1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates broadly to management of medical information. More specifically, the present invention relates to management of medical information to perform and report measurements of physician efficiency.
2. The Prior Art
Recent evidence has suggested that about 10-20% of physicians, across specialty types, practice inefficiently. Efficient means using the appropriate amount of medical resources to treat a medical condition and achieve a desired health outcome. Thus, efficiency is a function of unit price, volume of service, intensity of service, and quality of service. This group of inefficient physicians is responsible for driving 10% to 20% of the unnecessary, excess medical expenditures incurred by employers and other healthcare purchasers, equating to billions of dollars nationally.
To improve market efficiency, it is useful to apply a system that accurately measures individual physician efficiency. Recent evidence has demonstrated that leading physician efficiency measurement systems have only about 15-30% agreement across measurement systems. This means that when one system ranks a physician as inefficient, only about 15-30% of the other systems ranked the same physician as inefficient. The remaining 70% (or more) of systems ranked the same physician as efficient.
These findings show that existing systems have significant error in attempting to accurately identify inefficient physicians. The error needs to be eliminated, or significantly reduced, if healthcare purchasers are to accurately identify inefficient physicians and take action (e.g., attempt to change physician behavior, provide incentives for employees to use more efficient physicians). Every physician falsely measured as efficient (or inefficient) leads to continued inefficiency in the healthcare marketplace.
There are ten common physician (or physician group) efficiency measurement errors present in most existing physician efficiency measurement systems, which are in order of importance: (1) examine all episodes of care for a physician; (2) use a physician's actual episode composition; (3) no severity-of-illness measure by medical condition; (4) no identification of different episode treatment stages; (5) no age category assignment by medical condition; (6) no tracking mechanism for related complication episodes; (7) improper episode outlier criteria; (8) under-report charges attributed to partial episodes; (8) over-report charges attributed to episode endpoints; and (10) no minimum number of episodes of care. These errors are discussed next.
Many physician efficiency methodologies continue to examine “services per 1,000 members” or “all episodes of care” tracked to a physician. These approaches probably add the most to efficiency measurement error. The methodologies attempt to adjust services per 1,000 members and to adjust all episodes of care by age and gender—and then compare one physician's utilization pattern to a peer group average. However, age and gender explain less than 5% of the variance in a patient's medical expenditures. This means that over 95% of the variance is unexplained, and may be attributed to differences in patient health status.
Some methodologies adjust services per 1,000 members and adjust all episodes of care based on specific International Clinical Modification of Diseases ninth edition (ICD.9) code algorithms that measure expected resource intensity. The idea is that a patient's diagnosis codes will provide more predictive power than age and gender alone. The most predictive of the published and marketed models explain only 20% to 30% of the variance in a patient's medical expenditures. This means that 70% or more of the variance continues to be unexplained, and may be attributed to differences in patient health status.
Physicians often criticize the services per 1,000 members and the all episodes of care methodologies that use a predictive case-mix adjustment factor. Physicians state that the methodologies do not appropriately adjust for differences in patient health status—rightly stating that their patients may be “sicker.”
If all claim line items (CLIs) or episodes of care tracked to a physician are used in the efficiency analysis, then up to 70% of the observed utilization difference between physicians may be attributed to patient health status differences. Therefore, patient health status differences are measured rather than individual physician efficiency differences. This weakness in current case-mix adjustment tools means that not all CLIs or patient episodes of care treated by a physician can be examined. Instead, an isolated set of more prevalent medical conditions by severity-of-illness level needs to be examined across physicians of a similar specialty type.
The second measurement error, which occurs in most if not all current efficiency measurement systems, occurs when the physician's actual episode composition is used. The reason is as follows. The differences in physicians' patient case-mix composition results in differences in variability (i.e., the standard deviation) around a physician's average episode treatment charges. This variability is not due to the efficiency or inefficiency of a physician, but instead results because longer and more resource-intensive medical conditions generally require more services and, therefore, have more potential variability around average (or mean) episode treatment charges.
For example, easier-to-treat upper respiratory infection (URI) episodes may have the following mean and standard deviation (with outlier episodes removed): $185±$65. Here, the standard deviation around the mean is not large—and is 0.35 the size of the mean (i.e., 65/185=0.35). However, easier-to-treat pediatric asthma episodes may have the following mean and standard deviation (with outlier episodes removed): $1,650±$850. Here, the standard deviation around the mean is larger than for URI episodes—and is 0.52 the size of the mean (i.e., 850/1,650=0.52).
The variation difference between the two conditions is 49% greater for asthma than URIs_[(0.52−0.35)/0.35]. This variation difference occurs for two reasons: (1) more resource-intensive conditions require more services to treat; and (2) there generally are a small number of episodes available to examine in a given physician efficiency study as compared to the universe of episodes that could actually be studied—and a smaller number of episodes results in a higher chance for variability around the mean. This variation is not the result of physician treatment pattern differences.
If the statistically based variability around the mean is not corrected, then substantial error may enter into the physician efficiency measurement equation. Consequently, the final physician efficiency score differences may be attributed to the statistical condition-specific variability around the mean episode charge (due to the case-mix of episodes treated).
The above example showed that the variation difference may be 50% or more (around a condition-specific mean episode value). Logically, then, if all episodes treated by physicians are examined and efficiency scores are calculated, there has to be some statistical bias present.
A significant statistical bias may be present. Using a more traditional episode-based efficiency measurement methodology, lower-episode-volume physicians treating patients with a higher case-mix index score are more likely to receive an inefficient ranking as compared to lower-episode-volume physicians treating patients with a lower case-mix index score. This finding results because a physician with higher case-mix patients treats episodes having more variability (i.e., a greater standard deviation) around average episode treatment charges. With a low volume of episodes (most often the norm, and not the exception), this physician needs only a few higher-cost episodes then the peer group average to make his/her treatment pattern appear significantly higher than the peer group comparator.
However, a physician with lower case-mix patients treats episodes having less variability around average episode treatment charges. With a low volume of episodes, this physician's treatment pattern will not be as influenced by one or two higher-cost episodes as compared to the peer group average. Consequently, his/her treatment pattern does not appear (as often) significantly higher than the peer group comparator.
Thus, by examining all medical condition episodes, a substantial component of any observed physician efficiency difference may be attributed to statistical condition-specific variability around the mean episode charge—and not to physician treatment patterns efficiency. This effect may be present even when we examine the easier-to-treat episodes (SOI-1 level episodes) for the medical conditions.
The third error takes place in those efficiency measurement systems that do not employ an appropriate episode severity-of-illness measure. Severity-of-illness may be defined as the probability of loss of function due to a specific medical condition. Most, if not all, current claims-based episode groupers and methods do not have an appropriate severity-of-illness index by medical condition. Consequently, significant clinical heterogeneity remains in many episodes for a given medical condition. The end result may be physician efficiency differences that are attributed to inaccurate episode severity-of-illness adjustment, and not to physician treatment patterns variation.
Moreover, some claims-based episode groupers stratify formulated episodes for a medical condition by the presence or absence of a specific surgery or service (e.g., knee derangement with and without surgery; ischemic heart disease with and without heart catheterization). The reason for performing this stratification is to reduce episode heterogeneity for a medical condition. In effect, the stratification serves as a sort of severity-of-illness adjustment.
However, stratification based on the presence of surgery or a high-cost service results in at least two physician efficiency measurement errors: (1) performing surgery versus not performing surgery is the treatment patterns variation we need to examine in determining physician efficiency, and this variation is not captured in more traditional methodologies; and (2) the episodes of care are unnecessarily separated into smaller groups whereby physicians may not have enough episodes to examine in any one smaller group. Consequently, the stratified episodes of care need to be recombined for accurate physician efficiency measurement.
The fourth physician efficiency measurement error occurs in claims-based episode groupers do not have a method for identifying different episode treatment stages including initial, active, and follow-up treatment stages. Identifying different treatment stages is important in medical conditions, such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, acute myocardial infarction, and lymphoma. For example, breast cancer should be stratified into initial, active, and follow-up treatment stages.
An initial breast cancer episode is one where the patient has a surgery for the cancer (e.g., lumpectomy, modified radial mastectomy). An active breast cancer episode is one where no surgery is present, but chemotherapy or radiation treatment is observed within the episode. Here, the patient underwent surgery in a previous study period, so no surgical event is found in the patient's current ongoing breast cancer episode. Instead, during the study period, the claims data shows that the patient is being treated with chemotherapy and/or radiation. The presence of these treatments defines an active breast cancer episode. The utilization pattern and charges are different for an active breast cancer patient as compared to an initial breast cancer patient. A follow-up breast cancer episode is one where no surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation treatment is present in the patient's episode of care. After initial and active treatments, physicians will continue to code for breast cancer over the future years of patient follow-up care.
In a given study period, physicians do not treat an equal distribution of each episode type (initial, active, and follow-up). Moreover, the episode types have different average charges. About 20% of episodes may be classified as initial breast cancer episodes. Overall care for initial breast cancer episodes ranges between $15,000 and $25,000 per episode. About 15% of episodes may be classified as active breast cancer episodes. Overall care for active breast cancer episodes ranges between $12,000 and $18,000 per episode. About 65% of episodes may be classified as follow-up breast cancer episodes. Overall care for follow-up breast cancer episodes ranges between $350 and $600 per episode.
Consequently, the blending of the three treatment stage episodes results in average treatment charges of about $5,500 to $6,500 per episode. In fact, this is the average breast cancer charge that would be observed for most claims-based episode groupers.
The blending of initial, active, and follow-up episodes may lead to substantial physician efficiency measurement error. For example, assume during a study period that Oncologist A treats mostly active breast cancer patients, while some other oncologists have a good mixture of active and follow-up patients. Then, Oncologist A's treatment pattern for breast cancer will appear inefficient (as compared to his peer group of oncologists) because active episodes are about 30 times more expensive to treat than follow-up episodes. In fact, Oncologist A's treatment pattern difference is attributed to a different treatment stage episode case-mix.
Therefore, treatment stage episode types need to be correctly identified and separately examined. Otherwise, the final physician efficiency score differences may be attributed to nothing more than the initial, active, and follow-up episode case-mix.
The fifth error happens in those physician efficiency measurement systems that do not examine condition-specific episodes by age category. Studies have illustrated that broad-based age bands are important to separately examine—even after episodes have been assigned a severity-of-illness index. The reason is that physicians tend to treat children and adults differently for most conditions. For example, children are less likely than adults to receive a chest x-ray and potent antibiotics for many medical conditions. If episodes are not examined by broad-based age category, the end result may be physician efficiency differences that are attributed to patient age differences—and not to treatment patterns variation.
The sixth error occurs in those physician efficiency measurement systems that do not link and include the charges and utilization from a patient's complication episodes to his underlying medical condition. Complications are those episodes that are clinically related to the underlying medical condition. Consequently, many condition-specific episodes have under-reported charges. In fact, actual outputs from some claims-based episode groupers may show under-reported charges for patients with diabetes and other chronic conditions (e.g., asthma, congestive heart failure).
For example, the reason for the under-reported episode charges is that physicians code up to 70% of an average diabetic's charges under related complications to the diabetes (e.g., eye, neuropathies, circulatory, renal) and not diabetes care. Therefore, without considering and including related complication episodes with the actual diabetes episode, physician efficiency differences may be attributed to incomplete episode charges and utilization—and not to treatment pattern variations.
Furthermore, for patients with specific medical conditions, any model that attempts to stratify patients by health risk may produce unstable or erroneous results. The reason is that a patient is missing key claims information needed to accurately classify a patient into an appropriate severity-of-illness and other classes. For example, without tracking related complications to a diabetic patient, many diabetic patients will appear to have no complications when in fact they have eye or circulatory complications.
The seventh physician efficiency measurement error happens when the condition-specific outlier episode analysis is not performed in an appropriate manner. Many current methodologies perform the high-end outlier analysis by eliminating a percent of condition-specific episodes at the peer group (or aggregate episode) level. That is, the methodologies eliminate the high-end outliers before assigning episodes to physicians.
However, this method results in physician efficiency measurement error because a higher proportion of episodes assigned to the most inefficient physicians will be eliminated (as compared to the proportion of episodes eliminated for efficient physicians). Consequently, the inefficient physicians' condition-specific treatment patterns now more closely resemble the treatment patterns of the efficient physicians.
An example demonstrates this error. Assume Physician A has seven episodes of acute bronchitis with the following per episode charges: $235, $245, $325 $400, $525, $550, and $600. Also, the outlier cut-off threshold for high-end outlier episodes is set at $399 at the peer group level. Physician A now has only three episodes remaining at $235, $245, $325. The mean charge is $268 per episode. Assume Physician B also has 7 episodes of acute bronchitis with the following per episode charges: $210, $225, $235, $255, $285, $320, and $390. The peer-group level outlier threshold remains at $399. Therefore, Physician B has all seven episodes remaining, and the mean charge is $274.
The end result shows no statistical difference between Physicians A and B. The mean episode charge of Physician A is slightly lower than Physician B (i.e., $268 versus $274 per episode). However, using an outlier rule where we eliminate 5% of episodes (or at least 1 high-end outlier) are eliminated at the physician level, the results are significantly different. Physician A now has six remaining episodes (i.e., here we eliminate only 1 high-end outlier), and the mean charge of the six non-outlier episodes is now $380 per episode. For Physician B, the mean charge for the six non-outlier episodes is now $255 per episode. Physician A is statistically higher in average (or mean) episode charges than Physician B by $125 per episode.
The eighth error occurs in those systems that under-report charges attributed to partial (or incomplete) episodes of care. Some methodologies do not separate partial from complete episodes of care when measuring physician efficiency. Partial episodes result because a patient enrolled in a health plan during the study period or disenrolled during the study period. However, including partial episodes leads to inaccurate efficiency measurement because of under-reported episode charges—especially when some physicians have more partial episodes than other physicians.
A reason partial episodes often slip through the cracks and into an efficiency analysis is because the methodologies do not use a membership eligibility file to ensure the member is present for the entire study period. Instead, the methods assume that a condition-specific episode of care is complete if the episode exceeds some minimum duration time period. For example, if a patient's episode of diabetes is 40 days or more in duration, then the episode is marked as complete—and not partial. If a patient's diabetes episode is 39 days or less, then the episode is marked as partial.
Applying an indiscriminate time period duration to condition-specific episodes produces a high percentage of episodes marked as complete, which are actually partial (or incomplete) episodes. That is, many health plan's have membership turnover rates of 20% or higher. Consequently, a diabetes episode of 40 days duration—marked as complete—has at least a 20% chance of being a partial episode of care because of membership turnover. The end result may be physician efficiency differences that are attributed to the inclusion of partial episodes—and not to treatment patterns variation.
The ninth error happens in physician efficiency measurement systems that over-report charges attributed to episode endpoints. Some methodologies do not appropriately end a patient's episode of care before measuring a physician's efficiency. For example, chronic conditions may continue indefinitely and, therefore, patient episodes of care may be of various durations (e.g., 60 days or 600 days)—depending on the amount of available patient claims data. The end result may be physician efficiency differences that are attributed to excessively long or variable chronic condition episode durations—and not to treatment patterns variation.
The tenth error takes place in those systems that impose few requirements for having a minimum number of episodes in a certain number of medical conditions. Many methodologies do not require a minimum number of condition-specific episodes when comparing a physician's efficiency to a peer group. Instead, only a small handful (e.g., less than 10 episodes) are enough. However, there may be significant episode of care heterogeneity in one or two condition-specific episodes—even after applying a sophisticated severity-of-illness index. Consequently, examining an episode here-and-there for a physician may introduce significant error into a physician's efficiency measurement. The end result may be physician efficiency differences that are attributed to the heterogeneity in the low number of episodes examined—and not to treatment patterns variation.
Various systems have been patented in the episode of care field. Such systems are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,557,514, 5,835,897 and 5,970,463. However, none of these systems adequately overcome the aforementioned problems with respect to appropriately building and analyzing episodes of care. As importantly, existing systems fail to discuss an episode-of-care-based system for measuring individual or physician group efficiency measurement.


An example of a scaleable computing solution is a partitionable computing system. In such a system a number of elements (e.g., computing cells) can be combined into a partition that is dedicated to perform a specific computing function. Multiple partitions can exist in the same partitionable computing system, each having a specific function. A malicious attack on one partition could result in the entire partitionable system being compromised.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved field effect transistor circuit and more particularly to an enhancement/depletion mode FET circuit for providing an output voltage swing suitable for turning off depletion mode FET devices.


The liquefaction of low boiling point gases, such as air and the components of air, such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, has been practiced for over 100 years, and the liquefaction of such gases on an industrial scale has been practiced since the beginning of the 20th century. Typically, commercial liquefiers are designed to produce hundreds of tons of liquid cryogens per day. Such industrial liquefiers are reliable, and are capable of producing liquefied gas with relatively high energy efficiency. For consumers of liquefied gas requiring relatively small quantities, small insulated containers, known as dewars, are filled with liquefied gas produced by commercial facilities and transported to the consumer. Consumers of small quantities of liquefied gas include hospitals, which require oxygen for delivery to patients and nitrogen for use as a refrigerant. Also, people suffering from chronic respiratory insufficiency that have been prescribed home oxygen by their physicians may have liquefied oxygen delivered to their residences.
Initially, attempts to provide such a liquefier involved efforts to miniaturize large scale liquefying plants. However, due to the complexity of such systems, which are typically based on the Claude cycle or its variants, these attempts failed. Also, the extremely small mechanical components resulting from the miniaturization of such liquefiers were expensive to produce and unreliable in operation. Current liquefiers often involve complex and/or expensive liquefaction components, and often lack safety features to make a liquefaction system safer for residential, small-scale, and/or portable use.
For the above-stated reasons, it would be advantageous to provide a method and apparatus for improving the safety, efficiency, and/or cost of producing and storing relatively small quantities of liquefied gas at the location where the liquefied gas is to be used, such as at an oxygen therapy patient's residence.


At present, tetrahydrofuran is a widely used cyclic ether. The primary purposes of tetrahydrofuran are as solvent and binder of various resins, as solvent and extraction solvent of printing inks, as the surfactant of synthetic leather and as the material for synthesizing elastic fibers of polytetrahydrofuran. The purpose of other cyclic ethers has not been fully developed yet.
The process of synthesizing cyclic ethers from alkanediols and the catalysts used therein have been well described in the known literatures and patent references. For example, those wherein phosphoric acid is used as a catalyst are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,251,292, 2,251,835 and 4,124,600; those wherein surfuric acid is used as a catalyst are disclosed in Ger. Offen. 2,509,968, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,665,205 and 5,099,039, Jpn. Tokkyo Koho 78-43,505 and 78-43,506; those wherein aluminum oxide is used as a catalyst are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,130, Brit. 508,548, Ger. Offen. 2,856,455 and USSR SU 1,158,562.
The process of synthesizing cyclic ethers from alkanediols and the catalysts used therein can be classified into two types: one is a process of homogeneous reaction, the other is a process of non-homogeneous reaction. In the process of homogenous reaction, sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid are the representative catalysts. The drawback of such a process is that part of the catalyst is distilled out with the reaction product, resulting in difficulties of separating the catalyst from the reaction product. Moreover, the acidities of sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid catalysts are strong enough to severely corrode the reactor. In addition, when sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid are used as the catalyst, side reactions easily result in which a great amount of coke is produced. The existence of the coke in the reacting liquid may affect the activity of the catalyst. Therefore, in the continuous synthesis process, while the reacting liquid should be removed from the reactor and part of the reacting liquid should be treated, the problem of acidic waste also results. As to the process of non-homogeneous reaction, aluminum oxide is the representative catalyst. The drawback of this process is that the aluminum oxide catalyst is able to exhibit strong activity at high temperatures only, usually at temperatures higher than 250.degree. C. Such high temperatures generally far exceed the boiling points of many alkanediols. Therefore, the reaction must be carried out in a gasous state and the cost of the equipment and operation will be increased to no avail.
The conversion of alkanediols into cyclic ethers using LaHY, CaHY and H-ZSM-6 zeolites was proposed by C. P. Bezouhanova and F. A. Jabur et al. in React. Kinet. Catal. Lett., Vol. 51, No. 1, pp. 177-181 (1993). However, the reaction was carried out in the condition of a gaseous state at temperatures higher than the boiling points of the reactants. The poor selectivity of cyclic ethers is a drawback of this process. It is not satisfactory because the further step of purification is necessary in the subsequent work-up.
In view of these drawbacks of the above-mentioned conventional arts, the inventor has studied intensively and found that they can be resolved by using a crystalline aluminosilicate zeolite as the catalyst which allows the reaction to be carried out in the liquid phase. Therefore, this invention is able to be achieved.


It is common for companies to sponsor sporting events or to otherwise place their advertisements within a sports arena. For example, a company may contract with a party having rights in an arena, team or league to place a banner within a stadium during game days, to place a logo on a team jersey, to have an advertisement displayed on digital signage within a stadium, etc. Sponsors and holders of rights in the advertising space often determine pricing and desirability of specific advertising space based in part on in-person audience attendance at the sporting event and a size of the television audience watching the sporting event at home. However, it is increasingly common, due in part to changes in the way that people consume content, that these attendance and television viewership numbers may significantly underestimate the number of people that actually saw at least a clip or highlight of the sporting event that contained a sponsor's logo or advertisement. For example, short video highlights are often played across many different television channels as well as shared on the Internet via social media networks, video sharing platforms and other services. These additional exposures are not typically tracked in any reliable or comprehensive manner.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clasp utilizing the attraction of a permanent magnet, and more particularly to obviating such inconveniences as disruption of magnetic records by magnetic flux from such clasps by preventing the flux lines of the magnet from leaking externally.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have been proposed various clasps which utilize the attraction of a permanent magnet, and almost all of them are conventionally aimed at effectively using the magnetic attraction of a permanent magnet rather than taking counter-measures to prevent disruption of magnetic records by the permanent magnet.
As great innovations have been achieved in the recording technology recently and magnetic recording means such as tapes, cards or notes have become household items, safeguarding those means demands special attention and care.
We have entered an era where articles having magnetic records are used daily, such as various magnetic tapes and magnetic disks to tickets for transportation, admission tickets, or cash cards for bank accounts.
The content of such magnetic records as recording tapes, etc., however, can be lost because they are easily destroyed when placed under the influence of the magnetic flux lines of a magnet and the occurrence of such a disruption can not easily be observed from outside appearance.


Characteristic of cardiothoracic surgery is the post-operative patient who is sent to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) intubated due to respiratory requirements. Approximately half of these patients are extubated within their first twenty-four post-operative hours. In most cases these patients are extubated within the first three days. There are some, however, who remain intubated for a significant length of time. When a surgeon identifies a patient who will require intubation longer than seven days, the surgeon will usually decide to perform a tracheotomy on that patient. The breathing support tube enters the trachea rather than entering the mouth for the trached patient. Communication for a intubated or trached patient is minimal due to the inability to speak resulting in the patient, hospital staff and loved ones resorting to the reading of lips, nodding of heads and squeezing of hands to communicate.
Without effective communication, the intubated or trached patient may not receive the standard of care he or she would otherwise receive had he or she been able to effectively communicate. The lack of communication also creates unnecessary levels of anxiety which the patient must endure. Nurses and hospital staff ask many questions from the patient pertaining to their prognosis and progress which may never get fully or even adequately answered. A doctor or nurse is not able to treat a symptom which they know little or nothing about. In addition, other problems arise due to the insufficient communication from the patient. Localized areas of pain are often mis-diagnosed, resulting in over-medication generally or the medication of an area which is not the source of pain. Proper and essential treatment given in an adequate and timely manner will help resolve or prevent many post-operative complications and decrease the patient""s length of stay in the hospital. This begins with providing the patient a clear and precise means of communication.
Accordingly, there has been a need for an ICU communication device which in the immediate post-operative period can provide assistance to an intubated or trached patient. What is also needed is a device which provides the communicating elements necessary over the patient""s post-operative stay in the hospital with not only with medical care providers but also with visiting family and loved ones. Further, a communication device is needed which accomplishes the desired function while being easy to manufacture and use while remaining cost effective. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.
The present invention resides in a device which facilitates communication between a voice-disabled patient and his or her care provider and others. The device comprises, generally, a housing having at least one display surface, indicia displayable on the display surface, and a marker associated with the housing. The indicia may be utilized by the patient to indicate the status and needs of the patient. The marker is usable by the patient to communicate to a third party the patient""s status and needs utilizing the indicia.
In one form of the invention, the device for communicating with a voice-disabled patient comprises a clipboard having at least one eraser-board surface, and an erasable marker attachable to the clipboard, and indicia imprinted onto the eraser-board surface. More particularly, the clipboard includes two eraser-board surfaces, and an eraser is connectable to the clipboard.
In another form of the invention, an electronic device for communicating with a voice-disabled patient comprises a housing, a computer within the housing, a touch pad visual screen disposed on the housing and in electronic communication with the computer, and computerized screen layouts generated by the computer having touch activated icons indicating the patient""s status and needs. The housing includes handles, and a speaker is disposed within the housing for audibly transmitting a computerized voice corresponding to the icons displayed on the visual screen.
In both embodiments the indicia includes descriptive words and phrases, and graphical representations of a human body. The indicia may further include a grid containing alphabetical letters, numbers and universal symbols, and a pain scale. Moreover, the words and phrases may include the patient""s physical and emotional status, and the graphical representations of the human body may have correlating descriptive words and phrases indicating the physical status of specific parts of the body.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.


Contact sensors have been used to gather information concerning contact or near-contact between two surfaces in medical applications, such as dentistry, podiatry, and in the development of prostheses, as well as in industrial applications, for instance to determine load and uniformity of pressure between mating surfaces, and in the development of bearings and gaskets. In general, these sensors include pressure-sensitive films designed to be placed between mating surfaces. These film sensors, while generally suitable for examining static contact characteristics between two generally flat surfaces, have presented many difficulties in other situations. For instance, when examining contact data between more complex surfaces, surfaces including complex curvatures, for instance, it can be difficult to conform the films to fit the surfaces without degrading the sensor's performance.
More serious problems exist with these materials as well. For instance, film-based contact sensor devices and methods introduce a foreign material having some thickness between the mating surfaces, which can change the contact characteristic of the junction and overestimate the contact areas between the two surfaces. Moreover, the ability to examine real time, dynamic contact characteristics is practically non-existent with these types of sensors.
A better understanding of the contact conditions at joints and junctions could lead to reduced wear in materials, better fit between mating surfaces, and longer life expectancy for machined parts. For example, one of the leading causes of failure in total joint replacement prostheses is due to loosening of the implant induced by wear debris particles worn from the polymeric bearing component. A better understanding of the contact conditions between the joint components would lead to reduced implant wear and longer implant life.
What is needed in the art are contact sensors that can provide more accurate and/or dynamic contact information concerning a junction formed between two surfaces of any surface shape.


This invention relates to a resistive film made from a paste comprising a powdery, vitreous carbon as an electrically conductive component in admixture with an electrically non-conductive component. This invention also relates to a method for producing a vitreous carbon in powder form by pyrolyzing a resin in inert atmosphere.
Vitreous carbon has a Mohs' hardness of 6. Therefore, reducing it to a powder entails significant effort.
Production of powdery, vitreous carbon is disclosed in German patent document DE 27 18 308 A1, in which acrylamides mixed with water-soluble salts are pyrolyzed, and a vitreous carbon component is recovered following pyrolysis by dissolving a salt component in water. The vitreous carbon is then dried, and a powder produced in this manner is further pulverized as needed. The method is very time-consuming.
Use of an precursor polymer having a three-dimensional, cross-linked structure for producing a vitreous carbon is disclosed in Plastverarbeiter, vol. 41, no. 6, pages 16-21 (1990). After shaping via casting or molding, the polymer is cured and additionally machined down. No mention is made of possible pulverization of the vitreous carbon.
German patent document DE 30 02 112 A1 discloses a paste for producing polymer-film integrated circuits having predetermined electrical conductivity. A predetermined electrical resistivity of the polymer-film integrated circuits to be produced is achieved by mixing electrically conductive and electrically non-conductive film components. A desired resistivity value is thus produced by adding the electrically non-conductive component.
It is generally known that the electrical conductivity of a paste, or of a film made of a paste, formed as a mixture of an electrically conductive component and an electrically non-conductive component, is largely determined by the specific electrical conductivity and the concentration, i.e. a packing density, of the conductive component in the film system. Electrical resistivity in the film increases nearly exponentially when the conductive component reaches a critical minimum concentration in the film. When the electrically conductive component is increased, electrical resistivity stabilizes once an optimal concentration is achieved. When a specific resistivity value is established through proportional increases in the electrically non-conductive component, electrical and mechanical stability may diminish as a result, owing to lack of homogeneity of the film.
When this paste is used for a resistive film, on a potentiometer, the electrically conductive component, for example carbon, causes a typical electrical micro-heterogeneity of the surface of the film, and thus causes increased contact resistivity at the film's wearing surface.
European patent document EP 0 399 295 A1 discloses a use of a vitreous carbon as an electrically conductive component in a resistive film. An electrical resistivity level is established by modifying a concentration or packing density of an electrically conductive component in the resistive film with respect to that of an electrically non-conductive component, such as a binding agent. In order to maintain desirable properties, such as mechanical and electrical stability, an optimum concentration or packing density of electrically conductive particles of the vitreous carbon, i.e. the mixture ratio of the two components, can vary only within a limited range.
It is an object of this invention to provide a method for producing powdery, vitreous carbon that saves money and time. A further object of this invention is to furnish a paste having predetermined electrical conductivity, and to disclose a resistive film having a high degree of abrasion resistance as well as mechanical and electrical stability.


The optimum mercury vapor pressure for production of 2537 .ANG. radiation to excite a phosphor coating in a fluorescent lamp is approximately six millitorr, corresponding to a mercury reservoir temperature of approximately 40.degree. C. Conventional tubular fluorescent lamps operate at a power density (i.e., typically measured as power input per phosphor area) and in a fixture configuration to ensure operation of the lamp at or about a mercury vapor pressure of six millitorr (typically in a range from approximately four to seven millitorr); that is, the lamp and fixture are designed such that the coolest location (i.e., cold spot) of the fluorescent lamp is approximately 40.degree. C. Compact fluorescent lamps, however, including electrodeless solenoidal electric field (SEF) fluorescent discharge lamps, operate at higher power densities with a cold spot temperature typically exceeding 50.degree. C. As a result, the mercury vapor pressure is higher than the optimum four to seven millitorr range, and the luminous output of the lamp is decreased.
One approach to controlling the mercury vapor pressure in an SEF lamp is to use an alloy capable of absorbing mercury from its gaseous phase in varying amounts, depending upon temperature. Alloys capable of forming amalgams with mercury have been found to be particularly useful. The mercury vapor pressure of such an amalgam at a given temperature is lower than the mercury vapor pressure of pure liquid mercury.
Unfortunately, accurate placement and retention of an amalgam to achieve a mercury vapor pressure in the optimum range in an SEF lamp are difficult. For stable long-term operation, the amalgam should be placed and retained in a relatively cool location with minimal temperature variation.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,231 of Anderson et al., issued Apr. 14, 1981, which is incorporated by reference herein, describes situating a lead-tin-bismuth amalgam in an electrodeless SEF fluorescent lamp by wetting the amalgam to a metal wire structure, such as a helical structure or a cylindrical screen, which is fixed within the tip-off region of a lamp envelope. Alternatively, Anderson et al. describe melting the amalgam onto an indium-coated, phosphor-free portion of the interior surface of the lamp envelope.
Smeelen U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,495 describes another scheme for locating an amalgam within an electrodeless SEF fluorescent lamp by attaching an amalgam holder to a tubular indentation (hereinafter referred to as a re-entrant cavity) within the lamp envelope. Disadvantageously, this requires a glass-to-metal seal; and a reliable glass-to-metal seal is difficult to achieve in manufacturing.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a relatively simple method for locating an amalgam in an electrodeless SEF fluorescent discharge lamp which provides an optimal operating location for the amalgam, while not requiring a glass-to-metal seal or an internal amalgam holder. Moreover, the amalgam should be held in place during lamp manufacturing without significantly interfering with other lamp processing steps.


The invention relates to piezo-electric actuating elements for recording heads in mosaic-type recording equipment, in particular those wherein a recording ink or fluid contained in a compression chamber, surrounded by the cylindrical actuating element, is forced out in drops through piezo-electric constriction of the actuating element.
The use of the piezo effect to operate recording heads has been known for a long time. German Inspection specification No. 2,405,584, for example, describes a pulse drop injection system in which a glass tube is encircled by a piezo-electric transducer which constricts in synchronism with a pulse generator and thereby forces recording fluid in the glass tube to be discharged drop by drop.
Recording tubes of this type are supported in holding devices within which the entire electro-mechanical transducer is firmly embraced by clamping means, with the external electrode of the transducer being secured to such holding device. Consequently, a loosening of the recording tube and holding device, as a result of any change in the external diameter resulting from constriction of the transducer, must be avoided as such loosening would automatically become noticeable from the resulting deterioration in the quality of the recording.


The invention concerns a coated cutting tool. More specifically, the invention pertains to a coated cutting tool wherein the coating scheme for the cutting tool includes a layer of a Group IVB metal-aluminum alloy applied by physical vapor deposition (PVD) and a layer of alumina applied by PVD to the layer of the Group IVB-aluminum alloy.
Alumina as a bulk material exhibits high oxidation resistance, high chemical stability, high hardness and good wear resistance. Alumina thus has desirable properties for use in material removal, e.g., metal removal, applications. Notwithstanding these desirable properties, the use of alumina cutting tools has certain drawbacks due to the low toughness and poor formability of alumina. To improve the cutting performance, some manufacturers have included additives such as chromium oxide, magnesium oxide, titanium oxide, nickel oxide and refractory metal carbides to the alumina-based cutting tool. The presence of these additives has resulted in alumina cutting tools with improved performance properties.
Another way to overcome the disadvantages of alumina and yet still achieve the beneficial properties thereof is to coat tougher and more readily formed cutting tool substrates with an alumina coating via physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniques. The end result of this process is an alumina-coated cutting tool.
While alumina-coated cutting tools achieve certain performance levels, there have been drawbacks with these tools. In this regard, the following documents concern the application of an amorphous alumina coating to a substrate.
The article by Knotek et al. entitled "Sputtered hard materials based on titanium and aluminum for wear protection", International Pulvermet. Tagung., DDR, Dresden (1985), pp. 181-196, mentions the PVD (magnetron sputtering) application of separate coatings of alumina, TiN and TiAlN. The article states that these coatings have equivalent, or in the case of TiAlN better, performance than CVD coatings.
The Sumomogi et al article entitled "Adhesion Evaluation of RF-Sputtered Aluminum Oxide and Titanium Carbide Thick Films Grown on Carbide Tools", Thin Solid Films, 79 (1981), pp. 91-100, discusses the PVD application of alumina coatings on cemented carbide tools (ISO P20).
The Shinzato et al. article entitled "Internal Stress in Sputter-Deposited Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 Films", Thin Solid Films, 97 (1982), pp. 333-337, mentions the application of an alumina coating to cemented carbide (ISO P20), high speed steel, and Corning Pyrex glass substrates via either a conventional r.f. apparatus or a planar magnetron r.f. apparatus.
The Kazama et al. article entitled "Alumina Films Prepared by Ion Plating" alumina on a WC cutting tool!, mentions the application of an alumina coating via ion plating to a WC substrate to from an alpha-alumina coating.
Japanese Patent Application S54-2982 to Murayama et al. addresses the use of the ion plating method to apply an alumina (or alumina and TiC) coating to a substrate. Practical Example II concerns the alumina coating on a cutting tool (ISO P30 alloy).
One drawback of alumina coated cutting tools pertains to the lack of adequate adhesion between the substrate and the alumina coating or layer. One way to improve the adhesion of the alumina coating is to provide an intermediate layer or layers. The following documents discuss the use of an intermediate layer.
In Ramos et al., "Adhesion improvement of RF-sputtered alumina coatings as determined by the scratch test", Jour. Adhesion Sci. Technol., Vol. 7, No. 8, pp. 801-811 (1993), the authors looked at the use of a titanium or a titanium nitride intermediate layer between a high speed steel substrate (AISI M2) and an alumina coating applied via RF-sputtering. The overall conclusion was that the presence of a titanium or titanium nitride intermediate layer improves the adhesion of the alumina coating to the high speed steel substrate.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-120667 to Doi et al. mentions in the context of a cutting tool the PVD application of an intermediate layer of alumina over a base layer of TiC. The outer layer is TiN. This patent also mentions a six-layer coating scheme including alumina as the outer layer with TiC, alumina, TiCO as the intermediate layers using a plasma CVD device. Example No. 3 of this patent comprises an eight layer scheme in which the outer layer is alumina and the intermediate layers include TiC, alumina, TiCO and TiCN.
Japanese Patent Application No. H4-308075 to Matsuda et al. discusses the application by ion plating of an alumina coating to a substrate. The alumina may be applied directly to the surface of the substrate. The alumina may also be applied to an intermediate layer previously formed on the substrate. The intermediate layer may be titanium, titanium carbide or titanium nitride.


The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to a shot sleeve for a die casting process and, more particularly, to low modulus shot sleeves for high temperature die casting.
A die casting process utilizes a mold cavity defined between mold parts. Molten metal material is feed in to the mold cavity and held under pressure until the metal hardens. The mold parts are then separated and the cast part removed. In some processes a shot sleeve is utilized to hold molten material and introduce that material to the cavity. The shot sleeve includes an opening for introducing molten material into a bore of the shot sleeve that leads to the mold cavity. A plunger or piston moves within the bore of the shot sleeve to push the molten material through the shot sleeve and inject the molten material into the mold cavity. The piston is subsequently withdrawn and additional material can be introduced into the bore for fabricating another part within the same mold cavity, i.e., the shot sleeve is reused for multiple molding operations (e.g., die casting operations).
The shot sleeve can experience very high temperatures due to the molten metal material that is passed through the bore of the shot sleeve. Accordingly, the shot sleeve and/or components thereof are fabricated of materials compatible with such high temperatures. However, materials that are compatible with the high temperatures encountered during the die casting process can be costly and difficult to machine. Further, materials that are compatible with the high temperatures may result in shot sleeves with relatively low life cycles. That is, the high temperatures can lead to failure of the shot sleeves, even when the shot sleeve is formed from high temperature materials. Accordingly, it is desirable to design and develop shot sleeves that can withstand the high temperatures while reducing cost, easing manufacturing, and/or increasing the life cycle of shot sleeves.


The invention relates to method of electrodeposition employing resinous reaction products containing cationic groups. More particularly, this invention relates to cationic resinous reaction products which are prepared from chain extended epoxide resins.
Cationic electrodepositable resins are known in the art. A preferred class of resins are those prepared from epoxy resins such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,104,147 to Marchetti, Jerabek and Zwack.
This patent discloses chain extension of polyepoxides with organic polyols such as polymeric polyols. The chain extended products can then be reacted with a secondary amine and solubilized with acid to form cationic electrodepositable compositions. The resins have excellent properties such as high rupture voltage, good film forming properties and deposit as films with good flexibility.
One problem associated with polymeric polyol chain extension is competing reactions. Under chain extension reaction conditions, which are usually in the presence of an amine catalyst, epoxy-epoxy reaction and epoxy-secondary hydroxyl reactions compete with the desired polymeric hydroxyl-epoxy reaction. The competing reactions may consume too much of the epoxy functionality resulting in the presence of excess amine in the reaction product which adversely affects the dispersion properties of the resin as well as its throw power and film-forming properties. Also, these competing reactions if not controlled can present manufacturing difficulties, for example, undesirably high resin viscosities which are believed to be due to polymer branching.
An indication of this can be seen in FIG. 2 which is a plot of the reduced Gardner-Holdt viscosity (50 percent resin solids in 2-ethoxyethanol) versus time in hours of the reaction mixture which involves chain extension of a polyglycidyl ether of a polyphenol with a poly(oxytetramethylene) glycol having a molecular weight of 650. As shown in FIG. 2, the viscosity increases rapidly with time. If the viscosity is not carefully monitored, the reaction mixture could easily go to gelation. This is a possibility in a commercial production situation where the operator in charge of the reaction may not be able to monitor carefully the viscosity of the reaction with time.
It has been found that these problems can be significantly minimized by chain extending with a polymercapto compound, particularly a polymeric polymercapto compound. It is believed that under chain extension reaction conditions, the mercapto-epoxy reaction goes in relatively high yield with a minimum amount of competing side reactions. This results in a resin which has better properties and which is easier to manufacture, particularly on a commercial scale.
Reference is made to FIG. 1 which is a plot of the reduced Gardner-Holdt viscosity versus time for Example I of the present invention. Example I involves chain extension of a polyglycidyl ether of a polyphenol with a dimercapto polymer obtained from reacting poly(oxytetramethylene) glycol having a molecular weight of 650 with mercapto propionic acid in a molar ratio of 1:2. As shown in FIG. 1, the viscosity increases relatively slowly over the period of about 11/2 hours. At this point, the viscosity remains essentially constant with time. In commercial production, this can be important because if the operator in charge of the reaction is distracted and loses track of the time of the reaction, the viscosity of the reaction mixture will level out and not proceed to gelation.


This invention relates to a quotation marks or "comb teeth" pattern signal generating circuit of a video camera, and in particular to a zebra signal generating circuit of a video camera in which, an electronic view finder (which is abbreviated as E.V.F) is utilized and especially when taking photographs at a field location, the gain band of the video signal is divided into stages the user is able to see and by selecting the appropriate zebra pattern among these stages, an improved video image quality can be obtained.
In general, the zebra pattern means a comb teeth pattern, and this pattern is made to couple to the video signal by dividing the frequency down to a quarter of the 3.58 MHZ carrier which is the sub-carrier of the color signal, since the sub-carrier signal is inverted at every 1 Hz the comb teeth pattern appears in the picture screen. Accordingly, the visual status of the object becomes possible to observe in the electronic view finder of the video camera.
Therefore, when pressing the white balance of a video camera, the zebra signal appears and is produced up to the third stage from the white in the gray scale chart.
The zebra signal is conventionally produced when the video signal is a light quantity of over 100 IRE, the zebra signal can indicate the state and range of incident light quantity with regard to the surrounding environment during picture taking and is useful to check the state of the camera, and is used for making a pertinent video signal and photograph by controlling the lens iris in response to the zebra signal. However, the video camera using a conventional zebra pattern is structured to merely warn about the state or light quantity of the picture screen by inputting the zebra pattern when above a certain specific value i.e., only the portion of the light quantity being directed, and being designed not to be able to observe the state and light quantity of the picture screen when below the specific value, and therefore, when taking a picture of the field location with a video camera, because the state and scope of the light quantity is not possible to observe without a measuring instrument or master monitor, there is a problem that a picture of good quality is hard to obtain with only the electronic view finder scanned with black and white.


Drive-in facilities by means of which bank customers may transact their business without leaving their vehicles have become increasingly popular, particularly in suburban locations, to the point where two, three, or even more stations are required to accommodate the traffic; and where multiple stations are involved, it is extremely difficult to provide two or more teller stations in locations where the motorist can drive up to the teller station and transact business with the teller by means of an extensible drawer in which currency, deposit slips and the like may be transferred between the teller and the customer. To alleviate this problem, as well as conserve space and enhance traffic flow, remote customer stations have been provided in the form of islands having remote facilities for transferring items back and forth between the remote customer station and the teller station. In addition to increasing the number of customers who may transact their business at any given time, a lesser number of tellers is usually required in that one teller can service more than one customer station.
For the most part, vacuum systems are utilized to convey the items back and forth between the customer stations and the teller stations. Such vacuum systems are expensive to install and to operate, and the number and size of items which can be transported is relatively limited due to the size of the normally cylindrical containers required for travel through the vacuum lines. In addition, should one of the lines be plugged, either by one of the containers or by foreign materials inadvertently, or even deliberately, introduced into the vacuum lines, considerable difficulty is often encountered in removing the obstruction and any containers which might be trapped in the system by reason of the obstruction. Similar objections are encountered with other forms of moving conveyors, particularly those which move underground or are otherwise relatively unaccessible for maintenance and repair; and if a stoppage results due to a malfunction in only a portion of the system, the entire system may have to be shut down until the necessary parts can be obtained and the repairs made, which may put the system out of operation for a number of hours, days, or even weeks.
In contrast to the foregoing the instant invention provides an integrated conveyor system which is relatively inexpensive both insofar as initial cost is concerned as well as in its cost of operation, and which can be easily installed and service.


Exercise machines having alternating reciprocating foot supports configured to traverse or travel about a closed path to simulate a striding, running, walking, and/or a climbing motion for the individual using the machine are well known in the art, and are commonly referred to as elliptical exercise machines or elliptical cross-trainers. In general, an elliptical or elliptical-type exercise machine comprises a pair of reciprocating foot supports designed to receive and support the feet of a user. Each reciprocating foot support has at least one end supported for rotational motion about a pivot point or pivot axis, with the other end supported in a manner configured to cause the reciprocating foot support to travel or traverse a closed path, such as a reciprocating elliptical or oblong path or other similar geometric outline. Therefore, upon operation of the exercise machine to rotate the proximal end, each reciprocating foot support is caused” to travel or traverse the closed path. The reciprocating foot supports are configured to be out of phase with one another by 180° in order to simulate a proper and natural alternating stride motion.
An individual may utilize an elliptical or elliptical-type exercise machine by placing his or her feet onto the reciprocating foot supports. The individual may then actuate the exercise machine for any desired length of time to cause the reciprocating foot supports to repeatedly travel their respective closed paths, which action effectively results in a series of strides achieved by the individual to obtain exercise, with a low-impact advantage. An elliptical or elliptical-type machine may further comprise mechanisms or systems for increasing the resistance of the motion, and/or for varying the vertical elevation or height of the closed path. In addition, the reciprocating motion of the feet to achieve a series of strides may be complemented by a reciprocating movement of the arms, whether assisted by the exercise machine via a suitably configured mechanism or system, or unassisted.
A typical closed path may comprise a generally horizontal outline having a longitudinal axis therethrough. Depending upon the exercise machine, a closed path may be many different sizes. As such, a particular measurement of interest to individuals with respect to an elliptical or elliptical-type exercise machine is “stride length”. A stride length is essentially a measurement of the distance separating the two furthest points along the longitudinal axis of the closed path. Therefore, upon actuation of the exercise machine, a single stride may be referred to as travel by the reciprocating foot support, and therefore the foot of a user, along the closed path from a first endpoint on the along the longitudinal axis of the closed path to the a distal endpoint, also on the longitudinal axis. The stride and resulting stride length provided by an exercise machine, although simulated and possibly modified, is comparable to a single stride achieved during natural and/or modified gait of an individual.
Obviously, the strides, and particularly the stride lengths, between different individuals may vary, perhaps considerably. Indeed, a person of small stature will most likely have a much shorter stride length than a person of large stature, and thus will be more comfortable on an exercise machine configured to accommodate his or her particular size and resulting stride length. As such, it is important that the exercise machine function with a stride that corresponds to the stride of the user. The challenge arises when the exercise machine is intended for use by many individuals that may or may not have the same stride length. Moreover, it may be desirable within an exercise routine to vary the speed or frequency of strides along the closed path, the resistance felt, and/or the vertical height of the closed path, wherein some or all of these variable elements may require the user to adapt his or her stride to the changing routine to realize a more natural motion.
Despite their many advantages, and despite recent efforts to attain such, elliptical or elliptical-type exercise machines are devoid of a simple and efficient way to vary their stride length for the purpose of accommodating the stride lengths of individuals of different size and of providing a more natural stride motion. Many prior related exercise machines exist in the art that comprise complex or intricate solutions. However, many of these are difficult to operate at best, and are also expensive to manufacture and cumbersome to assemble as many of them comprise several components or linkages to ultimately achieve a variable stride length.
Another inherent deficiency with the many prior related exercise machines comprising a mechanism or system for varying the stride length of the machine is that they are so complex in design that it would be difficult to utilize the system or mechanism technology on different machines without requiring significant modifications to the machine, if possible at all.


Water softeners find wide applications throughout society. In many applications, it is desirable to soften the water by removing the hardness minerals from the water before use. This is particularly critical in boiler operation where use of hard water will create boiler scale and rapidly reduce operating efficiencies.
A common water softening process is to use water softeners designed for this purpose. Water softening tanks contain cation exchange resin capable of exchanging hardness ions, i.e., calcium and magnesium for sodium ions which are very soluble.
When the hardness exchanging capacity of the water softening resin has exhausted it stops producing soft water. It then becomes necessary to regenerate the resin with a saturated solution of sodium or potassium chloride. Because of cost, sodium chloride is usually the chemical of choice.
Sodium chloride brine solution is made in a separate tank built and designed for this purpose, and this tank is called a brine tank.
Modern water softeners are well engineered and designed to produce soft water with all regeneration actions done automatically, including the transfer of the saturated brine from the brine tank to the water softener tanks.
In order for the water softener resin to be properly rejuvenated, the saturated brine solution must be of high quality and a measured volume must be delivered whenever needed.
A properly designed and engineered brine tank will provide these needs by delivering a measured quantity of saturated salt brine containing a fixed amount of dissolved salt per gallon of water.
This is accomplished by using a horizontal salt grid in a vertical tank. The height and diameter of the salt grid varies for each softening system, depending on many factors, but in all cases the height of the salt grid sets the volume of water in the brine tank.
In actual practice, the brine system is set to fill the brine tank with fresh water from the bottom of the tank to approximately 1" above the salt grid and then shut off.
Using this method, only 1" of water touches the vertical salt pile, which may be several hundred pounds in weight, stored on top of the salt grid.
This system is called a dry salt shelf system, as opposed to a wet salt brine tank system where most or all the salt is immersed in water. The dry salt shelf system has significant advantages over the wet salt system. The dry salt shelf method produces 100% saturated brine (specific gravity 1.2) all the time where wet salt methods do not. The dry salt shelf system affects more dry salt storage in the same size brine tank than a wet salt system. A dry salt shelf system is easier to keep clean than the wet salt system. A dry salt shelf system does not require a gravel support bed at the bottom of the brine tank. The dry salt shelf system offers lower maintenance costs to the operator, no gravel cleaning or replacement.
The dry salt shelf system has no messy brine float valves as used above the liquid brine on wet salt systems. These float valves become corroded with salt creep and require repair and/or replacement frequently. The dry salt shelf system uses brine float or refill valves in the lower section of the brine tank (below the shelf) and are less exposed to the risk of malfunctions or corrosion, thus operating more efficiently. The dry salt shelf system uses all of the salt stored before the brine tank needs to be refilled. Liquid below the shelf is saturated brine even if only one grain of salt remains on the shelf. The brine tank salt refill is less often with the dry salt shelf system because of the greater salt storage capacity it offers. Brine tank corrosion is reduced or eliminated on steel brine tanks with the dry salt shelf system because the liquid level is down below the dry salt, thus less air/brine exposure. The dry salt shelf system allows more programmed salt delivery scheduling because the salt stored is easily seen and thus the quantity remaining can be easily determined. The dry salt shelf system allows the use of all grades of salt, even the most economical rock type salt. The dry salt shelf type brine system can be cleaned in less than one hour, regardless of size whereas a wet salt tank may take one day and require the water softener to be down.
Dissolving of salt starts immediately and continues until the volume of water beneath the salt grid becomes saturated with dissolved salt. When saturation occurs, dissolving ceases. Stored salt above the salt grid not in contact with the water remains dry, preventing bridging and mushing.
Using a salt grid enables an engineer to calculate the quantity and quality of a particular size brine tank will produce. The engineer then is able to select the proper brine tank for the water softener system. It is imperative that the grid and support system be strong to support the mass of weight placed upon it. Until now, salt grids and support systems have usually been made from pegboard. It is readily available and cheap; however, in contact with the salt brine it tends to deform, warp and those portions of the salt grid left unsupported tend to break and collapse, dumping the salt stored on them down into the brine measuring area.
When this occurs, it causes the water softener to malfunction.
The salt grid and support system must be rebuilt, and in time it fails again.
For these reasons, the salt grid and support system could not be used in larger brine tanks.
As the demand increased for larger and larger water softeners, the demand for more saturated brine increased.
In order to provide this requirement, brine tanks increased in size and the pegboard salt grid and support system could not be used as they were not strong enough to hold the weight.
These larger systems were forced to use the less efficient older method of wet storage.
This method consists of loading the brine tank with several hundred pounds of gravel on the bottom. Several hundred pounds of salt is then poured upon the gravel and then adding water until a portion or all of the salt is submerged.
The measuring advantage of the salt grid system is lost.
The salt brine produced by the wet salt storage method is often of poor quality and submerged salt tends to bridge and mush, causing maintenance problems.
The salt grid plate and support system we have designed and built is strong enough that it may be used in the larger systems.
Again, the engineer can calculate the exact quantity of brine needed by utilizing the salt grid method.


The present invention comprises a new Ageratum, botanically known as Ageratum houstonanium, and hereinafter referred to by the variety name ‘Agros’.
‘Agros’ is a product of a planned breeding program. The new cultivar ‘Agros’ has purple flowers, early and continuously flowering and has a habit that is compact, upright while mounded and is freely branching.
‘Agros’ originated from a hybridization in a controlled breeding program in Enkhuizen, Netherlands. The female parent was an unpatented seedling identified as ‘X52-2’ with light purple color. ‘X52-2’ has a more vigorous habit than ‘Agros’.
The male parent of ‘Agros’ was an unpatented hybrid seedling identified as ‘54-1’ with purple color. ‘54-1’ has a more vigorous habit than ‘Agros’.
‘Agros’ was selected as one flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in August 2003. The pollination took place in September 2002 and the seed sowing in March 2003, all in a controlled environment in Enkhuizen, Netherlands.
The first act of asexual reproduction of ‘Agros’ was accomplished when vegetative cuttings were taken from the initial selection in August 2003 in a controlled environment in Enkhuizen, Netherlands.
Horticultural examination of plants grown from cuttings of the plant initiated in early spring 2004 in Enkhuizen, Netherlands; Gilroy, Calif. USA; and Angers, France, and continuing thereafter, has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for ‘Agros’ are firmly fixed and are retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction.
‘Agros’ has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary significantly with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity and day length.
A Plant Breeder's Right for this cultivar was granted in the European Union on Oct. 22, 2007. ‘Agros’ has not been made publicly available more than one year prior to the filing of this application.


Many medical procedures involve the extraction and replacement of flowing blood from, and back into, a donor or patient. The reasons for doing this vary, but generally, they involve subjecting the blood to some process that cannot be carried out inside the body. When the blood is outside the patient it is conducted through machinery that processes the blood. The various processes include, but are not limited to, hemodialysis, hemofiltration, hemodiafiltration, blood and blood component collection, plasmaphresis, aphresis, and blood oxygenation.
One technique for extracorporeal blood processing employs a single “access,” for example a single needle in the vein of the patient or a fistula. A volume of blood is cyclically drawn through the access at one time, processed, and then returned through the same access at another time. Single access systems are uncommon because they limit the rate of processing to half the capacity permitted by the access. As a result, two-access systems, in which blood is drawn from a first access, called an arterial access, and returned through a second access, called a venous access, are much faster and more common. These accesses include catheters, catheters with subcutaneous ports, fistulas, and grafts.
The processes listed above, and others, often involve the movement of large amounts of blood at a very high rate. For example, 500 ml. of blood may be drawn out and replaced every minute, which is about 5% of the patient's entire supply. If a leak occurs in such a system, the patient could be drained of enough blood in a few minutes to cause loss of consciousness with death following soon thereafter. As a result, such extracorporeal blood circuits are normally used in very safe environments, such as hospitals and treatment centers, and attended by highly trained technicians and doctors nearby. Even with close supervision, a number of deaths occur in the United States every year due to undue blood loss from leaks.
Leaks present a very real risk. Leaks can occur for various reasons, among them: extraction of a needle, disconnection of a luer, poor manufacture of components, cuts in tubing, and leaks in a catheter. However, in terms of current technology, the most reliable solution to this risk, that of direct and constant trained supervision in a safe environment, has an enormous negative impact on the lifestyles of patients who require frequent treatment and on labor requirements of the institutions performing such therapies. Thus, there is a perennial need in the art for ultra-safe systems that can be used in a non-clinical setting and/or without the need for highly trained and expensive staff. Currently, there is great interest in ways of providing systems for patients to use at home. One of the risks for such systems is the danger of leaks. As a result, a number of companies have dedicated resources to the solution of the problem of leak detection.
In single-access systems, loss of blood through the patient access and blood circuit can be indirectly detected by detecting the infiltration of air during the draw cycle. Air is typically detected using an ultrasonic air detector on the tubing line, which detects air bubbles in the blood. The detection of air bubbles triggers the system to halt the pump and clamp the line to prevent air bubbles from being injected into the patient. Examples of such systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,985,134, 4,614,590, and 5,120,303.
While detection of air infiltration is a reliable technique for detecting leaks in single access systems, the more attractive two-access systems, in which blood is drawn continuously from one access and returned continuously through another, present problems. While a disconnection or leak in the draw line can be sensed by detecting air infiltration, just as with the single needle system, a leak in the return line cannot be so detected. This problem has been addressed in a number of different ways, some of which are generally accepted in the industry.
The first level of protection against return line blood loss is the use of locking luers on all connections, as described in International Standard ISO 594-2 which help to minimize the possibility of spontaneous disconnection during treatment. Care in the connection and taping of lines to the patient's bodies is also a known strategy for minimizing this risk.
A higher level of protection is the provision of venous pressure monitoring, which detects a precipitous decrease in the venous line pressure. This technique is outlined in International Standard IEC 60601-2-16. This approach, although providing some additional protection, is not very robust, because most of the pressure loss in the venous line is in the needle used to access the patient. There is very little pressure change in the venous return line that can be detected in the event of a disconnection, so long as the needle remains attached to the return line. Thus, the pressure signal is very weak. The signal is no stronger for small leaks in the return line, where the pressure changes are too small to be detected with any reliability. One way to compensate for the low pressure signal is to make the system more sensitive, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,221,040, but this strategy can cause many false positives. It is inevitable that the sensitivity of the system will have to be traded against the burden of monitoring false alarms. Inevitably this leads to compromises in safety. In addition, pressure sensing methods cannot be used at all for detecting small leaks.
Yet another approach, described for example in PCT application US98/19266, is to place fluid detectors near the patient's access and/or on the floor under the patient. The system responds only after blood has leaked and collected in the vicinity of a fluid detector. A misplaced detector can defeat such a system and the path of a leak cannot be reliably predicted. For instance, a rivulet of blood may adhere to the patient's body and transfer blood to points remote from the detector. Even efforts to avoid this situation can be defeated by movement of the patient, deliberate or inadvertent (e.g., the unconscious movement of a sleeping patient).
Still another device for detecting leaks is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,691. According to the description, the circuit is checked for leaks prior to the treatment operation. For example, a heated fluid may be run through the circuit and its leakage detected by means of a thermistor. The weakness of this approach is immediately apparent: there is no assurance that the system's integrity will persist, throughout the treatment cycle, as confirmed by the pre-treatment test. Thus, this method also fails to address the entire risk.
Yet another device for checking for leaks in return lines is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,090,048. In the disclosed system, a pressure signal is sensed at the access and used to infer its integrity. The pressure wave may be the patient's pulse or it may be artificially generated by the pump. This approach cannot detect small leaks and is not very sensitive unless powerful pressure waves are used; in which case the effect can produce considerable discomfort in the patient.
Clearly detection of leaks by prior art methods fails to reduce the risk of dangerous blood loss to an acceptable level. In general, the risk of leakage-related deaths increases with the decrease in medical staff per patient driven by the high cost of trained staff. Currently, with lower staffing levels comes the increased risk of unattended leaks. Thus, there has been, and continues to be, a need in the prior art for a foolproof approach to detection of a return line leak or disconnection.
In an area unrelated to leak detection, U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,049 B1 suggests the idea of reversing the direction of blood flow for purposes of patency testing and access-clearing. The patency tests alluded to by the '049 patent refer simply to the conventional idea of forcing blood through each access to clear occlusions and to ascertain the flow inside a fistula.


This section introduces aspects that may be helpful in facilitating a better understanding of the inventions. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.
Fourth generation (4G) wireless mobile telecommunications technology, also known as Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, was designed to provide high capacity mobile multimedia with high data rates particularly for human interaction. Next generation or fifth generation (5G) technology is intended to be used not only for human interaction, but also for machine type communications in so-called Internet of Things (IoT) networks.
While 5G networks are intended to enable massive IoT services (e.g., very large numbers of limited capacity devices) and mission-critical IoT services (e.g., requiring high reliability), improvements over legacy mobile communication services are supported in the form of enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services providing improved wireless Internet access for mobile devices.
In an example communication system, user equipment (5G UE in a 5G network or, more broadly, a UE) such as a mobile terminal (subscriber) communicates over an air interface with a base station or access point referred to as a gNB in a 5G network. The access point (e.g., gNB) is illustratively part of an access network of the communication system. For example, in a 5G network, the access network is referred to as a 5G System and is described in 5G Technical Specification (TS) 23.501, V15.2.0, entitled “Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; System Architecture for the 5G System,” the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. In general, the access point (e.g., gNB) provides access for the UE to a core network (CN), which then provides access for the UE to other UEs and/or a data network such as a packet data network (e.g., Internet).
TS 23.501 goes on to define a 5G Service-Based Architecture (SBA) which models services as network functions (NFs) that communicate with each other using representational state transfer application programming interfaces (Restful APIs).
Furthermore, 5G Technical Specification (TS) 33.501, V15.1.0, entitled “Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Security Architecture and Procedures for the 5G System” and 5G Technical Report (TR) 33.899, V1.3.0, entitled Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Study on the Security Aspects of the Next Generation System,” the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties, further describe security management details associated with a 5G network.
Security management is an important consideration in any communication system. For example, protections in a 5G network against false bases stations, e.g., communication equipment or devices, operated by malicious actors, pretending to be legitimate base stations in a serving network, are critical to prevent such malicious actors from acquiring sensitive subscriber information that would allow them to, inter alia, act like a legitimate UE to the 5G network.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical information processing apparatus which irradiates a focused light beam to an optical recording medium to record and/or reproduce information.
2. Related Background Art
Various disk, card and tape media which record information by light and reproduce the recorded information have been known.
For example, in an optical information processing apparatus which uses an optical disk, the optical disk is scanned by a light beam which is modulated by recording information and focused to a fine spot, and information is recorded as optically detectable record pit tracks (information tracks). In order to exactly record the information without difficulty, such as crossing of the information tracks, it is necessary to control the irradiation position of the light spot on a plane of the optical disk in a direction perpendicular to the scan direction (auto-tracking, hereinafter referred to as AT). Further, in order to irradiate the light spot as a fine spot which is stable in spite of warp or mechanical tolerance of the optical disk, it is necessary to control the irradiation position normal to the plane of the optical disk (auto-focusing, hereinafter referred to as AF). In a reproduction mode, both AT and AF are necessary, too. Various techniques for AT and AF have been known. Usually, a focusing error signal and a tracking error signal are derived from differences between photo-sensing planes of focusing and tracking photo-detectors, and an objective lens is driven by AT and AF actuators.
In the above apparatus, when recording or reproduction is to be started, the focusing control means is switched from an inactive state to an active state, that is, so-called focus pull-in is effected. In the focus pull-in, a focus control loop is opened and a triangular wave signal is applied to a focus actuator to move the objective lens up and down, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,491. When the objective lens reaches a position corresponding to a linear region of a focus error signal, the loop is closed. During the focus pull-in, the tracking control loop is kept open.
In the above method, since no drive force along the tracking path is applied to the objective lens in the focus pull-in, the objective lens may deviate from an intended mechanical center (a center of a movable range by the tracking actuator, at which an optical axis of the light beam and an optical axis of the objective lens coincide). Such a deviation may be caused by a residual strain of a spring which movably supports the objective lens or by an offset of an input circuit to the tracking actuator. If such a deviation occurs, the operation range may be unbalanced when the tracking actuator is activated after the focus pull-in. For example, assuming that the optical system of the apparatus assures an optical output in a range of .+-.250 .mu.m from the optical center and that there occurs a deviation of +100 .mu.m, the assurance of the optical output is in a range of -350 .mu.m to +100 .mu.m. Accordingly, if the light spot is track-jumped in a positive direction by 100 tracks (1.6 .mu.m/track) after the focus pull-in, the light beam is out of the range of assurance of the optical output.


Most conventional motor vehicles, such as the modern-day automobile, include a powertrain (sometimes referred to as “drivetrain”) that is generally comprised of an engine that delivers driving power through a multi-speed power transmission to a final drive system, such as a rear differential, axle, and wheels. Automobiles have traditionally been powered solely by a reciprocating-piston type internal combustion engine (ICE) because of its ready availability and relative cost, weight, and efficiency. Such engines include 4-stroke compression-ignited diesel engines and 4-stroke spark-ignited gasoline engines.
Hybrid vehicles, on the other hand, utilize alternative power sources to propel the vehicle, minimizing reliance on the engine for power, thereby increasing overall fuel economy. A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), for example, incorporates both electric energy and chemical energy, and converts the same into mechanical power to propel the vehicle and power the vehicle systems. The HEV generally employs one or more electric machines that operate individually or in concert with an internal combustion engine to propel the vehicle. Since hybrid vehicles can derive their power from sources other than the engine, engines in hybrid vehicles can be turned off while the vehicle is propelled by the alternative power source(s).
Series hybrid architectures, sometimes referred to as Range-Extended Electric Vehicles (REEVs), are generally characterized by an internal combustion engine in driving communication with an electric generator. The electric generator, in turn, provides power to one or more electric motors that operate to rotate the final drive members. In effect, there is no direct mechanical connection between the engine and the drive members in a series hybrid powertrain. The lack of a mechanical link between the engine and wheels allows the engine to be run at a constant and efficient rate, even as vehicle speed changes—closer to the theoretical limit of 37%, rather than the normal average of 20%. The electric generator may also operate in a motoring mode to provide a starting function to the internal combustion engine. This system may also allow the electric motor(s) to recover energy from slowing the vehicle and storing it in the battery by regenerative braking.
Parallel hybrid architectures are generally characterized by an internal combustion engine and one or more electric motor/generator assemblies, each of which has a direct mechanical coupling to the power transmission. Most parallel hybrid designs combine a large electrical generator and a motor into one unit, providing tractive power and replacing both the conventional starter motor and the alternator. One such parallel hybrid powertrain architecture comprises a two-mode, compound-split, electro-mechanical transmission which utilizes an input member for receiving power from the ICE, and an output member for delivering power from the transmission to the driveshaft. First and second motor/generators operate to rotate the transmission output shaft. The motor/generators are electrically connected to an energy storage device for interchanging electrical power between the storage device and the first and second motor/generators. A control unit is provided for regulating the electrical power interchange between the energy storage device and motor/generators, as well as the electrical power interchange between the first and second motor/generators.
Regardless of architecture, most hybrid powertrains generate driveline vibrations during normal operation, which range from imperceptible to unpleasantly noticeable. Significant driveline vibrations may be objectionable to a vehicle operator, and may reduce service life of the driveline components. Historically, driveline vibrations are mitigated by implementing systems which operate to cancel torque oscillations at one specific frequency, over a range of frequencies, or a set of frequencies chosen based upon gear ratio at which the driveline is currently operating. Such torque cancellation systems typically pass driveline inputs through signal conditioning filters, which may slow system responsiveness. Slow system response often leads to a “bump” or “overshoot” that occurs when there is an aggressive operator torque request, due to delays in transient responses required to develop filters.
Some systems use a single feedback variable, typically engine speed, and command a single control signal, typically engine torque. However, single feedback/single control vibration control systems do not provide adequate damping in a system having multiple devices operable to generate vibrations in the driveline. As such, other systems employ a multivariate feedback control approach to provide active driveline damping for a hybrid powertrain. This approach provides dynamic coordination of all torque commands to control the transient response of the driveline using the hybrid transmission, including engine torque commands, electric motor torque commands, and clutch torque commands, as well as other controllable torque inputs.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to stepping motors, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for determining the speed and position values of such motors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The stepping motor is increasingly used for applications calling for the motor to be operated quasi-continuously, because of its relatively simple digital control. The open loop mode and the feed-back mode are two operating modes for applications where the stepping motor is operated quasi-continuously. The open loop mode is highly susceptible to oscillations and the feed-back mode necessitates a feed-back signal indicating the respective operational stage of the motor shaft. Optically coded disc, attached to the motor shaft, provide this feed-back signal, by emitting one pulse for each motor step. To ensure that this pulse is accurate within a few percent of the step width, the discs pattern and the adjustment of the axle must meet very stringent requirements. An increase in the degree of accuracy of the disc is possible by using larger discs, but that would mean an increase in the rotational mass of the motor. The protection needed against contamination, the light source, and the light detector required render this method very expensive.
With each pulse a coded disc of the kind described provides information on the position of the motor shaft. Information on the speed can be obtained only as a function of the time difference between two feed-back pulses. Whenever this method is employed the speed during a step just completed can only be determined afterwards. This is a serious disadvantage when the motor moves very slowly shortly before it reaches its stand-still position. In other words, instantaneous speed data is not available.
Where a stepping motor is used to control the operational sequence the greatest problem is to accurately control the motor into its end position.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvement in or relating to a photoelectric conversion device in which a number of semiconductor elements are sequentially arranged on a substrate in side-by-side relation and connected in series. The invention also pertains to a method for the manufacture of such a photoelectric conversion device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,096 a photoelectric conversion device of the type wherein a plurality n (n being an integer greater than one) of semiconductor elements U.sub.i to U.sub.n are sequentially formed side by side on a substrate having an insulating surface and are connected in series one after another.
According to this semiconductor photoelectric conversion device, the semiconductor element U.sub.i (i=1, 2, . . . n) has a first electrode E.sub.i formed on the substrate, a non-single-crystal semiconductor laminate member Q.sub.i formed on the first electrode E.sub.i to form at least one semiconductor junction and a second electrode F.sub.i formed on the non-single-crystal semiconductor laminate member Q.sub.i in opposing relation to the first electrode E.sub.i. The second electrode F.sub.j+1 of the semiconductor element U.sub.j+1 (J=1, 2, . . . (n-1)) is coupled with the first electrode E.sub.j of the semiconductor element U.sub.j through an extension K.sub.j of the second electrode F.sub.j+1.
In such a photoelectric conversion device, in order to prevent lowering of its photoelectric conversion efficiency, it is necessary that the non-single-crystal semiconductor laminate member Q.sub.i and the second electrode F.sub.i be held in good contact with each other for a long period of time.
In the photoelectric conversion device of the abovesaid U.S. patent, however, no particular attention is paid to such a structure that ensures retention of good contact between the non-single-crystal semiconductor laminate member Q.sub.i and the second electrode F.sub.i.
Accordingly, this conventional photoelectric conversion device has the defect that high photoelectric conversion efficiency cannot be maintained for a long period of time.
Further, it is described in the abovesaid U.S. patent that the second electrode F.sub.i is formed by a conductive layer through laser beam scanning. But it is not taken into account that during the laser beam scanning a conductive material forming the conductive layer enters into the non-single-crystal semiconductor laminate member to impair the electrical insulation between the second electrodes F.sub.j and F.sub.j+1. Accordingly, the electrical insulation between the second electrodes F.sub.j and F.sub.j+1 is poor.
Therefore the photoelectric conversion device of the abovesaid U.S. patent has the defect of low photoelectric conversion efficiency.