A media control method and device are presented. The method includes obtaining media information and receiving a session request sent by the user equipment; obtaining, according to a media object identifier carried in a media control policy, attribute information of a media object corresponding to the media object identifier carried in the media control policy, from the media information, and obtaining a session identifier and channel information that are corresponding to the media object identifier carried in the media control policy, from the session request; and sending a media operation instruction included in the media control policy, the obtained attribute information of the media object, and the obtained channel information to the user equipment that sends the session identifier, where the media operation instruction is used to instruct the user equipment to operate the received attribute information of the media object and the received channel information.

As video conferencing and various intelligent terminals develop, a conference site has developed from having a single camera, a single active video, and a display for a single active picture to having multiple cameras, multiple active videos, and a display for multiple active pictures; and the intelligent terminal has also developed from having no camera lens to having multiple camera lens. Therefore, traditional point-to-point communication or multi-point communication is changing from a single audio-video stream to multiple audio-video streams.
To enable each participant in multi-stream communication to select information about a media stream from multiple perspectives, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) introduces a controlling multiple streams for telepresence (CLUE) protocol. The protocol describes location information of media content, information about a site, and information about participants in a media capture area, and defines a set of media announcements/configuration information used to transfer media information.
In a scenario in which multi-stream communication is implemented in a multi-party session, each participant uses a CLUE message to announce media information of the participant to a central node; the central node reconstructs a new media announcement message according to the received media information announced by each participant, and sends the new media announcement message to each participant. Therefore, each participant can receive media information announced by another participant, and dominates, with reference to a capability of the participant, the received media information announced by the another participant.
In particular, as a quantity of participant terminals increases, an amount of information used to announce the media information increases accordingly. However, because each participant currently can dominate, according to a capability of the participant, media of the another participant, the central node cannot control, according to a conference policy, media dominated by each participant. That is, in a large conference, each participant can dominate media as the participant wishes, and a conference center cannot centrally control media of each participant. Consequently, control over media at a whole site is relatively disordered, which leads to weaker control over the media at the whole site by the central node.


In response to N-up instructions methods and systems analyze the sizes of printable items within full-size pages to be printed, and determine the minimum size to which each of the full-size pages can be reduced to keep all the printable items above a minimum print item or font size. Because different pages of the print/copy job can have differently sized printable items, at least two of the full-size pages can have a different minimum size to which they can be reduced. Such methods and systems automatically reduce the sizes of the full-size pages (as limited by each potentially different minimum size of each different full-size page) to produce reduced-size pages that will be combined on output pages. Again, because each different full-size page can have a different minimum size, at least two of the full-size pages can be reduced by different reduction amounts during the reduction process.

Systems and methods herein generally relate to printing devices and systems, and more particularly to devices and systems that print multiple reduced-size pages on a single page in a process referred to as N-up copying or printing.
Many modern printing devices have an environmentally friendly feature that is referred to as "multi-up" or "N-up" printing. In N-up copying or printing, the full-size pages within an original print/copy job are reduced in size so that more than one page of the print/copy job can be printed on each sheet/page of paper. This process produces environmental advantages by using less paper and toner/ink. The "N" represents the number of original full-size pages that will be printed on each individual sheet/page. Therefore, for example 2-up printing prints two original pages on each sheet. Similarly, 4-up printing prints four pages on each sheet; 6-up printing prints six pages on each sheet; etc. Further, 4-up uses only one quarter of the number of sheets/pages of paper because each sheet contains four of the full-size pages from the original print/copy job reduced to approximately one quarter of their original size.
Therefore, in N-up copying or printing the "N" value can be pre-set, or can be input through user selection. However, when reducing the size of the original pages within the print/copy job, sometimes it becomes difficult to recognize the font, graphical items, images, etc., within the N-up copied or printed sheets/pages because of the size reduction.

Individualizing reduction of original pages in N-up copying or printing


A docking station for a dust collection box comprising: a housing; a socket formed by the housing configured to receive a dust collection box of a dust extractor; first and second apertures formed through a wall of the housing which aligns with air outlet and inlet apertures of a dust collection box when the dust collection box is mounted within the socket; a connector connectable to a vacuum source; and a dust channel mounted inside of the housing, which provides a passageway between the second aperture and the connector. The docking station may further include an air vent formed through a wall of the housing to allow air surrounding the housing to enter a cavity formed inside of the housing, where the first aperture is connected to the cavity in the housing to allow air in the cavity to exit the housing through the first aperture.

One type of power tool drill is a hammer drill which typically comprises an electric motor, a hammer mechanism and/or a rotary drive. The hammer drill is powered ether by an AC mains electric power supply or a battery attached to the hammer drill. A cutting tool, such as a drill bit, is supported within a tool holder mounted on the front of the hammer drill which is driven by the motor via either the rotary drive or the hammer mechanism or both to perform cutting operations. Such a hammer drill usually can operate in a hammer only mode, a drill only mode or a hammer and drill mode.
EP1157788 describes a typical example of hammer drill
During the operation of a hammer drill, a large amount of dust can be generated. In addition to making the local vicinity dirty and clogging up the hammer drill, it can also be a health hazard to the operator of the hammer drill as the operator may breathe in the dust. As such it is desirable to collect the dust so that it can be safely disposed of.
One method of achieving this is to use a dust extractor which mounts onto the hammer drill. EP1245330 shows an example of a dust extractor.
Dust extractors are attached to the body of a hammer drill. The dust extractor comprises a main body and a shroud, typically mounted on the end of a tubular telescopic arm which is attached to the main body, and which surrounds the cutting tool and engages with the work piece being cut. The dust extractor comprises a dust collection box, a filter mounted within the dust collection box and an air suction device. Whilst the hammer drill is in use, the air suction device is switched on. During use, the dust generated by the cutting tool cutting the work piece enters the shroud. The air suction device draws the air together with dust from within shroud, through the telescopic arm into the dust collection box. The air passes then through the filter, whilst the dust is trapped by the filter within the dust collection box. The clean air is then typically expelled from the dust extractor. Once the operation of the hammer is complete, the dust extraction box can be removed from the dust extractor and the dust removed from the dust collection box and safely disposed of.
One problem with existing exiting designs of dust extractors is that the filter becomes blocked. As such, the filter needs to be cleaned which is typically done manually. Therefore, access to the filter has to be provided or the filter has to be made to be removable so that it can be manually cleaned. However, it is desirable if the cleaning process could be undertaken without the need to access the filter or remove it from the dust collection box. A backflush system could be used. However, an example known to proprietor of such a system is only capable of cleaning part of the filter.


Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with reducing interrupt latency are described. According to one embodiment, an apparatus includes a buffer storing instructions awaiting execution by an execution device. The apparatus also includes an interrupt logic that, in response to receiving an interrupt, classifies instructions as either safe or unsafe. An unsafe instruction will cause the instructions to execute in a manner inconsistent with an instruction set architecture. The interrupt logic also establishes an interrupt boundary between safe and unsafe instructions, and causes the interrupt to be processed at the interrupt boundary such that the interrupt is processed before processing of the unsafe instructions.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventor(s), to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
In computing systems, processors can be designed to work on several instructions simultaneously in order to boost performance. Instruction set architectures (ISAs) determine how instructions are to be executed by the processor. Typically, ISAs allow the execution of instructions in parallel if the results of executing the instructions in parallel are indistinguishable from the results if the instructions are executed serially. One complication of this is that a system has to wait to service an asynchronous event, commonly referred to as an interrupt, until all currently processing instructions have completed or can be safely prevented from completion. Consequently, the more instructions in execution simultaneously, the higher the performance of the processor. But there is a corresponding increase in the time it takes to complete these instructions before an interrupt can be serviced. The delay in executing the interrupt can adversely affect the performance of the processor in certain applications.

Systems and methods for reducing interrupt latency


The present invention concerns a method for encoding a video sequence, comprising the following steps by a processing unit of an encoding device:                splitting an image from the video sequence into blocks of values;        for each block:                    transforming the values of the block into transform coefficients;            organizing these transform coefficients into several sets of transform coefficients;            quantizing the transform coefficients into quantized coefficients;            encoding the block using the quantized coefficients;                        encoding the video sequence based on the encoding of the blocks;         wherein the quantizing step further comprises for quantized coefficients corresponding to one set of transform coefficients:                    determining scaled coefficients where a scaled coefficient is based on a transform coefficient of the one set, by multiplying the transform coefficient by a factor parameter and then adding a deadzone parameter, the deadzone parameter being scaled linearly with the index k of the transform coefficient within the set of transform coefficients;            shifting each scaled coefficient to obtain a corresponding quantized coefficient;            comparing a sum value representative of a summing result of magnitudes of the quantized coefficient values corresponding to the set of transform coefficients, with a threshold; and            setting the quantized coefficients corresponding to the set of transform coefficients to zero, if the summing result is below the threshold.

Predictive encoding of video data is based on the division of frames into blocks of pixels. For each block of pixels, a predictor block is searched for in available data. The predictor block may be a block in a previous frame, or generated from neighboring, previously encoded/decoded pixels in the current frame. Different encoding modes are defined according to different ways of determining the predictor block. The result of the encoding is an indication of the predictor block and a residual block consisting in the difference between the block to be encoded and the predictor block.
The encoding of residual blocks is based on three main steps consisting in transformation, quantization and finally entropy encoding of the remaining information.
Transformation consists in defining a new partition of the frame into blocks that are here called "transform unit", according to the HEVC vocabulary, and then applying a transform to the transform unit elements. The transformation is typically aimed at transforming the spatial values in the transform unit to frequency coefficients resulting in a transform unit comprising coefficients.
Quantization consists in scaling the magnitudes of these coefficients, ideally setting a majority of them to zero when the resulting degradation of the image is considered acceptable. High frequency coefficients are often good candidates to be set to zero based on the fact that they define fine details in the image that can be discarded without degrading the resulting image too severely.
Quantization of a transform coefficient typically consists in determining a scaled coefficient based on the transform coefficient by multiplying the transform coefficient by a factor parameter and next adding a deadzone parameter. The scaled coefficient is then shifted to obtain the quantized coefficient. The deadzone parameter allows controlling the rounding of the quantized coefficient and thus impacting the encoding result. The thorough determination of the deadzone parameter is therefore an issue of encoding processes.

Method and device for encoding video data


An apparatus having a bill validator. The apparatus having a storage area within a housing. The bill validator operable to input bills into the storage area. The bill validator being removable secured within the housing. The removable bill validator permitting the bill validator to be removed from the housing for servicing without comprising security of the storage area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatuses having bill validators, such as safes, vending machines, and video game machines.
2. Background Art
A bill validator is an electro-mechanical device that processes bills. Typically, bills are inserted into the validator, processed, and delivered to a cassette or other item in a storage area of a safe or other item. In the past, the cassette and validator were located behind a security door. To access either item, the door must be unlocked.
The bills inputted into the validator may include dirt, grease, tape, and any variety of other particulate debris. The electro-mechanical nature of the validator and the debris carried by the bills renders it susceptible to malfunction. Typically, periodic servicing of the validator is needed to clean out such debris and/or to replace malfunctioning components. This servicing, however, can only be carried out if the security door is unlocked because the door must be opened to access to the validator.
The security of the items stored in the storage area is compromised each time the safe is unlocked. Owners of the items stored in the safe, therefore, desire the safe to remain locked at all times.

Apparatus having a bill validator and a method of servicing the apparatus


A method and apparatus for forwarding non-consecutive data blocks in enhanced uplink (EU) transmissions. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) and one or more Node-Bs include one or more automatic repeat request (ARQ)/hybrid-ARQ (H-ARQ) processes for supporting an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH). Data blocks transmitted by the WTRU are re-ordered in a re-ordering entity located in the Node-B(s) or a radio network controller (RNC). Once a missing data block is identified, a data forwarding timer in the Node-B(s) or RNC is initiated and subsequent WTRU transmissions are monitored to determine whether the missing data block has been discarded by the WTRU. Upon recognition of the discard of the missing data block, the non-consecutive data blocks are forwarded to higher layers.

Methods for improving uplink (UL) coverage, throughput and transmission latency are being investigated in Release 6 (R6) of the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). In order to successfully implement these methods, scheduling and assigning of UL physical resources have been moved from the RNC to the Node-B such that the Node-B can make decisions and manage UL radio resources on a short-term basis more efficiently than the RNC, even if the RNC retains overall control over the Node-B.
One or more independent UL transmissions are processed on an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH) between a WTRU and a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) within a common time interval. One example of this would be a medium access control (MAC) layer hybrid-automatic repeat request (H-ARQ) or a simple MAC layer ARQ operation where each individual transmission may require a different number of retransmissions to be successfully received by the UTRAN. This operation may result in a loss of transmission sequence at the MAC layer.
In-sequence data delivery is required by the radio link control (RLC) layer for proper operation. A re-ordering function is needed to organize the received data blocks according to the sequence generated by the WTRU RLC entity. In the prior art, a data-forwarding timer, (called a T1 timer in high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA)), has been utilized for delivery of non-consecutive data blocks to higher layers. The timer is initialized when data blocks which have been correctly received cannot be delivered to the higher layers due to non-sequential reception. When the timer expires, all data blocks in the re-ordering buffer up to the next non-sequentially received data block are forwarded to higher layers.
It is difficult to properly set duration for the data forwarding timer since, even in normal operation, cell congestion occasionally generates relatively long periods between transmissions. In addition, since out-of-sequence delivery to RLC acknowledged mode (AM) may result in unnecessary retransmissions, the worst case delay must be considered in setting the data forwarding timer for proper operation. Since transmission errors are unavoidable, this timer mechanism results in increased and potentially unacceptable latency in performing RLC retransmission procedures.
In order to maintain quality of service (QoS), transmissions should not be unnecessarily delayed in providing sequential delivery. The timer mechanism is not efficient to provide proper QoS. If the duration of the timer is too short, out of sequence transmissions may be incorrectly perceived when only a particular transmission has been delayed, resulting in unnecessary requests for RLC retransmissions or potential release of the channel. If the duration of the timer is too long, detection and recovery of failed transmissions is delayed, resulting in greater difficulty in achieving low transmission latency QoS requirements. Determining the duration of the out of sequence forwarding timer is further complicated by relatively large variances in retransmission scheduling.

Method and apparatus for forwarding non-consecutive data blocks in enhanced uplink transmissions


An improved cone and integral slip assembly is described for use in the anchoring assembly of a downhole tool, such as a bridge plug, frac plug, or cement retainer. The cone may include external fins that are integral to and run axially along the cone. The integral slip assembly includes at least one axial slot, which facilitates subsequent breaking up of the integral slip assembly into individual slip segments. Each slip segment may include a channel that is adapted to mate with an external fin of the cone. As the integral slip assembly traverses the cone, the channels of the slip segments ride on the fins encouraging the integral slip assembly to break apart along the slots into the slip segments. The spacing of the fins and corresponding channels in the slip segments are positioned such to ensure that the slip segments are advantageously positioned around the cone thus, locating the packing element of the plug in the center of the wellbore. The channels in the slip segments mating with the fins also provide an anti-rotation mechanism to facilitate removal of the tool.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an anchoring assembly for a downhole tool. The anchoring assembly includes an improved cone and slip assembly system to set a downhole tool in a wellbore. The improved cone and integral slip assembly are adapted to interact break the slip assembly into slip segments at predetermined locations as the integral slip assembly traverses the cone. The improved cone and integral slip assembly are adapted to facilitate the centering of a packing element when setting the downhole tool in the wellbore.
2. Description of the Related Art
The drilling and servicing of gas and oil wells often requires the isolation of certain zones within the well. Typically, the isolation of a zone is accomplished by the insertion of a downhole tool, such as a bridge plug, fracturing plug, or cement retainer, into the wellbore. The purpose of the tool is simply to isolate a portion of the well from another portion or the rest of the well. For instance, perforations in the well in one portion may need to be isolated from perforations in another portion of the well, or there may be a need to isolate the bottom of the well from the wellhead. Further, a permanent plug may be used to permanently close off and abandon the well.
A downhole tool, such as typical wellbore plug, generally is comprised of an anchoring assembly arranged about a mandrel that is run into the wellbore. The anchoring assembly typically includes a plurality of slips and a cone, as well as an elastomeric packing element. The slips may be arranged in a slip ring, or the slips may be initially formed in a ring, the slips being designed to break apart upon the application of an axial load. Regardless, the slips include a tapered surface that is adapted to mate with a tapered surface of the cone. As an axial force is applied to the downhole tool, the slips ride up on the tapered surface of the cone, and are thus driven outwardly, away from the mandrel, and into the wellbore to set the tool.
Specifically, the downward force applied to the anchoring assembly causes the upper slips to move up the upper cone. As the upper slip traverses the upper cone, the tapered shape of the upper cone moves the upper slip outward and the upper slip engages the casing wall, thus locking the anchoring assembly in place within the well. Once the anchoring assembly is locked within the well, the upward force moves the lower portion of the assembly (i.e., lower cap, lower cone, and lower slip) upward toward the upper portion of the assembly. Because the upper portion is anchored against the wall, the movement of the lower portion axially compresses the packing element.
Further application of axial force compresses the elastomeric packing element, driving the packing element outwardly to contact and seal against the wellbore. The axial compression of the packing element causes the packing element to expand radially against the well casing creating a sealing barrier that isolates a portion of the well. Once the packing element has been compressed and radially expanded, the upward force causes the lower slip to traverse the lower cone.
The tapered shape of the lower cone moves the lower slip outward until it engages the well casing, thus locking the lower portion of the anchoring assembly in place within the well. The locking of the lower portion of the anchoring assembly ensures that the packing element remains radially expanded against the well casing while the downhole tool is set.
When setting the packing element, it is important that the packing element be centered within the wellbore so that a uniform, circular extrusion gap exists around the packing element. Packing elements are design to expand evenly against the well casing. If not centered within the well, it will be more difficult for the packing element to completely bridge the gap to create a seal and isolate a portion of the well. In order to bridge an uneven gap, an excessive downward force may be needed to set the packer. This increased force as well as the uneven expansion of the packing element against the wellbore may cause the premature failure of the packing element.
As described above, present anchoring assemblies may include a solid slip ring, placed about the mandrel. Alternatively, solid slip rings are known which are adapted to break into individual slips during the setting operation. Each of these slip ring helps to ensure the central alignment of the assembly and the packing element within the well.
However, it is not uncommon for these prior art slip rings to break in the single weakest spot along the ring. This spot may be the weakest due to a variance in material thickness or a pre-existing defect.
A solid slip ring having a single axial break is herein after referred to as a "c-ring." While the c-ring may still properly anchor the assembly after traversing the cone, the anchoring assembly may shift on the mandrel to the same orientation as the break of the c-ring. Thus, the c-ring does not properly center the packing element within the well leading to the possibility that the packing element will prematurely fail, as described above.
In light of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a slip assembly that does not break at an area of weakness into a c-ring, but rather accurately breaks into a plurality of designated slip segments. Further, it would be desirable to provide a solid slip ring that as it traverses the cone breaks into designated segments that ensure that the packing element is centered within the wellbore.
Further, removal of the components of downhole tools can be problematic. For example, once the plug described above has performed its function and it is desired to remove the plug, a drill or mill is run downhole to remove the plug. In some instances, components of the downhole tool, which contact the drill or mill during the removal process, begin to rotate with the drill or mill. The drill or mill cannot effectively grind away this component which is rotating with the mill or drill, thus hampering the removal. It would be desirable to provide components of the downhole tool with an anti-rotational mechanism to prevent rotation of the components of the downhole tool during removal. It would further be desirable to provide a solid slip ring that engages a structure on the mandrel adapted to prevent rotation of the anchoring assembly with respect to the mandrel.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the issues set forth above.

Self centralizing non-rotational slip and cone system for downhole tools


A filter assembly may include a canister and a filter element received in the canister. The filter element may include filter media configured to promote separation of a first fluid from a second fluid having different characteristics than the first fluid as fluid passes through the filter media. The filter element may further include a first end cap, a second end cap, and a tubular member extending between the first and second end caps. The filter assembly may further include a flow cap associated with the first end cap of the filter element. The flow cap may include an inlet portion configured to provide flow communication between an inlet port of a filter base and the tubular member of the filter element, and an outlet portion configured to provide flow communication between an outlet port of the filter base and an exterior portion of the filter element.

Engines, including compression-ignition engines, spark-ignition engines, gasoline engines, gaseous fuel-powered engines, and other internal combustion engines, may operate more effectively with fuel from which contaminates have been removed prior to the fuel reaching a combustion chamber of the engine. In particular, fuel contaminates, if not removed, may lead to undesirable operation of the engine and/or may increase the wear rate of engine components, such as fuel system components.
Effective removal of contaminates from the fuel system of a compression-ignition engine may be particularly important. In some compression-ignition engines, air is compressed in a combustion chamber, thereby increasing the temperature and pressure of the air, such that when fuel is supplied to the combustion chamber, the fuel and air mixture ignite. If water and/or other contaminates are not removed from the fuel, the contaminates may interfere with and/or damage, for example, fuel injectors, which may have orifices manufactured to exacting tolerances and shapes for improving the efficiency of combustion and/or reducing undesirable exhaust emissions. Moreover, the presence of water in the fuel system may cause considerable engine damage and/or corrosion in the injection system.
Fuel filtration systems serve to remove contaminates from the fuel. For example, some conventional fuel systems may include a fuel filter, which removes water and large particulate matter, and another fuel filter, which removes a significant portion of remaining particulate matter (e.g., smaller contaminates), such as fine particulate matter. However, water may be particularly difficult to separate from fuel under certain circumstances. For example, if water is emulsified in the fuel it may be relatively more difficult to separate from fuel. In addition, for some types of fuel, such as, for example, fuel having a bio-component, it may be relatively more difficult to separate the water from the fuel. Therefore, it may be desirable to provide a filter assembly having an improved ability to separate water from fuel.
An attempt to provide desired filtration is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2013/0146524 A1 ("the '524 publication") to Veit et al., published Jun. 13, 2013. Specifically, the '524 publication discloses a fuel filter having a housing with a fuel inlet, a fuel outlet for cleaned fuel, and a water outlet for water separated from the fuel. A filter element is arranged in the housing and separates the fuel inlet and fuel outlet. The filter element has a filter medium configured as a hollow member for filtering the fuel and a hydrophobic fuel-permeable separating medium embodied as a hollow member for separating water from the fuel. The separating medium is arranged downstream of the filter medium and is positioned inside the filter medium or surrounds the filter medium. Between the filter medium and the separating medium, a precipitation slot is provided having a conical shape and being connected with the water outlet.
Although the fuel filter of the '524 publication purports to separate water from fuel, it may not provide sufficient separation under circumstances where the fuel is emulsified or includes bio-components. Thus, it may not provide a desirable level of fuel filtration.
The flow caps and filter assemblies disclosed herein may be directed to mitigating or overcoming one or more of the possible drawbacks set forth above.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A parallel-moving apparatus includes a fixed table with a static pressure bearing pad, and a movable table with an inclined static pressure bearing pad. A driving plate having a wedge-shaped cross-section is disposed between the fixed table and the movable table, and both surfaces thereof are parallel to the static pressure bearing pad of the movable table and the static pressure bearing pad of the fixed table, and are noncontact-supported thereby. When the driving plate is moved by an actuator, the movable table is moved toward or away from the fixed table while keeping its parallelism to the fixed table.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a parallel-moving apparatus for use in a positioning apparatus used in various measuring apparatuses, precision machine tools and semiconductor exposing apparatuses etc., and a lens moving device in an exposing apparatus using the same.
2. Related Background Art
In various measuring apparatuses, precision machine tools and semiconductor exposing apparatuses etc., it is necessary to effect the positioning of an object to be measured, a workpiece or a lens highly accurately. Particularly for movement of a holding table supporting the object to be measured thereon in a vertical direction or the positioning of the lens in the direction of the optical axis thereof, it is required to control minute displacement highly accurately. For this purpose, there has been developed a parallel-moving apparatus capable of converting large displacement into minute displacement.
FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawings shows an example of the parallel-moving apparatus according to the conventional art (Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-35799), wherein a movable table 51 is moved up and down by three sets of displacement reducing mechanisms 54a, 54b, 54c provided on a fixed table 52. The displacement reducing mechanisms 54a, 54b, 54c, each comprise wedge-shaped driving members 54d, 54e, 54f provided between the fixed table 52 and the movable table 51, first needle-like roller trains 56a, 56b, 56c provided between the wedge-shaped driving members and the fixed table 52, and second needle-like roller trains 56d, 56e, 56f provided between support plates 51a, 51b, 51c secured to the movable table 51 and the wedge-shaped driving members 54d, 54e, 54f. The wedge-shaped driving members 54d, 54e, 54f of the three sets of displacement reducing mechanisms 54a, 54b54c are integrally coupled together by a connecting plate 54g, and are moved along the surface of the fixed table 52 by the push rod 55a of a micrometer head 55 urged against one end surface of the fixed table 52. That is, when the micrometer head 55 is driven, the three wedge-shaped driving members 54d, 54e, 54f, are each horizontally moved by an equal distance at a time, whereby the movable table 51 is moved up and down while maintaining its parallelism to the fixed table 52. The relation that .delta.Z=.delta.X.tan(.theta.) is established among the angle of inclination .theta. of each wedge-shaped driving member 54d, 54e, 54f, the amount of horizontal movement .delta.X thereof and the amount of vertical movement .delta.Z of the movable table 51. Therefore, the smaller the angle of inclination is of the wedge-shaped driving members 54d, 54e, 54f, the easier it becomes to control the amount of vertical movement of the movable table 51 highly accurately.
Also, there has been developed an exposing apparatus in which a parallel-moving apparatus is incorporated into a lens-barrel to correct the magnification of a projection lens (see Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-171157).

Parallel-moving apparatus and lens moving device in an exposing apparatus using the same


A semiconductor memory device for compensating latency by stacking reference data. The semiconductor memory device compensates the latency and test errors between two signals by detecting the latency of the two signals and stacking the reference data without using an extra signal. Accordingly, a system can be simplified and power consumption can be reduced when testing the semiconductor memory device, since the extra circuit is unnecessary to synchronize a data sync signal with output data.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a semiconductor memory device, a test circuit of a semiconductor memory device, and/or a test method.
This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2003-36745, filed on Jun. 9, 2003, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A memory cell test is one of the most important processes during manufacturing of a semiconductor memory device (e.g. a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and a read only memory (ROM)). In the memory cell test, it is determined if the semiconductor memory device is working properly by confirming that data output from memory cells under test meets the expected test values. During a memory cell test, there is latency between reference data input into the tested memory device during a write operation and data reference data output from the memory device during a read operation. Latency is the processing time required for reading and writing data after inputting the reference data in the semiconductor memory device. Latency may be influenced by the process of reading and writing data, physical characteristics of signal lines, and circumstances under which the semiconductor memory device operates.
In the process of detecting an error by comparing the reference data and the data output from the tested memory device, a common starting point between the reference data and the output data should be set. Once the starting points of the reference data and the output data are respectively detected, a comparison of the data can occur. In order to do this, a circuit compensating latency between the reference data and the output data is needed.
Initially, a starting point of the reference data and output data should be determined. For the reference data, a starting signal can be directly produced when generating data outside of a device. Although the starting signal may be generated inside of the device, it can be easily detected since the starting signal is generated by a control signal which originates outside of the device. For the output data, an exact data starting point is not easily detected since the data is generated at the tested memory device. That is, it is very difficult to estimate a definite starting point of the output data value in advance because latency between memory devices varies. However, a value range of the starting point may be estimated based on typical results. The variation in latency may be influenced by on-chip variations, circumstances under which the semiconductor memory device operates, and connecting structures of the semiconductor memory device. Accordingly, an extra signal which is generated outside is used to indicate the starting point of output data in a related art method.
FIG. 1 is a drawing illustrating a related art latency processing method. The DATA SYNC SIGNAL is a signal indicating a start of the OUTPUT DATA. A system outside of the semiconductor memory device detects an error by recognizing the OUTPUT DATA as meaningful data when the DATA SYNC SIGNAL is changed from a first logic state to a second logic state, after inputting the REFERENCE DATA in the semiconductor memory device. The activation of the DATA SYNC SIGNAL, indicates a starting point of the OUTPUT DATA. An extra signal line is necessary (e.g. the DATA SYNC SIGNAL for informing the start of the OUTPUT DATA. Accordingly, the starting point of the OUTPUT DATA can be checked by using the extra signal line. Moreover, another method for detecting latency is by latching the OUTPUT DATA, as disclosed in Korean Patent No. 1997-62994. In this method, an extra circuit is necessary to synchronize the DATA SYNC SIGNAL outside of the semiconductor memory device, thereby complicating a system, causing a delay of signals, and increasing power consumption.

Semiconductor memory device and method for stacking reference data


2-Amino-pyrimidininone derivatives possessing antihistaminic and serotonin-antagonistic properties. Compositions containing these compounds as the active ingredient and a method of treating subjects from allergic diseases.

In U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,559 there are described a number of antihistaminic 1-substituted N-heterocyclyl-4-piperidinamines. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,556,660; 4,634,704; 4,695,575 and 4,588,722 there are described a further series of N-heterocyclyl-4-piperidinamines as antihistaminics and serotonin antagonists. In EP-A-0,151,826; 0,206,415; 0,282,133; 0,295,742 and 0,297,661 there are disclosed a number of structurally related compounds as antihistaminics and serotonin antagonists.
The compounds of the present invention differ therefrom by the fact that they invariably are substituted with a 2-aminopyrimidinone containing moiety.


A system is disclosed for removing fluids from a felt in a paper making process. The system includes a fluid in a reservoir that is adapted to permit a surface of the fluid to contact an underside of the felt.

The invention generally relates to paper making systems and processes, and relates in particular, to systems and processes for facilitating the removal of fluids from papermaking material during paper making processes.
In the paper making process the press section is equipped with conveying belts commonly referred to as felts. The felts act to carry the newly formed, very wet paper to the pressing rolls where a considerable amount of water is forced out of the paper and into the felts. As these felts are serpentine in nature, it is necessary to remove the captured water from the felts so that the process of water removal from the paper is repeated as the continuous supply of newly form paper is processed through the press section.
The existing methods for water extraction from the serpentine felt typically involve the use of a vacuum element in the belt run commonly referred to as the Uhle box, which is typically constructed from a pipe or enclosure that has a contact wear surface attached to it. This contact wear surface incorporates within the design a through path for the vacuum applied water extraction stream to drain into. The vacuum applied to the felt is considerable and causes the felt to be pulled tightly onto the contact wear surface and into the vacuum port open area.
The friction between the two components (felt and contact wear surface) must be minimized to prevent premature component wear and minimize the amount of energy consumed to drive the felts about their serpentine loop. The placement of a water application device commonly known as lube showers, sprays a coating of water onto the felt surface that is to be in contact with the Uhle box contact wear surface to prevent the buildup of friction generated heat and more importantly, to create a film of water for the felt to ride (hydro-plane) on as it travels over the vacuum through path(s) in the cover.
To apply the water the shower is typically located before the Uhle box and is equipped to evenly coat the felt surface through a multitude of nozzles populated on a common pipe, which is commonly referred to as the lube shower. A pressurized water supply insures application of the water to the felt surface. The use of the lube shower however, is not always effective in certain applications.
There remains a need therefore, for more efficient and effective systems for removing fluids from felts while minimizing wear on the felts.

Systems and methods for providing fluid extraction vacuum box covers with integral lubrication


A magnetohydrodynamic test facility using a superconducting electromagnet drive a hydrodynamic test loop is disclosed. The test facility has a pretreatment section for adjusting the salinity of seawater to be used in the flow loop a flow loop section having a test section, a magnetohydrodynamic pump, and a gas trap assembly to capture any gasses evolved from the seawater. A post-treatment section neutralizes evolved chlorine gasses.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to hydrodynamic test facilities and more particularly to hydrodynamic test facilities using magnetohydrodynamic drive mechanisms.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Conventional water tunnels using mechanical pumps or propellers to circulate water through the test cell have levels of turbulence in the flow which interfere with test results and have been largely unsuitable for experiments evaluating radiated noise. Generally, any experiment requiring a low-radiated noise environment requires isolation of the water drive unit. Various methods of isolation have been used in conventional test facilities; however, no method has been completely satisfactory in providing low-noise, low-turbulence flow.

Seawater magnetohydrodynamic test apparatus

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A broadcast station candidate determination unit (52) compares a reception condition of a radio wave with a first reception condition threshold to determine whether to set a frequency of the radio wave as a frequency of a radio broadcast station candidate. An interference station candidate identification unit (54) calculates and identifies a frequency of an intermodulation interference station candidate using a frequency of a strong electric field station. An interference station determination unit (55) compares a reception condition of a radio broadcast station candidate whose frequency is the same as that of an intermodulation interference station candidate with a second reception condition threshold indicating that a reception condition is better than the first reception condition threshold to determine whether the radio broadcast station candidate is an intermodulation interference station or a radio broadcast station.

For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a radio receiver handling, as a skip target for channel search, a channel predicted as an intermodulation interference wave appearing with source signals of a different intermodulation interference wave disposed between the intermodulation interference wave and the different intermodulation interference wave on a frequency spectrum in a case where a desired frequency channel as a search target is the different intermodulation interference wave.

Radio interference station elimination device, receiver, and radio interference station elimination method


A dental appliance for maintaining a separation between the occlusal plane surfaces of the posterior teeth in order to avoid or minimize the adverse effects of bruxism, especially while sleeping. The appliance comprises bitepad assemblies, side assemblies for adjustably receiving the bitepad assemblies, and a strap assembly for connecting the side assemblies. Bitepad cores are provided with solid projections and mechanical locks that enhance bonding with associated overmolds for improved durability. Side assembly flanges are divided to achieve independent flexibility and improved conformity for enhanced stability and comfort. A mesial area of the connecting strap assembly is thickened and rigidified to create a flare in the areas of the cuspid roots to minimize irritation and discomfort to the gum tissue.

1. Filed of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to dental appliances for protecting the occlusal area of the mouth from the effects of bruxism. More specifically, the present invention concerns a dental appliance for maintaining a separation or space between the occlusal plane surfaces of the rear or posterior teeth in order to avoid or minimize the adverse effects of bruxism, especially while sleeping.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Bruxism can occur under a variety of circumstances, including involuntarily while sleeping. Adverse physiological effects of bruxism include worn, broken, loose, or sensitive teeth; receding gums; periodontal pockets; bony ridges (tori); cheek irritation; sore musculature, especially in the cheek and temple area; headaches; and problems of the temporomandibular joint, such as pain or soreness.
Dental appliances are known in the prior art to be worn during sleeping for minimizing these and other adverse effects. Some such prior art appliances are very expensive and therefore less accessible to suffers of bruxism. Other such prior art devices are more affordable, such as, for example, those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,873,365 and 6,152,138. Of course, these appliances can only work if they are used regularly and properly by suffers of bruxism, and such sufferers are less likely to use an appliance that is uncomfortable to wear or cumbersome to maintain. Thus, though the aforementioned prior art appliances will function to reduce the effects of bruxism when worn, improvements in comfort and durability are needed.

Dental appliance for minimizing effects of bruxism


Disclosed herein is a cooking apparatus capable of accurately perceiving whether a door is closed. Disclosed herein is also a cooking apparatus capable of preventing a latch assembly of a main body from being pressurized by another object outside the cooking apparatus in a state in which a door is opened. The cooking apparatus includes a latch assembly disposed in a main body and configured to confine a key member of a door, wherein the latch assembly includes: a body including an interference hole therein; a first lever rotatably coupled to the body; a second lever configured to be rotatable in a first direction due to pressurization of the key member; a stopper connected to the second lever and configured to restrict rotation of the first lever as the stopper is inserted into the interference hole; and a sensor configured to be selectively pressurized by the first lever and sense whether the door is opened and closed to prevent malfunction of the cooking apparatus.

A cooking apparatus is an apparatus for cooking food. An oven is an example of a cooking apparatus.
An oven is a device for cooking food and includes a cooking chamber, a heating device for heating the cooking chamber, and a circulating device for circulating heat generated in the heating device inside of the cooking chamber. Ovens, which are mechanisms for sealing, heating, and cooking an object to be cooked, can be classified into an electric oven, a gas oven, and a microwave oven according to a heat source thereof. The electric oven uses an electric heater as a heat source, and the gas oven and the microwave oven use heat caused by a gas being combusted and frictional heat of water molecules caused by high frequency waves as a heat source, respectively.
The microwave oven is a cooking apparatus for heating food using characteristics of electronic waves called microwaves. Through a dielectric heating method, the microwave oven generates heat inside of food to heat the food. When electronic waves having high frequency collide with the food, water molecules inside the food are rotated, and thus a molecular arrangement of the food is disordered. The microwave oven heats the food using heat generated when the water molecules are rotated.
In order to prevent microwaves, which are harmful to a human body, from leaking when the microwave oven operates in a state in which a door is open, the microwave oven should operate in a state in which the door is fully closed. A sensor for sensing whether the door is closed may be provided in a main body of the microwave oven. For example, when a switch provided in the sensor is pressurized, it may be determined that the door is closed, and the microwave oven may operate.


An example operation may include one or more of a computer deriving a first set of metrics from processing a first and second set of data analytics, the sets associated with a subject matter. The operation further comprises the one or more computer deriving a second set of metrics from processing a third and fourth sets of data analytics, the third and fourth sets associated with the subject matter. The operation further comprises the one or more computer publishing the first and second set of metrics. The operation further comprises the one or more computer receiving a first plurality of requests for processing of analytics using the first set of metrics. The operation further comprises the one or more computer receiving a second plurality of requests for processing of analytics using the second set of metrics. The operation further comprises the one or more computer maintaining tallies of the requests.

A ledger is commonly defined as an account book of entry, in which transactions are recorded. A distributed ledger is ledger that is replicated in whole or in part to multiple computers. A Cryptographic Distributed Ledger (CDL) can have at least some of these properties: irreversibility (once a transaction is recorded, it cannot be reversed), accessibility (any party can access the CDL in whole or in part), chronological and time-stamped (all parties know when a transaction was added to the ledger), consensus based (a transaction is added only if it is approved, typically unanimously, by parties on the network), verifiability (all transactions can be cryptographically verified). A blockchain is an example of a CDL. While the description and figures herein are described in terms of a blockchain, the instant application applies equally to any CDL.
A distributed ledger is a continuously growing list of records that typically apply cryptographic techniques such as storing cryptographic hashes relating to other blocks. A blockchain is one common instance of a distributed ledger and may be used as a public ledger to store information. Although, primarily used for financial transactions, a blockchain can store various information related to goods and services (i.e., products, packages, status, etc.). A decentralized scheme provides authority and trust to a decentralized network and enables its nodes to continuously and sequentially record their transactions on a public "block", creating a unique "chain" referred to as a blockchain. Cryptography, via hash codes, is used to secure an authentication of a transaction source and removes a central intermediary. A blockchain is a distributed database that maintains a continuously-growing list of records in the blockchain blocks, which are secured from tampering and revision due to their immutable properties. Each block contains a timestamp and a link to a previous block. A blockchain can be used to hold, track, transfer and verify information. Since a blockchain is a distributed system, before adding a transaction to the blockchain ledger, all peers need to reach a consensus status.
Depositor confidence in bank stability is essential to economic health. While seeking stability and growth in their deposit bases, banks desire continued depositor confidence in the safety of their deposits. Institutions seek to understand patterns of measurable behavior by depositors and others that affect lending capacity. As customer deposits and bank capital form bases for lending activity, banks seek to understand depositor behavior as well as minimize risk of fraudulent activity associated with deposits. Such behaviors are measurable and observable and may be anticipated with proper tools.
Large financial institutions share similar concerns as fraudulent activity that is successful often spreads from one institution to another, with negative impact on local and regional economies and beyond. A malicious party that is successful in defrauding a first bank may very well attempt similar fraudulent activities at a second bank, particularly when the second bank is similar to the first bank in size, structure, and deposit base. Institutions may benefit by sharing effective elements of categories of data assessment without sharing proprietary information including analytical models the institutions use.
As complexity of financial instruments expands and fraudulent parties become more sophisticated, institutions seek new approaches and technologies to address financial crime as well as non-criminal but delinquent and irresponsible behavior. Institutions need to react more quickly to perceived and actual risks. Computer-driven fraud and fungibility and international mobility of funds can transform a seemingly innocuous and manageable risk into a catastrophic loss in a short time.
Institutions may find that sharing resources among themselves including some deposit-related information, for example fraud analytics, may be helpful in addressing financial crime and other malicious behaviors. Card providers and merchants were early to cooperate to address fraud and identity theft issues.
In complying with state, federal, and international regulations, institutions may satisfy requirements by sharing data, profiles, and patterns of interest with each other and with regulators. While channels exist for publications, documented research work, and conference media for sharing of intelligence, these channels have not adapted to the speed, elusiveness, and adaptability of today's international fraud operators. Banks, regulators, and others would benefit from sharing of synthesized views of approaches and techniques used to analyze and segment deposit data from a broad population of parties employing a variety of tools. As such, what is needed is something else to overcome the described limitations and facilitate the sharing of such synthesized views.

Collaborative analytics for fraud detection through a shared public ledger

International Business Machines Corporation


Apparatuses for controlling emissions of carbon capture facilities and associated methods are disclosed that generally involve a chamber defining at least one washwater packing. The exemplary apparatuses further include at least one washwater return line, a UV treatment zone and a hydrogen peroxide treatment zone. The UV treatment zone generally receives UV energy sufficient to substantially destroy a first emission compound and the hydrogen peroxide treatment zone generally receives a hydrogen peroxide medium sufficient to substantially oxidize a second emission compound to a less volatile final product. An alternative exemplary apparatus generally involves a UV treatment zone and an ozonation treatment zone, further including a hydrogen peroxide treatment zone applied within the ozonation treatment zone. The exemplary methods generally include applying at least one of a UV treatment, a hydrogen peroxide treatment and an ozonation treatment.

Technical Field
The present disclosure is directed to an apparatus and method of treatment of contaminant emissions from carbon capture facilities and, in particular, to an improved apparatus and method of simultaneously controlling and/or treating emissions of amines, nitrosamines, nitramines and aldehydes from flue gases in a cost efficient and/or effective manner.
Background Art
In general, contaminant emissions from carbon capture facilities are of great concern in the industry due to their potential hazardous effect on the environment and/or humans. There are currently no standard carbon capture exhaust gas treatments for, e.g., nitrosamines, nitramines, and the like, and those for amines generally rely on, for example, washwater scrubbers employing pH adjustment of washwater and/or higher washwater replacement rates. The concentrations of contaminants in washwater provide one of the best estimates of contaminant emissions from carbon capture facilities to downwind communities. Systems generally configured as scrubbers designed to remove contaminants from the flue gas currently exist. However, contaminants typically accumulate in the washwater, thus reducing the driving force for mass transfer from the flue gas to the washwater. Additionally, for contaminants that form in the washwater, the mass transfer driving force can work in the opposite direction, such that the washwater would serve as a source of contaminants to the exhaust gas as it is recirculated through the system.
Contaminants of particular concern that generally accumulate in washwater include, e.g., nitrosamines, nitramines, amines, aldehydes, nitrite, and the like. Nitrosamines, nitramines and aldehydes are generally of specific concern due to their potential direct toxicity. Amines are of concern due to their potential to form toxic products downwind. In addition, even at an alkaline pH, aldehydes can catalyze the nitrosation of amines by nitrite. Accordingly, the accumulation of these products in the washwater may foster nitrosamine formation, such that the washwater serves as a source of nitrosamines to the exhaust gas.
Another important N-nitrosamine formation pathway involves nitrite, i.e., a nitrosation pathway relevant to washwaters. Under acidic conditions, formation of the nitrosating agent, e.g., N2O3, generally occurs in a reaction that is second order in nitrite as shown below in Equation 1 (see, e.g., Mirvish, S. S., Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 31, p. 325-351 (1975)).2NO2−+3H+→N2O3+H2O+H+  (1)
However, aldehydes have been found to catalyze nitrosation by nitrite, thereby enabling significant formation at neutral and alkaline pH (see, e.g., Keefer, L. K. et al., Science, 181, p. 1245-1247 (1973)). For example, as shown in Equation 2 below, a reaction between dimethylamine and formaldehyde forms a carbinolamine (see, e.g., Casado, J. et al., Journal of the Chemical Society-Perkin Transaction 2, 12, p. 1963-1966 (1984)). With reference to Equation 3, protonation of the carbinolamine, followed by dehydration, generally forms an iminium ion. The iminium ion further generally reacts with nitrite to form a nitrosamine, as illustrated by Equation 4, thereby releasing formaldehyde for further reactions.(CH3)2NH+CH2O→(CH3)2NCH2OH  (2)(CH3)2NCH2OH+H+→(CH3)2N+NCH2OH→(CH3)2N+═CH2+H2O  (3)(CH3)2N+═CH2+NO2−→(CH3)2N—N═O+CH2O  (4)
Due to the high concentrations of aldehydes anticipated to be present in the absorbent solution and/or in the washwater, and because nitrite generally occurs in washwater, the nitrosation pathway is likely to be a significant pathway for nitrosamine formation.
Turning now to FIG. 1, modeled nitrosation rates (M/s) of about 100 μM morpholine by about 400 μM nitrite in the absence (line "a") and/or presence (line "b") of about 100 μM formaldehyde as a function of pH are presented (see, e.g., Mirvish, S. S., Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 31, p. 325-351 (1975)). Nitrosation of alkylamines by acid-catalyzed nitrosation in the absence of aldehydes is generally maximized at a pH of about 3 to 4. Catalysis of nitrosation by formaldehyde further generally increased nitrosation rates by about four orders of magnitude near a pH of about 10, typical of washwaters.
There are currently two options being pursued in the industry to increase the driving force for transfer of amines from the exhaust gas to the washwater. The first option generally involves the addition of sequential washwater sections. In particular, increasing the number of sequential washwater sections is generally equivalent to increasing the number of transfer units in a plug flow reactor, thereby increasing the removal efficiency of amines. In addition, since nitrosamines and nitramines are typically water soluble, partial removal of nitrosamines and nitramines should also be expected. However, the cost of adding sequential washwater sections is substantially high. Further, these improvements may be temporary, as the accumulation of amines in the washwater generally continues to reduce the mass transfer driving force and reactions of residual NOx with amines in the washwater to form nitrosamines and/or nitramines would cause the washwater to serve as a source of nitrosamines to the exhaust gas.
The second option currently being pursued in the industry generally involves reducing the pH in a single washwater section. In particular, without pH adjustment, most washwaters generally achieve a pH of about 10.5, which is above the dissociation constant pKa (hereinafter "pKa") of most amines. Reducing the pH below the pKa of amines can significantly reduce their volatility, as the charged forms of amines are non-volatile. Although amines can still accumulate to reach Henry's law equilibrium with the flue gas, a substantial mass of amines could be stored in the washwater in their charged forms. However, upon reaching Henry's law equilibrium, the washwater generally no longer serves as an amine sink. Further, the pKa values for nitrosamines are significantly lower than for amines. Therefore, only at the lowest pH values will acidification aid nitrosamine removal. Additionally, the low pH environment generally promotes the nitrosation of amines by nitrite, thereby permitting the washwater to become a source of nitrosamines.
Both of these options generally rely on phase transfer to reduce losses by storing compounds in the washwater. Therefore, in both cases, the accumulation of the products over time generally reduces the driving force for contaminant removal. Additionally, disposal of washwaters containing these accumulated contaminants is problematic, as the washwaters may be considered hazardous waste.
Thus, a need exists for improved apparatuses and methods of treatment of contaminant emissions from carbon capture facilities. In particular, a need exists for improved apparatuses and methods of simultaneously controlling and/or treating emissions of amines, aldehydes, nitrosamines and nitramines from flue gases in a cost efficient and/or effective manner, and for destroying these contaminants to facilitate the safe disposal of the used washwaters.
These and other needs are addressed by the exemplary apparatuses and methods of the present disclosure.

Ultraviolet and hydrogen peroxide or ozone or ozone and hydrogen peroxide treatment to simultaneously control nitrosamine, nitramine, amine and aldehyde emissions from amine-based carbon capture


A new and distinct cultivar of Monarda plant named ‘Balbeemed’, characterized by its medium red-colored inflorescences, medium green-colored foliage, good powdery mildew resistance, and moderately vigorous, upright growth habit, is disclosed.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Monarda plant botanically known as Monarda didyma and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Balbeemed'.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Guadalupe, Calif. during the summer 2012. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Monarda cultivars that are medium height, early flowering, and have good powdery mildew resistance.
The new Monarda cultivar is the result of open-pollination. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is the proprietary Monarda didyma breeding selection coded MNR-193, not patented, characterized by its medium red-colored inflorescences, dark green-colored foliage, low growth vigor and compact-mounded growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is unknown. The new cultivar was selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated open-pollination during September 2013 in a controlled environment in Guadalupe, Calif.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since September 2013 in Guadalupe, Calif. and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.


A cleaning device according to an embodiment is a cleaning device that cleans a light transmission member provided on a camera. The cleaning device includes a filamentary member configured to contact the light transmission member and a rotation member configured to rotate the filamentary member such that the filamentary member moves along the surface of the light transmission member with the filamentary member in contact with the light transmission member.

There is conventionally known a cleaning device that cleans a light transmission member, such as a camera lens. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-125104 describes a deposit wiping device that cleans a camera device mounted on a vehicle traveling in the outdoor environment. The deposit wiping device includes a wiper arm rockingly mounted on the housing of the camera device. The wiper arm has an arm main body and a wiper blade mounted on the arm main body.
The wiper blade is disposed above the lens of the camera device, and formed in an arc shape along the lens surface. The wiper blade is pressed against the lens surface with a constant pressing force when the wiper arm is rocked. The wiper blade is made of rubber having elasticity or a silicon resin. The wiper arm is rocked with the wiper blade pressed against the lens surface as described above, and hence deposits attached to the lens are wiped.


A moving picture sequence is divided into key frames, which are coded by a conventional method, and non-key frames, which are coded to obtain error-correcting information. The encoder and decoder independently generate predicted images for each non-key frame. The encoder compares its predicted image with the original non-key frame to estimate how much error-correcting information the decoder will need to decode the non-key frame by correcting prediction errors in the decoder's predicted image, and sends the decoder that amount of error-correcting information together with correlation information indicating how closely the predicted image and the original non-key frame are correlated. Before decoding the non-key frame, the decoder modifies the correlation information to compensate for differences in the prediction methods employed by the encoder and decoder. The modification enables the decoding process to converge faster.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the encoding and decoding of moving picture sequences and is applicable in, for example, distributed video coding.
2. Description of the Related Art
Distributed video coding (DVC) is a new coding method that has attracted much recent attention. It is based on two key results in information theory, the Slepian-Wolf theorem and the Wyner-Ziv theorem, which showed that data could be compressed as efficiently by two independent encoders as by one encoder.
In DVC coding, a sequence of video frames is divided into key frames and non-key frames, the latter often referred to as Wyner-Ziv frames or WZ frames. The sequence of key frames is coded by a conventional intraframe or interframe coding method, and the coded data are sent to the decoder. The sequence of WZ frames is coded independently by a method that generates error-correcting information, generally referred to as parity bits, and only the parity bits, or only some of them, are sent to the decoder.
A basic DVC coding method is described by Aaron et al. in 'Transform-Domain Wyner-Ziv Codec for Video', Proc. SPIE Visual Communications and Image Processing, 2004. In the encoder, a discrete cosine transform (DCT) is used to transform each Wyner-Ziv frame to the coefficient domain, the coefficients are grouped into bands, the coefficients in the k-th band are quantized by a 2Mk-level quantizer, the quantized coefficients (qk) are expressed in fixed numbers of bits, and the bit planes are extracted and supplied to a Slepian-Wolf encoder, which is a type of encoder that produces data bits and parity bits. The parity bits are stored in a buffer for transmission to the decoder. The data bits are discarded (as implied but not explicitly shown by Aaron, et al. in FIG. 1 of the above reference).
The decoder decodes the key frames by conventional methods, uses the decoded key frames to generate a predicted image for each Wyner-Ziv frame, applies a DCT to convert the predicted image to the coefficient domain, groups the coefficients into bands, and inputs the coefficients in each band as side information to a Slepian-Wolf decoder. The Slepian-Wolf decoder uses the parity bits received from the encoder to correct prediction errors in the side information by an iterative process. When a satisfactory decoded result is obtained, an inverse discrete cosine transform (IDCT) is applied to reconstruct the image of the Wyner-Ziv frame.
In the encoder described by Aaron et al., the Slepian-Wolf encoder uses a punctured turbo code to produce the parity bits, originally sends the decoder a subset of the parity bits, and sends further subsets, if necessary, on request from the decoder. A problem with this scheme is that it requires a feedback channel from the decoder to the encoder, so it is inapplicable when no feedback channel is available. Another problem is that generating and sending the successive requests for more parity bits takes extra time and delays the decoding process.
In an alternative scheme, described by Morbee et al. in 'Improved Pixel-Based Rate Allocation For Pixel-Domain Distributed Video Coders Without Feedback Channel', ICIVS 2007, the encoder generates a predicted image of its own for each Wyner-Ziv frame, compares this predicted image with the original image in the Wyner-Ziv frame, thereby estimates the number of parity bits that will be required for accurate decoding of the Wyner-Ziv frame, and sends this number of parity bits without having to be asked for them by the decoder. This eliminates the need for a feedback channel and avoids the delays associated with repeated requests.
DVC systems can also be improved by having the encoder supply the decoder with extra information to expedite the Slepian-Wolf decoding process. If the encoder generates a predicted image, for example, then it can the supply the decoder with correlation information indicating how closely the predicted image is correlated with the original image.
A problem with this scheme is that DVC coding and decoding will be incorporated into many types of devices produced by many different manufacturers. The methods of generating predicted images are likely to differ considerably, depending on the manufacturer and the cost of the device. Since a principal reason for using DVC is to reduce the processing load on the encoder, it is also likely that the encoder will use a simple prediction method that requires comparatively little processing, while the decoder uses a more elaborate prediction method to obtain a better predicted image, in order to minimize the number of parity bits required in the decoding process.
As a result, the encoder will tend to generate a predicted image that differs more from the original image than does the predicted image generated by the decoder. As a result, the encoder may underestimate the correlation between the original image and the decoder's predicted image. If the decoder operates according to the underestimated correlation information supplied by the encoder, it will have a tendency to assume that predicted values that are actually correct are incorrect. This mistaken assumption will take additional decoding iterations to correct, delaying the convergence of the decoding process.

Moving picture encoder, decoder, and coding system


A window blind includes a headrail, a bottom rail, a plurality of slats, and a cord. The slats are arranged between the headrail and the bottom rail, and each slat has two bores and one or plural of locking slots. Each locking slot has an open end and a closed end, and the opening end of the locking slot is connected to the bore. The cord passes through the headrail and the bores of the slats, and being fastened to the bottom rail. A diameter of the cord is greater than or equal to a width of the locking slot. As a result, the cord goes into the locking slot quickly and can be clamped by edges of the locking slot while a kid is trying to pull the cord out of the slats.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a covering of an opening of a building, and more particularly to a window blind with safety slats.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a conventional window blind 1, including a headrail 10, a bottom rail 12, a plurality of slats 14, and a transmission unit 16. The slats 14 are parallel, and are arranged between the headrail 10 and the bottom rail 12. Each slat 14 has two elongated bores 142. Each bore 142 has curved opposite ends. The transmission unit 16 has two lifting control devices 18 and two cords 20. The lifting control devices 18 are received in the headrail 10. Each cord 20 has a control section 202 and a lift section 204. The control section 202 connects to the lift section 204. The lift sections 204 run over the lifting control devices 18, then pass through the bores 142 of the slats 14 in sequence, and finally are fastened to the bottom rail 12. The control sections 202 extend out of the headrail 10 to be operated by user. Pulling or releasing the control sections 202 may lift or lower the bottom rail 12 to retract or extend the slats 14.
When the bottom rail 12 is lowered to the lowest position, it has a risk to let a kid be strangled in case he/she pulls the lift sections 204 between the slats 14 out, and get the lift sections 204 around his/her neck (seeing FIG. 2). It is because that the lift sections 204 are free to move in the bores 142, so that the kid may pull them out easily and cause a tragedy.


To provide a liquid crystal display capable of obtaining light and high-contrast display having a wide viewing angle in a transflective liquid crystal display. A liquid crystal display of the present invention employs a vertical alignment mode using a liquid crystal layer 50 that is vertically aligned in the initial alignment state, wherein a transparent display area T is disposed to surround the periphery of a reflective display area R in one dot, and an insulating film 21 is provided in the area that corresponds to the reflective display area R in the center of the dot, the insulating film 21 making the thickness of the liquid crystal layer 50 in the reflective display area R smaller than the thickness of the liquid crystal layer 50 in the transparent display area T.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display and an electronic device. More specifically, the invention relates to a technique of obtaining a high-contrast display having a wide viewing angle in a transflective liquid crystal display that performs display in both a reflective mode and a transparent mode.
2. Description of Related Art
Since reflective liquid crystal displays have no light sources, such as a backlight, they consume low power, and thus can be used for various portable electronic devices. However, the reflective liquid crystal displays perform display using outside light, such as sunlight and illumination light. Thus, these displays are subject to low visibility in a dark place. Therefore, the related art includes liquid crystal displays capable of making display visible using outside light in a light place, as in general reflective liquid crystal displays, and using an inside light source, such as a backlight, in a dark place. In other words, such liquid crystal displays employ a reflective and transparent display system, thereby allowing clear display even in low light while reducing power consumption by switching the display system between the reflective mode and the transparent mode depending on the surrounding brightness. Hereinafter, in this specification, liquid crystal displays of this type are referred to as "transflective liquid crystal displays."
Such related art transflective liquid crystal displays include a liquid crystal display having a structure in which a liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between an upper substrate and a lower substrate. A reflective film having a light-transmitting window in a metallic film made of aluminum or the like is provided on the inner surface of the lower substrate, and this reflective film functions as a transflective film. In this case, in a reflective mode, outside light that has entered from the upper substrate passes through the liquid crystal layer, is then reflected by the reflective film, again passes through the liquid crystal layer, and outgoes from the upper substrate, thus contributing to display. On the other hand, in a transparent mode, light from the backlight, which has entered from the lower substrate, passes through the liquid crystal layer from the window of the reflective film, and then emerges from the upper substrate to the exterior, thereby contributing to display. Accordingly, in the reflective-film formed area, the area which has the window serves as a transparent display area and the other area serves as a reflective display area.
Liquid crystal alignment modes include a twisted nematic (hereinafter "TN") mode in which liquid crystal molecules exhibit a twisted alignment substantially parallel to the substrate surface and vertical to the substrate; and a vertical alignment mode in which liquid crystal molecules exhibit vertical alignment, under a no voltage applied state. Although, in the related art, the TN mode can be viewed as reliable, the related art also includes liquid crystal displays that in the vertical alignment mode can provide some excellent characteristics.
For example, in the vertical alignment mode, since the state in which the liquid crystal molecules are aligned vertically to the substrate surface (there is no optical retardation as viewed from the normal) is used as black display, the black display is superior in quality, thus providing high contrast. In vertical-alignment LCDs which are superior in front contrast, the range of viewing angle in which a fixed contrast can be obtained is wider than that of the horizontal-alignment-mode TN liquid crystal. Furthermore, employing an alignment dividing (multidomain) technique of dividing the alignment orientation of a liquid crystal in pixels provides a remarkably wide viewing angle.
In the transflective liquid crystal display with the aforesaid structure, the retardation of the liquid crystal in the reflective display area is expressed by: 2×Δn·d, because the incident light passes through the liquid crystal layer two times and then reaches the observer, where the thickness of the liquid crystal layer is d, the refractive index anisotropy of the liquid crystal is: Δn, and the retardation of the liquid crystal which is expressed as their integrated value is: Δn·d. On the other hand, the retardation of the liquid crystal in the transparent display area is expressed by: 1×Δn·d, because the light from the backlight passes through the liquid crystal layer only once.
As described above, when the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer is controlled, even with the structure having different retardation values in the reflective display area and in the transparent display area, an electric field has been applied to the liquid crystal at the same driving voltage in both display modes. In such a case, when the liquid crystal with different display modes, in other words, the liquid crystal with different retardations between the transparent display area and the reflective display area is aligned at the same driving voltage, it poses a problem of obtaining no high-contrast display. In order to address or solve the problem, a liquid crystal display is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-242226 that has a structure having different thicknesses of the liquid crystal layer in the transparent display area and in the reflective display area.

Liquid crystal display and electronic device


An improved aircraft system is provided. The improved aircraft system comprises an adjustable vortices device that may be attached to an aircraft to create various vortices effects, which increase take-off weight and improve low-speed handling of the aircraft. The adjustable vortices device comprises a linear actuator, a pivot mechanism, and a vortex generator. The pivot mechanism is operably connected to the linear actuator in a way such that the translational energy of the linear actuator causes the pivot mechanism to rotate about a central axis. The vortex generator is moveably attached to a surface of the aircraft and coupled to the pivot mechanism in a way such that rotating the pivot mechanism causes the vortex generator to rotate about a central axis, which alters the angle the vortex generators move through the air.

It is often beneficial for an aircraft to be able to take off and land on very short runways. This is especially true for military aircraft that often must take off and land in very short distances whether in combat or out of combat. For instance, aircraft taking off the deck of an aircraft carrier must take off and land on a runway no more than about three hundred feet. This means for many military aircraft it's optimal that it be able to generate enough lift in a very short distance to overcome its weight. It also means that the aircraft must be able to be operated at very low speeds in order to effectively land in such a short distance. Currently most military cargo aircraft need a minimum of two thousand feet to effectively takeoff and land. Optimally a military cargo aircraft would be able to take off and land over much shorter distances, but that would require increasing the lift of the aircraft while as well as the low speed control of the aircraft. Unfortunately, most cargo aircraft are very difficult to control at low speeds and operating a cargo aircraft at low speeds often results in accidents due to stalling.
Stalls are experienced as a sudden reduction in lift when the critical angle of attack of a wing is exceeded. Often this is a result of slowing the aircraft below the minimum stall speed for a given angle of attack during level flight. When this occurs, many aircraft will start to lose elevation and cause the nose to pitch down because the wing is no longer producing enough lift to support the aircraft's weight. To recover from a stall in a fixed wing aircraft, the angle of attack must be reduced and the speed of the aircraft must be increased so that airflow over the surfaces of the wing system is normalized. Some aircraft are equipped with systems that allow the angle of incidence of the aircraft to be changed, which may be used to increase or decrease the angle of attack without pitching the nose of the aircraft. Additionally, some aircraft allow the sweep of the wings to be altered, which may increase or decrease the critical angle of attack of an aircraft without pitching the nose or increasing the speed due to an increase in the lift generated by the aircraft by sweeping the wings forward. Various other technologies have been created to reduce the stall speed of an aircraft with mixed success. One such technology is vortex generators.
Vortex generators, which look like small fins perched on the surfaces of the aircraft, improve an aircraft's aerodynamic performance by delaying boundary layer separation. The boundary layer is a small layer of air that surrounds the aircraft and is somewhat slow moving compared to the aircraft as it moves through the air. Because of this, as the aircraft moves through the air, the boundary layer falls behind the aircraft and creates a wake, which creates drag. Drag acts on the aircraft by slowing the aircraft down and reduces the amount of lift force effectively generated by the aircraft. Vortex generators may be used to delay the separation of the boundary layer from the aircraft by creating minor turbulence in the form of vortices. This turbulence gives the boundary layer more energy, which allows it to separate from the aircraft system at a later time. This later separation results in a smaller wake, resulting in less drag acting on the aircraft. Smaller wake also effectively increases the lift generated by the aircraft, which both decreases the speed needed to overcome the weight of the aircraft to achieve take off and decreases the minimum stall speed. In effect, an aircraft having a vortex generator may both take off and land over shorter distances.
Currently, vortex generators are attached to the aircraft in a permanent orientation. This isn't always advantageous because the effectiveness of vortex generators is increased or decreased depending on the angle of attack it creates with the upcoming flow of air. For instance, a vortex generator having a high angle of attack with the upcoming airflow may create a large vortex, but this may take a lot of energy to create, thus creating more friction drag that it reduces drag caused by flow separation. Alternatively, a vortex generator having an angle of attack parallel to upcoming flow of air will produce very small vortices, which will have a minimal effect on drag caused by flow separation. Additionally, the effectiveness of vortex generators varies with the angle of attack of the wings of the aircraft. This means that current aircraft having vortex generators may only notice the reduced drag and improved flight performance under a very narrow set of circumstances.
Accordingly, a need exists in the art for an improved aircraft system having an adjustable vortices device that may take off and land over short distances as well as be able to fly over long distances without having to stop and refuel.

Short take off and landing aircraft with adjustable vortices device


Provided are systems and methods for generating a higher level description of a circuit design comprising a plurality of interface instances. One or more buckets for each source instance with respect to each destination instance included in the circuit design are generated, and then the one or more buckets are sorted based on a number of bucket entries in each bucket. One or more interface instances are generated based on the sorted buckets. The higher level description of the circuit design is generated based on the one or more interface instances.

1. Technical Field
Systems and methods consistent with the present invention generally relate to Electronic Design Automation (EDA), and in particular to systems and methods for processing of netlists of System-on-Chip (SOC) designs relative to signal naming, signal connectivity and strengths of connectivity, properties of signals and groups of signals, and different levels of abstraction within an SOC description.
2. Description of the Related Art
System-On-Chip (SOC) designs are large and complex, frequently reaching sizes in excess of 50 million gates. As a result, when a new or enhanced application is to be addressed by a new design, the new design is most often a modification of a previous SOC design. Typically, an engineering organization attempts to use as much of the previous design as possible in order to save time, resources, and expense.
When attempting to reuse an existing SOC design, a common difficulty encountered by a design team is that the existing design may be poorly documented, or alternately simply exists only at a low register transfer level (RTL) description level with individual signal names which when viewed presents an overwhelming degree of complexity making it difficult to understand the design. Understanding the design is critical to modifying and reusing an existing design. Since creation of SOC designs typically require a team of many individuals, it is also common that at least some of the original designers are no longer available to explain an existing design—having either left the company or moved on to other projects.

Systems and methods for generating a higher level description of a circuit design based on connectivity strengths


An HD radio receiver includes a storage unit for carrying out tuning at a time when autostore is activated and for storing broadcasting station data about a terrestrial digital radio broadcast received by the tuning, a reception quality detecting unit for detecting reception quality of the radio broadcast received, and a control unit for deciding the number of broadcast programs of multicasting that broadcasts a plurality of programs on a single frequency from the terrestrial digital radio broadcast received and for registering in the storage unit broadcasting station data with a greater number of decided broadcast programs in preference to broadcasting station data with better reception quality detected by the reception quality detecting unit.

Recently, terrestrial digital radio broadcasting has spread which uses a frequency of an existing AM/FM analog broadcast, and transmits an analog broadcast and a digital signal simultaneously.
In North America, about 1700 or more broadcasting stations have already started or are preparing IBOC (In-Band On Channel) hybrid broadcasting.
Being different from the terrestrial digital radio broadcasting of Japan, since the hybrid broadcasting can utilize the same frequency as that of the existing analog broadcasting, it is not necessary for a broadcasting station to prepare a new frequency for digital broadcasting. Accordingly, a conventional analog radio receiver can receive existing broadcasts, and an HD radio receiver compatible with digital reception can receive a digital radio broadcast. When receiving the digital signal, the HD radio receiver can achieve tone quality equivalent to FM broadcasting as to AM broadcasting, and tone quality equivalent to CD (Compact Disc) as to FM broadcasting.
The HD radio receiver is often provided with a function of successively searching for broadcasting stations with good receiving conditions within a receivable frequency band, and of storing them in a preset memory (referred to as an autostore function from now on). According to the autostore function, it can store broadcasting station data in a preset memory in order of reception quality, and provide a user with the broadcasting station data stored in the preset memory, thereby being able to provide convenience of tuning.
According to the autostore function described above, however, since the receivable broadcasting station data are stored in the order of reception quality, and the HD radio receiver stores data on many analog broadcasting stations, it cannot achieve its original functions sufficiently.
For this reason, a preset method of a receiving set has been conventionally known which detects receiving frequencies of the digital broadcasts and analog broadcasts successively, and registers broadcasting stations relating to the digital broadcasting preferentially (see Patent Document 1, for example).

HD radio receiver and autostore control method


In the present invention, an estimated car body speed is obtained on the basis of the highest wheel speed selected from three wheel speeds including the lowest of the wheel speeds of left and right rear wheels and the wheel speeds of left and right front wheels. Because the car body speed is obtained on the basis of wheel speed selected by Select-High of three channels of wheel speeds of the two front wheels and wheel speed by Rear Select-Low, wheel speed of outer rear wheel, which is much higher than the speed of the gravity center of the car body when a car is turning, is excluded, and the estimated car body speed thus obtained is closer to the speed of the gravity center of the car body.

The present invention relates to a method for anti-skid brake control, in which a car body speed is estimated from wheel speed information at braking, and a value relating to skidding of the wheels such as a wheel slipping rate is obtained from the estimated car body speed, and the braking is controlled according to this value, and in particular, it relates to an anti-skid brake control method for performing anti-skid brake control properly even when the car is steered during the anti-skid brake control.
Anti-skid brake control is performed as follows: In general, when it is detected that the wheels are in skid condition during braking, the braking force on the wheels is decreased to eliminate the skid condition. By increasing the braking force again thereafter, the steering of the vehicle is stabilized and braking distance is made as short as possible.
When this anti-skid brake control is performed, it is necessary to obtain a car body speed, which serves as a reference for the control, but it is difficult to find an accurate car body speed when the wheels are under skid condition during braking. Therefore, in performing anti-skid brake control, it has been normally practiced to estimate a car body speed, and anti-skid brake control is performed according to the estimated car body speed. In this case, various methods have been adopted to estimate the car body speed. One of the methods is to estimate the car body speed by Select-High. The method by Select-High is to obtain the estimated car body speed based on the highest wheel speed among the four front and rear wheels.
When preparing the estimated car body speed by the method of Select-High, if steering is performed during anti-skid brake control, it is possible that the speed of the wheel running at the outermost course becomes the highest. Thus, the estimated car body speed is prepared based on the wheel speed of the wheel running at the outermost course. In this case, the speed of outer rear wheel is usually much faster than the speed of the gravity center of the car body when the car is turning, and the estimated car body speed is obtained based on the speed of this outer rear wheel in most cases.
However, a slip ratio is obtained from the estimated car body speed, and the slip ratio thus obtained is higher than the actual slip ratio. Accordingly, if anti-skid brake control is performed with this slip ratio, brake cylinder pressure of each wheel is decreased too much, and this causes insufficient deceleration of the wheels. In particular, braking force is not sufficiently applied on the outer front wheel, which most urgently needs the braking force when the car is turning, and the braking force on the rear wheels is also not enough.