An image processing system that can remove users' burden in implementing services by external devices. The image processing device includes the information receiver that receives a list of internal and external service identifiers each of which identifies a corresponding internal and external service, the reception unit that displays the list, receives a selection of an internal or external service identifier, and receives a designation of object image data, and the data transmitter that transmits the selected external service identifier and the designated object image data. The management server includes the information storage unit that stores the list, the information transmitter that transmits the list, the data receiver that receives the external service identifier and the object image data, and the requester that transmits the external service identifier and the object image data to the external device and requests to implement the external service identified by the external service identifier.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing system managing uses of image processing services and usage fees therefor, and especially to a technique for improving users' convenience when an external device implements the services that are difficult for an image processing device to provide users.
(2) Description of the Related Art
In general, usage fees of image processing devices, such as MFP (Multi Functional Peripherals), having an image forming function, are charged for each use of service such as printing and copying. Alternatively, the usage fees are periodically charged each person or section which uses the service during a predetermined time period.
On the other hand, in the case of using functionally high grade services, such as searchable PDF (Potable Document Format), or special services such as mass rapid printing and high-definition printing, which are not available in an image processing device, utilization of an external device is requested to implement these services. In this case, users are asked to sign contracts with each service supplier and pay for usage fees respectively to each service supplier. It is extremely bothersome and inconvenient for the users.
As a conventional technology, for example, patent document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Publication NO. 11-96118) discloses a network device which consolidatedly manages charge information of a plurality of machines with multiple functions by utilizing a server. According to the conventional technology, even if the number of image processing devices changes, the network device can easily manage each user's charge information in the whole system. That is, the network device efficiently identifies the user who uses each image processing device and calculates the usage fee of each image processing device (paragraph 0091).
However, the technology disclosed in the document can not remove the above-mentioned bother of signing contracts with each service supplier or the inconvenience of paying the suppliers for usage fees respectively, because it does not relate to the service that are requested to an external device.
In addition, it is also inconvenient for users to pay usage fees for the services such as printing and copying that can be implemented by the internal image processing device itself, separately from the usage fees being paid to the suppliers. This inconvenience cannot be removed if the contracts and the usage fees for the services requested to external devices are consolidatedly managed.

Image processing system for supplying services to an image processing device through a mangement server

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


A multi-input comparator determines a minimum or maximum signal value in a given set of signal values. In an illustrative embodiment, a multi-input comparator includes a number of interconnected inversion circuits, with each of the inversion circuits having an input node associated therewith. The input node of each of the inversion circuits is coupled to an output of at least one of the other inversion circuits. As a result, after activation of the inversion circuits, the voltages at the input nodes are indicative of the relative magnitude of the signal values previously applied thereto. The inversion circuits may be constructed using, for example, single-inverter or multiple-inverter building blocks. Additional inputs can be provided by replicating the corresponding single-inverter or multiple-inverter blocks.

Conventional comparators generally determine which of two inputs is the greater or the lesser of the two. An example of such a comparator is a sense amplifier typically used in applications such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) cells. FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a conventional sense amplifier 10 implemented using metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) field effect transistors. When the clock signal CK applied to sense amplifier 10 is at a logic low level, transistors MP1 and MN1 are off while transistor MPA is enabled. This equalizes the voltages at nodes A and B. At this time, a voltage difference can be introduced between A and B, since the resistance of MPA is very high. For example, the voltage at node A can be set higher than the voltage at node B by appropriate application of signal voltages to corresponding inputs IN.sub.A and IN.sub.B, respectively. The clock signal CK is then permitted to go to a logic high level, such that transistors MP1 and MN1 are turned on, and transistor MPA is turned off. This activates the random access memory (RAM) cell made up of transistors MP2, MP3, MN2 and MN3. Since the voltage at node A was set to be higher than the voltage at node B, positive feedback through the cell transistors will cause node A to approach the supply voltage V.sub.DD, while node B will approach the supply voltage V.sub.ss, which may be ground potential. As a result, the initial difference established between the voltages at nodes A and B, which may have been on the order of several millivolts, can be amplified significantly.
Unfortunately, using conventional two-input comparators configured as shown in FIG. 1 to determine, for example, which of three inputs is greater or lesser than the others, generally requires comparisons of each pair of inputs and then further comparisons of the previous comparison results. Multi-input comparators configured in this manner can also exhibit excessive computation time and signal delay, in that each stage of comparison generally requires a separate cycle of the clock signal. Furthermore, such arrangements can require an unduly large amount of circuit area, and consume an excessive amount of power. A need therefore exists for an improved multi-input comparator which is more computationally efficient, requires less circuit area, and consumes less power than conventional multi-input comparators.


The present invention is directed to a sealing mechanism for use in a toner cartridge. The sealing mechanism includes a developer roller and a toner plow. The developer roller has an outer cylindrical surface. The toner plow includes a concave contact region configured to mate with the outer cylindrical surface of the developer roller and a toner plow face placed at an acute angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of the developer roller.

The present invention generally relates to electrophotographic printing devices and more specifically to the reduction or elimination of toner leakage through seals that are used in printer toner cartridges.
Currently there are several types of technologies used in printing and copying systems. Electrophotographic printing devices, such as laser printers and copiers, use toner particles to form the desired image on the print medium, which is usually some type of paper. Once the toner is applied to the paper, the paper is advanced along the paper path to a fuser. In many printers, copiers and other electrophotographic printing devices, the fuser includes a heated fusing roller engaged by a mating pressure roller. As the paper passes between the rollers, toner is fused to the paper through a process of heat and pressure.
FIG. 1 is a diagram of typical laser printing device 100 employing an Electro Photography (EP) process. Laser printing device 100 employs a removable toner cartridge 118 configured to supply toner particles to an integral Organic Photo Conductor (OPC) drum 109 which applies a developed toner image to a receiving media, e.g., a sheet of paper. For monochromatic printing, a single color of toner particles 101 (e.g., black) is held in toner supply hopper 102. Toner particles 101 are typically small plastic (e.g., styrene) particles on the order of 5 microns (10xe2x88x926 meters) in size. Agitator (or stirring blade) 103 is typically made of plastic, such as mylar, and ensures that toner particles 101 are uniformly positioned along developer roller 104 while inducing a negative charge onto the toner particles in the range of xe2x88x9230 to xe2x88x9280 micro-coulomb per gram (xcexcc/g). Developer roller 104 rotates in a counterclockwise direction about a shaft. Stationary magnet 105, internal to the developer roller assembly, attracts toner particles 101 to rotating developer roller 104 under influence of magnetic forces produced by stationary magnet 105. Doctor blade 106 charges the toner and metes out a precise and uniform amount of toner particles 101 onto developer roller 104 as its outer surface rotates external to toner supply hopper 102. As the outer surface of developer roller 104 rotates back into toner supply hopper 102 developer sealing blade 107 removes any excess toner particles 101 that are affixed to developer roller 104 because they did not transfer to OPC drum 109.
Primary Charging Roller (PCR) 108 conditions OPC drum 109 using a constant flow of current to produce a blanket of uniform negative charge on the surface of OPC drum 109 in the vicinity of PCR 108. Production of the uniform charge by PCR 108 also has the effect of erasing residual charges left from any previous printing or transfer cycle.
A critical component of the EP process is OPC drum 109. In a preferred embodiment, OPC drum 109 is a thin-walled aluminum cylinder coated with a photoconductive layer. The photoconductive layer may constitute a photodiode that accepts and holds a charge from PCR 108. Initially, the unexposed surface potential of OPC drum 109 is charged to approximately xe2x88x92600 volts by PCR 108. Typically, the photoconductive layer comprises three layers including, from the outermost inward, a Charge Transport Layer (CTL), Charge Generation Layer (CGL), and barrier or oxidizing layer formed on the underlying aluminum substrate. The CTL is a clear layer approximately 20 microns thick, which allows light to pass through to the CGL and controls charge acceptance to the OPC. The CGL is about 0.1 to 1 micron thick and allows the flow of ions. The barrier layer bonds the photoconductive layer to the underlying aluminum substrate.
Scanning laser beam 110 exposes OPC drum 109 one line at a time at the precise locations that are to receive toner (i.e., the paper locations that correspond to dark areas of the image being printed). OPC drum 109 is discharged from xe2x88x92600 V to approximately xe2x88x92100 V at points of exposure to laser beam 110, creating a relatively positively charged latent image on its surface. Transformation of the latent image into a developed image begins when toner particles 101 are magnetically attracted to rotating developer roller 104. Alternatively, if a nonmagnetic toner is used, developer roller 104 may comprise a developer roller to mechanically capture and transport toner particles 101. In this case, an open cell foam roller may be included to apply toner to developer roller 104. The still negatively charged toner particles held by developer roller 104 are attracted to the relatively positively charged areas of the surface of OPC drum 109 and xe2x80x9cjumpxe2x80x9d across a small gap to the relatively positively charged latent image on OPC drum 109 creating a xe2x80x9cdevelopedxe2x80x9d image on the drum.
Blank paper to receive toner from OPC drum 109 is transported along paper path 111 between OPC drum 109 and transfer roller 112, with the developed image transferred from the surface of OPC drum 109 to the paper. The transfer occurs by action of transfer roller 112 which applies a positive charge to the underside of the paper, attracting the negatively-charged toner particles and causing them to move onto the paper. Wiper blade 113 cleans the surface of OPC drum 109 by scraping off the waste (untransferred) toner into waste hopper 115, while recovery blade 114 prevents the waste toner from falling back onto the paper. Fusing occurs as the paper, including toner particles, is passed through a nip region between heated roller 116 and pressure roller 117 where the toner is melted and fused (or xe2x80x9cbondedxe2x80x9d) to the paper. Heated roller 116 and pressure roller 117 are together referred to as the fuser assembly.
One design consideration with EP imaging devices, such as laser printers, is to minimize the leakage of toner from hopper 102. Leakage sometimes occurs at the ends of developer roller 104. Several methodologies and arrangements have been used to reduce or eliminate toner leakage from the ends of developer roller 104. Some printers employ a foam or felt mechanical seal at the ends of developer roller 104 as a physical barrier to prevent toner particles from slipping past the interface between developer roller 104 and toner supply hopper 102. Alternatively, when the toner includes magnetic properties, such as in many black and white printers, magnetic seals may be provided at the ends of developer roller 104 to attract monochromatic toner particles and create a physical barrier, consisting of the monochromatic toner particles, to prevent additional particles from leaking. Such techniques are generally inapplicable to the non-magnetic type of toner used, for example, in most color printers and copiers.
FIGS. 2 and 3 show other embodiments of a prior art developer roller/seal combinations. Support 202 positions seal 201 to ride on the surface portion of developer roller 204 within toner supply hopper 102 to limit toner migration past the seal and out of the hopper. In this arrangement, developer roller 204 interfaces directly with seal 201 in the area of reference point 302 and 303 (FIG. 3). Toner particles 101 are also present in the area of reference points 302 and 303, and the toner particles tend to build up in these areas adjacent seal 201. As developer roller 204 rotates in the direction indicated by arrow 304 (i.e., clockwise as viewed from the left end of developer roller 204), toner particles become lodged between developer roller 204 and seal 201. Toner particles 101 are pushed in a direction indicated by arrow 203. As developer roller 204 continues to rotate and additional toner particles become wedged in this interface, toner particles leak through seal 201. Seal leakage introduces toner into critical areas of the mechanism, thereby degrading performance, increasing maintenance requirements, and producing undesirable artifacts on the resultant printed paper or other product.
Accordingly, a need exists for a structure and method for reducing toner leakage in a toner cartridge.
The present invention is directed to a sealing mechanism for use in a toner cartridge comprising a developer roller having an outer cylindrical surface and a first plow including a concave contact region configured to mate with the outer cylindrical surface of the developer roller and a toner plow face placed at an acute angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of the developer roller.
Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method of reducing toner leakage in a toner cartridge comprising the steps of positioning a plow on an outer surface of a developer roller, rotating the developer roller and applying toner to the developer roller in a vicinity of the plow. In this embodiment, the plow pushes the toner in a direction away from an adjacent end of the roller, towards the middle of the roller.
Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a toner cartridge comprising a housing, a development unit including a toner supply hopper and a developer roller having a cylindrical exterior surface. Also included in this embodiment is a cleaning unit including a waste hopper, a wiper blade, a cleaning blade and a blowout blade.
This latter embodiment also includes a primary charge roller, a transfer roller, an organic photo conductor and a pair of toner plows. The toner plows are integral to the housing, wherein each of the toner plows includes (i) a concave contact region configured to mate with the outer cylindrical surface of the developer roller and (ii) a toner plow face placed at an acute angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of the developer roller.

System for and method of toner flow control

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The present invention provides a process of screening patients for atopic dermatitis. The process includes the step of determining, in sera of the patient, the presence of antibodies against nuclear antigens such as transcription co-activator p75, wherein the presence of such antibodies indicates atopic dermatitis. The screening process can be used to detect atopic dermatitis in patients suffering from other conditions such as asthma or interstitial cystitis.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, relapsing, pruritic skin disorder that generally first appears in childhood and frequently progresses to asthma and/or allergic rhinitis in the adult (Hanifin et al., Acta Dermatovener (Stockholm) Suppl 1980; 92:44-47; Leung et al., Dermatology in General Medicine, 4th edition, 1993, pp. 1543-1564; Cooper, J Invest Dermatol 1994; 102:128-137). There are no reliable laboratory markers for this condition but AD patients often have elevated serum IgE levels, allergic reactivity to foods and to other common allergens such as pollens, molds, and insects. There have also been reports of antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) in this condition (Taniguchi et al., Acta Derm Venereol (Stockh) Suppl 1992; 176:62-64; Tada et al., Dermatol 1994; 189:38-40). The prevalence of AD appears to be on the rise, with 10-15% of the population being affected at some time during childhood (Beltrani, J Allergy Clin Immunol 1999; 104:587-598; Leung, J Allergy Clin Immunol 1999; 104: S99-S108). We now report the finding of an autoantibody-autoantigen system in 30% of patients with AD which is also shared to a lesser extent by patients with asthma and interstitial cystitis (IC). IC is a urinary bladder condition in which the classical pathology is characterized by predominant mononuclear cell infiltration of the lamina propria with lymphocytes, plasma cells and mast cells (Gillenwater, et al., J Urol 1988; 140:203-206).


A nonvolatile memory device includes an operation voltage generation unit configured to generate a first pass voltage when a verification voltage is higher than a reference voltage and to generate a second pass voltage lower than the first pass voltage when the verification voltage is lower than the reference voltage.

Exemplary embodiments relate to a nonvolatile memory device and a method of performing a program operation using the same and, more particularly, to a nonvolatile memory device and a method of operating the same, which are capable of preventing an increase in a threshold voltage.
With a gradual increase in the degree of integration of nonvolatile memory devices, a multi-level cell (MLC) capable of storing a number of bits is being used in order to store more data.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a nonvolatile memory device for illustrating known concerns. In particular, this figure shows part of the cross section of a memory cell array included in the nonvolatile memory device.
The memory cell array includes a number of strings. Only one of the strings is shown in FIG. 1. The string includes a number of word lines WL0 to WLn, a drain selection line DSL, and a source selection line SSL formed over a semiconductor substrate 10. The word lines WL0 to WLn preferably are formed between the drain selection line DSL and the source selection line SSL. Each of the word lines WL0 to WLn, the drain selection line DSL, and the source selection line SSL is implemented by stacking a gate insulating layer 12, a floating gate 14, a dielectric layer 16, and a control gate 18. In the drain selection line DSL and the source selection line SSL, a hole is formed through a part of the dielectric layer 16, and so the floating gate 14 and the control gate 18 are electrically coupled together. A junction 10a is formed in the semiconductor substrate 10 between the word lines WL0 to WLn, between the drain selection line DSL and the word line WLn, and between the source selection line SSL and the word line WL0. When a driving voltage is supplied to each of the lines, a channel is formed under the lines.
An MLC has a number of threshold voltage ranges. Thus, a difference in the voltage level between a threshold voltage having the lowest level and a threshold voltage having the highest level is increased with an increase in the number of threshold voltage ranges. In particular, with an increase in the level of a threshold voltage, the level of a pass voltage supplied to unselected word lines during a program or read operation also rises. When the level of a pass voltage supplied to the word lines rises, the voltage level of channel boosting generated in the channel regions of unselected strings during a program operation also rises.
Meanwhile, in the case in which there exists a memory cell with a threshold voltage having a high level, channel boosting does not regularly occur, and so the level of channel boosting within the same string may differ. In this case, hot electrons can be generated because an electric field is generated in a region in which the voltage level of channel boosting differs.
FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating an increase in the threshold voltage in a related art.
If hot electrons are introduced into the floating gate of a memory cell, the threshold voltage of the memory cell can shift. For example, if hot electrons are introduced into a memory cell, the threshold voltage can rise from 20 to 22 as shown in FIG. 2. When the threshold voltage rises, the interval between different threshold voltage ranges is narrowed and may deteriorate reliability of the memory cell during a subsequent read operation.

Nonvolatile memory device and method with multiple verification pass voltages


A container for bulk material and the like, and the method of manufacture therefor. The container comprises a bottom wall with side walls extending upwardly from the bottom wall and oriented such that when the side walls are substantially vertical, the bottom wall is at an angle to the horizontal. An upper wall is connected to the side walls, the upper wall having an opening defined therethrough to enable the container to be filled or emptied. A support for holding the container in a substantially upright position is provided. The support includes a first foot integrally formed with the bottom wall and extending therefrom to lie in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the bottom wall, and a second foot removably attached to the first foot in a first configuration, and detachably engagable with the first foot in a second configuration different from the first configuration to lie in a plane perpendicular to the first foot.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to containers for bulk material or the like, and more particularly to a bulk material container with a support stand therefor and the manufacture of such container and support stand.
2. Background Art
Many industrial and commercial products, supplied in bulk form, are stored in containers made of thermoplastics for example. Such containers may be used for holding liquids, such as detergents or pesticides, or solid material, such as powdered detergents or food mixes. These containers have also been adapted to store particulate matter such as marking particles for electrostatographic reproduction apparatus.
It is common practice in the handling of such containers that the container be shipped or stored in an upright condition. This is necessary to prevent spillage or undue agglomeration of the bulk material. When the container has other than a completely flat bottom, upright orientation of the container requires some sort of support stand for the container. One type of support stand includes a wireform member designed to engage the container and form a substantially flat base therefor. However, such wireform support stands have been found to damage containers by poking holes in the sides thereof.
Another type of support stand for bulk material containers is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,480,168, issued Nov. 25, 1969, in the name of Lee. Such stand includes support feet created with the container when the container is formed. When the container is formed in a mold by conventional extrusion blow molding techniques, two of the support feet may be formed at the parting line from the normal flash. The remaining two support feet, respectively spaced 90.degree. from the first mentioned feet, are formed by using a split section in the base of the mold at 90.degree. to the parting line. As such the mold is of a rather complicated construction, whereby the resulting footed container becomes expensive to produce. Further, because the feet of the support stand intersect at a point substantially directly beneath the center of gravity of the container, the container is only marginally stable in its upright orientation.

Bulk material container with a support stand therefor


The invention provides gemcitabine derivatives shown in the following formula (I) and preparation methods thereof. The invention further relates to a pharmaceutical composition which comprising the said gemcitabine derivatives in an effective amount and a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient or additive. The invention further provides use of the said derivatives for preparing anti-tumor drugs. The compound designed by the invention is novel in structure and has a remarkable anti-tumor activity. According to the compound designed by the invention, the preparation starting materials have extensive sources and are easily obtained, the preparation method is simple and easy to operate, and the yield of the product is high, so that industrial production on a large scale is facilitated.

Tumor is a kind of disease with great threat to human health. Benefiting from technological advances of life science research, and in-depth understanding of tumor pathology in the last three decades, breakthrough on research and development of antitumor drugs were obtained. The successful development of various types of novel molecule targeted antitumor drugs has played an important role in improving tumor treatment levels. At present stage, the difficulty of tumor treatment is tumor drug resistance. Heterogeneity and easy mutation characteristics of tumor are the main reasons prone to drug resistance thereof, therefore, it is of great clinical significances to carry out drug research and development according to the mechanism of tumor drug resistance.
Antimetabolite drugs is an important part of antineoplastic drugs, whose market share accounted for 15.75% of the whole hospital antitumor drug market in 2010, ranking third. Antimetabolite antitumor drug is mainly composed of nucleoside drugs, wherein gemcitabine, cytarabine, decitabine, azacitidine, cladribine, fludarabine, nelarabine, etc. are most commonly used.
Gemcitabine is a fluorocytidine analogue, which belongs to cycle-specific antitumor drugs. Gemcitabine acts primarily on DNA synthetic phase, and it also can block the progress from DNA pre-synthetic stage to the DNA synthetic stage in cell cycle. Under the action of deoxycytidine kinase, gemcitabine is converted to the active gemcitabine diphosphate and triphosphate, which thereby inhibits tumor cell division and induces tumor cell apoptosis by affecting DNA synthesis and repair. Gemcitabine is suitable for the treatment of mid-stage and advanced non-small cell lung cancer, locally advanced or metastasized pancreatic carcinoma.
Gemcitabine can be used in the treatment of paclitaxel-resistant and anthraquinones-resistant breast cancer. Studies have shown that over-expression of resistance gene P-gp and MRP is an important reason that related drug resistant tumor cells are sensitive to gemcitabine, and the possible mechanism is that increased expression of deoxycytidine kinase caused by multidrug resistance can improve the accumulation of gemcitabine triphosphate (dFdCTP) in tumor cell, and promote the combination of gemcitabine to DNA strands in tumor cell, thereby increases the drug susceptibility of drug resistant tumor cells.
Current studies of gemcitabine and its derivatives mainly focus on synthesizing compounds of high anti-tumor activity through the modification and alteration on the amine group of cytosine ring. However, there is a shortcoming that it only aims at single-target effect on inhibiting DNA synthesis in tumor cell, multi-target mechanism is not considered to synthesize compounds with high anti-tumor activity because of the objective technical difficulty.

Gemcitabine derivatives, compositions comprising same and pharmaceutical applications thereof

HANGZHOU YUANCHANG MEDICAL SCI-TECH CO., LTD

HANGZHOU MINSHENG INSTITUTES FOR PHARMA RESEARCH CO., LTD


A fixing device includes a rotatable fixing belt and a first fixing roller contacting an inner surface of the fixing belt. A second fixing roller contacts an outer surface of the fixing belt to hold the fixing belt against the first fixing roller to define a fixing nip region. An end restriction member supports ends of the fixing belt to restrict its rotation position. A support member is disposed at a position in the end restriction member to pivotally support the first fixing roller. The position is shifted with respect to a center position of the end restriction member corresponding to a rotation center of the fixing belt. The rotation center of the fixing belt is shifted toward a recording-paper conveyance direction of the fixing nip region with respect to a straight line connecting rotation centers of the first and second fixing rollers in a direction orthogonal to their rotation axes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fixing device and an image forming apparatus.
2. Discussion of the Background
A conventional practice widely employed in electrographic image forming apparatuses is to convey a recording sheet of paper loaded with an unfixed toner image into a fixing nip region defined between a heater to be heated by a heat source and a pressurizer in contact with the heater. The recording sheet of paper is heated and pressed in the fixing nip region so as to fix the unfixed toner image to the recording sheet of paper. The heater for this kind of fixing device uses a thin heat generating member such as a heat generating belt, considering that the thin heat generating member has a small heat capacity, is capable of heating up in a short time, and consumes less energy.
An example of the heat generating source for the heat generating belt is a resistance heating element. The resistance heating element implements Joule heating upon establishment of electrical continuity. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-109997 discloses a fixing device made up of this resistance heating element as a heat generation source and a heater. The heater includes a press roller (fixing roller) that has an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of a circumferentially driven endless fixing belt (heat generating belt), and that is loosely fitted to the inside of the fixing belt. The fixing device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-109997 has what is called a "clearance fit configuration", that is, the press roller inside the fixing belt is pressed by a pressure roller from outside the fixing belt so as to define a fixing nip.
With the fixing device of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-109997, the fixing belt comes into contact with the press roller on the upstream side of the fixing nip region in a recording-paper conveyance direction (inlet side of the fixing nip region). On the downstream side of the fixing nip region in the recording-paper conveyance direction (outlet side of the fixing nip region), the recording sheet of paper is heated under low pressure. This can cause poor image quality, such as uneven brightness, of the image after subjected to fixing. Additionally, the inclination angle (separation angle) of the fixing belt on the outlet side of the fixing nip region is small, and this can cause poor separatability of the recording sheet of paper past the fixing nip region.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a fixing device and an image forming apparatus including the fixing device. The fixing device provides satisfactory separatability of a recording sheet of paper after subjected to toner image fixing, and consumes less energy.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus having a fixing belt whose rotation center is shifted toward a recording-paper conveyance direction


The present disclosure relates generally to air filter frames. In some embodiments, the air filter frames are nestable. Nestable air filter frames of the type described herein offer significantly reduced shipping volume, and thus shipping costs, while also providing cost-effective manufacturing. Some embodiments relate to an air filter frame including a single strip of framing material forming at least two of the four major frame segments and the frame corner between the two major frame segments. In some embodiments, a single strip of framing material forms at least three of the four major frame segments and two of the frame corners.

Air filters are commonly used in forced air systems (e.g., residential heating and air-conditioning systems) in order to remove dust and dirt particles and the like. Air filter products typically include a filtration media surrounded and supported by a frame. Additional supporting components, such as a mesh screen, adhesive beads, etc., may also be included. However, the frame is not only sized and shaped to partially enclose and support the filtration media, but also sized and shaped so that the air filter product can be inserted or supported in place based upon a particular end-use application. As a point of reference, the three-dimensional shape of an air filter product includes a length, width, and depth. In the case of a rectangular air filter product, for example, a rectangular filtration media is surrounded at its four sides by frame pieces or segments that may be connected at the corners and/or connected to the four side edges of the filtration media. The majority of the filtration media is thus capable of use for its filtering ability, with air flow through the filtration media occurring in the depth direction. Many end-use applications have a filter-receiving housing with established length, width, and depth dimensions; the air filter product's outer dimensions desirably match one or more of the expected housing length, width and/or depth dimensions to achieve robust retention of the air filter product upon insertion into the housing.
Air filter frame elements are known to be made from a variety of materials, including metal, plastic, and paperboard. In many instances, a selected construction of the air filter frame is a function of the filtration media format. For example, the filtration media can be formed to a pleated or other three-dimensional shape. The frames associated with these filtration media formats must accommodate the elevated, overall three-dimensional depth. In other instances, the filtration media can be relatively flat or planar (e.g., non-pleated). In theory, the frame could also have a relatively minimal depth (corresponding with that of the flat filtration media format); however, in order to facilitate robust retention within the expected end-use filter-receiving housing, the frame will oftentimes define an elevated depth (as compared to a thickness or depth of the flat filtration media), including side panels or walls projecting well away from a major surface of the filtration media to define an overall depth of the air filter product that corresponds with the depth of the end-use filter-receiving housing.
The projecting frame format associated with many flat filtration media-based air filter products has been found to present a unique opportunity for reduced shipping costs. In particular, the depth-defining side panels or walls can be formed to extend at a non-perpendicular angle relative to the plane of the flat filtration media. With this design, a first air filter product can nest "inside" the frame of a second air filter product when stacked on top of the other. This nested or stacked arrangement significantly reduces the resultant shipping volume, and thus shipping costs, when the air filter products are delivered in bulk. These same nested arrangements, and thus shipping cost savings, can also be accomplished with other air filter product designs, including pleated filtration media-based products having projecting frame walls or panels establishing the air filter product's overall depth.
One example of a nesting frame construction for a flat filtration media air filter product is provided in U.S. Publication No. 2013/0327004, entitled "Framed Air Filter with Offset Slot, and Method of Making," the entire teachings of which are incorporated herein. The frame design of the '004 Publication is a strip-frame, which means that individual frame pieces are cut as linear strips for a continuous roll of frame material (e.g., chipboard) with very little waste. Four distinct or discrete strips are used to complete a rectangular air filter product. The nested strip frame design of the '004 Publication, while excellent in reducing shipping costs, may come with a penalty in manufacturing productivity due to the need to assemble four strip pieces.
Standard strip frames for non-nesting filters often have a hinged corner joint, which allows for rapid assembly in manufacturing because the hinge design reduces the number of frame pieces from four to two or even one. However, the hinged frame is not designed to provide filter-to-filter nesting such that the shipping and cost savings described above are not available.
Single piece nestable frames for flat filtration media air filter products are known, for example fiberglass-based residential air filter products available from Flanders Corp. However, these known frames are die-cut from a single piece of chipboard in a "box frame style" configuration and are accordingly much more expensive than a perimeter-only strip frame.

Framed air filter with integrated nestable joint


An instant messaging (IM) system has an IM server connected to a communication network, and logic operable on the IM server enabling a first user to browse contacts associated with a second user. In some cases the first user can add and list contacts accessed by browsing the contacts associated with the second user.

. Field of the Invention
Instant messaging networks in the current art, examples of which include AOL Instant Messenger and MSN Messenger, among others, have increasingly grained popularity as a form of on-line activity, at least in part because they allow users to communicate with one another in a virtually real-time manner, providing what amounts to online conversation. There are many similarities in such systems, and examples of such systems in current art have been described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,430,602, entitled "Method and System for Interactively Responding to Instant Messaging Request," issued on Aug. 6, 2002 to Kay et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,301,609, entitled, "Assignable Associate Priorities for User-Definable Instant Messaging Buddy Groups," issued on Oct. 9, 2001 to Aravamudan et al., both of which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference. These references provide considerable detail about architecture and other details of state-of-the-art instant messaging systems, reproduction of which should not be necessary in the present application.
Online messaging systems in the art at the time of the present patent application are typically proprietary systems requiring installation of software on a user's computer, and as a result, typically the user of a particular instant messaging system, such as AOL Instant Messenger, can only communicate with users of the same system.
Further to the above, prior art instant messaging networks are relatively difficult to set up, at least in part because of certain effects stemming from characteristics of an overall network. For example, for such a network to be useful, there should be a relatively large number of users. This fact can pose a significant challenge to relatively small, start-up instant messaging operators which may not have the resources to build a network of a large number of users in a relatively short time. Relatively small telephone companies had similar difficulty competing with larger ones in the early growth of publicly switched telephone networks (PSTN) in the early 1900s.
Typically, a provider of an instant messaging system relies on existing users to find one another's contact information and to invite new users to join the particular system. A mechanism that is often employed to facilitate such growth in the system is to provide each user a unique screen name and in turn, to allow each user to maintain a list of contacts by screen name (sometimes called buddy lists in the art) who also are enabled and have access to the same messaging system. As more users are added to the particular instant messaging system and/or existing users add additional users to their buddy lists, the particular instant messaging system grows. Generally speaking, the more users with which each use is enabled to communicate in an instant messaging system, either through addition of new users or by allowing more existing users to find each other and communicate, the more successful the particular instant messaging system will be.
To allow users to find each other and to add more contacts to their own buddy lists, which facilitates growth and functionality of the system, users of existing systems may be enabled to perform textual searches using screen names or other information relating to other users as search criteria, and then add users, one at a time, to their buddy lists. Further, a user may invite others to join the network, such as by sending an email to the potential new user. In both of these situations one user is trying to establish communication with one other user, who may or may not yet be a member to the particular instant messaging network, and the seeking user needs to obtain the contact information of the target user.
Growing an instant messaging system using the prior art techniques described above may take considerable time, during which period existing users may cease using the system due to a lack of sufficient other users with whom to communicate. Furthermore, an existing user may have difficulty obtaining the necessary contact information, such as email, screen names, and so on, of other persons who may or may not belong to the network.
What is clearly needed to enable more rapid growth of new instant messaging systems is a method and mechanism that provides a more robust ability to find and list current members, and to add new members to the system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and systems for developing an instant messaging network


A spacer for a fluid nozzle can include a body configured to fit within a sheath of the fluid nozzle such that a fluid tube positioned within the sheath is held bent over its longitudinal dimension by the body thereby altering a natural frequency of the fuel tube compared to if the fuel tube were not held bent.

Certain fluid nozzles, e.g., fuel injectors for gas turbine engines, are subjected to system vibration, e.g., engine vibration, during operation. Certain fluid nozzle designs incorporate a fluid carrying tube that is attached at one or both ends to the injector support structure. This results in the tube acting as a simply supported beam. This tube design often has a vibration natural frequency that can be excited by engine operational vibration. The resulting tube vibration can result in tube braze/weld joint high cycle fatigue failure.
To reduce the tube vibration amplitude, some designs in the past have added a spacer component. This spacer is usually brazed to the inner tube, but not to the outer tube. Brazing the spacer disc to the outer tube is often not an option, for example, if the outer tube is significantly hotter than the inner in operation. This spacer limits the radial distance of travel, thus reducing the bending stresses at the braze joint. However, the additional component weight reduces the natural frequency of the inner tube and still allows vibration and relative motion, so there is still a risk of wear.
Such conventional methods and systems have generally been considered satisfactory for their intended purpose. However, there is still a need in the art for improved fluid nozzles and spacers and the present disclosure provides a solution for this need.


In general, a computer-implemented method is described for receiving by one or more computers one or more responses to questions included in a medical study instrument generated through an instrument generation system, removing from the one or more responses patient information including at least one of name information and address information, generating a unique identifier, the unique identifier associated with a patient's physician, associating the unique identifier with the one or more responses from which the patient information has been removed, and storing the one or more responses from which the patient information has been removed and the associated unique identifier in a data repository.

Medical forms are used to collect data and information regarding a patient's symptoms and conditions. One technique for preparing a medical form is to manually edit a pre-existing form (e.g., a form existing in Microsoft Word™ format) with new or customized questions. The form is then sent to review boards for review through a physical or electronic mailing. Additionally, once a form has been finalized, it may be presented to a patient, study participant or other individual (collectively referred to as "patients" herein, without limitation, for purposes of convenience). For example, physicians may present patients with the forms when the patient visits the physician's office. Additionally, hardcopy (i.e., paper) versions of medical forms may be distributed to patients for completion. For patient's who have not completed medical forms prior to the patient's examination, the patient may often complete the medical form at the physician's office by filling out a hardcopy of the form.
Frequently, the patient's responses to the questions included in the medical forms are entered into a computerized system by medical personnel. In this case, in order for a physician to review the patient's responses, the physician may access the computerized system and view the answers to the questions, which is often a lengthy process of reviewing individual questions.

Generation and data management of a medical study using instruments in an integrated media and medical system


A method for assessing possible trajectories of road users in a traffic environment includes capturing the traffic environment with static and dynamic features, identifying at least one traffic user, determining at least one possible trajectory for at least one road user in the traffic environment, and assessing the at least one determined possible trajectory for the at least one road user with an adapted/trained recommendation service and the captured traffic environment.

An assessment of the trajectory options of other road users is essential for reliable trajectory planning of an at least partially automated vehicle in real traffic situations. For example, if another vehicle enters a common lane, a vehicle that is at least partially automated may have to reduce speed. If a pedestrian wants to cross the road in front of the automated vehicle, it may have to come to a complete standstill.
Known classification models have a fixed number of classes. These classes each constitute a specific trajectory for a road user for a type of crossing and are highly specialized in this one case. For example, a general problem is simplified into a fixed set of options, wherein heuristics are used or machine learning techniques are used to calculate a specific trajectory.

Method for the assessment of possible trajectories


In one aspect of the invention, a method for pressurized annealing of lithium niobate or lithium tantalate structures, such as optical modulators and optical wave guides, comprises pressurizing an oxygen atmosphere containing a lithium niobate or lithium tantalate structure above normal atmospheric pressure, heating the structure to a temperature ranging from about 150 degrees Celsius to about 1000 degrees Celsius, maintaining pressure and temperature to effect ion exchange or to relieve stress, and cooling the structure to an ambient temperature at an appropriate ramp down rate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for annealing lithium niobate and fabrication processes involving the annealing of lithium niobate devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for annealing in a pressurized oxygen gas atmosphere bulk lithium niobate and optical waveguides and modulators having lithium niobate substrates.
2. Background
Optoelectronic components can be fabricated on several types of substrates including polymers, glass, semiconductors (i.e., gallium arsenide (GaAs) and indium phosphide (InP)) and inorganic materials (i.e., lithium niobate (LiNbO3) and lithium tantalate (LiTaO3)). Characteristically, an electro-optic material is one in which the index of refraction changes with the application of an electric field. One of the most important components in optoelectronic systems is the modulator. Three competing technologies in this realm are: direct modulation of a semiconductor laser, semiconductor electro-absorption modulators, and the lithium niobate modulator. Currently, lithium niobate modulators are the modulation devices of choice for many systems because they yield high performance, are a relatively mature technology and other modulation schemes impose limits not faced with lithium niobate modulators.
Lithium niobate has proven to be a suitable medium for components such as amplitude modulators, phase modulators, optical switches, polarization transformers, tunable filters and wavelength-selective optical add/drop filters. Lithium niobate has also been used as the host for solid state lasers using rare earth ions, e.g., erbium. Most current telecommunication and cable television system applications for LiNbO3 modulators involve discrete components for the optical transmitter subsystem. This configuration couples continuous wave lasers, typically diode-pumped YAG or erbium fiber oscillators, with lithium niobate external modulators and various wavelength and power stabilization components.
Lithium niobate is a popular nonlinear optical crystal for several reasons including its large electro-optic coefficients, the ease with which high quality optical waveguides are fabricated and its amenability to conventional integrated circuit processing techniques. High quality optical waveguides are those that possess low loss and high power handling capabilities. Additionally, LiNbO3 is a hard material, thus easily polished for fiber coupling which makes its use in optical network systems relatively uncomplicated. It is also a relatively inexpensive crystal, due in part to its long history of use in surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) filters for radio frequencies. By comparison, lithium tantalate LiTaO3 is essentially interchangeable with lithium niobate as far as modulator characteristics are concerned, but the use of LiTaO3 is often cost prohibitive because it is not as widely commercially used.
For example, one type of modulator incorporating the use of LiNbO3 is a Mach-Zehnder modulator. In a Mach-Zehnder modulator an incoming optical beam is split equally at a Y junction into two parallel waveguides, which then recombine at another Y junction after some distance. Electrodes are used to apply an electric field in the region of the optical waveguides. The electric field causes a relative phase shift between the two branches. If the phase shift in both arms is the same, then the two optical signals will recombine constructively at the second Y branch and no optical power will be lost. If there is a phase difference between the two arms, then there will be destructive interference and some optical power will be lost. The resulting destructive and constructive interference causes the output optical intensity to vary between a minimum and a maximum value.
In other electro-optic applications optical waveguide directional couplers can also be used as electro-optic modulators. In this type of modulator two waveguides are placed on the lithium niobate substrate in very close proximity to one another. The wave from one guide can xe2x80x9cleakxe2x80x9d into the other guide. By applying an electric field to the lithium niobate, the amount of xe2x80x9cleakagexe2x80x9d can be controlled, thus modulating the transfer of power from one guide to the other. Currently, different commercial application requirements favor either directional couplers or Mach-Zehnder modulators.
High-speed communications has led to a demand for the external modulator configuration. The most common approach utilizes a low-noise, high power diode-pumped laser whose signal is sent to the LiNbO3 modulator via optical fiber. The modulator applies either analog or digital information to the optical carrier.
When using lithium niobate in the fabrication of optical waveguides and optical modulators it is desired to avoid having a niobium-rich, lithium-poor and/or oxygen poor composition. When bulk lithium niobate has such niobium rich-compositions, and is then processed at high temperatures (T greater than 300 degrees Celsius), growth of the LiNb3O8 phase in the crystal may occur. This phase is undesirable because it is not optically transparent and leads to high losses in optical waveguides and optical modulators.
Such niobium-rich compositions can occur in two different manners during fabrication of optical waveguides and optical modulators. First, typical ion exchange procedures result in the replacement of lithium atoms in the crystal lattice with a diffusing ion leading to a lithium niobate composition relatively rich in niobium. Second, standard high temperature (temperatures in excess of 300 degrees Celsius) processing of lithium niobate can cause Li2O out-diffusion, and result in niobium-rich, and lithium and oxygen poor compositions.
To eliminate the undesired LiNb3O8 phase from forming in the crystal, high temperature processing, such as the stress relieving anneal process, is usually performed in a wet atmosphere of inert carrier gas, such as nitrogen (N2) or argon (Ar2), or in a wet atmosphere of oxygen (O2). This type of anneal process involves bubbling the inert carrier gas or oxygen gas through water (H2O). The wet atmosphere is beneficial because the H2O attacks the LiNb3O8 phase and breaks it down into LiNbO3. A typical wet atmosphere anneal operation is performed at a temperature of about 350 degrees Celsius for a period of 5 to 6 hours in a wet, flowing environment. The present inventor has discovered that a drawback of this type of high temperature processing is that the H2O gives off undesirable protons which are attracted by the lithium niobate and result in an inadvertent proton exchanged surface layer occurring. These protons remain in the modulators after fabrication and flow relatively freely among the waveguides, the waveguides and the electrodes and in the lithium niobate crystal and the buffer layer interface. Undesirable free flowing protons can adversely affect a modulator""s DC-bias stability because they act as charge carriers and are driven by the applied electric fields, causing the response of the final product to drift over time when a bias is applied.
Additionally, high temperature processing ( greater than 300 degrees Celsius) leads to oxygen out-diffusion of lithium niobate structures. This out-diffusion tends to form a surface layer on a lithium niobate substrate or a lithium niobate waveguide that is oxygen poor in composition. This oxygen poor region acts as a surface optical waveguide and causes undesirable leakage of light out of the lithium niobate substrate.
It is therefore highly advantageous to devise a new high temperature annealing process that inhibits the formation of the undesirable LiNb3O8 phase in the crystal and outdiffusion of O2 without the process introducing significant numbers of free flowing protons that will affect the modulator""s DC-bias stability.
In one aspect of the invention, a method for pressurized annealing of lithium niobate or lithium tantalate structures, such as optical modulators and optical wave guides, comprises pressurizing an oxygen atmosphere containing a lithium niobate or lithium tantalate structure above normal atmospheric pressure, heating the structure to a temperature ranging from about 150 degrees Celsius to about 1000 degrees Celsius, maintaining pressure and temperature to effect ion exchange or to relieve stress, and cooling the structure to an ambient temperature at an appropriate ramp down rate.
In another aspect of the invention a lithium niobate structure such as an optical waveguide or an optical modulator comprises an optically transparent portion that is substantially void of free protons.

Method for pressurized annealing of lithium niobate and resulting lithium niobate structures


A mailer type business form includes a top ply with a cutout having an area and position comparable to an address area on a piece of mail. A second insert ply underlies the top ply including at the cutout. The insert ply has a localized coating of self-imaging material formed directly beneath the cutout and only in the area of the cutout. The cutout is preferably completely open, free of any material in it or covering it. However under some circumstances a patch of transparent material may cover the cutout. Other plies may also be included in the mailer including a return envelope, with a bottom ply cooperating with a top ply to define an out-going envelope.

This invention relates to mailer type business forms, also commonly known in the trade as "mailers". Under some circumstances, it is desirable to produce a mailer that does not have a "fly sheet", that is one in which the top sheet of the product offered for sale allows one to view the address information. There have been a number of proposals for providing such a mailer. For example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,506 a mailer is provided that has a top sheet with a cutout therein, a transparent patch and a CB coating containing colorless dye disposed beneath the cutout, and a CF coating disposed on an underlying ply in alignment with the transparent patch. There also has been a proposal in U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,298 for the production of a mailer having the web underlying the cutout and a window patch comprises a web of self-imaging material. The self-imaging material is a coating of microcapsules of dye and dye developer. When impacted by an impact printer or the like, the web provides images on itself through the windows covered by the window patches. In U.S. Pat. No. B14,425,386 a mailer is provided which includes a localized self-imaging area on the top surface therein.
The prior art systems as described above each have some practical disadvantages associated therewith. For example in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,506, the application of a CB coating to the transparent patch, and the application of the patch so coated to the top web can have practical difficulties associated therewith. The utilization of a window patch web and an underlying web entirely of self-imaging material, as in said U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,298, can provide an unnecessarily thick mailer for some uses. A mailer according to U.S. Pat. No. B14,425,386 can have smearing of the address area as it runs through postal equipment since the postal equipment has the tendency to break the dye capsules, therefore reducing the legibility of the address and making it difficult to machine read.
According to the present invention, a mailer type business form is provided which overcomes the drawbacks associated with the prior art, examples of which are discussed above. The business form according to the present invention has a minimum number of parts and patches, yet provides a legible address area that is not as susceptible to rupture of the dye capsules when passing through postal equipment as some of the prior art systems.
According to the present invention a mailer type business form is provided which comprises the following elements: A top ply having a top surface and a bottom surface, and having means defining a cutout therein, the cutout having an area and position comparable to an address area on a piece of mail. A second, insert, ply underlying the top ply, including the cutout, and having a top surface in contact with the bottom surface of the top ply. A localized coating of self-imaging material formed on the second ply top surface only in the area thereof overlaid by the cutout. And, a third ply cooperating with the top ply to define an outgoing envelope, the second ply overlying the third ply. While a patch of transparent material can be used to cover the cutout by adhesively securing it to the bottom face of the top ply, in the preferred embodiment the cutout is completely open, free of any material therein or covering it.
Also in the preferred embodiment, the cutout has a generally rectangular shape with sides approximately three inches and one inch long, and the localized self-imaging material area has a generally rectangular shape with sides slightly greater in length than the cutout.
A wide variety of configurations and modifications can be provided, and the mailer can have a number of different other components. For example a fourth, insert, ply can have a top face thereof in contact with the bottom face of the second ply, with the second ply having a capsule coat (CB) on the bottom surface thereof, and the fourth ply may have a resin coat (CF) on the top surface thereof aligned with the capsule coat on the coat ply bottom surface. The top ply may have a carbon spot formed on the bottom surface thereof, or where a carbon spot is not provided the top ply may have a pantograph on the top surface thereof and block out print on the bottom surface thereof. A fifth ply is also preferably provided between the third ply and the fourth ply, the fifth ply comprising a return envelope.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a simple flyless mail which has maximum legibility of the address. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention and from the appended claims.

Flyless mailer having top sheet with cutout


A computer system having a memory for providing streaming media in one of a plurality of streaming media protocols includes a first plurality of interfaces configured to initiate reading of packet meta-data and packets of payload data from a memory, and a second plurality of interfaces configured to output streaming media packets to a client system at a requested pace, wherein the streaming media packets are determined in response to the packet meta-data, to the packets of payload data, and to a streaming media protocol requested, wherein the packet meta-data and the packets of payload data are read from the memory at a pace independent of the requested pace for the streaming media packets, and wherein the second plurality of interfaces support more than one streaming media protocol.

The present invention relates to data caching. More particularly, the present invention relates to apparatus for caching streaming media and to methods of operation of streaming media caches.
Typical file caching methods include a cache receiving a file from a file server, and storing the entire file. Later, when a client desires the file, instead of serving the file from the file server, the file is served from the cache. Because the cache is typically a server that is closer to the client or has higher bandwidth than the file server, the file is served to the client quickly from the cache.
It has been discovered by the inventors, that attempting to apply typical file caching methods to files that include streaming media data, raises many new problems. For instance, serving a streaming media data file from a cache requires much more processing by the cache than with classical file transfers over the web. For example, during normal playback, the cache may need to perform a lot of processing such as packet modification, resequencing, and retiming. As another example, the cache may be called upon to perform random access within the streaming media data file as a result of a client "rewind" or "fast forward" operation. Because, classical caching is typically file-based, such a random access would involve moving within a very large data file.
Another drawback is that since streaming media data files are very large, a huge penalty is incurred if the streaming media data file is deleted. Typically if a file cache determines that it needs more disk space for new files, it will first delete older files, regardless of the size. As an example, if an older file is a streaming media data file that stores an hour-long program, the entire hour-long program is deleted even if the cache only needs to free up the equivalent of 1 minute of space.
Another drawback is that many different streaming media formats exist, each with its own specific streaming requirements. This is in contrast to classical file transfer over the web, where the files are essentially opaque to the cache and for streaming data to clients, the cache does not need to process the actual contents of the file beyond storage and retrieval.
Thus what is required are improved methods and apparatus for storing and serving streaming media within a cache. Further, what is required are methods and apparatus for providing such solutions in economical ways.

Methods and apparatus for pacing delivery of streaming media data


A method for processing images is provided. The method includes: acquiring a first image by smoothing a skin region of a target object in an original image; determining a skin texture material matching with a face area of the target object; acquiring a facial texture image of the target object by rendering the skin texture material; and acquiring a second image by fusing the facial texture image with the first image.

With the development of computer technologies and the diversification of terminal functions, a user can use a terminal to take selfies (namely, take his/her own portrait photos). After the selfies are taken, skin grinding can be performed on an acquired image to remove blemishes or facial defects on a face in the image. In an ordinary face skin grinding and beautifying algorithm, the smoothness and uniformity of a face are improved by performing high-intensity low-pass filtering on the face, thereby achieving the skin grinding effect.

Method for processing images and electronic device

BEIJING DAJIA INTERNET INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


Various user interfaces and other technologies for interacting with devices that support multiple SIM cards can be implemented. For example, intelligent handling of SIM card selection can help users deal with multiple SIM card scenarios. A user interface for overriding SIM card selection can be supported. Users can interact with their devices more efficiently and with less frustration. A wide variety of use default SIM card scenarios are supported. SIM cards can be selected based on any of a rich set of input factors.

Mobile phones that accommodate multiple subscriber identity module (SIM) cards are becoming widespread. However, the user experience for such phones leaves much to be desired. For example, many such phones still have user interfaces and logic that were originally developed for a single SIM card and incorporate multiple SIM functionality merely as an afterthought. Others simply fail to incorporate the expectations of users when dealing with multiple SIM cards.
For example, having more than one SIM card in a phone is a great feature, but there must be some mechanism for switching between the SIM cards. One such mechanism uses a default SIM card technique. For example, if there is one phonebook per SIM, a default SIM card can be chosen based on the phonebook in which a dialed number resides. However, such a simplistic approach overlooks the numerous usage scenarios and factors that a user might wish to go into selecting the desired SIM card as described herein.
So, there is an absence of technologies that can intelligently select a SIM card in light of a variety of communication situations.

Intelligent SIM selection supporting rich context of input factors


Telepresence display configuration useful for video conferencing. The telepresence display configurations include a video display and a mat. The mat is spaced apart from the video display and has an opening having an inner perimeter configured to frame a viewing surface of a video display.

Video conferencing is an established method of simulated face-to-face collaboration between remotely located participants. A video image of a remote environment is broadcast onto a local display, allowing a local user to see and talk to one or more remotely located participants.
Social interaction during face-to-face collaboration is an important part of the way people work. There is a need to allow people to have effective social interaction in a simulated face-to-face meeting over distance.
Telepresence systems are used to create large images of remote locations for video conferencing. They generally include one or more cameras for capturing an image, a video display for viewing images from other locations, and a work space for seating and activities of the conference participants. Because the telepresence systems are largely responsible for the image provided to other participants, their design is crucial to effective interaction.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons that will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for alternative telepresence display configurations.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A process for the enhanced recovery of liquid hydrocarbons from a subterranean hydrocarbon-bearing formation wherein natural gas which is immiscible with the liquid hydrocarbons is injected into the formation via a well. The well is shut in for a period of time to permit the natural gas to render the liquid hydrocarbons mobile and thereafter the mobilized liquid hydrocarbons are produced from the well.

Conventionally, liquid hydrocarbons are produced to the surface of the earth from a subterranean hydrocarbon-bearing formation via a well penetrating and in fluid communication with the formation. Usually, a plurality of wells are drilled and placed in fluid communication with the subterranean hydrocarbon-bearing formation to effectively produce liquid hydrocarbons from a particular subterranean reservoir. Approximately 20 to 30 percent of the volume of hydrocarbons originally present within a given reservoir in a subterranean formation can be produced by the natural pressure of the formation, i.e. by primary production. Secondary recovery processes have been employed to produce additional quantities of original hydrocarbons in place in a subterranean formation. Such secondary recovery processes include non-thermal processes involving the injection of a drive fluid, such as water, via wells designated as injection wells into the formation to drive liquid hydrocarbons to separate wells designated for production of hydrocarbons to the surface. Successful secondary recovery processes may result in the recovery of about 30 to 50 percent of the original hydrocarbons in place in a subterranean formation. Once a secondary recovery process has been operated to its economic limit, i.e. the profit from the sale of hydrocarbons produced as a result of the process is less than the operating expense of the process per se, tertiary recovery processes have been utilized to recover an additional incremental amount of the original liquid hydrocarbons in place in a subterranean formation by altering the properties of liquid hydrocarbons, e.g. altering surface tension. Examples of tertiary recovery processes include micellar and surfactant flooding processes. Tertiary recovery processes also include processes which involve the injection of a thermal drive fluid, such as steam, or a gas, such as carbon dioxide, which is miscible with liquid hydrocarbons.
Secondary and tertiary recovery operations often involve the injection of a drive fluid via one or more wells designated as injection wells into the subterranean formation to drive liquid hydrocarbons in place to at least one or more separate wells designated as production wells for production of hydrocarbons to the surface. Another process commonly applied to a given well is a cyclic injection/production process. This process, also referred to as "huff-n-puff", entails injecting a fluid via the single well into a subterranean hydrocarbon-bearing formation so as to contact hydrocarbons in place in the near-wellbore environment of the subterranean formation surrounding the well. Thereafter, the well may be "shut in" for a period of time. The well is then returned to production and an incremental volume of liquid hydrocarbons is produced from the formation to the surface. Carbon dioxide, flue gas, and steam have been previously used in such cyclic injection/production process. Such cyclic injection/production processes as applied to a well involve a relatively small capital investment, and hence, a normally quick pay out period. However, a suitable source via pipeline or truck of carbon dioxide or nitrogen is often not available near the well to be treated. Moreover, the use of a thermal fluid, such as steam, requires relatively expensive surface equipment which may be impractical in remote or offshore locations due to constraints of space. Accordingly, a need exists for a cyclic injection/production process for the enhanced recovery of liquid hydrocarbons from a subterranean hydrocarbon-bearing formation through a well in fluid communication therewith which involves injection of a fluid which is readily and widely available and which can be implemented without large spatial requirements.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a process for the enhanced recovery of liquid hydrocarbons from a subterranean hydrocarbon-bearing formation which is easily implemented and operated.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a process which utilizes a fluid which is normally available at a given well site and which results in the recovery of a significant increment of liquid hydrocarbons from the subterranean formation.
It is further object of the present invention to provide such a process which can be repeated in multiple cycles, each cycle resulting in the recovery of a significant increment of liquid hydrocarbon from the subterranean formation.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide such a process which is relatively inexpensive.

Enhanced liquid hydrocarbon recovery process


A computation unit that comprises (i) a multiplicand vector decomposer that generates a decomposed multiplicand vector which uses a sequence of first and second concatenated multiplicand sub-elements (1st2ndCMCSE) in a lower-precision format (LPF) to represent corresponding ones of multiplicand elements in a multiplicand vector in a higher-precision format (HPF), (ii) a multiplier vector decomposer that generates a decomposed multiplier vector which uses a sequence of first and second concatenated multiplier sub-elements (1st2ndCMLSE) in the LPF to represent corresponding ones of multiplier elements in a multiplier vector in the HPF, (iii) a multiplicand tensor encoder that encodes double reads of the sequence of the 1st2ndCMCSE in a decomposed multiplicand tensor, and (iv) a product vector generator that generates a product vector containing a sequence of first and second concatenated product sub-elements by executing general matrix-matrix multiplication (GeMM) operations between the double reads of the 1st2ndCMCSE and corresponding ones of the 1st2ndCMLSE.

The subject matter discussed in this section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in this section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in this section or associated with the subject matter provided as background should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in this section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves can also correspond to implementations of the claimed technology.
Deep neural networks have achieved state-of-the-art performance on a wide variety of computer vision, audio, and natural language processing (NLP) tasks. This has resulted in an explosion of interest around techniques to reduce the memory footprint and energy consumption of neural network training and inference. Although there are several methods to address some of these issues for inference, the most effective method for training is using reduced precision numerical formats.
The heart of deep learning is matrix multiplication. General matrix-matrix multiplication (GeMM) is the basis for many computations in linear algebra because it is the core routine behind the Level-3 basic linear algebra subprograms (BLAS) and much of linear algebra package (LAPACK). The primary optimization method is to partition the matrix into many tiles and exploit the parallelism within and between tiles. The tiling hierarchy closely mirrors the thread hierarchy on graphic processing units (GPUs). In practice, GPUs can fully unleash their computing power only when the matrix size is large, and there are enough tiles and workload for each tile. However, in many real-world applications, especially deep learning domains, the matrix size is small.
As machine learning based technologies are more widely deployed, it is becoming important to implement them at low cost using flexible hardware architectures. In such architectures, including integrated circuit components, area, and power consumption are critical design parameters. One class of integrated circuits includes reconfigurable processors, including field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), which can be configured to implement a variety of functions more efficiently or faster than what might be achieved using a general-purpose processor executing a computer program.
Coarse-grain reconfigurable architectures (CGRAs) are being developed in which the configurable units in the array are more complex than used in typical, more fine-grained FPGAs, and may enable faster or more efficient execution of various classes of functions, including GeMMs. For example, CGRAs have been proposed that can enable implementation of energy-efficient accelerators for machine learning and artificial intelligence workloads. See, Prabhakar, et al., "Plasticine: A Reconfigurable Architecture for Parallel Patterns," ISCA '17, June 24-28, 2017, Toronto, ON, Canada.
It is therefore desirable to have computationally efficient GeMMs, including implementations suitable for use in integrated circuits, including as modules in programmable processors such as CGRA devices.

Computationally efficient general matrix-matrix multiplication (GeMM)


The present invention relates to compositions relating to films containing active pharmaceutical agents. In particular, the present invention relates to methods and systems useful for stabilizing amine-containing actives for dispersion in a film product.

Providing administration of an active agent, such as a pharmaceutical active, in an oral film form is known to have substantial benefits over other dosage forms, such as tablets and the like. Generally, such oral films include a mixture of a polymer, solvent, the active, and flavorants, such as sweeteners and other flavor-enhancing components. A wet matrix of the components is prepared and then dried into a film dosage form.
In preparing such film dosage forms, uniformity of content of the film-forming matrix is important, so as to provide an even level of the active in individual film dosages. To achieve a uniform and even dispersion of components, it may be desired use a multi-step mixing process, where certain components are first mixed together, and then added to a third component. When various components are added to a polymer solution, it is beneficial that the components not form a gelatinous or plastic-like mass prior to addition to the polymer solution. As is readily understood by one of skill in the art, when the various components have such gelatinous composition, uniform and even dispersion throughout the polymeric matrix is difficult, if not impossible. It has been surprisingly discovered that the combination of certain actives and sweeteners has a tendency to result in an undesirable gel-like mass, which may be difficult to uniformly distribute throughout a polymeric matrix. Furthermore, it is difficult or impossible to spread a gel-like mass on to a substrate to produce a wet film for subsequent drying to form the dried film.
The present invention seeks to provide a method and system for preparing film dosages that overcomes the disadvantages in the prior art.

Stabilized amine-containing actives in oral film compositions


A probe card is formed of a main board and a sub-board located above the principal surface of the main board. The sub-board is located inside of an internal circumferential pad region of the main board. Relays are arranged in a line along the external circumference of the upper surface of the sub-board. Electrical components, such as the relays, a capacitor, a crystal-controlled oscillator, and an IC, are selected from components which are reduced in size as much as possible. The circuit for inspection is formed of the electrical components provided over the sub-board and the wiring layers within the sub-board. As a result, the yield of the probe card can be improved.

The present invention relates in general to a method of fabrication of a semiconductor integrated circuit device, and more particularly, the invention relates to a technology which may be effectively applied to an inspection process for inspecting an integrated circuit formed on a semiconductor wafer by utilizing a semiconductor inspection apparatus including a probe card.
A technology (refer to the Patent Document 1), has been proposed for providing, for example, a probe card, which is formed of a multilayer wiring board, in which high-speed operation signals and minute signals can be measured accurately without any influence from noise. This is achieved by arranging a connecting means to be connected to a tester head in a connecting region of the external circumferential portion to make it possible to form, in the component mounting region in the internal circumferential portion, an electronic circuit for measuring the characteristic of a semiconductor device formed within a semiconductor wafer, which serves as the inspection object, by providing a shield pattern in a signal pattern for electrically connecting to the probe from the connecting region so as to surround this signal pattern, by providing a shield member to the connecting pins inserted to the connecting means, and by connecting such shield member to the shield pattern.
[Patent Document 1]                Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 11(1999)-44709

Fabrication method of semiconductor integrated circuit device including inspecting using probe card


A semi-conductive roll is provided including a shaft, a low-hardness base layer formed on an outer circumferential surface of the shaft, and a coating layer formed by coating the low-hardness base layer radially outwardly. The coating layer includes one of a rubber material and an elastomer material that is crosslinked by at least one resin crosslinking agent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semi-conductive roll such as a developing roll, for use in office automation (OA) machines or devices such as electrophotographic copying machines, printers, and telecopiers.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Semi-conductive rolls such as a developing roll and a charging roll are installed on office automation (OA) machines or devices such as electrophotographic copying machines, printers, and telecopiers. For instance, the developing roll is installed such that it is in contact with the toner, so that an electrostatic latent image formed on an outer circumferential surface of a photosensitive drum as an image bearing medium is developed into a visible image. The charging roll is installed on the machines such that the charging roll is rotated while it is held in contact with the photosensitive drum. Thus, the semi-conductive rolls perform respective functions.
Described more specifically, the developing roll carries a layer of toner on its outer circumferential surface. The developing roll and the photosensitive drum are rotated while the developing roll is held in contact with the photosensitive drum on which the latent image is formed, so that the latent image is developed into a toner image. The charging roll and the photosensitive drum are rotated such that the charging roll to which a voltage is applied is held in pressing contact with the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum, to thereby charge the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum.
Such semi-conductive rolls described above include a suitable shaft (metal core) as an electrically conductive body and an electrically conductive base layer with a suitable thickness formed on an outer circumferential surface of the shaft and constituted by a solid elastic body, a foamed elastic body or the like. The semi-conductive rolls further include, as needed, an intermediate layer and a surface layer in the form of a resistance adjusting layer and a protective layer formed radially outwardly of the base layer, for the purpose of adjusting the electric resistance of the roll and protecting the base layer having a relatively low hardness.
In recent years, there have been increasing demands for high image quality and energy saving (reduction of electric power consumption) in the office automation (OA) machines or devices such as the copying machines, printers, and telecopiers. To meet such demands, in place of a conventionally employed crushed toner, there is employed spherical polymeric toner having a relatively small particle size and particle size difference and a low melting point, so that the toner particles can be uniformly charged.
Where a pressure of contact between the semi-conductive roll and the photosensitive drum is relatively large, the polymeric toner having a lowered melting point tends to be broken or deformed by softening, and the particles of the toner tend to aggregate, making it difficult to attain the intended high image quality and energy saving. In view of this, the semi-conductive roll needs to be arranged so as to assure careful handling of the toner to prevent a large stress acting on the toner. To this end, the hardness of the base layer which influences the hardness of the roll is lowered. Further, the intermediate layer and the surface layer are formed of a soft rubber material or an elastomer material in view of a fact that the roll tends to suffer from creases or wrinkles if a difference between the hardness of the base layer and the hardness of the intermediate or surface layer formed radially outwardly of the base layer increases.
Where the intermediate layer or the surface layer is formed by using the rubber material or the elastomer material according to a known coating method such as dipping or roll coating on the low-hardness base layer, in particular on the low-hardness base layer constituted by a solid elastic body, the intermediate layer or the surface layer serving as the coating layer does not have a sufficient crosslinking density, so that the roll may not exhibit a wear resistance high enough to withstand a long period of use. In addition, the coating layers of individual rolls have different thickness values due to a progress of scorching of the rubber component in the coating liquid. In this case, the rolls do not have an intended surface condition required to attain the high image quality. If the amount of the crosslinking agent to be added to the coating liquid is decreased in order to permit the coating liquid to be stored at room temperature with high stability without suffering from the scorching, the crosslinking or vulcanization does not proceed, undesirably increasing a time period required for the vulcanization and deteriorating the production efficiency. In addition, the crosslinking density of the coating layer is undesirably lowered.
In general, since the amount of the coating liquid to be prepared for the coating operation for forming the intermediate layer or the surface layer is larger than that actually used in the coating operation, a part of the coating liquid is inevitably left unused. The unused coating liquid is recovered and recycled in view of the cost. In the recycling process, the scorching of the rubber component in the coating liquid progresses, so that the coating liquid tends to be gelled, producing agglomerates. If the coating liquid which includes the agglomerates is coated on the outer surface of the base layer, the roll undesirably suffers from surface defects, increasing the reject ratio.
Conventionally, the surface of the semi-conductive roll, in particular the surface of the developing roll is slightly roughened for improving its toner transferring property. For instance, the surface of the base layer is suitably roughened by grinding or molding, so that the roll has a desired surface roughness. Alternatively, as disclosed in JP-A-2000-330372, a roughening agent such as a spherical filler is added to the coating layer (serving as the intermediate layer or the surface layer), so that the roll has a desired surface roughness. Owing to the use of the polymeric toner described above, the uniform charging of the toner is realized for attaining high image quality. To attain further improved image quality, it is required to precisely control the surface roughness of the roll. Where the intermediate layer or the surface layer of the roll is formed by the coating operation, however, the coating layers of individual rolls undesirably have different thickness values, making it quite difficult to control the surface roughness as desired.


Methods and systems are provided for controlling operation of an engine of a vehicle to supply power to a power box that in turn supplies power to loads external to the vehicle. In one example, a method comprises, via a controller, detecting that the vehicle is in a condition of reduced air exchange, and in response to a request to operate the engine to supply power to the power box, alerting the vehicle operator of the condition and discontinuing engine operation if a response to the alert is not received within a threshold duration. In this way, engine control strategy may account for the condition of reduced air exchange when the vehicle operator has acknowledged that the engine is operating under such conditions.

Passenger vehicles, light trucks and heavy duty trucks may in some examples include an ability to support 110V-120V alternating current (AC) and 220V-240V AC electrical loads. As an example, such vehicles may support electrical loads up to around 450 Watts, and in the future may support electrical loads from 2KW-8KW and potentially higher (e.g. 16KW and greater). Systems for such vehicles may include designs for directly supporting such appliances either while the vehicle is stationary, for example for use at a job site or for supplying electricity to home electrical loads, or while the vehicle is moving, for example to power a refrigeration unit. Such systems may comprise direct current (DC) to AC systems, and may be referred to as a power to the box (PttB) system. Such PttB systems may be driven either by an alternator, a belt-integrated starter generator (BISG) driven by the engine or by a high voltage battery (e.g. 300V-350V) which is in turn charged by a crank ISG (CISG).
In cases where a PttB system is in operation to power external electrical load(s) and where the vehicle is moving, it may be expected that air in an intake manifold of the engine is either fresh air, or if the vehicle is operating with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), the EGR mass is measured and accounted for in the fresh air mass calculation. However, there may be circumstances where the PttB system is being utilized under conditions where vehicle exhaust external to the vehicle may build to a level where unmetered EGR is ingested into the engine. As an example, if the vehicle is being operated in PttB mode in a situation where exhaust gas is not routed away from the vicinity of the vehicle but instead builds in concentration over time, such a situation may effectively increase the level of (e.g. concentration of) exhaust gas of air in the vicinity of the vehicle. A rate of such an increase may be a function of at least initial air mass in a volume of space where the level of exhaust gas in the air in the vicinity of the vehicle is increasing, vehicle exhaust mass flow rate, and any sources of air exchange for the particular volume of space where the level of exhaust gas in the air is increasing.
As percent EGR increases for a gasoline engine for a particular timing of spark provided to engine cylinder(s), burn duration for the combustion of air and fuel may increase as well. Such an increase in burn duration initially may lead to a reduction in net cylinder torque, while at higher levels (e.g. greater than 10% EGR) combustion stability for the engine may become degraded which may lead to incomplete combustion and/or misfires. At even higher levels (e.g. greater than 20% EGR), a reduction in delivered crankshaft torque may result.
To mitigate such undesirable aspects that may result as a function of increasing EGR inducted to engine cylinders, engine control strategy may rely on spark timing advance to engine cylinders to compensate for increased burn duration, which may maintain crankshaft torque at desired levels. However, as the level of EGR being inducted to engine cylinders increases beyond a particular level (e.g. 20%), issues related to combustion stability may result even with increases in spark advance. At higher levels still, engine hesitation and/or stall may result, which may compromise the ability of the engine to support the PttB electrical load.
The inventors herein have recognized the above-mentioned issues, and have herein developed systems and methods to at least partially address them. In one example, a method comprises via a controller, detecting that a vehicle is in a condition of reduced air exchange, and in response to a request to operate an engine of the vehicle to power one or more loads external to the vehicle while the vehicle is stationary, generating an alert pertaining to the condition of reduced air exchange, and discontinuing engine operation if a response to the alert is not received from a vehicle operator within a threshold duration. The condition of reduced air exchange may include the vehicle being in a location in which operation of the engine leads to an increase in a concentration of exhaust gas in air surrounding the vehicle over time.
As an example, detecting that the vehicle is in the condition of reduced air exchange includes an indication of a loss of communication with a threshold number of GPS satellites. In another example, detecting that the vehicle is in the condition of reduced air exchange may be based on information pertaining to driving routes that are learned over time and stored at the controller. In other examples, one or more of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and/or vehicle-to-infrastructures (V2I) communications may be relied upon for such detection.
In response to the response to the alert being received from the vehicle operator within the threshold duration, the engine may be operated to power the one or more loads external to the vehicle. Then, an increase in exhaust gas being inducted into the engine by way of an air intake passage to the engine while the engine is in operation may be monitored. In response to the increase in exhaust gas being inducted into the engine reaching a first threshold, the method may include notifying the vehicle operator that operation will be discontinued if action is not taken to mitigate the condition of reduced air exchange. In response to the increase in exhaust gas being inducted into the engine reaching a second threshold that is greater than the first threshold, the method may include discontinuing operation of the engine.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following Detailed Description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

Systems and methods for controlling engine operation to support external electric loads