A closed-loop system and process is used for applying fire retardant chemicals to substrates including fibers, yarns, fabrics or mixtures thereof. Substrates are preferably positioned in a vessel such as a dye machine which circulates the fire retardant chemicals. After absorption of the fire retardant composition, non-absorbed fire retardant chemicals are recovered and re-used on subsequent batches of fibers. The re-use of fire retardant chemicals can take place in the same vessel which is used to treat successive batches of substrates. Alternatively, recovery can be achieved by directing the non-absorbed fire retardant composition into a second dye machine containing additional fibers, or by extracting the fire retardant composition by centrifugation or other means, or by a combination of the two processes. The process is environmentally friendly, and allows for higher throughput on impregnating fibers with fire retardant chemicals.

Fires
Fires are produced as the result of three components: heat, fuel, and oxygen. Heat produces flammable gases as a result of the pyrolysis (thermal degradation) of polymer, resulting in the breakage of covalent bonds and the formation of a range of intermediate products. An adequate ratio between the flammable gases and oxygen results in the ignition of the polymer. The resulting combustion of the polymer leads to a production of heat that is spread out and fed back. This heat feedback sustains the combustion, resulting in flame spread.
Pyrolysis products that are initially produced as a result of a fire generally consist of a complex mixture of combustible and non-combustible gases, liquids (which may subsequently volatilize), solid carbonaceous chars and highly reactive species, such as free radicals (highly energetic hydrogen and/or hydroxy radicals that propagate the overall combustion process).
Fires occur frequently throughout the world, often causing severe injuries or fatalities to human beings and animals. Each year, over three million fires leading to approximately 29,000 injuries and 4,500 deaths are reported in the United States alone.
In October of 2003, the largest wildfire outbreak in California history caused fires to rage completely out of control for about two weeks in locations within California, including Los Angeles, resulting in a two billion dollar disaster that claimed approximately 3,335 homes and 20 lives. Thousands of California residents were forced to evacuate their homes and relocate to shelters.
Real property (houses, commercial buildings, warehouses, barns and similar structures) and personal property (furniture, electronic devices, appliances, clothing, jewelry, pieces of art, livestock, crops and the like) that are damaged or destroyed by fires can be prohibitively expensive to repair or replace. Certain pieces of personal property, such as photographs, videotapes and pieces of jewelry, are often priceless and irreplaceable. The total annual costs resulting from property losses caused by fires in the United States has been estimated to be over one hundred billion dollars. Personal property losses occur primarily in residences, where furniture, wallcoverings and clothing fuel the fire. Large financial losses may also be incurred when commercial structures, such as office buildings and warehouses, burn. Fires can also produce significant financial losses when they occur in airplanes, trains, ships, buses and other motorized vehicles, where passengers and freight are generally confined, and have a limited means for egress.
Fires frequently cause buildings to collapse, thereby exposing occupants to a risk of severe injury or death from collapsed building materials and falling debris. Although both of the 110-story twin towers of the New York World Trade Center had survived powerful hurricane gusts, and one of them had also survived a bomb explosion in 1993 (creating a 22-foot wide, 5-story deep crater at its base), both of the twin towers collapsed after fires occurred in the buildings following the crash of airplanes into their sides on Sep. 11, 2001. Experts subsequently concluded that structural damage to the towers was caused predominantly by fires, and that this damage was apparently severe enough to overburden the lower sections of the buildings, causing them each to collapse. Thousands of people that had been in the twin towers on Sep. 11, 2001 lost their lives, or were severely injured, as a result of smoke inhalation, falling debris, burning or jumping from windows.
Smoke contains toxic gases, such as carbon monoxide. It is widely acknowledged that carbon monoxide, which incapacitates fire victims, is the most frequent cause of death in building-related fires. The remainder of the deaths in these fires are generally caused by burns and falling building structures.
Fires frequently spread rapidly across products that are present in buildings, such as draperies, rugs, carpeting, upholstery, furniture and other window, wall, floor and ceiling coverings, and produce dense, and often deadly, smoke. Growing concern over the problem of reducing the likelihood of substrates, such as foam in furniture and mattresses, from igniting has prompted the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission to draft proposals that would require these articles not to burn when contacted with an open flame.
Methods for enhancing the flame retardance of consumer goods have been developed to provide protection from fires, and to increase the available escape time from fires.
Flame Retardants
In most cases, organic materials that do not have any flame retardant properties decompose to volatile combustible products when they are exposed to heat and, thus, initiate or propagate fires.
Flame retardant agents can be added to products, such as clothing, to inhibit or suppress the combustion process. The principle effects of flame retardant agents are to inhibit the development of a fire, or to inhibit or delay the spread of fire over a burning material. In actual fires, flame retardant agents generally function to reduce: (a) the heat release rate of a material; (b) the rate of combustion, degradation and consumption of a material (fire extinction); and (c) smoke emission, and the evolution of toxic gases. As a result, flame retardant agents can significantly increase the available escape time before flashover or the development of an incapacitating atmosphere occurs and, thereby, reduce the exposure of human beings and animals to toxic gases and burning.
Flame retardants can act chemically (by reactions in either the gas or solid phase) and/or physically (by cooling, by formation of a protective layer or by dilution of a matrix), and at different times during the combustion process, to inhibit, interfere with and/or otherwise suppress one or more of the following stages of the combustion process in a manner that reduces flame spread over a material and/or the overall heat release: (a) heating; (b) decomposition; (c) ignition; (d) flame spread; and/or (e) smoke production.
Flame retardant compounds can be organic or inorganic compounds containing, for example, halogens, such as chlorine or bromine, phosphorous, alumina and/or antimony. The families of flame retardants include: (a) chlorinated flame retardants; (b) brominated flame retardants; (c) phosphorous based flame retardants; (d) metal hydroxides; (e) melamine based flame retardants; (f) zinc borate; (g) low melting glasses; and (h) silicon-based materials.
Flame Resistance for Fabrics and Textiles
The ability of fabrics, textiles and clothing to retard flame is a highly desirable characteristic to which considerable attention has been directed for public safety. The United States Federal Trade Commission is currently setting standards that require flame retardant fabrics for many end uses of apparel.
Methods are available for developing various types of flame retardant fibers and fabrics. However, these methods generally possess a variety of disadvantages, the principal disadvantage being that the methods are not very durable, particularly to home or industrial launderings or cleaning processes. Fibers and fabrics treated in accordance with these methods generally have an inability to retain flame retardant properties that have been added thereto, or enhanced, after one or more washings, launderings or dry cleaning operations. The added flame retardant properties (and flame retardant agents providing such properties) are generally rendered ineffective, or significantly less effective, as a result of such washings, launderings or dry cleaning operations. Another disadvantage of these methods is that they often result in a waste of large quantities of flame retardant agents, other process components and water, causing these methods to be expensive and potentially detrimental to the environment when they are disposed. The poor recovery rates of process chemicals and solvents employed in flame retarding processes, most of which are lost to municipal waste treatment facilities, as well as required secondary washing process steps, introduce economic, process control and environmental disadvantages to such operations.
Many of the woven and non-woven thermoplastic and non-thermoplastic fibers, fibrous compositions and fabrics that are commonly used today in connection with mattresses, furniture upholstery, insulation and construction materials, and in other commercial, industrial or residential applications, burn when contacted with an open or other flame, sometimes producing toxic gases as a by-product. When treated with a flame retardant composition, thermoplastic fibers, fibrous compositions or fabrics may not burn, but may still melt, producing a molten plastic that can cause deep skin burns. It is this melting of, for example, covering materials, such as the outer surfaces of mattresses, that may allow an open flame to come into contact with other materials, such as non-woven interior construction materials, that the covering materials are supposed to protect, and that may not have been treated with a flame retardant agent.
Another problem associated with non-thermoplastic fibers, fibrous compositions and fabrics is that many non-woven or woven substrate manufacturers do not have the necessary equipment or expertise to add flame retardant agents to these fibers, fibrous compositions and fabrics in their production processes. Increased costs to these manufacturers, thus, may be incurred when roll or other goods or parts need to be shipped elsewhere for flame retarding treatment.
Environmental Impacts of Clothing Manufacture
Several pollution issues currently exist in connection with the manufacture of fabrics, textiles and clothing. As a result, the manufacture of such products often causes one or more of a variety of negative impacts upon the environment. For example, 25% of the insecticides used globally are placed upon cotton plants, which grown cotton to produce the world's most popular fabric. Additionally, many synthetic fabrics, such as polyester, are manufactured from petroleum products that are not biodegradable. Further, many fiber or fabric finishing processes, such as a wide variety of dyeing processes, are highly toxic and polluting to the environment and, thus, are not "environmentally friendly" processes.

Methods, systems, and compositions for fire retarding substrates


A windshield wiper for automobiles is disclosed. The wiper allows the wind to smoothly pass through the wiper frame while reducing wind resistance, thereby being stably kept on the windshield. The wiper has a spoiler part and a vent opening at both side portions of the frame's top wall, thus being free from any interference between a wiper arm and the wiper frame while mounting the wiper arm to the wiper frame. Both the spoiler part and the vent openings are individually formed by cutting the frame's top wall from corner to corner, thus being free from any corner causing a vortex of air. The frame's upper side wall has a width of less than that of the lower side wall, thus forming a gap helping to keep the wiper on the windshield. A reinforcing rib is formed between the spoiler parts and a reinforcing rib is also formed between the vent openings, thereby improving the strength of the wiper frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to, in general, a windshield wiper for automobiles and, more particularly, to a wiper capable of reducing wind resistance, thereby being stably kept on the windshield.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As well known to those skilled in the art, a windshield wiper for automobiles is mounted to the lower portion of a windshield so as to selectively wipe the windshield.
An example of typical wipers for automobiles is referred to in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 51-10498. The above wiper is schematically shown in FIGS. 5a and 5b.
As shown in FIGS. 5a and 5b, the wiper comprises a wiper frame 100 and two or more blade stays 107. The wiper frame 100, having a smoothly curved cross-section suitable for generating aerodynamic drag and lift, is connected to a wiper arm (not shown). The two stays 107 are connected to the wiper frame 100 at both side portions. The stays 107 individually have a V-shaped cross-section and are provided with vent holes 110 at positions around the center as best seen in FIG. 5b. A blade 115 is supported by the two stays 107. In order to connect the blade 115 to the stays 107, the blade 115 has a yoke part 116 holding the fitting parts of the stays 107.
However, the above Japanese wiper is problematic in that it may be unexpectedly lifted from the windshield when wind passes through the vent holes 110 of the stays 107.
Another example of typical wipers is referred to in Korean Utility Model Publication No. 93-14023 of the inventors of this invention. The above wiper is schematically shown in FIGS. 6a and 6b.
As shown in FIGS. 6a and 6b, the wiper 201 includes two longitudinal vent holes 203 with a spoiler 204 being provided at the edge of each vent hole 203. In order to form the above vent holes 203, the top wall of a wiper frame 202 is cut in three directions. That is, the top wall of the wiper frame 202 is cut along a U-shaped line at both side portions prior to bending the cut parts upwardly at an angle of inclination, thus forming two vent holes 203 and two spoilers 204. A side wall 206 is integrated with each end of the spoilers 204, thus closing the ends of the spoilers 204. The spoiler 204 helps to keep the wiper 201 on the windshield, thus preventing the wiper 201 from being unexpectedly separated from the windshield.
However, the above wiper 201 is problematic in that a vortex of air is formed around the side walls 206 and causes the wiper 201 to be unexpectedly separated from the windshield, thus making the wiper 201 lose its wiping function.
In addition, since the wiper frame 202 is cut so as to form both the vent holes 203 and the spoilers 204, the strength of the wiper 201 is reduced, thus causing the frame 202 to be easily deformed.
FIG. 6b is a sectional view of the wiper taken along the line 6b--6b of FIG. 6a. As shown in FIG. 6b, the wiper frame 202 has a generally U-shaped cross-section with a corner 205 being formed between each side wall and the top wall of the frame 202. The wind thus runs into the corner 205 when the wind is introduced into the wiper frame 202 and is upwardly discharged from the frame 202 through the vent holes 203. As a result, the wiper 201 may be unexpectedly separated from the windshield
Also, since the two spoilers 204 are upwardly protruded from the top wall of the wiper frame 202, the wiper arm is brought into contact with the top portion of one of the two spoilers 204 while mounting the wiper arm to the wiper frame 202. Such contact makes it difficult to mount the wiper arm to the wiper frame 202 and causes an interference between the spoilers 204 and the wiper arm during the operation of the wiper 201.


The present application is directed to dielectric isolators for use in aircraft fuel systems to control lightning induced current and allow dissipation of electrostatic charge. The dielectric isolators are configured to have a high enough impedance to limit lightning currents to low levels, but low enough impedance to allow electrostatic charge to dissipate without allowing buildup. Although the dielectric isolators may develop a potential difference across the dielectric length due to the effects of lightning currents and its inherent impedance, they are configured to withstand these induced voltages without dielectric breakdown or performance degradation. In one embodiment, the dielectric isolator includes a tube constructed of a composition including a thermoplastic organic polymer (e.g., PEEK) and carbon nanotubes, and a pair of couplings attached to opposing ends of the tube. The dielectric isolator is capable of exhibiting an electrical resistance from about 105Ω to 108Ω at an applied potential of greater than 500 volts DC when measured from one coupling to the other coupling.

Dielectric fittings or isolators are known in the art and have found use in many applications, ranging from natural gas pipelines, where they isolate monitoring instruments from the effects of electrical current and interrupt cathodic current flow while permitting fluid flow, to providing a conduit for transferring liquid through selected locations as required or aircraft bulkhead structures. In the latter usage, the dielectric fitting contains integral fitting connections on both sides of the aircraft bulkhead that permit connections of tubes, hoses, or other fluid-carrying components. Such a dielectric fitting also provides a high electrical resistance path that limits electrical current flow between the two fitting connections, but allows for the gradual dissipation of electrostatic charge.
Thus, the primary functions of a dielectric fitting, also referred to as a static dissipative isolator, is to dissipate the electrical energy from static charges caused, in part, by fluid movements and to limit electrical current flow caused by the indirect effects of lightning, at such an occurrence. These fittings have the equally important secondary function of providing a safe fluid passage for the fluid passing through the fuel tank or other areas of the aircraft.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A grommet assembly has a main grommet body including first and second surfaces opposite one another. The first surface includes a sealing portion. An elastic pressing member operatively associated with the main grommet body applies a pressing force to the second surface. The elastic pressing member may attach to brackets provided on an exterior wall of a vehicle, e.g., an automobile. The grommet assembly may include a rigid plate member disposed between the elastic pressing member and main grommet body. The grommet assembly may include structure for substantially preventing relative rotation between the main grommet body and the elastic pressing member, structure for uniformly distributing the pressing force from the elastic pressing member to the main grommet body, and structure for supporting the elastic member in substantial alignment with the grommet body prior to assembly.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a grommet. In particular, this invention relates to a two-part grommet assembly that can be attached and removed from a vehicular wall panel.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Hei 4-137432 discloses a typical grommet assembly. In this grommet assembly, a wire harness 5 is threaded through a hole formed in an appropriate location in a panel 2 of a vehicle, e.g., an automobile. In order to fix the grommet assembly with respect to the vehicle panel 2, a cylindrical member 28 must be inserted into a cylindrical member 24 and a fixed member 22. Once the cylindrical member 28 is fully inserted through the hole, a lip portion of the cylindrical member 24 is expanded to form a mechanical lock with an interior surface of the vehicle panel 2. At the same time, a sealing portion 25 is compressed by a flange 29 to form a seal on the exterior surface of the vehicle panel 2. See FIG. 2. Alternatively, in FIG. 5, screws 16 are provided to attach the grommet 14 to the vehicle panel 2.
This prior art assembly is disadvantageous in that it requires a large force to press the cylindrical member 28 into place. As a result, this type of grommet assembly is not suitable for large scale quantity production. In addition, because the cylindrical member 28 is a separate element, it becomes necessary to perform the inserting operation of the cylindrical member 28 a plurality of times. Thus, the assembly operation is complex.

Grommet assembly including elastic pressing member


A slot antenna includes a dielectric substrate, a conductor surface provided on one of surfaces of the dielectric substrate, a slot formed by making a cut in the conductor surface, one end of the cut forming an opened end on an edge of the conductor surface, and a stub formed inside the slot, the stub being connected to one of opposing sides of the slot by using a connection part, in which the stub is formed in such a manner that a length of the connection part becomes longer than a distance between a side opposing to the side connected to the connection part and the stub.

In general, the length of a slot antenna disposed on a dielectric substrate needs to be one quarter of the wavelength of the used frequency. For example, when the frequency is 800 MHz, the length of the slot antenna is about 90 mm and thus is too large to be applied to a portable radio terminal in which the packaging space is severely limited.
As a technique for reducing an antenna in size, Patent literature 1 discloses a method for forming a capacitor at a slot end. The configuration for forming a capacitor at a slot end disclosed in Patent literature 1 makes it possible to shift the resonance frequency of the antenna widely by a small capacitance. For example, Patent literature 1 discloses a structure for forming a capacitor at a slot end by using a conductive projection. Further, Patent literature 1 discloses a structure for forming a capacitor at a slot end by disposing a chip capacitor at the slot end.
Further, Patent literature 2 discloses a configuration for adding an additional radiation conductor in a part of a radiation conductor that forms a slot inside a slot in order to dispose an antenna inside the housing of a portable terminal or the like and to make it possible to transmit/receive radio waves in a plurality of frequency bands by using one antenna.


A semiconductor device includes a level shift circuit to convert an input signal having an amplitude from a first power supply potential to a second power supply potential to a signal having an amplitude from the first power supply potential to a third power supply potential, a first output portion to output voltage generated from the third power supply potential to an output terminal based on the output of the level shift circuit, the first output portion including a NMOS transistor, and a second output portion to output voltage generated from the third power supply potential to an output terminal based on the output of the level shift circuit, the second output portion including a PMOS transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, in particular a semiconductor device having a level shift circuit and a voltage output circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a driver circuit of a display device has been composed of a level shift circuit to convert a low amplitude level signal to a high amplitude level signal, and a voltage output circuit to apply high voltage to the display device based on the output of the level shift circuit. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-225054 (Isobe et al.) describes a voltage output circuit in related art.
FIGS. 5 and 6 show a driver circuit described in Isobe et al. In FIG. 5, the voltage output circuit is composed of a CMOS type circuit, which is in turn composed of a P-channel type field effect transistor (called "PMOS transistor" hereinafter) and a N-channel type field effect transistor (called "NMOS transistor" hereinafter). Meanwhile, in FIG. 6, the voltage output circuit is composed of two NMOS transistors. In both cases, a voltage output circuit in the related art has circuit structure in which a single transistor is driven by one level shift circuit.
However, in the circuit shown in FIG. 5, the current load characteristic of the transistor in the voltage output circuit largely depends on the power supply potential. Therefore, the lower the power supply potential, the larger the current load characteristic becomes (see FIG. 8). Meanwhile, in the circuit shown in FIG. 6, owing to a zener diode Di inserted between the gate and source of the transistor of the voltage output circuit, the output potential is lower than the power supply potential VCC by an amount corresponding to the voltage drop VZ of the zener diode Di (see FIG. 7).
As explained above, in the case a PMOS transistor is used in the voltage output circuit of the driving circuit in the related art, the current load characteristic depends on the power supply potential, and therefore the lower the power supply potential, the larger the current load resistance becomes. Furthermore, in the case a NMOS transistor is used in the voltage output circuit, the output potential becomes lower than the power supply potential VCC.


A device for the investigation of liquids, in particular of waste water, includes at least one reaction chamber for receiving the liquid to be investigated as well as liquids for analysis from storage containers. The reaction chamber is disposed in a housing while the storage containers are accommodated within the housing or are set up outside. The housing may be positioned in a freely floating manner within the liquid to be investigated or may be set up outside.

1.Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for the analysis of liquids, in particular waste water.
All of the devices for the determination of a biological oxygen requirement which are already known involve the measurement of oxygen consumption in a water specimen. They may be subdivided into devices using laboratory methods and on-line measurement methods. The laboratory methods are standardized and described in DIN 38409 Part 51. They involve a dilution method by which the content of biologically degradable substances in the water specimen is determined in the laboratory within five days.
A fermentation calorimeter, which measures the heat production of metabolic processes, is also known. For that purpose, the heat production of the material undergoing fermentation is compensated by a corresponding cooling. The rate of cooling which is determined is proportional to the metabolic heat production and thus is also proportional to the metabolic activity of the biomass. However, the expenditure on apparatus is high, and corresponding systems are too costly for use as a process measurement system.
Known enzyme thermistors measure the heat which is produced when an immobilized layer of enzymes reacts with an organic substance. That heat is measured, for example, through the use of two absolute temperature sensors which are situated in an inlet or outlet of the reaction vessel containing the immobilized enzymes.
In an additionally known flow system, a flow takes place through an enzyme column, at the end of which the temperature is determined. In that case, a second system having an uncoated column serves as a reference. In that case too, a signal difference of the signals from the two temperature sensors is a measure of the heat of reaction.
The known devices for the analysis of waste water are essentially based on the determination of the biological oxygen requirement. The other components of waste water, which frequently exhibit toxic properties or, as nutrient substances, influence the metabolism in nature, are disregarded in most cases. A further disadvantage of the known devices resides in that the waste water to be investigated has to be branched off through additional lines from tanks of clarifying plants and conducted to those devices, since those devices require a very large number of supplementary systems for their operation and, moreover, are sensitive to meteorological factors, so that they can be set up and operated only within a building.


The present invention provides compositions and methods for affecting the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth in a wide variety of plants. A MADS-box gene from rice, OsMADS1, has been isolated and sequenced. Expression of OsMADS1 in transgenic plants dramatically alters development, resulting in early flowering plants with reduced apical dominance, causing both long-day and short-day plants to flower under both short-day and long-day conditions. OsMADS1 is a key regulatory factor determining the transition from shoot apex to floral meristem and is a target for action of flower induction signals.

A majority of plants use environmental cues to regulate the timing of the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth in order to ensure synchronous flowering for successful outcrossing and to complete their sexual reproduction under favorable conditions (reviewed in Bernier et al., Plant Cell 5:1147-1155, 1993). The major environmental factors that control the transition are photoperiod, temperature, and nutrition.
In responding to these environmental factors, plants differ widely among species, among cultivars within species, and among stages of plant development within a cultivar. A short-day plant flowers when the day length is less than its critical length and a long-day plant flowers when the day length is longer than its critical length. Floral induction in a day-neutral species is unaffected by day-length, but occurs when the plant has attained a minimum amount of growth.
After completion of the basic vegetative phase, initiation of flowering is frequently dependent on the day length. The critical photoperiod is defined as the maximum day length that will induce a short-day plant to flower and the minimum day length that will induce a long-day plant to flower.
It has been postulated that a transmissible flowering signal is produced mainly in leaves and is transported to the shoot apex through the phloem. Grafting experiments have shown that leaves of photoperiodic plants produce promoters and inhibitors of flowering when exposed to favorable and unfavorable daylength regimes, respectively (Lang et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 74:2412-2416, 1977). The nature of these transmissible signals is still controversial (O'Neill, Photochem. Photobiol. 56:789-801, 1992) and efforts to isolate the signaling substances have been unsuccessful. In addition, the target genes for these signals in the shoot apex have not been identified.
Significant effort has been expended in attempts to elucidate the underlying mechanisms controlling flower development in various dicotyledonous plant species (reviewed in Coen, Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 42:241-279, 1991; and Gasser, Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 42:621-649, 1991), leading to the isolation of a family of genes which encode regulatory proteins. These regulatory proteins include AGAMOUS (AG) (Yanofsky et al., Nature 346:35-39, 1990), APETELA I (API) (Mandel et al., Nature 360:273-277, 1992), and APETALA 3 (AP3) (Jack et al., Cell 68:683-697, 1992) in Arabidopsis thaliana, and DEFICIENS A (DEF A) (Sommer et al., EMBO J. 11:251-263, 1990), GLOBOSA (GLO) (Trobner et al., EMBO J. 11:4693-4704, 1992), SQUAMOSA (SQUA) (Huijser et al., EMBO J. 11:1239-1249, 1992), and PLENA (PLE) (Bradley et al., Cell 72:85-95, 1993) in Antirrhinum majus.
Mutations in an AG or PLE gene result in homeotic alterations of the stamen and carpel. Genetic studies have shown that the DEF A, GLO and AP3 genes are essential for petal and stamen development. API and SQUA genes, which are expressed in young flower primordia, are necessary for the transition of an inflorescence meristem into a floral meristem. Sequence analysis of these genes has revealed that their gene products contain a conserved MADS-box region (Bradley et al., Cell 72:85-95, 1993; Huijser et al., EMBO J. 11:1239-1249, 1992; Jack et al., Cell 68:683-697, 1992; Mandel et al., Nature 360:273-277, 1992; Sommer et al., EMBO J. 11:251-263, 1990; Trobner et al., EMBO J. 11:4693-4704, 1992; Yanofsky et al., Nature 346:35-39, 1990), which is probably a DNA-binding domain (Schwarz-Sommer et al., EMBO J. 11:251-263, 1992).
Using these clones as probes, MADS-box genes have been isolated from other species including tomato (Mandel et al., Cell 71:133-143, 1992), tobacco (Kempin et al., Plant Physiol 103:1041-1046, 1993), petunia (Angenent et al., Plant Cell 4:983-993, 1992), Brassica napus (Mandel et al., Cell 71:133-143, 1992), and maize (Schmidt et al., Plant Cell 5:729-737, 1993).
Transgenic approaches have been employed to study the functional roles of MADS-box genes. Genetic complementation of the ag-2 mutant by the AG gene demonstrated that the ag-2 gene product is involved in stamen and carpel development (Yanofsky et al., Nature 346:35-39, 1990). Ectopic expression of the AG genes from A. thaliana, B. napus, petunia, tobacco, and tomato resulted in homeotic conversion of sepals to carpels and petals to stamens, mirroring the ap2 mutant phenotype (Kempin et al., Plant Physiol 103:1041-1046, 1993; Mandel et al., Cell 71:133-143, 1992; Mizukami and Ma, Cell 71:119-131, 1992; Pnueli et al., Plant Cell 6:163-173, 1994; Tsuchimoto et al., Plant Cell 5:843-853, 1993). These results support the hypothesis that AG and AP2 act in an antagonistic fashion.
Antisense approaches have also been used to reveal the functional role of the tomato MADS-box genes (Pnueli et al., Plant Cell 6:175-186, 1994; Pnueli et al., Plant Cell 6:163-173, 1994). Transgenic plants that express tomato AG antisense RNA display the ag mutant phenotypes. Antisense expression of the tomato TM5 MADS-box gene results in morphological changes in the three inner whorls of transgenic plants.
The timing of the transition from vegetative growth to flowering is one of the most important steps in plant development. This determines quality and quantity of most crop species since the transition determines the balance between vegetative and reproductive growth. It would therefore be highly desirable to have means to affect the timing of this transition. The present invention meets this and other needs.

Gene controlling floral development and apical dominance in plants

Washington State University Research Foundation


The present disclosure relates to porous orthopedic implants made from polymer preforms and a method of manufacturing the same. A polymer material may be formed into a preform, such as by an injection molding process or an additive manufacturing process. In an exemplary embodiment, the overall shape and the porous framework of the preform is predetermined to be substantially the same as the overall shape and the porous framework of the final orthopedic implant. Then, the preform may be pyrolyzed and coated with metal to form the final orthopedic implant.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to porous orthopedic implants. More particularly, the present invention relates to porous orthopedic implants made from polymeric preforms, and to a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Orthopedic implants may be constructed of porous biomaterial to encourage bone growth into the orthopedic implant. An example of such a material is produced using Trabecular Metal™ technology generally available from Zimmer, Inc., of Warsaw, Ind. Trabecular Metal™ is a trademark of Zimmer, Inc. Such a material, which is also referred to as "TM" in the following, may be formed from a reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) foam substrate which is infiltrated and coated with a biocompatible metal in the manner disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,861 to Kaplan, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference. The resulting, coated material is lightweight, strong, and has open cells that resemble the structure of natural cancellous bone, thereby providing a matrix into which cancellous bone may grow to fix the orthopedic implant to the patient's bone.
The starting material in this process is an open-cell polymer foam block or sheet. Polymer foams may be made by the controlled expansion of gas during the polymerization process. Standard polyurethane, for example, is made by reacting polyisocyanates and polyols. Polyurethane foam, on the other hand, is typically made by reacting polyisocyanates, polyols, and additionally a blowing agent, such as water. During the polymerization process, the water reacts to form carbon dioxide gas that expands and escapes from the surrounding polyurethane, leaving behind open cells surrounded by polyurethane ligaments.
The polymer foam starting material is then converted into an RVC foam substrate. This step may involve first impregnating the polymer foam with a carbonaceous resin and then heating the impregnated foam to a suitable pyrolysis temperature, on the order of 800° C. to 2000° C., to convert the polymer foam and any carbonaceous resin into vitreous carbon. This process is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,103,149 to Stankiewicz, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference. The RVC foam substrate is then infiltrated and coated with a biocompatible metal, as discussed above.
Using an open-cell polymer foam as the starting material for a porous orthopedic implant presents certain challenges.
First, achieving the desired, final shape of the orthopedic implant may be difficult, because polymer foams are typically provided in blocks or sheets that must be machined at some point in the process into the desired, final shape. For example, the component may be machined while in the polymer foam form, the RVC foam form, or the coated metal form. Such machining is both expensive and time-consuming. Also, such machining may damage the ligaments that define the open-cell pores of the foam, especially when the component is shaped while in the brittle, RVC foam form. Finally, such machining is wasteful, because scraps from the bulk blocks or sheets may have to be discarded.
Second, the minimum thickness of the porous orthopedic implant is limited. In general, the porous orthopedic implant must be at least as thick as several supporting polymer ligaments, which may be about 0.5 mm in length each. Therefore, it can be difficult to manufacture small implants, such as dental implants and orthopedic fasteners, with a process based on polymer foam.
Third, polymer foam is entirely porous. Therefore, polymer foam does not provide non-porous regions, which may be desirable in an orthopedic implant.

Porous metal structures made from polymer preforms


A method for aligning multiple nozzle members in a solid free form build unit is disclosed. A geometric test shape having at least one investigational topographic region projecting outward from a central base is formed and analyzed for at least one physical characteristic correlative with nozzle member targeting accuracy. The physical characteristic is at least one of color hue shift, surface pattern irregularity, and dimensional accuracy.

Solid free form fabrication (SFF) technology builds an object of any complex shape or geometry without requiring pre-shaped tools such as dies or molds. SFF technology can be used to produce a variety of complex three-dimensional objects quickly and efficiently. In order to optimize production speed to accommodate rapid production and/or larger sized products, solid free form production devices have been proposed and employed which have multiple dispensing units such as nozzle members suitably integrated together.
Multiple dispensing units such as nozzle members present in a single device can present challenges if it becomes necessary to scale or add more dispensing units to further increase speed, size, etc. Additionally, solid free form dispensing systems in which dispensing members are present in one unit make it challenging to design a system in which different dispensing members dispense material with different properties such as color, hardness, strength, etc. Solid free form systems in which the dispensing members are present on one unit can also necessitate the replacement of an entire unit if even a small number of nozzles on the member cease to function. Thus, it is highly desirable to provide a solid free form dispensing system having multiple dispensing members which can be activated as needed or required.
When multiple dispensing member solid free form systems are employed, proper alignment of the dispensing member(s) is necessary to provide an acceptable deposition pattern. Improper deposition patterns due to misalignment of dispensing member(s) can result in undesirable characteristics in the resulting solid free form product. These can include, but are not limited to dimensional inaccuracy, unacceptable surface finish, color inaccuracy or discontinuity and/or deficiencies in part integrity.
Alignment methods and alignment validation systems previously employed with solid free-form devices and techniques required significant manipulation and visual inspection of multiple test pieces. Alignment methods and verification systems which are more amenable to automated processes and/or could permit rapid precision inspection and system validation would be valuable.

Method for aligning multiple nozzle members in a solid free form fabrication tool


A electric razor foil assembly comprises flexible outer and inner foils (1, 2) supported by a structure (14) that is deformable to permit the foils to flex to follow concave or convex curvatures. The support structure includes two suspension members (22) supporting the foils along the respective side edges, and each support member (22) has several support elements (24) interconnected by hinges (25) and in sliding cooperation with the foils. The deformation of the suspension members is guided by guide plates located adjacent the suspension members. The foils are urged into cooperation by spring members (30) and the inner foil (2) is reciprocated by a drive arrangement including a flexible drive plate (36) disposed between the spring members (30) and the inner foil (2).

There are known electric razors of the above kind in which the inner member that is driven relative to the outer, skin contacting foil, is a second foil with openings through which hairs can be inserted before being sheared between edges defined by the openings in the respective foils. A "foil" should be understood to have a thin sheet-like form, but a foil can be profiled and does not necessarily have constant thickness or a 'flat' shape. In another known construction the inner member is formed as a cutter with a series of spaced apart blade elements that define shearing edges that contact the outer foil, and the inner cutter is reciprocated relative to the foil so that the hairs extending through the foil openings and into the spaces between the blade elements are severed by being sheared by the shearing edges of the blade elements and the edges of the foil openings. With both known constructions the outer foil, for the most part, contacts the skin only over a limited area during shaving because the foil assembly is relatively stiff and is unable to conform to the undulations and curvatures generally present in skin areas that are traditionally shaved. As a consequence the efficiency of shaving is not as good as it might be and it takes longer to shave a body region than it would if there was better conformity between the foil of the razor and the skin surface. This drawback has been recognised and there have been attempts to produce more flexible foil structures. In EP-A-1449627 (Uchiyama), for example, there is described a foil assembly in which an outer foil is mounted in a casing and has a generally U-shaped cross-section, and an inner cutter has several upstanding cutter blades carried on a resilient elongate support, the cutter blades having convexly curved upper edges for cooperation with the inner surface of the foil. The elongate blade support is urged upwardly by springs positioned along its length to press the edges of the cutter blades against the foil. The resilient blade support is able to bend into convex and concave shapes under external forces being applied against the outer surface of the foil to deform the foil so that it assumes a curvature along its length. As a consequence an improved contact between the foil and a curved skin area is possible. However, as described in EP-A-1449627 with reference to FIG. 2 therein, the outer foil cutter (20) is fixed to the inside of the casing (22) at anchoring positions (24), and this inevitably reduces the flexing capabilities. Furthermore, the U-shaped foil configuration also acts to resist flexing of the foil along its length and, as the blade support bends the blades spread apart or come together so that distances separating the shearing edges of adjacent blades are changed and the shaving performance is consequently affected, which is undesirable. EP-A-1454720 describes a similar foil and cutter assembly but differs in that the inner cutter, instead of being resilient, is shaped so that the foil has a concave curvature along its length. A second foil and cutter assembly with a straight convex or concave configuration can be provided alongside the concave assembly. In this case, maintaining proper cooperation between the cutter blades and the foil over the full length of the foil becomes a problem when the inner cutter is reciprocated relative to the foil.


A headlamp with a headband is presented. The headlamp includes:                a headband element to receive a lamp body, and a passing hole or vertical conduit for the sliding passage of a tightening elastic link and an attachment clip to make a horizontal sliding connection with an electrically conductive cord,        a rear part with a support to hold an electric battery and a locking lever;        an electrical conductor cord having two radii of curvature so as to form a “Z”;        a movable clip positioned at the first radius of curvature to ensure sliding of said electrically conductive cord with the upper part of the tightening elastic link;            a second movable clip positioned at the level of the second radius of curvature to allow the electrically conductive cord to slide with the lower part of said tightening elastic link.

There are many types of headlamp headbands. The huge development of the most recent headlamps has led to the design of particularly sophisticated headbands so as to allow the support, not only of a headlamp located at the front of a user's head, but also of a bulky battery which is located at the rear of the headlamp and which provides the power supply of the latter.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a well-known solution used for a high-power lamp marketed by the Applicant of the present patent application. It shows a headband comprising two parts, namely a first part 110 located at the front, on which is fixed a headlamp housing 100, and a second part located at the rear. The second part comprises a support 140 allowing the holding of an electric battery 150, and a link 130a/130b allowing the connection to be made between the front part 110 and the support 140 of the rear part. A locking device 170 makes it possible to block the link in an adjustable manner to ensure the adjustment of the assembly to various head shapes and even a helmet.
The electrical connection between the battery 150 and the headlamp housing 100 is made by means of an electrical conductor 160 which, to provide various adjustment configurations, is in the form of a twist or a spiral 160 allowing the stretching of the headband when the latter must be attached to a large head, or even a safety helmet. It has been noticed that the known solution of FIG. 1 has a certain number of drawbacks.
Firstly, significant discomfort was noted related to the tension of the spiral electrical conductor 160—the spring force of which is necessary to ensure minimal aesthetic support of the electrical conductor—and which pulls on one side of the headband. This spring force is perceived very clearly as an annoyance by the wearer of the lamp who must also refocus it at regular intervals when he embarks on an intense activity such as running.
Secondly, as seen in the figure, the spiral electrical conductor 160 is relatively bulky and cumbersome and detrimental not only to the aesthetics of the entire headband, but also to its compactness.


An actuating drive of an air passage device for an engine cooling system of a vehicle, the actuating drive including a drive gear to be driven by an electric motor, which is rotatable about an axis of rotation, and an output element which is operatively connected with the drive gear and is movable with the drive gear along an adjustment path, in order to shift the air passage device between an open position, in which the air passage device is opened in order to allow an air stream to pass through, and a closed position in which the air passage device is closed in order to minimize an air stream.

This invention relates to an actuating drive of an air passage device for an engine cooling system of a vehicle.
Such actuating drive comprises a drive gear to be driven by an electric motor, which is rotatable about an axis of rotation, and an output element which is operatively connected with the drive gear and is movable with the drive gear along an adjustment path, in order to shift the air passage device between an open position, in which the air passage device is opened in order to allow an air stream to pass through, and a closed position in which the air passage device is closed in order to minimize the air stream.
Such air passage device can be arranged for example at the front of the vehicle and control an air stream into an engine compartment of the vehicle. For this purpose, the air passage device for example can include closing elements in the manner of slats, which can be shifted in order to vary the flow cross-section for the air stream and in this way adjust an air stream for cooling an engine in the engine compartment.
Such air passage devices are well-known in different designs. By way of example, reference is made to DE 10 2008 013 422 A1 and DE 100 47 952 B4.
Conventional actuating drives of passage devices often use a so-called vacuum cell with a spring-biased membrane. With such a vacuum cell, a membrane is moved by a solenoid valve against a biasing spring and a vacuum is passed on, which effects an adjustment force for shifting the air passage device in direction of its closed position.
Such vacuum cells have the advantage that they have a simple construction and are available at low cost. In addition, they have an inherent safety function in that in the case of a failure of the energy supply system of the vehicle an opening of the air passage device is effected automatically, because the electromagnetic force on the membrane decreases and due to the spring action the membrane moves the air passage device back into its open position (so-called "fail-safe" logic). In the case of a failure of the electrical supply of the actuating drive, and in case a further electromotive control of the air passage device is not possible, the air passage device thus is automatically moved into its open position, so that an air cooling of an engine to be cooled still is ensured.
It is desirable, however, to use an electromotive driving device, for example an electric step motor, for an actuating drive instead of such vacuum cell. A disadvantage when using a vacuum cell consists in that it must be formed comparatively large, in order to be able to apply a sufficient adjustment force for closing an air passage device. This is due to the fact that in an air passage device slats possibly must be moved against a pressing wind force at a great driving speed of a vehicle, so that large adjustment forces are required for moving the slats. The use of an electromotive driving device on the other hand has the advantage that the same can be dimensioned comparatively small. The required adjustment force then is achieved in that the electromotive driving device is coupled with an output element via a reduction gear for shifting the air passage device, so as to transmit a drive movement of the driving device in a stepped-down manner into an output movement of the output element.
When a reduction gear is used, the same can effect self-locking or a high reaction torque in the drive train of the actuating drive. This is not disadvantageous as such, but leads to the fact that in the case of a failure of the energy supply system resetting of the air passage device into its open position for increasing the flow cross-section is not easily possible, because the self-locking actuating drive blocks adjustment forces acting on the output side, and shifting of the air passage device thus only is possible via the actuating drive.
From DE 10 2009 035 362 A1 an actuating drive for an air passage device is known, which provides two separate actuating devices, namely on the one hand a normal-operation actuating device and on the other hand an emergency-operation actuating device. The operation of the actuating devices is controlled thermally: when a temperature of a predetermined region of the vehicle is below a threshold temperature, only the normal-operation actuating device is active and coupled with an output element; when the temperature however is above the threshold temperature, the normal-operation actuating device is decoupled from the output element, and the emergency-operation actuating device moves the output element in direction of an opening of the air passage device.

Actuating drive of an air passage device

Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co. KG, Coburg


There is provided a mechanism capable of processing a service using a plurality of sensor devices in a distributed manner while suppressing a communication load and providing the service. A control device is arranged on a local network side with respect to a gateway between an internet and a local network. The control device includes: a control unit configured to transmit or receive information regarding one or more sensor devices wirelessly connected to a first cell associated with the control device to or from another control device associated with a second cell.

In recent years, development related to internet of things (IoT) has been actively performed. In IoT, wireless communication is an important technology theme because various things are connected to a network to exchange information. Therefore, in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), standardization of IoT communication such as machine type communication (MIC) and narrow band IoT (NB-IoT) for realizing small packets, low power consumption, or low cost has been performed.
As a form of an IoT service realized by such a technology, a form of acquiring sensing information from many different types of sensor devices, processing the acquired sensing information into some form, and providing the processed information to a consumer is assumed. For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a monitoring camera system that integrates sensing information obtained by a plurality of sensor devices into one server on a network and processes, for example, the sensing information.

Control device and method for processing a service using a plurality of sensor devices in a distributed manner while suppressing a communication load


The present invention relates to a backlight unit for use in a display device. The backlight unit includes a circuit board, at least one light-emitting diode chip mounted on the circuit board, a plurality of reflection members arranged on the upper part of the light-emitting diode chip, and a light diffusing member. The light diffusing member has an incident surface on which light enters and an emitting surface from which light is emitted. The light diffusing member is arranged on the upper part of the circuit board. The plurality of reflection members are stacked on each other and reflect a part of light emitted from the upper surface of the light-emitting diode chip.

A display device may be a non-emissive device and further does not include a self-light emitting source. Then, a display device requires a separate light source capable of illuminating the entirety of a screen at the backside thereof. A lighting device for such a display device is referred to as a backlight unit.
In general, backlight units are classified into an edge type backlight unit and a direct type backlight unit according to an arrangement location of light sources, such as light emitting diode (LED) chips.
In the edge type backlight unit, the light sources are disposed at a side of a light diffusing member adapted to guide light. However, since the edge type backlight unit includes LED chips disposed along a side surface of the light diffusing member, there is a limit in thickness reduction of a bezel of a display device. In addition, the edge type backlight unit does not allow individual operation of the LED chips connected in series on a circuit board.
In the direct type backlight unit, the light sources are disposed under the light diffusing member to illuminate a front side of a display panel. However, since the direct type backlight unit includes light emitting diode chips disposed under the light diffusing member, there is a limit in thickness reduction of the backlight unit and the display device.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a backlight unit enabling thickness reduction of a display device. There is also a need to provide a backlight unit enabling local dimming and thickness reduction of a display device. Furthermore, there is a need to provide a backlight unit having improved luminous efficacy through reduction in distance between a light diffusing member and a light emitting diode chip.


A method and apparatus for compressing a dissolve region within a sequence of digital motion video frames. A function is calculated based on statistical data derived from frames in the sequence. Dissolve region boundaries are then detected based on characteristics of the calculated function. Consecutive detected boundaries may be flagged as a dissolve region based on the average value of the function between the consecutive detected boundaries and the distance between the consecutive detected boundaries.

It is common practice in video production to use a dissolve region to concatenate two scenes. In such a region, the second scene gradually appears while the first scene gradually fades out, and by the end of the dissolve region, the second scene completely replaces the first. Although dissolve regions can be up to several seconds long, dissolves of 1/2 to 1 second are more common in video production. The dissolve process is typically called cross-fade.
Attempting to compress a dissolve region via image compression using a typical motion compensation algorithm results in a high entropy prediction error image. Encoding such an error image requires more bits than usual, which may not be affordable for all frames of a dissolve region without increasing the average bit-rate. An image that is encoded with an insufficient number of bits may appear blocky when it is decoded. The visibility of the blockiness may vary depending on the length of the dissolve region. Such blockiness can be eliminated by first detecting dissolves, then encoding the frames in a dissolve region in a proper or different way.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for detecting dissolve regions and boundaries within digital video sequences.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description of the invention which follows.

Method and apparatus for detecting dissolve regions in digital video sequences


An improved medication introducing device for airtight connection between a bag-valve mask resuscitator apparatus, or other similar pre-hospital emergency respiratory device, and an endo-tracheal tube installed in a patient, the device comprising a central housing having a top opening, a bottom opening, and a minimum of two medication administering ports, at least one of the ports being an injection port for emergency administering of medications through pre-filled syringes into patients for which an intravenous line cannot be established, medications such as cardiac medications including atropine, epinephrine, lidocaine, and narcan, and at least one port being a nebulizer port for administering asthma medications to an intubated patient undergoing pre-hospital emergency, and where the improvement comprises one or more back flow reducing means to maximize the flow of administered nebulized medications to the patient. It is contemplated for the present invention to be made from chemically inert materials, to have a sufficiently low manufacturing cost so that it can be disposable, and for each port to have an airtight end cap. Applications may include, but are not limited to, pre-hospital emergency and rescue situations in which a bag-valve mask apparatus must be used to perform CPR on an intubated patient.

The preferred embodiments of the device herein disclose improvements for the invention disclosed by the above-named inventors in U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,063 (1998). This invention relates to adapters and other devices for use with pre-hospital respiratory assist equipment, specifically to a device for use with the type of bag-valve mask apparatus commonly used for pre-hospital emergency respiratory assistance when CPR must be given to an intubated patient, the device comprising a central housing having an upper opening dimensioned for airtight connection to the bag-valve mask apparatus, a lower opening dimensioned for airtight connection to the endo-tracheal tube, and a minimum of two laterally positioned ports therethrough, at least one port being a syringe injection port for the emergency administering of medications, such as cardiac medications, into patients for whom intravenous injection cannot be established, and at least one port being a nebulizer port for administering asthma medications to intubated patients while they are undergoing CPR, wherein the improvements comprise changes in the configuration of the nebulizer port and optional changes in its end cap which would maximize the amount of administered nebulized medication reaching the patient. Applications may include, but are not limited to, emergency and rescue situations in which a bag-valve mask apparatus is used on an intubated patient so that CPR won't have to be interrupted to administer medications to such patients.


Methods and apparatus for detecting skew in a document image, such as a check image, to produce a de-skewed image are described. One example method includes detecting one or more lines in the image and determining whether the one or more lines are reliable. Reliability of a line may be based on at least one of line length, straightness, and the presence of holes in the line. If one or more lines are reliable, the method may calculate a skew angle of the image based on the one or more reliable lines' orientations with respect to an orientation of the image. A comparison may also be made between lines detected in different regions of the check to determine if a difference between skew angles corresponding to each of the compared lines is lower than an error threshold.

As used herein, the term skew refers to a rotational misalignment of an image, such as an image of a document, with respect to a coordinate system, such as the coordinate system of a scanner used to capture an image of the document. Character recognition or other classification algorithms often depend on a minimally acceptable alignment of the scanned document being analyzed. Skew not only affects processes such as character recognition, but also degrades the quality of document display.
A variety of techniques are typically employed to ensure proper alignment with respect to a scanner's (or similar imaging device) imaging coordinate system. Such techniques may include the use of automatic document feeders, guides, arms, etc., to physically align a scanned document as it is fed into the scanner. However, these techniques can be costly, can reduce document throughput, and may frequently be unreliable. For example, the document may not be fed properly into the scanner due to tears, wrinkles, or a feed mechanism malfunction. In addition, many scanners permit manual positioning of bulky items such as books. The resulting scanned images will frequently be skewed, thereby prohibiting or at least inhibiting successful classification processes such as character recognition.
Automatic methods of skew detection may also be employed. However, textures, lines, images, characters, or some mixture thereof on a document's face and/or the occasional presence of tears and wrinkles pose significant challenges for quick and accurate skew detection.
It would be desirable if a scanned document could be de-skewed with a simple and effective process that does not depend on mechanical means.

Image skew detection apparatus and methods


According to one embodiment, an information processing device adapted to use in a first mode and a second mode includes a body, a display unit supported by the body, a display panel disposed at the display unit, a viewing angle control filter disposed at the display unit and arranged facing one face of the display panel, and drive unit configured to drive the control filter when a state of the processing device is in the second mode.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to an information processing device and a method for controlling a viewing angle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, liquid crystal display devices have been widely used as display devices for notebook type computers, monitors or the like. Improvements in viewing angle dependency of the liquid crystal display device has progressed and the viewing angle with the same level as that of a CRT has been achieved for the liquid crystal display device.
However, it is important for a display device, for the use of a mobile terminal, etc., to allow a user to view displayed items from the front direction and to make the display device hard to be viewed from the oblique direction. This is because, when confidential documents or the like are prepared or read in a public place and the like, the display device intends to prevent persons other than the user from viewing displayed documents or the like. Hence, the display device is structured to allow the user located in front of the display device to read or write a personal mail without caring about the surroundings.
As for a technique to control the viewing angle, a technique using a liquid crystal panel (hereinafter, referred to as a viewing angle control filter) is disclosed (refer to Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-133334). In the technique described in the aforementioned patent document, when the control filter is turned on, a blocking pattern is viewed from the obliquely front direction to protect information on a screen such as a text. Further, even when the control filter is operated, the manner of viewing from the front is not changed. When the control filter is turned off, the user can view the screen with an original viewing angle of an image display panel for displaying images.

Information processing device and control method for information processing device


Game apparatuses connected in a peer-to-peer manner play a competitive game with each other. Each of the game apparatuses stores a ranking table ranking points of multiple users based on past games of the users. When finishing playing the game, the game apparatuses respectively calculate points obtained by the respective users based on the result of the game, and update the ranking tables based on the newly calculated points. The game apparatuses transmit and receive information on the updated ranking table to and from each other. Each game apparatus integrates the ranking table locally stored with the ranking table transmitted from the other game apparatus to generate a new ranking table, and displays the new ranking table on a display device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game apparatus or the like which creates ranking information including scores obtained by other users with whom a user of the game apparatus has never played a game by transmitting and receiving ranking information to and from another game apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A competitive game is a game that may be played by two or more players and gives each player points according to the player's performance relative to the performance of the other player(s). The player would enjoy a ranking table which would show not only points given as a result of a single competition, but also points given based on results of past competitions in comparison with points obtained by other players. The player's satisfaction becomes greater when the points obtained by the player are ranked higher. Even if the points obtained by the player are ranked higher, the ranking table makes it easier for the player to find another adequate player as an opponent.
In arcade game machines, multiple persons play a game using the same game apparatus, so that a stand-alone type game apparatus, which is not connected to another game apparatus, creates and displays a ranking table of points obtained in the game by individual players. Because unspecified multiple persons play a game with an arcade game machine, however, the player does not understand who got which points even when the ranking table showing the points is displayed. It is difficult for each player to look for another player who matches his or her level based on the point ranking table displayed on the arcade game machine.
While unspecified multiple persons play a game with an arcade game machine, the demographics (such as skills, ages, or so) of the players who play the game apparatus are not balanced depending on the place where the arcade game machine is sited. For example, the concentration of children among entire players may be low or high. If each player believes in a ranking table to be displayed on a stand-alone type arcade game machine, therefore, the player may misjudge his or her actual level in the game.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H11-319319 discloses a network game system which gathers results of games played by players from individual game terminals to a server apparatus via communication lines, and distributes the results tallied in the server apparatus to the individual game terminals. In the network game system, each player can know which level the player is in among other players, particularly, among high-ranked players, without worrying about the demographics of the players.
Because the network game system described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H11-319319 gathers game results over a wide area like all parts of Japan, there are many players to be ranked and the ranking table shows the points of only a limited number of players, such as high-ranked players. In addition, the ranking table contains points of those players who are not likely to be opponents to each player. It is therefore difficult to find an opponent who matches the level of each player from those shown in the ranking table.
To create a ranking table, the network game system described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H11-319319, the server apparatus needs to gather information from each game apparatus. This disadvantageously increases the computer resources that are used in creating a ranking table. After transmitting a game result to the server apparatus, each game terminal stands by to receive a ranking table created by the server apparatus, and cannot therefore execute any valid process until the ranking table is distributed from the server apparatus, thereby wasting the computer resources.
Recent portable game apparatuses have a peer-to-peer connecting capability, so that such a portable game apparatus connects to another game apparatus in a peer-to-peer manner by a cable or wirelessly. Multiple players can play a competitive game with one another using multiple portable game apparatuses connected in a peer-to-peer manner. Such a portable game apparatus is not connected to the server apparatus at the time of playing a competitive game. Even in a case of creating a ranking table, therefore, only the points of other players with whom the player has already played are reflected in the ranking table to be created. This makes it difficult for each player to find an opponent who matches the level of the player from those with whom the player has not yet played based on the ranking table. The same problem would arise in a race game, or such, where scores are shown by times needed to finish a goal, not points.

Creation of ranking table for competitive game


An umbilical clamp which includes an identification label affixed to or placed within the clamp in a manner such that once the clamp is placed about the umbilical cord of the infant, the identification label cannot be removed.

The present invention is directed to an apparatus for identification and control of access to a newborn infant. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a clamp including an identification label for placement on the umbilical cord of the newborn infant.
Presently, newborn infants are identified by placement of a wristband and/or an ankleband about the respective limb of the infant. By necessity, the wristband or ankleband must be placed so as to be loose, to prevent restricting of the circulation. Because of the placement of the wristband and/or ankleband, in combination with the normal movement including kicking and hand waving which a newborn infant normally practices, it is not uncommon for the wristband and/or the ankleband to become dislodged, whereby the infant no longer has an identification attached to their body.
The cost associated with misidentification of newborn infants, with respect to both insurance to the attending hospital as well as the emotional impact on the parents, is difficult to measure. However, in a hospital which routinely handles multiple newborns simultaneously, it is a constant fear that two infants will be switched, or alternatively that an infant will be kidnapped. Thus, it is very important for both the hospital and the parents that the newborn infant be identified in a manner which is secure and which prevents removal by non-parents or non-hospital staff.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to have an identification system which fixes securely to the newborn infant and which cannot easily be removed or altered.

Umbilical clamp identification device for infants


The present disclosure belongs to the field of materials with metal structures, and specifically relates to a preparation method for a nano-oxide dispersion strengthened steel. The method includes mixing a ferrochromium alloy, a ferrotungsten alloy, a ferroalloy containing a rare earth element, an oxygen source and a reduced iron powder to obtain a mixture; wrapping the mixture in a steel strip, and conducting drawing reducing to obtain a flux-cored wire; and conducting arc additive manufacturing on the flux-cored wire on a substrate, and then conducting heat treatment to obtain the nano-oxide particle dispersion strengthened steel.

With the daily increase of energy demands and the crisis of fossil fuels, nuclear energy has become a key means of developing new energy. In a nuclear energy system, a high-performance structural material that can work stably under high temperature, irradiation and corrosion is required. Due to great creep resistance at high temperature and radiation resistance, a nano-oxide dispersion strengthened steel has become a key material for the nuclear energy system at present. As there are nano-oxide particles with high stability, high density, small size and dispersed distribution in a matrix, the nano-oxide dispersion strengthened steel has excellent properties. On the one hand, the nano-oxide particles can improve the mechanical property of a material at high temperature by preventing dislocation movement and refining grains. On the other hand, point defects formed in the irradiation and helium produced in a nuclear reaction can be captured on an interface between the nano-oxide particles and the matrix to prevent large-size pores and helium bubbles formed in the material from affecting the mechanical performance. Therefore, a nano-oxide particle dispersion strengthened phase is the key to use steel materials in an extreme nuclear energy environment.
According to a traditional melting casting process, as the solidification time of a melting pool is long and the wettability between oxide particles and a melt is low, the oxide particles in the melting pool are significantly coarsened and aggregated during solidification, and slag formed by most of the oxide particles is removed from the melting pool so that dispersed distribution of the oxide particles cannot be achieved. In addition, components in complex shapes cannot be prepared so that demands of the nuclear energy systems for different structures cannot be met.
According to additive manufacturing, based on the principle of discrete accumulation, a heat source is controlled by a driving module to act on a raw material, and three-dimensional components with required structures are filled by using a three-dimensional model. By using the additive manufacturing, thoughts of traditional manufacturing methods are broken through, and components in any complex shape can be quickly and precisely manufactured. In addition, the additive manufacturing has the smelting characteristics of rapid cooling and solidification of a small melting pool so that the dispersed distribution of the oxides can be achieved. However, when rare earth oxides are directly added, loss of rare earth elements can still be caused, enough oxide strengthening phases cannot be formed in the matrix, and as a result, the nano-oxide dispersion strengthened steel has low mechanical performance.

Preparation method of nano-oxide dispersion strengthened steel

Huazhong University of Science and Technology


An apparatus to facilitate precise and efficient evaluation of biomaterials using direct contact cell culture techniques. The apparatus positions the biomaterial and creates the potential to form a fluid-tight seal between the biomaterial and the apparatus, at which point the biomaterial is exposed to cells and/or media. An assay method based on the apparatus is claimed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed towards a laboratory device that facilitates studies using cell culture techniques to assay biomaterials. Specifically this invention is a device that facilitates control of the exposure of animal cells and/or media to biomaterials and the measure of the main and interaction effects of the cells, tissue and media on the biomaterials. By way of example, but not as a limitation, the device can be used to evaluate biomaterial toxicity or drug release from films. The laboratory device also facilitates the recovery of biomaterials, cells, tissues, and/or the cell-material interface following controlled experiments.
2. Background
Technology related to the continued development of medical devices for humans comprises two fundamental areas of research and development: design and fabrication of said devices and development of minimally toxic, biologically compatible materials (biomaterials) to be used in the manufacture of said medical devices. Safety and health considerations require that the potential of toxic effects of biomaterials that are otherwise suitable for medical devices must be fully evaluated, and performance considerations require that the material maintain its function in an in vivo environment. Devices to facilitate cell culture and study are known in the art as shown and claimed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,578,492 and 5,139,951, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Direct contact cell culture is employed to evaluate biomaterial reactions and interaction of cells with a biomaterial. Evaluation includes toxicity, drug delivery, or material degradation analysis. Such studies require a laboratory apparatus that supports cellular growth, allows cell cultures to be exposed to known amounts of biomaterials, and to be handled for study purposes which includes observation of cells, sampling materials and media, changing media, and moving samples into and out of controlled environment facilities while protecting samples from contamination. Additionally, such evaluation apparatuses must provide a container which provides surfaces to support cellular growth.
Details of the preparation of media and methods of culture of cells are well known and comprehended by those skilled in the art. Specific environmental conditions including factors such as minimizing contamination of cultures and maintaining controlled temperature, humidity, and light conditions are common to all studies although specific conditions of light, temperature, and humidity may vary with the material to be tested. Nonetheless, the specific conditions are well known to those skilled in the art or are otherwise readily available without the need for excessive experimentation. See for example, R. I. Freshney, "Culture of Animal Cells", 2nd ed., Wiley/Liss, 1994, N.Y., N.Y., which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
With current technology, biomaterials may float or otherwise move during the study making precise observations more difficult. To minimize these issues, materials are commonly glued or weighted, which introduces additional complications. Additionally, current technology necessitates mechanical collection using a spatula or similar instrument to recover the cells from bioassay apparatus. Commonly, this results in damage to the cells thereby reducing the value of the cells for further analysis. These and related difficulties limit aspects of the accuracy and dependability of biomaterial assays. Accordingly, there remains room for variation and improvement in the art.

Apparatus and method for biomaterial assay


The present invention provides a method for detecting and/or determining the ATP from microorganism cells in a sample, which comprises the steps of: centrifuging the sample and removing the supernatant, thereby forming a microorganism cell pellet; adding to the microorganism cell pellet a buffer containing a protease-free soluble protein and an ATP hydrolase and incubating the mixture at a pH of 6.0-8.0; extracting ATP from the microorganism cells with an added ATP extraction agent; and detecting and/or determining the ATP released from the microorganism cells by bioluminescence analysis. The present invention also provides a test kit for detecting and/or determining the ATP from microorganism cells, which comprises a reagent containing a buffer capable of pH adjustment to 6.0-8.0, a protease-free soluble protein and an ATP hydrolase, a reagent containing an ATP extraction agent, and a bioluminescence reagent.

The present invention relates to microbiological quality test of a sample. More specifically, the invention relates to a method for selectively detecting and/or determining the ATP from microorganism cells in a sample.
Bioluminescence analysis using luciferase is utilized as a rapid method for detecting ATP from microorganism cells. As a method for detecting the ATP from microorganism cells in a sample that is a mixture of microorganism cells and non-microorganism cells, a method is employed which comprises dissolving non-microorganism cells with a nonionic surface active agent, decomposing the released ATP from the non-microorganism cells with an ATP hydrolase such as apyrase, inactivating the apyrase with, for example, boiling-Tris buffer, adding an agent for lysing microorganisms to the sample and quantitatively determining the ATP from the microorganism cells by bioluminescence analysis (U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,090). According to this method, test results can be obtained in only several ten minutes and, thus, this method is most appropriate for sampling inspection and the like. However, since the inactivation treatment of apyrase with boiling-Tris buffer causes a decrease in determination sensitivity, it has not been possible to obtain a correct value for the ATP level.
As a method for selectively determining the ATP from microorganism cells in a sample containing non-microorganism cells, the three methods described below have been developed (Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 62-4120). In any of these methods, however, selective detection with a high sensitivity for the ATP from microorganism cells in the presence of the abundant ATP from non-microorganism cells is performed with much difficulty. The first method comprises treating a sample with a nonionic surface active agent to extract the ATP from non-microorganism cells, separating the ATP through a filter, extracting the concentrated ATP from microorganism cells in a filter and determining this ATP by bioluminescence analysis. This method, however, is not an appropriate method since it requires a long time and complicated operations for the filtration. The second method comprises treating a sample with a nonionic surface active agent to extract the ATP from non-microorganism cells, centrifuging the sample to remove the above ATP as a supernatant, extracting the ATP from microorganism cells from the precipitate containing microorganisms and determining this ATP by bioluminescence analysis. The drawback of this method is that the ATP from non-microorganism cells cannot be perfectly separated through one centrifugal operation. Although perfect separation is achieved by repeating centrifugal operations, these operations require a long time and are complicated. Furthermore, as the number of washing cycles (consisting of centrifugation and removal of supernatant) increases, the yield of microorganism cells decreases. Thus, this method cannot be said a good one. The third method comprises treating a sample with a nonionic surface active agent or the like to extract the ATP from non-microorganism cells, decomposing this ATP with an ATP hydrolase such as apyrase, passivating the apyrase with glass beads or the like after completion of the decomposition, then extracting the ATP from microorganism cells and determining this ATP by bioluminescence analysis. In this method, however, highly sensitive detection cannot be expected because the sample does not undergo an operation to concentrate microorganism cells and because the method is susceptible to determination inhibition by components of the sample such as proteins and milk fat. Furthermore, in this method, the removal or deactivation of the apyrase is incomplete and the inhibition action of the apyrase persists even after the extraction of ATP from microorganism cells. Thus, a correct ATP level cannot be determined. Accordingly, ATP values determined by the above three methods vary widely and, actually, the detection sensitivity that can be expected is only about 10.sup.6 CFU/ml (CFU: colony forming unit).
As one of the promising methods for improving detection sensitivity in bioluminescence analysis of ATP, the improvement of the above-described method including centrifugal operations in which an increase in sensitivity by concentration of microorganism can be expected may be mentioned. For milk samples, in particular, a new method has been proposed in which a chelating agent and a nonionic surface active agent are added to milk and then centrifuged in order to separate and concentrate microorganism cells from other components that inhibit the ATP determination. According to this method, determination inhibition by other milk components can be prevented. However, this method requires complicated operations, and an increase in detection sensitivity is hardly recognized since the removal of the ATP from non-microorganism cells is insufficient. Thus, as a practical testing method, insufficiency in sensitivity cannot be denied (EP-A-542790).
In view of these facts, the present invention aims at providing a method for selectively detecting and/or determining the ATP from microorganism cells in a sample at a high sensitivity and in a short time.

Method for detecting and/or determining ATP from microorganism cells in a sample


A component coil for constructing transformers and the transformer constructed therefrom are disclosed. The component coil includes a substrate having an insulating layer of material having top and bottom surfaces. First and second traces are included on the top and bottom surfaces. Each trace includes a spiral conductor. The inner ends of the spiral conductors are connected by a conductor that passes through the insulating layer. The first and second spiral conductors are oriented such that magnetic fields generated by the first and second spiral conductors have components perpendicular to the top surface and in the same direction. The component coils can be used to construct a power transformer or a galvanic isolator.

Transformers are often used to transfer information or power between circuits that are operating at different voltages or under different noise conditions. In many circuit arrangements, a logic signal must be transmitted between two circuits that must otherwise be electrically isolated from one another. For example, the transmitting circuit could utilize high internal voltages that would present a hazard to the receiving circuit or individuals in contact with that circuit. In the more general case, the isolating circuit must provide both voltage and noise isolation across an insulating barrier.
One type of galvanic isolator utilizes a transformer based system to isolate the two circuits. The sending circuit is connected to the primary coil of the transformer and the receiving circuit is connected to the secondary coil. The information is transferred by modulating the magnetic field generated in the primary coil. In this arrangement, the sending and receiving circuits can utilize entirely different power supplies and grounds and operate at different signal voltage levels. Typically, the transmitter and the two windings are constructed on a first semiconductor chip and the receiver is constructed on a separate chip that is connected to the first chip by wire bonds or the like. The two transformer windings are, typically, deposited over or near the drive circuits on the first chip by patterning two of the metal layers that are typically provided in conventional semiconductor fabrication processes. Alternatively, the coils may be fabricated on a different chip.
If the transformer coils are fabricated on the transmitter chip, the size of the transmitter chip is set by the size of the transformer coils, which typically require a significant area of silicon compared to the drive circuitry. Alternatively, if the coils are fabricated on the receiver chip or a separate chip, the coils will still require a significant area of silicon on those chips. The cost of the semiconductor substrate is a significant fraction of the cost of the isolator. This is a particularly significant problem when large coils are required to provide the coupling between the transmitter and receiver. In addition, many applications require multiple independent galvanic isolators on a single substrate. Cross-talk between the isolators constructed on silicon substrates using conventional semiconductor fabrication techniques is difficult to block in a cost-effective manner because of fringe fields generated by one coil being coupled to an adjacent coil. If the chips are separated by a sufficient distance on the silicon substrate, the cost of the wasted silicon becomes significant.
In addition to the wasted silicon area, devices constructed using conventional silicon integrated circuit fabrication have limitations that are imposed by the design rules of the fabrication line and the limitations as to materials that are allowed on that line. For many applications, the dielectric insulation between the coils of the transformer must withstand voltages in excess of 1000 volts. The thickness of dielectric that is available in conventional CMOS fabrication lines is insufficient to provide this degree of insulation. In addition, in some applications it would be advantageous to provide a ferrite layer or layers near the coils of the transformer to improve the coupling efficiency. However, the materials in question cannot be utilized in many conventional fabrication lines.
In some cases, it would be advantageous to power one of the circuits from the other circuit. For example, the transmitting circuit could power the receiving circuit. Such an arrangement would allow the receiving circuit to operate at different voltages than the transmitting circuit without requiring a separate power source on the receiving circuit. In principle, a transformer could also be utilized to provide the power transfer function. However, the efficiency required to provide the power transfer function is significantly greater than that needed to merely transmit information. Hence, such transformers are not easily, or economically, constructed using silicon-based fabrication techniques.
Miniature transformers constructed by winding wire around small cores are also known to the art. However, these devices are made one at a time, and hence, lack the economies of scale that are provided by wafer-scale photolithographic techniques and other mass production techniques developed for integrated circuits and the packaging thereof. Miniature transformers made by plating the coil pattern for the primary coil winding on one side of a printed circuit board and the secondary winding on the other side of the printed circuit board are also known. However, these dielectric core transformers have insufficient windings and are required to operate at relatively high frequencies because of the lack of a soft ferrite core.

Miniature transformers adapted for use in galvanic isolators and the like

Avago Technologies ECBU IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


An apparatus and a method for adjusting the colors of the on-screen display graphics to match the colors of the video with which the OSD graphics are to be combined. In one aspect, a selected one of a plurality of OSD color palettes (103, 105) is used to produce graphics for a selected one of a plurality of signal sources. As such, the appropriately formatted palette is used to produce graphics for a similarly formatted input signal, i.e., an analog source would be combined with graphics produced from a palette having Y, PI, PQ formatted signals. Consequently, the color compensation matrices would properly compensate both the graphics and the video from each source. In another aspect, a desired one of a plurality of matrices (107, 109) operates on the OSD signal source to match the OSD colorimetry with the input signal colorimetry.

1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for processing video signals, and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for processing on screen display (OSD) signals and video signals from various sources having different colorimetries.
2) Description of the Related Art
Modern television receivers are designed to receive and process video signals from various sources, for example, analog television signals from a National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) transmission or a video tape, as well as digital video signals transmitted in accordance with the ATSC Digital Television Standard, A/54 (1995). Different signal sources may be encoded according to different colorimetries. "Colorimetry" refers to the combination of color primaries, transfer characteristics, and matrix coefficients associated with generating and processing color representative signals. For example, NTSC signals comply with SMPTE 170M colorimetry and ATSC signals default to comply with ITU-R BT.709 (1990) colorimetry. Additionally, ISO/IEC 13818-2 provides for the broadcaster to specify the input colorimetry to the receiver to allow for other colorimetry combinations.
In view of the possible differences in colorimetries between different signals, it is desirable to design television receiver circuitry with colorimetry compensation so that the video display of the signals from the various sources has a uniform colorimetry. Such circuitry compensates the input video signals such that the color of similar objects are substantially similar regardless of the particular colorimetry. For example, a flesh tone from an ATSC source should appear similar to a flesh tone from an NTSC source.
Television receivers also produce and display OSD graphics that provide information and enable user interface functions. Typically, the OSDs are generated in response to user input to provide information about a program or the receiver, and to allow the user to control functions such as channel selection, image quality and the like. An OSD system usually comprises a common source of OSD signals, which signals are generated by a processing unit in response to received signals or user input, stored in a memory, and then read out and combined with the received video signals. The signals are combined after colorimetry compensation has been performed on the video signal. The OSD signals are combined with the video signals in a mixer that is controlled by a microprocessor. As the lines of the image are traced on a CRT, or a similar display device, the microprocessor selects either the OSD signal or the video signal for output in response to an output of a counter, thereby selectively inserting the OSD image onto the video program image.

Method and apparatus for providing on-screen displays for a multi-colorimetry receiver