A tactile aid for deaf individuals includes a conveniently wearable array of vibration transducers mounted on a flexible carrier strip so as to be positionally biased toward the individuals's skin. Each transducer includes an enclosed magnetically vibratable cantilevered beam, an angled mounting slot to effect the positional bias mounting on the strip, and contact pads rather than conventional pin connectors to both reduce mass and facilitate electrical connection to contact pads on carrier strips in the form of printed circuit boards. Received acoustic signals are processed in at least first and second formant circuits each sub-divided into plural sub-bands corresponding to the number of transducers. In each formant circuit the corresponding formant frequency and amplitude are measured, averaged over a predetermined number of cycles, and a voltage corresponding to the measured amplitude is provided on a corresponding sub-hand channel to pulse width modulate a pulse train employed to excite the transducers. Spectral resolution can be increased by averaging the amplitude/frequency measurements over fewer cycles. Glottal pulses in the speech signal are monitored to provide a glottal rate signal at a stepped down frequency related to the actual glottal rate. The channel amplitude is modulated by the glottal signal to cause alternation of transducer excitation at the related glottal rate. Additional formants may be detected to derive additional information in the excitation signal.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for converting acoustic signals to signals capable of being perceived by tactile sensing. More particularly, the present invention relates to wearable tactile devices for deaf individuals who have essentially no useful input from their own damaged auditory system. The primary utility of the present invention is to provide a means whereby such deaf individuals have access to the world of sound, both for communication purposes and, in the special case of prelingually deafened children (i.e. those either being born deaf or losing their hearing before attaining significant language capability), for learning speech and language at as early an age as possible and in as nearly natural a way as possible. As such, it is clear that a great emphasis for devices in this class must be on cosmetics and ease of use, as well as processing methods, since continuous wearing is a necessary requirement if the above goals are to be met.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Before discussing the prior art in detail, it is important to note that, in addition to tactile sensing, there is a somewhat related class of devices called cochlear implants. As the name implies, these are devices having a stimulator implanted directly into the inner ear of a deaf individual for the purpose of obtaining some degree of hearing restoration. Generally speaking, an important distinction between tactile devices and cochlear implant devices is that cochlear implants attempt to restore some degree of the lost sense of hearing while tactile devices attempt to substitute the tactile sensory mode for the lost hearing sense. Hence, the transducers for both types of devices differ markedly, and the processing must also differ in order to accommodate the different transducer functions and different sensory modes.
Tactile aid technology dates back to 1927; however, only developments since 1986 are relevant since it is within that time frame that devices with the necessary compactness and convenience to be worn continuously have made their appearance. All such devices presently in use have only one or at most two channels in spite of the fact that it has long been recognized that it is desirable to use multiple channels, each functioning in some way to analyze speech waveforms and other acoustical events according to one of a number of possible paradigms, and to present detailed information about the sound events via a multiplicity of skin exciters. It is generally understood that only in this way can enough detailed information be presented to a user sufficiently clearly and uniquely to enable him to eventually learn to recognize and appreciate the sound events in a manner analogous to that by which the intact hearing system receives, analyzes and appreciates the same sound events.
Although there have been numerous attempts to provide a tactile aid according to the goals described above, a number of limiting factors have prevented success. These factors include: the relative insensitivity of the tactile sensory system, resulting in the need for large battery supplies; the limited bandwidth of the tactile sensory system (i.e., 800 Hz at most) compared to a bandwidth of at least 3500 Hz required to transmit speech data; the very poor ability of the tactile system to differentiate among different frequencies even within its narrow bandwidth range; and the relatively small dynamic range capability of the tactile system compared to a normal ear (40 db compared to over 100 db). Recent efforts in the tactile aid field have generally focused on attempts to realize solutions in each of the above-described problem areas. While it may be said that there has been some degree of success, in terms of both hardware developments and processing methods, no one has come up with a sufficiently compact and effective wearable design. The prior art has generally utilized one of the three analysis paradigms described below in designing multiple channel devices.
The first and most straightforward of these analytic techniques involves dividing the spectral band from about 100 Hz to 5000 Hz into between five and sixteen bands, detecting and filtering the output signals from each sub-band, and using the resulting envelopes to control the intensity of a group of low frequency oscillators typically running at approximately 250 Hz. Each of these amplitude modulated signals is used to drive a corresponding skin excitation transducer. While laboratory models embodying this approach have resulted in some success, the method is very inefficient in terms of power requirements. An example of a system employing this method is the Queens Vocoder, developed at Queens University in Ontario. This system is the most commonly studied laboratory instrument, but a design has never been reproduced in wearable form.
The second analytic approach is to focus only on that portion of speech commonly called "voicing" which, as is typical for this kind of processing, is displayed similarly to the above-described spectral method across some number of skin transducers, typically eight to sixteen. Voicing, in essence, is that part of the speech sound generated by glottal pulses of air from the "voice box" and is only present in voiced sounds. The reasoning behind this second approach is that it is the voicing portion of speech sound that contains information on pitch changes and inflections that are not discernible through lip reading. Hence, this second method is not of itself intended for understanding speech, but instead is an aid to lip reading. Two problems are inherent in this method. First, it is very difficult to obtain accurate information about voicing frequencies in a normal setting with background noise; and second, the two research groups using this approach have not seriously addressed the wearability issue, particularly as regards the important skin transducers. An example of this approach is contained in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,491 (Boothroyd).
The third analytic approach, of which the present invention is an improvement, has potential for greater efficiency and, depending on the realization technique, has greater resolution accuracy than the other two approaches. It is generically termed "feature recognition". In this approach, the processor recognizes a number of specific known characteristics of speech which are then properly formatted and tactually displayed on the skin transducers. The general method of display is broadly similar to the other two methods in that the signals are detected, encoded and displayed as fixed frequency amplitude modulated excitations of each of the transducers; however, the meaning of the display is somewhat different. In the present invention, the features on which the processor is focused are: (1) formants, characterizing and defining the different vowel sounds of speech; (2) glottal pulse rate, representing pitch information and distinguishing between so-called "voiced" and "unvoiced" sounds; and (3) dynamic temporal characteristics of the speech envelop, defining and differentiating between consonants as well as providing additional information about vowel sounds. Depending on implementation details, an additional feature, relating to frequencies in the signal having lower energy content than and not directly related to formant frequencies, can be encoded and presented in the output display in a manner to provide additional information to the user.
Although feature recognition has not been successfully embodied in tactile aids prior to the present invention, some aspects of feature recognition processing are employed in the field of cochlear implants. An example of this is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,158 (Patrick et al).
The following brief description of each of speech features recognized in the third approach will be helpful for properly understanding of this present invention.
Glottal pulses have been discussed briefly above. They represent the pitch of a sound and often are called pitch rate. An example of their effect on speech and of their meaning is found in the rising inflection characterizing the end of a question. In some languages, such as Chinese, inflections completely change the meaning of an otherwise identical phrase, and while this occasionally occurs in English, it is not the general rule. An additional function of glottal pulses in speech is to distinguish between certain consonant sounds that are otherwise similar except for the presence or absence of glottal pulses. An example would be the difference between the unvoiced "t" as in tin and the voiced "d" as in din.
Formants are frequencies at which maximum energies are found in response to certain speech sounds. Generally they are associated with vowels and diphthongs and are generally three in number, although the first two (i.e., the lowest frequency two) are the most important ones. The formants occur because the glottal pulse excites certain parts of the mouth cavities formed by the teeth, tongue, larynx and nasal cavities. A great deal of work in the speech field has shown that formants, particularly the first two, can be used to classify the vowel sounds, although not perfectly. It is known to make a plot of the first two formants, plotting the first formant (F.sub.1) along the X-axis and the second formant (F.sub.2) along the Y-axis (see FIG. 7). The plane of the plot is called "vowel space". Although representation of vowel sounds in this manner results in considerable overlap, and although the vowels of different individuals vary, the definition obtained by this technique is quite good and can be used dynamically, either by computers or by the best computer of all, namely the human central nervous system, to recognize vowel sounds.
The dynamic temporal characteristics of speech envelopes; specifically amplitude, duration, attack time and release time, are often the major defining features of consonants and function to frame utterances providing important rhythm cues.
The lower energy frequency elements in speech function to shape the overall speech waveform. If information about these terms are appropriately encoded (as described hereinbelow), they can introduce changes in the output display that respond to small changes in the utterances. The net effect of this is to increase the effective resolution of the display compared to what it would be if only the formant information is extracted.
Finally, a few observations on skin transducers are in order. Initially, the only transducers available were the so-called "bone receivers" used with hearing aids to bypass defective middle ear structures. These devices are notably inefficient, particularly at the lower frequencies used in tactile aids, and also are excessively heavy and large. A transducer design developed by Audiological Engineering Corp. of Somerville, Mass., (assignee of the present invention) for skin excitation at the lower frequencies and at the lower force levels required for tactile applications resulted in a partial solution to this problem and allowed the introduction of a wearable two channel device (Tactaid II). The present invention improves on that design type and adds a number of features including a unique method for mounting a multiplicity of transducers which has never before been addressed in this field.
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the present invention is intended to improve on those characteristics of previously described multiple channel wearable tactile devices in several aspects, including: processing methods, power efficiency, transducer design and wearability.

Method and apparatus for sound responsive tactile stimulation of deaf individuals


In some implementations, a system may receive a plurality of video streams, wherein each video stream is associated with a user of a client device, and wherein the plurality of video streams are associated with a virtual session involving the plurality of client devices. The system may process the plurality of video streams to produce a plurality of processed video streams in which backgrounds of the plurality of video streams are removed. The system may generate a virtual environment that includes a common virtual background, wherein the virtual environment is to be associated with the plurality of processed video streams. The system may transmit one or more output video streams that include the virtual environment with the common virtual background and one or more processed video streams of the plurality of processed video streams.

Video conferencing involves the reception and transmission of audio-video signals by users at different locations, which enables communication between the users in real time. Video conferencing may be supported using a wide variety of devices, such as mobile phones, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, and/or smart televisions. Video conferencing may be useful in a workplace environment, in which users are located in different geographical regions. Video conferencing may provide other features, such as screen sharing, chat, meeting recording and transcription, etc.

Virtual environments associated with processed video streams


In an apparatus and a method for executing generation and reproduction processing of picture data suitable for picture display devices having differing processable frame rates, low frame rate picture data is generated on the basis of a plurality of temporally continuous pictures having a high frame rate to provide picture data having a plurality of layers. Decimated data may be set as the high frame rate layer data. In this manner, the quantity of data to be transmitted or stored is reduced.

As total systems for filming and displaying moving images, the National Television System Committee (NTSC) system is adopted in the United States of America and Japan, and the Phase Alternating Line (PAL) system is adopted in Europe. In recent years, the High Definition (HD) system, in which the number of pixels per frame is greater, is beginning to become more prevalent. In these moving picture systems, about 25 to 60 pictures are displayed per second. Since these pictures are continuously displayed, the filmed subject appears to move on the display to the human eye.
Moreover, as the Internet has become more pervasive, it has become more commonplace to distribute moving picture data over the Internet, and for individual users to receive them and display them on a display device, such as the display of a personal computer (PC) or the like. In order to distribute data in such a manner, compression is performed since moving picture data are generally massive. Common compression systems include Moving Picture Experts Group Phase 2 (MPEG-2) (ISO/IEC 13818-2) and Moving Picture Experts Group Phase 4 (MPEG-4) (ISO/IEC 14496-2). An outline of MPEG-2 is disclosed in, for example, "Point Zukaishiki, Saishin MPEG Kyoukasho (The Point-Illustrated Newest MPEG Textbook)" written by Hiroshi Fujiwara, ISBN 4-7561-0247-6, and the like.
A detailed description of MPEG-4 can be found in, for example, "MPEG-4 no Subete (Everything About MPEG-4)" published by Kogyo Chosakai Publishing Co., Ltd., ISBN 4-7693-1167-2. However, since there are differences in the processable, that is, displayable, data rates depending on the display devices from user to user, standards accommodating such cases are also described in the standards of MPEG-4. In other words, a system in which moving picture data is divided into several layers to be compressed and transmitted (or stored) is defined. This is generally referred to as scalability, which is described in detail below.
On the data transmitting end, a low resolution moving picture is first generated from an original high resolution moving picture, and the generated low resolution moving picture is compressed and transmitted in a first layer as "low resolution compressed moving picture data." Moreover, the difference data between the original high resolution moving picture and the low resolution moving picture, which has been generated on the basis of the original high resolution moving picture, is compressed in a second layer as "compressed difference data between the original high resolution moving picture and the low resolution moving picture."
On the data receiving end, when the processable data rate is low, only the first layer, that is the "low resolution compressed moving picture data," is received and the data of the second layer is ignored. The picture display device, which has received the first layer moving picture data, that is, the low resolution moving picture data, decompresses the received first layer compressed moving picture data, that is, the low resolution compressed moving picture data, and is thus able to display a low resolution moving picture.
On the other hand, when the processable data rate is high on the receiving end and data input with a huge data rate can be received, both the data in the first layer and the second layer, that is, both the "low resolution compressed moving picture data" and the "compressed difference data between the original high resolution moving picture and the low resolution moving picture," are received.
On the receiving end, which has received the data, first, the data in the first layer is decompressed, and the low resolution moving picture is restored. Then, the data in the second layer is decompressed, and the difference data between the "original high resolution moving picture" and the "low resolution moving picture" is restored. Furthermore, the "high resolution moving picture" is restored based on the restored "low resolution moving picture" and the "difference data between the 'original high resolution moving picture' and the 'low resolution moving picture.'" By having the restored "high resolution moving picture" displayed, users are able to enjoy the original high resolution moving picture.
Thus, by performing the respective processes depending on whether the processable data rate of the display device is low or high, it is made possible to watch a low resolution moving picture or a high resolution moving picture. The description above pertains to a process based on the difference in scalability in the spatial direction, that is, scalability in terms of the number of pixels constituting a frame.
Temporal scalability is also standardized. On the data transmitting end, a low frame rate moving picture is first generated from an original high frame rate moving picture by decimation, and the generated low frame rate moving picture is compressed and is then transmitted as "low frame rate compressed moving picture data" in a first layer. Moreover, the difference data between the original high frame rate moving picture and the low frame rate moving picture, namely the frames that were decimated, is compressed and is then transmitted as "compressed difference data between the original high frame rate moving picture and the low frame rate moving picture" in a second layer.
On the receiving end, when the processable data rate of the data receiving end is low, only the data in the first layer, that is, the "low frame rate compressed moving picture data," is received, and the data in the second layer is ignored. Moreover, the data in the first layer, that is, the low frame rate compressed moving picture data, is decompressed, thereby making it possible to display the low frame rate moving picture.
On the other hand, when the processable data rate of the data receiving end is high and massive data can be received, both the data in the first layer, that is, the "low frame rate compressed moving picture data," and the data in the second layer, that is, the "difference data between the original high frame rate moving picture and the low frame rate moving picture" are received.
Next, the data in the first layer is decompressed, and the low frame rate moving picture is restored. Then, the data in the second layer is decompressed, and the difference data between the "original high frame rate moving picture" and the "low frame rate moving picture" is restored. Furthermore, the "high frame rate moving picture" is restored based on the restored "low frame rate moving picture" and the "difference data of the 'original high frame rate moving picture' and the 'low frame rate moving picture.'" By having the restored "high frame rate moving picture" displayed, users are able to enjoy the original high frame rate moving picture. Thus, by performing the respective processes depending on whether the processable frame rate of the display device is low or high, it is made possible to watch a low frame rate moving picture or a high frame rate moving picture.
In addition to temporal and spatial scalability, systems for realizing other kinds of scalability such as SNR scalability, content scalability and the like have already been proposed. For example, there are a system that uses quantization errors in an enhancement layer, a system that uses, in an enhancement layer, object information which does not exist in a base layer, and the like. Moreover, it is possible to use temporal, spatial and other scalabilities with various modifications. Moreover, it is also possible to use temporal, spatial and other scalabilities in combination as deemed appropriate (see for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication Number 1999-266457, International Publication Number WO97/28507, and the like, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference).
The present invention relates particularly to a system including at least an existing version or any modified version of temporal scalability. Accordingly, scalability in the temporal direction will be further described with concrete examples. It is assumed in this example, for purposes of illustration, that an original high frame rate moving picture is a moving picture taken at a frame speed of 120 frames/sec. Naturally, each picture is taken in 1/120 of a second. In other words, the exposure time of each picture is 1/120 seconds. A low frame rate moving picture is generated from this moving picture. For example, three out of four consecutive pictures are discarded, and only the remaining one picture is kept. Thus, a moving picture of 30 frames/sec can be generated. This process is described below using FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1, the horizontal axis indicates time (sec). A picture group 101 indicates a group of frames of an original high frame rate moving picture. FIG. 1 shows thirteen picture frame data 101-1 to 101-13 of the picture group 101. The picture frame data 101-1 is the data of the first picture of the moving picture. As shown in FIG. 1, the picture frame data 101-1 is the data of a picture generated through exposure during the first 1/120 seconds (between the 0th seconds and the 1/120th second in FIG. 1). The picture data 101-2 is the data of the second picture, which is generated through exposure during the subsequent 1/120 seconds (from the 1/120th second to the 2/120th second in FIG. 1). The picture frame data 101-3 and the subsequent picture frame data are generated in a similar manner, and are consecutive high frame rate picture frame data whose exposure time is set at 1/120 seconds.
Moreover, in FIG. 1, a picture group 102 is a group of frames of a low frame rate moving picture produced by decimating pictures from the picture group 101. Picture frame data 102-1 is the first picture data of this moving picture, and is exactly the same as the picture frame data 101-1 of the picture group 101. Picture data 102-2 is the second picture frame data, and is exactly the same as the picture frame data 101-5 in the picture group 101. The same goes to picture frame data 102-3 and the subsequent picture frame data, and picture frame data 102-n is exactly the same as the picture frame data 101-(4×n−3) in the picture group 101.
In FIG. 1, a picture group 103 is a group of pictures that were decimated in generating the low frame rate picture group 102 from the high frame rate picture group 101. In other words, the picture group 103 includes the picture data 101-2, 101-3, 101-4, 101-6, 101-7, 101-8, . . . , 101-(4×n−2), 101-(4×n−1), 101-(4×n), and so forth.
On the data transmitting end, the low frame rate moving picture shown in the picture group 102 is compressed and transmitted as first layer data. Moreover, the picture group 103, that is, the picture group including the pictures that were decimated in generating the low frame rate picture group 102 from the high frame rate picture group 101, is compressed and transmitted as second layer data.
The processing on a picture data receiving end will be described. First, the processing on a picture data receiving end where displaying is performed by a display device having the capability to display only at 30 frames/sec will be described. In this case, only the data transmitted in the first layer, that is, the low frame rate moving picture shown as the picture group 102, is received and is decompressed to restore the low frame rate (30 frames/sec) moving picture shown as the picture group 102. Then, by displaying the restored moving picture, it becomes possible to display the low frame rate (30 frames/sec) moving picture.
Next, the processing on a picture data receiving end where displaying is performed by a display device having the capability to display at 120 frames/sec will be described. In this case, both the data transmitted in the first layer and the data transmitted in the second layer are received. In other words, both the low frame rate moving picture shown as the picture group 102, and the picture group 103 of the pictures that were decimated in generating the low frame rate picture group 102 from the high frame rate picture group 101 are received.
In processing the received data, the data transmitted in the first layer is decompressed and the low frame rate (30 frames/sec) moving picture shown as the picture group 102 is restored. Next, the data transmitted in the second layer is decompressed and the picture group 103 is restored. Then, the restored moving pictures of the picture groups 102 and 103 are combined to generate the picture group 101. Then, this picture group 101 is displayed at a frame rate of 120 frames/sec. By the process described above, it becomes possible to display the moving picture at the high frame rate, that is, at a frame rate of 120 frames/sec.
Thus, a user having only a display device whose processable frame rate is low may display the low frame rate moving picture, while a user having a display device whose processable frame rate is high may display the high frame rate moving picture. When data is transmitted in a hierarchical structure having temporal scalability, even a user having a display device of an inferior frame rate can display a moving picture, albeit with a lower frame rate. This is one advantage of transmitting data with a hierarchical structure having temporal scalability.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Picture processing apparatus, picture processing method, picture data storage medium and computer program


Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. A base station and user equipment (UE) may use quasi co-located antenna ports for transmission and reception of synchronization and/or reference signals and positioning reference signals. For example, the base station may identify a quasi co-location relationship indicating that antenna ports of the base station used to transmit a synchronization signal are quasi co-located with antenna ports of the base station used to transmit a positioning reference signal. In some cases, the base station may transmit an indication of the quasi co-location relationship to the UE. Additionally, the UE may receive the synchronization signal and determine a receive beam for the UE to use to receive the positioning reference signal based at least in part on the received synchronization signal and the identified quasi co-location relationship. The UE may then receive a positioning reference signal using the determined receive beam.

The following relates generally to wireless communication, and more specifically to downlink positioning reference signal in multi-beam systems. Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number of base stations or network access nodes, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).
In some wireless systems, devices (e.g., base stations and UEs) may communicate using directional transmissions (e.g., beams), in which beamforming may be applied using multiple antenna elements to provide a beam in a particular direction. In some cases, wireless systems may support both single and multi-beam system operations. Single beam operations may be enabled for low frequency bands (e.g., below 3 GHz) while multi-beam operations may be enabled for high frequency bands (e.g., 3-6 GHz or mmW).
In some cases, positioning support may be desired or required for services, such as emergency services (e.g., E911). Downlink-based positioning, also known as UE-based positioning, may include a base station sending a positioning reference signal (PRS) in the downlink to support the positioning procedures. The PRS may be a new radio PRS (NR-PRS). Uplink-based positioning, also known as network-based positioning, may include a UE sending a PRS or existing reference signal such as a sounding reference signal (SRS) in the uplink signal to support positioning procedures.
However, in some examples of a wireless communications system, for example systems using directional transmissions, UE positioning procedures and techniques compatible with directional transmissions may not be supported. As a result, the UE may resort to using alternative or legacy systems capable of supporting UE positioning to provide services that require UE positioning support. Techniques used in these systems may perform poorly in systems using directional transmissions, and it may be desirable to develop new techniques to use in systems using directional systems so that positioning support is available as new wireless communications systems are introduced. For example, when a base station does not know the direction in which to transmit a PRS to a UE, the base station may transmit to the UE by sweeping through a set of transmit beams focused in different directions, transmitting data and/or reference signals (e.g., a PRS) on each of the transmit beams. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may sweep through a set of receive beams in an attempt to locate and identify an ideal receive beam on which the UE may receive the signals the base station is transmitting. Sweeping through different sets of beams may be costly in terms of time, power consumption, and resources, and measurement latency at the UE may be high.

Downlink positioning reference signal in multi-beam systems


A method and apparatus for controlling beam emittance by placing a quadrupole lens array in a drift space of an illumination system component. The illumination system component may be an electron gun or a liner tube or drift tube, attachable to an electron gun. The quadrupole lens array may be three or more mesh grids or a combination of grids and continuous foils. The quadrupole lens array forms a multitude of microlenses resembling an optical "fly's eye" lens. The quadrupole lens array splits an incoming solid electron beam into a multitude of subbeams, such that the outgoing beam emittance is different from the incoming beam emittance, while beam total current remains unchanged. The method and apparatus permit independent control of beam current and beam emittance, which is beneficial in a SCALPEL illumination system.

Electron beam exposure tools have been used for lithography in semiconductor processing for more than two decades. The first e-beam exposure tools were based on the flying spot concept of a highly focused beam, raster scanned over the object plane. The electron beam is modulated as it scans so that the beam itself generates the lithographic pattern. These tools have been widely used for high precision tasks, such as lithographic mask making, but the raster scan mode is found to be too slow to enable the high throughput required in semiconductor wafer processing. The electron source in this equipment is similar to that used in electron microscopes, i.e., a high brightness source focused to a small spot beam.
More recently, a new electron beam exposure tool was developed based on the SCALPEL (SCattering with Angular Limitation Projection Electron-beam Lithography) technique. In this tool, a wide area electron beam is projected through a lithographic mask onto the object plane. Since relatively large areas of a semiconductor wafer (e.g., 1 mm.sup.2) can be exposed at a time, throughput is acceptable. The high resolution of this tool makes it attractive for ultra fine line lithography, i.e., sub-micron.
The requirements for the electron beam source in SCALPEL exposure tools differ significantly from those of a conventional focused beam exposure tool, or a conventional TEM or SEM. While high resolution imaging is still a primary goal, this must be achieved at relatively high (10-100 .mu.A) gun currents in order to realize economic wafer throughput. The axial brightness required is relatively low, e.g., 10.sup.2 to 10.sup.4 Acm.sup.-2 sr.sup.-1, as compared with a value of 10.sup.6 to 10.sup.9 Acm.sup.-2 sr.sup.-1 for a typical focused beam source. However, the beam flux over the larger area must be highly uniform to obtain the required lithographic dose latitude and CD control.
A formidable hurdle in the development of SCALPEL tools was the development of an electron source that provides uniform electron flux over a relatively large area, has relatively low brightness, and high emittance, defined as D*.alpha. micron*milliradian, where D is beam diameter, and .alpha. is divergence angle. Conventional, state-of-the-art electron beam sources generate beams having an emittance in the 0.1-400 micron*milliradian range, while SCALPEL-like tools require emittance in the 1000 to 5000 micron*milliradian range.
Further, conventional SCALPEL illumination system designs have been either Gaussian gun-based or grid-controlled gun-based. A common drawback of both types is that beam emittance depends on actual Wehnelt bias, which couples beam current control with inevitable emittance changes. From a system viewpoint, independent control of the beam current and beam emittance is much more beneficial.

Illumination system for electron beam lithography tool


This invention provides novel crystalline forms of mono-HCl salts and a mono-HCl salt hydrate of JNJ-26481585, an inhibitor of histone deacetylases. The invention also relates to processes for production of these forms, to intermediates used in these processes, to pharmaceutical compositions comprising these forms, and to the use of these forms in medical treatment for instance as a medicine to inhibit proliferative conditions, such as cancer and leukemia.

Many pharmaceutical solids can exist in different physical forms, e.g. in an amorphous form, in one or several crystal form(s) (e.g. anhydrous or solvated forms), in the form of mixture of different crystal forms, or as a mixture of an amorphous form and crystal form(s).
An amorphous form is a form in which a three-dimensional long-range order does not exist. In the amorphous form the position of the molecules relative to one another are essentially random, i.e. without regular arrangement of the molecules on a lattice structure. Amorphous and disordered materials often have improved properties, but generating and stabilising this state can be a big challenge.
A crystal or crystalline form is the form in which the position of the molecules relative to one another is organised according to a three-dimensional lattice structure. Crystalline forms typically include polymorphs and pseudopolymorphs. Polymorphs are different crystalline forms of the same compound resulting from different arrangement of the molecules in the solid state. Different polymorphs have different crystal structures due to a different packing of the molecules in the lattice. This results in a different crystal symmetry and/or unit cell parameters. Polymorphs differ from each other in their physicochemical parameters but not in their chemical composition. Polymorphism is usually difficult to control and poses challenges to the galenists. Pseudopolymorphs, also referred to as solvates, are a particular case of solid state crystalline forms in which either stoichiometric or non-stoichiometric amounts of solvent molecules are present or incorporated into the lattice structure of the compound. A water solvate is also referred to as a hydrate.
Solid state chemistry is of interest to the pharmaceutical industry and especially to those involved in the development of suitable dosage forms. For example, solid state transformations may seriously impact the stability of pharmaceutical drugs (shelf-life). A metastable pharmaceutical solid form can change into a crystalline structure (e.g. from amorphous to crystalline) or solvate/desolvate in response to changes in environmental conditions, processing, or over time.
Different crystal forms or amorphous form of the same drug may have substantial differences in such pharmaceutically important properties as dissolution rates, thermodynamic solubility and bioavailability. The rate of dissolution of an active ingredient in a patient's stomach fluid may have therapeutic consequences since it imposes an upper limit on the rate at which an orally-administered active ingredient may reach the patient's bloodstream. The rate of dissolution is thus a consideration in formulating solid dosage forms and liquid medicaments such as syrups and elixirs.
Likewise, different crystals or amorphous form may have different processing properties, such as hygroscopicity, flowability, compactation, and the like, which could affect their suitability as active pharmaceuticals for commercial production.
During the clinical development of pharmaceutical drugs, if the polymorphic form is not held constant, the exact dosage form used or studied may not be comparable from one lot to another. It is also desirable to have processes for producing a compound with the selected polymorphic form in high purity when the compound is used in clinical studies or commercial products since impurities present may produce undesired toxicological effects. Certain polymorphic forms may exhibit enhanced thermodynamic stability or may be more readily manufactured in high purity in large quantities, and thus are more suitable for inclusion in pharmaceutical formulations.
JNJ-26481585 has the following structure:

The compound is an inhibitor of histone deacetylase (HDAC).
WO 2006/010750 published on 2 Feb. 2006 discloses an amorphous form of JNJ-26481585.C2HF3O2 salt and a di-HCl salt and processes for obtaining them.
The synthesis of JNJ-26481585.C2HF3O2 salt as originally described in WO 97/21701, is presented in scheme 1.
Therein, in step 1 intermediates of formula (III) were prepared by reacting an intermediate of formula (I) with the carboxaldehyde of formula (II), in the presence of sodium tetrahydroborate, in methanol.
In step 2 intermediates of formula (IV) were prepared by reacting an intermediate of formula (III) with sodium hydroxide in ethanol.
In step 3, intermediates of formula (V) were prepared by reacting an intermediate of formula (IV) with O-(tetrahydro-2H-pyran-2-yl)-hydroxylamine, in the presence of appropriate reagents such as N′-(ethylcarbonimidoyl)-N,N-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine, monohydrochloride (EDC) and 1-hydroxy-1H-benzotriazole (HOBT). The reaction was performed in a mixture of dichloromethane and tetrahydrofuran.
In step 4, the hydroxamic acid C2HF3O2 salt of formula (VI) was prepared by reacting the intermediate of formula (V), with trifluoro acetic acid. Said reaction was performed in methanol.

Alternatively, the JNJ-26481585. 2HCl salt as originally described in WO 97/21701, was prepared by reacting the intermediate of formula (III), with hydroxylamine, in the presence of sodium hydroxide. Said reaction is performed in methanol, further conversion to the di-HCl salt was prepared in ethanol.
The process disclosed in WO 2006/010750 is unsuitable for large scale production as the consequence of low yields and high amount of impurities in the different process steps, which consequently requires several chromatographic steps. The purification of compounds using chromatography is expensive and environmentally unfriendly due to solvent consumption and the specialised equipment required to perform a large scale chromatography.
The problem solved by the present invention is the provision of novel crystalline forms of mono-HCl salts and a mono-HCl salt hydrate of JNJ-26481585. Another aspect of the present invention is a process wherein the novel crystalline HCl salt and HCl salt hydrate form are obtained in high yield and high purity. The advantageous properties of the present HCl forms are superior physicochemical properties including its non-hygroscopic nature and chemical stability enabling drugability of this compound.

Mono-hydrochloric salts of an inhibitor of histone deacetylase


A resilient accessory to be used as a cap for the arm rest of a seat, specifically a passenger seat on an airplane, bus, or other carrier. A lower rigid base member is provided having suitable mounting tabs for attachment to a passenger seat. An upper resilient member is positionable over the base and has a pair of lower edges for enveloping and retaining a pair of rigid angled strips. Air pockets with a suitable support spine and partitions are formed within the upper resilient member. The base is spot welded or glued to the angled strips. In an alternative embodiment, the base member includes lower side edge walls which are enveloped by the lower edges of the upper resilient member for retaining the upper resilient member and base in position. Suitable filler material may be disposed between the base and the upper resilient member for providing enhanced padding. The upper resilient members may be formed by injection molding according to the desired specifications about the base member.

It is well known in the prior art that arm rest cushions may consist of a relatively soft, resilient member attached to a relatively rigid member for support and mounting purposes, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,690,212; 3,300,250; 4,019,779; 4,099,780 and 4,331,360. Pockets or sponge-like filler may also be employed to provide additional resiliency and improve the compressive strength of the resilient member, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,318,841; 2,802,519; 3,300,250; 4,019,779 and 4,331,360. However, the art has generally lacked the simplified manufacturing, assembly, and maintenance qualities of the invention described in this application.
The federal government's recent deregulation of the airline industry has resulted in a drastic increase in the degree of competition between the various airlines, forcing airline management to pay special attention to cost cutting in every possible aspect of their operations. There has therefore been a particular need for efficient and economical production of non-critical components in the industry, specifically passenger compartment seating accessories. The use of injection molded plastics for construction of commercial airline seating has significantly reduced the cost in maintaining the interior of heavily trafficked passenger airliners.
In particular, the arm rests require frequent replacement due to wear and inadvertent passenger destruction. While many of the plastic arm rests existing in the art are certainly suitable for use in conjunction with passenger airlines, an improved padded arm rest having the important characteristics of durability, simplicity of construction, and economical production cost has been desired yet has heretofore been unrealized in the industry.


A new and distinct cultivar of Gaillardia plant named ‘Dogailspincopsun’, characterized by its compact and mounded plant habit; freely branching habit; dense and bushy habit; strong leaves that resist yellowing; early and freely flowering habit; single inflorescences with red and yellow bi-colored ray florets; and good garden performance.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Gaillardia plant, botanically known as Gaillardia aristata and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Dogailspincopsun'.
The new Gaillardia plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new compact Gaillardia plants with numerous attractive inflorescences and healthy leaves.
The new Gaillardia plant originated from an open-pollination in July, 2014 of a proprietary selection of Gaillardia aristata identified as code number GA13-000001-001, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unknown selection of Gaillardia aristata as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Gaillardia plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands in July, 2015.
Asexual reproduction of the new Gaillardia plant by vegetative terminal cuttings in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands, since August, 2015 has shown that the unique features of this new Gaillardia plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


An electric discharge machine includes a machining power supply for applying a voltage to a machining gap between a machining electrode and its opposite workpiece and detecting a contact between the machining electrode and the workpiece. The machining power supply includes a first power supply circuit whose output voltage is equal to or less than an arc voltage, a second power supply circuit for supplying a pulse current to the machining gap, and a control unit. When the first power supply circuit detects a contact between the machining electrode and the workpiece, the control unit operates to supply a pulse current from the second power supply circuit to the machining gap while the machining electrode and the workpiece are in contact with each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric discharge machine (wire-cut electric discharge machine) using a wire electrode as tool electrode or an electric discharge machine (electric discharge machine for die sinking) using an electrode formed in a shape corresponding to the shape of an intended workpiece as tool electrode.
2. Description of the Related Art
When positive and negative electrodes approach each other, arc discharge occurs and thus part of the electrodes melts and scatters. Electric discharging utilizes the property. One of the electrodes is an object to be machined (workpiece) and the other is a machining electrode provided in an electric discharge machine.
In a conventional electric discharge machine having an electric discharging power supply which employs a system called "transistor type", as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-195562 (corresponding to US 2004/0124189 A1), a first power supply having a high output impedance applies a voltage to a machining gap formed by a machining electrode and a workpiece opposite each other, thereby inducing arc discharge. Thereafter, a current pulse is supplied to the machining gap from a second power supply having a low output impedance to generate high-temperature arc, thereby melting and removing the workpiece. After a predetermined OFF time has elapsed, a voltage is applied again by the first power supply. The above operations are repeated thereby to perform machining.
With the electric discharging by the system described above, it is difficult to previously know where discharge occurs in the machining gap or to positively control where the discharge occurs. In general, as electric field intensity is high at a locally-narrow region in the machining gap distance and insulation breakdown easily occurs, a possibility of discharge generation at the part increases. When the discharge occurs and that part is removed, the discharge generating position shifts to a narrower region in the machining gap distance, as a result, the machining gap distance becomes substantially constant as a whole.
However, when a workpiece in the form of a plate is machined by the electric discharging, an electric field intensity becomes high at an edge portion of the workpiece, as shown in FIG. 1, and thus the possibility of discharge generation at the portion increases. A sludge density is also high at the edge, similar to the facing region between the tool electrode and the workpiece, and thus discharge via sludge also easily occurs. Consequently, the discharge occurs not only between the surface of the tool electrode and that part of the surface of the workpiece which directly faces the tool electrode, but also at the edge of the top or bottom surface of the workpiece, as shown in FIG. 2, and thus a failure such as crack easily occurs.
For a press die to be machined, its edge is important for cutting blade, and failures such as a decrease in dimension accuracy and machining defect of the edge directly influence the accuracy or quality of the press machining and thus the failures need to be eliminated as much as possible.
Since a power is supplied to a wire electrode, in wire-cut electric discharging, from two parts including an upper guide and a lower guide, a discharge generating position can be inferred based on a difference in supplied a current between the upper and lower wire guides. Thus, the technique is applied and an attempt is made as exemplified in WO2007/032114 (corresponding to US 2008/0110865 A1) in which a discharge generating position is obtained based on a difference in a current between the upper and lower wire guides by a first power supply and a magnitude of a current pulse to be supplied from a second power supply is adjusted based on the obtained discharge generating position, thereby positively controlling a machining shape. However, in the technique, an accuracy for detecting the discharge generating position is low enough to discriminate the upper, middle and lower parts of a thick workpiece of 50 mm or more in a practical viewpoint, so this technique is somewhat effective in controlling the straightness accuracy of thick punches but not so effective in detecting the discharge generating position at millimeter order accuracy. Thus, with the technique described in the document, the discharge generation at the edge cannot be accurately detected and thus the machining quality of the edge cannot be enhanced.
Generally, in the electric discharging, a clearance of several to several tens micrometers is present in the machining gap during the machining, a voltage of several tens to several hundreds volts is applied to the clearance, the insulation of the clearance is broken by the applied voltage so that pulse current for causing arc discharge is applied, and a high heat due to the arc discharge is utilized to remove the workpiece.
Therefore, even when a machining current pulse is supplied while the machining electrode and its opposite workpiece contact each other and are shorted, the arc discharge does not occur and a current simply flows, which is considered as less contributive to the machining. Thus, when a short-cut has occurred, various attempts has been carried out for the purpose of early elimination of the state of such short-circuit due to stoppage of flow of the pulse current or a concentration of sludge by specially applying a pulse current for scattering the sludge, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-156019.
As described above, in a conventional electric discharging, after generation of discharge is confirmed by using a power supply for triggering discharge, a pulse current is applied to the machining gap.


Various systems and methods for drone path planning are described herein. A system for drone path planning for a drone, the system to perform the operations: storing a current location of the drone as a current waypoint in a set of waypoints, the set of waypoints to include the current waypoint and a previous waypoint; detecting a current set of frontiers from the current location; storing the current set of frontiers in a list of active goals, the current set of frontiers associated with the current location; determining whether a target is discovered in the current set of frontiers; exploring the current set of frontiers to attempt to find the target; and exploring a previous set of frontiers from the list of active goals, when exploring the current set of frontiers does not, discover the target, the previous set of frontiers associated with the previous waypoint.

Autonomous robots, which may also be referred to or include drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, and the like, are vehicles that operate partially or fully without human direction. Navigation and path planning of autonomous robots is a challenge due to a number of factors. Static or dynamic obstacles may be present in an operational environment, resulting in a significant computational investment in order to navigate, create maps, or plan paths.


A rotating head mechanism of a rotary type AC magnetic flux leakage flaw detector comprises a rotating disc which has an opening for passing a test piece for flaw detection, mounting frames which are disposed in the rotating disc so as to oppose to each other with the opening located therebetween, shafts which are rotatably disposed across the mounting frames and each of which has external threads of senses opposite to each other at a position on one side of the opening and a position on the other side thereof, a first nut which engages the external thread of one sense in the external threads of each shaft, a second nut which engages the external thread of the other sense in the external threads of each shaft, a first cradle which is coupled to the first nuts, a second cradle which is coupled to the second nuts, a first exciting magnetic poles/detecting probes-assembly which is mounted on the first cradle, a second exciting magnetic poles/detecting probes-assembly which is mounted on the second cradle, and rotation drive means for rotating the shafts. When the shafts are rotated by the rotation drive means, the first and second nuts are moved in a direction in which they come near to each other or away from each other along the shafts, thereby making it possible to change an opposing spacing in a diametrical direction of the opening, between the first and second exciting magnetic poles/detecting probes-assemblies respectively mounted on the first and second cradles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the rotating head mechanism of a rotary type AC magnetic flux leakage flaw detector.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Regarding wire rods, steel bars, etc. which include a material of comparatively small diameter having the maximum diameter of 30 mm or 40 mm by way of example, a material stretched with a die by the use of a wire stretcher, a material drawn with a die as in the wire stretcher by a combined machine, and so on; the grain of the outer surface of the material is good so as to exhibit a surface roughness of 5-10 S (a ruggedness of 5-10 .mu.m), the piece of the material to-be-tested has a favorable circularity and has a small diametrical deviation, and the dimensional accuracy of the material is high in such a manner that the magnitude of a bend in the lengthwise direction of the material is 1-2 mm/m. As to such a piece to-be-tested, accordingly, the centering between a rotating probe and the test piece is easy, and the distance between the rotating probe and the outer surface of the test piece is easily maintained within a predetermined allowable range. Therefore, a satisfactory flaw detection accuracy can be guaranteed even with the automatic eddy-current flaw detection which employs the rotating probe. It is known, however, that, in general, all the factors of the surface grain behavior, the circularity and the bend of the test piece worsen more as the outer diameter of the test piece becomes larger. By way of example, a steel bar whose outer diameter is about 50-60 mm is manufactured in such a way that hot-rolled steel left intact is cooled and that the bend is merely corrected by a straightening machine. The roughnesses of the outer surfaces of some of such steel bars reach 15 S-300 S or 500 S (15 .mu.m-300 .mu.m or 500 .mu.m). Besides, the bent magnitude per unit length is large and sometimes reaches 2-3 mm/m or 3-4 mm/m. In order to automatically detect dotty flaws in the surface of such a test piece, a linear flaw extending in the rolled direction thereof, etc., a rotary flaw detector which rotates a plurality of probes and which can advance the test piece straightforward to obtain helical flaw detection traces can be used as in the foregoing case. Since, however, the dimensional accuracy of the test piece is not favorable in contrast to the foregoing case, there is the problem that a mechanism for the centering between the test piece and the rotating probes needs to be contrived. Also, there is the problem that the grain property of the surface of the test piece is not applicable to the eddy-current flaw detection of the prior art based on the rotating probes. More specifically, the mechanical dimensional accuracy is inferior for such a reason that the hot-rolled surface left intact is uneven and has iron oxide chips (scales) adhering thereto. Besides, the inhomogeneous state of the electromagnetic surface behavior renders it difficult to detect linear flaws (seams, hair cracks and longitudinal cracks) in mass formation which flaws have an opening of a small width by the prior-art eddy-current flaw detection means.
Therefore, various technical improvements have heretofore been made for the detections of the surface flaws of the hot-rolled steel materials of inferior surface grain behaviors. Among them, a magnetic flux leakage flaw detection method is known as replacing fluorescent magnetic powder flaw detection based on visual inspection. As means for magnetizing the steel piece in the flux leakage flaw detection, there are known a D.C. flux leakage, an A.C. magnetic flux leakage, and the combination of them. Here, the D.C. flux leakage method has the merit that both the flaws of the inner surface and outer surface of a steel tube or the like can be detected, but it is problematic in the following points:
(1) During a flaw detection operation, the attractive force of a D.C. electromagnetic exerts an evil effect to spoil the mechanical centering between the tube being inspected and exciting magnetic poles.
(2) As a higher flaw detection accuracy is intended, the value of ampere-turns to be applied to the D.C. electromagnet must be increased more, with the result that the exciting magnetic poles and the electromagnet overheat due to Joule heat.
(3) The flaw detection accuracy is limited to a flaw depth of about 0.3 mm-0.2 mm as the lower limit value, and it has been empirically known that the method cannot meet the demands of industrial circles of which the detection of still shallower flaws is required.
On the other hand, the conventional A.C. magnetic flux leakage method usually employs a magnetosensitive device, for example, a Sony magnetodiode or a Hall effect device. Such a device is subject to a restricted frequency response characteristic inherent in a semiconductor, the upper limit of an exciting frequency to be applied to the device is 2 kHz or 3 kHz, and the flaw detection accuracy of the device in terms of the detection capability thereof is limited to a flaw depth of about 0.3 mm-0.2 mm. As an expedient for overcoming this limit of the detection capability, it has heretofore been proposed that a search coil (sensor probe) of small diameter is employed as a detecting device corresponding to frequencies for wide applications, whereupon the exciting frequency to be applied is set as high as 4-16 kHz. Thus, the depth of magnetization directly under the surface of a test piece is reduced by the skin effect, whereby excitation energy is focused into the bounds of a depth required for flaw detection, and a high flux density is established by the focusing. As a result, an AC magnetic flux leakage from a minute flaw part is increased to enhance the detection capability.
Although the magnetic flux leakage flaw detection method is more suited to the flaw detection of the hot-rolled steel material or the like of inferior surface grain behavior than the eddy-current flaw detection method, it has the large number of problems to-be-solved as stated before. Particularly in a rotary type flux leakage flaw detector, exciting magnetic pole portions and a group of detecting probes need to be held in a predetermined mechanical positional relationship. Moreover, unless the group of detecting probes and the exciting magnetic pole portions are kept withdrawn during rotation till the arrival of the fore end of the steel material being the test piece, they might be damaged by the fore end of the steel material. Accordingly, the rotary type flux leakage flaw detector necessitates a mechanical coupling/interlocking setup which can hold the exciting magnetic pole portions and the group of detecting probes in the predetermined mechanical positional relationship and can withdraw them from the test piece on the necessary occasion.
As such mechanical coupling/interlocking setups, there have hitherto been proposed ones wherein, using an electromagnet or a rotary solenoid, the detecting probes are made free to retract and are thus prevented from damaging, as disclosed in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 3,299,350, the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 3,612,987, and the official gazette of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 48-36916. In addition, the official gazette of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 51-44675 discloses a setup wherein exciting coils and detecting devices are mounted on a rotating disc and wherein pinch rollers adapted to be pneumatically operated are arranged before and behind the disc in the passing direction of a test piece so as to restrain the test piece, thereby intending to detect a flaw stably. Further, the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,636 discloses a setup wherein a yoke lever and a probe lever are disposed indendently of a magnet yoke and a probe support and wherein the yoke lever is set to a closed position by a fore-end bent portion provided in a stopper plate, thereby making it possible to protect the magnet yoke from any hindrance in the movement of the yoke lever in the opening direction thereof. With this setup, the probe lever is installed by the turning pin of a pin holding plate which is fixed to a part of the yoke lever, and a counterweight is mounted on the opposite side to probes with respect to the fulcrum.
Any of the rotating head mechanisms of the rotary type flux leakage flaw detectors hitherto proposed as mentioned above is such that exciting magnetic pole portions and a group of detecting probes are fixedly mounted on a rotating disc. Therefore, in case of detecting the flaw of a test piece of different outer diameter, such a troublesome operation has been involved that the exciting magnetic pole portions and the group of detecting probes are adjusted so as to be appropriate for the outer diameter or that they are replaced with others appropriate for the outer diameter.
An object of the present invention is to provide the rotating head mechanism of a rotary type leakge-flux flaw detector which can eliminate the problems of the prior-art techniques as stated before.

Rotating head mechanism of rotary type AC magnetic flux leakage flaw detector


In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, an electro-optical device includes an electro-optical panel including a display area. The electro-optical panel has an incidence face side that faces incident light from a light source and an opposite side which is opposite to the incidence face side. A holding member houses the electro-optical panel. A heat radiation member is provided at the opposite side of the electro-optical panel. A light-shielding plate is formed so as to at least partially surround the display area of the electro-optical panel. The light-shielding plate is provided so as to make contact with the holding member and the incidence face side of the electro-optical panel.

This type of electro-optical device is constituted by mounting or accommodating an electro-optical panel such as a liquid crystal panel, for example, in a mounting case and used as a light valve of, for example, a liquid crystal projector or the like. The mounting case is constituted, for example, by a frame member and a plate-like member and the electro-optical panel is housed by being covered in a picture frame shape from a peripheral border thereof by the frame member and also being placed on the plate-like member.
For example, in JP-A-2003-177388, an electro-optical panel is fixed so as to be covered by a frame member from a display face side, and also placed on a plate-like member from a back face side. In the frame member, an opening portion is provided in a window shape such that a display area of the electro-optical panel is exposed, and the electro-optical panel is held away from the display face side by a portion provided so as to extend up to an edge portion of the opening portion in the frame member.
In JP-A-2003-177388 described above, since the portion formed so as to extend up to the edge portion of the opening portion in the frame is formed integrally with a frame main body, flexibility is lacking. For this reason, the device has a structure in which, for example, when the device generates heat due to irradiation of light-source light to the display area of the electro-optical panel, stress is easily generated in the inside of the device and this stress is easily transmitted to the electro-optical panel. Therefore, there is a technical problem in which the gap between the substrates of the electro-optical panel is displaced by the stress, so that color unevenness occurs in a display image, whereby the image quality of the display image is deteriorated. Also, in such an electro-optical device, when the device is attached to an electronic apparatus such as a liquid crystal projector, a mounting case is sometimes attached to a wall surface or the like of the electronic apparatus by bolts or the like. Also in such a case, there is a technical problem in which stress is generated by tightening the bolts and this stress is transmitted to the electro-optical panel, so that color unevenness occurs in a display image in the same way.

Electro-optical device and electronic apparatus


According to one embodiment, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory includes first to n-th (n is a natural number not less than 2) semiconductor layers in a first direction and extend in a second direction, and the semiconductor layers having a stair case pattern in a first end of the second direction, a common semiconductor layer connected to the first to n-th semiconductor layers commonly in the first end of the second direction, first to n-th layer select transistors which are provided in order from the first electrode side between the first electrode and the first to n-th memory strings, and first to n-th impurity regions which make the i-th layer select transistor (i is one of 1 to n) a normally-on state in the first end of the second direction of the i-th semiconductor layer.

To increase the degree of integration and the capacity of a NAND flash memory, the design rule needs to be smaller. To reduce the design rule, it is necessary to more finely pattern interconnection patterns and the like. Implementing finer patterning of interconnection patterns and the like requires a very sophisticated processing technique. As a result, reduction of the design rule is difficult.
There has recently been proposed a nonvolatile semiconductor memory in which memory cells are three-dimensionally arranged to achieve a higher degree of memory integration.
In this nonvolatile semiconductor memory, stacked active areas are formed by batch processing, and gate contacts are also formed at once. Stacked memory strings are selected at once by a layer select transistor. This structure enables to reduce the chip area and increase the degree of memory integration. Since the stacked structure can be formed by batch processing, the manufacturing cost can largely be suppressed.
Even in this structure, however, a layer select transistor and a contact plug are formed for each layer of memory strings. For this reason, the area to form them is necessary. The number of memory strings consequently increases as the number of stacked layers increases. In addition, it is difficult to form an interconnection leader from each of the stacked memory strings. Furthermore, forming interconnection leaders leads to an increase in the number of interconnections and the circuit area, resulting in few merits in forming the stacked structure.
There is no disclosure of a nonvolatile semiconductor memory structure capable of solving these problems at the moment.


A support arm for supporting a power screwdriver or similar device. The support arm prevents the transmission of the rotational force generated by the screwdriver to the hands and wrists of the operator. The support arm includes an internal lock plate secured to an extensible rod, which is disposed within a generally square outer housing. The internal lock includes a pair of generally square lock plates mounted on either side of a Teflon.RTM. guide sleeve, which acts as a slide bearing. The sides of the lock plates are flat and are used to abut against the interior flat surfaces to prevent the extensible rod from rotating inside the housing. A pair of universal joints are connected to the housing and rod to permit limited pivotal movement. The support arm may be mounted to a shiftable carriage, which rides on a transverse railing.

Power screwdrivers are commonly used in manufacturing assembly lines to insert and drive screws, bolts and other turn-in fasteners quickly and accurately. An assembly line operator may drive as many as 7,000 screws during a normal work day. Typically, powered screwdrivers are heavy hand operated pneumatic or electrical units. To reduce operator fatigue, mechanical support arms have been developed to carry the weight of the drivers, while allowing the operators to manipulate the screwdrivers in a full range of motion. Generally, a support arm includes a pair of universal joints and a telescoping member to support the screwdriver from a wall ceiling or a stationary stand. A tensioning device supports the weight of the screwdriver and helps maintain the support arm at the correct attitude. The operator may grasp and manipulate the screwdriver to any operational position.
As commonly known, the universal joints of the mechanical arm allow limited freedom of movement in any direction, but permit full 360.degree. rotational movement. Consequently, the rotational moment generated by the driver is transmitted directly into the telescoping member. Conventional telescoping members permit the extensible rod to rotate freely with the outer housings. Consequently at the penetration limit of the screw, the rotational torque generated by the power screwdriver is absorbed and arrested by the operator's hand. In high volume operations common in manufacturing assembly lines, the repetitious physical stress of absorbing the transferred rotation torque leads to various overuse injuries in the ligaments and tendons in the wrist and hand, and fatigues the operators, which reduces productivity.


An audio system receives an audio signal from a digital microphone, which has an analog-digital converter with a controllable sampling rate. In response to a determination that a predetermined trigger phrase is not detected in the decimated audio signal, the sampling rate of the analog-digital converter in the digital microphone is controlled such that the audio signal has a first sample rate. In response to a determination that the predetermined trigger phrase is detected in the decimated signal, the sampling rate of the analog-digital converter in the digital microphone is controlled such that the audio signal has a second sample rate higher than the first sample rate, and the audio signal is applied to a spoof detection circuit, to determine whether the received signal contains live speech or replayed speech.

Many devices include microphones, which can be used to detect ambient sounds. In particular, many devices include digital microphones, in which a signal generated by an audio transducer is sampled in order to form a digital output audio signal.
Audio signals generated by microphones can be used in many ways. For example, audio signals representing speech can be used as the input to a speech recognition system, allowing a user to control a device or system using spoken commands. It is common to use speaker recognition systems in conjunction with speech recognition systems. A speaker recognition system can be used to verify the identity of a person who is speaking, and this can be used to control the operation of the speech recognition system.
As an illustration of this, a spoken command may relate to the personal tastes of the speaker. For example, the spoken command may be "Play my favourite music", in which case it is necessary to know the identity of the speaker before it is possible to determine which music should be played.
As another illustration, a spoken command may relate to a financial transaction. For example, the spoken command may be an instruction that involves transferring money to a specific recipient. In that case, before acting on the spoken command, it is necessary to have a high degree of confidence that the command was spoken by the presumed speaker.
One attempt to defeat a speaker recognition system is to record the speech of an enrolled user, and to play back that recorded speech so that it is detected by the speaker recognition system. It is therefore advantageous for the speaker recognition system to be able to determine whether speech that it has detected is recorded, rather than live. If it is able to determine that speech that it has detected is recorded, then it can take suitable action, such as deciding not to act on the received command.
It is known that many sound recording and playback systems are rather poor at reproducing frequencies that are outside the normal range of human hearing, for example in the ultrasound range. Therefore, it is known that live speech generally has more significant components in the ultrasound range than recorded speech.


A semiconductor structure includes a semiconductor substrate; a semiconductor device formed in and over the substrate; a plurality of interconnect layers over the semiconductor device; an interconnect pad over a top surface of the plurality of interconnect layers, wherein the interconnect pad is coupled to the semiconductor device through the plurality of interconnect layers; a contiguous seal ring surrounding the semiconductor device and extending vertically from the substrate to the top surface of the plurality of interconnect layers; and a fuse coupled between the interconnect pad and the seal ring, wherein the fuse is in a non-conductive state.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to semiconductor devices and more specifically to electroplating interconnect pads for semiconductor devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
To electroplate features such as interconnect or bond pads on a semiconductor wafer, plating buses must be added to the top surface of the wafer and then removed after the plating process is complete. The application and removal of the buses add cost.
A replacement for Au—Al wirebonding has been sought. The Over Pad Metallurgy (OPM) process for bond pads was developed to enable Au—Au and Cu—Au bonding. The OPM deposition is currently limited to electroless plating processes because a method for connecting the individual bond pads to a plating bus has not been conceived and traditional pattern (electro) plating processes are cost prohibitive.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates identical items unless otherwise noted. The features shown in the Figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Fused buss for plating features on a semiconductor die


Disclosed are a pixel compensation circuit, a method for driving the same, an organic light-emitting diode display panel, and a display device, and the pixel compensation circuit includes: a threshold compensation module, a storage module, a light-emission control module, a driver transistor, and a light-emitting diode, where the threshold compensation module is configured to provide a control electrode of the driver transistor with voltage of a data signal terminal, and threshold compensation voltage in a data writing stage; the storage module is configured to store the voltage of the control electrode of the driver transistor in the data writing stage and a light-emission stage; and the light-emission control module is configured to connect a second electrode of the driver transistor with the light-emitting diode in the light-emission stage to drive the light-emitting diode connected with the driver transistor to emit light.

An Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) is one of focuses in the field of researches on flat panel displays, and the OLED display has low energy consumption, a low production cost, self-luminescence, a wide angle of view, a high response speed, and other advantages as compared with a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD); and at present, the OLED display has come to take the place of the traditional LCD in the field of displays of mobile phones, digital cameras, etc., where the design of a pixel compensation circuit for controlling a light-emitting diode to emit light is a core technology in the OLED display, so a research thereon is of significance.

Pixel compensation circuit, method for driving the same, organic light-emitting diode display panel, and display device

Beijing BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.


A knowledge processing system structurizing method and tool. By preparing a general-purpose search program on the basis of information inputted by the user, an inference program for a given problem to be solved and a given object domain is created. The general-purpose search program is constituted by a plurality of search elementary functions. A guide message is displayed on a display unit in accordance with classified information of a problem solving strategy. Program creating knowledges are obtained from the information inputted by the user in response to the guide message. By employing the program creating knowledges, a general-purpose program is created with the aid of a correspondence table containing correspondences between search elementary functions having search primitive functions built therein and search fundamental functions. The correspondence table may comprise a first correspondence table containing correspondences established between the search primitive functions and the search fundamental functions and a second correspondence table containing correspondences between search fundamental functions and the search elementary functions.

The present invention relates to a method of structurizing a knowledge processing system and a tool for structurizing the knowledge processing system.
A knowledge processing system generally comprises a knowledge base which stores therein knowledge coded in a machine-readable form for use in solving a problem and an inference program which uses the knowledge in a chaining fashion.
In contrast to the hitherto known problem solving program which is based on numerical processing for executing determinative algorithm processings, the knowledge processing system makes use of the knowledge given in a symbolic representation useful for solving a problem. This type of knowledge processing system is capable of dealing with empirical knowledge, know-how or heuristic knowledge such as those which the experts have acquired in various problem domains and which have been difficult to incorporate in the algorithms known heretoforce. For this reason, the knowledge processing system is increasingly employed widely not only for solving problems in the engineering field such as diagnosis, control, monitoring or supervision, planning and design but also in the field of legislation, money market and the like.
As methods of structurizing this knowledge processing system, there can be mentioned a method of establishing frame structures (conventions) for describing the knowledge and preparing the inference program using the knowledge in a chaining fashion with the aid of a symbol processing language such as LISP or PROLOG, and a method of using a knowledge processing system structurizing tool incorporating previously the knowledge describing frame structures and the inference program for using the frame structures. As a knowledge processing system structurizing tool, there are known "EMYCIN" described in Van Velle's "The Emycin Manual" contained in "The Stanford University Report No. STAN-CS-885", "ES/KERNEL" described in Kanamori et al's "Knowledge Representation Method and Rapid Inference Method in ES/KERNEL" contained in "HITACHI HYOURON", March 1987, pp. 17-22 and others. The first mentioned method is capable of setting up the knowledge representations, suited properly for solution of problems of concern and creation of inference programs. It is however noted that those who want to structurize the knowledge processing system is required to get skilled in the knowledge information processing technologies such as artificial intelligence, knowledge engineering or the like. Accordingly, it is difficult for those who are unaccustomed to these technological fields to structurize the knowledge processing system in accordance with the first mentioned method. On the other hand, the second mentioned method of utilizing the knowledge processing system structurizing tool does not require the preparation of the frame structures for knowledge representation and the inference program. However, the knowledge has to be described in such representation or expression which can be accepted by the knowledge processing system structurizing tool. Besides, for solving a problem of concern by resorting to the inference program, there is required examination of a method of composing the knowledge inputted as well as description of meta-knowledges for the inference control. Consequently, those who desire to structurize the knowledge processing system are required to be familiar with the knowledge concerning the object domain to which the problem to be solved pertains as well as the knowledge system structurizing tool to be used.
Such being the circumstances, there exists a great demand for development of such a method which allows even the unaccustomed person to structurize easily the knowledge processing system for solving a problem in the domain of concern (object domain).
In this regard, there is proposed by J. Laird and A. Newell a so-called general-purpose weak method in their article entitled "A Universal Weak Method: Summary of Results" 1983, Proceedings of the Eighth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence. The proposed universal or general-purpose weak method is applied to solution of game problems. This method includes as the problem solving program (inference program) a plurality of weak methods based on a search procedure constituting a generic or universal problem solving procedure in various knowledge processing systems, wherein the knowledge processing system is structurized by establishing inference control knowledge proper to the domain of the problem to be solved. The abovementioned general-purpose weak method includes a plurality of weak methods including a hill-climbing method, a breadth-first search, a depth-first search and others.
The inventors of the present application have found after scrutinizing the universal or general-purpose weak methods the problems which will be elucidated below. The inventors started from a knowledge processing system structurizing tool created by applying the general-purpose (universal) weak method procedure. When a knowledge processing system is to be structurized for solving a problem with the aid of a conceived knowledge processing structurizing tool, the user of the knowledge processing system structurizing tool (hereinafter referred to simply as the user) selects a weak method to be made use of in solving the problem of concern. In that case, the user can certainly enjoy an advantage that the user can select the weak method suitable for solving the problem of concern, when compared with the case where the knowledge processing system is structurized by using the knowledge processing system structurizing tool described in "HITACHI HYOURON" mentioned hereinbefore. However, in order to structurize the knowledge processing system for solving a problem of concern by using the selected weak method, the user has to input the information by determining the inference control knowledges proper to a concerned problem to be solved as well as the inference control knowledge proper to the object domain to which the problem belongs. In that case, the information to be inputted is limited to the range improved by the selected weak method. However, it is extremely troublesome for the user to pay consideration to the knowledge such as mentioned above. It should additionally be mentioned that neither description nor suggestion is found in the article "A Universal weak Method" cited above concerning the inputting of the inference control knowledge proper to the concerned the problem to be solved and the knowledge proper to the object domain. The weak method to be selected naturally becomes different depending on the problems of concern. Consequently, such difficulty is encountered that another one of the inference control knowledge proper to the problem of concern and another one of the knowledge proper to the object domain have to be considered, respectively.
The knowledge processing system structurizing tool capable of utilizing the weak methods can certainly facilitate the structurization of the knowledge processing system by using that tool. However, the function of the inference program used in the structurized knowledge processing system is limited only to the functions of the existing weak methods incorporated in the structurizing tool.
As will be appreciated from the foregoing, it has been found that the knowledge processing system structurizing tool to which the conceived universal weak method is applied is incapable of structurizing the knowledge processing system for a given object domain and a given problem to be solved, because of the fact that the inference program of the structurized knowledge processing system is limited to the function of the existing weak method and that the inference control knowledge proper to the problem of concern and the knowledge proper to the domain which knowledge differ from one to another problem of concern have to be taken into consideration.

Knowledge processing system structurizing tool


A system for determining a query ordering includes an input interface and a processor. The input interface is configured to receive a set of commingled data. The commingled data comprises data associated with a plurality of tenants. The input interface is configured to receive a query. The processor is configured to determine an efficient ordering for the query. The efficient ordering for the query is based at least in part on the set of commingled data. The processor is configured to prompt a user for a permission to change an execution ordering for the query in response to the efficient ordering for the query being different from a user indicated ordering for the query.

On a software as a service platform, tenant data is strictly segregated in order to maintain separation of data belonging to different tenants. Tenant data is stored on a set of data partitions securely separated by tenant (e.g., on different computers, on different hard drives, on different virtual machines, etc.) in order to prevent users from accessing data belonging to other tenants. In some situations, tenants wish to share data for comparison purposes or to get a more complete view of a situation (e.g., salary surveys or other industry benchmarks) and they provide a data set to a third party in exchange for access to the pooled set. The tenants typically wish to perform reporting on the pooled data set—for example, computing statistics, evaluating queries, etc. The pooled data set is typically large and complex, causing query evaluation to be a complex process. This creates a problem where queries can take a long time to evaluate, degrading the user experience of multi-tenant data analysis.


The invention relates to methods for preventing and treating disseminating cancers. Inhibition metastases of a primary tumor to a liver tissue is carried out by directly contacting a liver tissue with Taurolidine.

The invention relates to cancer therapy.
Colorectal cancer is the third most common malignancy in men and women in the United States and is the second leading cause of cancer deaths. It is responsible for an estimated 56,700 deaths in 2001. Approximately 60 percent of those patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer will develop hepatic metastases for which the therapeutic gold standard remains hepatic resection. Despite surgical treatment, the majority of patients after liver resection will develop recurrences and of these recurrences, approximately fifty percent will be within the liver.
The invention features methods for preventing and inhibiting the spread of disseminating cancers. For example, a method of inhibiting metastases of a primary tumor to a liver tissue is carried out by directly contacting a liver tissue with Taurolidine. Preferably, the primary tumor is not a liver tumor. The primary tumor is in an organ of the peritoneal cavity. Advantages of the invention include reduction in the need for hepatic resection.
The method also includes a step of identifying an individual who is at risk of developing a metastatic liver tumor. For example, the individual is identified as suffering from a colorectal tumor or another tumor such as a lung tumor, breast tumor, kidney tumor, colon tumor, esophageal tumor, testicular tumor, pancreatic tumor, melanoma, or choriocarcinoma. Patients, who have been diagnosed with a class of tumors which commonly metastasize to the liver, are treated with Taurolidine.
The individual to be treated is a mammal such as a human patient. However, the methods are applicable to veterinary use, e.g., for the treatment of tumor metastases in pets such as dogs or cats or in livestock.
To treat or prevent metastatic disease of the liver, liver tissue is isolated from systemic circulation prior to contacting it with Taurolidine. For example, the liver is perfused with Taurolidine in situ. Liver blood circulation is essentially isolated from systemic blood circulation while liver tissue is contacted with the drug. Perfusion is performed prior to or after excision of a primary tumor. Perfusion is also carried out in conjunction with an abdominal surgery, e.g., when the abdominal cavity is surgically accessible during removal of a tumor. Other methods of administration include contacting the liver over time using in-dwelling catheter. The therapeutic methods includes peritoneal or intravenous (or other systemic) administration. Alternatively, the method does not include peritoneal or intravenous administration of Taurolidine. Drug is infused into the liver directly via the hepatic artery (pre-op; post-op; and/or during an operation to surgically remove a tumor).
Drug is administered intraperitoneally and/or intravenously before, during or after surgical removal of a tumor mass. For example, Taurolidine is administered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 or more days prior surgery. Local tissues in the area of resection are optionally bathed in a Taurolidine solution following removal of a tumor mass. Following surgery and to inhibit secondary tumor formation, drug is administered for several days (1-7 days), to weeks, and months after removal of a tumor.
Taurolidine compositions are administered at a dose that is therapeutically effective to prevent or inhibit tumor cell adherence. The term xe2x80x9ctherapeutically effective amountxe2x80x9d as used herein means that the amount of a compound(s) or pharmaceutical composition elicits a beneficial biological or medicinal response in a tissue, system, animal or human. For example, a therapeutically effective amount of a Taurolidine reduces the number of metastatic foci in the liver tissue. Therapeutic effectiveness is also indicated by a reduction in the amount of a tumor associated antigen, e.g., carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) or prostate specific antigen (PSA), following treatment. Taurolidine is administered alone or in combination with one or more other anti-cancer compositions. Preferably, the drug is administered at a dose that inhibits cell adherence but is not cytotoxic. The drug is administered at a doses that increase caspase (e.g., caspase-3) activity in a cell. For example, the dose induces caspase-mediated apoptosis of a cell which has been contacted with Taurolidine.
Therapeutic compositions are isolated or purified. An xe2x80x9cisolatedxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cpurifiedxe2x80x9d protein or biologically active portion thereof is substantially free of cellular material or other contaminating proteins from the cell or tissue source from which it is derived, or substantially free from chemical precursors or other chemicals when chemically synthesized. Preferably, a preparation of a therapeutic compound, e.g, Taurolidine, is at least 75%, more preferably 80%, more preferably 85%, more preferably 90%, more preferably 95%, more preferably 98%, and most preferably 99 or 100% of the dry weight of the preparation.
Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and from the claims. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. All patents and publications cited in this specification are incorporated by reference.