sphincter.

Apparatus for determining a location in a body using a catheter and method of using such catheter


An imaging lens includes plastic-made first, second, third, fourth, and fifth lens elements arranged in the given order from an object side to an imaging side, each having object-side and imaging-side surfaces facing toward the object and imaging sides, respectively. The first lens element has a positive focusing power, and the object-side surface thereof is a convex surface. The second lens element has a negative focusing power, and the imaging-side surface thereof is a concave surface. The third lens element has a positive focusing power, and each of the imaging-side and object-side surfaces thereof is a convex surface. The fourth lens element is a meniscus lens, and the imaging-side surface thereof is a convex surface. The imaging-side surface of the fifth lens element has a concave area in a vicinity of an optical axis of the fifth lens element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging lens and an electronic apparatus having the same, more particularly to an imaging lens with five lens elements and to an electronic apparatus having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, various electronic devices are designed to include imaging lenses and image sensors for image-capturing and video-recording capabilities. To improve portability and imaging performances while reducing dimensions and weights of the electronic devices, different combinations of lenses are installed in the electronic devices.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,476,982 and 7,453,654 disclose imaging lenses with four lens elements, which are generally operated at high F numbers (i.e., small apertures) to thereby alleviate impact to image quality by marginal rays that cannot be focused onto the image sensors, which is known as optical vignetting. However, such a technique to improve image quality also reduces the amount of incident light sensed by the image sensors, which in turn reduces signal-to-noise ratios of captured images. Therefore, the aforementioned technique is inappropriate for application to electronic devices with image sensors having relatively small pixel sizes.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,480,105, 7,110,188, 7,443,610, and 7,710,665 disclose imaging lenses with five lens elements to alleviate the drawbacks of those with four lenses. Each of the imaging lenses has a unique combination and arrangement of lens elements with different shapes to thereby achieve a specific combination of optical characteristics. However, in achieving the specific combination of optical characteristics, certain aspects of optical performance are compromised. Therefore, the need to develop other imaging lenses with better combinations of optical characteristics still exists in the market.


A sensor with a glass seal between a planar sensing element in a tubular housing and the tubular housing, wherein the glass seal is maintained in radial compression over an entire temperature operating range of the sensor. The compressed seal has improved strength and durability, is self-limiting and is operable over a large temperature range and in an environment subject to jarring and vibrations.

Example glass sealing methods for an oxygen sensor are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,806, assigned to the assignee of this invention. In sensors such as in the '806 patent, the purpose of the glass seal is to isolate an end portion of an oxygen sensor from an air reference channel within the sensor. The seal prevents the gas being sensed, i.e., automotive exhaust gas, from leaking into and interfering with the air reference in the channel and the detrimental effect on the measurement output of the sensor that would result from such a leak.
In some prior attempts at achieving the glass seal, the glass seal has been implemented as both a structural and sealing element. Such seals have been prone to failures, including structural cracks allowing leakage into the air reference channel, failure of the glass to adhere to the outer housing of the sensor, and failure to maintain an effective seal over a wide operating temperature range such as required by an exhaust gas oxygen sensor.
Additionally, there is a chance that the sealing glass will see temperatures in excess of the glass transition temperature, in which case the region between the glass sensor and the shell of the sensor is in tension, impairing the structural integrity of the seal. Leaving the glass in tensile stress can lead to cracking in the seal, which allows infiltration of the sensed gas, i.e., automotive exhaust, into the air reference channel.


A method and an apparatus are described for detection of interlaminar laminate shorts in the laminated stator core of electrical machines, in which the laminated stator core (4) is subjected to an externally applied field current (2) or field voltage (V), and the short-circuit magnetic field (Bshort) induced by short-circuit currents (5) is measured with the assistance of a sensor coil (S1) which is arranged in the gap in the machine and probes this gap. Improved identification of laminate shorts, in particular even of small laminate shorts with small short-circuit currents, is possible in that a field current (2) and a field voltage (V) are applied which have a waveform which differs significantly from a sinusoidal shape, in particular with a periodic character, and have significant harmonic components in the high frequency range. By way of example, a waveform in the form of a square-wave curve is proposed.

Large generators and motors are routinely examined for laminate shorts when stationary. Various methods are available for this purpose.
One of these methods comprises the magnetization of the entire laminated body by means of an auxiliary coil at the mains frequency, and the measurement of stray fields on the inner surface of the stator bore. The magnetization is carried out to relatively low values of the magnetic induction, typically to about 10% of the normal operating induction. This method of measurement is also known by the name "low-induction laminate short measurement" or by the name "ELCID" (electromagnetic core imperfection detector).
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,486 describes one method of this type. The prior art is therefore for the laminated stator core to be magnetized by means of an auxiliary coil and a sinusoidal auxiliary voltage applied thereto at the mains frequency, to about one tenth of the operating induction. This auxiliary voltage is normally derived directly from the mains voltage. An electrical recording coil is then moved away from the surface of the stator bore, with the recording coil being located close to the surface of the laminated core.
The currents which flow as a result of the interlaminar short circuits in the laminated core now induce voltages with a characteristic phase angle and amplitude magnitude in the recording coil. The characteristic phase angles and amplitudes make it possible to distinguish between points where there are laminate-short currents and points where there are no laminate-short currents. It is therefore possible to locate laminate shorts, and to assess the magnitude of the short-circuit currents, by means of this stray-field recording coil.
Furthermore, patent specification U.S. Pat. No. 6,903,556 proposes a system which operates with magnetization voltages at a frequency higher than the mains frequency.
The known methods have the disadvantage that it is often difficult to interpret the measurement results since the voltages induced by the laminate-short currents are generally very small. In particular, strong stray fields of the stator main field or losses in additional fields, which occur, for example, as a result of currents induced in short-circuited conductor loops can conceal the effect of the actual short-circuit current through the defective point, thus making detection more difficult.
This is particularly the case with small laminate defects which cause only small currents and have only a small magnetic effect. Disturbing additional fields occur particularly when testing hydrogenerators when the rotor has not been removed for testing, as a result of which the individual poles exert a magnetic effect.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 6,903,556, the reliability of the measurement can be increased by magnetizing the stator at a higher frequency. A sinusoidal AC voltage at a higher frequency is applied to the magnetization coil for this purpose. According to the "ELCID" measurement method, the so-called "magnetic potential differences" (MPD) are then determined. These are proportional to the respective electric currents which influence the field through the measurement coil. Since only a smaller magnetization current is required at a higher frequency to create the same short-circuit current through the defect point as in the case of magnetization at a lower frequency, the corresponding MPD component of the short-circuit current is greater in relation to the corresponding component of the field current than at a lower frequency, that is to say the measurement is more accurate and more sensitive. This measurement method has the disadvantage of the additional complexity required for the high-frequency generator for the field current. A further disadvantage is that it is necessary to work with precisely selected and known and/or measured values of the stator induction, since the measurement results are compared with absolute limit values and are then assessed.

Method for detection of interlaminar sheet short circuits in the stator sheet core of electromachines


Locking device for silicone packings of household bean milk and bean curd makers, that firmly attaches a silicone packing in a predetermined position in a bean milk and bean curd maker, thus preventing the silicone packing from being undesirably dislodged from its predetermined position in the maker. Loss of the silicone packing is thus prevented. The silicone packing is attached to an underside of the main body so as to prevent leakage of water into the main body and to absorb shock. The locking device for the silicone packing includes protrusions on an upper surface of the silicone packing, and locking depressions on a lower portion of the main body corresponding to the protrusions, so that the protrusions are inserted into and engages with the corresponding locking depressions, in use.

A conventional method of making bean milk and bean curd has a problem in that several processes are individually executed, thus it is inconvenient and complicated to make bean milk and bean curd, and it takes longer time to make the bean milk and the bean curd, thereby the conventional method is inefficient.
In order to solve these problems, there have been proposed various devices for easily and conveniently making bean milk and bean curd at home. For example, there are Korean Patent No. 225772, Korean Patent No. 228659, Korean U.M. Registration No. 158856, Korean U.M. Registration No. 250843, etc, that are disclosed by the applicant of the present invention. The Korean Patent No. 225772 was published on Oct. 15, 1999, and is titled "household bean curd maker". The Korean Patent No. 2000-228659 was published on Mar. 15, 2000, and is titled "household bean curd maker". The Korean U.M. Registration No. 158856 was registered on Jul. 16, 1999, and is titled "household bean curd makers". The Korean U.M. Registration No. 250843 was registered on Oct. 5, 2001, and is titled "household bean curd maker with fixed-type blade unit".
A conventional household bean milk and bean curd maker will be described in the following with reference to the attached drawing.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the conventional household bean milk and bean curd maker. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional household bean milk and bean curd maker includes a housing 1 which has a cavity to contain water therein. A main body 2 is provided on an upper portion of the housing 1 to open or close the housing 1, like a lid. A drive motor 3 is installed in a predetermined portion of the main body 2, and generates rotating power when electricity is applied to the drive motor 3. A drive shaft 4 transmits the rotating power from the drive motor 3. A cutting blade 5 is provided at an end of the drive shaft 4. A rod-shaped heater 6 downwardly extends from the main body 2, and generates heat when electricity is applied to the heater 6, thus heating an interior of the housing 1. A temperature sensing bar 7 detects the temperature of the interior of the housing 1. A filter net 8 is detachably mounted to a predetermined portion of the main body 2, and contains beans therein. Further, the household bean milk and bean curd maker also includes silicone packing 9 which is attached to an underside of the main body 2 at a junction between the main body 2 and the housing 1. The silicone packing 9 functions to prevent leakage of water into the main body 2 and absorb a shock.
The conventional household bean milk and bean curd maker constructed as described above is operated as follows.
First, a user puts water into the housing 1. Beans are put into the filter net 8 which is detached from the main body 2, and then the filter net 8 containing the beans is mounted to the lower portion of the main body 2. Afterwards, the main body 2 is placed on the upper portion of the housing 1 so that the filter net 8 is put into the housing 1.
Next, when a power switch (not shown) is turned on to apply electricity to the household bean milk and bean curd maker, a control unit (not shown) outputs a control signal to operate the heater 6 and the temperature sensing bar 7. At this time, a primary heating process is executed while maintaining a predetermined temperature, for a predetermined period.
When the primary heating process has been completed, the control unit (not shown) outputs a control signal to operate the drive motor 3. As the drive motor 3 is operated, the beans contained in the filter net 8 are ground by the cutting blade 5 provided at the end of the drive shaft 4. While the beans are ground, turbulence of water contained in the housing 1 is caused by rotation of the cutting blade 5. By the turbulence, bean grains which are finely ground by the cutting blade 5 come out of the filter net 8. Thus, the beans ground by the cutting blade 5 are divided into bean-curd dregs which remain in the filter net 8, and the extract of protein which flows out of the filter net 8.
Thereafter, the control unit (not shown) outputs a control signal to operate the heater 6 and the temperature sensing bar 7. At this time, a secondary heating process is executed while maintaining a predetermined temperature, for a predetermined period. Through the above-mentioned process, bean milk is obtained.
When the user desires to make bean curd, the user takes the heated extract of protein out of the housing 1. Next, a coagulant is added to the heated extract of protein so as to coagulate the extract of protein. Thereafter, the coagulated protein is pressed in a frame to produce the bean curd.
The silicone packing 9, attached to the underside of the main body 2, prevents water from entering the main body 2, and absorbs shock generated when the main body 2 is assembled with the housing 1 or the bean milk and bean curd maker is operated.
However, the conventional household bean milk and bean curd maker has a problem in that the attachment of the silicone packing 9, which is attached to the underside of the main body 2 so as to prevent the leakage of water into the main body 2 and absorb shock, is undesirably weak, so that the silicone packing 9 may be easily dislodged from its predetermined position in the maker when the maker is cleaned. Thereby, it is inconvenient to use, and loss of the silicone packing 9 may occur.


The present invention relates to Pregnane X receptor (PXR) polypeptides and crystals that are useful, for example, for crystallization and in assays for identification of modulators of PXR.

Two major problems associated with the administration of drugs have been poor pharmacokinetics (PK) and undesired drug-drug interactions. It is known that the cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A family of enzymes are important in human drug metabolism because they metabolize the majority of commercially available drugs (Wrighton et al., Drug metabolism reviews 32: 339-361 (2000)). In 1998, the pregnane X receptor (PXR), which orchestrates the induction of some of the major genes involved in drug detoxification, was identified. (Lehmann, et al., J. Clin. Invest. 102(5):1016-1023 (1998); Genbank Accession No. AF061056). PXR, also known as steroid and xenobiotic receptor (SXR or PAR), was shown to be activated by many drugs, steroids such as pregnenolone 16α-carbonitrile; RU-486; dexamethasone; and rifampicin (Kliewer et al., Cell 92(1):73-82 (1998); Kliewer et al., J. Lipid Res. 43:359-364 (2002)) and St. John's wort (hyperforin) (Moore et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA; 97(13):7500-7502 (2000)) and recently was shown to be a sensor for bile acids (Staudinger et al., Drug Metab. Dispos. 29(11):1467-1472 (2001); Staudinger et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 98(6):3369-74 (2001)). PXR is also activated by other drugs such as clotrimazole (Lehmann et al., J. Clin. Invest. 102:1016-1023 (1998)); 11β-hydroxylase inhibitor metyrapone (Goodwin et al., Mol. Pharmacol. 56:1329-1339 (1999); Wright et al., Biochem. Soc. Trans. 27:387-391 (1998)); troglitazone (Jones et al, Mol. Endocrinol. 14:27-39 (2000)); ritonavir (Dussault et al., J. Biol. Chem. 276:33309-33312 (2001)) and taxol (Synold et al., Nat. Med. 7:584-590 (2001)) as well as by environmental pollutants such as bisphenol A, diethylhexylphthalate, and nonylphenol (Masuyama et al., Mol. Endocrinol. 14:421-428 (2000); Takeshita et al., Eur. J. Endocrinol. 145:513-517 (2001)). PXR plays a key role in the regulation of both drug metabolism and efflux by modulating a plethora of genes encoding cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs, especially CYP3A4) and a multidrug resistant gene ABCB1 (Synold et al., Nat. Med. 7(5):584-590 (2001)). Together, these proteins are responsible for the elimination of >50% of all drugs. Identification of candidate pharmaceutical treatments which interact with PXR and are likely to be metabolized by the PXR system is enormously useful information when performing an early evaluation of the safety and pharmacokinetic profile of the treatment. Therefore, high-throughput screening assays detecting PXR-mediated induction have become pivotal at early discovery stages in order to decrease the time line for clinical drug development. Moreover, crystals of PXR are useful for these purposes in that they provide a greater understanding of ligand interactions with the protein and allow computer-assisted, structure-based evaluation of candidate treatments.
Several crystals comprising PXR are known in the art. For example, the structure of apo-PXR-LBD crystal comprising space group P43212 was solved with a 2.52 Å resolution (Watkins et al., Science 292:2329-2333 (2001)); the structure of PXR-LBD/SR12813 crystal comprising space group P43212 was solved with a 2.76 Å resolution (Watkins et al., Science 292:2329-2333 (2001)); the structure of PXR-LBD/Hyperforin comprising space group P43212 was solved with a 2.15 Å resolution (Watkins et al., Biochemistry 42:1430-1438 (2003)).
In addition, the structure of PXR-LBD/SR12813/SRC1 crystal comprising space group P212121 was solved with a resolution of 2.00 Å (Watkins et al., J. Mol. Biol. 331:815-828 (2003)). The crystal in Watkins et al., however, comprised PXR-LBD complexed with SRC1 and not covalently bound in a hybrid.

Crystal of pregnane X receptor fused to steroid receptor coactivator-1


Some embodiments provide a method of processing an incoming packet for a managed forwarding element that executes in a host to forward packets in a network. The method performs a lookup into a forwarding table to identify a flow entry matched by the incoming packet. The flow entry specifies a high-level action to perform on the incoming packet. The method provides packet data to a module executing separately from the managed forwarding element in the host. The module performs a set of processes in order to identify a set of low-level actions for the managed forwarding element to perform on the incoming packet without additional lookups into the forwarding table. The method receives data from the separate module specifying the set of low-level actions. The method performs the set of low-level actions on the incoming packet in order to further process the packet.

All network elements—switches and routers, virtual or physical—have one ultimate task to fulfill, which is to forward incoming packets to a next element or a next hop on their way to the destinations. In some cases, the determination as to which next hop leads a packet towards an eventual destination depends on the current state of network. In these cases, the forwarding elements promptly react to the changes in the state of the network (e.g., configuration changes as well as to any network failures) by re-computing the forwarding rules as necessary. The division of functionalities within modern switches and routers into data plane and control plane reflects the two aspects of the operations of the switches and routers. That is, data plane forwards packets according to the instructions, which control plane computes and provides based on the network and configuration changes that the control plane observes.
In traditional physical networks, the control plane implementation is distributed over the network elements and the network elements all participate in a distributed routing and/or switching protocol to compute the forwarding instructions for their local data planes. In some software-defined datacenters, a centralized controller cluster replaces the distributed protocols in order to avoid the complications of developing the distributed protocols and implementing control with pure distributed algorithms. That is, in these datacenters, the controllers provide the network elements with up-to-date forwarding instructions.
A physical network device executes a processing pipeline to process packets. At each step of the pipeline, the physical network device looks up a lookup table to find an instruction to execute, using a combination of various packet header fields and some metadata (e.g., the result of executing the previous step of the pipeline). This lookup operation is challenging for the generic central processing units (CPUs) to process at high speed. Hence, the physical network devices tend to rely on special hardware in their data planes, and use generic CPUs only for running their control planes. Control plane programs use special-purpose application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to execute the packet forwarding pipeline. The ASICs use ternary content addressable memories (TCAMs) to provide constant-time longest-prefix matches and ACL lookups at rates sufficient for forwarding packets at line speed. FIG. 1 is an example of a simple layer 2 (L2) pipeline that include three lookup tables—an ingress access control list (ACL), a layer 2 (L2) forwarding table, and an egress ACL.
However, in a datacenter, enterprise application workloads (e.g., virtual machines that use enterprise applications) need networking functionalities beyond the standard Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity (as do other public datacenter VMs, in some cases). This is because the enterprise applications often come with strict security and performance requirements that necessitate complicated network topologies including switches, routers and middleboxes providing the workloads with application-level services. Therefore, moving the enterprise workloads onto a virtualized data center requires not only server virtualization but also the virtualization of the networks and the services.
In a software-defined data center, it is the virtualization software (e.g., the hypervisors) that implement and provide the workloads with logical networks with all the services in some embodiments. In these embodiments, the physical network becomes a provider of the IP transport between the hypervisors. This means that the network functionality visible to the workloads is provided by the standard x86 servers at the network edge realizing the logical networks and not by the network appliances scattered throughout the physical network. The shift in placement of functionality from the physical network to the logical networks creates a tremendous pressure on the hypervisor and its networking components in terms of keeping up the performance level because the hypervisor and its virtual switch software are compared against the features and capabilities traditionally provided by hardware components in the physical network.


An electrical connector including a connector housing having opposite mating and loading faces that are configured to engage board edges of first and second circuit boards, respectively. The connector housing includes a contact channel that extends through the connector housing between the mating and loading faces. The electrical connector also includes a signal contact that is stamped from sheet material along a stamped edge. The signal contact includes a contact body having opposite sheet surfaces. The stamped edge defines a shape of the contact body that includes first and second contact fingers. The signal contact is disposed within the contact channel so that the stamped edge along the first contact finger electrically engages the first circuit board and so that the stamped edge along the second contact finger electrically engages the second circuit board.

The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical connectors, and more particularly, to board-to-board electrical connectors that are configured to communicate data signals between different circuit boards.
Various communication or computing systems use electrical connectors for transmitting data signals between circuit boards in the system. For example, conventional board-to-board connectors may include signal contacts that electrically connect contact pads of a daughter card to corresponding contact pads of a motherboard. Edge connectors are one type of board-to-board connector. Edge connectors are configured to receive an edge of the daughter card to electrically connect to the daughter card as well as hold the daughter card in a desired position. For example, edge connectors may include one or more recesses that are sized to receive a thickness of the daughter card. The daughter card includes contact pads that are located near the edge of the daughter card. When the edge of the daughter card is inserted into the recess(es), the signal contacts electrically connect with the contact pads of the daughter card. The daughter card may be held within the recess through an interference fit and/or the electrical connector may include a fastening mechanism, such as removable latches, screws, and the like, to hold the daughter card.
However, conventional edge connectors may have certain limitations. For example, it may be desirable to reduce the required space of an electrical connector within a system and/or use signal contacts that transmit at high speeds (e.g., 5-10 Gbs or higher). Reducing the required space of an electrical connector may be accomplished by reducing a centerline spacing between the signal contacts and/or reducing the size of the signal contacts. However, reducing the centerline spacing may lead to an increase in unwanted noise. Also, signal contacts of a reduced size may be unable to perform as required. Furthermore, it may be desirable for the edge connectors to include power contacts as well as signal contacts. However, power contacts may complicate the manufacturing of the electrical connectors thereby increasing the costs.
Accordingly, there is a need for edge connectors that are capable of transmitting data signals at higher speeds than known edge connectors. Furthermore, there is a need for edge connectors that have a greater density of signal contacts than known edge connectors. There is also a general need for edge connectors that are less costly to manufacture.

Edge connectors having stamped signal contacts


An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus includes an ultrasound probe, a transmission unit for transmitting an ultrasound signal to an object to be examined via the ultrasound probe, a reception unit for processing a signal received by the ultrasound probe, and an image generating unit for generating an image on the basis of the received signal processed by the reception unit, wherein the transmission unit has a function of transmitting the ultrasound signals with varying frequency plural times in an identical direction at predetermined time intervals. The ultrasound signal transmitted plural times includes a first waveform in which the frequency increases and a second waveform in which the frequency decreases, and the reception unit has a function of phasing and adding received signals respectively corresponding to the first waveform and the second waveform, whereby, in tissue harmonic imaging, the penetration is improved, while the resolution is maintained.

An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is designed to transmit an ultrasound signal inside an object to be examined and to obtain information available in diagnosis, e.g. a tomographic image, on the basis of a received signal, including an echo signal of the transmitted signal. It has been reported that, in the technique of displaying a tomographic image, a high-contrast image can be obtained by imaging a harmonic component (e.g. frequency 2f0 or 3f0) as opposed to a fundamental component (frequency f0) of the transmitted signal. An imaging method of this type is referred to as "Tissue Harmonic Imaging."
The above-described harmonic component is generated due to nonlinear distortion occurring mainly when the ultrasound is propagated inside the object. That is, a signal of the ultrasound irradiated to the inside of living body is distorted during propagation in tissue due to a nonlinear response of the tissue, and the harmonic component is increased. As a result, the echo signal includes, e.g. a double frequency 2f0 and a triple frequency 3f0 of a fundamental component f0.
In tissue harmonic imaging, it is important how to extract an echo of a strong harmonic component. The conventionally reported methods of tissue harmonic imaging include one referred to as a "filtering technique", for example.
This technique is designed to extract the harmonic component of e.g. 2f0 from a received signal using a band pass filter with a central frequency of e.g. 2f0. Another example is a method referred to as a "pulse inversion technique," which is designed to emphasize the second harmonic component by transmitting first and second waveforms having a mutually alternated polarity at predetermined time intervals, and phasing and adding the echo signals thereof to cancel the fundamental component. Further, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-34976 discloses a technique of extracting a harmonic component through a filter from received signals obtained from transmitted signals having two different center frequencies, and widening the band of the harmonic component by combining those extracted signals, thus improving the resolution and enhancing the signal strength in a beam depth direction, as well as suppressing generation of motion artifacts. However, because the frequency of the harmonic component in an ultrasound signal is higher than that of the fundamental component, the harmonic component is sensitive to attenuation of the signal during propagation. Accordingly, the degree of an echo signal received from a deep portion, i.e. the penetration, is undesirable. Meanwhile, when the center frequency f0 of the fundamental component is lowered, the echo signal is scarcely affected by the attenuation, whereby the penetration can be improved. However, the resolution is deteriorated, as is generally known.


A grip control glove for teaching proper pressure for gripping sports equipment includes a number of semi-sharp, tack-like units attached to the glove at pressure points where the user typically tends to grip the equipment too tightly. Each tack-like unit includes a disc-shaped head portion and a semi-sharp protrusion which extends perpendicularly from the center of one side of the head portion. The tips of the semi-sharp protrusions, which extend toward the user's hand, are sufficiently sharp to cause discomfort when pressed firmly against the palm or fingers, but not sharp enough to break the skin or cause injury. When the equipment is gripped too tightly, the semi-sharp protrusions press into the fingers or the hand of the user, causing a degree of discomfort. This discomfort serves as direct biofeedback to the user, indicating that his or her grip is too tight and reminding the user to relax his or her grip. Repeated use of the grip control glove trains the user to use proper grip pressure, which improves the user's swing. The tack-like units can be permanently attached to the glove at predetermined positions or removably attached to the glove, such that the positions of the tack-like units can be adjusted in accordance with the user's needs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a grip control glove designed to teach proper grip pressure when swinging an item of sports equipment or the like. In particular, the present invention relates to a grip control glove which uses the principle of biofeedback to teach proper grip pressure.
2. Description of the Related Art
In sports that require grasping and swinging of a piece of equipment, such as golf, baseball, tennis and the like, it is important to maintain proper grip pressure while swinging the equipment. For example, in golf, there is a tendency to grip the golf club too tightly while swinging the club. It has long been understood that a tight grip hinders the release of the clubhead in the hitting area, causing the club speed to be reduced and the ball to travel less distance. Conversely, a relaxed grip (i.e., a light grip pressure) allows the hands to move faster through the ball with a more complete follow-through, resulting in greater hitting distance (see, e.g., GOLF DIGEST, September 1985, p. 85; Febuary 1986, p. 200; December 1987, p. 32; April 1991, p. 39; GOLF, October 1988, p. 38; April 1989, p. 68; GOLF WORLD, November 1990, p. 87). A relaxed grip has similar benefits in other sports that require a swinging motion.
Several glove-based aids designed to improve grip in some manner have been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,787,003 to Parlanti discloses a golf glove having attached thereto one portion of a fastener, such as a snap fastener, and golf club handle having attached thereto a mating portion of the fastener. When the two portions of the fastener are engaged, the fastener ensures proper placement of the user's hand on the golf club.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,903 to Swanson discloses a golf glove having a raised ridge or bead extending across the palm to abut the handle grip of a golf club and guide the user's hand to the proper grip position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,146 to Taylor discloses a glove, such as a golf glove, having projections extending laterally outward from the palm-side thereof, which provide a more secure grip on a golf club or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,595 to Wilkins discloses a golf club grip positioning aid comprising a glove having a grip position indicator disposed within the thumb portion of the glove. The indicator includes an elongated, triangularly-shaped strip. The strip is oriented such that, when the grip position of the thumb is improper, one of the elongated edges of the strip impinges on the user's thumb to urge the user to correct the grip position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,225 to Snyder discloses a golf glove grip positioning aid. Each of two gloves has self-gripping tapes disposed on an outer surface thereof. The tapes are of the hook and loop type and form a bond with a corresponding material on the golf club grip to ensure a proper grip position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,280 to Dickerson discloses a golf grip training glove having corresponding hook and loop strips on respective left and right golf gloves. When the grip position on the golf club is correct, the strips are aligned and interlocked. The left-hand glove further includes a different color strip indicating the correct contact point of the left hand on the golf club.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,126 to Harvanek discloses a glove, such as a golf glove, having markings formed thereon which provide the user with a visual indication of the proper gripping position. A proper gripping position can be obtained by aligning the markings with the golf club handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,214 to St. Ville discloses a golf glove having a padded strip and a visual indicator to assist in gripping a golf club in the proper position.
The gloves disclosed in the above patents either aid in proper hand positioning or provide a more secure grip. None of these gloves addresses the problem of proper gripping pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,726 to Murray discloses a sports training glove having pressure actuated switches for ensuring a firm grip on a golf club or tennis racket. Rubber pad pressure-operated switches are secured to the inside gripping surface of the glove. When a golf club is firmly gripped, all of the switches are held open by the pressure; however, if the grip is relaxed below a predetermined level, an alarm will be sounded to warn the user that the grip should be tightened. While this system addresses the issue of gripping pressure, it is concerned with too little pressure and is thus not suitable for preventing excessive gripping pressuring and teaching a relaxed grip. Thus, there are no known glove-based devices which are useful for teaching relaxation of grip.
A number of gripping aid devices that are situated on the handle portion of a golf club have been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,111,322 to English discloses a golf club handle formed with protuberances having rough outer surfaces for warning the user of application of excessive force.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,973 to Sterbik discloses a golf club handle which compensates for gripping pressure differences between the upper and lower hands. The handle includes spring-biased upper and lower depressor pads positioned in opposite sides of a tubular housing. Levers within the housing couple the relative movements of the pads such that inward movement of one pad produces outward movement of the other pad.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,034 to Lee discloses a golf grip training device designed to be attached and removed from the handle of a golf club. An elongated, pressure sensitive switch comprising resilient conductive strips is mounted on the underside of the handle and is response to the grip pressure of the golfer. When excessive pressure is applied, the switch closes, thereby activating a buzzer which produces an audible signal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,785 to Mills discloses a golf club training apparatus which includes a handle-mounted switch that is activated in response to improper grip pressure during the golf club swing. The switch activates a motor disposed within the shaft of the golf club, which generates vibrations alerting the golfer of the excessive pressure.
These handle-mounted golf club training devices tend to be complex and require either augmentation of a golf club by positioning the device on the handle of the golf club or a specially designed club dedicated to the purpose of grip control training. Consequently, these devices are typically expensive, cumbersome to employ, and have golf club handles which differ significantly in shape and feel from those of normal (nontraining) golf clubs. Accordingly, there remains a need for an affordable device capable of teaching proper grip pressure which can be conveniently used without requiring modification or augmentation of the golf club.
The disclosures of all of the above-referenced publications and patents are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.


A system, computer-readable storage medium storing at least one program, and a computer-implemented method for creating video streams is provided. An indication is received that is related to a first video being received or requested. The first video includes attributes characterizing content of the first video. A second video stored in a database is selected in response to receiving the indication. The selection is based on at least one attribute of the first video. An order of the first video and the second video is determined by one or more processors. The order is based on the at least one attribute characterizing the content of the first video. A video stream is generated on a user display by providing the first video and the second video in the determined order and in a substantially seamless manner.

Communications devices may include video capturing capabilities. Captured videos may be shared with friends and family by sending video files between users or by posting videos on the Internet. These videos may be organized individually based on information such as titles and/or require a specific hyperlink to view the video. A user may be notified that a video has been posted or received. The video may be accessed and rendered on a device, such as a mobile phone.

Message capturing and seamless message sharing and navigation


A method relates to separating a component composite into a plurality of component regions, wherein the component composite is provided having a semiconductor layer sequence comprising a region for generating or for receiving electromagnetic radiation. The component composite is mounted on a rigid subcarrier. The component composite is separated into the plurality of component regions, wherein one semiconductor body is produced from the semiconductor layer sequence for each component region. The component regions are removed from the subcarrier.

During the production of semiconductor components, for example optoelectronic semiconductor chips, the semiconductor wafers to be singulated can be arranged on a carrier film and subsequently be subjected to a singulation process, for example sawing or laser separation. However, for production processes that require a high chemical loading capacity and/or a high thermal loading capacity of, for example, 250° or more, such films are not suitable or at least are suitable only to a limited extent.

Method for singulating a component composite assembly