Abstract: A new cultivar of rose, ‘Te Jiao’, characterized by its upright, climbing habit, semi-glossy green foliage, its semi-double pink flowers, its repeat blooming habit even through hot weather, its disease resistance, and its vigorous growth habit with minimal seed production.

Abstract: A new and distinct cultivar of crapemyrtle, ‘Gamad VII’ is provided. ‘Gamad VII’ is a Lagerstroemia indica×Lagerstroemia fauriei, which is characterized by compact growth habit, high Cercospora resistance, and early July flowering with abundant true pink flowers.

Abstract: A new cultivar of Euphorbia plant named ‘WALEUPHGLO’ that is distinguishable by stout compact-spreading habit, bright ruby-red foliage in spring and summer, and contrasting cherry-red stems. In combination these traits set ‘WALEUPHGLO’ apart from all other existing varieties of Euphorbia known to the inventor.

Abstract: A new and distinct cultivar of Alstroemeria plant named ‘Jalea’, characterized by its erect and strong flowering stems; vigorous growth habit; purple and white-colored flowers arranged in symmetrical umbels; and excellent postproduction longevity.

Abstract: A new Petunia plant named ‘Petrewis’ particularly distinguished by the medium sized bold deep-red flowers, early flowering and good floriferousness, medium green foliage, excellent branching, and an outwardly spreading plant habit with exceptional cold tolerance.

Abstract: A new and distinct cultivar of Gerbera plant named ‘Lekgerwat’, characterized by its double-type, light red-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, compact-upright growth habit, is disclosed.

Abstract: A new and distinct cultivar of Gerbera plant named ‘Lekgeryel’, characterized by its double-type, medium yellow-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, compact-upright growth habit, is disclosed.

Abstract: A fitted glove structure that incorporates a molded rubber palm piece that has a portion which extends over certain of the glove fingertips to the back piece in a manner to increase wearer comfort and protection and to enhance the object pick up capabilities of the glove.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a toilet cleaning device which is capable of cleaning a toilet stool by supplying cleaning water in an appropriate quantity corresponding to the state of usage by a user, which is provided with a self-diagnosis function for diagnosing cleaning water stoppage or the like, and which has a simple constitution so that maintenance can be performed easily. The output of a Doppler sensor 11 is amplified by an amp 31, and a frequency spectrum is determined by an FFT calculation portion 32. A flow rate is determined by conversion in a flow rate calculation portion 33 on the basis of the frequency spectrum. A controller 34 operates other devices on the basis of the flow rate calculated by the flow rate calculation portion 33 and the operational state of a cleaning instruction button 16. Cleaning water supply valve 36 is opened and closed in accordance with instructions from the controller 34.

Abstract: An engine comprises: a V-belt type continuously variable transmission on one side of an engine case, said CVT being provided with and housing in a transmission case a drive pulley attached to one end of a crankshaft, a driven pulley attached to one end of a transmission shaft parallel to said crankshaft, a V-belt routed around the pulleys, said engine case supporting said crankshaft and transmission shaft in a rotatable manner, and a generator attached to the opposite end of said crankshaft in said engine case; in which a filter chamber is disposed in the opposite side surface of said transmission case of said engine case in a depressed manner so as to overlap with at least a part of said generator in the crankshaft direction, and an oil filter for filtering lubricating oil is disposed in said filter chamber.

Abstract: A bowstring vibration and noise suppressor, the vibration and noise suppressor being carried by a support having an attachment device at an end of the support for attachment to a limb of an archery bow. The support carries the vibration and noise suppressor which is configured and arranged to suppress vibration and noise created by the bowstring when launching an arrow.

Abstract: A nasal cannula for delivering air to a patient's nares. Two delivery tubes are provided to supply air to a pair of nasal inserts each of which conform to the shape of the nare. Properly placed bleed ports reduce noise and reduce carbon dioxide retained in the system. The cannula is positioned on the face with the aid of a strap system.

Abstract: A pump for transporting particulate material includes an inlet, an outlet, a passageway, a first and second load beam, a first and second scraper seal, and a first and second drive assembly. The inlet introduces the particulate material into the passageway and the outlet expels the particulate material from the passageway. The passageway is defined by a first belt assembly and a second belt assembly that are opposed to each other. The first and second load beams are positioned within the first belt assembly and the second belt assembly, respectively. The first scraper seal and a second scraper seal are positioned proximate the passageway and the outlet. The first drive assembly is positioned within an interior section of the first belt assembly and drives the first belt assembly and the second drive assembly is positioned within an interior section of the second belt assembly and drives the second belt assembly.

Abstract: A photonic package includes a housing having a semiconductor light source disposed within the housing. The semiconductor light source has a first output and a second output. A reflective surface is disposed inside the housing to reflect the second output from the semiconductor light source. A photodetector is also disposed within the housing and is adapted to indirectly receive the second output of the semiconductor light source reflected off the reflective surface. As a result, interior surface of a housing of an optical transponder may be utilized to provide reflected light to a photodetector to monitor the semiconductor light source.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a Class-D power amplifier and control method thereof. In one embodiment, the amplifier feeds back the signal at the output node to the inverting input of the comparator, and provides a high frequency triangular wave signal to the non-inverting input of the comparator. In addition, the non-inverting input of the comparator may be coupled to an offset voltage, while the inverting input of the comparator may be coupled to a fixed-frequency rectangular wave signal, a feedback signal which is derived from the output stage and an input signal. In use, the switching frequency may be at least substantially fixed, so as to reduce the influence on the system caused by electromagnetic interruption (EMI). Further, the control circuit is simple, and some devices can be integrated.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method, apparatus and system for optimizing an expression tree (101,902,1102) for compositing an image. Such an expression tree (101,902, 1102) can comprise at least two nodes. Each node is either a graphical element (102,104) or image compositing operator ((103,104) and has a region of the image represented by the node (102,103,104). In the method, for at least one node in the tree, several steps are carried out. The region represented by the node (103,104) is compared to a region representation data structure, which is preferably a quadtree representation, corresponding to one or more regions represented by at least one other node. A determination is then made if the region represented by the node (102,103,104) is totally or partially obscured by the one or more regions. If the region represented by the node is at least partially or totally obscured, the expression tree (101,902,1102) is modified.

Abstract: A CPU 36 of a light emitting unit 30 fetches ith bit of transmission information TX stored in a transmission data memory 33 in synchronization with a clock signal CK from a timing generator 35. The CUP 36 determines the bit value and fetches a first pattern sequence SA from a pattern data memory 44 when the bit is logic signal 1, and fetches a second pattern sequence SB from a pattern data memory 34 when the bit is logic signal 0, and outputs the first pattern sequence SA and second pattern sequence SB to a light emitting section 37. While, a CPU 39 of a light receiving unit 40 extracts a pixel area with a time sequence luminance variation pattern from a frame image captured into a capture image buffer 46, and binarizes the luminance variation pattern, and performs logic determination. A liquid crystal display 44 displays information of a light emitting area to be overlapped with a subject image.

Abstract: An immersion lithographic apparatus includes a voltage generator or power source that applies a potential difference to an object in contact with the immersion liquid such that bubbles and/or particles in the immersion liquid are either attracted or repelled from that object due to the electrokinetic potential of the surface of the bubble in the immersion liquid.

Abstract: In a system for sharing hybrid resources in an independent network, each one of a plurality of stations preferably employs a sharing authority transferring protocol that allows the network control function to be moved from station to station depending on the network traffic. Although a distributed coordination method is normally used in the network, when an individual station determines that a real-time data stream is intended for the station, an apparatus having a method and data format for the use thereof allows control to be transferred to the targeted station. This allows the targeted station to control the sharing of the wireless hybrid resources using a centralized control method in a direct mode for the duration of the real-time service transmission, thereby optimizing network efficiency. As a result of using the distributed control authority of the present invention, a station may be freely subscribe/withdraw to/from the network.

Abstract: A method of coding a moving picture reduces blocking artifacts. The method includes defining pixel sets S0, S1, S2 around a block boundary, selectively determining a deblocking mode as a default mode or a DC offset mode depending on the degree of blocking artifacts. If the default mode is selected, frequency information is obtained around the block boundary per pixel using a 4-point DCT kernel, for example, a magnitude of a discontinuous component belonging to the block boundary is replaced with a minimum magnitude of discontinuous components belonging to the surroundings of the block boundary in the frequency domain and the replacing step is applied to the spatial domain. If the DC offset mode is selected and a determination is made to perform DC offset mode, the blocking artifacts in a smooth region are removed in the DC offset mode.

Abstract: The object of this invention is to provide an imaging apparatus capable of providing a high-quality image optimum for medical diagnosis or the like by an arrangement for preventing any degradation in image quality due to the influence of electromagnetic noise and vibration caused by grid movement. In order to achieve this object, as operation control in receiving radiation transmitted through an object by an image sensing element through a movable grid and reading the accumulated signal from the image sensing element, a control device stops moving drive movement of the grid after the end of radiation irradiation for the object, and after the stop of moving drive stopping the movement, starts reading the accumulated signal from the image sensing element.

Abstract: It is known to represent a square block of an image which has a maximum horizontal or vertical extension N as N vectors each representing one column or row, and encode it using an N×N discrete cosine transform matrix. We introduce a technique which transforms an input vector, or array, representing a portion of an arbitrarily-shaped object block in which the maximum horizontal or vertical extension is at most N, by adding to it additional padding elements, to produce a vector or array which can be encoded using an N×N discrete cosine transform. The padding maximises the number of transformed elements which are zero. We propose encoding arbitrarily-shaped objects based on this padding technique.

Abstract: To simplify fabrication of an integral hub piece, the opening between the upper and lower female cones in this hub has sufficient width or radial dimension to allow access to both cones from one side of the hub with the cutting tool. A cutting tool is used which has a width smaller than the opening between the cones. Preferably, the tool has a width which is about equal to or smaller than an angular dimension through this opening which is defined by extending surfaces of the upper and lower female cones. If this limitation is satisfied, both cones can be created with a single machine set up operating from one side of the integrated hub.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a discharge sustaining electrode formed of a transparent electrode and a non-transparent electrode for a plasma display panel (PDP), and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for an electrode which is well applicable to forming a non-transparent electrode using an Ag material and providing a good productivity and a certain contrast characteristic. The method for forming a bus electrode according to the present invention includes a first step for coating Ag paste including some black powder having different specific gravity particles and some Ag white powder on the transparent electrode, a second step for level-separating the black and white powders contained in the coated Ag paste based on a specific gravity difference for a certain time, and a third step for burning out a binder from the coated Ag paste to thereby implementing a firing process.

Abstract: A magnetic resonance probe may include a plurality of center conductors, at least some center conductors including a conductive core and an insulator disposed at least partially about the core along at least a portion of the core, a first dielectric layer disposed at least partially about the plurality of center conductors in a proximal portion of the probe, an outer conductive layer at least partially disposed about the first dielectric layer, and a plurality of electrodes, at least one electrode being coupled to one of the center conductors and disposed at least partly on a probe surface.

Abstract: A method of cutting material for use in an implantable medical device employs a plotted laser cutting system. The laser cutting system is computer controlled and includes a laser combined with a motion system. The laser precisely cuts segments out of source material according to a predetermined pattern as designated by the computer. The segments are used in constructing implantable medical devices. The cutting energy of the laser is selected so that the cut edges of the segments are melted to discourage delamination or fraying, but communication of thermal energy into the segment beyond the edge is minimized to avoid damaging the segment adjacent the edge.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for computer-assisted project analysis. Planned values for successive times for each of a plurality of parameters are stored in a database. Another database receives measured values of the parameters at the successive times. A statistical analysis including comparison, correlation and differentiation functions generate a set of output functions that then are displayed to assist in the analysis of the project.

Abstract: A file server device is provided which has less chance of error in changing directory settings information. A file server device that has access to a client computer and a disk array device receives a directory settings file, and writes the directory settings file in a specified shared directory. The file server device chooses, as a migration destination candidate, a volume whose settings information matches new settings information of the shared directory which is set as specified in the directory settings file. The file server device migrates information in the shared directory whose settings information is changed to the volume chosen as a migration destination candidate.

Abstract: A universal storage management system which facilitates storage of data from a client computer and computer network is disclosed. The universal storage management system functions as an interface between the client computer and at least one storage device, and facilitates reading and writing of data by handling I/O operations. I/O operation overhead in the client computer is reduced by translating I/O commands from the client computer into high level commands which are employed by the storage management system to carry out I/O operations. The storage management system also enables interconnection of a normally incompatible storage device and client computer by translating I/O requests into an intermediate common format which is employed to generate commands which are compatible with the storage device receiving the request. Files, error messages and other information from the storage device are similarly translated and provided to the client computer.

Abstract: A method and a system for disabling execution of a software application stored within a computer absent data indicative of an authorized use of the software application are disclosed. At start up or during execution of a software application a user is prompted for user authorization information. Using a processor within a smart card the received user authorization information is compared with user authorization information stored in memory of the smart card to produce a comparison result. If the comparison result is indicative of an authorized user of the software application, then data indicative of the authorized use of the software application is provided from the smart card to the computer. Upon receipt of the data indicative of the authorized use of the software application execution of the software application is continued. When the data is not data indicative of the authorized use of the software application further execution of the software application is disabled.

Abstract: The application is directed to self-securing garments designed to be donned quickly and safely secured to the body in a matter of seconds. Described are garments having an opening in the back terminating at two opposite edges. Attached to the outside of the garment is at least one flexible elongated band at least partially comprised of a shape-memory material. The ends of the band are formed into dual, oppositely wound coils. To use, the wearer puts on the garment as usual and, grasping a flexible coil in each hand, pulls them so that they unwind and elongate while simultaneously wrapping them around the sides of the body. Upon release, the shape-memory material causes the coil to contract, thus embracing the body and holding the garment between the body and the uncoiled band. The garment can have one or more coiled bands, such as at the waist, chest, or neck, to secure the garment closely to the body quickly and without assistance.

Abstract: Articles and methods include temporary decorations. Embodiments include temporary decorations applied to promotional articles. Embodiments include a method comprising creating a promotional article including applying a dissolvable decoration to a base item to create the promotional article, the dissolvable decoration being applied in such a manner so as to be removable from the base item by dissolving the dissolvable decoration using a solvent without substantially altering the original physical condition of the base item.

Abstract: An athletic pant that includes an area of compressive fabric disposed in a position on either pant leg that will surround the athlete's knee when the pants are worn. The area of compressive fabric in each pant leg also includes a pair of pockets positioned to lie on either side of the athlete's knee. The pockets completely enclose a support that aids in restricting lateral movement of the athlete's knee. The athletic pants may extend to the athlete's mid-calf region or to the ankle. The pants further include at least one cinch strap that is operable to reduce the diameter of the pant legs in the vicinity of the athlete's knee, thereby improving the fit of the pant for the athlete.

Abstract: A protective hood is provided for protecting a wearer's head from environmental elements. The protective hood includes a hood body having a cap section positioned to fit over a top of the wearer's head, side sections positioned to hang adjacent sides of the wearer's head, and a back section positioned to hang adjacent a back of the wearer's head. The hood body includes a channel extending along at least a portion of the cap section and/or at least a portion of the side and back sections. A transparent face member is held by the hood body. An adjustable head harness assembly is held by the hood body. The adjustable head harness assembly includes an elastic member extending through the channel for securing the hood body on the wearer's head.

Abstract: A helmet (20) comprising a mechanism (28) to increase or decrease the internal volume thereof through the displacement of one or more portions (32) of the protective material (24) lining the helmet shell (22). The adjustment mechanism (28) is mounted on or adjacent the shell (22) of the helmet (20), from which project one or more connectors (30) which are operationally connected to the movable portions (32) of the protective material (24). When the adjustment mechanism (28) is activated, for example clockwise or counterclockwise, the connectors (30) are displaced, which causes the movable portions (32) of the protective material (24) to either be displaced away from the shell (22) of the helmet (20) or towards the shell (22) of the helmet (20) and thus allowing for a fine tuning of the fit of the helmet (20) on a player's head.

Abstract: A reinforcing element for an article of clothing includes at least one elongate element and a plurality of raised bodies aligned substantially longitudinally and integrally formed with the elongate element. The bodies define slits therebetween to allow bending of the reinforcing element in a first direction and prevent bending of the reinforcing element in a second direction by a blocking contact of the bodies.

Abstract: A stretchable chemical protective material is described comprising a selectively permeable chemical protective film and an elastic textile. Further described are methods for making a stretchable chemical protective material and methods of using the same. Materials made from these methods may have improved flex durability. Garments made from these materials may have improved heat loss.

Abstract: Methods for communicating with an automatic flush valve device. The automatic flush device having a variety of operational modes which can be selected from to control the operation of the device. The communication from the automatic flush device providing a user with information regarding the status of the flush valve device.

Abstract: A flush toilet is provided having a bowl portion with a bowl-shaped waste-receiving surface and a rim portion the inside wall surface on the top edge of which protrudes inward. A trap pipe is connected to the bottom portion of the bowl portion. A first shelf portion is formed to follow the rim and a second shelf portion is formed on the waste receiving surface below the first shelf portion projecting above the initial accumulated water level. An orifice for issuing water into the first shelf portion and forming a swirl flow in the waste receiving surface is provided along with a second orifice for issuing water into the second shelf portion for forming a flow to swirl water within the bowl portion is further provided with first and second flow paths for respectively supplying water to the first and second orifices.

Abstract: The present invention provides a toilet and/or a toilet and bidet combination having immediate reflush capability. Preferred embodiments comprise a tankless toilet and/or toilet and bidet combination and a bowl ventilation apparatus integrated therein. The tankless nature of the invention saves space over conventional toilets, allowing closer mounting to the wall and a lower vertical profile. More specifically, certain embodiments of the present invention comprise a motorized flush mechanism with an infrared sensor having immediate reflush capability, a on-demand motorized water spray cleansing system integrated therein and an integrated bowl ventilation apparatus with a proximity sensor.