An event-triggered dynamic landmark creation system includes a management system and tracking devices attached to mobile objects. Each tracking device is configured to wirelessly transmit information pertaining to current time, identification and location of tracking devices, and status of mobile objects. The management system is configured to wirelessly communicate with each tracking device and is operable: to receive information transmitted from each tracking device; in response to occurrence of an initial event respecting status of a first mobile object, to create a non-physical dynamic landmark about the first mobile object relative to location of a first tracking device attached thereto; and in response to occurrence of successive subsequent events respecting location of a second tracking device attached to a second mobile object, to record a visit of the second mobile object within the dynamic landmark about the location of the first mobile.

Fleet operations managements need to monitor the typical daily activities of their service supervisors. An example of such organization is a utility company. The various prevailing circumstances that complicate meeting this need include the fact that the locations of the job sites regularly change and the information about these locations may not be available ahead of time. Thus, it is not possible to set up desired landmarks for the job sites ahead of time.
Consequently, an innovation is desired that will adapt a fleet management system to cost-effectively provide a co-location report that will cover supervisor visits and time spent with work crews at certain job sites.

Event-triggered dynamic landmark creation system and method


A variable phase shifter and amplitude weighting (VPSAW) device capable of selectively varying the phase and amplitude of an incoming RF signal (RF.sub.IN) in such a manner as to produce an output RF signal (RF.sub.OUT) having a selected phase and amplitude, by means of splitting the RF.sub.IN signal into first and second signal components, selectively shifting the phase of each of these two components, and then combining the thusly selectively phase-shifted first and second signal components. In the presently contemplated best mode of the present invention, the VPSAW device includes digitally-implemented componentry, e.g., microprocessor-controlled direct, digital synthesizers, for generating first and second control signals, e.g., selectively phase-shifted sinusoidal signals, indicative of first and second phase shift increments, .phi..sub.a and .phi..sub.b, respectively, to be imparted to the first and second signal components, respectively. The VPSAW device of the best mode further includes first and second signal mixers for mixing together the first and second control signals with the corresponding first and second signal components, to thereby phase shift the first and second signal components by the first and second phase increments .phi..sub.a and .phi..sub. b, respectively. The first and second phase shift increments, .phi..sub.a and .phi..sub.b, satisfy a prescribed algorithm which results in the RF.sub.OUT signal having the selected phase (.phi..sub.c) and the selected amplitude (C), e.g., .phi..sub.a =.phi..sub.c +COS.sup.-1 (1/2 C) and .phi..sub.b =.phi..sub.c -COS.sup.-1 (1/2 C). Additionally, the first and second mixers may serve to downconvert the RF.sub.IN signal by subtracting the frequency of the first and second control signals from the frequency of the first and second signal components.

The prior art is replete with various types of devices for controllably varying the phase and amplitude of an electrical signal applied thereto. These variable phase shifter/amplitude weighting devices are utilized in a wide variety of applications, e.g., in beam forming and steering networks (BFSN's) for phased array antennas such as are employed in radar and satellite communications systems.
Phased array antennas are generally comprised of a multiplicity of individual radiating or antenna elements which are geometrically configured in accordance with the desired coverage and beam characteristics of the particular phased array antenna under consideration. For example, the antenna elements may be arranged in a one-dimensional linear array, a PG,3 two-dimensional planar array, or a three-dimensional circular array. The array of individual antenna elements cooperate in a well-known manner, e.g., in a transmit mode of operation, to produce a focussed beam of electromagnetic radiation (e.g., a microwave RF-signal) having a desired far field pattern pointed in a desired direction, to thereby provide a desired beam coverage area. More particularly, each of the antenna elements is fed with RF power at controlled relative phases and amplitudes to form the focussed beam having the desired shape and pointing direction. The required phase and power/amplitude distributions have been implemented by various forms and combinations of beam forming and steering networks incorporating variable phase shifter and power dividing (amplitude weighting) devices which controllably couple a common source of RF power to the individual antenna elements of the phased array antenna. The resultant beam produced by this excitation of the antenna elements may be electronically steered to any desired beam scan angle within a 360.degree. azimuth coverage area, e.g., under the control of a phase selecting or switching matrix, such as a Butler matrix. The precision, accuracy, and reliability of these beam forming and steering networks are largely dependent upon these characteristics of the variable phase shifter and amplitude weighting components employed therein. These characteristics of the present state-of-the-art phase shifter and amplitude weighting devices are unduly constrained.
More particularly, the current state-of-the-art phase shifter and power dividing devices are implemented as I/Q weighting circuitry, wherein an incoming RF-signal is split into I and Q components which are in phase quadrature with each other, with each signal component being independently phase shifted by either 0.degree. or 180.degree. and thence, independently attenuated (i.e., amplitude weighted). Full four-quadrant variable phase and amplitude control over the incoming RF-signal is achieved by adjusting the setting of the attenuators and switching the phases (between 0.degree. and 180.degree. ) of the signal components I and Q.
One major shortcoming of these current state-of-the-art variable phase shifter and power dividing devices is that they are limited in resolution, at best, to approximately 2.degree. phase shift increments, depending on the attenuation limits. Another major shortcoming of these state-of-the-art variable phase shifter and power dividing devices is that they are inherently inaccurate and unreliable. More particularly, these devices utilize analog components, such as attenuators, which exhibit drift, over time and temperature. The analog attenuators, in particular, exhibit variations and non-linearities in their intercept point and amplitude flatness at different attenuation settings over the operating frequency band. Further, these devices are somewhat bandwidth-limited in that they are inaccurate over broad bandwidths.
Based on the above and foregoing, it can be appreciated that there presently exists a need for a variable phase shifter and amplitude weighting device which overcomes, or at least minimizes, the above-delineated shortcomings associated with the presently available variable phase shifter and amplitude weighting devices.
The present invention fulfills this need, in a manner which will become apparent from the ensuing brief and detailed descriptions thereof.

Digitally implemented variable phase shifter and amplitude weighting device


A housing has a top, a bottom, sides, a back and a front. The housing has a primary chamber. The primary chamber receives unshredded mail. The housing has a secondary chamber. The secondary chamber receives shredded mail. A shredder is located in the housing above the secondary chamber. The shredder has controls to start and stop the shredder. A primary door is formed in the housing adjacent to the primary chamber. The primary door allows for adding mail to and removing unshredded mail from the upper chamber. A secondary door is formed in the housing adjacent to the secondary chamber. The secondary door allows for removing shredded mail from the secondary chamber.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mailbox/shredder system and more particularly pertains to promptly destroying unwanted mail following its receipt in a safe, convenient and economical manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of waste baskets of known designs and configurations is known in the prior art. More specifically, waste baskets of known designs and configurations previously devised and utilized for the purpose of disposing of unwanted mail through known methods and apparatuses are known to consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,645 issued Jun. 27, 2000 to Henreckson et al relates to Desktop Shredders. U.S. Pat. No. 6,962,301 issued Nov. 8, 2005 to Chang relates to a Front-lifting Wastebasket for Paper Shredder Also Served as Garbage Bin. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 7,201,306 issued Apr. 10, 2007 to Lackey relates to a Multiple Purpose Newspaper Box.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a mailbox/shredder system that allows for promptly destroying unwanted mail following its receipt in a safe, convenient and economical manner.
In this respect, the mailbox/shredder system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of promptly destroying unwanted mail following its receipt in a safe, convenient and economical manner.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved mailbox/shredder system which can be used for promptly destroying unwanted mail following its receipt in a safe, convenient and economical manner. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


An information processing apparatus including a memory, and a processor coupled to the memory and the processor configured to execute a process, the process including extracting a moving object area corresponding to a moving object included in a plurality of frames in a moving image based on a result of a comparison between the plurality of frames with each other, tracking a position of the moving object area among the plurality of frames, determining, for each of the plurality of frames, an image area excluding the moving object area to be a background area whose position moves more than a defined period of time, and updating a background image of the moving image based on a result of the determining.

To date, a background difference method is known as a method of detecting a moving object that appears as a foreground from a moving image captured by a camera. In the background difference method, a background image (also referred to as a background model) that does not include an object to be detected is detected from a moving image captured by a camera and is stored. The difference of the background image is obtained from a moving image captured by the camera so that an image area in which a moving object appears is detected.
As a technique for detecting a background image to be used for a background difference method, a technique is known that controls a pixel value of each area in a monitoring image using a predetermined transmittance ratio and updates the pixel value of the area corresponding to a background image in sequence. A technique is known that increases a count value for pixels other than the pixels determined to be in a moving object area and updates the background image data of the pixels having the count value that has reached a predetermined value. A technique is known that determines, as a still area, a portion having a still time that becomes equal to or higher that a predetermined threshold value for determining stillness by counting the number of continuous appearances as a foreground and creating a new background model of an area determined to be a still area.

Information processing apparatus, background image update method, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium


A generic RFID reader is provided that can function across a large range of computing devices including mobile computing devices, without customization or with minimal customization.

Present day retailers use RFID tags, such as UHF RFID tags, to identify items, and there are many dedicated hand-held RFID readers available in the market. Many RFID readers are inherently bulky thus convenience to the mobile user is drastically reduced.
Some handheld devices come with an integrated RFID reader to enable RFID functionality. However, convenience to the mobile user is reduced by the inability to detach the RFID reader even when the user does not require the RFID functionality. On the other hand, some manufacturers produce detachable RFID readers, but only to support a limited number of mobile computing devices.
Dedicated RFID readers and handheld devices with integrated RFID readers are quite expensive, since significant effort has to be put into the design to manage the inherent bulkiness.
What is needed is a generic RFID reader that can function across a large range of computing devices including mobile computing devices without customization or with minimal customization.

Generic apparatus to provide RFID reading functionality to computing device with no built in RFID reader


A composition including (a) propylene/ethylene interpolymer having a density from 0.860 to 0.870 g/cc; (b) a propylene-based polymer selected from the group consisting of a homopolymer polypropylene, a random propylene/α-olefin interpolymer and any combination thereof and wherein the propylene-based polymer has a density ≥0.885 g/cc; (c) a plasticizing agent; and (d) a third polymer selected from the group consisting of the following (i) a styrenic ethylene/butylene triblock copolymer having a Tg (rubber block) greater than, or equal, −40° C., (ii) less than, or equal to, 15 wt %, based on the weight of the composition, of an ethylene/α-olefin/diene interpolymer, or an ethylene/propylene copolymer, (iii) an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, and (iv) any combination thereof is provided. Further provided is an injection molded article comprising the composition and a process for making an injection molded article.

Clear flexible PVC is used in a number of products wherein the end user and manufacturer prefer lighter weight, phthalate-free polymeric options. One such product is footwear, and specifically boots.
Such products are typically injection molded thereby requiring modulus control and temperature resistance, low tackiness and at least 85° C. DSC re-crystallization temperature (Tc). It would be additionally useful to have a Shore A hardness less than 65 while not negatively impacting the flow properties, clarity, or Tc.

Composition, injection molded article made therefrom and process to make an injection molded article


A method of manufacturing an electronic device includes: roughening an underside surface of a film made of a resin, opposite to a mounting surface of the film for mounting a circuit chip; forming a conductor pattern on the mounting surface of the film, thereby obtaining a substrate made of the film where the conductor pattern is formed; and attaching a thermoset adhesive to a conductor-pattern-formed surface of the substrate. The method further includes: mounting the circuit chip to be connected to the conductor pattern on the substrate via the thermoset adhesive; clamping the substrate by a heating apparatus having a presser section and a support section, the presser section abutting the circuit chip mounted on the substrate and the support section abutting the underside surface of the roughened film; and fixing the circuit chip to the conductor pattern by heating and hardening the thermoset adhesive using the heating apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic device and a method of manufacturing the electronic device and, more particularly, to an electronic device wherein a circuit chip is mounted on a film-like substrate and a method of manufacturing the electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is widely known an electronic device wherein a circuit chip is mounted on a substrate, such as a printed wiring substrate. This electronic device is used in such applications where it is built into an electronic apparatus to control the apparatus or is operated on a stand-alone basis to exchange information with an external apparatus. As an example of the electronic device, there are known various types of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags for contactlessly exchanging information with an external apparatus as typified by a reader/writer, using radio waves. As a type of these RFID tags, there has been proposed an RFID tag wherein a conductor pattern and an IC chip for radio communication are mounted on a base sheet. It has been conceived to use this type of RFID tag in such a manner that the tag is attached to an article or the like to, for example, identify the article by exchanging information about the article with an external apparatus.
There is a demand to reduce the size and weight of RFID tags and, in particular, to make them thinner, more flexible and less costly. In response to this demand, there has been proposed an RFID tag employing a film made of, for example, a resin material, such as polyethylene-terephthalate (PET), as a material of a substrate on which an IC chip is mounted (For example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-156110).
FIG. 5 is a schematic view intended to explain a method of manufacturing an RFID tag in a conventional technique.
FIG. 5 sequentially shows in Parts (a) to (d) thereof respective steps for manufacturing an RFID tag.
In order to manufacture an RFID tag, there is first prepared a substrate 91 wherein a conductor pattern 912 functioning as an antenna of the RFID tag is formed on a film 911 made of PET, and then a thermoset adhesive 93p which is hardened by heating is attached onto this substrate 91, as shown in Part (a) of FIG. 5.
Next, as shown in Part (b) of FIG. 5, an IC chip 92 is mounted on the substrate 91 in a part to which the thermoset adhesive 93p has been attached. Bumps 921 to be connected to the conductor pattern 912 are formed on the IC chip 92. As shown in Part (c) of FIG. 5, the IC chip 92 is mounted on the substrate 91 so that the bumps 921 positionally align with the conductor pattern 912.
Next, as shown in Part (d) of FIG. 5, the substrate 91 whereon the IC chip 92 is mounted is clamped by a heating apparatus 8 from both the film 911 side and the IC chip 92 side of the substrate 91, with a supporting stage 82 and a heating head 81 of the heating apparatus 8, respectively. Then, the thermoset adhesive 93p is heated and hardened by the heating head 81 of the heating apparatus 8 abutting on the IC chip 92 side. In this way, the IC chip 92 is fixed to the substrate 91 with the bumps 921 in contact with the conductor pattern 912, thereby completing a small-sized lightweight RFID tag.
However, since the glass transition point of PET, which is the material of the film 911, is approximately 67° C. and, therefore, the upper temperature limit of PET is low, the film 911 is liable to deformation due to heating applied when hardening the thermoset adhesive 93p.
FIG. 6 is a schematic view intended to explain the condition of the substrate in a heating step shown in Part (d) of FIG. 5.
If a heating treatment is carried out with the IC chip 92 mounted on the substrate 91 as shown in Part (a) of FIG. 6, the temperature of the substrate 91 rises and the film 911 becomes deformed, as shown in Part (b) of FIG. 6. If the thermoset adhesive 93p being hardened is fluidized along with the deformation of the film 911, air bubbles occur within the thermoset adhesive 93p and remain as voids 931 even after the thermoset adhesive 93p has hardened. The voids within the hardened thermoset adhesive 93p decrease adhesion strength between the IC chip 92 and the substrate 91, thereby degrading the reliability of the RFID tag.
The problem of reliability degradation due to the occurrence of such voids as described above is not limited to RFID tags but is common to electronic devices wherein a circuit chip is mounted on a film-like substrate.

Electronic device and method of manufacturing same


Provided is a silicone mold with which a curable composition containing an epoxy resin can be molded with good precision even if used repeatedly. The silicone mold according to an embodiment of the present invention is a silicone mold for use in molding a curable composition containing an epoxy resin, the silicone mold including a cured product of a silicone resin composition, wherein the cured product has a light transmittance at a wavelength of 400 nm of 80% or higher at a thickness of 1 mm, an elongation at break in accordance with JIS K 7161 of 250% or less, and a thermal linear expansion coefficient of 350 ppm/° C. or less at 20 to 40° C.

In recent years, there has been a demand for mobile electronic devices, such as mobile phones and smartphones, to improve product value by mounting an optical component, such as a sensor or a camera. In addition, such products have been reduced in size and thickness year by year, and smaller and thinner components are required to be used therefor. To address such a demand, injection molding has been utilized to produce components so far, but the injection molding method has reached its limit in terms of reducing size and thickness.
Thus, an imprint molding method has attracted attention as a new molding method that replaces the injection molding method (Patent Document 1). The imprint molding method, however, is likely to cause problems in releasability and molding precision due to a molding material and a material of the mold to be used. For example, a metal mold or a glass mold, when used, has problems in releasability, and problems are that precision of the molded product is low due to a part of the molded product being likely to remain in the mold without being released therefrom and that the mold can no longer be used because a part of the molded product remains therein. Patent Document 1 describes an invention for improving releasability by coating a surface of a molding material with a release agent. However, the release agent is mixed into the molding material, and this has a tendency to reduce heat resistance and transparency of a resulting molded product. On the other hand, silicone molds have excellent releasability but are prone to being affected by heat. For example, when an epoxy resin is used as a molding material, the mold easily undergoes expansion by heat generated in a curing reaction, and thus this problematically reduces the molding precision with repeated use.


An image processing apparatus having: an image acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of viewpoint images; a disparity map generation unit that generates a disparity map representing a disparity distribution; a multi-viewpoint image generation unit that generates a multi-viewpoint image including a plurality of viewpoint images the number of which is larger than the number of the plurality of viewpoint images based on the plurality of viewpoint images and the disparity map; an image processing unit that performs image processing for a subject image of the multi-viewpoint image based on the multi-viewpoint image and the disparity map and switches an amount of image processing for the subject image depending on the disparity; and an output unit that switches the plurality of viewpoint images included in the multi-viewpoint image, which has been subjected to image processing by the image processing unit, and sequentially outputs the viewpoint images.

A 3D (three-dimensional) digital camera (stereoscopic imaging apparatus) for imaging a subject at a plurality of viewpoints and a 3D photographic printer (stereoscopic image printing apparatus) for generating a 3D photographic print have been provided.
For example, a subject is imaged at right and left viewpoints by the 3D digital camera to acquire a stereo image (a left viewpoint image and a right viewpoint image), a depth map is generated based on the stereo image, an intermediate viewpoint image is generated based on the stereo image and the depth map, and a multi-viewpoint image obtained by adding the intermediate viewpoint image to the stereo image is printed on an lenticular sheet (see Patent Document 1).
Patent Document 2 discusses a configuration in which a left viewpoint image and a right viewpoint image are alternately displayed while being cross-faded.

Image recording apparatus and image processing method


A collected data is divided into M single valued subsets, where M is greater than zero. A two-dimensional subset image is formed from each single valued subset. Then, a fast Fourier transform is performed on each image to obtain a two-dimensional subset frequency space. Next, a one-dimensional discrete Fourier transform in z, where z is an integer equal to or greater than zero, is performed. Lastly, a two-dimensional discrete Fourier transform in (x,y) for each value of z is performed, thereby forming the three-dimensional volume from the collected data set.

The present invention relates to a method for efficiently computing the Fourier transform of an irregularly-sampled data set in forming multi-dimensional synthetic aperture images.
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) may be an attractive imaging technique because of its ability to operate under all lighting conditions and through clouds and haze. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a collection of 2-D SAR data. An airplane 1 flies past an area of interest 2 while collecting radar data. The flight path is usually in a straight line. The flight direction is called the azimuth. The direction normal from the flight path to the region of interest 2 is called the range. The plane which is formed by the azimuth and range directions is the slant plane. The normal to the slant plane is the elevation. Processing algorithms form a high-resolution 2-D image of the region of interest 2 by combining the information from all of the radar data. In doing so, the processing algorithms effectively synthesize an aperture that is much larger than the actual aperture of the antenna. Hence the name, xe2x80x9csynthetic aperture radarxe2x80x9d.
While successful in many applications, the 2-D form of SAR yields very limited information about the distribution of objects in the elevation dimension. Further, the 2-D form of SAR has limited utility in detecting and identifying objects obscured by overlying layers. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of 2-D SAR imaging of a 3-D scene that contains objects concealed by overlying foliage. The radar illuminates the scene from the left at a single elevation. The flight path is perpendicular to the plane of the page. Because a conventional SAR image is purely 2-D, the energy within a given (range, azimuth) pixel is the sum of the energy returned by all scatterers at that range and azimuth, regardless of their elevation. In three dimensions, the frequency space is a plane (as shown, for example, in FIG. 3) and the image pixels have a columnar shape (as shown, for example, in FIG. 4). Energy returned from the overlying layers (foliage, in this case) may be integrated with the energy returned from the objects below, which reduces the signal-to-clutter ratio of the objects. Resolution in the third dimension may be required to separate the desired signal from the clutter.
Three-dimensional SAR extends the synthetic aperture concept used in one dimension (azimuth) in conventional SAR to two dimensions (azimuth and elevation). An example of 3-D SAR imaging of a 3-D scene is illustrated, for example, in FIG. 5. The radar now illuminates the scene from the left at multiple elevations, which creates a synthetic aperture that has two dimensions instead of one. The frequency space from this type of collection contains multiple planes, as shown, for example, in FIG. 6. The resulting impulse response shows resolution in all three dimensions, as shown, for example, in FIG. 7. The returns from the overlying layers and the objects on the ground are contained in different voxels. Thus, the signal-to-clutter ratio is improved enabling easier detection and identification of the objects. The 2-D aperture also effectively increases the coherent integration time, which improves the signal-to-noise ratio. It is noted that interferometric SAR (IFSAR), which collects data at two elevations and is sometimes referred to as 3-D SAR, is in fact a degenerate case of true 3-D SAR.
Forming 3-D synthetic aperture (SAR) images may be a computationally-intensive task because of the irregular sampling of the data and the curvature of the sensing wavefronts. Algorithms that have been proposed for forming 3-D SAR images all have drawbacks with respect to their computational complexity or compensation for the irregular sampling or wavefront curvature. Time domain backprojection (TDBP) is the standard image formation technique because it perfectly compensates for non-ideal antenna motion and for wavefront curvature. However, the computational complexity can be extremely high. Various fast TDBP methods have been proposed that reduce the computational complexity with varying tradeoffs in image quality. The polar format algorithm (PFA) and the range migration algorithm (RMA) are much faster, but the PFA cannot compensate for wavefront curvature and the RMA cannot compensate for irregular antenna motion.
Accordingly, a need exists for an image formation technique which can compensate for irregular sampling and wavefront curvature, but which is also faster than the TDBP methods.
One embodiment of the invention includes a method of forming an N-dimensional volume, where N is not less than two, from a collected data set which comprises a plurality of single-valued subsets, comprising: forming at least one (N-1)-dimensional images from each of the single-valued subsets, respectively; performing a convolution operation on each (N-1)-dimensional image and an impulse response at different values of xN, where xN is a dimension not formed in the (N-1) dimensional image, to form respective N-dimensional subset volumes; and combining the N-dimensional subset volumes to form the N-dimensional volume.
In one aspect of the invention, the N-dimensional volume is formed at additional values of xN.
In another aspect of the invention, kxe2x80x21:N-1 is calculated in an analytical form and the analytical form of kxe2x80x21:N-1 is evaluated on a regular rectilinear grid to determine the impulse response for each value of xN.
Another aspect of the invention comprises calculating kxe2x80x21:N-1 on an irregular grid; and interpolating kxe2x80x21:N-1 onto a regular rectilinear grid to determine the impulse response for each value of xN.
A further aspect of the invention comprises calculating a frequency space phase xcfx86 of the impulse response at one or more values of xN to determine the impulse response for each value of xN.
Another aspect of the invention comprises calculating the frequency space phase xcfx86 of the impulse response by forming the impulse response at one or more values of xN; calculating a Fourier transform of the impulse response at each value of xN; and calculating a phase of each Fourier transform.
Another aspect of the invention comprises calculating the frequency space phase xcfx86 of the impulse response by interpolating irregularly-sampled impulse frequency space data at one or more values of xN onto a regularly-sampled grid.
A further aspect of the invention comprises forming the impulse response at two or more values of xN; calculating a Fourier transform for each impulse response; dividing one of the Fourier transforms by another one of the Fourier transforms; and calculating a phase of the divisor to calculate the frequency space phase xcfx86 of the impulse response.
Another aspect of the invention comprises adjusting, as xN varies, a slope formed by kxe2x80x21:N-1 of the impulse response to compensate for an effect on the collected data set due to curved wavefronts.
Another aspect of the invention comprises calculating the impulse response from an irregularly-sampled data at one value of xN.
Another aspect of the invention comprises calculating the impulse response from an irregularly-sampled data at regular xN intervals.
Another aspect of the invention comprises determining the regular xN intervals by xN=nxcex94xN, where n is an integer.
Another aspect of the invention comprises determining the regular xN intervals by xN=xcex94xNn, where n is an integer.
Another aspect of the invention comprises calculating the impulse response from the irregularly-sampled data at irregular xN intervals.
Another aspect of the invention comprises calculating the (N-1)-dimensional images on a regular rectilinear sampling grid at one or more xN values.
Another aspect of the invention comprises calculating the (N-1)-dimensional image at one xN value.
Another aspect of the invention comprises calculating the (N-1)-dimensional image at regular xN intervals.
Another aspect of the invention comprises determining the regular xN intervals by xN=nxcex94xN, where n is an integer.
Another aspect of the invention comprises determining the regular xN intervals by xN=xcex94xNn, where n is an integer.
Another aspect of the invention comprises calculating the (N-1)-dimensional image at irregular xN intervals.
Another aspect of the invention comprises performing the convolution operation by multiplication in a frequency space.
Another aspect of the invention comprises performing the convolution operation directly in a spatial domain.
Another aspect of the invention comprises performing the convolution and combining operations as a discrete Fourier transform in the N-th dimension and as a fast Fourier transform in the other N-1 dimensions.
Another aspect of the invention comprises performing the discrete Fourier transform in the N-th dimension as an interpolation and a fast Fourier transform.
In another embodiment of the invention, a computer readable medium stores a program to form an N-dimensional volume, where N is not less than two, from a collected data set, which is divided into a plurality of single-valued subsets, comprising: forming at least one (N-1)-dimensional images from each of the single-valued subsets, respectively; performing a convolution operation on each (N-1)-dimensional image and an impulse response at different values of xN, where xN is a dimension not formed in the (N-1) dimensional image, to form respective N-dimensional subset volumes; and combining the N-dimensional subset volumes to form the N-dimensional volume.
In a further embodiment of the invention, a system comprises: a sensor to collect a data set relating to a structure of a scene; a transfer unit in communication with the sensor to receive the collected data set from the sensor; a computer connected to the transfer unit which operates a program stored thereon to form an N-dimensional volume, where N is not less than two, from the transferred collected data set, which is divided into a plurality of single-valued subsets, the program performing a process comprising forming at least one (N-1)-dimensional images from each of the single-valued subsets, respectively, performing a convolution operation on each (N-1)-dimensional image and an impulse response at different values of xN, where xN is a dimension not formed in the (N-1) dimensional image, to form respective N-dimensional subset volumes, and combining the N-dimensional subset volumes to form the N-dimensional volume; and a display to display the N-dimensional volume.
In an aspect of the invention, the sensor uses electromagnetic radiation.
In another aspect of the invention, the electromagnetic radiation is radar.
In another aspect of the invention, the sensor uses one of particle radiation, acoustic radiation, and magnetic resonance imaging.
In another aspect of the invention, the transfer unit includes one of a network, magnetic media, and optical media.
In another aspect of the invention, the display is one of a CRT, a printer, a volumetric display, a stereoscopic, and an immersion display.
These and other objects and embodiments of the invention will become readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the following description of the invention, which is to be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and appended claims.

HD fourier transforms for irregularly sampled data


An antenna structure having a ground element and an antenna element is provided. The antenna element is disposed on a dielectric substrate, and includes a first radiation portion, a second radiation portion, and a spiral metal line. An end of the first radiation portion is a feeding point of the antenna element, and another end is open. An end of the second radiation portion is electrically coupled to the ground element, and the length of the second radiation portion is greater than that of the first radiation portion. The first radiation portion is surrounded by the second radiation portion. An end of the spiral metal line is coupled to the first radiation portion. The spiral metal line contributes a parallel resonance outside the antenna's operating band, and results in a resonant mode generated within the antenna element's operating band such that the operating bandwidth of the antenna element is increased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a communication electronic device and an antenna structure thereof, and more particularly, to a communication electronic device having a small-size planar antenna utilizing parallel resonance to generate multi-band operation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the rapid development of mobile communication technologies and markets, wireless access capabilities are indispensable to portable communication electronic devices. In addition to wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless wide area network (WWAN) is able to provide services over a wide coverage, and long term evolution (LTE) technology can provide higher data rates, thereby improving convenience and providing real time in wireless access while using the portable communication electronic devices. On the other hand, slim-profile design is becoming more attractive in market for the communication electronic device. Hence, it is critical to design a planar printed antenna having the capability of covering multi-band operation for a slim mobile device.
U.S. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 7978141 B2) entitled "Coupled-fed multi-band loop antenna" discloses designing a dual-band antenna used in a communication electronic device, wherein the antenna has two operating bands. However, the lower operating band of the antenna fails to cover multi-band operation. As a result, such an antenna cannot be applied for covering all the lower operating bands in the WWAN or LTE system.
Apparently, it is necessary to provide a communication electronic device, which has two wide operating bands. For example, the operating bands can cover 824˜960 MHz as well as 1710˜2170 MHz. Additionally, the antenna element should have the attractive characteristics of planar structure and small size.

Communication electronic device and antenna structure thereof


A device (100) for processing a signal, wherein the device (100) comprises a processing unit (101) comprising an input terminal and two output terminals, wherein the processing unit is adapted for receiving a signal (104) at the input terminal, and wherein the processing unit is adapted for generating a reduction, signal based on the signal, wherein the reduction signal is adapted for reducing the signal. The device comprises further a first reproduction unit (102) coupled to the first output terminal of the processing unit, wherein the first reproduction unit is adapted for receiving and reproducing the signal, and a second reproduction unit (103) coupled to the second output terminal of the processing unit, wherein the second reproduction unit is adapted for receiving and reproducing the reduction signal.

The use of Active Noise Reduction (ANR) headphones, which isolates the user from the ambient sound (for instance car/aircraft engine noise, fan noise, train/metro) by means of anti-sound played through the headphone loudspeakers is growing. In conventional headphones, the anti-sound is calculated from microphones placed on the headphone.
There exist a wide variety of active noise reduction (ANR) systems for headsets. Conventional feed forward active noise reduction systems pick up a "reference noise" signal, and play a filtered version of this reference signal such that it reduces the noise perceived by the user of the headset. The filtering can be performed in the analog domain, of in the digital domain. Due to the fact that the reference noise is registered using a microphone, the filtering is performed on all the ambient noise and the consequent reduction is non-selective.

Device for and a method of processing a signal


According to one embodiment, an information processing system includes a television receiver, a mobile terminal, and an interface. The terminal includes a wireless controller configured to acquire a state signal from the television receiver and to supply a control signal to the television receiver. The interface is provided in the television receiver or the terminal and configured to convert a state acquisition request and a control signal from the controller into a request and a signal which can be detected by the television receiver and to convert a state signal from the television receiver into a state signal which can be detected by the controller.

Recent television receivers are provided with various functions. For example, they incorporate a hard disk drive or can connect with an external hard disk drive and capable of recording television programs. They display an electronic program guide (EPG) to enable the user to select a program to be recorded. The user can perform the programmed recording of a desired television program easily by selecting the program from the displayed program guide. This enables the user to record a television program even without a disk recording and reproducing device that records programs on a DVD, a BD, or the like. Although the disk recording and reproducing device is provided with various editing functions, including chapter editing, play list editing, title connection, and frame unit editing, a television receiver capable of recording often is not provided with these editing functions.
In recent years, a personal computer with a built-in tuner has enabled the user to watch and record television programs. The user can add various functions freely to the personal computer by adding software programs to the computer. Therefore, after having purchased a personal computer, the user can realize the same editing functions as those of a disk recording and reproducing device by installing video editing software.
However, with a conventional television receiver, the user cannot install software. Therefore, the user cannot add any function to the conventional television receiver after having purchased the receiver. Although some changes in the functions can be dealt with by uploading software originally provided to the receiver. To update the software, the basic configuration of the software needs to be modified. Therefore, a new function was unable to be added to the conventional television receiver flexibly.
Television receivers are required to have different functions in accordance with the particular needs of each individual country or region. Therefore, software has to be developed for each individual country or region, leading to an increase in the cost of development. In addition, even the same function may differ in graphic user interface from one country or region to another. For example, when a program guide is displayed, the horizontal axis indicates channels and the vertical axis indicates time in Japan, whereas the horizontal axis indicates time and the vertical axis indicates channels in Europe and the United States.

Information processing system and information processing method


A method and apparatus for producing neon and similar signs. The method includes a direct bending of glass tubing over a drawing which is protected by a translucent heat resistant sheet. The sheet and process for its production are also described.

The primary method for producing neon and similar signs or artwork has not changed for sixty years. First, an artist draws the design for the sign on paper or plastic film. The design so drawn is then placed over a temperature resistant sheet of material. The primary material formerly used was an asbestos paper. With present concerns about the long term toxicity of asbestos, an opaque silicone rubber impregnated fiberglass sheet is now frequently substituted. A sheet of carbon paper is placed between the drawing and the heat resistant material. When the drawing is traced with a stylus the carbon paper transfers the image to the heat resistant material. Glass tubing is then bent by use of a torch to the shape of the pattern on the sheet goods. The bender places the hot tubing on the sheet and bends it to the shape of the pattern left by the carbon paper. Finally the tube is evacuated, filled with a suitable gas at low pressure and electrode fitted. When electricity is applied to the electrodes the gas ionizes and glows in a characteristic color producing the sign.
Several problems have arisen with this method. First, due to safety considerations, asbestos paper, the most suitable material, has become unavailable. The silicone rubberized fiberglass material is expensive and difficult to work with particularly due to smoke formulation on heating and the over suppleness of fabric. In addition, the drawing of the design and its subsequent tracing requires lengthy labor of skilled artisans which greatly increases the cost of the sign. Accordingly, a demand exists for a method of producing signs directly from a drawing without the use of dangerous materials.

Method and apparatus for producing neon signs


An impeller wheel assembly for a radial rotating machine, comprises a bladed hub portion of an impeller wheel, with a first radially outward facing, fluid deflecting surface having a curvature profile designed to deflect an axial fluid flow into a radial centrifugal flow, and comprising a deflector portion with a second radially outward facing, fluid deflecting surface. The second radially outward facing surface has a curvature profile designed to deflect a radial centripetal fluid flow into an axial fluid flow.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to radial rotating machines, such as centrifugal compressors or single stage fluid expanders.
In general, a radial rotating machine may be a rotating machine for processing a fluid flow, the fluid flow being forced to flow radially at least along part of the flow path.
A radial rotating machine is a rotating machine for processing a fluid flow, in which the fluid flow occurs radially at least along part of the flow path. The radial rotating machine may be for instance a centrifugal compressor.
Centrifugal compressors or single stage expanders are radial rotating machines: they comprise bladed impeller wheels, which are designed to force the fluid flow radially away from the axis of the rotating machine.
These impeller wheels are subjected to axial forces which may be of two types: so-called static axial forces, which are generated by the difference in fluid pressure between the upstream side and the downstream side of the wheel, and so-called dynamic axial forces, which are a result of the momentum change imposed to the fluids, flowing in axially into the impeller wheel, and coming out radially out of the wheel.
These axial forces are usually partly balanced by balance drum systems, and partly balanced by axial thrust bearings, for instance by oil bearings.
In said balance drum systems, at least a balance drum part is assembled around the same shaft as the impeller wheel. The balance drum part comprises two radially extending surfaces, facing opposite axial directions, and subjected to different fluid pressures.
These balance drum systems usually are tuned to counterbalance for static axial forces.
According to their design, balance drum systems can sometimes also counterbalance for part of the dynamic axial forces. The remainder of axial forces then has to be counterbalanced with axial thrust bearings. Axial thrust bearings may be of different types. Oil bearings are capable of withstanding high loads, but they have to be fed with the lubricating oils, which may be a hindrance in subsea applications, because of a lack of accessibility of the system, or in medical applications, where contamination by oil cannot be tolerated.
Depending on the maximum axial forces that the thrust bearing can withstand, and depending on the proportion of axial forces not counterbalanced by the balance drum, the fluid throughput of the machine has to be limited, to a value generally lower than the maximum throughput imposed by the other parameters of the radial rotating machine.

Device for generating a dynamic axial thrust to balance the overall axial thrust of a radial rotating machine


A star-coupler and a method for constructing the star-coupler employing injection molding technology are disclosed. The star-coupler may be constructed from a single injection molded block or a plurality of mating sections, and is supplied with a plurality of input ports and a plurality of output ports. Each input port as well as each output port is connected to at least one channel. The channels are filled with a fiber optical core material and the single block or mating sections are fabricated from fiber optical core material. Alternatively, a separate cladding material may be coated on the surfaces of the block or mating sections which define the channels. Optical signals are guided and confined by the core and cladding material from input ports to output ports along the channels.

The present invention is directed to star-couplers in which a plurality of optical fibers are connected together. The invention is also directed to methods for making the couplers.
Data transmission over optical fibers offers many significant advantages compared with metallic conductors, including: long distance transmission without the need for repeaters, immunity from electromagnetic interference, cross-talk and ground loop, high bandwidth capabilities, small size and weight, high degree of intercept security and dielectric isolation, and long term cost reduction. These desirable features of optical fibers have strongly stimulated efforts both in fiber optics and in supporting technologies such as fiber optic coupling.
Fiber optic couplers provide for feeding and tapping of optical energy. Fiber optic couplers are widely used in multi-terminal communication systems and data buses. In these applications, a common optical path provides communication among a plurality of terminals. Typically, each terminal communicates to every other terminal and provides information on a time shared basis. The effectiveness of such systems depends on characteristics of the optical fibers themselves as well as on the coupling devices employed to share and distribute information.
A star-coupler is a device which distributes the power on any one of several incoming channels to every one of its outgoing channels. Star-couplers are intended to have minimal insertion losses and a substantially uniform power distribution over the outgoing channels. Thus, a system employing a star-coupler and a plurality of terminals represents a parallel distribution system.
Star couplers are particularly useful in the field of optical communications for coupling together a plurality of optic fibers to form a network. Several different starcouplers are known. In general, the couplers have a plurality of incoming channels, a plurality of outgoing channels and a mixing zone which couples optical signals from any one of the incoming channels to all of the outgoing channels. The mixing zone may comprise optic fibers which are tapered and fused together or wave guides in solid blocks of glass. These glass blocks usually have wave guides specially prepared by ion exchange processes or otherwise, and the fibers are aligned with the wave guides. The incoming and outgoing channels are typically bundles of optical fibers. Information in the form of light pulses as signals from any single optical fiber of the input fiber optic bundle is transmitted via the coupler to each of the optical fibers in the output fiber optic bundle. Illustrative patents describing these structures include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,291,940, 4,362,357, 4,449,783, 4,484,794, 4,590,619 and 4,653,845.
Unfortunately, the above-mentioned type of starcouplers are generally costly and difficult to construct.

Method of injection molding star-couplers


A thermal ink jet recording paper, incorporating dewatered and milled precipitated calcium carbonate (“PCC”) is disclosed. Precipitated calcium carbonate is dewatered and milled in the presence of an amphoteric or anionic dispersant to produce a high solids PCC composition.

The thermal ink jet process applies a dilute aqueous ink onto the surface of a paper by heating a small volume of the ink in a small chamber with an orifice that is directed at the recording paper. The small volume of ink that is heated rapidly reaches its boiling point, and the steam bubble formed propels a tiny drop of liquid ink at the paper, where the drop produces a single dot in a dot matrix that forms a character or image on the sheet. This process requires an ink that is low in solids and high boiling components so that it is capable of boiling rapidly without leaving a residue that can foul the heating element, and clog the orifice. Therefore, up to ninety-six (96) percent by weight of ink jet printer ink is a mixture of water and low molecular weight glycols. Although such an ink boils quickly when heated to ensure rapid printing, and is not prone to clog, it results in an applied ink that is very mobile and slow to dry. Therefore, good print quality can be obtained only if the ink colorant or dye remains on or near the outer surface of the paper, and does not spread or move from the point at which it was applied.
It is also important that drying occurs rapidly to prevent smearing of the colorant. In printers that are not equipped with heating elements, the water and glycol components of the ink must penetrate into the body of the paper for proper drying of the colorant on the surface. If the colored phase is carried into the paper with the liquid phase as it penetrates into the paper, or if the colorant migrates across the surface of the paper, the quality of the resulting print or image will be poor. Also, dry ink colorant that is not permanently fixed on the paper will blot or run if the printed surface becomes wet or is marked with a highlighter. Therefore, the dry ink should have excellent water and highlighter fastness properties for optimum performance.
In most applications, multipurpose office papers provide inadequate or poor thermal ink jet print quality. This is particularly true where multicolor printing with concomitant superimposed ink applications is utilized. The poor print quality is compounded in printers that apply the colors in one order when the print head moves to the right and the reverse order when the print head moves to the left. Multipurpose office papers often allow the colorant to penetrate into the paper, which results in reduced optical density of the printed image, and increased show through on the reverse side of the paper. Multipurpose office papers that are highly sized prevent liquid penetration, leading to higher ink optical density, but, also, excessive feathering and spreading.
One method of improving thermal ink jet print quality is to apply a material to the paper surface that binds the ink colorant to the surface, but allows the water/glycol liquid phase to pass into the body of the paper, which speeds drying. However, the ink colorant often is an unsaturated or aromatic organic compound, and if the surface material interacts too strongly with the colorant the color of the ink can change.
Therefore, a surface material is sought that prevents the ink colorant from penetrating the paper, but does not interact so strongly as to effect the colorant, and cause a color change.
Other methods have used cationically charged pigments where it was thought these would be more interactive with ink jet dyes. However, these are generally low in solids, ten (10) to twenty (20) percent, and therefore there are application limitations, such as decreased production rates and lower coater speeds, due to the low solids concentration.
The present invention provides one solution to the problems associated with ink jet printing.

Abstract: When used in coating formulations the PCC has a surface morphology and chemistry that enhances the printability of ink jet paper. Ink jet recording paper incorporating the PCC of the present invention has reduced ink feathering and spreading as well as improved optical density, dry time, and water fastness.


A method is disclosed for making a molded article of manufacture of polymerized .beta.-lactone which method involves injecting into a mold at least one .beta.-lactone monomer and at least one nucleophilic initiator, substantially polymerizing the .beta.-lactone in the mold and removing the resultant polymerized article from the mold.

A .beta.-lactone monomer is a four member cyclic ester having the general formula: ##STR1## They can be unsubstituted, in which case R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3 and R.sub.4 are hydrogen, or they can be substituted at any or all of R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3 and R.sub.4 with hydrocarbyl, e.g., aliphatic, alicyclic, aromatic groups, or selected reactive functional moieties.
The .beta.-lactone ring displays considerable bond-angle strain. Substituted species further strain the ring by creating steric repulsions. These strains make .beta.-lactones suitable for ring opening polymerization.
Contacting the .beta.-lactone monomer with an initiator will open the ring and cause polymerization to occur. The ring opening is dependent upon the type of initiator used. In the presence of an electrophilic initiator, the acyl-oxygen bond is cleaved. In the presence of a nucleophilic initiator, the alkyl-oxygen bond is cleaved. When a nucleophilic initiator is used, a polyester will form as follows: ##STR2##
U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,718 discloses that certain randomly grafted copolymers of pivalolactone exhibit good resistance to creep and compression set, high tensile strength, high elastic recovery, and good resistance to high temperature deformation. However, ring opening polymerizations of lactones are exothermic and can develop enough heat to decompose unreacted monomer or produce high-viscosity liquid polymers. Reaction temperatures are best kept below 300.degree. C. to avoid these problems.
A number of methods have been used to polymerize .beta.-lactones. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,471,456, 3,558,572, 3,578,700, 3,579,489, U.K. Patent No. 1,180,044, U.K. Patent No. 1,121,153 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,763. In each of these methods, .beta.-lactones are polymerized in one or more reactors using bulk or slurry processes prior to the fabrication of articles of manufacture. Care must be taken during polymerization to avoid the monomer decomposition and improper polymer formation that can result from the generation of excessive heat. This is difficult in bulk commercial operations because large reaction vessels are difficult to maintain at uniform temperatures. Cooling such reaction vessels containing large quantities of forming polymer can result in localized cooling and inconsistent polymerization. Further, high temperatures such as those found in these processes can terminate living polymerization systems thereby making polymerization incomplete.
Additionally, bulk and slurry polymer production methods require a manufacturer of polymer articles to either produce feed stock in separate polymer plants or to maintain special reactors for producing it. As used herein, the term "feed stock" refers to polymerized .beta.-lactones that are to be used in a further manufacturing step such as thermoplastic molding. In both bulk and slurry methods, feed stock must be transported to a molding apparatus such as a thermoplastic injection mold before fabrication of an item of manufacture can begin. This may require additional pipes and delivery means from the reactor to mold or actual physical delivery of feed stock from one part of a fabrication facility to another.
Thermoplastic molding techniques often employ molds that are heated to high temperatures to ensure that injected polymers remain liquified and flow throughout the mold. Excessive mold heat should be avoided with .beta.-lactone polymers. Generally, this refers to heat in excess of 300.degree. C. Such extreme mold heats will degrade the polymer feed stock and cause the resulting molded product to display poor mechanical properties.
Reaction injection molding (RIM) is a process used for some polymerization reactions in which polymer is formed directly in a mold. Throughout this specification, RIM will be used to refer to any polymerization process in which the polymerization reaction occurs substantially within a mold. Because polymerization occurs directly in the mold, low filling pressures and mold temperatures are involved which allows for molds to be made of less durable, less expensive materials such as aluminum and castable metals. Separate polymer plants are also not needed.
Suitable reactants which are amenable to mold polymerization processes such as RIM must be low viscosity monomers so that they may be easily injected and flow into a mixhead and mold. Viscosity should be from about 50 to about 1000 centipoise. Other polymer constituents such as catalysts, fillers, and pigments must also have low viscosities or must otherwise be capable of transport into the mold without interfering with the flow of monomer. Ideally, such constituents are soluble in the liquid monomer. Liquid flow must also be uniform so that large cavities in molds can be filled without interruption caused by advance polymerization or excessive polymerization. Further, the monomers and other constituents must not volatilize easily because RIM systems are generally closed and have no capacity to release gaseous products. Volatilization also changes the stoichiometry of the reaction making polymer product nonuniform and giving it unpredictable mechanical properties.
The polymer to be produced in mold polymerization processes must also display some particular mechanical properties. Polymer shrinkage cannot be significant or products will lack detail, be deformed or be otherwise incomplete. Polymerization should be quick. Mold times of less than five minutes are most desirable since each product requires a separate polymerization reaction. Lengthy polymerization times increase the number of molds and apparatuses needed to produce significant quantities of a given polymer product. It is a further requirement that polymers used in this process cannot be negatively impacted by the speed of polymerization.
In RIM and related techniques, polymerization acceleration is often aided by exothermic reaction thermodynamics. However, not all exothermic polymerizations will work in RIM conditions. Some reactions are so exothermic that the heat of reaction will degrade the polymer product or the yet unreacted monomer. This is thermal runaway whereby the rate of heat generation overwhelms the rate of heat removal. Even when thermal runaway does not occur, excessive heat may prolong curing time such that the process becomes uneconomical. Thus, a narrow band of exothermic behavior must exist to obtain desirable polymers with these techniques. The reaction must be exothermic enough to enhance acceleration but not so exothermic as to degrade the monomer or forming polymer. The reaction must also not generate so much heat that molding time is unduly lengthened.
Predicting which polymerization reactions will function well under RIM conditions is not readily reducible to theoretical treatment. It is difficult to find monomers and initiators or catalysts which display all of the requisite qualities such as low viscosity, good flow characteristics, low volatility, an absence of shrinkage on polymerization, quick polymerization, and an absence of morphological deformities upon polymerization. Reactions that appear to be attractive candidates for RIM processes are often found to be unsuitable because they possess additional properties that are undesirable. Often, reactions that are found suitable for RIM polymerization are also found to display other unwanted characteristics. For example, dicylopentadiene, a monomer well known in the art to be capable of RIM polymerization, does not display the solvent resistance required for many polymer applications. Moreover, the monomer exudes a strong unpleasant odor. See Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Engineering, Vol. 14, pg. 89, (Wiley-Interscience, 2 ed. 1987).
Surprisingly, few reactive monomer systems have been found useful in RIM and related techniques because of the lack of predictable behavior and mechanical properties that result. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,299,924, 4,426,502 and 5,100,926. See also, Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Engineering, Vol. 14, pg. 88, for a discussion of RIM polymerization of Nylon.
In the present invention, .beta.-lactones, such as pivalolactone, will open in the presence of an initiator and polymerize under RIM conditions. The polymer formed is a polyester. It can possess a high molecular weight, up to 60,000 [as determined by low angle laser light scattering (LALLS)]. Some polymers thus formed are tough solids and exhibit crystallinity. ##STR3## is a .beta.-lactone monomer that can polymerize to form a particularly tough, crystalline polyester with properties similar to Nylon 6 but with a higher heat distortion temperature ("HDT"). It is also superior to Nylon 6 in its resistance to ultraviolet radiation, ozone, most chemicals and water. Polymers which display these improved properties are useful in a large number of applications including automotive parts, housewares, appliances, electrical components, sporting goods, and numerous other products. Most importantly, they are useful in the manufacture of electronics components such as circuit boards.

Polymerization of .beta.-lactones under rim conditions


An apparatus, method and program product for sending data to or receiving data from one or more I/O devices in an I/O operation with a main storage controlled by a processor in a data processing system. The apparatus includes a time-of-day (TOD) register for containing a TOD value, a clock for containing a current TOD value, and a summary register having a first condition when any one of said devices requests an I/O operation and a second condition when no devices have an outstanding I/O request, each device having an outstanding I/O request sets the summary register to its first condition only when the summary register is in its second condition, and further places the current TOD value in the TOD register. A checking program determines if a specified time delay has been exceeded between the value in said TOD register and the current TOD for each requested I/O operation. The checking program drives an interrupt to the processor when the specified time delay has been exceeded.

The present invention relates to communications between processes in a multiprocessor system, and more particularly relates to timing of initiative passing in an input/output (I/O) operation without interrupt overhead.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,873 issued May 8, 1984 to Price et al. for INPUT-OUTPUT BUFFERS FOR A DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING SYSTEM discloses buffer interfaces wherein a storage controller which generates control signals indicating when it is condition to receive a vector of data words from the storage controller, whereon the storage controller transfers a vector of data to the input buffer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,365 issued Sep. 23, 1997 to Binford et al. for I/O SYSTEM FOR REDUCING MAIN PROCESSOR OVERHEAD IN INITIATING I/O REQUESTS AND SERVICING I/O COMPLETION EVENTS, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,875,343 issued Feb. 23, 1999 to Binford et al. for EMPLOYING REQUEST QUEUES AND COMPLETION QUEUES BETWEEN MAIN PROCESSORS AND I/O PROCESSORS WHEREIN A MAIN PROCESSOR IS INTERRUPTED WHEN A CERTAIN NUMBER OF COMPLETION MESSAGE ARE PRESENT IN ITS COMPLETION QUEUE disclose an apparatus wherein I/O requests are queued in a memory shared by one or more main processing units and one or more I/O processors. Each I/O processor is associated with a queue, and each main processing unit is associated with a queue shared with the I/O processors. Each I/O processor may continue processing queued I/O requests after completing processing an earlier request. A threshold value indicates the minimum number of completed I/O requests required before an interrupt request is generated to the main processing unit. Many events are batched together under one interruption.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,387 issued Jun. 23, 1998 to Young et al. for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INTERRUPTING A PROCESSOR BY A PCI PERIPHERAL ACROSS AN HIERARCHY OF PCI BUSES discloses a hierarchy of PCI buses for facilitating PCI agents coupled to the lower lever PCI buses to interrupt a processor during operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,217 issued Feb. 29, 2000 to Arnott for METHOD FOR RECONFIGURING CONTAINERS WITHOUT SHUTTING DOWN THE SYSTEM AND WITH MINIMAL INTERRUPTION TO ON-LINE PROCESSING discloses a method for concurrently reorganizing a disk file system while continuing to process I/O requests. The method includes stopping processing of new I/O requests by queuing them within the system, finishing processing I/O requests in progress, performing the reorganization, and then processing the queue of stored I/O requests before finally resuming normal operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,277 issued Jul. 4, 2000 to Nordstrom et al. for INTERRUPT AND MESSAGE BATCHING APPARATUS AND METHOD discloses an interrupt and batching apparatus for batching interrupt processing for many events together.
An apparatus, method and program product for sending data to or receiving data from one or more I/O devices in an I/O operation with a main storage controlled by a processor in a data processing system. The apparatus includes a time-of-day (TOD) register for containing a TOD value, a clock for containing a current TOD value, and a summary register having a first condition when any one of said devices requests an I/O operation and a second condition when no devices have an outstanding I/O request, each device having an outstanding I/O request sets the summary register to its first condition only when the summary register is in its second condition, and further places the current TOD value in the TOD register. A checking program determines if a specified time delay has been exceeded between the value in said TOD register and the current TOD for each requested I/O operation. The checking program drives an interrupt to the processor when the specified time delay has been exceeded
The present invention provides for the direct cooperation between devices and the Operating System (OS) of a host computer. This cooperation is implemented by the OS informing devices of a target delay interval that, when exceeded, requires the device to drive a low overhead I/O interrupt. If a device detects that at least one other device has status pending in the completion vectors for longer than the specified amount of time, then the device should drive an interrupt. As with any interrupt model, driving an interrupt may not improve the application perceived response time, depending upon the application""s dispatching priorities. If a device detects that the OS specified target interval has not yet been exceeded, then setting of disclosed completion vector bytes is all that is required (i.e. it is anticipated that dispatcher polling will process the I/O completion without requiring an interrupt).
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus which, when the dispatcher polling on the target OS image is responsive to incoming I/O completions, the overhead incurred by processing I/O interrupts can be avoided.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus which, when polling is not responsive, very low cost I/O interrupts are driven. These interrupts are low cost because all they do is cause the processor to poll the completion vectors. No detailed information is queued as to which device requires attention, therefore the amount of serialization/complexity required to drive the interrupt is significantly reduced.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus which provides for interrupts from multiple sources which are coalesced into a single notification event. This allows even the low cost interrupt to be amortized across multiple device completions.

International Business Machines Corporation


Methods, non-transitory computer readable media, and infrastructure management devices that inventory, and facilitate improved security of, public cloud databases are illustrated. With this technology, access data for one or more accounts associated with one or more public cloud networks is obtained. This technology then periodically identifies, stores an indication of, and obtains and stores a state of, a plurality of databases hosted by the public cloud networks using the obtained access data and one or more application programming interfaces (APIs) provided by the public cloud networks for each of one or more types of the databases. A dashboard comprising an inventory of the databases for a historical time period is then generated, based on the stored indication and state of each of the databases, and output.

Historically, a significant amount of information technology (IT) infrastructure has been built and managed in proprietary data centers, requiring individual entities to build and manage physical computers, storage devices, network devices, power sources, server rooms, cooling systems, and even fire suppression systems. Individual IT infrastructure deployment has resulted inefficiencies and fluctuations in the quality, robustness, and security of the various proprietary data centers. Accordingly, entities are increasingly utilizing public cloud infrastructure available from Amazon Web Services™, Microsoft Azure™, and Google Cloud Platform™, for example, which provide unlimited access to compute, network, and storage at a relatively high level of quality, robustness, and security.
Hosts of shared data centers in a public cloud environment provide an application programming interface (API) to turn physical server devices into virtual devices that can be rented, and then unrented, in a matter of seconds. The shared data center infrastructure is geographically dispersed and created as "infinitely" scalable. Accordingly, public cloud providers have taken the complexity of physical security, fire suppression systems, power management, and many other resources and tasks out of the hands of the IT consumers. However, the increased migration of IT infrastructure out of the proprietary data centers and into the emerging public cloud environments requires new IT management strategies, particularly with respect to database security.
Generally, the most sensitive data assets of an entity, such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, personally identifiable information (PII), health information, financial information, customer data, and trade secrets, for example, are stored in a database. In proprietary data centers, most databases are relational databases hosted by monolithic, powerful server devices executing expensive software designed to scale vertically. However, resources in public cloud environments are ephemeral and can be numbered and replaced as needed, which is a relatively robust model, but presents challenges for inventorying, managing, and securing the databases.
In particular, many entities have complex public cloud deployments that include a large number of heterogeneous ephemeral databases spread across a number of accounts on different cloud platforms. With such a diverse and expansive data storage footprint, identifying security concerns, such as may result from insecure parameters at database instantiation, is challenging. Additionally, many current database security tools are installed within different networks than those within which the databases are deployed, and therefore require increased access to the databases, resulting in exposing the databases to additional attack vectors.

Methods for inventorying and securing public cloud databases and devices thereof


Techniques and apparatus for managing a distributed computing environment using event digests are described. In one embodiment, for example, an apparatus may include at least one memory, and logic for a system manager, at least a portion of the logic comprised in hardware coupled to the at least one memory, the logic to determine a workload to schedule, access an event digest associated with a plurality of compute hosts, the event digest comprising event digest values determined using out-of-band information, determine metrics from the event digest, generate at least one host weight for at least a portion of the plurality of compute hosts based on the metrics, identify at least one candidate host from the portion of the plurality of compute hosts based on the at least one host weight, and schedule the workload on the at least one candidate host. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Hyperscale computing involves distributed computing environments (for example, a "cloud" computing environment) developed to scale exponentially, typically to hundreds or thousands of servers. Data centers employing hyperscale platforms require vast amounts of telemetry data and face substantive scalability issues. The telemetry processes in such environments require fast responsiveness and high polling rates. Accordingly, an increase in the number of monitored entities in a data center results in a proportional increase in, for example, the amount of data transferred to a corresponding controller, the processing cycles spent handling the data, or the amount of storage necessary to store the monitored data for post-processing and future analysis. With hyperscale data centers, such increases in resource and storage requirements may occur exponentially, resulting in scalability challenges.

Techniques for managing a distributed computing environment using event digests


The present invention relates to novel nargenicin related compounds which can inhibit DnaE and have antibacterial, particularly antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The present invention also relates to method for inhibiting growth of mycobacterial cells as well as a method of treating mycobacterial infections by Mycobacterium tuberculosis by administering an antimycobacterially effective amount of nargenicin or a nargenicin-related compound and/or their pharmaceutically acceptable salts.

The nargenicins are a class of polyketide macrolide antibiotics with a tricyclic lactone containing a unique ether bridge. See Kallmerten, 1995, Studies in Natural Products Chemistry 17:283-310. The first nargenicin, nargenicin A1, was originally isolated from Nocardia argentinesis. See Celmer et al., 1980, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 102:4203-4209. Nargenicin has been demonstrated to be effective towards gram-positive bacteria and, in particular, has been shown to have strong antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. See Sohng et al., 2008, Arch Pharm Res 31: 1339-1345 and Korean Patent Application No. KR2009093733A. It has also been contemplated for use as a treatment for neoplastic diseases and neurodegenerative diseases. See, e.g., Kim et al., 2009, Biochem Pharmacol 77:1694-1701, and Korean Patent Application No. KR2010071835A.
Other nargenicins, included, nargenicin B1,nargenicin B2, nargenicin B3, and nargenicin C1, are described in Magerlein et al., 1982, J. Antibiotics 35:254 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,436,747; 4,448,970; and 4,605,624.
Mycobacterium is a genus of bacterium, neither truly gram-positive nor truly gram-negative, including pathogens responsible for tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) and leprosy (M leprae). Tuberculosis (TB), in particular, despite the availability of anti-TB drugs such as isoniazide and rifampin, is considered to be one of the world's deadliest diseases. According to World Health Organization, in 2012, there were 8.6 million new TB cases and 1.3 million TB deaths. See, Global tuberculosis report 2013 published by the World Health Organization. Complicating the TB epidemic is the rising tide of multi-drug-resistant strains, and the deadly association with HIV. People who are HIV-positive and infected with TB are 30 times more likely to develop active TB than people who are HIV-negative and TB is responsible for the death of one out of every three people with HIV/AIDS worldwide. See, e.g., Kaufmann et al., 1993, Trends Microbiol. 1:2-5 and Bloom et al., 1998, N. Engl. J. Med. 338:677-678.
Mycobacteria other than M. tuberculosis are increasingly found in opportunistic infections that plague the AIDS patient. Organisms from the M avium-intracellulare complex (MAC), especially serotypes four and eight, account for 68% of the mycobacterial isolates from AIDS patients. Enormous numbers of MAC are found (up to 1010 acid-fast bacilli per gram of tissue), and consequently, the prognosis for the infected AIDS patient is poor.

Nargenicin compounds and uses thereof as antibacterial agents


A load control device includes a switching unit which is connected to a power source and a load in series and has a switch device having a transistor structure, a control unit configured to control start-up and stop of the load, and a gate driving unit, which is electrically insulated from the control unit and outputs a gate driving signal to the gate electrode of the switch device. The control unit controls the gate driving unit to supply a higher driving power to the gate electrode of the switch device for a predetermined period of time starting at the start-up of the load than that in a steady state.

As described in Patent Document 1, for example, to carry out an ON/OFF control of a load, such as an illumination device or the like, a load control device (electronic relay) uses a semiconductor switch device, such as a TRIAC or the like as a switching unit. In such a load control device, the switching unit is connected in series between a commercial AC power source and the load. For example, when an operation handle of a switch is manipulated by a user, a control unit outputs a gate driving signal to put a switch device in an electrical conducting state. Accordingly, power is supplied to a load from the commercial AC power source to thereby start up the load. If a TRIAC serves as the switch device, the TRIAC turns into an electrical non-conducting state by a zero-cross voltage of the commercial AC power source since the TRIAC is a self-extinguishing element. Therefore, the gate driving signal is outputted from the control unit at every half cycle of the commercial AC power source until the operation handle is manipulated again.
Meanwhile, when the operation handle is manipulated by the user, namely, at the startup of the load, a high current referred to as inrush current flows temporarily in the load. For example, if it is assumed that the load is an illumination device using an incandescent lamp, a resistance of a filament in a room temperature is much lower than a steady state resistance of the filament, so that there flows an inrush current, which is equal to or higher than ten times the steady state current of the illumination device.
The transistor as represented by, e.g., MOSFET, is characterized in that a current which can flow between the source and the drain is limited depending on the gate voltage. For this reason, if a low voltage of the gate driving signal is inputted to the gate electrode of the switch device and thus only a current lower than the inrush current can flow, the illumination device is not immediately put into the steady state even when the operation handle is manipulated. Instead, the brightness is gradually increased as temperature of the filament is increased. Therefore, in order to immediately put the illumination device into the steady state after the operation handle is manipulated, a higher voltage of the gate driving signal is preferably inputted to the gate electrode of the switch device to smoothly flow the inrush current at start-up of the load. However, if the voltage of the gate driving signal becomes higher, power consumed by a gate driving unit increases.
In the load control device described in Patent Document 1, the gate driving unit generates the gate driving signal at every half cycle of the commercial AC power source in response to the control signal outputted from the control unit. Since, the gate driving unit and the control unit shares a power source either to generate the gate driving signal or to ensure a driving power for the control unit, it is practically impossible to vary the voltage of the gate driving signal in response to the current flowing through the load.
Further, the load control device described in Patent Document 1 is a so-called two-wire electronic switch connected in series between the commercial AC power source and the load, and the current flows into the load regularly to ensure an internal power thereof. Accordingly, the current flows into the load even while the illumination device is turned off and thus, such a current for ensuring the internal power needs to be set as small as possible such that the load is not erroneously turned on. Consequently, it is required to reduce the power consumed by the control unit and the gate driving unit as low as possible.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-174576


A string dampener for a musical instrument is disclosed for dampening extraneous string noise caused by sympathetic vibrations. The dampener includes an attachment apparatus that releaseably attaches the dampener to a portion of a stringed instrument. The dampener also includes dampening material to dampen string vibrations. An arm section is included that is rotatably coupled to the attachment apparatus and has the dampening material disposed on at least a portion of the arm section. The arm section is used to selectively engage and disengage contact of the dampening material with one or more strings of the stringed instrument by rotation with respect to the attachment apparatus. The string dampener affords quick attachment and detachment from a stringed instrument as well as easy engagement and disengagement of the dampener with the strings of an instrument with a requisite amount of pressure on the strings to effect proper dampening of sympathetic vibrations.

When using stringed musical instruments, such as guitars, bass guitars, mandolins, banjos, etc., different tonal effects are desired for different styles of music and different techniques of play. For example, it is known to use a "hammering" technique where a player produces tones by fingering various notes on a fingerboard (e.g., a fret board) without strumming or plucking the strings with the other hand at or near a body of the instrument. When playing in such a manner, however, especially with electrically amplified musical instruments, extraneous or "sympathetic" vibrations of other "open" strings can occur, resulting in unwanted noise or frequencies being produced. In order to mitigate or prevent these sympathetic vibrations, various devices are known in the art to dampen such extraneous noise.
In particular, string dampeners are known for limiting the string vibrations initiated by a musician's hands. Essentially, the purpose of string dampeners is to purify all musical notes by eliminating unwanted or extraneous sounds which can occur because of sympathetic vibrations. It is noted here that string dampeners are different from other devices known in the art such as string mutes, which are typically attached at an instrument's body, such as near a bridge device for a guitar, bass or banjo, as examples. The purpose of the mute is not for eliminating unwanted sounds, but rather to change the timbre of the sound, such as to produce a staccato sound or a muted note.
Because even with clean, direct fingering by the musician, sympathetic vibrations in the strings not touched occurs near the neck of a stringed instrument, string dampeners are typically placed near the nut of a guitar, for example, to prevent vibrations in the untouched strings. One known apparatus is simply a strip of felt or other dampening material that is permanently attached to the fingerboard, lying under the strings at the 1st fret. This apparatus, however, is not easily removable and requires both of the musician's hands to remove or adjust the apparatus.
For stringed instruments such as guitars, bass guitars, mandolins, etc., another string dampener is also known that is a mechanical attachment with a base that is screwed or glued to the headstock of the guitar or other stringed instrument and a post attached to the base. An arm is pivotally attached to the post and includes a piece of dampening material that is placed against the string to achieve limited damping of the string by rotating the arm with respect to the base. Such a device, however, requires adhesive or some other means such as screws to secure the device to the instrument, and thus leaves an ugly scar or adhesive mark when the device is removed. Additionally, such a device is not quickly removable as the device is essentially a permanent fixture. Thus, removal of such a device is time consuming, laborious and requires either the use of tools or solvents.

String dampener for a stringed musical instrument


A projectile sealing arrangement for a barrel assembly of a weapon wherein a plurality of projectile assemblies (10) are axially disposed in abutting relationship within a barrel (20), each projectile assembly (10) including a body (11) associated with a discrete propellant charge (15); said sealing arrangement comprising rearward opening (13) communicating with cavity (14) provided in said projectile assembly (10) for retaining the discrete propellant charge (15) and a forward portion (16) of an abutting projectile arranged for operative sealing engagement with a complementary portion (17) of the rearward opening (13). The sealing arrangement suitably includes surface portions of complementary shapes such that, during application of a compressive load (L) to abutting projectile assemblies (10), discrete propellant charge (15) is scaled within the cavity (14). There is also disclosed and claimed a chain of individual projectiles connected head to tail by complementary spigot and socket members.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to projectile sealing arrangements for barrel assemblies wherein a plurality of projectile assemblies are disposed axially in abutting relationship within a barrel and associated with discrete propellant charges for selectively propelling respective projectiles sequentially from the barrel.
The invention relates particularly, although not exclusively, to barrel assemblies for weapons that employ electrical or electronic activation of ignition means for igniting the discrete propellant charges.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
The projectile sealing arrangements for barrel assemblies described in earlier International Patent Applications assigned to the present applicant, including PCT/AU94/00124, utilise operative sealing engagement between each projectile assembly and the bore of a barrel containing the projectile assemblies.
An important function of operative sealing engagement between projectile assemblies and the barrel bore is to prevent or at least minimise burn leakage of combustion products resulting from firing a leading projectile, which leakage might otherwise cause sympathetic ignition of propellant charges associated with trailing projectile assemblies within the barrel. These projectile assemblies include a variety of barrel seal configurations incorporated in sabots and wedging sleeves, rings or expandable portions—all arranged to seal against the bore of the barrel.
However the relative complexity and cost of manufacturing barrel assemblies utilising operative sealing engagement with the barrel detracts from some applications of the applicant's barrel assemblies, especially where high volume, low cost manufacture is anticipated.


A solar ray device for illumination is disclosed. The device comprises a solar ray collecting device and an illuminator. The solar ray collecting device has a plurality of optical lenses for focusing solar rays, a plurality of light-guiding cables with their light-receiving ends disposed at the focal points of the optical lenses, and a sensor for detecting the direction of the sun's rays and for creating a control signal causing the optical lenses to be directed toward the sun and thereby introducing the sun's ray into the light-guiding cables. The illuminator receives the light rays transmitted through the light-guiding cables and radiates the same through its lenses disposed opposite the light-emitting ends of the light-guiding cables.

The present invention relates to a solar ray device for illumination and more particularly to an effective combination of a solar ray collecting device and a illuminator for radiating the solar rays collected by said solar ray collecting device. The solar ray collecting device has a control means for realizing the rotation of a number of optical lenses so as to always direct them toward the sun, a plurality of light-guiding cables (or fiber optic cables) into which the solar rays collected by said lenses are guided. The illuminator radiates the solar rays transmitted by said light-guiding cables (or fiber optic cables).
The present applicant previously proposed a solar ray collecting device accommodated in a capsule. The capsule is composed of a cylindrical base body, a transparent dome-shaped head and a transparent connecting portion for connecting said base body with said head. The solar ray collecting device comprises a large number of lenses (for example, 7, 19 . . . etc.) a solar ray direction sensor for detecting the sun's location, a supporting frame for integrally holding the lenses and sensor, a first revolving shaft for rotating the support frame, a first motor for rotating the first revolving shaft, a support arm for supporting the lenses and the motor, a second revolving shaft installed so as to intersect the first revolving shaft perpendicularly thereto, and a second motor for rotating the second revolving shaft. The direction of the sun is detected by means of the solar ray direction sensor and its detection signal controls the first motor and the second motor so as to always direct the lenses toward the sun, and the sunlight, focused by the lenses, is guided into a light-guiding cable (or fiber optic cable) through its end-surfaces set at the focal points of the lenses. The guided sunlight is transmitted through the light-guiding cable (or fiber optic cable) to wherever the light is needed for illumination or for other purposes. It shall be understood that a fiber optic cable is made up of a bundle of single cables each of which is made up of a large number of optical fibers, and a light-guiding cable is a bundle of a number of fiber optic cables.
The above-mentioned solar ray collecting device is intended to focus solar rays through lenses and transmit them through a light-guiding cable (or fiber optic cable) to wherever the light is needed. Said light-guiding cable {or fiber optic cable) is a bundle of cables whose light-emitting ends are to be unbound and separated from each other for directly radiating the light rays or for radiating the same through optical means such as lenses or the like. However, by this method it is difficult to uniformly illuminate a whole area. When an area to be illuminated is enlarged, the light radiation becomes unnaturally decreased in intensity at the peripheral portion. Furthermore, in the case where a solar ray collecting device and an illuminator are constructed as separate units with separate cabling, the mutual connecting of their light-guiding cables' ends has to be conducted by using a special connecting means which may result in an increased loss of light transmission.