An image recording apparatus is provided which automatically controls the temperature and humidity in the region of a photosensitive recording medium. The recording medium carries the indication of its sensitivity characteristic. A detector disposed in the image recording apparatus reads the sensitivity characteristics which may take the form of the bar code or magnetic tape. The detector then sends an output signal, to a controller. At least one of a thermal sensor and a humidity sensor are provided in the passage of the photosensitive recording medium. These elements respectively sense the temperature and humidity and output their detection signals to the controller. The controller then controls a heater and a humidifier to set the optimal temperature and optimal humidity for the passage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus. More particularly, the present invention is directed to an image recording apparatus utilizing environment sensitive which irradiates photosensitive recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional image recording machines, such as copying machines, irradiate a light on an original and project the light reflected from, or transmitted through, the original onto a photosensitive recording medium, thereby forming a latent image of the original on the recording medium.
It is known that the sensitivity of the photosensitive recording mediums used in such applications are often influenced by the temperature of the recording medium at the time of exposure. Improper ambient temperature around the photosensitive recording medium would therefore provide an image of a low quality and degrade the reproductibility of the image.
As a solution to this shortcoming, Asano et al. have disclosed proposed an image recording apparatus in U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,356 of which the present applicant is the assignee. This apparatus uses an elongated microcapsule paper as a photosensitive recording medium. The microcapsule paper is rolled within a recording paper accommodating case (paper cartridge) in the housing of the apparatus. In use, the microcapsule paper is fed out by the rotation of a motor-driven roller and is wound around a collection roller. The microcapsule paper fed out from the paper cartridge is exposed to alight when passing under a paper support located between the cartridge and the collection roller.
The desired ambient temperature to keep the optimal sensitivity of the microcapsule paper at the time of the exposure is stored in advance in a memory of a controller. Based on a signal from a sensor that detects the temperature of the passage of the microcapsule paper near the paper support, the controller controls a heater member disposed adjacent to the paper support to maintain the ambient temperature at the desired level, thus keeping the optimal sensitivity of the microcapsule paper.
Since the optimal ambient temperature is specifically set in advance in the above image recording apparatus, it is necessary for the user to input an optimal ambient temperature upon each replacement of the microcapsule paper with another having a different sensitivity characteristic. This job is troublesome.


The invention provides non-steroidal ligands for the glucocorticoid receptor, methods for making non-steroidal ligands of the glucocorticoid receptor, compositions of non-steroidal ligands of the glucocorticoid receptor and methods of using non-steroidal ligands and compositions of non-steroidal ligands of the glucocorticoid receptor for treating or preventing diseases (e.g., obesity, diabetes, depression, neurodegeneration or an inflammatory disease) associated with glucocorticoid binding to the glucocorticoid receptor.

The glucocorticoid receptor is a member of the steroid/thyroid nuclear hormone receptor superfamily, which includes, but is not limited to, mineralcorticoid, androgen, progesterone and estrogen receptors. The glucocorticoid receptor is activated in vivo by binding of natural agonists such as cortisol and corticosterone. The glucocorticoid receptor may also be activated by binding of synthetic agonists such as dexamethasone, prednisone and prednisilone. Many synthetic antagonists of glucocorticoid receptors (e.g., RU-486) are also known.
Since the presence or absence of ligand binding to the glucocorticoid receptor may have profound physiological consequences (e.g., lead to Cushing's syndrome or Addison's disease), drugs that target the glucocorticoid receptor are clinically relevant. Consequently, selective glucocorticoid receptor ligands that either activate (i.e., agonists) or inactivate (i.e., antagonists) glucocorticoid mediated response are compounds of pharmaceutical interest.
The glucocorticoid receptor, when activated by ligand, mediates biological processes (e.g., metabolism, electrolyte balance, organ and tissue systems, etc.) by binding to specific regulatory DNA sequences (i.e., response elements) in the promoter of cortisol-regulated genes. The glucocorticoid receptor may thus activate or repress transcription of cortisol-regulated genes. At least three different response elements exist for glucocorticoid receptor regulation: (1) the glucocorticoid response element (GRE); (2) an AP-1/GRE; and (3) a NFκB/GRE. Agonist binding to the glucocorticoid receptor leads to transcriptional activation of the GRE and transcriptional repression of AP-1/GRE and NFκB/GR.
Currently available drugs that bind to the glucocorticoid receptor are typically cortisol analogues, which produce undesired side effects that are caused by: (1) unselective binding to other steroid receptors; and (2) failure to disassociate the different response elements when binding to the glucocorticoid receptor. Thus, there exists a need for compounds that selectively bind to the glucocorticoid receptor and selectively disassociate the different response elements of the glucocorticoid receptor.

Non-steroidal ligands for the glucocorticoid receptor, compositions and uses thereof

The Regents of the University of California


In the present invention, we identify that such a tradeoff between robustness to background changes and sensitivity to foreground abnormalities can be easily controlled by a new computational scheme of two-type learning rate control for the Gaussian mixture modeling (GMM). Based on the proposed rate control scheme, a new video surveillance system that applies feedbacks of pixel properties computed in object-level analysis to the learning rate controls of the GMM in pixel-level background modeling is developed. Such a system gives better regularization of background adaptation and is efficient in resolving the tradeoff for many surveillance applications.

The present invention relates generally to the design of a video surveillance system rooted in the Gaussian mixture modeling for background subtraction-based applications. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel computational scheme of two-type learning rate control for the Gaussian mixture modeling, wherein high-level feedbacks of pixel properties are applied to the adaptive adjustments of the learning rates.
For video surveillance using static camera, background subtraction is often regarded as an effective and efficient method for differentiating foreground objects from a background scene. The performance of background subtraction highly depends on how a background scene is modeled. Ideally, an ideal design of background modeling should be able to tolerate various background variations without losing the sensitivity in detecting abnormal foreground objects. However, the tradeoff between model robustness and model sensitivity is commonly encountered in practice and is hard to be balanced within a single background modeling framework.
Among various background modeling approaches, the Gaussian mixture modeling (GMM), proposed by C. Stauffer and W. E. L. Grimson, Adaptive background mixture models for real-time tracking, in Proc. IEEE Conf. Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, Vol. 2, pp. 246-252, 1999, is known to be effective in sustaining background variations, e.g., waving trees, due to its use of multiple buffers to memorize scene states. It is hence widely adopted as a base framework in many later developments, e.g., M. Harville, Segmenting Video Input Using High-Level Feedback, U.S. Pat. No. 6,999,620 B1, February 2006, and D.-S. Lee, Adaptive Mixture Learning in a Dynamic System, U.S. Pat. No. 7,103,584 B2, September 2006. However, the GMM often suffers from the tradeoff between model robustness to background changes and model sensitivity to foreground 20 abnormalities, abbreviated as R-S tradeoff. For instance, a Gaussian mixture model being tuned to tolerate quick changes in background may also adapt itself to stationary objects, e.g., unattended bags left by passengers, too quickly to issue reliable alarms. The lack of a simple and flexible way to manage the R-S tradeoff for various scenarios motivates this invention.
In the GMM formulations, every image pixel, regardless of its intensity being changing or not, is given the same setting of learning rates in background model estimation, which is inefficient in managing the R-S tradeoff. (The definition of learning rate is inherited from C. Stauffer and W. E. L. Grimson, Adaptive background mixture models for real-time tracking, in Proc. IEEE Conf. Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, Vol. 2, pp. 246-252, 1999, and will be specifically defined later.) Considering a pixel of background that was just uncovered from occlusion of a moving object, the corresponding Gaussian mixture model for this pixel should be updated in a slower pace than that for a stable background pixel, to prevent false inclusion of moving shadows or motion blurs into background. Nonetheless, in the original GMM formulations, an identical learning rate setting is applied to all image pixels, leaving no space for tuning the background adaptation speeds for this case. We therefore highlight the importance of adaptive learning rates control in space and in time, and propose a new video surveillance system with a novel learning rate control scheme for the GMM.
In the present invention related to a new learning rate control scheme for the GMM, high-level feedbacks of pixel properties are applies to adaptive adjustments of the learning rates in space and in time. Despite that the idea of adopting high-level feedbacks, such as foreground pixel type, in background modeling is not new, e.g., M. Harville, Segmenting Video Input Using High-Level Feedback, U.S. Pat. No. 6,999,620 B1, February 2006, to the best of our knowledge, the proposed learning rate control scheme is the first to utilize two types of learning rate controls for enhancing the model estimation accuracy and regularizing the R-S tradeoff simultaneously. In the present invention, high-level feedbacks are applied only to the learning rate control related to the R-S tradeoff, but not to the other related to the model estimation accuracy, which leads to a unique design of a robust surveillance system.

Video surveillance system based on Gaussian mixture modeling with two-type learning rate control scheme


A non-invasive system and method is provided for the inspection of check valves which combines acoustic and magnetic techniques. The acoustic and magnetic techniques are used to measure check valve disk motion and internal impacts or vibrations resulting from the disk motion.

This invention relates to valves and more particularly to a non-invasive system and method for the inspection of valves.
It may be explained here that generally a check-valve includes a housing and a movable element mounted in the housing for movement between an open position and a closed position and intermediate positions between the open and closed positions. The check-valve operates by allowing flow in one direction when the movable element is in the open position while preventing flow in the other when the movable element is in the closed position. The check valve has no external moving parts and, therefore, the position of the movable element and its integrity cannot be evaluated with normal visual inspection methods without valve disassembly.
Failures of a few check valves in applications directly related to a safe shut down of a nuclear powered electrical generating unit during nuclear power plant operations led to a review of all check valve maintenance actions and failures. INPO (Institute of Nuclear Power Operations) published the results of the review in a Significant Operating Experience Report (SOER) No. 86-03 entitled "Check Valve Failures or Degradation" in October, 1986. The conclusions of this report were that the major causes of check valve failures were primarily due to misapplication and inadequate preventative maintenance.
As a result of INPO's SOER 86-03, the electric industry worked with EPRI (the Electric Power Research Institute) and formed a program to address the needs of the industry. In 1988, EPRI issued a report entitled "Application Guidelines for Check Valves in Nuclear Power Plants." The EPRI report provided guidelines recommending the use of non-invasive inspection techniques to verify proper operation of check valves.
Currently, inspection of check valves is generally accomplished by the disassembly of the valve and visually inspecting the internals. There is a very limited use of non-invasive inspection techniques consisting of ultrasonic, acoustic or, to a limited extent, magnetic techniques. Acoustic techniques involve the detection of structural-borne noise, i.e., acoustic energy or vibrations, emanating from the internal workings of the valve. The acoustic technique generally employs a piezoelectric crystal sensor, such as an accelerometer, mounted on the valve housing. All structural-borne acoustic energy waves or vibrations are detected by the acoustic sensor and converted by it to electric analog voltage signals or data representative of acoustic energy. The data is recorded and then analyzed in an attempt to diagnose which internal valve condition the data is indicating.
Although the indications of various conditions and/or "problems" within the valve can be detected as vibrations by the acoustic sensor, the interpretation of the data as to which problem the acoustic energy or vibrations is indicating is difficult. For example, it is difficult at times, to differentiate between vibrations caused by impacts between worn parts and impacts which are expected in normal operation of the valve, i.e., impacts which occur upon the opening and closing of the valve. Also vibrations created by impacts caused by worn parts as the movable element fluctuates between open and closed positions can be misinterpreted as vibrations created by impacts caused by the movable member striking the valve housing or a valve stop in its fully opened position. It is also possible for the entire movable member to be missing with just the mounting arm which mounts the movable member to the housing remaining and obtain vibrations and resulting acoustic signatures in the data that might be misinterpreted as vibrations of impacts caused by the movable member striking the valve stop when, in fact, it is the mounting arm which is striking some portion of the valve's internal structure.
Magnetic techniques for the inspection of valves currently relate to systems which provide information regarding the position of the movable element of the valve. The magnetic technique involves the use of a permanent magnet mounted on the movable element to provide a varying magnetic field as the position of the movable element changes. A magnet field sensor is used to measure the magnetic field strength from a point outside the valve. As magnetic field strength changes, the sensor will indicate the position of the movable element. Knowing the position of the movable element permits limited diagnostic evaluation of check valves. For example, a fluctuating movable element will be evident using the magnetic technique. Proper seating of the movable element upon closure, however, would not be evident using magnetic techniques although the position of the movable element would indicate closed. Also, and more importantly, worn internal parts would not be evident using magnetic techniques.
Because of these and other difficulties associated with check valve inspection techniques presently employed, there now exists a need and a strong demand for an economical, viable means for the non-invasive inspection of check valves to verify proper operation without the disadvantages of the current inspection techniques.

Non-invasive system and method for inspection of valves


Disclosed is wrapped glass cap article, comprising at least one glass cap and a pair of plastic films having located therein the at least one glass cap, at least one of the pair of plastic films being imparted on its inner surface with a weak adhesiveness so that the glass cap is tightly sealed due to the weak adhesiveness of the plastic film. The article gives rise to glass caps with less contamination when the plastic film is peeled off.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a package for glass caps for sealing, for example, solid-state image sensing devices, IC chips or a like device or element to which dust could quite often cause serious damages or deteriorate its function.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, research and development of solid-state image sensing device for use in video cameras have been made widely.
Solid image pickup apparatus generally has a solid-state image sensing element such as CCD (charge coupled device) or MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) fixedly housed in a ceramics package or a like and the package is sealed with a glass cap coated with an organic or inorganic adhesive. Sealing of solid-state image sensing device or a like with a glass cap is performed as follows. That is, one of the glass caps 1 stored in a storage casing 5 for storing glass caps as shown in FIG. 1, which casing is usually made of a resin such as polyvinyl chloride or polypropylene, is picked up with a forceps or pincette or a like holding means, and is placed on the upper frame of a ceramics package 6 and above a solid-state image sensing element 7, which is partly covered with a light shielding plate, in such a manner that the opening of the ceramics package as shown FIG. 2 can be closed therewith. Alternatively, the glass cap is placed on the upper frame of the ceramics package after it is coated with an adhesive, followed by heating the coated glass cap as is without pressurization or under pressure with a clip, for example, to melt the adhesive, thereby bonding the glass cap to the package.
In the process of manufacturing such image pickup apparatus, contamination of glass caps could occur frequently. The glass caps are contaminated with dust or a like undesirable matter not only in the process of manufacture but also during the period from their manufacture to the sealing of the solid-state image sensing element.
In the conventional storage casing as shown in FIG. 1 at present widely employed, minute particles of undesired matters such as glass powder and adhesive powder, minute fragments of the casing itself are formed, or foreign matters which stick to the casing are scattered, by the vibration of the casing or shocks given to the casing when the casing storing the glass caps is transported and they tend to adhere to the glass caps. Obviously, the function of the solid-state image sensing device is seriously deteriorated when it is manufactured using such contaminated glass caps.
It is therefore necessary to remove various undesirable or foreign matters, and also the glass caps should be handled with care in order to prevent the formation of foreign matters. This reduces the efficiency of operation and makes it difficult to automate the process of the solid-state image sensing device.


The device includes a first fiber optic transmitter (FOT) to receive a millimeter wave (MMW) signal and to generate a multiple sideband optical signal, and a second FOT to generate a second optical signal, from a reference signal. A first wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical filter is connected to the first FOT to separate a first sideband into a plurality of first sideband channels, and to separate a second sideband into a plurality of second sideband channels, and a second WDM optical filter is connected to the second FOT to separate a reference sideband into a plurality of reference sideband channels. A detector receives the plurality of first sideband channels, to detect an active channel from among the plurality of first sideband channels. Fiber arrays receive the plurality of second sideband channels, and the plurality of reference sideband channels, and an optical coupler generates a combined signal therefrom. A photodetection block receives and processes the combined signal based upon the detected active channel.

Millimeter wave (MMW) detection and block conversion systems tend to be costly. As a result, they are not included in systems or less effective low cost subsystems are utilized. The current state of the art falls in two categories: (1) crystal video receivers (CVRs) which are low cost but include low sensitivity detection of the envelope of the MMW transmission; and (2) RF channelization/conversion which is similar to microwave detection and conversion but costly due to performance limitations of components such as mixers, amplifiers, transmission lines and filters.

Device and method for millimeter wave detection and block conversion


In at least one embodiment, a processing unit includes a processor core and a vertical cache hierarchy including at least a store-through upper-level cache and a store-in lower-level cache. The upper-level cache includes a data array and an effective address (EA) directory. The processor core includes an execution unit, an address translation unit, and a prefetch unit configured to initiate allocation of a directory entry in the EA directory for a store target EA without prefetching a cache line of data into the corresponding data entry in the data array. The processor core caches in the directory entry an EA-to-RA address translation information for the store target EA, such that a subsequent demand store access that hits in the directory entry can avoid a performance penalty associated with address translation by the translation unit.

The present invention relates in general to data processing and, in particular, to a processor that, based on receipt of a prefetch store request, preallocates a directory entry in an effective address-based directory of an upper-level store-through cache without prefetching a corresponding cache line of data into the data array of the upper-level cache.
A conventional multiprocessor (MP) computer system, such as a server computer system, includes multiple processing units, each including one or more processor cores. The processing units are all coupled to an interconnect fabric, which typically comprises one or more address, data and control buses. Coupled to the interconnect fabric are one or more system memories, which together form the lowest level of processor-addressable memory in the multiprocessor computer system and which are generally accessible for read and write access by all processing units. In order to reduce access latency to instructions and data residing in the system memory, each processing unit (or processor core) is typically further supported by a respective multi-level vertical cache hierarchy.
Cache memories are commonly utilized to temporarily buffer memory blocks from system memory that are likely to be accessed by a processor core in order to speed up processing by reducing access latency introduced by having to load needed data and instructions from system memory. In some MP systems, the vertical cache hierarchy associated with each processor core includes at least two levels, commonly referred to as level one (L1) and level two (L2) caches. The L1 cache is generally a relatively small cache that is characterized by the lowest access latency. In many cases, the L1 cache is a private cache, meaning that the L1 cache is associated with a particular processor core and cannot be directly accessed by other processor cores in the MP system. The L2 cache is generally a relatively larger cache having a higher access latency than the associated L1 cache. In some operating modes or implementations, an L2 cache can be shared by multiple processor cores. In some cases, the vertical cache hierarchy associated with a given processor core may include additional lower levels, such as a level three (L3) cache.
In some cases, a processor core may include a prefetch unit that is designed to access data likely to be subject to a demand access by the processor core in advance of the demand access and store the data into the processor core's vertical cache hierarchy. By accessing and caching the data in advance of a demand access, a process referred to as "prefetching," the overall access latency to which demand accesses of the processor core are subject can be reduced. Prefetched data is commonly buffered in lower-level caches (e.g., L2 and/or L3 caches) rather than upper-level caches (e.g., L2 and/or L3 caches) in order to reduce the "pollution" of the smaller upper-level caches with memory blocks that may or may not ever be required to satisfy a demand access of the associated processor core.
The particular memory blocks buffered in the various caches of an MP system are identified in each cache's directory utilizing addresses associated with the memory blocks. In some MP systems, some or all of the caches in a vertical cache hierarchy of a processor core implement real address (RA) directories that specify the real addresses in system memory of the cached memory blocks. In other MP systems, one or more of the caches in the vertical cache hierarchy of a processor core instead implement effective address (EA) directories that specify addresses of cached memory blocks in an effective address space utilized by the processor cores to support address virtualization and aliasing.
Depending on the various design tradeoffs known to those skilled in the art, the L1 cache in the cache hierarchy can be implemented as either a store-in cache or a store-through cache. If a store-in L1 cache is implemented, data updated by the processor core is initially stored into the processor core's L1 cache, but not into lower levels of the vertical cache hierarchy of the processor core or into the system memory. In contrast, if the L1 cache is implemented as a store-through cache, the data updated by the processor core is stored into a lower level cache (e.g., the L2 cache) in the vertical cache hierarchy of the processor core and optionally stored into the L1 cache of the processor core as well.

Prefetch store preallocation in an effective address-based cache directory

International Business Machines Corporation


A light emitting head for use in copiers or printers, the light emitting head having an illuminated length, e.g. a print width or copy width, and including a rigid carrier structure provided from a bulk material that spans at least the illuminated length of the head, the bulk material having a coefficient of thermal conduction larger than 100 W/mK and a coefficient of thermal expansion; a plurality of blocks of light elements arranged in a longitudinal array, the blocks having a coefficient of thermal expansion, each of the blocks of light elements having a first and a second surface, each of the blocks of light elements including a plurality of light-emitting elements exposed on a first surface on the block, the plurality of blocks being physically attached to the carrier structure by a conductive adhesive at substantially the second surfaces, and wherein the bulk material has a coefficient of thermal expansion that differs from the thermal expansion coefficient of the block material by a maximum of 5*10−6/K.

With a conventional electrophotographic printer, a charging device charges the surface of a photoconductive drum or belt and an exposing unit such as an LED array head writes an electrostatic latent image on the charged surface of the photoconductive drum. Alternatively, arrays of microlasers, such as VCSELs may be used. U.S. Pat. No. 5,940,113 describes a full page VCSEL array for use in a printer.
As Shown in FIG. 1, the LED array head 100 comprises a wiring substrate 102 and driver IC's 103 mounted on this wiring substrate. The Driver IC's 103 drive LED array chips 104. The LED array chips emit light through a focusing rod lens array 101 to provide a LED array image 105, and to illuminate the charged surface in accordance with print data. The electrostatic latent image is developed with toner into a toner image, which is subsequently transferred to a print medium. The toner image on the print medium is then fixed by a fixing unit.
In the electrophotographic art, multi-colour printers are known to produce a plurality of colour toner images on a photoconductive drum or endless belt. The obtained toner images are transferred directly onto printing stock material such as a paper sheet or paper web material. In an alternative embodiment the toner images formed on a photoconductive recording member are transferred subsequently to an intermediate belt from distinct image forming stations and are then transferred simultaneously to a receiving sheet or web that eventually is cut into sheets containing a desired printing frame dimension.
The image quality that can be achieved with LED array heads is dependent on a number of factors including the resolution capability, which is determined by the addressability and the optical performance of the focussing rod lens array.
The addressability is typically expressed in terms of a number of pixel elements per unit of length or "dpi" (dots per inch). Along the direction in which the light-emitting elements are aligned on the print head (the X-direction), the addressability number results directly from the packing density of the Light Emitting regions on the LED array chips. The nature of the image data, the timing clocks and the specifics of the LED array head controller may allow to select an imaging mode in which the addressability in the perpendicular Y-direction differs from the addressability in the X direction. The resolution is further determined by the optical performance of the imaging optics that projects a 1:1 image of the Light emitting regions onto the photoconductive drum or belt. Poor optical performance typically results in oversized pixel images that overlap with the neighbouring pixels.
A second important factor determining the image quality level that can be achieved with LED array heads is the presence and the effectiveness of means to control the energy output of the individual pixel elements. Energy output control is required to compensate for inevitable small differences in energy output at the photosensitive medium (including effects of the 1:1 image lens).
Uniformity correction is typically achieved through the use of uniformity look-up tables that adjust the current to the LED's or the pulse length or a combination of both. Various methods for this uniformity control have been described and a preferred method for uniformity control may be found in EP0629974.
High quality systems equipped with uniformity compensation means are suitable for use with image controllers that provide multiple bit image data for each pixel which are then converted to selectable output energy levels for each pixel element.
It is known that the efficiency, i.e. the brightness of the light emission, decreases as the temperature of the LEDs increases. Also the lifetime of the LEDs drops with rising temperature. The decrease in brightness affects the imaging quality of an LED array exposure device. It is desirable to operate LED exposure devices at a temperature not surpassing 40° C., optionally at a temperature in the range of 250 to 35° C. For reliable pixel-wise imaging it is necessary that there is no substantial temperature difference or temperature gradient between the individual LEDs, as is e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,500.
In the absence of effective means to reduce the temperature differences or gradients across the width of the print on the other hand, certain groups of pixels of the LED array may heat more than others as a result of recurring image data from repetitive print jobs, such as mailings with a given page lay-out. U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,500 describes the use of thermal shunts to reduce temperature gradients due to these effects.
According to one method to reduce effects induced by non-uniform heating uses LED arrays mounted on a thermally conductive carrier bar connected to a heat sink. The heat sink may comprise a metal panel provided with metal fins and for more extensive cooling, e.g. forced air-circulation, can be added EP 0629508 describes an improved LED array head where the heat sink is provided. The duct extends between a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet and has a cooling fluid such as water flowing there through. This cooling fluid can be temperature controlled by heating and cooling devices along the circulation path as to achieve a preset temperature for that cooling fluid.
Rather than providing bulky temperature control systems, compact lightweight LED array printer designs typically attempt to limit the heat generation. Improving the efficiency of the LED helps in that respect. A change from AlGaP technology to solid phase diffusion AlGaAs technology was reported to decrease LED-heating substantially in Proceedings of IS&T NIP14 p 405-408 (1998). Heat generation can additionally be reduced—at the expense of exposure power—by shortening pulse-times in matrix addressing techniques. Matrix addressing schemes with 8×8 wiring reduce the maximum duty cycle available by a factor 8. In the compact LED print heads for desktop printers the LED array chips are typically mounted on glass epoxy based circuit boards. Such boards are known to have very poor heat conductivity and there is no significant thermal conduction across the substrate in the sense of a heat sink as described above.
Digital colour printing using LED array technology started in 1994 with a 600 dpi LED array technology providing multi-level per pixel control up to 6 bit per pixel. These LED array technology based printing systems are used for digital printing in high capacity/high volume applications. Systems like the Xeikon 5000 digital printing press implement temperature control and comprise a metallic carrier structure thermoconductively coupled to a heat sink to flatten out temperature differences across the width of the print head
Existing 1200 dpi LED array head solutions including reported work on progress in this area fail at present to provide satisfactory solutions to control the temperature of the LED array head to the level required for high volume/high capacity applications as on a digital printing press.
One challenge for the design of a page wide LED array head of increased addressability is the precise positioning and alignment of the plurality of LED array chips on the wiring substrate. Each of said LED array chips has a plurality of light-emitting elements aligned and exposed on an upper surface thereof and consecutive LED array chips are to be aligned on said intermediate carrier bar in a direction in which said light-emitting elements are aligned with equal intervals.
FIG. 2 represent images from U.S. Pat. No. 6,559,879, that shows a typical configuration as known form prior art. LED array chips (9) and driver chips (10) are arranged on a wiring substrate (8), with wire bonds (11) for providing electrical current to each individual light emitting diode. In FIG. 2A driver chips (10) are provided on one side and in FIG. 2B driver chips (10) are provided on two sides of the row of LED array chips (9).
FIG. 3 shows the arrangement of two LED array chips 301 and 302 of a 600 dpi LED array head from OCE Printing Systems as published in "Handbook of Print Media" by H. Kipphan (Springer ISBN 3-540-67326-1 2001 p 694).
FIG. 4 schematically introduces positional parameters A and B into the arrangement as shown in FIG. 3. Distance (A) between the centre of the first or last light emitting area on the LED array chip and the LED array chip edge is usually about 16 microns. Gap B in between the LED array chips is usually about 10 micron. Bond pads for wire bonding are provided in an alternating fashion on either side of the LED array chip in a configuration with two drivers per LED array chip as in FIG. 2B. In this device, there are 128 light emitting elements per chip resulting in a chip length of about 5 mm.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,051 discusses aspects of thermal expansion differences between LEDs and the wiring substrate. The wiring substrate is comprised out of small tiles made out of steel.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,559,879 discusses thermal expansion and shrinking effects due to manufacturing steps and proposes the use of LED array chips bonded to a glass epoxy circuit board by an epoxy resin type soft adhesive.
The bonding of the LED array chips with a thin layer of a stiff adhesive is known to result in stress on the LED array chips as a result of a change in temperature when the CTE of the chips and the CTE of the wiring substrate differ. The use of a thicker layer of soft adhesive relieves such stresses. This has the effect however that shrinkage stress in the sense as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,559,879 vanishes almost completely.
The gap B changes when changing temperature. The gap B, in absolute figures, is determined by the length of the chip and the difference CTE between the wiring substrate and the LED array chips.
The LED array chips 301 and 302 have light emitting regions 305. The PLF (pitch-last-first), which represents the distance between the centre of the rightmost light emitting region 306 of the left chip and centre of the leftmost light emitting region of the right chip is preferably exactly the same as the intended pitch P, measured between two adjacent LEDs 303 and 304 of the same LED array chip. In this embodiment, the Pitch P is 423 μm. in FIG. 3, further a bonding wire 310 is shown, and the location 311 where the light emitting area is bond.
For light emitting diodes at the ends of adjacent chips to be spaced at an interval matching the printing pitch, the chips have to be diced at positions very close to the light emitting cells, and no cracks or other defects can be allowed within the chip, (see OKI Technical Review April 2003/Issue 194 Vol. 70 No. 2—available from http://www.oki.com). Whereas the value A in FIG. 4 ideally would scale with the printing pitch (P), the ratio of A/P typically increases with decreasing printing pitch or increasing addressability. This increase of A/P affects the size of the gap B.
In the case of small gap B of only a few microns, even a moderate temperature decrease may lead to a temperature induced reduction of the gap B to zero leading to a collision between the LED array chips, especially when the length of the chip and the difference CTE between the wiring substrate and the LED array chips are substantial.
Whereas conventional Cu-based wiring substrates can be used at 600 dpi for a LED array chip size of 5 mm where light-emitting elements aligned with equal intervals have a pitch between consecutive light-emitting elements of 42.3 microns, the gap B is reduced to zero when subjected to only a limited temperature reduction. When the pitch between consecutive light-emitting elements is reduced below 35 microns, e.g. as in 800 dpi systems where reasonable LED array chip sizes of more than 4 mm require to pack at least 192 light emitting elements per chip, there is a risk in collision of adjacent LED array chips when the LED array head is subjected to too large temperature reduction, e.g. in case of transporting the LED array head or devices in which the head is integrated by airplane. As an example, such device may be subjected to temperatures of −30° C. during transport, which may damage the LED array heads because of collision of adjacent LED array chips.

Light emitting array for printing or copying


A method and system for handling information in a noisy environment in the form of at least one information carrying mode is disclosed. A plurality of encoded modes are generated by linear transformation of the information carrying mode, said encoded modes being provided on respective independent channels. The encoded modes are linearly combined to generate at least one decoded mode. A set of receiver channels is provided for receiving the decoded mode wherein one of said set of receiver channels is designated as a useful channel, and a useful signal is supplied as the decoded mode if it is received on the useful channel an discarded if it is received on the other receiver channels of the set, wherein the useful signal represents said information substantially uncorrupted by noise. The technique is applicable to quantum, classical or mesoscopic environments. The invention also provides a method and system for generating correlated states using a similar filtration technique. The invention is particularly useful when applied to data communications or data storage.

The last five years has seen the emergence of the new field of quantum information processing. The behaviour of individual microscopic particles—atoms, electrons and photons etc., which is described by the theory of quantum mechanics, is completely different from the behaviour of macroscopic objects made of large numbers of such particles. The key realisation which led to the emergence of the field is that quantum mechanics allows the processing of information in fundamentally new ways. This offers the possibility of immense advantages over current information processing technologies which are all essentially based on classical mechanics.
Specific tasks for which it has been proven that quantum information processing offers advantages over classical information processing include:                Communication. In certain circumstances quantum communication is more powerful than classical communication. For instance the amount of quantum communication required to perform certain computational tasks can be significantly smaller than the amount of classical communication. (This aspect is known as communication complexity.) Quantum communication also allows novel, and in principle unbreakable, cryptographic schemes.        Computation. A computer that runs according to the rules of quantum mechanics can perform certain computations faster than a classical computer. In particular there has been described a quantum algorithm for factorising integers which is exponentially faster than any known classical algorithm.
Just as in classical information processing, errors occur in quantum information processing, and these have to be corrected. However quantum errors are fundamentally different in character from classical errors, and the correction of quantum errors requires new techniques.
When quantum communication was first proposed it was felt that interactions of the system with the environment, and the consequent loss of information into the environment, would produce errors in communication which would be un-correctable even in principle (i.e. it was felt that quantum error-correction would be ruled out by the laws of quantum mechanics). However it was shown in 1995-96, using two different approaches, that quantum error correction was in fact possible.
On the one hand it was shown in C H Bennett, et al, Phys Rev Lett 76 (1996) 722, that entanglement could be protected against decoherence with the environment. The basic idea of this scheme known as entanglement purification, is that from several impure entangled states one can obtain, using only local operations and classical communication, a smaller number of states with higher entanglement. These entangled states can then be used in communication protocols, for example teleportation.
On the other hand it was shown by P W Shor, Method for reducing decoherence in a quantum computer memory, U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,297; P W Shor, Phys Rev A, 52 (1995) R2493 and A M Steane, Phys Rev Lett, 77 (1996) 793, that a quantum memory could be protected against interactions with the environment. The basic idea in this case is to encode each logical quantum bit (qubit) in an entangled superposition of several qubits. The encoded state is chosen in such a way that if a small number of errors affect the individual qubits in the superposition, the errors do not destroy the encoded qubit.
The connections between these two results were studied in C H Bennett, D P DiVincenzo, J A Smolin, W K Wootters, Phys Rev, A54 (1996) 3824-3851, by exploiting the fact that a memory can be viewed as a communication scheme in which the communication takes place in time rather than in space. In particular it was shown in C H Bennett, D P DiVincenzo, J A Smolin, W K Wootters, Phys Rev, A54 (1996) 3824-3851, that a protocol for purification of entanglement that uses only one way classical communication can be mapped into a protocol for the protection of a quantum memory against decoherence. Shor-Steane codes can also be used for error correction for communication by first encoding the qubits using Shor-Steane codes, sending the qubits through the noisy channel and then decoding.
These results subsequently led to the proof that one could in principle realise fault tolerant quantum computation as described in P W Shor, Proc 37th Symposium on the Foundations of Computer Science (Los Alamitos, Calif.; IEEE Comp Sci Press, (1996) p 15.
In all the above work the authors were not concerned with technological feasibility, but rather with proving a point of principle. These protocols are relevant for multi-particle quantum systems and for errors which act locally on the individual particles. The primary difficulty with all these protocols is that in order to be implemented they require controlled interactions between many particles. This is technically impossible at present and is likely to remain so in the foreseeable future.
Braunstein in Nature 394 (1998), 47 and Lloyd and Slotine in Phys Rev Letters 80 (1998), 4088, have proposed methods for implementing Shor-Steane error correction protocols without multi-particle interactions. Their methods are based on the use of continuous quantum variables for quantum logic (to be opposed to the discrete variables, for instance qubits, used in earlier work). The quadratures of the electromagnetic field provide a convenient realisation of such variables. It was shown in Phys Rev. Letters 90 (1998) 4084, that quantum error correction codes could be generalised to continuous quantum variables. These methods apply to a particular physical system, namely light, and require the use of a special type of quantum states: squeezed states of light. Highly squeezed states, which are needed for the Braunstein and Lloyd and Slotine protocols are technologically difficult to prepare and maintain. Furthermore these protocols use active detection of errors and active error correction.
Bouwmeester in quant-ph/006108 has an alternative communication protocol. His method relies on distributing a standard entangled state (a singlet) between two parties. The protocol is limited to correcting classical-type commuting errors (such as spin-flips) when the state propagates through a noisy channel. It does not correct the arbitrary interactions with the environment which occur in the framework used by Bouwmeester. Furthermore the Bouwmeester protocol avoids multi-particle interactions at the expense of using sources which emit very special states (of GHZ-type). Even in the simplest case of correction of a single spin-flip on one party of a singlet propagating through a noisy channel, such sources are at the current limit of technology. Correction of more spin-flip errors requires sources which are beyond the limits of current technology.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide a method and system for handling information which will remove errors introduced by noise. The aim is to provide a method and system which is widely applicable not only to quantum information but also to classical wave signals.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of handling information in a noisy environment in the form of at least one information carrying mode, comprising the steps of generating a plurality of encoded modes by linear transformation of the information carrying mode, said encoded modes being provided on respective independent channels; linearly combining the encoded modes to generate at least one decoded mode; providing a set of receiver channels for receiving the decoded mode wherein one of said set of receiver channels is designated as a useful channel; and supplying as a useful signal the decoded mode if it is received on the useful channel and discarding the decoded mode if it is received on the other receiver channels of the set, wherein the useful signal represents said information substantially uncorrupted by noise.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a system for handling information in a noisy environment in the form of at least one information carrying mode, the system comprising: means for generating a plurality of encoded modes by linear transformation of the information carrying mode, said encoded modes being provided on respective independent channels; means for linearly combining the encoded modes to generate at least one decoded mode; a set of receiver channels for receiving the at least one decoded mode wherein one of said set of receiver channels is designated as a useful channel; and means for supplying as a useful signal the decoded mode if it is received on the useful channel and discarding the decoded mode if it is received on the other receiver channels of the set, wherein the useful signal represents said information substantially uncorrupted by noise.
The word "mode" used herein applies equally well to systems described by classical or quantum mechanics. In the quantum case it is used, according to its standard meaning in the second quantized description of quantum systems, to denote a set of states, including states with zero, one, two or more particles. In quantum mechanics, one can get super-positions of such states. Thus a first information carrying mode can provide a set of states of no particles in mode 1, one particle in mode 1, etc. In quantum mechanics, a mode can be populated by less than one particle in the sense that the state of the mode can be a superposition of the state with no particles and the state of one particle, for example. In the case of classical wave systems, the word "mode" refers to a basic solution of the appropriate wave equation.
In describing our inventions, we make use of two standard ways of treating quantum systems: the first and second quantization languages. The language of second quantization is more general and can be used in all situations for systems containing any number of particles. Hence all the quantum protocols in this document could have been described in the second quantized language (using the notions of quantum modes, creation and annihilation operators etc.). The first quantization language is, however, more convenient and simpler for systems containing a fixed number of particles. In this document both languages are used, according to which one seems simplest in the given situation.
A key element of our protocols is that the encoding and decoding operations are realised by "linear" transformations. In the case of quantum systems, by linear we mean that the effective interaction implementing the encoding and decoding, as it applies to the space of states we are interested in, is linear; i.e. its effect on the creation operators associated to the quantum modes (in the second quantized language) is such that they undergo linear transformations (for other states, outside the space of states in which we are interested, the true interaction may be non-linear, but this is irrelevant for our protocols). In particular this means that all our single particle and entanglement distribution protocols are linear, by definition. In the context of classical waves, the equivalent notion is that the classical modes undergo linear transformation.
Where an information carrying mode is populated by at least one particle, the encoded modes can be thought of as a plurality of states of the particle which, once generated, can be linearly combined to reconstitute the at least one particle. When one particle is reconstituted, it is detectable at only one of the receiver channels, which may or may not be the useful channel. In that scenario, the useful signal is constituted by particles which are detected on the useful channel, while particles detected on the other receiver channels are discarded.
The term "useful channel" is used to denote those of the receiver channels at which any particle which arrives is in a good, substantially noise free state. As explained later, the underlying theory indicates that particles which arrive on the useful channel will constitute a useful, substantially noise free signal. Some particles will not arrive at the useful channel. The probability of particles appearing in the useful channel is linked to the noise level. Thus, by using the technique of the present invention it is possible to utilise the signal which appears at the useful channel on the basis that it is substantially noise free. Conversely, particles/signals appearing on the other channels are completely ignored or "discarded". That is, those particles are not used in the output signal or used to modify it.
By the phrase "substantially uncorrupted by noise", it is meant that the signal contains substantially the same information as in its original state. The invention is particularly suitable for the removal of noise in cases where the noise on each channel is independent of that on any other channel.
It is indicated above that the useful signal "represents" the original information substantially uncorrupted by noise. That is, the information can be recovered in a form substantially identical to its original form, but with reduced amplitude/power (representing the fact that a part of the original signal has been discarded). However it is also possible for the signal which is received to be a modified version of the original information, by virtue of the fact that the channels have been subject to a linear or logical manipulation between the encoding and decoding.
It will be appreciated that the invention is applicable to communication and/or storage as discussed in more detail in the following.
The invention has several important facets.
No multi-particle interactions are needed to provide a substantially noise free particle or signal. This is particularly important since at the present time controlled inter-particle interaction is technologically unfeasible.
Moreover, the encoding and combining steps can be carried out by passive transformations. It had earlier not been thought possible to eliminate noise using only passive transformations.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a communication system for transmitting information in a noisy environment comprising: an input for receiving a physical information signal in the form of a wave; a splitter for splitting the signal into a plurality of transmission components; a plurality of transmission paths, each carrying a respective transmission component; a combiner for combining the transmission components and generating a set of output signals on respective output channels, wherein one of said output channels is designated as a useful channel; a detector for detecting the output signal on the useful channel, wherein the output signals on the other output channels are discarded and wherein the output signal on the useful channel contains said information substantially uncorrupted by noise.
A further aspect provides an optical communications system for transmitting information in a noisy environment, comprising: an input for receiving an optical information signal; a splitter for splitting the optical information signal into a plurality of optical beams; a combiner for combining the optical beams and for generating a set of separated optical output signals, one of said signals being designated as a useful signal; and a detector located to pick up the useful output signal, wherein the other output signal are discarded.
The invention can also be used to generate particle states correlated to a predetermined degree. According to this aspect there is provided a method of generating particle states correlated to a predetermined degree at separated locations in a noisy environment, the method comprising: generating a first set of transmission sub-states of a first particle and a second set of transmission sub-states of a second particle, the transmission sub-states representing a greater degree of correlations than the predetermined degree; transmitting the first set of transmission sub-states on respective ones of a first plurality of independent transmission channels; transmitting the second set of transmission sub-states on respective ones of a second plurality of independent transmission channels; combining the first set of transmission sub-states to generate receiver states of the first particle on respective ones of a first set of output channels; combining the second set of transmission sub-states to generate receiver states of the second particle on respective ones of a second set of output channels; determining whether or not to use or discard the states of the first and second particles depending on the output channels in which they arrive, wherein the states of the first and second particles which are determined to be used are available on corresponding channels of the first and second sets and are correlated to said predetermined degree.
Another aspect provides a system for generating particle states correlated to a predetermined degree at separated locations in a noisy environment, the system comprising: a source configured to generate a first set of transmission substates of a first particle and a second set of transmission sub-states of a second particle, the transmission substates representing a greater degree of correlation than the predetermined degree; a first plurality of transmission paths arranged between the source and a first decoder for conveying respectively the first set of transmission sub-states; a second plurality of transmission paths arranged between the source and a second decoder for conveying respectively the second set of transmission sub-states; wherein the first decoder is operable to combine the transmission sub-states to generate receiver states of the first particle on respective ones of a first set of output channels; wherein the second decoder is operable to combine the transmission substates to generate receiver states of the second particle on respective ones of a second set of output channels; and means for determining whether or not to use or discard the states of the first and second particles depending on the output channels in which they arrive, wherein the states of the first and second particles which are determined to be used are available on corresponding channels of the first and second sets and are correlated to said predetermined degree.
By way of explanation, consider the case where first and second receivers are located to receive signals from the first and second decoders respectively. The correlated states will appear on corresponding channels. That is, if the first receiver uses channels 1 and 3 then the second receiver should use 1 and 3. If the first receiver uses channels 2 and 4 then the second receiver should use 2 and 4. However, the receivers do not need to positively detect at this point which channels the particles appeared in. Indeed, doing the detection at this point in such a way that the state is not disturbed may in fact be difficult technologically. Therefore, the determining means may operate to determine if the particles are in channels 1 and 3, for example, without disturbing them if they are there, by measuring if any particle appears in any of the channels 2 or 4 on either side. If they do not appear in channels 2 or 4, they are in channels 1 and 3 and the protocol can continue. If they do appear in channels 2 or 4, the protocol is aborted (because the state has been disturbed by the measurement).
The second possibility is for a positive detecting step to occur a long way down the line. Thus in practice it could be anticipated that the receivers may well use all four channels on each side blindly (in a four channel system), that is performing operations as if there were a particle on the channel but without knowing (or needing to know) whether there actually is a particle in the channel or not. At the very end of the processing, users can detect where the particles are and use the results only if they came through coincident channels with correlated particles (i.e. 1 and 3 in both cases, or 2 and 4 in both cases).
It will be appreciated that throughout the specification "particles" are discussed. When a single particle is mentioned it is clear that it is not possible to guarantee that in practice the source produces exactly one particle because a source might not be perfect. Moreover, when linear transformations are referred to, it cannot be guaranteed in the real world that each piece of hardware performs a perfect linear transformation. However, the fact that the mathematical perfections do not find themselves realised in the real world does not detract from the fundamental usefulness of the systems and method discussed herein.
It will be appreciated that correlation between states can be provided with a number of factors, including correlation in time and/or polarisation. Both of these parameters can be used to generate more correlated states for the same number of originating particles.
We note that there is a correspondence between protocols for correcting errors during communication and protocols for distribution of entanglement. Therefore our protocols for error filtration during communication can be mapped in a straightforward way into protocols for filtering errors in distribution of entangled states (and vice versa).
The following description shows how to realise error filtration for quantum communication. The difference between error correction and error filtration is the following. In error correction the aim is actively to correct the errors that occur during transmission so that the decoded signal is as close as possible to the emitted signal. In error filtration that part of the signal which is affected by noise is discarded with high probability. What remains is a signal of reduced intensity but with less noise. This produces a signal of better quality than if no error filtration was carried out.
The error filtration protocols discussed in the following have a number of key advantages:                1. they are performed without controlled multi-particle interactions;        2. they do not require any special physical system for their implementation;        3. they do not require any special input quantum or classical state;        4. they can be applied to both bosons (e.g. photons) and fermions (e.g. electrons, or holes in semiconductors), and can be used for communication of single particle quantum states, multi-particle quantum states (e.g. coherent states, squeezed states, number states), entangled quantum states and also classical wave signals        5. they do not require active detection or active correction of errors.
For a better understanding of the present invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made by way of example to the accompanying drawings.

Handling information in a noisy environment


Aspects of the invention provide a solution for detecting man-in-the-middle attacks in electronic transactions using prompts. One embodiment includes a method for authenticating an electronic transaction. The method includes: receiving an electronic transaction request from a user, determining an IP address associated with a client system from which the electronic transaction request originates, providing the user with a password associated with the electronic transaction request, receiving a telephonic communication from a telephonic device associated with the user, prompting the user, via a voice response unit, to input the password using the telephonic device, authenticating the user by comparing the inputted password and the provided password, determining a probable location of the user based on the determined IP address of the client system, communicating to the user the probable location of the user based on the determined IP address, and prompting the user to confirm the probable location of the user.

1. Technical Field
The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to a transaction authentication system. Specifically, the subject matter disclosed herein relates to detecting man-in-the-middle attacks in electronic transactions using prompts.
2. Related Art
Use of electronic media has quickly become the preferred means for a user to conduct electronic transactions. Users utilize transactions like, online-banking and Internet shopping every day, in order to avoid having to visit a physical location to conduct these transactions. However, these electronic transactions come with a heightened risk, as electronic transactions usually involve proprietary or sensitive information (e.g., bank account numbers, credit card numbers, etc.), collectively known as restricted user information. If a third party were to obtain this restricted user information, that party would be able to conduct transactions, which would typically be restricted, to simultaneously benefit the third party while harming the true owner of that restricted user information.
Third parties may obtain such information by conducting what is called a "man-in-the-middle" attack on an electronic transaction. A man-in-the-middle attack occurs when an third party computer system interposes itself between a user's computer system, used to conduct an electronic transaction, and a service provider's computer system, for providing the service involved in the electronic transaction. While interposed between the user and service provider systems, the third party computer system intercepts the restricted user information and electronic transaction information from the user's computer system, forwards along the gathered information to obtain access to the service providers system using the restricted user information, and conducts a distinct electronic transaction to benefit the third party and not the user. To keep the user from noticing the user's transaction has been interrupted by a man-in-the-middle attack, the third party system sends the user a fraudulent confirmation message or webpage confirming the user's electronic transaction information, when, in fact, a distinct electronic transaction has taken place. When a man-in-the-middle attack occurs, the user has no way of knowing until after the fraudulent electronic transaction has taken place, and the user desired electronic transaction has been discarded by the third party system.

Detecting man-in-the-middle attacks in electronic transactions using prompts


Disclosed is an apparatus for measuring an activity of autonomic nerve, comprising: a sympathetic nerve activity measuring unit; a parasympathetic nerve activity measuring unit; a memory unit; and an evaluation unit. According to the present invention the sympathetic nerve activity measuring unit measures an activity of the sympathetic nerve and the parasympathetic nerve activity measuring unit measures an activity of the parasympathetic nerve antagonistically functioning with the sympathetic nerve. The memory unit stores reference data acting as the criterion for comparing with relation between psychosomatic conditions based on the activity of the sympathetic nerve and the activity of the parasympathetic nerve. The evaluation unit compares measurement data representing the activity of the sympathetic nerve measured by said sympathetic nerve activity measuring unit and the activity of the parasympathetic nerve measured by said parasympathetic nerve activity measuring unit with said reference data stored in said memory unit for evaluating the relation between psychosomatic conditions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for measuring an activity of autonomic nerve that is capable of evaluating the relation between psychosomatic conditions of a person based on the activity of autonomic nerve consisting of sympathetic nerve and parasympathetic nerve.
2. Prior Art
In the past an activity of autonomic nerve has been studied and various types of measurement techniques have been developed. Among those, there have been proposed a method for evaluating comfortableness obtained from a massage (see TOKUKAI 2000-210290); and an apparatus for evaluating stiffness in the shoulder (see TOKUKAI 2000-166879). Those method and apparatus can objectively evaluate the comfortableness and the stiffness in the shoulder as the psychosomatic condition of a person based on the activities of sympathetic nerve and parasympathetic nerve.
Those method and apparatus in the prior art, however, are simply arranged to one-dimensionally evaluate the psychosomatic condition of a person by getting only the comfortableness or only the stiffness in the shoulder.
In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to eliminate the problems in the prior art, as described above, and to provide an improved apparatus for measuring an activity of autonomic nerve that is capable of multi-dimensionally evaluating the psychosomatic conditions of a person.
To attain such object, the present invention provides an apparatus for measuring an activity of autonomic nerve, comprising: a sympathetic nerve activity measuring unit; a parasympathetic nerve activity measuring unit; a memory unit; and an evaluation unit, whereby said sympathetic nerve activity measuring unit measures an activity of the sympathetic nerve, said parasympathetic nerve activity measuring unit measures an activity of the parasympathetic nerve antagonistically functioning with the sympathetic nerve, said memory unit stores reference data acting as the criterion for comparing with relation between psychosomatic conditions based on the activity of the sympathetic nerve and the activity of the parasympathetic nerve, and said evaluation unit compares measurement data representing the activity of the sympathetic nerve measured by said sympathetic nerve activity measuring unit and the activity of the parasympathetic nerve measured by said parasympathetic nerve activity measuring unit with said reference data stored in said memory unit for evaluating the relation between psychosomatic conditions. According to the present invention the activity of the sympathetic nerve is measured by the sympathetic nerve activity measuring unit, and the activity of the parasympathetic nerve is measured by the parasympathetic nerve activity measuring unit. Then, the measurement data representing the activities of the sympathetic nerve and parasympathetic nerve is compared in the evaluation unit with the reference data stored in the memory unit for evaluating the relation between psychosomatic conditions. In other words, evaluation of the relation between psychosomatic conditions allows the multi-dimensional seizing of the psychosomatic conditions.
According to one embodiment of the present invention the apparatus further comprises a display unit on which the relation between psychosomatic conditions evaluated by said evaluation unit is displayed. Displaying the relation between psychosomatic conditions on the display unit makes possible to visually recognize and clearly understand the psychosomatic conditions.
According to another embodiment of the present invention the display unit multi-dimensionally displays the relation between psychosomatic conditions evaluated by said evaluation unit. Displaying multi-dimensionally the relation between psychosomatic conditions on the display unit also makes possible to visually recognize and clearly understand the psychosomatic conditions.
According to further embodiment of the present invention the display unit divides the relation between psychosomatic conditions into sections around the center point where said measurement data is matched with the reference data. Therefore, the relation between the psychosomatic conditions is displayed in each of the directions around the center point. Thus, the direction or tendency of the psychosomatic condition as to whether it is in exasperation or in inhibitory can be understood.
According to yet further embodiment of the present invention the display unit classifies the relation between psychosomatic conditions by color. This can facilitate identification and understanding of the relation between psychosomatic conditions.

Apparatus for measuring activity of autonomic nerve


An apparatus for producing plastic bottles comprising: a blow moulding machine including a blow moulding carousel being configured to transform a succession of plastic preforms into respective bottles; a filling machine including: a filling carousel, and a plurality of handling units; a labeling unit configured to feed a succession of labels to be attached to the respective bottles; and a conveying system configured to transfer the bottles within the apparatus. The labeling unit is arranged peripherally to the filling carousel and is configured to feed the labels to the handling units carrying the respective bottles while the handling units are advanced by the filling carousel. The conveying system includes a plurality of consecutive transport star wheels transferring the bottles in a continuous stream from the blow moulding carousel to the filling carousel.

As known, a wide range of plastic bottles are formed in carousel-type blow moulding machines from plastic preforms. In particular, the heated preforms are accommodated in correspondingly designed blow moulds of the blow moulding machine and are then blown, during rotation of the blow moulding machine, under high pressure and high temperature to form respective bottles.
The bottles exiting from the blow moulding machine are then transferred to a carousel-type filling machine, where such bottles are filled with a pourable product of the above-mentioned type. At this point, the bottles are capped in a further carousel and subsequently transferred to a labeling machine. It is often necessary to provide a long transfer from the capping machine to the labeling machine to allow the bottles to be externally dried prior to proceed with the application of the labels.
In general, in the known apparatuses, there are long transfer paths between the above-indicated different machines, partly also with interposition of buffers; as a consequence, facilities suitable to house this kind of apparatuses need to be relatively extensive, i.e. they require a lot of space.
A need is particularly felt in this field to reduce the footprint of the apparatuses for producing, filling, capping and labeling plastic bottles.
A solution to this problem has been proposed in US 2011/0056172, wherein the labeling machine has been interposed between the blow moulding machine and the filling machine, so that no drying operation is required prior to start the labeling operation, as the bottles exit perfectly clean and dry from the blow moulding machine. However, it is necessary to provide a change of pitch from the blow moulding machine to the labeling machine.
In addition, in the proposed solution of US 2011/0056172, the bottles are transferred without buffers among the blow moulding machine, the labeling machine and the filling machine.
This recently-proposed solution still leaves room for further improvements, especially as to achieve a further reduction of the apparatus footprint and a simplification of the adjustments necessary to synchronize the different processing machines.


A power-to-ground clamp transistor provides electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection. A filter capacitor and resistor generate a filter voltage that is buffered by three stages to drive the gate of the clamp transistor. The filter capacitor is about twenty times smaller than in a conventional clamp circuit. Feedback in the circuit keeps the clamp transistor turned on after the R-C time constant of the capacitor and resistor in the filer has elapsed, allowing for a smaller capacitor to turn on the clamp transistor longer. A sub-threshold-conducting transistor in the first stage conducts only a small sub-threshold current, which extends the discharge time of the first stage. The gate of the sub-threshold-conducting transistor is driven by feedback from the second stage. A feed-forward resistor has a high resistance value to slowly raise the voltage of the second stage from the filter voltage, and thus slowly raise the gate of the sub-threshold-conducting transistor.

Semiconductor process technology produces extremely small transistors. These tiny transistors have thin oxide and insulating layers that can easily be damaged by relatively small currents with even a moderate driving force (voltage). Special care is required when a person handles these semiconductor devices.
Static electricity that normally builds up on a person can discharge across any pair of pins of a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC or chip). IC chips are routinely tested for resistance to such electrostatic discharges (ESD) using automated testers that apply a voltage across different pairs of pins of the chip. Any pair of pins may be chosen for the ESD test. The Human Body Model (HBM) is one such test.
While input and output pins were originally provided with ESD-protection circuits, the core circuitry was directly connected to the Vdd power supply and the Vss ground supply without a power clamp for ESD protection. When an ESD pulse was applied between Vdd and Vss, the large number of transistors connected to the power and ground supplies apparently reduced the current surge in any one device, thus dissipating the ESD pulse using the chip's internal transistors. Little or no damage was apparent.
However, as device sizes continued to shrink, damage began occurring when ESD pulses were applied between power and ground. The exact failure mechanism could be difficult to determine, and varied from design to design with the circuit and geometry of the integrated circuit (IC). ESD-protection circuits then were provided for power-supply pins.
ESD protection circuits with thick oxide transistors have been used. While such thick-oxide transistors are less sensitive to damage than thin-oxide transistors, the amount of current conducted is reduced. A very high gate voltage is needed to turn on the transistor since the channel is separated from the gate by the larger distance of the thick oxide. Damage to other thin-oxide transistors on the chip can occur before the thick-oxide transistor turns on. Thus the protection provided by a thick-oxide transistor is less than desired. Thin oxide transistors and lateral NPN devices have also been used. However, a large width or base-emitter area is required to conduct enough current.
Rather than use passive circuits, an active clamp may also be used. FIG. 1 shows a prior art power-to-ground ESD protection circuit with an active R-C clamp.
An R-C sensing element is formed by capacitor 22 and resistor 20. Inverters 10, 12, 14 invert the sensed voltage between capacitor 22 and resistor 20, and drive the gate of n-channel clamp transistor 18.
Under normal conditions, resistor 20 drives the input of inverter 10 high, causing a low to be driven onto the gate of n-channel clamp transistor 18, keeping it off. When the power-to-ground voltage suddenly spikes high, such as during an ESD event, capacitor 22 keeps the input of inverter 10 low for a period of time determined by the R-C time constant. The low input to inverter 10 drives the gate of n-channel clamp transistor 18 high, turning on n-channel clamp transistor 18 and shunting current from power to ground, dissipating the ESD pulse applied to the power line.
While such an active ESD-protection circuit is useful, it may be susceptible to noise, especially during power-up of the chip. If the active ESD-protection circuit triggers during power-up, excessive current may be drawn through the clamp transistor, resulting in a drop in Vdd or even Latch-up. Low-voltage supplies may be more susceptible since the Vdd ramp tends to be shallower.
After the R-C time period has elapsed, resistor 20 pulls the input to inverter 10 high, and a low is driven onto the gate of n-channel clamp transistor 18, turning it off. If the R-C value is too small, the clamp turns off too soon, before all the ESD charge can be shunted to ground through n-channel clamp transistor 18. For the HBM, the pulse width is relatively wide, so a large R-C value (such as about 1 μs) is needed so that n-channel clamp transistor 18 does not turn off before the end of the HBM ESD pulse. This large R-C value results is a large size for capacitor 22. Leakage and false triggering can be a problem with the large capacitor.
Capacitor 22 may have a value of around 10 pF. The circuit of FIG. 1 may require an area of 12,000 μm2 for a 0.35-μm CMOS process. Feedback, bistable elements, and thrysistors have been used to solve the large capacitor problem of FIG. 1. However, improved feedback circuits are still desirable.
What is desired is an ESD-protection circuit that protects the internal power supplies of an IC. An active rather than a passive protection circuit is desired. It is desired to actively enable or disable the ESD-protection circuit. It is desired to actively enable and disable a thin-oxide transistor as an ESD shunt between power and ground rings. It is desired to avoid thick-oxide transistors and diodes. An active ESD-protection circuit that is insensitive to noise during power up is desired. An ESD-protection circuit with improved feedback is desired to reduce the size of the capacitor.

NMOS-based feedback power-clamp for on-chip ESD protection

Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd.


A high voltage switch assembly includes a pair of electrically conductive contacts (2, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e) connectible in a power line from a high voltage source, and a portion of solid electrically insulating exposive material (3) forming an electrically insulating barrier extending between the contacts (2, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e). On detonation of the explosive material at a point removed from the contacts a detonation wave is propagated from the detonation point through the explosive material (3), which as it passes between the contacts (2, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e) establishes electrical conduction therebetween to initiate a switch closing action, the gaseous products of detonation following behind the detonation wave being electrically insulating and breaking electrical conduction between the contacts (2, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e) to initiate a switch opening action.

High voltage switch assemblies are known for use at voltages tyically in the range of from 300 KV to 1 MV, such as high pressure gas-filled spark gap switch assemblies. Whilst such known spark gap switch assemblies are capable of providing a single on/off switching action at a speed of 5 nanoseconds or less they are not capable of providing a series of successive on/off switching actions at a fast enough rate, such as up to one switching action per microsecond. Additionally such known switch assemblies also have the drawback of remaining conductive even after the switch current has decayed to zero, and can remain conductive for times in excess of 10 microseconds due to the gas remaining ionised.

British Aerospace Public Limited Company


A surface mount poke in connector is disclosed for mounting upon a surface of a printed circuit board, and is particularly applicable for printed circuit boards supporting LEDs. The connector has a securing means for engaging an inserted wire lead without the use of solder.

Electrical devices are often attached to printed circuit boards (PCBs) by soldering terminals of the electrical device to a surface of the PCB. Surface Mount Technology (SMT) is a particular method of soldering electrical terminals to a PCB. SMT has been developed to affix electrical devices upon PCBs in an automated manner, but the devices may also be placed manually. SMT has reduced cost, improved reliability, and reduced the overall physical size of the PCB in many applications. SMT allows for mounting electrical devices on both sides of a PCB, which was not possible using through hole mounting technology.
SMT is a method for constructing electronic circuits in which the components are mounted directly onto the surface of a PCB or other suitable component surface. SMT is a proven technology for creating electronic assemblies with higher packaging density when compared with comparable through-hole technology methods of PCB assembly. The components are typically mounted on the board by an automated method such as robot assisted assembly line. Electrical points of contact between the components and the board may be treated with solder paste. Assembled PCBs may then be treated in a high temperature oven at temperatures of up to about 265° C. or higher to reflow the solder. The oven may be operated with an air atmosphere or under an inert atmosphere such as nitrogen.
Electronic devices so made are called surface-mount devices (SMDs). SMT has largely replaced the previous construction method of fitting components with wire leads into holes in the circuit board, which is called through-hole technology. An SMT component is usually smaller than its leaded counterpart because it has no leads or smaller leads. It may have short pins or leads of various styles, flat contacts, a matrix of balls, or other terminations on the body of the component to assist with fixing the component to the board and/or establish an electrical connection between the board and the component.
PCBs supporting light emitting diodes (LEDs) may be used to form light displays. Often, multiple LED lighting PCBs are coupled in series by two or more wires to form a string of PCBs. The string of PCBs provides for a flexible light source able to adapt to the contours of large letters used in signage. Current practice is to connect the wires to the PCBs by soldering the leads of the wires to the top surface of the PCB. The step of soldering the wire leads to the boards is time consuming and costly.
Therefore, there is an unmet need to provide a connector for securely connecting a wire lead to a PCB that is capable of being attached to the PCB by a simple, reliable and cost effective process such as a SMT automated process. The connector must approach the small physical size envelope of the wires to be soldered so as not to shadow any neighboring components in a PCB supporting LEDs.


Methods and apparatus described herein are associated with integrated magnetic induction devices. A magnetic induction device can include a groove formed in a substrate, a magnetic core included in the groove and surrounded by a conductive winding that is adjacent to portion(s) of the substrate, and respective insulation layers included between the substrate and the conductive winding and between the magnetic core and the conductive winding. An inductor can further include conductive vias formed in the substrate and connected to respective portions of the conductive winding. Further, a transformer can include a groove formed in a substrate, a closed-loop/gapped magnetic core included in the groove and surrounded by first and second conductive windings that are adjacent to respective portions of the substrate, and respective insulation layers formed between the substrate and the first and second conductive windings, and between the closed-loop/gapped magnetic core and the first and second conductive windings.

Magnetic induction devices, including inductors and transformers, are widely used in power electronic applications such as switched mode power supplies. In these applications, large inductance, e.g., hundreds of μH, and small resistance magnetic induction devices can be used to achieve optimal circuit performance(s). Accordingly, such magnetic induction devices can utilize a magnetic core with a large cross sectional area that is surrounded by a large number of turns of thick conductive windings.
However, conventional induction device technologies do not enable monolithic circuit integration of large inductance magnetic devices.
The above-described deficiencies of today's techniques are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional devices, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with the state of the art and corresponding benefits of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein may become further apparent upon review of the following detailed description.

Large inductance integrated magnetic induction devices and methods of fabricating the same

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology


It is composed of a framework made up entirely of pieces of recycled plastic that basically comprises bearers (1-2), distributed in several sectors along the whole length of the greenhouse and made up of sections (3-4) that are fitted to one another by means of linear connectors (5) which engage on lugs (12-16) and which are in turn joined by means of cross connectors (8) that engage on lugs (17) provided on horizontal sections (6) making up horizontal cross members (7) which brace the framework forming the roof, side walls, front wall and rear wall of the greenhouse. It includes inner spacer clips (23) and intermediate spacer clips (30) that engage on rods (27-27′-27″) securing inner plastic laminar layers (28-28′-28″), between which air chambers are formed that act as thermal insulation for the greenhouse.

Conventional greenhouses are normally made up of metal frameworks on which vinyl sheets joined together by means of rubber or plastic belts are mounted.
A problem common to all these greenhouses is the rusting of the metal framework, which leads to significant deterioration of the structure and its support conditions with time and its eventual collapse.
Modular structures have been designed made up of side members consisting of half-round rods and horizontal cross members, which are attached at their intersection points to form a framework that is covered with a laminar plastic casing that constitutes the shell of the greenhouse. In this case the side members and cross members are made of metallic material, which means that the framework is subject to the deterioration caused by the rusting of these elements.
There are greenhouses intended for growing flowers in their interior, consisting of aluminium tubes and glass, which are more resistant to corrosion, although they certainly prove expensive.
Structures of this type, conventionally used to maintain environmental conditions, particularly when it comes to sheltering the crops housed inside from the cold, require the provision of a suitable system of framework insulation and sealing. It is a question of preventing the thermal differences that are detrimental to the crops, especially sharp changes between night and daytime temperatures.
Some of the structures designed for use as greenhouses also take the form of awnings that are used for performing such different functions as forming an enclosure for a heated swimming-pool or a garage for vehicles.
The problems that affect greenhouses also apply to awnings of this type, but in any case they are amenable to solution by means of the invention described here.


A content rendering system to provide data limit aware content rendering is described. The content rendering system is configured to dynamically and in real time build, based on content requested from a client device, and based on and the data limit values associated with the requesting client device, a modified light version of the requested content that is less data intensive than the requested content. The content rendering system may provide the modified version of the requested content to the client device.

A network access provider may require customers to subscribe to a particular data plan that limits utilization of the network connection over time by a computing device. Network users may be conscious about the network data limit afforded to them by their data plan, especially when accessing web sites through their mobile devices. Some users may even choose to ignore those web sites that are known to consume large amounts of data.