There is disclosed a recording/reproducing system comprising an optical system for directing along a path of an electromagnetic radio ray from an object toward a recording medium, and a recording head disposed in the path for generating a charge latent image onto the medium. The feature of the system resides in that the recording head (system) forms the detection region which is not entirely subject to the influence of the electromagnetic radio ray and which is provided in a portion of the charge recording region of the medium, and in that a reproducing system discriminates the polarity of charges or the recording mode of the charge latent image recorded onto the medium by detecting the charges in the dectection region.

This invention relates to a system for recording/reproducing a charge latent image, and more particularly to a recording/reproducing system adapted to apply photoelectric transformation or conversion to an optical image of an object obtained through an optical lens, thus permitting a charge latent image thus obtained to be recorded with a high resolution, and to retransform a pictorial image information which has been signal conversion and recorded on a medium, thus permitting it to be reproduced as a high resolution charge latent image.
Generally, a latent image means (a) an input image before transformation into a visual image by applying an exposure energy or other energies to a photographic plate in the field of the photographic technology, or means (b) an image stored in the form of charges on a surface consisting of small capacitors collected in the form of mosaic in the field of the electric technology. This invention is applied to an image pickup apparatus for a still picture or a moving picture for electrically recording a latent image in the case of (b). This image pickup apparatus is constructed to apply photoelectric transformation to optical information obtained by forming an image of an object through an optical system, thus to provide electric signal information. The feature of a video signal thus obtained is that recording, reproducing, erasing, editing and trimming are easy. Therefore, apparatus for recording/reproducing a charge latent image are widely used not only in the field of the broadcasting technology but also in other many technical fields such as printing, electronic publishing and measurement.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide an image pickup device capable of recording an image of an object as a charge latent image having fineness and high resolution, and/or reproducing a pictorial image from signal information related to such a recorded latent image.
Meanwhile, a charge latent image on medium includes four recording modes (a) to (d) as will be mentioned later by combination of the following principles (i) and (ii);
(i) a polarity of charges is positive or negative; and
(ii) a light and shade of an optical image is directly proportional to a charge amount (this case will be called as "a positive latent image") or a light and shade of an optical image is inversely proportional to a charge amount (this case will be called as "a negative latent image").
The four recording modes are as follows:
(a) A positive charge positive latent image in which other portions are formed by positive charges;
(b) A negative charge positive latent image in which other portions are formed by negative charges;
(c) A positive charge negative latent image in which other portions are formed by positive charges; and
(d) A negative charge positive latent image in which other portions are formed by negative charges.
Conventional recording systems for recording a latent image in the above-mentioned modes are shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. FIGS. 1 to 3 correspond to the above recording modes (a) to (d), respectively. In respective figures, reference numeral 1 denotes an image pickup object, reference numeral 2 a lens constituting an optical system, reference numeral 3 a recording head comprising a transparent electrode 4 and a photoconductive layer member 5, reference numeral 6 a recording medium comprising a charge hold layer member 7 and a medium side electrode 8, and reference numeral 9 a power supply connected between the above-mentioned electrodes 4 and 8. In the case of the arrangement shown in FIGS. 1 and 1A, the connection polarities of the power supply 9 are opposite to each other. Furthermore, the arrangement shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 includes a corona charger 10 for applying negative or positive charges to the charge hold layer member 7 wherein the charger 10 includes a power supply 11 for a charger depending upon respective polarities.
The operational principle for recording an optical image on the basis of respective recording modes shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 will now be described.
In the recording system shown in FIG. 1, the positive electrode of the power supply 9 is connected to the transparent electrode 4 of the recording head 3 and the negative electrode of the power supply 9 is connected to the electrode 8. Accordingly, where an optical image of the object 1 is formed on the photoconductive layer member 5 of the head 3, an electric resistance value of the member 5 appears in correspondence with the object 1. A very small gap exists between the photoconductive layer member 5 and the charge hold layer member 7. An air discharge is generated in this gap. Accordingly, an image of the object 1 based on the positive charge positive latent image is formed on the surface of the hold layer 7.
In the recording system of a structure shown in FIG. 1A, the connection polarity of the power supply 9 is opposite to that of FIG. 1. Therefore, an image of the object 1 is formed by the negative charge positive latent image.
In the recording system of a structure shown in FIG. 2, corona charger 10 of the negative polarity charges in advance hold layer 7 of medium 6 so that it has a negative polarity. Since positive charges are rendered to the surface of the hold layer 7 in correspondence with the shape of the object 1, portions having weak negative charges appear as a negative charge negative latent image in correspondence with the image as shown.
In the recording system of a structure shown in FIG. 3, the corona charger 10 charges in advance the hold layer 7 so that it has a positive polarity Since a portion corresponding to an image of the object 1 formed on the photoconductive layer 5 through the lens 2 is charged negative by a negative air discharge, weak positive charge portions appear on the surface of the hold layer 7 as a positive charge negative latent image in correspondence with the image as shown.
An actual example particularly in the case of recording an optical image as a charge latent image on the basis of the aforementioned basic principle, is shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C. This recording system is directed to the system for recording an object with high resolution and high fineness.
In FIG. 4A, reference numerals 1 to 9 show components equivalent to or corresponding to the components of the recording system explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, respectively. Reference numeral 3A denotes a glass plate (GP) attached on the object side of the recording head 3, and reference numeral 9A denotes a switch which is turned on to generate a predetermined electric field across the both electrodes 4 and 8 by the power supply 9 and is turned off to interrupt such a generation. To prevent an unnecessary external light from being incident to the photoconductive layer member 5, these components are accommodated within a black box of a suitable structure. The transparent electrode 4 constituting the head 3 consists of a material, e.g., Indium-Tin Oxide (ITO), having a spectral transmission characteristic permitting a light in a wavelength band suitable for formation of an image of an object of optical information incident thereto to be transmitted therethrough. The photoconductive layer member 5 consists of a material, such as amorphous silicon having a characteristic such that when a highly fine optical image is formed on the surface of the object side under the condition where an electric field having a suitable strength is formed across both electrodes 4 and 8, a high precision charge latent image can be formed on the other surface.
The charge hold layer member 7 consists of a material such as a silicon resin, having a high insulating resistance value so that a latent image formed by charges produced on the surface can be held without being changed for a long time. This member 7 may be in an arbitrary form, e.g., disk, tape, or sheet, etc., and is caused to run in a direction indicated by an arrow in blank by a predetermined transferring method irrespective of its shape.
The operation as to how the conventional system constructed above records a charge latent image will now be described with reference to FIGS. 4A to 4C.
A light from the object 1 is passed through the lens 2, whereby an image thereof is formed on the recording head 3. The light which has reached the object 1 side of the head 3 is passed through the glass plate 3A and the transparent electrode 4, and is then incident to the photoconductive layer 5. Since the photoconductive layer 5 exhibits an electric resistance value corresponding to a received light quantity at this time, a resistance value of a portion corresponding to the shape of the object 1 (capital letter A in the figure) and those of other portions will differ from each other. Thus, a partial unevenness of resistance value provides an original form of a latent image. Since the photoconductive layer 5 is supplied with a predetermined voltage through the power supply 9 and the switch 9A, an unevenness per each portion of the resistance value results in an unevenness of an amount of charges on the hold layer 7 provided facing to the photoconductive layer 5 between electrodes 4 and 8. As a result, a charge latent image 7A is formed on the hold layer 7 as shown in FIG. 4B. The charge latent image 7A shown in FIG. 4B is a positive charge positive latent image wherein an amount of positive charges of the image corresponding portion (i.e., capital letter A) is larger than that of the background portion.
FIG. 4C is a characteristic diagram showing the correlation between an amount of exposure received by the recording head 3 and a surface potential of the hold layer 7. The correlation therebetween appears as an increase in the surface potential when an amount of exposure of the photoconductive layer 5 calculated by "surface illuminance.times.irradiation time" is increased by the image pickup of the object 1. In this figure, a voltage not relevant to the amount of exposure appears on the surface potential of the hold layer 7. Since this voltage is such a voltage to make exposure excessive as compared to the case of a voltage corresponding to an actual amount of exposure, it is called a "dark voltage".
In order to reproduce the charge latent image recorded in the aforementioned manner, it is possible to directly read out charges as electric signals by a charge detector. Furthermore, it is possible to read out the charge image in the manner that charges are supplied to a photo-modulation element comprised of materials having an electro-optical effect and outputting a modulated readout light on the basis of a received readout light, and a photo-diode converts the modulated readout light into electric signals. These reproduction methods are disclosed in European Patent Application (EPA) No. 89306243.0 in the case of using the charge detecter, and EPA No. 87311531.5 in the case of using the photo-modulation element.
Referring to FIGS. 5A to 5E, an example using the photo-modulation element will be simply described.
There are two types of the reproduction methods using the photo-modulation element, one of which is a light transmission type shown in FIG. 5D, and the other is a light reflection type shown in FIG. 5E. In both cases, a photo-electric conversion element such as a photo-diode reads out a modulated readout light I corresponding to an electric charge latent image as electric signals. In order to obtain a time axis signal such as a television (TV) signal from the two-dimensional recording surface as aforementioned, there is used a system of a combination of a linear sensor and sub-scanning or a two-dimensional scanning for the readout light. As these systems are described in the aforementioned applications in detail, an explanation will be described on condition that the electric signals are obtained by using any system for the scanning thereof.
The system of the light transmission type shown in FIG. 5D comprises a polarizer 20 for transmitting a laser beam R.sub.L therethrough, a reproducing head (readout element) 22 for receiving a transmitted light and reproducing a latent image from charges on the hold layer 7 by an electric field 23 generated across the reproducing head 22 and the charge hold layer 7 of the medium 6 to provide a reconstructed picture, and an analyzer 29 for providing a reconstructed image on the basis of an output light corresponding to the latent image in accordance with the charge distribution of the hold layer 7. On the other hand, the system of the reflection type shown in FIG. 5E is such that components equivalent to or corresponding to those designated by the same reference numerals in FIG. 5D are arranged as shown, respectively, characterized in that there is provided a beam splitter 21 for transmitting a laser beam through the portion between the polarizer 20 and the reproducing head 22 and for reflecting a light ray from the head 22 to change the direction thereof toward the analyzer 29 side.
In the systems of the both types, the arrangement of the reproducing head 22 for emitting a light beam having an intensity distribution in conformity with a charge latent image by an occurring electric field 23 by recorded charges is shown in FIG. 5A. As shown in this figure, the reproducing head 22 as a charge readout element comprises a dielectric mirror 24 facing to the hold layer 7, a photomodulation layer 25 consisting of, e.g., lithium niobate single crystal, attached on the opposite surface of the dielectric mirror 24, and a transparent electrode 26 provided on the opposite surface of the photomodulation layer 25. As long as the photomodulation layer 25 has an electrooptical effect which is the characteristic capable of changing the state of light by an applied voltage, it may consist of any material except for the above-mentioned lithium niobate single crystal.
The operation for reproducing an image from the hold layer 7 of the medium 6 on which a charge latent image is recorded will now be described with reference to FIGS. 5A to 5C.
As shown in FIG. 5A, a laser beam R.sub.L which has been passed through the polarizer 20 is incident to the reproducing head 22. Then, it is transmitted through the transparent electrode 26 to reach the modulation layer 25, at which it is reflected by the inductor mirror 24 attached to the other surface of the modulation layer 25. At this time, an electric field is produced, by a medium electrode (not shown), across the reproducing head 22 and the medium 6. By the electric field thus produced and charges of a latent image formed on the hold layer 7, the reflected light from the mirror 24 is modulated in accordance with the charges and is emitted. Thus, an optical image is reproduced.
As stated above, the head 22 for reproducing an optical image has a predetermined relationship between an applied voltage V.sub.M to the modulation layer 25 and an amount of light rays I.sub.D which have been passed through the analyzer 29 as shown in FIG. 5B or 5C. When the modulation member 25 is made up by a lithium niobate single crystal, it exhibits a voltage-light quantity characteristic as shown in FIG. 5B, whereas when the modulation member 25 is made up by a liquid crystal, it exhibits a characteristic as shown in FIG. 5C. Both in FIGS. 5B and 5C, the abscissa represents an applied voltage V.sub.M to the modulation member 25 and the ordinate represents a light quantity I.sub.D of an emitted light which has been passed through the analyzer 29. In both cases, the waveform varying in a direction of the ordinate indicated by dotted lines represents a change with time of a voltage determined by an amount of charges, and the waveform varying in a direction of the abscissa indicated by dotted lines represents a change with time of an emitted light from the analyzer.
As understood from FIGS. 5B and 5C, since the emitted light from the analyzer 29, having a quantity varying according to an amount of charges (difference in voltage) of the hold layer 25 is such that the minimum value (positive image recording) or maximum value (negative image recording) of the charge distribution of the latent image does not correspond to the black level of the optical information, contrast ratio becomes small even if a video signal which has been subjected to photoelectric transformation is outputted onto a monitor image receiver.
Turning to FIG. 6, there is shown an object readout head 32 of a composite structure of the arrangement of the recording head 3 shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B and that of the reproducing head 22 shown in FIGS. 5A, 5D and 5E. This head 32 is comprised of a photo-to-photo transducer. Components in FIG. 6 indicated by the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 4A and 5A show equivalent or corresponding components, respectively. As shown, this head 32 is of a stacked structure comprising a transparent electrode 3A (the transparent electrode 26 is also the same or equivalent component) for allowing a light from the object 1 to be transmitted through a lens 2, a photoconductive layer 5, an inductor mirror 24, a photomodulation material layer 24, and an electrode 8. Between the transparent electrode 3A and the electrode 8, a d.c. power supply 9 and a switch 9A for switching a power supply are provided. Since the materials of respective constituent members are the same as those previously described, their detailed explanation will be omitted.
The readout operation of the head 32 differs from that shown in FIG. 5A in that a laser beam R.sub.L for readout is CauSed to be incident from the electrode 8 side to the inductor mirror 24, thus to read out a latent image obtained by optically modulating an optical image incident from the photoconductive layer 5 by the photomodulation layer 25. Since the correlative characteristic between a quantity I.sub.A of emitted light rays passed through the analyzer 29 and a voltage V.sub.M based on difference of the modulation member 25 is substantially the same as those shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C, the repetitive explanation thereof will be omitted.
Even with the above arrangement, the black level or white level of the object does not correspond to the black level I.sub.A =0 (%) of the optical information or the white level I.sub.A =100 (%) thereof in the same manner as in the characteristics shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C. As a result, such a black or white level is affected by the characteristic of an optical system like an extinction ratio, the quantity of emitted light rays cannot change over a range from 0 to 100 %. Accordingly, a reproduced pictorial image when outputted onto a monitor receiver, etc. has not a sufficient contrast ratio in the same manner as in the arrangement shown in FIG. 5A.
All conventional charge latent image recording/reproducing systems which have been described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 6 have various problems which will be recited as follows.
(1) In accordance with the recording of a latent image onto the medium 6 which is carried out on the basis of combination of the recording modes (a) to (d) shown in FIGS. 1A to 1D, the polarity of an output signal varies by changes of combination of the recording modes (a) to (d) in recording a series of latent images. For this reason, it is impossible to recognize which one of modes (a) to (d) corresponds to the recording state of a latent image in the medium 6 until that latent image is actually read out from the medium. Accordingly, this resulted in the problem that it is impossible to recognize the polarity of an erase voltage for erasing a latent image recorded in the medium 6 until the latent image is once reproduced and the polarity is confirmed because the polarity of a voltage of the latent image is unknown. Namely, there was the problem that it is troublesome to erase a recorded latent image.
(2) Moreover, in the case of recording a latent image onto the hold layer 7 of the medium 6 by the recording system of the structure shown in FIG. 4A, a dark voltage corresponding to a fogging phenomenon of an optical image is produced. Since such a dark voltage is produced on the basis of the relationship between a surface potential of the charge hold layer 7 and an amount of exposure, it cannot be necessarily said that a surface potential shows an actual amount of exposure with fidelity. For this reason, there was the problem that high fidelity reproduced pictorial image cannot be obtained unless reproduction is conducted in consideration of a dark potential of the surface potential.
(3) When a gap between the photoconductive layer member 5 and the hold layer 7 shown in FIG. 4A is not uniform, a charge latent image held by the medium 6 under this condition will hold charges different from an actual optical image. For this reason, the charge latent image will have a shooting or a contrast error, etc.
Furthermore, also with respect to the reproducing head for readout of latent image shown in FIGS. 5A, 5D and 5E, in the case of reproducing a video signal on the basis of a latent image recorded into the medium under the condition where a gap between the reproducing head 22 and the hold layer 7 is not uniform, an extraordinary phenomenon corresponding to a shooting, or the like occurs in the video signal.
(4) In addition, also with respect to the recording/reproducing head 32 using a photo-to-photo transducer shown in FIG. 6, there was the problem that the black level or white level of an optical image of an object is not completely in correspondence with the black level or white level of a reproduced optical image. For this reason, the problem that a pictorial image having a small contrast ratio is only obtained when a video signal obtained by applying photoelectric transformation to such an optical image is outputted onto a monitor image receiver exists also in the arrangement of FIG. 6.
Namely, since the correspondence between optical information of the block in an optical image of an object and the black level in a video signal obtained by applying photoelectric transformation to the optical image becomes unclear, an original black cannot be recognized as a black in a pictorial image when an image of the object is reproduced on a monitor image receiver on the basis of such a video signal.

Charge latent image recording reproducing system with a uniformly charge detection region providing a reference intensity of a recorded object


Mode support systems and methods. The system comprises a storage device and an editing unit. The storage device comprises a first mode list comprising a plurality of display modes. The editing unit edits at least one supported display mode from the display modes in the first mode list, and stores a second mode list comprising the supported display mode to the storage device. The supported display mode in the second mode list is retrieved by a device.

The invention relates to display mode management, and particularly to mode support systems and methods that dynamically edit supported display modes.
Generally, VBIOS (Video Basic Input/Output System) comprises several display modes to support display devices. To change a current display mode of a display device, a computer system can query and update a supported display mode from the VBIOS via an OS (Operating System) or a driver.
To remove specific display modes, additional program codes must be added to a driver to remove the specific display modes. However, if the computer system directly queries the supported display modes via the OS, but not through the driver, these specific display modes will appear, that will cause system inconsistency.
Alternatively, the VBIOS must be returned to the supplier for re-editing and compilation of the supported display modes. Since the delivery of VBIOS to the supplier is inconvenient and time-consuming, such conventional solution is impractical. Additionally, the combination of supported display modes is inflexible.


A semiconductor memory device includes a semiconductor film; a first gate insulating film covering the semiconductor film; a first gate electrode provided over the semiconductor film with the first gate insulating film interposed therebetween; a first conductive film which is provided over the first gate insulating film; an insulating film which is provided over the first gate insulating film, exposes top surfaces of the first gate electrode and the first conductive film, and has a groove portion between the first gate electrode and the first conductive film; an oxide semiconductor film which is provided over the insulating film and is in contact with the first gate electrode, the first conductive film, and the groove portion; a second gate insulating film covering the oxide semiconductor film; and a second gate electrode provided over the oxide semiconductor film and the groove portion with the second gate insulating film interposed therebetween.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device which includes a circuit including a semiconductor element such as a transistor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor memory devices including memory circuits capable of writing, reading, and erasing data have been developed.
As examples of the semiconductor memory device, a semiconductor memory device including a transistor that is a memory element (also referred to as memory transistor) or an element formed using a ferroelectric material, and the like are given (see Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


An MPEG compression circuit records attached information (referred to as FF_PCK) at the initial address of a VOBU in which NV_PCK is to be recorded. NV_PCK is playback auxiliary information and is referred to when playing back moving images in DVD-Video format. Attached information (FF_PCK) has a data size equal to or larger than NV_PCK. FF_PCK is replaced by NV_PCK when converting MPEG2 data into DVD-Video data. As a result, it is not necessary to demultiplex and remultiplex moving image data and sound data so that data can be converted efficiently.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording method and a device which encode, split and multiplex moving image data and sound data associated with moving image data by predetermined sizes, and an image converting method and a device which convert multiplexed moving image data and sound data into playback data format in which playback auxiliary information is to be recorded.
2. Background Arts
MPEG2 (Moving Picture Experts Group Phase2) is widely used as a format to compress moving image data with sound data obtained by image recording devices such as a digital camera, a video camera, and the like. Referring to the upper portion of FIG. 7, moving image data V and sound data A, associated with the moving image data V, are independent data streams respectively. The moving image data V and the sound data A are encoded and multiplexed in MPEG2 format.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 11-296312 discloses a method to packetize compressively encoded sound data followed by compressively encoded moving image data, and record the packet data in a recording medium. Each packet data has the size of integer multiplication of fixed data block.
Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-24983, encoded data obtained by encoding moving image data is temporarily buffered until the encoded data has the size of certain units. At the same time, attached information related to the encoded data is also buffered. Buffered attached information is multiplexed in a predetermined area of the encoded data of certain units.
Processing (See the lower portion of FIG. 7) is carried out in order to convert compressed moving image data with sound data, which is compressed by MPEG2 format, into DVD (Digital Video/Versatile Disc)-Video format data. In other words, multiplexed moving image data V and sound data A in MPEG2 format are demultiplexed to form respective data streams again. Thereafter, the data streams are remultiplexed by inserting NV_CPK, which is playback auxiliary information unique to DVD-video format, at the initial address of a unit (VOBU, Video Object Unit) which includes the sound data A and the moving image data V.
When the MPEG2 format data is converted into the DVD-Video format data by the above-mentioned method, an additional area in a memory is necessary to temporarily buffer demultiplexed moving image data V and sound data A. Further, the above-mentioned method is inefficient since it requires additional time for remultiplexing the data streams. Therefore, the above-mentioned problems cannot be solved by the methods disclosed in Japanese patent laid-open publications No. 11-296312 and No. 2001-24983, since demultiplexing and remultiplexing processes cannot be omitted to form the DVD-Video format data.

Image recording method and device, and image converting method and device


A needle holder includes a shaft and a needle driver located at the distal end of the shaft. The needle driver is operable to rotate a needle such that the needle forms a non-perpendicular angle with a longitudinal axis of the shaft. In some versions, the needle driver includes a first arm and a rotatable assembly that is configured to longitudinally clamp about a portion of a needle. The rotatable assembly may include self-righting features to right the needle perpendicular to the first arm. The needle driver may further include a second arm that is pivotable relative to the first arm. The rotatable assembly may include a top member associated with the second arm and a bottom member associated with the first arm. In some versions, spring-loaded collets may secure the needle to a rotatable assembly. Alternatively, a pair of actuating arms may pivot the needle about a curved surface.

In some settings it may be desirable to perform a surgical procedure in a minimally invasive manner, such as through a trocar or other type of access cannula. Examples of trocars include the various ENDOPATH® EXCEL™ products by Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio. Such trocars may present different inner diameters, such as those ranging from approximately 4.7 mm to approximately 12.9 mm, allowing a surgeon to choose a particular trocar based on a balance of considerations such as access needs and incision size. In some minimally invasive surgical procedures, at least two trocars may be inserted through the abdominal wall of the patient. An imaging device such as an endoscope may be inserted through one of the trocars to provide visualization of the surgical site. A surgical instrument may be inserted through another one of the trocars to perform surgery at the site. In procedures performed within the abdominal cavity, the cavity may be insufflated with pressurized carbon dioxide to provide more room for visualization and manipulation of instruments. In some settings, additional trocars may be used to provide access for additional surgical instruments. Minimally invasive surgery may also be performed through access portals such as the Single Site Laparoscopy Access System by Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio, which provides ports for more than one surgical instrument through a single incision in a patient.
It may also be desirable to use sutures during some minimally invasive surgical procedures, such as to close an opening, to secure two layers of tissue together, to provide an anastomosis, etc. Such use of sutures may be in addition to or in lieu of using other devices and techniques such as clips, staples, electrosurgical sealing, etc. Performing suturing through trocars or other minimally invasive access ports may be more difficult than suturing in an open surgical procedure. For instance, manipulating a needle and suture with conventional tissue graspers through trocars may be relatively difficult for many surgeons. Thus, improved laparoscopic surgical instruments may make suturing procedures performed through trocars relatively easier. Examples of surgical instruments configured to facilitate suturing through trocars include the LAPRA-TY® Suture Clip Applier, the Suture Assistant, and the ENDOPATH® Needle Holder, all of which are by Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio. Needle holders may be used to grasp and maneuver a needle during suturing operations through the use of a fixed arm and a grasping arm that clamp about a needle. Thus, a user can grasp, maneuver, and release a needle between the fixed arm and grasping arm. In some versions, the holders may include a self-righting feature to rotate the needle into a position that is perpendicular to both the longitudinal axis of the needle holder and to the arm surfaces when clamped. Merely exemplary needle holders are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,583, entitled "Force Limiting Arrangement for Needle Holder for Endoscopic Surgery," issued May 9, 1995 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,587, entitled "Needle Holder with Suture Filament Grasping Abilities," issued Sep. 14, 1999, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein.
Exemplary suturing needles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,771, entitled "Radiused Tip Surgical Needles and Surgical Incision Members," issued May 2, 2000, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein; U.S. Pub. No. 2010/0100125, entitled "Suture Needle and Suture Assembly," published Apr. 22, 2010, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/413,680, entitled "Custom Needle for Suture Instrument," filed Nov. 15, 2010, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/295,186, entitled "Needle for Laparoscopic Suturing Instrument," filed on Nov. 14, 2011, published as U.S. Pub. No. 2012/012347 on May 17, 2012, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
While several systems and methods have been made and used for laparoscopic suturing devices, it is believed that no one prior to the inventors has made or used the invention described in the appended claims.
The drawings are not intended to be limiting in any way, and it is contemplated that various embodiments of the technology may be carried out in a variety of other ways, including those not necessarily depicted in the drawings. The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present technology, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the technology; it being understood, however, that this technology is not limited to the precise arrangements shown.


A sheet member discharge mechanism comprising an upper discharge roller and a lower discharge roller for conveying a sheet member in a predetermined direction while nipping it therebetween. A push-down member is disposed downstream of the nipping portion between the upper discharge roller and the lower discharge roller as viewed in a direction of conveying the sheet member, the push-down member being allowed to move between an ascended position and a descended position and is urged to the descended position. The push-down member is moved to the ascended position by the sheet member acting upon the push-down member while the sheet member is being conveyed by the upper discharge roller and the lower discharge roller that work in cooperation. The push-down member moves to the descended position to push down the trailing edge of the sheet member after the trailing edge of the sheet member has passed the nipping portion between the upper discharge roller and the lower discharge roller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet member discharge mechanism that can be applied to image-forming machines such as copiers, printers and facsimiles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In an image-forming machine such as a copier, a printer or a facsimile as is widely known, an image is formed on the sheet members which may be common papers, successively, and the sheet members are discharged onto a receiving member and are stacked thereon. At the end of the sheet member conveyer passage, there is disposed a sheet member discharge mechanism which includes an upper discharge roller and a lower discharge roller. The sheet member is conveyed in a predetermined direction being nipped between the upper discharge roller and the lower discharge roller, and is discharged onto a receiving means disposed under the sheet member discharge mechanism.
The sheet members discharged and stacked on the receiving means are, as required, corrected for their stacked state and, in many cases, are, further, conveyed through a predetermined conveyer passage. In particular, when the sheet members discharged and stacked on the receiving means are further conveyed through a predetermined passage, the receiving member constituting the receiving means is set to be as short as possible (to be slightly longer than, for example, a maximum length of the sheet member that is discharged) in the direction in which the sheet members are discharged from the standpoint of realizing the image-forming machine in a compact size. Besides, the upstream end of the receiving member is positioned under the lower discharge roller as viewed in the direction of discharge of the sheet members without separating the receiving member toward the downstream in the direction of discharge from the upper discharge roller or the lower discharge roller. According to this constitution, the trailing edge of the sheet member that has passed the nipping portion between the upper discharge roller and the lower discharge roller, must further move downward along the peripheral surface of the lower discharge roller to arrive at the upstream end of the receiving member located under the lower discharge roller. According to the conventional mechanism for conveying the sheet members, however, slipping occurs between the trailing edge of the sheet member and the peripheral surface of the lower discharge roller; i.e., the trailing end of sheet member fails to move along the peripheral surface of the lower discharge roller and tends to stay covering the upper peripheral surface of the lower discharge roller. Should that happen, the next sheet member is interrupted from being discharged and, besides, it becomes difficult to correct the stacked state of the discharged sheet members.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved sheet member discharge mechanism which is capable of reliably lowering the trailing edge of a sheet member down to an upstream end of a receiving member positioned under a lower discharge roller by moving the trailing edge of the sheet member along the peripheral surface of the lower discharge roller after the trailing edge of the sheet member has passed a nipping portion between an upper discharge roller and the lower discharge roller.
In order to accomplish the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a sheet member discharge mechanism comprising an upper discharge roller and a lower discharge roller for conveying a sheet member in a predetermined direction while nipping it therebetween; wherein
at least one push-down member is disposed downstream of the nipping portion between said upper discharge roller and said lower discharge roller as viewed in a direction of conveying the sheet member, said push-down member being allowed to move between an ascended position and a descended position and is urged to said descended position; and
said push-down member is moved to said ascended position by said sheet member acting upon said push-down member while the sheet member is being conveyed by said upper discharge roller and said lower discharge roller that work in cooperation, and said push-down member moves to said descended position to push down the trailing edge of the sheet member after the trailing edge of the sheet member has passed the nipping portion between said upper discharge roller and said lower discharge roller.
It is desired that said push-down member is extending toward the downstream being inclined downward from above the nipping portion between said upper discharge roller and said lower discharge roller down to below the nipping portion thereof at both said ascended position and said descended position.
Preferably, the lower surface of said push-down member includes an upstream portion and a downstream portion which extends toward the downstream being inclined downward at a predetermined bending angle xcex1which is from 10 to 30 degrees with respect to said upstream portion; when said push-down member is at said ascended position, said upstream portion on the lower surface of said push-down member extends toward the downstream being inclined downward at an inclination angle xcex21 of from 10 to 30 degrees, and said downstream portion extends toward the downstream being inclined downward at an inclination angle xcex31 of from 20 to 60 degrees; and when said push-down member is at said descended position, said upstream portion on the lower surface of said push-down member extends toward the downstream being inclined downward at an inclination angle xcex22 of from 30 to 50 degrees, and said downstream portion extends toward the downstream being inclined downward at an inclination angle xcex32 of from 40 to 80 degrees.
It is desired that when said push-down member is brought to said descended position, the tip of said push-down member is located at a position which is lower than a center axis of said lower discharge roller but is higher than the lowermost end of said lower discharge roller and when said push-down member is brought to said ascended position, the tip of said push-down member is located at a position lower than said nipping portion between said upper discharge roller and said lower discharge roller but is higher than the center axis of said lower discharge roller.
It is desired that said push-down member is urged to said descended position by its own weight.
The push-down member may have a rectangular shape and can be formed of a synthetic resin plate.
Plural ribs can be formed on at least the upstream portion on the lower surface of said push-down member, the plural ribs extending in the direction of conveying the sheet member maintaining a distance in the direction of width.
It is desired that the push-down member is mounted to swing about a center axis thereof which is substantially in agreement with the center axis of said upper discharge roller.
Desirably, when said push-down member is brought to said descended position, the lower surface of said push-down member comes in contact with the lower discharge roller, whereby said push-down member is prevented from swinging in excess of said descended position.
The push-down member can be arranged in a plural number maintaining a distance in the direction of width.


The invention comprises an apparatus and method for high pressure treatment of wastes without the addition of excess oxygen and without interference by corrosive deposits. Waste materials are suspended or dissolved in a processing fluid. The pressure of the fluid is raised to a pressure in the range of from about 70 psig to about 5,000 psig. A boiler is then used to heat the high pressure fluid to temperatures above the critical temperature. Solids within the boiler participate in fluidized bed particle scrubbing technology in order to minimize the fouling and corrosion occurring within the boilers during heating. From at least a portion of the vapors produced by the heating in the boiler, net energy output is produced. Useful byproducts can be produced from the vapors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a waste treatment system wherein fluidized bed particle scrubbing technology is used for high pressure treatment of wastes. More particularly, the present invention relates to high pressure treatment of wastes without the addition of excess oxygen and without interference by corrosive deposits.
2. Background of the Invention
The oxidation of organic materials to carbon dioxide and water is a combustion process often used to dispose of waste materials in boilers and incinerators to generate useful energy for heating and power generation. In the conventional generation of steam, organic materials are oxidized rapidly in combustion to produce heat that is transferred through a heat transfer surface to pressurized water. Twenty percent of the heating value of the fuel may be lost in the exhaust stack of conventional steam boilers. Over fifty percent of the ability of the fuel to perform useful work, such as for electric power generation, is lost in conventional low pressure steam boilers. The ability of the fuel to perform useful work is referred to as availability or exergy. Exergy has the formula e.sub.x =h.sub.1 -h.sub.2 -T.sub.0 (s.sub.1 -s.sub.2), wherein h.sub.1 and h.sub.2 are the enthalpy of a stream entering and leaving a control surface respectively, s.sub.1 and s.sub.2 are the corresponding entropies, and T.sub.0 is the absolute ambient temperature. Exergy is an analytical tool for optimizing energy.
Exergy analysis indicates that exergy loss is proportional to the heat transferred and the temperature difference across the heat transfer surface. Exergy loss is also caused by excess air and water in the fuel that must be evaporated during combustion at atmospheric pressure.
Heat transfer through surfaces of conventional steam boilers causes loss of availability and often requires the use of specialized materials for exposure to high flame temperatures. On the flame or hot gas side of the tubes, ash or other deposits often impede heat flow and reduce heat transfer. Hot spots due to deposition on boiler tubes can cause expensive downtime due to rupture of the tube wall. Heat recovery boilers designed for refuse incinerators are typically lower in electrical output in waste-to-energy cogeneration systems for production of heat and power.
Combustion processes are characterized by emission of inorganic materials in the flue gases as fine particulate, fly ash, and acid gas pollutants, such as SO.sub.2, HCl, CO.sub.2 and nitrous oxides (NOX). These "greenhouse gases" can contribute to global warming and acid rain. Acid gases can be removed from flue gases using modern pollution controls, such as dry scrubbing, selective catalytic reduction (SCR), and Benfield processes, known in the art today. Capital costs are high because the acid gases are diluted by other products of combustion, including nitrogen and water vapor.
Products of incomplete combustion (PICS), such as CO and hydrocarbons, dioxins, and furans, require a combination of excess oxygen, time, temperature, and turbulence to minimize air quality impacts. Two-stage combustion has been used to help control emissions of NOX and PICS, such as controlled-air incinerators. A quantity of air below that required for complete combustion is used to pyrolyze the fuel to produce combustible gases that are subsequently burned with excess secondary air. This method, however, still does not assure compliance with air quality control regulations.
Fluidized bed combustion has been developed to reduce acid gas emissions through the use of absorbents such as limestone within the bed. Another benefit of fluidized bed combustion is enhanced heat transfer to external boiler tube surfaces caused by impingement of solids, where erosion of the tube surface can be minimized by proper design. However, with the fluidized bed combustion used in the prior art, the inside surfaces of the boiler tubes are not protected from fouling and corrosion. Only the outer surfaces are protected.
Additionally, in conventional boilers, boiler feedwater is filtered and cleaned to extremely low levels of contaminants to avoid deposition and corrosion of internal surfaces of the boiler tubes.
More stringent regulations have tightened limits on pollutants in the flue gas and water pollutants carried out of the boiler feedwater treatment system or in the blowdown that is used to remove contaminants from a boiler. Ash that is produced from the combustion or gasification of dirty fuels is conventionally separated into fly ash and bottom ash that can require separate testing and disposal using expensive ash treatment and/or expensive specialized lined and monitored landfills.
A gas turbine for burning clean fuels can be combined with a heat recovery boiler and steam turbine in a combined cycle system. Pressurized combustion and lower temperature differences across heat transfer surfaces help to minimize exergy losses and fireside boiler problems. A gas turbine is used to drive a generator and a compressor that supplies air to the combustion chamber. Air is typically supplied at over twice the stoichiometric flow rate necessary for complete combustion of the fuel to control turbine inlet temperature. Compression of this excess air leads to exergy loss.
Capacity of the system is limited by compressor inlet pressure at altitude. For example, a typical gas turbine compressor produces about 25% less flow and about 25% less pressure at 7,000 ft elevation than at sea level. The turbine produces more useful work when operated at a turbine inlet temperature above about 2,000.degree. F., but this tends to produce NOX. Steam or water injection is sometimes used to control NOX formation to below about 50 parts per million by volume (ppmv). Steam injection above that required for NOX control has been found to increase efficiency and the output of useful work from a gas turbine if fuel is added to achieve the same turbine inlet temperature such as in the dual fluid cycle.
Corrosion, erosion, and deposition are problems in steam turbines that are conventionally used to produce useful work from untreated water by isentropic expansion, such as in geothermal energy recovery. Turbine inefficiencies and non-ideal gas behavior in isentropic expansion generally cause a loss of useful work in these systems. Gas turbines have the same problems when using dirty fuels at high temperatures that may contain chlorine, sulfur, and alkali metals. Modern materials such as superalloys and resistant coatings have helped to solve these problems in petrochemical and oil refining applications at temperatures up to about 760.degree. C. (1,400.degree. F.), such as in fluid cat cracker power recovery.
In one known process for treating waste organic materials, i.e. the wet air oxidation process described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,296, an organic feed and oxidizing agent are pressurized to reaction condition of from about 800 to 2,200 psig, heated to operating temperature and fed to a reactor for residence times of 30 min. to 1 hour. This process is known to be effective for removing 70-95% of the initial organic material. This system is effective for organic waste treatment but has certain disadvantages. Air compression consumes exergy and increases equipment usage. Often the solubility of oxygen or air in water is below the level required for complete oxidation of the organic materials. Thus, a two-phase water-gas mixture is often used in staged reactors, necessitating provisions for agitation in the reactor to avoid excessive mass transfer resistance between the phases. Often volatile organics such as acetic acid remain after complete processing. The energy available for recovery in the effluent requires separation of liquids and gasses. This technology is a net consumer of energy, as determined by Stone & Stone Webster in DOE/ID-127111-1 (September 1989).
It has long been known that an increase in the speed and efficiency of oxidation of organic substances can be induced by subjecting the substances and oxygen to greatly increased pressure and temperature conditions. Hydraulic columns have been used to create the desired pressure conditions, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,594,164 and 4,564,458, up to, and including, the supercritical conditions of water. The critical point is the point of temperature and pressure at which the phase barrier between water and vapor no longer exists. This condition begins to occur at a pressure of 3207 psi and 706.degree. F. Gasses, such as oxygen are fully miscible in all proportions and most inorganic salts are virtually insoluble. Under these conditions, water becomes an excellent solvent for organic substances. These organic columns can reach this pressure easily at depth but additionally heat must be generated and/or added at the location of critical pressure to simultaneously reach critical temperature.
It is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,164 that the required heat for starting to treat waste within the hydraulic column can be added by burning a supplementary fuel such as propane with oxygen that is compressed for introduction to the critical zone of the column or by preheating all of the fluids in the reactor. Thereafter the reaction can be self-sustaining by transferring the heat of oxidation of organic material to the waste feed stream. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,458, it is taught that the required heat can be generated by resistive heating using direct current electrical energy. Unfortunately, this wastes exergy.
Gasses can come out of solution as the effluent rises within the hydraulic column, causing two-phase flow that can induce "geysering" and surges that are difficult to control The inorganic salts that become insoluble at supercritical conditions in hydraulic columns can dissolve as the effluent rises and pressure is reduced. This stream may require subsequent treatment to remove these salts for recovery of clean water or disposal in accordance with the Clean Water Act. Carbonates can cause scaling problems that inhibit heat transfer and require nitric acid wash for removal.
Hydraulic columns reduce the energy required for pumping the waste by lowering injection pressure to the pressure required to overcome pressure drop in the apparatus and to provide pressurized effluent. Heat is usually transferred from the effluent stream to the incoming waste stream, producing a low temperature effluent stream. The energy available for recovery is generally very small in the effluent from hydraulic column treatment of wastes, thus making this method a net consumer of energy.
Supercritical conditions can be achieved in aboveground apparatus, as proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,338,199 and 4,453,190. A key feature is that a single fluid phase reaction occurs in the oxidizer at supercritical conditions of the reaction mixture and preferably at the near critical condition of water. Excess oxygen is added to drive the oxidation reactions to completion quickly, thus providing shorter residence time. However, excess oxygen requires the use of specialized materials to avoid excessive corrosion of reactor surfaces.
Several groups have been investigating destruction of hazardous wastes in supercritical water. Because of the high solubility of organics and the low solubility of inorganics in supercritical water, hazardous wastes can be treated and inorganic contaminants removed upon treatment with supercritical water. Most applications have relied upon introducing oxygen to the supercritical reactor to oxidize the organics and to provide the heat required to reach supercritical conditions (374.degree. C., 221 bar). However, several problems have developed from the use of excess oxygen in the system. For example, the excess oxygen causes severe corrosion and requires high energy costs for compression. Additionally, the inorganics are removed as a brine slurry that requires supplemental treatment for discharge. Further, the processing of wastes in supercritical water results in problems of corrosive deposits on the reactor walls.
High pressure boilers, such as are conventionally used in the supercritical steam cycle, produce vapor at about 3,500 psig and 1,000.degree. F. that can produce more useful work. However, saturation is reached by one turbine-generator stage, requiring reheat in the combustion zone of the boiler for additional production of useful work. A conventional supercritical steam plant may have two reheat stages and has a thermal efficiency (to electric power) of about forty percent.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,190, the mixture is reacted in a single fluid phase in a well-insulated reactor to cause the organic material to be oxidized whereby the effluent stream is heated by the oxidation reactions. The heated effluent can be used to provide heat to the reaction mixture through a heat exchange wall surface. Direct mixing is preferred since it enables reaching 706.degree. F. or higher rapidly, i.e., substantially instantaneously, thus avoiding char-forming polymerization that can interfere with heat transfer to the incoming waste stream or incoming oxygen/water mixture.
When acid anions are formed by oxidation of waste materials, the anions can be reacted with appropriate cations, such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, iron or calcium ions, and the resulting inorganic salts are precipitated under reaction conditions. The cations can be provided from their carbonates, hydroxides or oxides. However, carbonate formation interferes with the anion/cation reactions. For this reason, NaOH has been used to react with HCL produced by supercritical water oxidation of chlorinated hydrocarbons to produce NaCl for removal.
The oxidizer can be designed as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,497 to allow solids and inorganics that precipitate to be separated into a cooling zone for temperature reduction below critical temperature, thus causing the precipitate to dissolve and be readily removed in a brine or slurry for blowdown. However, this stream may require subsequent treatment to remove these slats and solids for production of clean water or disposal in accordance with the Clean Water Act.
Net energy output is restricted by the power requirement of the oxidant compressor that delivers excess oxygen at over 3,207 psia to fully oxidize the organic material and to minimize carbon monoxide in the effluent. The net energy output is further restricted by high power input to the feed pump that delivers sufficient overpressure to power the recycle pump. These processes are net consumers of energy, as determined by Stone & Webster in DOE/ID-12711-1 (September 1989).
It has been suggested that toxic organic materials can be gasified or reformed at the supercritical conditions of water to harmless lower molecular weight materials by breakdown of organic chains and the like whereby the resulting non-toxic materials can be disposed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,446 proposes that solid and liquid organic materials can be converted to high BTU gas with little or no undesirable char formation by reaction with water at or above its critical conditions, including the addition of catalysts. However, the conversion to char or coke is undesirably increased as the reaction temperature approaches the critical temperature of water for certain liquid and solid organic materials, regardless of pressure. This char or coke interferes with the heat transfer required to raise the reaction mixture to supercritical conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,446 claims an unexpected conversion to high BTU gas occurs above the critical temperature and pressure of water, and that endothermic steam-carbon and exothermic methanation reactions occur concomitantly, so that "very little" heat need be added to the process from external sources. However, the experimental data in U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,446 does not support this claim. Examples in support of this are herein presented.
Two examples are provided which illustrate that addition of "very little" heat as disclosed in Modell is not supported. In a computer simulation, methane and water gas shift equilibrium was assumed. What was found was that significant heat is predicted for devolatilization of organics and heating the water that is not provided by heat of formation of methane. The endothermic heat for devolatilization adds to the heat required to bring water to supercritical conditions. The results of the computer simulation showing that Modell has no support follow.
In the examples, each number represents a particular stream within the simulated waste treatment cycle. The simulated cycle is illustrated in FIG. 1.
______________________________________ MASS FLOW- PRES- RATE, LB SURE, TEMP., STREAM MOL/HR BHP PSIA F. ______________________________________ 1 10,000 15 65.5 2 10,000 3,500 65.5 3 9,800 3,450 1,025 4 9,800 190 378 5 9,530 190 370 6 1,096 190 60 7 30,958 11.1 60 8 41,610 189 1,850 9 41,618 11.6 857 10 41,830 11.4 1,075 11 41,830 11.1 300 12 -57,232 (NET) 13 -1,075 14 139,270 NET POWER OUTPUT 80,980 EFFICIENCY 39.4% (TO ELECTRIC POWER) ______________________________________
______________________________________ MASS FLOW- PRES- RATE, LB SURE, TEMP., STREAM MOL/HR(LB/HR) BHP PSIA F. ______________________________________ 1 (218,000)* 15 63.4 2 (218,000)* 3,500 63.4 3 10,900 3,450 1,150 4 10,900 130 386 5 10,900 130 386 6 0 7 31,190 11.1 60 8 41,750 129 1,890 9 41,750 11.6 995 10 41,970 11.4 1,220 11 41,970 11.1 300 12 -34,960 (NET) 13 -1,072 14 128,346 NET POWER OUTPUT 92,205 EFFICIENCY 43.6% (TO ELECTRIC POWER) ______________________________________ *This flowrate includes 180,000 lb/hr of water and 38,000 lb/hr of waste "coal," having the following composition: Carbon 66.7% Oxygen 7.6% Hydrogen 4.6% Sulfur 0.5%

Waste treatment system and method utilizing pressurized fluid


A new approach is described for scheduling uplink or downlink transmissions in a network having remote terminals communicating with a central hub. The scheduler keeps track of a token count. The token count for a given remote terminal is incremented by a target amount in each pertinent timeslot, but is also decremented each time that the remote terminal is served. The amount of the decrement for one timeslot is the amount of data served, i.e., transmitted to or from the remote terminal, in that timeslot. In exemplary embodiments of the invention, the target amount by which T is incremented depends on the current value of T. Whenever the token count is non-negative (i.e., whenever it has a positive or zero value), the target amount is a desired floor, or lower limit, on an average amount of data delivered to or from the given remote terminal in one timeslot. Whenever the token count is negative, the target amount is a desired ceiling, or upper limit, on the same average amount of data delivered. In each timeslot, each remote terminal is assigned a weight proportional to a product of at least two factors: a function relating the individual remote terminal to overall network performance, and at least one increasing function of the token count. Each time a scheduling decision is made, the scheduler selects for service that remote terminal having the highest weight.

Many communication networks include an arrangement in which a centralized node, or "hub," communicates with a group of non-centralized terminals, which are here referred to as "remote terminals." If the remote terminals communicate with the hub over a common channel, it is possible for the communications between one remote terminal and the hub to interfere with communications between other remote terminals and the hub. To prevent such interference, it is often desirable to employ the techniques of time-division multiplexing. According to such techniques, each remote terminal has an assigned timeslot during which it may communicate with the hub by sending or receiving transmissions without interference from competing remote terminals within the group.
In some fields, the process of determining which remote terminal should be assigned a given timeslot is referred to as "scheduling." That terminology will be adopted here. Similarly, an entity, typically resident at the hub, that makes the scheduling determination for each timeslot will be referred to here as a "scheduler."
The simplest form of scheduling is "round robin" scheduling, in which the remote terminals are scheduled in a fixed order, and typically for equal durations. The scheduler repeatedly cycles through the remote terminals in the fixed order.
Although useful, round robin scheduling suffers from certain drawbacks. One such drawback is conveniently described with reference to the specific case of forward, or "downlink," transmissions from a base station to mobile stations of a cellular network.
The maximum rate at which a mobile station can receive data from the base station, without exceeding a given error rate, is limited by interference and noise, and by the received signal strength at the current location of the mobile station. Typically, the ratio of signal strength to the combined noise and interference, often referred to as the "signal to interference plus noise ratio" SINR, is greatest near the center of a cell and lowest near the margins of the cell. The SINR also fluctuates over time.
At any given time, then, some mobile stations will be able to receive data at higher rates than others. By favoring those mobile stations having the highest SINR for receiving downlink transmissions, the scheduler can drive up the throughput of the system; i.e., the long-term average amount of downlink data transmitted per unit time.
If, for example, the revenue collected by the network operator depends upon throughput, it is desirable to drive the throughput as high as possible. However, a scheduler that always favors those mobiles having the highest SINR will tend to deny service to mobiles having low SINR. As a consequence, users will experience intolerable service interruptions, and will be dissatisfied.
Those skilled in the art have recognized the need to balance throughput against "fairness;" i.e., against the need to assure that service to each mobile station, or other remote terminal, is scheduled often enough to satisfy all of the users.
This necessity is discussed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,229,795, which issued on May 8, 2001 to R. Pankaj et al. (the '795 patent). The '795 patent describes a cellular system for high-rate packet-data transmission, in which the downlink has a variable rate of data transmission. The scheduling of individual remote terminals is based on a weight assigned to each remote terminal. At the base station, a scheduler uses these weights to make scheduling decisions. A scheduling algorithm is used that aims to balance the competing objectives of throughput and fairness.
According to that algorithm described in the '795 patent, a threshold is computed by averaging the instantaneous downlink data-transmission rates for all mobile stations that have queued data waiting at the base station. If the instantaneous transmission rate for a given mobile station exceeds the threshold, the weight for that mobile station is incremented by a step. If the instantaneous transmission rate for that mobile station falls below the threshold, the corresponding weight is incremented by a larger step.
Another algorithm, which also seeks to balance throughput against fairness, is the well-known Proportional Fair Scheduling algorithm. Proportional Fair scheduling is discussed, for example, in A. Jalali, et al., "Data Throughput of CDMA-HDR, a High Efficiency Data Rate Personal Communication Wireless System," Proc. Vehicular Technology Conference VTC 2000, IEEE (2000) 1854-1858.
In Proportional Fair scheduling, the scheduler keeps track of two values, in particular, for each remote terminal: DRC and R. On the downlink of a wireless network, for example, each remote terminal will estimate its SINR for the next timeslot, and on that basis will select a rate for transmission of downlink data from the base station. The selection will typically be the highest available rate consistent with a specified frame error rate, or other such error rate. The transmission rate requested by a given remote terminal in a given timeslot is DRC.
The second value, R, is the rate at which a given remote terminal has received data from the base station, or other hub, as averaged by an appropriate procedure such as exponentially weighted averaging using a desired time constant.
In each timeslot n, the Proportional Fair scheduler will serve that remote terminal for which the ratio
  DRC  Ris greatest. Thus, each remote terminal tends to receive service in those timeslots where its requested rate is highest—not in an absolute sense, but, rather, highest relative to the average rate at which that particular remote terminal has been receiving data in the recent past. Because that average rate will be small for underserved remote terminals, even a remote terminal with a poor channel will eventually be served. That is, the average rates are dynamic quantities, and they will converge toward a condition in which each remote terminal is served reasonably often.
In addition to achieving a balance between throughput and fairness, the Proportional Fair algorithm is attractive because it can be mathematically demonstrated that the long-term throughput achieved using that algorithm, over all remote terminals, satisfies an optimality condition.
However, the Proportional Fair algorithm, among others, does not place any floor or ceiling on the amount of service that a given remote terminal will receive. There remains a need for algorithms that can impose such floors or ceilings, so that, for example, users can contract for different guaranteed levels of service. In particular, there is a need for an efficient scheduling algorithm that seeks to optimize performance according to some measure subject to the imposition of floors, or of floors and ceilings, on the average rates of service to individual terminals.

Method for scheduling wireless downlink transmissions subject to rate constraints


A self contained window cleaning implement, the window cleaning implement including an elongated handle member, a squeegee member located on one end of the elongated handle member, a spray nozzle for dispensing a spray, the spray nozzle being located on the one end of the elongated handle member adjacent the squeegee member, the squeegee member extending at an oblique angle outward and downward from the elongated handle member, and the spray apparatus being located above the squeegee member, a reservoir for holding a supply of a cleaning fluid, the reservoir being attached to the other end of the elongated handle member opposite the one end of the handle member, a tube extending from the reservoir to the spray nozzle for transferring the cleaning fluid from the reservoir to the spray nozzle, and a manually actuable pump apparatus for forcing the cleaning fluid from the reservoir, through the tube, and to the spray nozzle, the manually actuable pump apparatus being located on the other end of the elongated handle member, and the manually actuable pump apparatus including a digitally depressible trigger member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of window cleaning tools.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,275 relates to an extended window cleaning tool having preferably a pair of squeegee blades and an abrasive pad positioned therebetween. The abrasive pad can be shifted outward beyond the squeegee blades by a bladder that also supplies a cleaning solution to the pad. The bladder is supplied solution from a separate pressurized reservoir.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,945 relates to a window cleaning device that is particularly adapted for motorists, and which includes a plastic bottle having both a sponge and a squeegee extending along the length of the bottle, a cleaning solution from the bottle being supplied to the sponge through a small valve in the sidewall of the bottle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,017 discloses a now popular type of automotive window cleaning implement having a short wooden handle, on one end of which there is provided both a squeegee and a sponge element which extend from the handle in opposite directions. The durability of the sponge element is said to be improved by covering it with a net that is interposed between the sponge element and the handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,825 relates to a handle mounted squeegee having a liquid retentive pad resiliently mounted to the squeegee.
U.S. Pat. Des. No. 305,868 shows a design for a combined spray pump dispenser and squeegee for cleaning windshields.

Self contained window cleaning implement


A cryogenic biological preservation unit having a removable lid and an integrated cryocooler positioned apart from, or within a fixed portion of, the lid and which provides refrigeration to the upper portion of the interior of the unit which also contains a pool of liquid cryogen and at least one biological sample preferably positioned above the pool of liquid cryogen.

There is a growing trend toward cryogenic storage of biological samples at temperatures below 140K. This trend is driven by the fact that little to no sample degradation occurs below the sample glass transition temperature which is about 140K. Conventional cryogenic biological sample preservation units that store biological samples at temperatures below 140K use liquid cryogen, such as liquid nitrogen, to keep the biological samples cold. These units typically store the samples within a vacuum insulated space above a pool of liquid cryogen or immersed within the pool of liquid cryogen. The liquid cryogen needs to be periodically replenished. This is costly, not only because of the cost of the cryogen, but also because of the complicated procedures required to handle the liquid cryogen.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An integrated circuit device and device parameter characterization method are provided. The integrated circuit device has a padset with plurality of pads. The integrated circuit device also includes one or more arrays of devices under test, each of the one or more arrays disposed between two of the plurality of pads. The integrated circuit device further includes one or more n-bit decoders, each disposed between two of the plurality of pads and electrically coupled to a corresponding one of the one or more arrays. Each n-bit decoder comprises one or more outputs that deliver a defined voltage to each device under test in the corresponding one of the one or more arrays of devices under test. The integrated circuit device and corresponding electrical connections are implemented in a single level of metal.

As CMOS technology is scaled into the deep sub-100 nm regime, random variability of important device parameters is becoming of increasing concern. Variation of threshold voltage (Vt) of small static random access memory (SRAM) field effect transistors (FETs) is a prime example of such a concern since at the 45 nm technology node the standard deviation can exceed 50 mV. Metal to silicon contacts provide another example in which the mean and the variance of the contact resistance R(CA) are both becoming significant on the scale of the switching resistance of representative logic gates. Both the mean values and variances of important technology parameters must be characterized on a regular basis throughout the life cycle of a technology. The most straightforward way of accomplishing such characterizations is to measure a large enough number of nominally identical test structures to obtain mean values and variances to an adequate level of confidence.
Using FET characterization as an example, there are presently two common approaches for acquiring data on large numbers of FETs. The first is a brute force, single metal level (M1), approach in which, for example, 14-20 FETs are wired up in a single minimum sized 1×25 padset macro, which is then repeated multiple times. This approach is extremely inefficient from a real estate perspective. Further, the spatial extent of the collection of FETs is several millimeters, and care must be taken to subtract out any spatial variations that may be convolved with the statistical variations under study. Advantageously, in this approach the FETs can be unambiguously and individually measured and characterized with no voltage or current corrections required.
The second approach utilizes a large addressable array, typically measurable at fourth metal level (M4) or above. See, for example, T. Mizuno et al., "Experimental Study of Threshold Voltage Fluctuations Using an 8 k MOSFET Array," Symp. VLSI Tech. Digest, p. 41 (1993); U. Schaper et al., Parameter Variation on Chip Level," Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Microelectronics Test Structures, pp. 155-158 (2005); and K. Agarwal et al., "A Test Structure for Characterizing Local Device Mismatches," Symp. VLSI Tech., pp. 82-83 (2006). There may be several tens of thousands of FETs or more in a single macro. These designs are often single port, although multiport versions also exist. Test times tend to be long and voltage drop corrections due to series resistance and current corrections due to parallel leakage paths must be carefully made and ultimately limit the accuracy of the measurements and/or the range of current/voltage (IV) space over which accurate measurements can be made.
Wiring up an addressable array typically requires many low to moderately low resistance wiring tracks in both X and Y directions. An entire test chip of approximately 32 mm×25 mm in size has been demonstrated, using only M1, with such arrays in a two dimensional configuration (of order 100), where each array contained about 300 devices under test (DUTs). See K. Y. Doong et al., "Field-Configurable Test Structure Array (FC-TSA): Enabling Design for Monitor, Model and Manufacturability," Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Microelectronics Tests Structures, pp. 98-103 (2006). Crossovers are wired with relatively high resistance silicided polysilicon (PC) or diffusion (RX) areas. A large area for this design was required to wire everything up in an acceptably low resistance fashion and the arrays were not of a form factor that would allow easy placement in the scribe line (kerf) of a product chip.

M1 testable addressable array for device parameter characterization

International Business Machines Corporation


A riveting structure includes a first workpiece defining a first fixing hole, a second workpiece defining a second fixing hole, a first riveting member and a second riveting member. The first riveting member includes a first head portion and a first riveting portion, the first riveting member defines a riveting hole on the first riveting portion, the first riveting portion extends into the second fixing hole and the first fixing hole. The second riveting member includes a second head portion and a second riveting portion. The second riveting portion extends into the riveting hole of the first riveting member in an interference fit, such that the first workpiece and the second workpiece are fixed together, a receiving chamber is formed between the second head portion and the first riveting portion. The present invention further discloses a riveting method thereof.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a fastening structure, and more particularly, to a riveting structure and a riveting method for combining two workpieces.
2. Description of Related Art
A riveting assembly may include a rivet sleeve and rivet core. The rivet sleeve includes a main body and a resisting portion connected to an end of the main body. The rivet sleeve axially defines a receiving hole passing through the main body and the resisting portion. The rivet core includes a pulling rod and lock end connected to an end of the pulling rod. When in use, the main body of the rivet sleeve passes through two workpieces, and the resisting portion resists on one workpiece. Then the pulling rod of rivet core passes through the receiving hole of the rivet sleeve toward the resisting portion. Operator uses a hand riveter to pull the pulling rod, and the lock end extends into the receiving hole, then an end of the pulling rod breaks, a flared portion is formed on the end of the main body opposite to the resisting portion by the lock end, such that two workpieces are fixed together by the flared portion and the resisting portion. However, containments and pollutants are produced on an outer surface of the rivet sleeve, such that it is difficult for the workpieces to obtain a very smooth finish. Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.

Riveting structure and riveting method for combining two workpieces

Fu Tai Hua Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.


The present disclosure discloses a backlight self-adaptive adjustment method, including: acquiring a frame of picture every preset time interval when in video mode; judging whether the first picture satisfies a preset backlight self-adaptive adjustment condition, according to the brightness difference value between a first picture currently acquired and a second picture acquired within the current preset time period, and the amount of white pixels of the first picture; acquiring the brightness value of a pixel in a third picture captured from current ambient by a camera, when the first picture satisfies the preset backlight self-adaptive adjustment condition; setting the backlight value of the display video window area of the display screen based on the brightness value of the pixel in the third picture. The disclosure also discloses a backlight self-adaptive adjustment device.

With the rapid development of smart liquid crystal display equipment technology, it is very convenient to watch programs and make video calls by using a smart liquid crystal display apparatus. For example, make a video call to B smart liquid crystal display equipment through A liquid crystal display device; or, make a video call to A smart liquid crystal display device through C mobile terminal. However, when a smart liquid crystal display device receives high-brightness video pictures for a long time, it will not only hurt user's eyes, but also make the liquid crystal display screen of the smart liquid crystal display device prone to generate display degradation at the position of the video window, thus reducing the display life of the liquid crystal display screen.
Although the smart liquid crystal display device in prior art has the function of automatically adjusting the backlight brightness, it only self-adaptively adjusts the screen brightness according to ambient brightness to achieve a better display effect, and cannot solve the above-mentioned problems that when the smart liquid crystal display device receives high-brightness video pictures for a long time, it damages user's eyes and makes the liquid crystal display screen prone to degrade at the position where the video window is displayed.

Backlight self-adaptive adjustment method and device


A header for a harvesting machine. The header includes at least two row dividers spaced from one another in a transversal direction and at a predetermined distance, at least one roller, a driving for driving the roller comprising multiple projections, at least two base cutting discs, a driver for driving the at least two base cutting discs, one roller positioned behind the at least two base cutting discs to raise the cut plants, and at least one conveyor roller positioned above the said roller to raise plants, to transport the cut plants to the inside of a harvesting machine. The at least one roller includes multiple projections to collect and direct the plants downwards and towards the opening. The foregoing elements form an assembly mounted on a structure that may be connected to a harvesting machine.

There are known harvesting machines for various types of crops, such as sugarcane harvesting machines, grain-harvesting machines and forage harvesters. The purpose of such machines, in general, is to enhance the harvesting productivity of vegetable crops such as, without limitation, crops of sugarcane, sweet sorghum, wheat, soy, corn, etc.
In the case of tall and stalky plants, such as in the case of sugarcane, energy cane and sweet sorghum, the harvesters are machines designed to harvest this specific type of crop, due to their intrinsic characteristics. Therefore, the harvesting machine generally presents a fixed opening to receive and harvest the crop rows, that are generally spaced from one another at relatively fixed and predetermined distances of 0.9 m or 1.5 m, or yet machines intended to harvest two simultaneous rows within these spacing. Optionally, the machine for harvesting these types of crops may also present a variable opening, to harvest optionally one or two rows of crop with spacing of 0.9 m or 1.5 m between one another, or rows of crop with alternate spacing of 0.9 m and 1.5 m. One solution proposed for a sugarcane harvester with adjustment of the opening to harvest crops having different spacing is disclosed, for example, in publication WO 2014/026255, incorporated herein as a reference.
In turn, the grain harvesting machines generally have a configuration that allows the harvesting of various types of grains, wherein a header is attached to the front portion of the machine, depending on the crop to be harvested, such as wheat, soy, corn, rice, etc.
The forage harvesters, in turn, are machines intended to harvest and thresh a given crop for forage, such as hay.
The cultivation of sugarcane and sweet sorghum is undergoing a great evolution, both in terms of the development of new varieties of plants, and in terms of different planting configurations, always with a view to increase productivity, both with regard the quantity of tons harvested by hectare and with relation to the amount of ethanol and/or sugar produced per harvested ton. Additionally, there are also being developed applications for the generation of energy from the biomass of sugarcane or sweet sorghum wherein, differently from the production of ethanol and sugar, not only the part of the stalk of the plant is used, but also the foliage, and eventually the inflorescence. Sugarcane varieties intended for the production of energy, commonly designated as energy cane, are also being developed, in which it is sought to increase the quantity of fibers and reduce the amount of sucrose concentrated in the plant.
The problem is that the harvesters of sugarcane and sweet sorghum are sensitive to the planting rows, that is, they can only harvest the crop if the same is planted in determined planting rows, such as planting rows spaced by 0.9 m or 1.5 m or lines alternately spaced by 0.9 m and 1.5 m. If the crop is intended for the generation of biomass, the planting in rows may not be necessary, that is, the planting may be made randomly and in that sense, the sugarcane and sweet sorghum harvesting machines cannot be used.
One might replace the sugarcane and sweet sorghum harvesting machines with forage harvesters. However, forage harvesters also do not show efficiency for harvesting stalky and tall plants, such as the sugarcane and the sweet sorghum, aiming at the generation of energy from biomass, since they use a system that, almost immediately after the cutting of the plant, chops the harvested crop. This action of chopping, or cutting in small pieces, is disadvantageous in the case of stalky and tall plants, since it causes the plant to lose much of its mass, including its juices, into the environment, and thus an important part of the biomass that might be used for the production of energy is also lost.
In order to attempt to sidestep this inconvenience, publication US 2014/0174048, of W. T. Lawson et al., discloses a biomass harvesting system that consists, basically, in a sugarcane harvester that can be adapted by withdrawing the base cutting discs and other elements from the front part of the machine and installing a rollers device, in order to be able to receive the header of a forage harvester, for example to harvest a crop, such as a sugarcane or sweet sorghum crop, that were planted without a specific pattern of planting rows. This solution solves the problem, on one hand, of harvesting stalky and tall plants without a specific planting pattern, and on the other hand, of replacing the forage harvester in the harvest of such crop, avoiding the loss of a part of the harvested biomass, and thus taking maximum advantage of the crop.
The problem is that if a farmer wishes to alternate the crops, for example, due to seasonal or market factors, it is necessary to disassemble the sugarcane harvesting machine to insert the rollers device and assemble the header of a forage harvester, and in the opposite case, withdraw the forage header and the rollers device and reassemble the parts that make up the original sugarcane harvester.
Therefore, the flexibility for the destination of the crop is limited by the machines available in the market, or if one intends to achieve such flexibility, it is necessary to have at least two types of machines for different applications, or to realize constant alterations in the existing machines, which requires time and specialized manpower, the latter not always available in remote planting areas.
It is desirable, therefore, that the sugarcane harvesting machines have a greater flexibility to harvest crops having different planting spacing. It is also desirable that the producer may enjoy flexibility in the destination of the planted crop, either for the production of sugar and ethanol, or for the generation of biomass.
It is also desirable that the farmer have flexibility to harvest a crop planted in different planting rows or a crop planted without any pattern of planting rows.


The present invention relates to a process for producing (±)-3a,6,6,9a-tetramethyl dodecahydronaphtho[2,1-b]furans from crude (±)-3a,6,6,9a-tetramethyl dodecahydronaphtho[2,1-b]furans obtained by subjecting (±)-3a,6,6,9a-tetramethyl dodecahydronaphtho[2,1-b]furan-2(1H)-ones which are produced by cyclizing a homofarnesylic acid amide or a monocyclohomofarnesylic acid amide in the presence of an acid agent and then hydrolyzing the cyclized product, to reduction reaction and then to cyclization reaction, said process including (i) an alkali treatment step in which the crude (±)-3a,6,6,9a-tetramethyl dodecahydronaphtho[2,1-b]furans are heated in the presence of an alcohol and a metal hydroxide; and (ii) a washing treatment step in which the crude (±)-3a,6,6,9a-tetramethyl dodecahydronaphtho[2,1-b]furans are washed with an aqueous acid solution. The thus obtained (±)-3a,6,6,9a-tetramethyl dodecahydronaphtho[2,1-b]furans have a less off-odor and hardly suffer from deterioration of their smell during storage.

It is known that (−)-3a,6,6,9a-tetramethyl dodecahydronaphtho[2,1-b]furan represented by the following general formula (I) and optical isomers thereof (hereinafter collectively referred to as merely "(±)-ambroxan"):
are important amber-like perfume materials having an excellent aromatizing property and an excellent aroma retention property.
The (±)-ambroxan contains a plurality of asymmetric carbons. Therefore, there are present diastereomers of the (±)-ambroxan. There is conventionally known a process for producing a mixture of the diastereomers of the (±)-ambroxan (hereinafter referred to merely as "(±)-ambroxans") represented by the following general formula (II):
in which a homofarnesylic acid amide or a monocyclohomofarnesylic acid amide is cyclized in the presence of an acid agent and then hydrolyzed, and further the obtained hydrolyzed product is subjected to reduction reaction and cyclization reaction (refer to Patent Document 1).    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2008-56663

Process for producing (±)-3a,6,6,9a-tetramethyldodecahydronaphtho [2,1-b]furans


The present invention relates to a combination treatment for hematological cancers. More specifically; a combination of a telomerase inhibitor and a Bcl-2 inhibitor are useful in treating hematological cancers, including AML. In certain embodiments, the telomerase inhibitor is imetelstat or imetelstat sodium and the Bcl-2 inhibitor is ABT-199.

Patients of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have limited treatment options at diagnosis; treatment typically takes the form of chemotherapy to quickly reduce the leukemic cell burden. Invasive leukapheresis procedures to remove large numbers of leukocytes (normal and diseased) may be applied in parallel to chemotherapy to temporarily lower tumor cell burden. Induction phase chemotherapy can be successful but, most healthy cells residing in patient bone marrow are also killed, causing illness and requiring additional palliative therapy to ward off infection and raise leukocyte counts. Additional rounds of chemotherapy can be used in an attempt to keep patients in remission; but relapse is common.
Telomerase is present in over 90% of tumors across all cancer types; and is lacking in normal, healthy tissues. Imetelstat sodium is a novel, first-in-class telomerase inhibitor that is a covalently-lipidated 13-mer oligonucleotide (shown below) complimentary to the human telomerase RNA (hTR) template region. Imetelstat sodium does not function through an anti-sense mechanism and therefore lacks the side effects commonly observed with such therapies. Imetelstat sodium is the sodium salt of imetelstat (shown below):
Unless otherwise indicated or clear from the context, references below to imetelstat also include salts thereof. As mentioned above, imetelstat sodium in particular is the sodium salt of imetelstat.
ABT-199/venetoclax (trade name Venclexta) is an FDA approved Bcl-2 inhibitor for use in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients with dell7p who are relapsed/refractory. ABT-199 is also known as ABT 199, GDC0199, GDC-0199 or RG7601. The chemical name for ABT-199 is 4-[4-[[2-(4-chlorophenyl)-4,4-dimethylcyclohexen-1-yl]methyl]piperazin-1-yl]-N-[3-nitro-4-(oxan-4-ylmethylamino)phenyl]sulfonyl-2-(1H-pyrrolo [2,3-b]pyridin-5-yloxy)benzamide (Cas No. 1257044-40-8). Unless otherwise indicated or clear from the context, references below to ABT-199 also include pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. Specifically in the Examples however, ABT-199 was used in the free base form.
ABT-199, shown below in the free base form, is highly specific to Bcl-2, unlike other first generation inhibitors which show affinity for related Bcl family members and induce greater side effects. Inhibition of Bcl-2 blocks the pro-apoptotic signals caused by damage to or abnormalities within cellular DNA and ultimately leads to programmed cell death in treated cells via the caspase cascade and apoptosis through the intrinsic pathway.

Combination treatment for hematological cancers


A system for generating a cyber-attack to penetrate a network. The system includes an identification module configured to identify at least one vulnerability of the network by examining at least one of a node of the network, data transmission within the network, or data received from a cyber defense mechanism; a generation module configured to generate a cyber-attack based on the at least one vulnerability of the network, and a goal to be achieved by the cyber-attack. The system includes a penetration module configured to penetrate the network with the cyber-attack and determine an effectiveness rating of the penetration; and a feedback module configured to provide a feedback to the identification module based on at least the effectiveness rating of the penetration.

Almost all networks, regardless of physical or logical architecture encounter information security challenges. In some cases, these challenges are even more pronounced as cyber-attacks on networks are becoming more complex than ever before and adversaries are becoming increasingly sophisticated and creative in how they exploit cyber vulnerabilities.
Known techniques for thwarting cyber-attacks that compromise a network involve penetration testing and network defense analysis. These techniques include cyber analysts manually sifting through massive amounts of historical data and known attack codes to emulate specific cyber threats and/or cyber defenses. Therefore, these known techniques are expensive and time-consuming processes, and merely result in cyber defenses that are limited to the knowledge and resources of the cyber analysts. For example, when cyber analysts are aware of previously detected attack signatures, they merely create rules that prevent the same type of event from occurring again.
One of the many disadvantages with these known cyber analyst driven techniques is that they do not scale with the shortage of cyber talent and are very sluggish in anticipating new attacks. To overcome these disadvantages, there has been a recent push to incorporate Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence techniques into cyber products, tools, and technologies. However, these techniques consistently produce high false positive rates. That is, these techniques produce a remarkably high number of alerts, which cause cyber analysts to spend a significant amount of time investigating the alerts without finding anything of significance.
Additionally, known products that attempt to automate techniques for penetration testing and network defense analysis are limited in capabilities, only covering select scenarios instead of covering more comprehensive, complex adversarial behaviors and tactics. These known products still require user input and therefore remain limited by the knowledge and training of cyber analysts. This presents many technical challenges regarding the effectiveness of the above described known products and techniques. Aspects of the present disclosure provide technical solutions to the previously described technical challenges.

System and method for securing a network