A method is disclosed for photodisrupting a surface in the stroma of an eye at a substantially constant distance from the anterior surface of the eye. A frame of reference is established for the eye that includes an axis of rotation. Next, the focal point of a laser beam is positioned in the stroma at a radial distance from the axis. At least one laser pulse is delivered to the stromal tissue at the focal point, photodisrupting the tissue there and creating a photodisruption bubble having a diameter “d”. The focal point is then rotated about the axis through an arc length substantially equal to “d” and the photodisruption step is repeated. During rotation, the distance between the focal point and the axis is decreased at a rate substantially equal to the distance “d” per revolution. The method can be used to create a flap for a LASIK type procedure.

In a typical Laser In-Situ Keratomeleusis (LASIK) procedure, a microkeratome is used to incise the cornea of a patient and create a flap. The flap is then lifted to expose a bed of stromal tissue which is subsequently ablated using an Excimer laser. The use of a mechanical device, such as a microkeratome, to create a flap has several disadvantages. For example, the creation of a suitable flap with the microkeratome relies heavily on the skill and eye-hand coordination of the surgeon. In such operations, complications can result if the flap is cut improperly or is completely severed from the cornea. In addition, the use of a microkeratome often produces an irregular incision. As a consequence, the bed of tissue that is exposed when the flap is lifted often contains surface irregularities that can create wrinkles when the flap is replaced. These wrinkles can produce undesirable vision deficiencies. As an additional drawback, the incision produced by a microkeratome is typically not substantially dome-shaped or parallel to the anterior surface of the cornea. Because the bed of exposed tissue is not parallel to the anterior surface of the cornea, the laser ablation step can be relatively complicated, is often difficult to control, and can result in an ablation that is somewhat uneven relative to the natural curvature of the cornea. This is especially troublesome when the ablation of a uniform thickness of tissue is prescribed to correct an optical deficiency. For example, the ablation of a uniform volume of tissue is typically prescribed to treat myopia (i.e. nearsightedness), which is a widely occurring condition among the adult population.
As an alternative to using a microkeratome, a laser can be used to create a flap for a LASIK type procedure. For example, a train of laser pulses having pulse durations in the femtosecond range, can be directed to a focal point at a predetermined location within a patient's cornea to photodisrupt tissue at the focal point with precision and accuracy. The photodisruption of tissue by femtosecond lasers results from a process called laser induced optical breakdown (LIOB). Specifically, in the LIOB process, optical breakdown occurs in the laser focus due to the extremely high local electrical field strength that is generated. This field exceeds the binding energy of the valence electrons to their atoms, resulting in the generation of a microplasma, gas bubbles and shockwaves.
An example of a procedure that uses a pulsed laser beam focused at a predetermined, subsurface location within a patient's cornea is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,586, which issued to Bille et al. for an invention entitled "Method for Reshaping the Eye". In greater detail, the above-cited Bille patent discloses the use of a pulsed laser beam for subsurface photodisruption of intrastromal tissue. Unlike the Excimer laser used after flap creation in the conventional LASIK procedure, the pulsed laser beam, as disclosed by Bille, penetrates corneal tissue and can be focused at a point below the surface of the cornea to photodisrupt stromal tissue at the focal point.
The ability to reach a subsurface location without necessarily providing a physical pathway allows for volumes of stromal tissue to be photodisrupted having complicated shapes while minimizing the amount of total tissue disrupted. To create these shapes, the laser beam is first directed to a focal point (using suitable optics to include a cutting lens) at a target location corresponding to a point on the desired volume to be photodisrupted. After at least one pulse is delivered to the focal point to ablate the tissue there, the focal point is moved (i.e. scanned) to another point in the prescribed volume. At the new location, at least one pulse is delivered and the process of scanning and ablating is continued until the entire prescribed volume of tissue is photodisrupted.
From the above discussion, it is apparent that the accuracy, agility and speed of the scanning sub-system can have a large impact on the overall performance of the surgical system. Stated another way, the scanning system is responsible for accurately and very quickly moving the focal point from one prescribed location to another. This demand on the scanning system can be especially acute when scanning is required in all three dimensions (i.e. a movement from one location to the next requires a simultaneous movement in an "x", "y" and "z" direction). In an effort to simplify this requirement, one technique has been developed which requires the scanning system to scan in only two (rather than three) mutually orthogonal directions. For this technique, the cornea is first applanated to obviate the need for scanning movements in the z direction. This is done by conforming the anterior surface of the cornea against a substantially flat applanating lens. Next, a planar volume of subsurface tissue parallel to the applanating lens is ablated. With the use of a specialized cutting lens having no field curvature, the planar volume can be ablated with only two-dimensional scanning (i.e. scan movements normal to the applanating lens surface are not required). However, as developed further below, this technique can result in several rather severe and undesirable consequences.
Although scanning is simplified, flattening of the cornea can have undesirable consequences. For example, flattening of the cornea can result in severe discomfort for the patient. Moreover, flattening of the cornea can increase the intraocular pressure to dangerously high levels. Lastly, but perhaps of equal importance, severe flattening of the cornea can distort the three-dimensional architecture of the corneal lamellae. The result of this distortion is that an incision that is made while the cornea is severely flattened, changes shape in an unpredictable way when the cornea is relaxed.
For the case where scanning the three mutually orthogonal directions is contemplated, a number of factors can impact system performance. Among these factors involves the scan distance that the focal point must be moved from one ablation point to the next. As this scan distance increases, larger scan movements are required. As recognized by the present invention, scan accuracy is typically proportional to scan distance. Accordingly, by reducing the scan distance, scan accuracy can be improved. In addition, relatively large scan movements often result in increased wear on the scanner system components. This wear can decrease the life of the scanner system. Lastly, short scan movements can be executed faster than large scan movements. Thus, it is desirable to use an ablation scan pattern which minimizes scan movements between consecutively ablated spots to thereby quicken the procedure. In somewhat simpler terms, for a given scan response time, shorter scan movements can accommodate the use of a faster laser pulse repetition rate and result in a shorter overall procedure time.
In light of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide systems and methods suitable for the purposes of photodisrupting subsurface ablations having relatively complex shapes such as a substantially dome-shaped layer of stromal tissue. It is another object of the present invention to provide methods for creating a flap that can be used as part of a LASIK type procedure, and particularly, a flap which exposes a surface for ablation that is substantially parallel to the natural, anterior surface of cornea. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method for photodisrupting a preselected volume of tissue using a series of relatively small scan movements. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method for photodisrupting stromal tissue at a plurality of subsurface focal points which is easy to use, relatively simple to implement, and comparatively cost effective.

Method for intrastromal photodisruption of dome-shaped surfaces

20/10 Perfect Vision Optische Geraete GmbH


This disclosure relates to an electronic device for wireless communications, and a wireless communication method. The electronic device comprises one or more processors, wherein each processor is configured to respectively conduct space-domain filtering on received signals of a plurality of antennas, respectively; estimate the frequency shift of corresponding received signals based on the signals, on which space-domain filtering is conducted, of various antennas; estimate, according to the estimated frequency shift and a parameter of the space-domain filtering, a Doppler frequency shift generated by the relative motion between transceiving ends of the received signals and a carrier frequency offset generated by frequency inconsistency of the transceiving ends; and conduct frequency preprocessing on sent signals of the antennas according to the estimated Doppler frequency shift, and/or control to feed back information related to the estimated Doppler frequency shift to a signal sending end.

In a fast time-varying channel environment (such as a high speed railway), the performance of a wireless communication system may be affected by a Doppler effect caused by a relative movement between a receiving end and a transmitting end. In addition, in a wireless cellular mobile communication system, to restrain a carrier frequency offset generated by frequency inconsistency between receiving and the transmitting ends, a frequency of a local oscillator of a receiver is generally adjusted by measuring a frequency offset of a received signal by using an automatic frequency calibration technology, thereby the frequency generated by the local oscillator is synchronized with the carrier frequency of the received signal. In a fast time-varying channel environment, an effect on the received signal caused by the carrier frequency offset generated by the frequency inconsistency of the receiving and transmitting ends has a manner similar to that of an effect on the received signal caused by the Doppler shift generated by the relative movement between the receiving and transmitting ends. Therefore, the frequency offset parameters estimated at the receiving end by the automatic frequency calibration technology essentially include both the carrier frequency offset generated by the frequency inconsistency of the receiving and transmitting ends and the Doppler shift generated by the relative movement between the receiving and transmitting ends.

Electronic device for wireless communications, and wireless communication method


The present invention describes a mutant plasmid replication control region having the ability to convey a phenotype of altered plasmid copy number to the plasmid on which it resides. The mutant replication control region is based on a similar region isolated from the pBBR1 plasmid family. Plasmids containing this replication control region cannot be classed as belonging to any known incompatibility group and thus may co-exist with a broad range of other plasmids in a single host.

The creation of a recombinant host suitable for high-level production of a specific product typically requires significant metabolic engineering to the native host machinery and biosynthetic pathways. In response to needs for high-level gene expression, many specialized expression vectors have been created by manipulating a number of different genetic elements that control aspects of transcription, translation, protein stability, oxygen limitation, and secretion from the host cell. More specifically, the molecular features that must be considered when designing systems for optimal gene expression include: 1.) the nature of the relevant transcriptional promoter and terminator sequences; 2.) the strength of the ribosome binding site; 3.) the final cellular location of the synthesized foreign protein; 4.) the efficiency of translation in the host organism; 5.) the intrinsic stability of the cloned gene protein within the host cell; 6.) the codon usage within the cloned gene, such that its frequency approaches the frequency of preferred codon usage of the host cell; and 7.) the number of copies of the cloned gene and whether the gene is plasmid-borne or integrated into the genome of the host cell.
Although each of the modifications described above has tremendous utility, the ease of testing each modification in a particular host organism for production of a specific protein product as a means to increase gene expression varies widely. For example, modification of the codon usage of a particular cloned gene is a tedious process, requiring nucleotide base pair modifications throughout the gene of interest. In contrast, one of the easiest means to increase gene expression involves increasing the number of copies of the plasmid-borne cloned gene(s), either by: 1.) increasing the number of copies of the cloned gene within each expression plasmid; or 2.) increasing the copy number of the plasmid on which the gene to be expressed resides. The former requires additional cloning for each gene that is to be expressed within a particular expression plasmid and multiple copies of an identical gene may be unstable due to homologous recombination. The latter method requires synthesis of a suite of modified expression plasmids having altered plasmid copy number suitable for the particular host organism of interest; however, numerous different cloned genes can readily be tested within this suite of plasmids to determine the optimal ratio of gene copy number to gene expression level.
Concerning plasmid copy number; it is known that plasmids must control their replication so that the copy number (N) of a given plasmid within a population of cells is usually maintained within a narrow Gaussian distribution within a given host and under defined growth conditions. This is required, since plasmids must co-exist stably within their hosts and minimize metabolic load upon the cell. Specifically, over-accumulation of plasmid copies within a cell can slow cell growth and eventually cause cell death. In contrast, a plasmid replication rate that is too slow can lead to plasmid-free cells, since plasmid-free cells often grow faster and can outnumber plasmid-carrying cells in the population. Means for regulating plasmid copy number are the result of an autoregulatory control mechanism, wherein the plasmid DNA concentration itself determines the rate at which new plasmid copies are generated. In general, the initiation of plasmid replication may be controlled by regulating the amount of available primer for the initiation of DNA replication, regulating the amount of essential replication proteins, or regulating the function of essential replication proteins. Several recent reviews discuss details concerning plasmid copy number control (see, for example, Helinski, D. R., et al. Replication control and other stable maintenance mechanisms of plasmids. In Escherichia coli and Salmonella, Vol. 2. Neidhardt, F. C., et al. Eds. American Society of Microbiology: Washington, D.C., pp. 2295–2324 (1996); Chattoraj, D. K. and Schneider, T. D., Prog Nucleic Acid Res Mol Biol, 57:145–186 (1997); del Solar, G. & Espinosa, M., Mol Microbiol, 37(3): 492–500 (2000); and Chattoraj, D. K., Mol Microbiol, 37(3):467–476 (2000)).
A second consideration when selecting a particular expression vector is the host range of the vector itself. Specifically, host range refers to the types of microbes in which a plasmid will replicate. One may develop a specific vector for each microbial species of interest; or, one may take advantage of available broad host range replicons that have the ability to be maintained in a wide range of microbes that are unrelated. These broad host range plasmids typically encode all of their own proteins required for replication and which function in multiple hosts. Thus, these plasmids are not dependent on their host cell. In contrast, narrow host range replicons may lack replication or segregation proficiencies (as compared to an inability to be introduced into or express genetic markers in a distantly related host), which result in their replication only in closely related species (Schmidhauser, T. J. and D. R. Helinski., J. Bacteriol., 164:446–455 (1985)).
Most broad host range plasmids are classified on the basis of their intrinsic properties, according to their "incompatibility groups". This classification reflects the similarities in sequence, function, and the nature of the replicon (as replicons of the same type are unable to co-exist in a cell, while replicons from different incompatibility groups (e.g., "Inc" groups) may exist simultaneously in a single cell). Natural plasmid isolates of Gram-negative bacteria that belong to Inc groups C, N, P, Q, and W display replication and maintenance proficiency in a diversity of bacterial species.
The pBBR1 plasmid is a 2.6 kB broad host range plasmid isolated from the Gram-negative bacterium Bordetella bronchiseptica S87 (Antoine, R. and C. Locht, Mol. Microbiol., 6(13):1785–1799 (1992); FR 2,690,459). Many derivatives of pBBR1 have been constructed to add various multiple cloning sites (Kovach et al., Biotechniques, 16: 800–802 (1994)), antibiotic resistance markers (Kovach et al., Gene, 166: 175–176 (1995)), reporter genes (Ramos et al., J Biotechnol, 97: 243–252 (2002)), and regulated promoters (Lefebre and Valvano, Appl Environ Microbiol, 68: 5956–5964 (2002); Sukchawalit et al., FEMS Microbiol Lett, 181: 217–223 (1999)). These pBBR1-based plasmid derivatives have been used in a variety of applications including: 1.) development of a genetic system for bacteria (Coppi et al., Appl Environ Microbiol, 67: 3180–3187 (2001); Su et al., Microbiology, 147: 581–589 (2001)); 2.) synthesis of novel polyhydroxy alkanoates (Ewering et al., Microbiology, 148: 1397–1406 (2002)); 3.) production of biocatalysts for biotransformation (Overhage et al., Appl Environ Microbiol, 68: 4315–4321 (2002)); and 4.) over-expression of a protective antigen to enhance vaccine efficacy (Vemulapalli et al., Infect Immun, 68: 3286–3289 (2000)).
One particular derivative of pBBR1 having utility as an expression/cloning vector with very broad host range maintenance is the commercially available pBHR1 (MoBiTec; Göttingen, Germany; GenBank® Y14439). Like pBBR1, pBHR1 does not belong to any of the common broad host range incompatibility groups and possesses a relatively high copy number. Both pBBR1 and pBHR1 plasmids possess two critical open reading frames (ORFs)—the first, known as rep, is involved in replication of the plasmid; and, the second ORF is known as mob. The mob gene, involved in mobilization, has been extensively characterized for this family of plasmids by Szpirer et al. (Molecular Microb. 37(6): 1283–1292 (2000); J. Bacteriol. 183(6): 2101–2110 (2001)). Plasmid pBHR1 also additionally has two selectable markers (i.e., kanamycin and chloramphenicol), while maintaining a relatively small size of only 5300 bp. These properties render pBHR1 an extremely useful cloning vector suitable for a wide range of Gram-negative bacteria.
One variation that would increase the utility of pBBR1 and plasmid derivatives within the pBBR1 family would be a means to increase the copy number of the plasmid. Specifically, it would be desirable to create a suite of mutants having altered plasmid copy number, since this would enable one to readily assess the relationship between gene copy number and gene expression. In general, increased plasmid copy number per cell can substantially increase the overall yield of proteins (i.e., titer) that are expressed by the plasmid within the host cell. Plasmid mutants having a phenotype of altered copy number are generated by random mutagenesis followed by screening to obtain mutants with the desired phenotype. Although the technique of generating these mutants is well understood by an artisan skilled in molecular biology, the utility and need for development of pBBR1-based plasmids having altered plasmid copy number has not previously been recognized.
The problem to be solved therefore is to develop a broad host range expression plasmid having the ability to: 1.) co-exist with a variety of other broad host range plasmids; and 2.) replicate within a given host under defined growth conditions, such that the plasmid copy number is altered relative to the native pBBR1-based plasmid.
The present problem has been solved by providing a suite of isolated plasmids derived from pBHR1 comprised of mutant replication control regions conveying a phenotype of increased plasmid copy number. The broad host range of the plasmids, and their compatibility with other known broad host range vectors, makes the plasmids of the present invention particularly attractive for plasmid-based protein expression within a variety of bacteria.

Broad host range pBBR1-based plasmid mutant derivatives having altered plasmid copy number


Sustained release pharmaceutical compound delivery compositions and methods for their production are disclosed wherein ion exchange resin particles are loaded with releasably bound pharmaceutical compounds prior to incorporation in an erodible polymeric matrix to form microparticulates. The microparticulates are suspended in a fluid medium where the encapsulating polymeric matrix shields the drug loaded ion exchange resin from solvent interaction. Administration to a target tissue site initiations erosion of the polymer matrix and release of the loaded pharmaceutical compound.

A common problem with the administration of many pharmaceutical compounds, including therapeutic and diagnostic drugs, has been the need to retain effective quantities of these compounds in contact with targeted tissue sites for sufficient periods of time to accomplish the desired therapeutic or diagnostic purpose. This problem is particularly acute in connection with physiological systems characterized by rapid fluid turnover or drainage. For example, in the ocular environment tear turnover and drainage through the lacrimal drainage system quickly remove the major portion of any pharmaceutical compound administered to the surface of the eye so that only a small fraction of the original dosage remains in contact with the ocular tissue for any period of time. Analogous problems are encountered in connection with the treatment of the nasal mucosa, oral and anal cavities, uro-genital track, vagina and similar physiologic environments.
Early approaches at addressing this problem generally relied upon the repeated administration of relatively large dosages of pharmaceutical compounds to compensate for the rapid loss of the compounds following their administration to the target site. Though relatively successful at maintaining effective concentrations of the desired pharmaceutical agents in contact with the target tissue such strategies were wasteful and had a number of drawbacks. These drawbacks included the expense associated with using relatively large quantities of pharmaceutical compounds, patient discomfort with repeated drug administration and systemic side-effects associated with large and frequent drug doses. Alternative approaches to the solution of this problem utilized viscous ointments and gels as delivery vehicles for the pharmaceutical compounds. These semi-solid delivery vehicles slowed down the rapid loss of the pharmaceutical compounds and retained an adequate dosage in contact with the target tissue. However, effectively delivering a controlled drug dosage with such widely variable systems proved difficult. Additionally, though satisfactory for direct topical application to mucous membranes, skin and the conjunctiva of the eye, such viscous delivery vehicles were not suitable for injection. More over, when utilized to treat ocular conditions such drug containing ointments and gels formed barriers to sight and produced an uncomfortable and aesthetically unpleasant crusting along the edges of the eyelids. These drawbacks as well as the possibility of blockage of the lacrimal duct when used to treat the eye lead to decreased patient acceptability and utilization of these systems.
A more modern approach directed at overcoming these problems has been the use of controlled or sustained release drug delivery systems. Typically, these systems utilize a polymeric matrix incorporating a therapeutic or diagnostic pharmaceutical compound. The polymer matrix is usually configured as a macroscopic insert designed to be placed in contact with the target tissue site. Once in position, the incorporated pharmaceutical compounds are released in a controlled manner through diffusion from the polymer matrix or in response to erosion of the polymer through mechanical or chemical means. Though generally effective, a significant disadvantage associated with such macroscopic controlled release inserts was the need for medical personnel to position and remove the devices. Additionally, patient discomfort with the inserted devices limited their use.
The subsequent development of microparticulate polymeric drug delivery vehicles addressed some of these problems. Once suspended in solutions of appropriate viscosities they were capable of either topical administration or administration through injection. Additionally, when properly formulated patients were able to self-administer such microparticulate suspensions in the form of drops or ointments. However, in spite of these successes significant problems remain with the administration and handling of microparticulate drug delivery vehicles. For example, fluid turnover or drainage at the target site may prematurely sweep the microparticulates from the target tissue along with the carrier liquid. This problem is particularly acute when microparticulate suspensions are administered as eye drops.
Further detracting from their utility, microparticulate drug delivery vehicles formed from water labile polymers must be stored in an anhydrous environment until just prior to use. Unless a liquid carrier other than water is used to suspend such microparticulates, the end user must suffer the inconvenience of combining the aqueous liquid carrier with the microparticulates immediately prior to administration. Though water labile erodible polymer microparticulates may be preferred because they do not require removal from the target site following administration, their inability to remain suspended in a ready-to-use formulation makes it virtually impossible to provide a pre-mixed water labile microparticulate drug delivery vehicle with even a minute shelf life.
Further compounding these problems, the therapeutic and diagnostic compounds that typically would be incorporated into such microparticulate delivery vehicles are often hydrophilic, water soluble, or even water reactive. As a result, during storage in aqueous suspension these pharmaceutical compounds will leach from the microparticulate carriers into the carrier solution where they may react with solvent molecules. This may result in a substantial loss of the desired pharmaceutical activity as well as directly impacting the ability to control the drug delivery rate from the suspension. Thus, depending upon the diffusion rate of the hydrophilic, water soluble or water reactive pharmaceutical compound involved, the available shelf life of a microparticulate suspension will be much shorter than even the minimum desirable shelf life.
In addition to the problems of shelf life and longterm storage instability, when hydrophilic, water soluble or water reactive pharmaceutical compounds are incorporated into polymeric drug delivery vehicles there is a significant problem in maintaining control of the actual drug delivery characteristics such as the drug release rate and the drug delivery duration. Undesirably fast delivery rates can result from a variety of factors including the extent of drug loading within the polymer matrix, polymer swelling, diffusion rate and erosion rate as well as the length of time the polymer has remained in suspension prior to administration at the target site. Premature delivery also decreases the duration of drug availability.
An alternative drug delivery suspension is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,920. This patent discloses a sustained release ophthalmic formulation for treating glaucoma without the unpleasant stinging sensation normally associated with compounds for lowering intraocular pressure. The disclosed formulation incorporates an active pharmaceutical compound held in suspension by a cationic exchange resin dispersed in an aqueous solution or gel of an anionic polymer. The formulation is compounded by dispersing the cationic exchange resin in water, adding the active component and then the anionic polymer. When administered to the eye as a pourable liquid, gel or salt the active ingredient held by the cationic exchange resin and the anionic polymer is released when the ions naturally present in the tear fluid compete with the bound active ingredient for sites on the polymer vehicle and ionic exchange resin.
While reportedly effective at reducing ocular discomfort, this formulation does not address the problems of shelf life and long-term storage stability. More specifically, because the molecules of the active component or drug are free to defuse in and out of the ion exchange resin while maintaining an equilibrium concentration in the aqueous medium they are subject to degradation. This particularly true with respect to water labile compounds. Moreover, the release characteristics of this drug delivery vehicle may be less than desirable in that substantially spontaneous dumping of the bound active ingredient may occur at the target site. Additionally, when formulated at sufficient viscosities to reduce losses through drainage and turnover the compounds may interfere with vision.
Accordingly, it is principal object of the present invention to provide a sustained release pharmaceutical drug delivery composition having improved delivery characteristics and enhanced long-term storage stability.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a pharmaceutical drug delivery composition that is particularly well suited for use with hydrophilic, water soluble or water reactive pharmaceutical compounds and which may be formulated as an aqueous suspension that can be stored for a significant period of time prior to use.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sustained release pharmaceutical drug delivery composition with bioadhesive properties which enhance its retention at the target site without significantly increasing its viscosity.

Stable suspension formulations of bioerodible polymer matrix microparticles incorporating drug loaded ion exchange resin particles


There is provided a fuel oil atomizer comprised of an elongated outer member, an elongated inner member and an atomizing head. The inner member is a fuel supply conduit which is coaxially received within the central opening of the outer member defining therebetween a generally annular atomizing fluid supply conduit. The atomizing head includes a fuel chamber, an atomizing fluid chamber and a mixing chamber. The fuel supply conduit communicates with the fuel chamber. The atomizing fluid supply conduit communicates with the atomizing fluid chamber. The fuel chamber has a first end and a second end. The atomizing fluid chamber is circumambient to the first end of the fuel chamber and the fuel chamber has a portion that extends axially from the atomizing fluid chamber. The mixing chamber is circumambient to the second end of the fuel chamber.

The present invention relates to fuel oil burners and, in particular, to fuel oil atomizers.
To efficiently burn fuel oil it is necessary to atomize the fuel oil into a fine mist. As such, there have been many improvements made to the efficiency of fuel oil atomizers. However, economic problems related to manufacturing costs and operational costs associated with fuel oil atomizers still persist.


In some implementations, a user can specify an audio control curve for an audio track. The audio track can include an audio signal that is sampled at a specified rate. The audio control curve can be used to generate an audio control signal that can be sampled at the same rate as the audio signal. The audio signal and the audio control signal can be combined to produce sample-accurate adjustments of the audio signal. In some implementations, the audio control curve can correspond to gain adjustments for the audio signal. In some implementations, the audio control curve can be used to adjust the amplitude of the audio signal at particular frequencies. The audio control curve can be used to adjust treble or bass levels during the playback of an audio track, for example.

Audio editing software can allow a user to edit various characteristics of a digital audio track. For example, a user can apply equalizer filters to adjust the bass and treble of an audio signal. A user can provide input specifying volume and/or gain levels for different parts of an audio track.

Volume adjustment based on user-defined curve


A method of providing prosthetic sockets (30) for a patient's residual limb (21). While the residual limb (21) is swollen with post-trauma edema (22-25), a resin-impregnated temporary shell forming sock (52) is placed onto the edema-swollen residual limb (21). The resin is activated to cause it to harden into a temporary prosthetic shell (30), but prior to hardening of the resin, the sock (52) is conformed to the patient's edema-swollen limb (21). After swelling of the residual limb (21) has substantially dissipated, a permanent prosthetic socket conforming to the patient's unswollen residual limb (22b-25c) is formed and the temporary prosthetic socket (30) is replaced with the permanent prosthetic socket. A temporary prosthetic socket (30) is also disclosed in which a resin-hardened temporary sock (52) is bonded to a socket liner (49) over a prosthetic attachment assembly (48) in a configuration substantially conforming to the patient's residual limb (21) when in an edema-swollen (22-25) condition.

Prosthetic devices which are used to replace missing limbs are typically mounted by a socket to the residual limb or amputation stump of a patient. The sockets are most preferably custom made to conform to the configuration of the residual limb so as to be capable of supporting weight, in the case of a leg, or loading forces, in the case of an arm.
It has been found that it is highly desirable for patients to begin use of prosthetic devices as soon as possible after the required or accidental amputation of a limb. If a patient can be fitted with a prosthetic device soon after limb amputation, the prognosis for long term, effective use of the prosthetic is much higher. Additionally, the adverse psychological impact of an amputation can most effectively be minimized by rapid adaptation of the patient to a prosthetic in order to reinforce the patient's realization that he or she will be able to be self-sufficient.
While it is generally accepted that it is desirable to have patients begin using prosthetic devices soon after a limb amputation, there are serious practical difficulties in implementing such a procedure. Immediately after limb amputation, whether such amputation was a result of a planned surgical protocol or traumatic accidental occurrence, the residual limb or amputation stump will experience considerable post-operative or post-trauma edema or swelling. Such edema, of course, is also accompanied with considerable pain and discomfort. Even after the pain and discomfort subside to acceptable levels, the edema will continue for two to three months until the body gradually absorbs the fluids from the residual limb.
Since limb prosthetic devices are most typically mounted to a patient by a socket which is customized to the configuration of the patient's residual limb, formation of a prosthetic socket within a few weeks of limb amputation results in a socket which conforms to the configuration of the swollen or edema-affected residual limb.
One approach to forming prosthetic sockets, for example, is to form a plaster of Paris or other cast of the residual limb. The cast is removed from the limb and used in the laboratory as a negative. A positive plaster of Paris cast can be made from the negative and then a residual limb prosthetic socket built in the laboratory over the positive. Typical of prior art using this general approach are the systems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,351,789; 1,907,511; 4,307,056; 4,473,421; 5,376,127; 5,376,129; 5,376,132; 5,405,405; and 5,503,543. These patents describe techniques of using a negative cast made from the residual limb as a basis for creating a customized prosthetic socket. Common to these various systems is the labor-intensive reality of making negatives, positives and thereafter forming a prosthetic socket on the positive. Accordingly, prosthetic sockets formed using such conventional techniques have been relatively expensive.
More recently, prosthetic systems have been devised which eliminate the need for formation of a negative of the residual limb. Rather than taking the negative to a laboratory, forming a positive and thereafter forming the socket, these techniques employ casting the socket in place directly on the patient's residual limb. Prior art showing this type of system includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,193,395; 4,923,474; 5,258,036; and 5,387,245.
One cast-in-place system is now commercially available in the United States under the ICEX trademark through Ossur USA, Inc. of Carpeteria, Calif. The Ossur USA system is described in detail in a manual entitled "IceCast Compact Technical Manual." Even such in-situ or cast-in-place systems, however, are very expensive.
The materials in the Ossur USA ICEX system, for example, will cost over $600, primarily because a carbon fiber sock is used to make a permanent (3 to 5 years) prosthetic socket.
The major problem which has occurred in prior art prosthetic socket casting procedures has been that, if the procedure is performed early, the resulting socket will reflect the edema or swelling in the residual limb. As the patient's body absorbs the edema, however, the swelling will subside, resulting in a poor fit between the prosthetic socket and the residual limb. Patients attempt to accommodate this edema absorption by adding additional socks over their residual limb before placing the limb in the prosthetic socket. The additional socks are used to fill the space left in the socket as a result of limb shrinking due to edema absorption. Since the edema will not generally be uniform and socks are uniform, the use of this technique is only partially satisfactory.
Two other approaches are taken to accommodate residual limb shrinkage. The first is to simply recast the socket, that is, to form a second prosthetic socket after the edema has dissipated, for example in two to three months. The second is to wait two to three months before forming the prosthetic socket. Both of these approaches have substantial disadvantages. The first is costly, while the second is undesirable in terms of the likelihood of the patient's successful adaptation to the prosthetic and psychological problems attendant to waiting.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for forming prosthetic sockets for patients' residual limbs which can be used during the post-operative or post-trauma period in which the patient's residual limb is swollen with edema.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and a temporary prosthetic socket which provides better conformance to the patient's residual limb.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for forming prosthetic sockets which is relatively low in cost, minimizes pain and discomfort to the patient, and can be used with patients which have very substantial residual limb swelling.
The present invention has other objects and features of advantage which will become apparent from, or are set forth in more detail in, the accompanying drawings and the following Best Mode of Carrying Out the Invention.

Method of providing prosthetic sockets and temporary prosthetic socket


An electronic component comprises a substrate including a main surface on which a functional unit is formed and a cap layer defining a cavity enclosing and covering the functional unit. The cap layer is provided with holes communicating an inside of the cavity with an outside of the cavity. A resin layer covers the cap layer and the main surface and includes one or more bores and a solder layer having a thickness less than a thickness of the resin layer disposed within the one or more bores.

Electronic components including a hollow or cavity sealing structure for MEMS (Microelectromechanical System) devices may be subjected to face-down mounting on printed circuit boards via solder bumps and then resin sealed and packaged by transfer molding. The packaged component can be provided as an electronic device.
US Patent Application Publication No. US2014/284729A1 discloses a technology for manufacturing such an electronic component, according to which a sacrificial layer of organic material is formed on a substrate, a silicon oxide film is formed using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process to cover the sacrificial layer, and then the sacrificial layer is removed by ashing under an elevated temperature to form a cavity. US Patent Application Publication No. US2015/170997A1 discloses a technology according to which a sacrificial layer of organic material is similarly formed on a substrate, a silicon oxide film is formed to cover the sacrificial layer, and then the sacrificial layer is removed using a wet etching process via perforations provided through the silicon oxide film.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electronic package including cavity formed by removal of sacrificial material from within a cap

SKYWORKS FILTER SOLUTIONS JAPAN CO., LTD.


A vertical deflection IC protection device for a monitor employing a dedicated display data channel (DDC) chip which can prevent the vertical deflection IC from being damaged by intercepting an input of a high frequency of about 25 KHz to the vertical deflection IC when monitor information data stored in the DDC chip is read out by a computer. The protection device includes a DDC section receiving a vertical sync signal from a computer I/O section and outputting DDC data to the computer I/O section when a predetermined time elapses thereafter, and a vertical frequency selection control section which intercepts the input of an abnormal vertical sync signal, which has a frequency higher than the normal vertical sync signal, to the vertical deflection IC when the abnormal vertical sync signal is inputted from the computer I/O section for the DDC data transmission.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the protection of a vertical deflection integrated circuit (IC) for a monitor, and in particular to a device for protecting a vertical deflection IC for a monitor employing a dedicated display data channel (DDC) chip which can prevent the vertical deflection IC from getting damage due to an instantaneous supply of a vertical sync signal of 25 KHz or more to a vertical deflection circuit of the monitor when data stored in the dedicated DDC chip is read out by a computer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a monitor may employ a dedicated DDC chip in which information on the specification, manufacturing date, serial number, etc. of the monitor has been stored by a manufacturer. If necessary, such DDC information can be displayed on the screen of the monitor by a user.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional device for a monitor employing a dedicated DDC chip. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional device is provided with a computer input/output (I/O) section 100 which outputs a vertical sync signal provided from a computer to a DDC section 110 and a vertical deflection section 120 when power is supplied, and then receives monitor information data from the DDC section 110 when a predetermined time elapses thereafter; a DDC section 110 which receives the vertical sync signal outputted from the computer I/O section 100, and then outputs the monitor information data stored therein to the computer I/O section 100 when the predetermined time elapses thereafter; and a vertical deflection section 120 which receives the vertical sync signal outputted from the computer I/O section 100 and performs vertical deflection in accordance with the input vertical sync signal.
The operation of the conventional device for a monitor employing the DDC chip will be described in detail.
When the power is supplied to the monitor, the computer I/O section 100 outputs a vertical sync signal of about 50-100 Hz as shown in FIG. 2A through its output terminal VO to the seventh pin P7 of the dedicated DDC chip 111 in the DDC section 110 and to the vertical deflection section 120.
The period during which ten pulses of the vertical sync signal are outputted corresponds to a waiting time for data transmission as shown in FIG. 2B. When this waiting time elapses, the DDC section 110 outputs the monitor information data stored in the dedicated DDC chip 111 through its fifth pin P5 to the data input terminal DI of the computer I/O section 100.
At this time, the monitor information data is transmitted with a data transmission frequency of about 25 KHz or more in order to shorten the data transmission time. In other words, the vertical sync signal of about 25 KHz or more is outputted from the output terminal VO of the computer I/O section 110 to the vertical deflection section 120, and thus the vertical deflection IC (not illustrated) in the vertical deflection section 120 performs vertical deflection in accordance with the vertical sync signal. As a result, the information stored in the dedicated DDC chip 111 in the DDC section 110 is displayed on the screen of the monitor.
After the data transmission as described above is completed, the computer I/O section 100 outputs the normal vertical sync signal of about 50-100 Hz through its output terminal VO to the seventh pin P7 of the dedicated DDC chip 111 in the DDC section 110 and to the vertical deflection section 120, resulting in that a normal image is displayed on the monitor screen.
In the conventional device for a monitor employing a dedicated DDC chip, however, the vertical deflection IC in the vertical deflection section 120 is designed to operate with a vertical sync signal of about 50-100 Hz, and thus it is liable to be damaged in the event that the vertical sync signal of about 25 KHz is inputted thereto for the transmission of the DDC data, thereby deteriorating the reliability of the monitor.

Device for protecting a vertical deflection integrated circuit for a monitor


A method for controlling gain of a line amplifier on a cable, the method comprising selecting an unused carrier frequency; transmitting a pulsed pilot signal on the unused carrier frequency into the cable; determining a pilot signal output strength by measuring signal strength of the pilot signal after amplification by the line amplifier; comparing the pilot signal output strength with a target signal strength to determine a difference; and adjusting the gain of the line amplifier corresponding to the difference.

Voice communications between workers deployed in tunnel-type environments, such as for example, underground mines, or tunnels being constructed for new transport infrastructure, are typically enabled by narrowband duplex radio networks, using either analogue or digital modulation schemes. These radio networks may typically operate in either the UHF or VHF spectrum bands; VHF being the most prevalent.
The radio communication transmissions (RF) are typically conveyed via a "leaky" coaxial cable or leaky feeder. That is, a coaxial cable with discontinuities in its outer shield. These discontinuities are usually in the form of regular slot openings along the length of the cable. Normally a coaxial cable is encased in a copper sheath to prevent leakage of the signal. The discontinuities, or slots, in the coaxial cable allow the RF signal to radiate into and out of the cable and so, the entire cable length acts as a single long antenna. This can create a limited wireless network environment allowing wireless devices in the tunnel to receive radio signals from the cable, and to also transmit radio signals back to the cable.
The radio network may be configured in many ways. In one arrangement, there may be a single high-powered duplex radio base station repeater, located at the beginning of the tunnel network, which is connected to the leaky coaxial cable using a suitable duplexer. The base station is configured with transmit and receive RF frequencies that are different to each other in order to enable duplex operation.
Mobile transceivers or portables (subscriber units—SU's) are configured such that their transmit frequencies equal the base station receive frequency, and their receive frequencies equal the base station transmit frequency. In this manner, the SU's communicate with each other via the base station repeater over the leaky coaxial cable. Such a network provides a single voice channel for use by the SU's.
In another arrangement, there may be multiple base station repeaters on different frequencies operating collectively into a single leaky coaxial cable, thereby providing multiple voice channels for simultaneous use by multiple SU's.
A limitation of leaky cables is that the RF signal intensity within the leaky coaxial cable decreases as it travels away from the feed point at the base station repeater. This is due to transmission and cable losses. The converse is also true in that any RF signals picked up by the leaky coaxial cable from SU's in the tunnel areas also decrease in intensity as they travel along the cable back to the base station repeater. Signals would become unusable over long cable lengths without any amplification.
Therefore, line amplifiers are utilised to compensate for these losses, with multiple units deployed at regular intervals along the entire length of the leaky coaxial cable. The line amplifiers boost the signal to compensate for the signal loss along the line and maintain the radiated signal strength along the length of the cable. The separation between line amplifiers is governed by both the line amplifier gain and the loss in the cable. The typical separation between adjacent line amplifiers may vary from 350 metres to 500 metres. The line amplifiers must be able to amplify RF signals travelling in both directions independently; that is, in both the uplink and downlink directions.
Leaky coaxial cable networks including line amplifiers have proven to be successful in underground tunnel deployments, particularly in the mining industry, due to the ease with which they are deployed, maintained, and extended as the tunnel network develops and expands. The cable can be laid as the tunnel is excavated, and there is no issue with laying the cable around corners, or down access holes. Splitters can also be used if a tunnel branches into two tunnels, or a side tunnel is created. These advantages allow the network to continually expand as the mine or tunnel network expands.

Channelised gain control of line amplifiers


A method and related materials and apparatus for using minimally invasive techniques to repair (e.g., reconstruct) tissue such as fibrocartilage, and particularly fibrocartilage associated with diarthroidal and amphiarthroidal joints. The method involves the use of minimally invasive techniques to access and prepare damaged or diseased fibrocartilage within the body, and to then deliver a curable biomaterial, such as a two-part polyurethane system, to the prepared site, and to cure the biomaterial in situ in order to repair the fibrocartilage. Applications include repair and replacement of the intervertebral disc of the spine.

The joints of the body can be classified as between those that provide immovable articulations (synarthroidal), mixed articulations (amphiarthroidal), and movable articulations (diarthroidal). The ability of amphiarthroidal and diarthroidal joints to provide effective and pain-free articulation, and/or to serve their weight-bearing function, is generally dependent on the presence of intact, healthy fibrocartilage within the joint.
In an amphiarthroidal joint such as the lumbar joint of the back, the vertebra are separated by an intervertebral disc formed of fibrocartilage. More particularly, the intervertebral disc is comprised of an outer annulus fibrosis formed of fibrocartilage. The annulus, in turn, surrounds and contains a more fluid material known as the nucleus pulposus. By virtue of its fluidity, the nucleus allows for both movement and weight-bearing energy transfer. In healthy, generally younger individuals, the annulus is intact and the nucleus pulposus remains quite fluid.
As people age, however, the annulus tends to thicken, desiccate, and become more rigid. The nucleus pulposus, in turn, becomes more viscous and less fluid and sometimes even dehydrates and contracts. The annulus also becomes susceptible to fracturing or fissuring. These fractures tend to occur all around the circumference of the annulus, and can extend from both the outside of the annulus inward, and from the interior outward. Occasionally, a fissure from the outside will meet a fissure from the inside and will result in a complete rent through the annulus fibrosis. In a situation like this, the nucleus pulposus may extrude out through the intervertebral disc. The extruded material, in turn, can impinge on the spinal cord or on the spinal nerve rootlets as they exit through the intervertebral foramen, resulting in the symptoms associated with the classic "ruptured disc".
The current surgical approach to treating a degenerated intervertebral disc generally involves the process of microdiscectomy, in which the site is accessed and the protruded material is removed. This often produces significant relief, provided it is a fairly minor, or mild, localized disc protrusion. In such a procedure a small incision is made, through which the disc is visualized. The area of protruded material is removed, thus decompressing the nerve rootlet that has been impinged on by the extruded material.
In more severe situations, however, the annulus fibrosis becomes degenerated to the point where very little disc space remains, and much of the nucleus pulposus is either contracted or has been extruded. Regional osteophytes can also develop around these areas. The combination of the extruded material and the osteophytes, together with the narrowing of the intervertebral disc space produces a marked narrowing of the intervertebral foramen and impingement on the spinal nerve rootlet as it exits the canal. This is the classical situation that results in radicular pain with axial loading.
When this occurs it becomes necessary to reestablish the intervertebral space. The current approach to this more severe situation is a lumbar laminectomy (to decompress the nerve rootlet) with fusion of the disc space. The bony lamina is removed to decompress the intervertebral foramina and the bone graft is taken from the anterior iliac crest and attached from one vertebrae body to the next. The resulting fusion will maintain stability at that point and also help maintain the separation of the vertebrae.
Recent advances in this technology have been developed by such companies as Spine-Tech, Minneapolis, Minn., which involves the use of a titanium alloy cylinder. The cylinder is screwed into the intervertebral space to assure the stability of the spacing until a fully bony ankylosis can be obtained. The cylinders are packed with bone and are fenestrated so that the packed bone can grow out into the adjacent vertebrae and solidify the fusion. To date, however, clinical results on the long-term follow up of these patients are not available and the efficacy is still in doubt with many spine surgeons.
It would therefore be particularly useful to be able to repair such injuries in a manner that avoids invasive surgical procedures and the problems associated therewith.


A hand tool for torquing a fastener by means of at least one hexagonal cavity in an outer reversible coupling member, and a pair of inner, hexagonal shaped, reversible coupling members having differently sized hexagonal cavities than that of said at least one hexagonal cavity of said outer reversible coupling member. The inner, hexagonal shaped reversible coupling members being removably retained in the at least one hexagonal cavity of said outer coupling member, and a handle having cavity means of a size and shape for removably retaining the outer reversible coupling member, and for driving another differently sized hexagonal fastener; whereby the hand tool is capable of driving differently sized hexagonal fasteners depending upon at least the hexagonal cavities of the outer reversible coupling member and the inner, hexagonal shaped reversible coupling members.

This invention relates to hand tools; and, more particularly, it relates to multiple bit hand tools that provide variable reach and that function as many different hand tools while only utilizing the space of about a single hand tool. When purchasing a set of hand tools, professional tradesmen and do-it-yourselfers are frequently required to purchase several of a series of hand tools that have different length shank portions and different type driving ends, e.g. Phillips.RTM., Torx.RTM., flat head, etc. The combinations of different tools needed to complete a set of hand tools having various different driving ends and of various different shank lengths increases the cost associated with having a complete set since each tool is generally sold seperately. Moreover, there is a significant draw-back for a user of a plurality of different tools in that the user must carry with him a specific tool for each task he wishes to accomplish. For example, a user may need to bring with him a number two Phillips screw driver with a two inch shank, a number one Phillips screw driver with a six inch shank, a number three Phillips screw driver with a four inch shank to accomplish a single task. As a consequence the user's tool belt or tool box soon becomes cluttered with these hand tools there results a concomitant increase in the weight of tools the user must carry from one location to another.
Furthermore, boat owners, sports utility vehicle owners, summer home owners have a need for single multi-purpose, variable shank length tool that they can store on a respective vehicle or home in the event an emergency arises.
All of these developments have created a need for a single hand tool that has a variety of functions and serves as multiple hand tools. However, this need has not been easily achieved. Traditional hand tools do not provide for variable length shanks that can be utilized with a variety of different driver bits. Hence, there exists a need for a single hand tool and kit that functions as a mulitplicity of tools that can store, organize and retain a large number of desired tool accessories including driver bits, and that functions as a multiplicity of different tools while displacing no more volume than a conventional single purpose hand tool.
There are numerous tools in the art that fail to meet these market needs and that suffer from a number of drawbacks. In particular, attention is drawn to: U.S. Pat. No. 686,424 to Smith; U.S. Pat. No. 3,114,401 to Johnson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,097 to Rocca et al.; and, U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,775 to Kozak. All of these references suffer from the draw back of having a single fixed reach.
Other patents of general interest include U.S. Pat. No. 19,901 to Aiken, U.S. Pat. No. 438,150 to Glover, U.S. Pat. No. 463,507 to Goodell, U.S. Pat. No. 2,158,728 to Peters, U.S. Pat. No. 2,476,762 to Petre et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,527,492 to Cleary et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,596,594 to Petre et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,635,661 to Egan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,759,734 to Velepec et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,426,813 to Robertson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,455,355 to McLogan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,230 to Scrivens et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,119 to Elmore et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,874 to Lieser et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,043 to Corona et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,246 to Elliston, U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,493 to White, U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,042 to Wetty, U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,733 to McKenzie, U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,178 to Disston, U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,363 to Corona et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,504 to Fruhm, U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,745 to Koehler, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,637 to Bih-Lien. All of these tools have the drawbacks of a single reach or lack of ability to utilize dual driver bits.
It is an object of the present invention to solve the variety of problems that exist in the art and to satisfy these market needs.


A complex cam system capable of using a compound needle as a knitting needle is disclosed. In one embodiment of the present invention, a needle raising cam, a transfer cam, and knitting cams act on a butt provided in a needle body of the compound needle. A slider cam acts on a butt provided in a slider of the compound needle. Guide paths in transfer for the needle body and the butt of the slider are constituted with delivering paths and receiving paths, and switched from knitting paths. In the delivering paths, a transfer operation by the compound needle can be carried out smoothly using two knobs in a three knobby-shaped paths.

Conventionally, in a weft knitting machine in which front and rear needle beds are opposed to each other at a needle bed gap, there has been used a complex cam system having a transfer cam which is capable of carrying out an operation for knitting a knitted fabric, and a transfer operation in which delivering and receiving of a knitted loop are carried out between the front and rear needle beds. In a conventional complex cam system, a cam for a transfer operation is formed in an internal area of a needle raising cam for knitting a knitted fabric.
The applicant of the invention has disclosed a complex cam system in which a cam for delivering in the transfer operation is provided outside the needle raising cam (refer to Japanese Examined Patent Publication JP-B2 2-10262 (1990), for example). A latch needle is used as a knitting needle in JP-B2 2-10262. However, a blade for transfer is attached to a side of the knitting needle, and the knitting needle on a delivering side advances to a needle bed gap in such a state that a knitted loop to be transferred is held at a position at which the blade is provided. The knitting needle on a receiving side allows a hook to interpose between the blade and the knitting needle on a delivering side to receive the knitted loop. A transfer cam is provided on the needle bed gap side of the needle raising cam and the knitting needle is provided with two butts at an interval, to switch to a guide for a transfer operation during a guide by the needle raising cam for knitting a knitted fabric. A two knobby-shaped path which is most projected toward the needle bed gap at positions symmetric with respect to a center line passing through a tip of the needle raising cam are formed on the transfer cam as a path for guiding a butt of the knitting needle.
There has been also disclosed a cam holder of a weft knitting machine for guiding a needle body along a two knobby-shaped path by use of a latch needle to allow a delivering operation to carry out (refer to Japan Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 62-104946 (1987), for example). In JP-A 62-104946, the needle body of a knitting needle is arranged to guide along a path having two knobby-shaped peaks across a center line, on a delivering side of a transfer operation. The knobby-shaped peak through which a butt passes first in association with movement of a carriage needs to precede a path to which the butt is guided by a needle raising cam for knitting, and the path of the butt is arranged to pass through outside a knitting cam, instead of between an inside of the knitting cam and the needle raising cam.
The applicant of the invention has also disclosed a needle manipulating cam for a weft knitting machine which includes a needle body and a slider, and attaches a blade for transfer to the needle body of a compound needle for opening and closing a hook of the needle body using the slider to allow a transfer operation (refer to Japan Examined Patent Publication JP-B2 6-84583 (1994), for example). In JP-B2 6-84583, a delivering operation of the needle body is carried out by a knitted loop delivering cam which is provided so as to project from a tip of a needle raising cam. The knitted loop delivering cam has its peak portion on a center line passing though a peak portion of the needle raising cam, and a butt of the needle body is guided so as to pass though one knobby-shaped path. In JP-B2 6-84583, in order to use the compound needle as a knitting needle to separately drive the needle body and the slider, a cam for driving a slider is provided at a position at which the transfer cam is provided in JP-B2 2-10262.
Conventionally, in a complex cam system for a compound needle, a downsizing of a carriage takes priority. Therefore, as shown in JP-B2 6-84583, a path which guides the butt of the needle body is arranged to be substantially similar to a path which guides to a knit position in a knitting operation. In the delivering of the transfer operation, it is necessary to advance the needle body closer to a needle bed gap than a knitting route in an operation for knitting a knitted fabric. Therefore, a cam having a triangular shape is added to a tip of the needle raising cam for knitting, so that a height of the needle body when advancing to the needle bed gap is further increased. When a delivering of a knitted loop is carried out using a knitting needle which is guided by such a knobby-shaped path, no slack is formed in the knitted loop, for example, at an end of a knitted fabric, when knitting a closed stitch in which a knitted loop is reduced or when knitting normally. Therefore, it becomes difficult that the hook of the knitting needle on a receiving side is introduced to the knitted loop which is held by the knitting needle in a knitted loop delivering side, and is further interposed to between the blade of the transfer and the knitting needle.
As disclosed in JP-A 62-104946, In a case in which the two knobby-shaped path is used for a delivery by the latch needle, the delivery is carried out, when a knitted loop is once pulled down at the first knob and then the needle body is once again projected toward a needle bed gap at the second knob and pulled down once again. Accordingly, a slack can be formed in the knitted loop, and thereby the hook of the knitting needle on a receiving side can be easily inserted to carry out the smooth transfer. However, in JP-A 62-104946, it is necessary to provide a guide path of the needle body for the delivering outside the knitting cam, thereby increasing a size of a cam which is mounted on the carriage as a whole.


A modular input/output (I/O) unit utilizes plug-in personality modules to provide any one of a variety of interfaces between I/O signal processing cards mounted in plug-in electronics module and a bank of terminals providing connections for field wiring.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for interfacing field wiring with the input/output circuits of an electrical control or monitoring system. More particularly, it relates to a modular system in which the number of types of signal processing modules required for a particular input/output application are reduced by employing a personality module having a selection of configurations for interfacing the signal processing modules with the field wiring.
2. Background Information
Electronic control systems and monitoring systems such as process control systems require communication with the real world. This includes receiving inputs such as commands and process conditions provided by various sensors, transducers and/or contacts, and generating outputs such as control signals, status and results. This interaction is provided by input/output (I/O) hardware. The signals passed through the I/O can be analog and/or digital. Typically, the I/O includes signal processing circuitry which for example can limit the range of analog signals, provide filtering, amplification or attenuation, surge protection, isolation, pulse shaping for digital signals, and other signal conditioning. Different types of interfaces can be required for connecting the signal processing circuitry to various external devices connected to the I/O through field wiring. For instance, some current sensors require an external source of power. In some applications, a sensing resistor is required to convert a current signal to a voltage signal. In some applications, the field wiring requires local grounding while in other cases field grounding is provided.
Conventionally, this interfacing is provided as part of the I/O circuitry, typically on a plug-in I/O card. Although the signal conditioning applied may be identical for various types of field signals, separate I/O cards providing the different interfaces required must be used and inventoried.
Modular I/O units are being offered in which a selection of I/O cards each packaged in an electronic module can be plugged into a base which includes a backplane providing connections between circuits in the electronic module and terminals to which the field wiring is connected. The base units are mounted side-by-side on a standard DIN rail and plugged into one another for communication with a controller over a common bus system. A system of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,347. While such an arrangement makes it easier to provide the necessary range of interfacing with the field wiring, it still requires the use and inventorying of many different types of electronic modules.
There is a need, therefore, for an improved I/O for connection with field wiring.
More particularly, there is a need for improved I/O for interfacing with field wiring which minimizes the number of configurations of signal processing cards required.
There is an additional need for such an I/O system which is modular for ease in adapting the system to a particular application.

Modular input/output system with flexible interface with field wiring


A hydrocarbon stream (30), such as natural gas, is commonly cooled together with a first refrigerant stream (140), against an evaporating refrigerant (24) in a series of one or more consecutively arranged common heat exchangers (2), which comprises a first common heat exchanger, upstream of which first common heat exchanger the hydrocarbon stream (10) and the first refrigerant stream (130) are not commonly cooled (4, 3). The hydrocarbon stream to be cooled is fed into the first common heat exchanger at a hydrocarbon feeding temperature, while the first refrigerant stream is fed into the first common heat exchanger at a refrigerant feeding temperature. The temperature difference between the hydrocarbon feeding temperature and the refrigerant feeding temperature is lower than 60 C.

Several methods of cooling and liquefying a hydrocarbon stream such as natural gas stream are known. It is desirable to liquefy natural gas stream for a number of reasons. As an example, natural gas can be stored and transported over long distances more readily as a liquid than in gaseous form, because it occupies a smaller volume and does not need to be stored at high pressures.
An example of a method for liquefying natural gas is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,910.
Although the method according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,910 already give satisfying results, it has been found that if the natural gas provided is at temperatures significantly differing from the temperature of the refrigerants, thermal stresses due to differential expansions and internal pinches may occur in the cooling equipment. This problem may even be more pertinent during the winter months and/or in cold areas such as the Arctic region as a result of which the natural gas is provided at relative low temperatures.
Apart from equipment related problems, the above may result in a lower thermal efficiency for the cooling or liquefaction process.
It is an object of the present invention to minimize one or more of the above problems.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an alternative method for cooling, in particular liquefying, a hydrocarbon stream.

Method and apparatus for cooling a hydrocarbon stream


Methods of autonomous diagnostic verification and detection of defects in the optical components of a vision-based inspection system are provided. The method includes illuminating a light panel with a first light intensity pattern, capturing a first image of the first light intensity pattern with a sensor, illuminating the light panel with a second light intensity pattern different than the first light intensity pattern, capturing a second image of the second light intensity pattern with the sensor, comparing the first image and the second image to generate a comparison of images, and identifying defects in the light panel or the sensor based upon the comparison of images. Systems adapted to carry out the methods are provided as are other aspects.

In some automated vision-based sample inspection systems, sample tubes containing specimens (e.g., biological specimens) can be positioned at a desired location in the vision-based sample inspection system and then one or more digital images can be obtained. Such systems can utilize optical components such as lighting panels (e.g., light emitting diode (LED) light panels) and optical sensors. From the obtained one or more digital images, various attributes of the specimens and/or the specimen containers containing the specimens can be obtained. For example, determination of various volumes of the components of the specimen can be obtained, such as serum volume, plasma volume, settled red blood cell volume of centrifuged specimens, existence of a gel separator, size of the sample tube, cap color, and the presence of an interferent, such as hemolysis (H), icterus (I), or lipemia (L), collectively HIL, and the like. Thus, systems, methods, and apparatus that exhibit robust operation are sought after.

Systems, methods and apparatus for autonomous diagnostic verification of optical components of vision-based inspection systems


An automatic control device having an input for inputting measured values of cyclic voltage and/or current; computing device for computing a parameter based on said values of voltage and/or current, and for comparing the computed parameter against a predefined condition; and initiating device for initiating a control function in response to the parameter meeting the predefined condition. The input of the control device is arranged to input a predefined number of samples per one cycle; and the computing device is arranged to compute the parameter with a discrete Fourier transform algorithm optimized based on fixed coefficients related to the predefined number of samples per cycle. An exemplary control device and corresponding control method can provide a significantly faster response time than the earlier general programmed solutions without increasing the related costs as much as the known digital signal processors.

Control devices exercise a restraining or directing influence over a controllable device. During its operation an automatic control device typically receives one or more input parameters and in response to the received input parameters outputs one or more control functions. Control functions are further input to a controllable device and they bring about an effect on the operation of the controllable device. One control device may control several controllable devices and one controllable device may be controlled by one or more control devices. The input parameters of the control device may originate from a process of which the controllable device is a part, or they may be fed into the control process from outside, for example as control commands or as output parameters from another process.
In automatic control devices the input parameters are typically derived from a series of sampled data. The document NUMERICAL RECIPES IN C: THE ART OF SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING (ISBN 0-521-43108-5) copyright © 1988-1992 by Cambridge University Press, pp. 496-510, provides the basic principles of Fast Fourier Transform and the referred pages are incorporated herein by reference.
The computation is based on the perception that a physical process can be described in the time domain by the values of some quantity h as a function of time t, or in the frequency domain where the process is specified by giving its amplitude H as a function of frequency f. These two representations can be related to another by means of the Fourier transform equations:
                                                                        H                                                  (                  f                  )                                            =                                                ∫                                      -                    ∞                                    ∞                                                                                h                                                              (                      t                      )                                                                                ⅇ                                          2                                            π                                                                                ift                                                                                ⅆ                    t                                                                                h                                                  (                  t                  )                                            =                                                ∫                                      -                    ∞                                    ∞                                                                                H                                                              (                      f                      )                                                                                ⅇ                                                                  -                        2                                                                  π                                                                                ift                                                                                ⅆ                    f                                                                                (        1        )
In the most typical situations, function h(t) is sampled at evenly spaced intervals in time, so that the sequence of n sampled values hn ishn=h(nΔ) n= . . . , −3, −2, −1, 0.1, 2, 3, . . .   (2)where Δ is the sampling rate. The integral of equation (1) can be approximated by a discrete sum
                                                                        H                                                  (                                      f                    n                                    )                                            =                                                                            ∫                                      -                    ∞                                    ∞                                                                                h                                                              (                      t                      )                                                                                ⅇ                                          2                                            π                                                                                ⅈ                                                                                f                        n                                                                  t                                                                                ⅆ                    t                                                                                ≈                                                                            ∑                                      k                    =                    0                                                        N                    -                    1                                                                                h                    k                                                                          ⅇ                                          2                                            π                                                                                ⅈ                                                                                f                        n                                                                                t                        k                                                                                Δ                                                                                =                                                          Δ                                                                      ∑                                          k                      =                      0                                                              N                      -                      1                                                                                h                      k                                                                                ⅇ                                              2                                                π                                                                                ⅈ                                                                                kn                          /                          N                                                                                (        3        )            wherebyH(fn)≈ΔHn  (4)when
                              H          n                ≡                              ∑                          k              =              0                                      N              -              1                                                                    h              k                                                  ⅇ                              2                                πⅈ                                                                                kn                  /                  N                                                                                (        5        )
In practical solutions the computing related to Discrete Fourier Transform is significantly reduced by utilising Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm. In the first section of FFT, the data is first sorted into bit-reversed order. The second section of FFT has an outer loop that is executed log2 N times and calculates, in turn, transform of length 2, 4, . . . , N. For each stage of the process the two nested inner loops range over the sub-transforms already computed and the elements of each transform, implementing the Danielson-Lanczos Lemma. This variant of the FFT is called a decimation-in-time or Cooley-Tukey FFT algorithm. The decimation-in-frequency (Sande-Tukey) FFT algorithm first goes through a set of log2N iterations on the input data, and then rearranges the output values into bit-reverse order.
In another class of FFT variants the initial data set of N is sub-divided down to some small power of 2, for example N=4 (base-4 FFT) or N=8 (base-8 FFT). These small transforms are done by small sections of optimized coding that utilize special symmetries of the particular N. Assuming, for example, that N=4, leads to the trigonometric sines and cosines being 0, +1 or −1, which by far eliminates multiplications, and leaves additions and subtractions. Base-4 or base-8 FFTs have been considered to decrease the computing of the order to 20 to 30 percent.
One example of automatic control devices is an electric protection device. The general purpose of electric protection devices is to prevent or limit damage to the protected device or to protect service of the protected device from interruption. In electric circuits the current flows are rapidly varied and the power may surge instantaneously. Therefore the power feed of an electrically driven device is always provided with one or more protection functions that are capable of isolating the device from harmful electrical transients from the power feed. In more elementary devices the protection devices are typically relay arrangements that are triggered when present current or voltage levels exceed a pre-determined threshold. In more complex systems the current and voltage levels are rigorously monitored and protection functions responsive to various parameters acquired through monitoring are utilized to safeguard the system from harmful effects in the power system.
In general electrical devices are designed to function with sinusoidal voltage, and for accurate functionality highly developed systems also require a faultless voltage to function correctly. One of the main harmful effects deteriorating the quality of electricity in the power systems are the harmonics. Harmonics are divided into different components by their properties (ranking number). The component class shows the rotational direction of the phase phasor of the harmonic with respect to the fundamental frequency.
When the curve form of the voltage or of the current deviates from the sinusoidal, it can be considered formed of several sinusoidal signals of different frequency. The function is typically broken down into its components by using the above Fourier analysis, on which the mathematical treatment of harmonics is based.
In complex protection devices the method of determining a protection function based on said input parameters generally comprises balancing between the expenses of the device and the response time from receiving the input parameters to outputting the determined protection function. In known protection devices a digital signal processor (DSP) is considered the most powerful tool for handling defined input signals and for determining a protection function thereupon. However, the component costs related to digital signal processors are considerable, and in a complex system the costs due to the number of digital signal processors need to be optimised.
On the other hand, the embedded systems facilitate parallel usage of a variety of programmable algorithms. A number of variable algorithms are available and component costs are not directly increased with the number of operable protection functions. However, going through the number of calculations takes time and the accumulated response times become longer than what is actually required in order to implement the protection functions appropriately. There are a number of cases where the acceptable response times are only slightly exceeded, but for reliability reasons the costly DSP very often end up being preferred over the programmable algorithms.
Consequently, one of the disadvantages associated with the known electric protection devices is that the available means for determining protection functions in response to various input values do not facilitate adequate optimization that takes into consideration both the technical and economical factors related to operable protection functions.

Control device optimizing computing input sample of data with discrete fourier transform algorithm


Provided is a construction machine having a sufficient space for tool accommodation and allowing reducing agent to be supplied into a reducing-agent tank easily. The construction machine includes an engine, a reducing-agent tank having a tank body and a supply portion, and a tool box. The tool box includes a box body defining an accommodation space having an opening which opens the accommodation space outwards and allows a tool to be put into and taken from the accommodation space through the opening, and an opening/closing cover which opens and closes the opening. The tank body is outside the box body. The supply portion includes a basal end connected to the tank body and a distal end located in the accommodation space at a position making the distal end visible from the outside of the box body through the opening which is opened.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a construction machine.
2. Description of the Background Art
In recent years, there has been developed a construction machine loaded with an SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) system in order to reduce NOx contained in exhaust gas. Specifically, there is known a construction machine provided with a reducing-agent tank for accommodating reducing agent such as urea water. In the construction machine, the reducing agent is added to exhaust gas for promoting reduction of NOx in the exhaust gas.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-012661 (Patent Literature 1) discloses a construction machine provided with an upper slewing body, on which a reducing-agent tank is loaded. The construction machine is further provided with a tool box for facilitating a supply operation of reducing agent into the reducing-agent tank from outside of the upper slewing body or maintenance of the reducing-agent tank. The tool box has an openable/closable cover member. The tool box is disposed on an outer portion of the upper slewing body to house the reducing-agent tank therein.
International Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013/137169 (Patent Literature 2) discloses a construction machine provided with a first accommodation case defining an article accommodation space and a second accommodation case housing a reducing-agent tank therein.
The construction machine disclosed in Patent Literature 1, involving the requirement of the tool box to accommodate the reducing-agent tank in addition to a tool to be accommodated, permits the tool box to have only a reduced space for accommodating the tool box by the capacity of the reducing-agent tank. Besides, the tool in the tool box can exert an impact on a tank body of the reducing-agent tank, the tank body thus being likely to be damaged by the impact because it is made of a resin material for prevention of the tank body from rust due to urea.
On the other hand, the construction machine disclosed in Patent Literature 2, having both of the first and second accommodation cases, involves increase in the number of parts and cost. Furthermore, the entire construction machine has to be large-sized in order to secure an accommodation space for both of the two accommodation cases. The accommodation space may be reduced by vertical arrangement of the tanks; however, such vertical arrangement hinders an operator from easily accessing the case disposed at upper side from the ground, thus making a maintenance operation therefor difficult.

KOBELCO CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.


The invention is a system and method for database compression which creates partial indexing into compressed sub table blocks of databases. Table rows with the same or related indexing parameters are grouped as "sub-table blocks" and are stored as compressed binary objects, with the indexing fields stored in the same row, external to the binary block. The binary object expands to multiple database rows when accessed via the sub table block interface, thus forming a hierarchical, pre-joined database organization. Mechanisms are provided for creating, accessing, and manipulating the data blocks, and a date-based versioning mechanism. The compression employed is the known Vdelta package, which operates at a byte level to provide a useful compromise between speed and compression efficiency, even for relative short compression blocks. In realistic tests, the I/O time gained through compression results in a time saving which exceeds the processing penalty. The overall compression ratio is data dependent, but in a realistic test it averages about 4.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to information technology, and more particularly to techniques for compressing databases containing large amounts of information.
2. Description of Related Art
In relational database technology, one of the most important questions affecting storage requirements is the level of indexing, or pointers into related data fields, required. Indexing can be expensive in terms of storage in database tables with many lines per index entry. Unless index information is implicit in the physical position of the data, as in some implementations of clustered indexes or hash indexes, the creation of an index can greatly expand the total storage requirements. The implementation used in such commercially available systems as SQLServer, Informix, and Sybase in fact causes the index information to be repeated for every row of information. With long index fields, this becomes costly.
Since repeated byte strings are easily represented in a compressed format, such situations, especially where very large databases (VLDBs, typically terabyte) are concerned, are prime candidates for the use of compression technology. It is desirable, though, to find some intermediate ground between known large-block, high compression algorithms which degrade access time for small data segments and impede indexing capability, and the usual VLDB situation in which no compression is employed.

System and method for multirecord compression in a relational database


A tortilla-forming machine for molding dough into a tortilla shell. The forming machine having a base with an upwardly facing forming surface and a push plate with a downwardly facing forming surface. The forming machine further including an actuating mechanism with a first member joined to the base and a second member joined to the push plate which moves relative to the base for molding the dough into the tortilla shell. The relative movement including the upper push plate moving relative to the base axially along an actuating axis which is perpendicular to the upwardly facing forming surface and rotating about the actuating axis.

It is, of course, well known that a ball of dough can be molded into various shapes and sizes to produce food products. Traditionally, once the desired dough was properly mixed, the dough was rolled to the proper thickness and then cut into the shape needed to produce the food product. However, this method is labor-intensive and costly with respect to retail food products and restaurant services.
Over the years, machines have been utilized to overcome this problem by mechanically forming dough into the desired thickness and shape. In this respect, Schultz discloses a device for pressing and imprinting bread products. The disclosed device utilizes a mold cavity which is permanently attached to the upper support frame of the device, wherein the upper mold portion is pivotal about a horizontal axis relative to the base mold portion for forming the dough thereagainst. The device disclosed in Schultz is utilized for the production of high volumes of dough products in one size. While Schultz discloses a device which provide access to the lower forming plate for loading the dough and unloading the finished shell, the pivotal design lacks any mechanical advantage and also produces uneven forces during dough compression.
Raio U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,417,149 and 5,800,844 disclose dough pressing machines which utilize linear motion between the upper and lower forming surfaces to overcome many of the disadvantages found in the pivotal machines. The quantity of dough can be pressed from a dough ball into a desired thickness by controlling the stroke of the upper forming surface. However, the Raio devices provides minimal access for loading and unloading the dough. Kuhlman U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,660 discloses a dough forming machine that utilizes an actuating cylinder motion to mold a dough ball into a desired thickness. While Kuhlman provides more space between the forming surfaces, access for loading and unloading is still limited.
As will be appreciated from the above, dough forming machines exist in the prior art; however, they are not well adapted for providing both access for loading and unloading and the ability to provide increased mechanical advantage to assist the operator form the shell. Further, many of the prior art machines are designed to be used to produce only one configuration of dough product without major modification.
McCarney U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,244,167 and 6,205,914 overcame many of the problems in the prior art with respect to producing various sizes of shells by utilizing a ring or disk structure which dictates the peripheral configuration and thickness of the resulting tortilla shell. However, the McCarney patents disclose actuating mechanisms that either provide limited mechanical advantage to form the dough products or provide limited access to the forming space which is the space necessary to place the raw dough in position between the forming surfaces and remove the completed shell from the machine.