Methods and apparatus for output of high-bandwidth debug data/traces in electronic devices using embedded high-speed debug port(s). Debug data is received from multiple blocks and buffered in a buffer. The buffer's output is operatively coupled to one or more high-speed serial I/O interfaces via muxing logic during debug test operations. The buffered data is encoded as serialized data and sent over the one or more high-speed serial I/O interfaces to a logic device that receives serialized data and de-serializes it to generate parallel debug data that is provided to a debugger. The buffer may be configured as a bandwidth-adapting buffer that facilitates transfer of debug data that is received at a variable combined data rate outbound via the one or more high-speed serial I/O interfaces at a data rate corresponding to the bandwidth of the serial I/O interfaces.

A double data rate memory physical interface having self checking loopback logic on-chip is disclosed. Disposed on the chip is a first linear feedback shift register, which is capable of generating a set of test data values that comprise at least two data bits. Also disposed on the chip is a second linear feedback shift register. The second linear feedback shift register is capable of generating a set of expected data values that match the test data values. Further, an internal loopback error check element is disposed on the chip. The internal loopback error check element is used to compare the set of expected data values with the set of test data values.

Containment systems and methods safely and permanently encapsulate a sharp portion of a sharp medical instrument (e.g. a hypodermic needle). The containment system includes a cap or other container formed of a durable and flexible material having a rim defining an open end configured to receive a sharp portion therein, an interior surface, wherein at least a portion of the interior surface comprises a puncturing element, and a bladder contained within the cap proximate the puncturing element, the bladder containing a first component of a liquid hardenable solution. Opposing sides of the cap can be deformed under external pressure to cause the puncturing element to puncture the bladder so as to release the first component of the liquid hardenable solution from the bladder such that the first component contacts the sharp portion and the sharp portion is substantially permanently retained inside the cap by the liquid hardenable solution.

Containment systems and methods safely and permanently encapsulate a sharp portion of a sharp medical instrument (e.g. a hypodermic needle). The containment system includes a cap or other container formed of a durable and flexible material and having a rim defining an open end configured to receive the sharp portion therein and an adhesive disposed on an interior surface of the container. The method of use includes inserting the sharp medical instrument into the container, and compressing the sides of the container to permanently encapsulate the sharp portion of the medical instrument within the adhesive. The adhesive may be an adhesive tape and may be protected before use by a covering, which may be removed at the time of use by pulling a pull tab extending from an opening in the container.

A barrel shifter uses a sign magnitude to 2's complement converter to generate decoder signals for its cascaded multiplexer selectors. The sign input receives the shift direction and the magnitude input receives the shift amount. The sign magnitude to 2's complement converter computes an output result as a 2's complement of the shift amount using the shift direction as a sign input, assigns a first portion (most significant bit half) of the output result to a first decoder signal, and assigns a second portion (least significant bit half) of the output result to a second decoder signal. This encoding scheme allows the decoder circuits to be relatively simple, for example, 3-to-8 decoders for an implementation adapted to shift a 64-bit operand value rather than the 4-to-9 decoder required in a conventional barrel shifter, leading to faster operation, less area, and reduced power consumption.

A method and apparatus may be used to evaluate a polynomial by initializing a multiply and accumulate feedback apparatus (260) comprising a multiplier stage (264) having an output coupled to an input of an accumulator stage (267) having an accumulator feedback output (269) selectively coupled to an input of the multiplier stage over a plurality of clock cycles; iteratively calculating a final working loop variable z over an additional plurality of clock cycles; multiplying the final working loop variable z and a complex input vector x to compute a final multiplier value; and adding a least significant complex polynomial coefficient to the final multiplier value using the multiplier stage of the multiply and accumulate feedback apparatus to yield a result of the polynomial evaluation.

A virtual machine (VM) migration from a source virtual machine monitor (VMM) to a destination VMM on a computer system. Each of the VMMs includes virtualization software, and one or more VMs are executed in each of the VMMs. The virtualization software allocates hardware resources in a form of virtual resources for the concurrent execution of one or more VMs and the virtualization software. A portion of a memory of the hardware resources includes hardware memory segments. A first portion of the memory segments is assigned to a source logical partition and a second portion is assigned to a destination logical partition. The source VMM operates in the source logical partition and the destination VMM operates in the destination logical partition. The first portion of the memory segments is mapped into a source VMM memory, and the second portion of the memory segments is mapped into a destination VMM memory.

A bus interconnect interfaces a host system to a radio frequency (RF) generator that is coupled to a plasma chamber. The bus interconnect includes a first set of host ports, which are used to provide a power component setting and a frequency component setting to the RF generator. The ports of the first set of host ports are used to receive distinct variables that change over time. The bus interconnect further includes a second set of generator ports used to send a power read back value and a frequency read back value to the host system. The bus interconnect includes a sampler circuit integrated with the host system. The sampler circuit is configured to sample signals at the ports of the first set at selected clock edges to capture operating state data of the plasma chamber and the RF generator.

A bridge includes a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express interface supporting at least two lanes, an Extensible Host Controller Interface, and a Universal Serial Bus 3.0 root hub. The Peripheral Component Interconnect Express interface is used for coupling to a host. Each lane of the at least two lanes provides a highest data transmission speed. The Extensible Host Controller Interface is coupled to the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express interface for storing data transmitted by the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express interface. The Universal Serial Bus 3.0 root hub includes a first controller and a second controller. The first controller and the second controller are used for controlling data transmission of four ports, and a highest data transmission speed provided by each port of the four ports is not more than the highest data transmission speed provided by the lane.

Various embodiments include apparatuses, stacked devices and methods of forming dice stacks on an interface die. In one such apparatus, a dice stack includes at least a first die and a second die, and conductive paths coupling the first die and the second die to the common control die. In some embodiments, the conductive paths may be arranged to connect with circuitry on alternating dice of the stack. In other embodiments, a plurality of dice stacks may be arranged on a single interface die, and some or all of the dice may have interleaving conductive paths.

A usage allocation of a hardware resource to each of a number of workloads over time is determined using a demand model. The usage allocation of the resource includes a current and past actual usage allocation of the resource, a future projected usage allocation of the resource, and current and past actual usage of the resource. A capacity allocation of the resource is determined using a capacity model. The capacity allocation of the resource includes a current and past capacity and a future projected capacity of the resource. Whether a gap exists between the usage allocation and the capacity allocation is determined using a mapping model. Where the gap exists between the usage allocation of the resource and the capacity allocation of the resource, a user is presented with options determined using the mapping model and selectable by the user to implement a remediation strategy to close the gap.

An aqueous compressed gas aerosol formulation in combination with a lined steel can, which may also optionally be tin plated, to provide corrosion stability, fragrance stability and color stability. An aerosol formulation of particular advantage for use is an air and/or fabric treatment formulation. The combination provides a compatibility which allows for the ability to use a broader fragrance pallet for the air and/or fabric treatment formulation which is aqueous based in major proportion. The formulation includes, in addition to an aqueous carrier, a fragrance, nonionic surfactant(s) or a blend of nonionic surfactant(s) and cationic surfactant(s), a compressed gas propellant(s), pH adjuster(s), and corrosion inhibitor(s). The formulation has a pH of about 8 to less than 10. The corrosion inhibitor(s) is(are) mild in strength and used in a minor amount.

A method of reducing the downward flow of air currents on the leeward side of an emissions emitting structure including the step of using a system that includes components chosen from the group consisting of one or more mechanical air moving devices; physical structures; and combinations thereof to create an increase in the air pressure within a volume of air on the leeward side of an emissions emitting structure having emissions that become airborne. The increased air pressure prevents or lessens downward flow of emissions that would occur without the use of the system and increases the safety by which one can travel a road or other transportation route that might otherwise be visually obscured by the emissions and the safety of the property and those within the area where emissions occur.

The disclosure provides a method for passing a parameter between processors. The method comprises the following steps: in a source program of a slave processor, directly introducing a static configuration parameter to be passed; obtaining a relative address of the static configuration parameter when converting the source program of the slave processor into a target program of the slave processor; and configuring directly, by a master processor, a parameter value of the static configuration parameter in the target program of the slave processor according to the obtained relative address of the static configuration parameter. The disclosure also provides a system for passing a parameter between processors. The system has no need to use external hardware such as a dual-port Random Access Memory (RAM) and a register, thus, the requirement of parameter transmission on the external hardware is reduced, and further the area and static power consumption of a chip are reduced. The disclosure reduces the cycle delay of the slave processor in accessing the dual-port RAM and the register, thereby effectively reducing the dynamic power consumption of the chip, improving the processing capability of the slave processor and enhancing the effective performance of the slave processor.

Disclosed is a novel system and method to select software components. A set of available software components are accessed. Next, one or more dimensions are defined. Each dimension is an attribute to the set of available software components. A set of coherence distances between each pair of the available software components in the set of available software components is calculated for each of the dimensions that have been defined. Each of the coherence distances are combined between each pair of the available software components that has been calculated in the set of the coherence distances into an overall coherence degree for each of the available software components. Using the overall coherence degree, one or more software components are selected to be included in a software bundle.

An aspect of the present invention identifies differences between source codes (e.g. of different versions of a software), when each source code is organized using incorporated files. In one embodiment, in response to receiving identifiers of a first and second source codes (each source code being organized as a corresponding set of code files), listings of the instructions in the first and second source codes are constructed. Each listing is constructed, for example, by replacing each incorporate statement in the source code with instructions stored in a corresponding one of code files. The differences between the first and second source codes are then found by comparing the constructed listings of instructions.

The present invention produces ethanol in a reactor that comprises a catalyst composition and a feed stream comprising acetic acid and a recycled liquid stream comprising ethyl acetate. The catalyst composition comprises a first catalyst comprising platinum, cobalt, and/or tin and a second catalyst comprising copper. The crude ethanol product may be separated and ethanol recovered.

Disclosed herein are processes for alcohol production by reducing an esterification product, such as ethyl acetate. The processes comprise esterifying acetic acid and an alcohol such as ethanol to produce an esterification product. The esterification product may be recovered using an extractive separation. The esterification product is reduced with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst to obtain a crude reaction mixture comprising the alcohol, in particular ethanol, which may be separated from the crude reaction mixture.

Disclosed herein are processes for alcohol production by reducing ethyl acetate produced by hydrogenating acetic acid in the presence of a suitable catalyst. The product of the acetic acid hydrogenation is fed directly to a decanter to separate the hydrogenation product into an aqueous phase comprising water and ethanol and an organic phase comprising ethyl acetate. The organic phase is reduced with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst to obtain a crude reaction mixture comprising the alcohol, in particular ethanol, which may be separated from the crude reaction mixture. Thus, ethanol may be produced from acetic acid through an ethyl acetate intermediate without an esterification step. This may reduce the recycle of ethanol in the hydrogenolysis process and improve ethanol productivity.

A method of adjusting a speed of a mobile machine is provided. Image data of a location is collected where currently generated sensor data and previously generated sensor data indicate a discontinuity in sensor data. The image data is analyzed to determine if a non-motion blur score for the image data is above a threshold value. Then, a speed of the mobile machine is adjusted based on a determination that the non-motion blur score is above the threshold value.

A power steering device is mounted on a vehicle and includes a variable transmission ratio mechanism, a torque applying unit, and an applied friction torque changing unit. The torque applying unit sets an applied friction torque applied to the steering wheel and performs a control of applying the applied friction torque to the steering wheel. The applied friction torque changing unit changes the applied friction torque based on the transmission ratio of the variable transmission ratio mechanism.

A plurality of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), high performance transceivers, and memory devices provide a verification module for timing and state debugging of electronic circuit designs. Signal value compression circuits and gigabit transceivers embedded in each FPGA increase the fanout of each FPGA. Ethernet communication ports enable remote software debugging of processor instructions.

A method includes providing a design of a semiconductor device such as a stacked CMOS device comprising a plurality of circuit elements to be assigned into a layout of a plurality of tiers, and identifying at least one first type of circuit element within the plurality of circuit elements based on at least one predetermined criterion. Each respective one of the at least one first type of circuit element is to be assigned to a respective designated one of the plurality of tiers. The method further includes dividing the remainder of the plurality of circuit elements into at least two groups of circuit elements based on circuit density, and assigning the at least one first type of circuit element and the at least two groups of circuit elements to respectively different ones of the plurality of tiers of the semiconductor device.

Methods and systems for managing data loads on a cluster of processors that implement an iterative procedure through parallel processing of data for the procedure are disclosed. One method includes monitoring, for at least one iteration of the procedure, completion times of a plurality of different processing phases that are undergone by each of the processors in a given iteration. The method further includes determining whether a load imbalance factor threshold is exceeded in the given iteration based on the completion times for the given iteration. In addition, the data is repartitioned by reassigning the data to the processors based on predicted dependencies between assigned data units of the data and completion times of a plurality of the processers for at least two of the phases. Further, the parallel processing is implemented on the cluster of processors in accordance with the reassignment.

An aqueous compressed gas aerosol formulation in combination with a lined steel can, which may also optionally be tin plated, to provide corrosion stability, fragrance stability and color stability. An aerosol formulation of particular advantage for use is an air and/or fabric treatment formulation. The combination provides a compatibility which allows for the ability to use a broader fragrance pallet for the air and/or fabric treatment formulation which is aqueous based in major proportion. The formulation includes, in addition to an aqueous carrier, a fragrance, nonionic surfactant(s) or a blend of nonionic surfactant(s) and cationic surfactant(s), a compressed gas propellant(s), pH adjuster(s), and corrosion inhibitor(s). The formulation has a pH of about 8 to less than 10. The corrosion inhibitor(s) is (are) mild in strength and used in a minor amount.

Apparatus and methods are provided for using automatic speech recognition to analyze a voice interaction and verify compliance of an agent reading a script to a client during the voice interaction. In one aspect of the invention, a communications system includes a user interface, a communications network, and a call center having an automatic speech recognition component. In other aspects of the invention, a script compliance method includes the steps of conducting a voice interaction between an agent and a client and evaluating the voice interaction with an automatic speech recognition component adapted to analyze the voice interaction and determine whether the agent has adequately followed the script. In yet still further aspects of the invention, the duration of a given interaction can be analyzed, either apart from or in combination with the script compliance analysis above, to seek to identify instances of agent non-compliance, of fraud, or of quality-analysis issues.

A device may include a physical phenomenon detector. The physical phenomenon detector may detect a physical phenomenon related to the device. In response to detecting the physical phenomenon, the device may record audio data that includes speech. The speech may be transcribed with a speech recognition engine. The speech recognition engine may be included in the device, or may be included with a remote computing device with which the device may communicate.

A method (700, 800) and apparatus (100, 200) processes audio frames to transition between different codecs. The method can include producing (720), using a first coding method, a first frame of coded output audio samples by coding a first audio frame in a sequence of frames. The method can include forming (730) an overlap-add portion of the first frame using the first coding method. The method can include generating (740) a combination first frame of coded audio samples based on combining the first frame of coded output audio samples with the overlap-add portion of the first frame. The method can include initializing (760) a state of a second coding method based on the combination first frame of coded audio samples. The method can include constructing (770) an output signal based on the initialized state of the second coding method.

Some embodiments of the inventive subject matter include a method for detecting speech loss and supplying appropriate recollection data to the user. Such embodiments include detecting a speech stream from a user, converting the speech stream to text, storing the text, detecting an interruption to the speech stream, wherein the interruption to the speech stream indicates speech loss by the user, searching a catalog using the text as a search parameter to find relevant catalog data and, presenting the relevant catalog data to remind the user about the speech stream.

A speech recognition system, method of recognizing speech and a computer program product therefor. A client device identified with a context for an associated user selectively streams audio to a provider computer, e.g., a cloud computer. Speech recognition receives streaming audio, maps utterances to specific textual candidates and determines a likelihood of a correct match for each mapped textual candidate. A context model selectively winnows candidate to resolve recognition ambiguity according to context whenever multiple textual candidates are recognized as potential matches for the same mapped utterance. Matches are used to update the context model, which may be used for multiple users in the same context.

A speech recognition method including the steps of receiving a speech input from a known speaker of a sequence of observations and determining the likelihood of a sequence of words arising from the sequence of observations using an acoustic model. The acoustic model has a plurality of model parameters describing probability distributions which relate a word or part thereof to an observation and has been trained using first training data and adapted using second training data to said speaker. The speech recognition method also determines the likelihood of a sequence of observations occurring in a given language using a language model and combines the likelihoods determined by the acoustic model and the language model and outputs a sequence of words identified from said speech input signal. The acoustic model is context based for the speaker, the context based information being contained in the model using a plurality of decision trees and the structure of the decision trees is based on second training data.

An information processing apparatus configured to display a user interface on a display unit according to screen information acquired from an outside device changes the screen information according to a display attribute set by a user, and if setting of a display attribute of an object included in the screen information is unchangeable, color conversion processing of a specified object included in the screen information is performed and the screen information obtained by executing conversion processing according to the display attribute set by the user with respect to the screen information including the object which has undergone the color conversion processing is displayed.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for adapting user interfaces for devices that include widescreen displays. In one aspect, a method includes determining a size characteristic of a display of a mobile device, determining a size characteristic of content that is to be displayed on the display, and comparing the size characteristic of the content to the size characteristic of the display. The method also includes selecting one or more controls to display in a portion of the display that is not to be used to display the content based on comparing the size characteristic of the content to the size characteristic of the display, displaying the content, and displaying the selected controls in a portion of the display that is not used to display the content.

User interfaces for displaying relationships between cells in a grid. In one example embodiment, a user interface includes a grid including rows and columns and a plurality of cells each having a specific position in the grid. A first one of the cells is related to a second one of the cells. The grid is configured to display, upon selection of the first cell or second cell, a visual representation of the relationship between the first cell and the second cell.

Images are analyzed within a 3D environment that is generated based on spatial relationships of the images and that allows users to experience the images in the 3D environment. Image analysis may include ranking images based on user viewing information, such as the number of users who have viewed an image and how long an image was viewed. Image analysis may further include analyzing the spatial density of images within a 3D environment to determine points of user interest.

Methods and devices for minimizing and maximizing displayed output associated with applications are provided. More particularly, an application presented as two or more pages in a portrait mode can be minimized to present one of the two or more pages following a minimization operation. The page that continues to be displayed can comprise a primary or preferred page, while the page that is dismissed can comprise a secondary or ancillary page. With respect to a maximization operation received with respect to a page of an application results in the display of an additional page associated with that application. Maximization can include controlling the respective screens on which first and second pages of the maximized application are displayed.

A method and apparatus for using an ad hoc peer-to-peer distributed message bus is provided. The method may include determining, by a local bus node, using a first power level communication protocol, that a remote bus node is available, obtaining, by the local bus node, connection information from the remote bus node using a second power level communication protocol, wherein the connection information comprises connection information for one or more remote endpoints associated with the remote bus node, and generating one or more local virtual endpoints, wherein each of the one or more local virtual endpoints corresponds to each of the one or more remote endpoints, and wherein the remote endpoint is described with reference to a well-known name, unique to the remote endpoint.

Described herein are systems and methods for enabling a collaborative remote desktop environment. The system includes a computing device and a first application instance that has an application state associated therewith. The first application instance includes, or is associated with, a current state component and application data/data files. The system further includes an application launcher that is used to instantiate a second application instance operating either on the same or on a different computing device. The second application instance similarly has an application state associated therewith and is associated with the application launcher. Upon receiving a request from the second user to interact with the first application instance, the application state and the application data/data files are communicated to the application launcher, and the application launcher instantiates the second application instance so that its state is substantially identical to that of the first application instance.

When a speech sound of at least a predetermined sound pressure is externally input while a time measurement is not being performed, a time measuring circuit starts a time measurement responsive to a signal from a speech detector. When another speech sound of at least a predetermined sound pressure is externally input while a time measurement is being performed by the time measuring circuit, a measurement time measured by the time measuring circuit at this moment is stored in a time information memory. After a predetermined time has elapsed, if a speech recognition circuit recognizes that the externally input speech sound is a "stop" command, the time measurement operation performed by the time measuring circuit is stopped, and the time information stored in the time information memory is read out and displayed as measurement time information on a display unit.

An apparatus for measuring a time interval between a start signal edge and a stop signal edge provides a stable clock signal as input to a delay line formed by a series of similar logic gates. The output signal of the last gate of the series is phase locked to the clock signal by adjusting a bias signal controlling the switching speed of all gates. The clock signal and the output signal of each gate form a set of phase distributed periodic timing signals applied to a start time measurement unit (TMU) and a similar stop TMU. The start TMU counts edges of one of the timing signals occurring between an edge of an arming signal and the start signal edge and generates output data representing a time delay between the arming signal and the start signal edge. The data represents the start delay as a whole and fractional number of clock signal periods by conveying the counter output and by indicating which of the timing signals had an edge most closely following the start signal edge. The stop TMU similarly produces output data indicating a whole an fractional number of clock cycles occurring between the arming signal and the stop signal edge. The delay represented by the start TMU output data is subtracted from the delay represented by the stop TMU output data to determine the interval between the start and stop signal edges.

A network is described for providing estimates of the current time. The network includes multiple computer systems each configured to provide an estimate of the current time in response to a received request. The computer systems are logically arranged to form a hierarchical structure, wherein the hierarchical structure includes multiple levels ranked with respect to one another. Each of the computer systems is assigned one of multiple levels of trust, and occupies one of the levels of the hierarchical structure dependent upon the assigned level of trust. The level of trust assigned to a given computer system is dependent upon a timekeeping dependability of the given computer system. The assigned level of trust may also be dependent upon a timekeeping security of the given computer system, where the timekeeping security is dependent upon a tamper resistance of the time clock of the given computer system. Methods for delegating a level of trust to a new computer system (i.e., a computer system not part of the network) and for adding a new computer system to the network are also described.

An abstraction for storage class memory is provided that hides the details of the implementation of storage class memory from a program, and provides a standard channel programming interface for performing certain actions, such as controlling movement of data between main storage and storage class memory or managing storage class memory.

The invention discloses a deep-ultraviolet chemically-amplified positive photoresist. The deep-ultraviolet chemically-amplified positive photoresist according to one embodiment of the invention includes a cyclopentenyl pimaric acid, a divinyl ether, a photoacid generator and an organic solvent. The deep-ultraviolet chemically-amplified positive photoresist according to the invention has a good sensitivity and a good transparency.

A recombinant micro-organism producing resveratrol by a pathway in which phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) produces trans-cinnamic acid from phenylalanine, cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H) produces 4-coumaric acid from said trans-cinnamic acid, 4-coumarate-CoA ligase (4CL) produces 4-coumaroyl CoA from said 4-coumaric acid, and resveratrol synthase (VST) produces said resveratrol from said 4-coumaroyl CoA, or in which L-phenylalanine- or tyrosine-ammonia lyase (PAL/TAL) produces 4-coumaric acid, 4-coumarate-CoA ligase (4CL) produces 4-coumaroyl CoA from said 4-coumaric acid, and resveratrol synthase (VST) produces said resveratrol from said 4-coumaroyl CoA. The micro-organism may be a yeast, fungus or bacterium including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, E. coli, Lactococcus lactis, Aspergillus niger, or Aspergillus oryzae.

The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for monitoring and/or providing feedback for drugs or other pharmaceuticals taken by a subject. In one aspect, the present invention is directed to devices and methods for determining a species within the skin of a subject; and producing feedback to a subject based on the determination of the species. The feedback may be, for example, visual, audible, tactile, a change in temperature, etc. In some cases, information regarding the determination of the species may be transmitted to another entity, e.g., a health care provider, a computer, a relative, etc., which may then provide feedback to the subject in some fashion. In some cases, the feedback may be directly indicative of the species, e.g., whether the species is present, the concentration of the species, whether a by-product of a reaction involving the species is present, whether a compound affected by the species is present, etc. However, the feedback may also be indirect in some embodiments. For example, the subject may be presented with an external reward, e.g., based on the determination of the species within the skin. For instance, a reward such as cash, coupons, songs, discounts, personal items, etc., may be offered based on the level of compliance of the subject. Still other aspects of the invention are generally directed to kits involving such devices (with or without the drug to be monitored), methods of promoting such systems, or the like.

Embodiments include a fiducial deployment system and method for use thereof. A fiducial may include one or more protuberances configured to engage one or more slots in a needle of the system. The needle may be configured to deliver a plurality of fiducials to a target location in serial fashion, one at a time. In certain embodiments, echogenic placement of fiducials may present certain advantages.

A three dimensional imaging system includes a first laser emitting light at a first wavelength, and a scanner for scanning the laser light in a pattern on the target area. A photo detector receives light reflected from the target area as a contrasted vein image, resulting from differential absorption and reflection therein of the first wavelength of light. The intensity of the first laser is incrementally increased, and the photo detector thereby receives a plurality of contrasted vein images, each being at incrementally distinct depths beneath the target skin surface. Image processing is performed on the plurality of vein images to successively layer the veins in the images according to their depth, to create a single processed vein image. A second laser emitting a second wavelength of light is used in combination with the scanner to project the processed vein image onto the target area to overlay the veins therein.

The present invention relates to an arthroscopy apparatus, comprising at least three elements selected from: a conventional arthroscopic lens (12), to which there is coupled a power supply device or capsule, in the inside of which is the power source (1), and a miniature camera (8), characterized by not comprising connecting cables.

A reusable needle guide suitable for an ultrasonic probe to be use for an endocavity examination of a patient is disclosed. The needle guide basically comprises at least a first and second guide members and a mounting (e.g., clamp) assembly. The clamp assembly serves to releasably mount the needle guide on the probe. The first guide member has a first passageway-forming surface. The second guide member has a second passageway-forming surface. The guide members are connected together to enable them to be pivoted from a closed orientation to an open orientation and vice versa. The first and second passageway-forming surfaces form an elongated passageway to guide a needle therethrough when in the closed orientation. The first and second passageway-forming surfaces are disposed at an angle to each other when they are in the open orientation, whereupon the first and second passageway-forming surfaces can be readily cleaned.

A feed additive includes at least one of p-thymol, a salt derivative and an ester derivative thereof for animals.