An accent lamp (10) having a solid state light source (4), such as LEDs, is attachable to a rear surface of an automotive headlamp (40) opposite the light-generating capsule (44). Accent lamp (10) has first retaining member (20), such as a clamp, formed above printed circuit board (8) on which LED (4) is mounted. Headlamp base (60) defines light passageway (45), formed as a light guide (42), extending from outermost peripheral surface (63) to an upper surface (61) on which lamp capsule (44) is retained. Accent lamp (10) is readily detachably mounted to headlamp (40), preferably by resilient first and second retaining members (20, 24), and, when mounted, can be biased to promote optical coupling of light source (4) to light guide (42).

The following vehicle lamps of Applicant's assignee are known, and are each incorporated here in their entirety as if fully set forth herein: U.S. Pat. No. 7,008,096 (Coushaine); U.S. Pat. No. 7,261,451 (Coushaine); U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,019 (Coushaine); U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,235 (Coushaine); U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,252 (Coushaine); U.S. Pat. No. 5,696,424 (Coushaine); and US Pat. Pub. US2010/0213815 (Aghamehdi). Also known is the vehicle lamp of Applicant's assignee's affiliate U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,421 (Braun) which is also incorporated here in its entirety as if fully set forth herein.
Commercial embodiments of headlamps of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,019 (Coushaine) at FIGS. 1-5 are known and are generally designated in the trade as, for example, type 9005 or 9006 headlamps. With reference to Coushaine Pat. '019 at FIG. 1 depicting sealing cover 14 or FIGS. 3-4 depicting sealing cover 114 and at column 4, lines 55-column 5, line 1 discussing affixation of cover 114 and silicone sealant, it is known in commercial SAE type 9006 (ECE HB4) lamps marketed by Osram Sylvania Inc. ("OSI") that a cover corresponding to cover 114 is made of a milky plastic, but that when such a cover is prised off from the blind-hole recess it covers, there is present in that recess a quantity of silicone sealant and there is no line of sight or light passageway through the headlamp base. In particular there is no light passageway from the bottom of the headlamp base to the upper region because the opaque plastic of which the base is molded prevents that. Furthermore, on such commercial embodiments, the capsule lead wires (elements 30) protrude through the plastic of the base but do not result in a light passageway, and furthermore the welded junction between the capsule lead wires and the electrical contacts of the plug and (elements 30 and 24), respectively, in Coushaine Pat. '019 also does not result in a light passageway.


Control system for inking a printing press wherein a sheet printed by the printing press is measured photoelectrically in a plurality of test areas and thus-obtained measured values are processed in conjunction with setpoint values to form control data, based upon which the inking of the printing press is controlled, which comprises computing a tonal-valve increase at an actual locus and at a setpoint locus from at least one measured value of a half-tone field and of a full-tone field of a printed sheet; if the tonal-value increase at the setpoint locus is not a tolerable tonal-value increase, determining corresponding tolerance limits of ink layer thickness for a maximum and a minimum tolerable tonal-value increase; with the ink layer thickness, computing a possible locus at the limit of the tolerable tonal-value increase as a new setpoint locus, and triggering the setpoint locus, if it is additionally within a color tolerance and density tolerance, respectively.

The invention relates to an electronic system for controlling the inking of a printing press and, more particularly, such a system wherein a sheet printed by the printing press is measured photoelectrically in a number of test areas, the measured values obtained thereby are processed in conjunction with setpoint values to form control data, and the inking of the printing press is controlled in accordance with the control data.
Control of inking in the course of a printing process represents the most important possibility for influencing the inking and, thereby, the impression of the image. The aim of inking control is to achieve as good a color agreement as possible between an original and a printed image in a production run. The control of inking in accordance with colorimetric quantities is regarded as a considerable improvement in this connection, because feedback control, in the sense of matching the setpoint values and actual values of a color locus, corresponds to a good approximation to color perception by the human eye.
Spectral measurements of the diffuse reflection of color-measuring fields, the mathematical conversion of these measured values into colorimetric quantities and further into control data for adjusting the inking elements of a printing press have become known hererofore. In European Published Non-Prosecuted Application (EP-OS) 0 228 347, there is disclosed, in addition to a suitably equipped printing press and a measuring device for such a printing press, a method of controlling the inking of a printing press. For color matching an original and a printed image in a production run, the spectral diffuse reflection is measured in color-measuring fields which are also printed by the printing press, and corresponding color coordinates are determined therefrom. By a comparison with the setpoint diffuse reflection and the setpoint color coordinates, respectively, the distance between the setpoint and actual color loci is calculated and is converted into changes in the thicknesses of the layers of the printing inks. The inking elements are controlled in accordance with these calculated changes of the layer thicknesses of the individual printing inks in such a manner that the total distance between the actual and setpoint color loci in the corresponding color space is minimized.
In the published non-prosecuted patent application 89 100 150.6 of the People's Republic of China, there is likewise proposed a process for controlling the inking of a printing press on a colorimetric basis, the process being distinguished by its high speed of convergence, i.e. its rapid detection of the relative distance between the actual and setpoint color loci.
Although colorimetric control conforms with the color perception of the human eye, the quality of inking control in both processes is limited by the fact that no attention is paid to technical process-related limits inherent in offset printing. Once calculated, a setpoint color locus remains the setpoint color locus throughout the entire printing process and is triggered or selected even if this involves the exceeding of or not reaching, respectively, a maximum or minimum allowable layer thicknesses of one or more printing inks. By the maximum or minimum allowable layer thickness there is meant, in this connection, the layer thickness at which the accompanying increase in the size of the half-tone dots of a printing ink leads to impermisible tonal values. These changes in the tonal-value increase of the printed image in a production run lead to shifting of the color locus, which is reflected in color distortions which are not tolerable, particularly in the range of critical shades of color (e.g. skin shades). German Published Non-Prosecuted Patent Application (DE-OS) 38 12 099.2 proposes a process which, based upon colorimetric control and taking into account the parameter of a maximum thickness of the layer of individual printing inks, permits a considerably more reliable and, thereby, extensively automatic control of the inking of a printing press.
If, when triggered or selected directly, the setpoint color locus can be attained only if this were to involve exceeding the maximum thickness of a printing-ink layer, then, proceeding from this color locus at the maximum thickness of the printing-ink layer, tests are made as to whether, by changing the thicknesses of the layers of other printing inks, it is possible to obtain a color locus that lies within the specified tolerances about the setpoint color locus. If this were to yield a color locus which involve the exceeding of the maximum thickness of a second printing-ink layer, then, proceeding from this color locus, an attempt is made, by changing the remaining printing ink, once again to find a color locus which lies within the specified tolerances about the setpoint color locus. As soon as a color locus is found, by means of the successive process steps, which lies within the maximum allowable layer thicknesses of all of the printing inks involved in the printing job, this color locus is triggered or selected as the new setpoint color locus. If no success is had in obtaining a color locus within the tolerance range about the setpoint color locus without exceeding the maximum layer thickness of at least one printing ink, provision is made for performing a manual intervention into the control process. Armed with his expert knowledge, the printer is able to decide whether to extend the tolerance range about the setpoint color locus or whether to increase the maximum layer thickness of the critical printing ink. Once the appropriate decision has been made, the afore-described process starts afresh and, subject to the parameter of maximum layer thicknesses, again seeks for a color locus situated as close as possible to the setpoint color locus.
Although this method of inking control takes into account the fact that, in order to achieve optimum agreement between original and printed image in a production run, it is not permissible to exceed the maximum layer thicknesses of the individual printing inks, it is disadvantageous, in this connection, to assume that the selected maximum layer thickness is to be constant throughout the entire printing process. No account is taken of process-dependent changes in the maximum layer thickness, for example, due to changes in the consistency of the printing inks under the influence of temperature or humidity, due to soiling of the rubber blanket or due to changes in the paper.
Moreover, it is more advantageous for the optimum control of inking if the tonal-value increase is taken into account directly and not indirectly, i.e. via the maximum/minimum layer thickness. The tonal-value increase, defined as the difference of the screen tonal values (percentage of optically active area coverages) of screened film and screen print, is of decisive importance for the color impression of a printed image in a production run, as noted hereinbefore. Even minor changes in the area coverage of the screen of only one color lead to non-tolerable color distortions in the case of high-grade printed products.
With regard to the tonal-value increase, the German Published Non-Prosecuted Application 38 12 099.2 merely provides that, if a specified tolerance range of the tonal-value increase is exceeded, a warning signal is given; the inking control itself is not thereby influenced. In order, however, to achieve optimum print quality and to obtain extensively automatic control of inking, it is not permissible to exceed maximum allowable changes in the tonal-value increase or to exceed limits, derived therefrom, for the maximum allowable layer-thickness tolerances and, in the color space, for the color tolerances, respectively.

Printing with a limitation of layer thickness and of tonal-value increase


Bicomposite, hydrogel intraocular lenses with one or more haptic portions having a lower water content than the corresponding optic portions, and methods for their manufacture are disclosed. The bicomposite lenses are manufactured by (i) preparing a bicomposite button of hydrogel material containing one or more polymers or copolymers; (ii) lathing the button to produce a dehydrated intraocular lens with an optic and at least one haptic; and (iii) hydrating the lens.

The present invention relates to bicomposite intraocular lenses. More particularly, the intraocular lenses comprise a high water hydrogel optic portion and a relatively low water hydrogel haptic portion. In addition, the present invention is directed towards methods for manufacturing the bicomposite intraocular lenses.
The most commonly used material for intraocular lenses (IOLs) has been polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). However, PMMA lenses have been shown to be injurious to the corneal endothelium. The maintenance of corneal clarity is dependent on the endothelium which is essentially nonregenerative. It appears there is a biophysical interaction between the hydrophobic PMMA and the endothelium, such that even the slightest touch on insertion of the IOL will cause significant endothelial cell disruption by adherence of the cells to the lens surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,666 issued to Barrett, May 12, 1987, discloses a hydrophilic intraocular lens. These lenses are formed of hydrogels which when hydrated are soft and flexible and have been found to cause little endothelial damage on contact. These intraocular lenses, due to the mechanical properties of available hydrogel materials, are limited to configurations having flange type haptics rather than loop type haptics. However, the flange type haptics disclosed therein are not of a conventional loop type configuration; and as a result there can be difficulty in positioning and seating the lenses in the eye. The haptics can not be formed as conventional loop haptics due to the nature of the hydrogel material which is used for the entire IOL, including the optic portion and the haptic portion. If formed as loop haptics, the high water content haptics are not strong enough, or rigid enough, to support the optic portion of the IOL within the eye.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,242,762 issued to Tennant, Jan. 6, 1981 discloses intraocular lenses wherein the haptic and the optic are preferably manufactured as a single unit and formed of the same material. However, the optic may be formed of a different material and fused to the haptic. For example, Tennant discloses an optic formed of p-HEMA with the haptic being formed of PMMA. However, this IOL with its rigid haptic portion cannot be folded or deformed like the IOLs disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,666. In addition the use of PMMA haptics, like PMMA lenses, can be harmful to the corneal endothelium. U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,509 issued to Tennant, Mar. 10, 1981 discloses intraocular lenses wherein the optic is made of a rigid material such as PMMA and the haptic portion is made of a soft material such as p-HEMA. U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,510 issued to Tennant, Mar. 10, 1981, discloses an intraocular lens wherein the optic portion of the intraocular lens may be of rigid material such as PMMA and the limbs or haptics can be made of PMMA or a softer material such as p-HEMA.
It is an object of the present invention to provide for intraocular lenses which have the advantages of a hydrogel type lens, but with conventional loop type haptics that allow for proper positioning and seating of the IOL in the eye.
It is another object of this invention to provide methods for producing the lenses.


Techniques disclosed herein relate generally to evaluating and selecting candidate datasets for use by software applications, such as selecting candidate datasets for training machine-learning models used in software applications. Various machine-learning and other data science techniques are used to identify unique entities in a candidate dataset that are likely to be part of target entities for a software application. A merit attribute is then determined for the candidate dataset based on the number of unique entities that are likely to be part of the target entities, and weights associated with these unique entities. The merit attribute is used to identify the most efficient or most cost-effective candidate dataset for the software application.

Artificial intelligence and machine-learning techniques can be used to extract knowledge and insights from data in various forms in order to understand and analyze actual phenomena with data. For example, a neural network or other machine-learning model can be trained, using one or more datasets, to extract useful features from similar input data or to make predictions based on the input data. In many cases, the quality or performance (e.g., accuracy and sensitivity) of the machine-learning model or neural network depends on the quantity and quality of the datasets used for the training. Thus, one way to improve the performance of a machine-learning model is to improve the quantity and/or quality of the training datasets.
However, in many circumstances, training datasets and/or other datasets used for artificial intelligence and machine-learning techniques are expensive (in, for example, time, efforts, resources, or price) to collect, accumulate, purchase, or otherwise obtain. In addition, a training process can take a much longer time period (such as days, weeks, or even months or longer in some cases) compared with the inference process. Furthermore, different datasets, even if including similar numbers of entries, may add different values or improvements to existing datasets and the trained model. Thus, there are cases where a dataset is obtained at a high cost and/or is used to train a machine-learning model in a long training process, but adds little or no additional value or improvement to existing datasets and the trained model.

Machine-learning techniques for evaluating suitability of candidate datasets for target applications


A data communication network that includes a wired network operably configured to transfer data at a rate between 100 Mbps to 500 Mbps over ordinary wire of the type used for low power electric distribution. This may be accomplished through use of two or more communication nodes each, respectively, including an Ethernet port electrically coupled to a first external power source at a lower voltage and including an AC/DC low pass filtering circuit and a LISN circuit configuration and communicatively coupled to one another through a wired connection, forming a wired network operably configured to exchange data between one another.

The ever-expanding desire for instant and ubiquitous communications is recognized by major technology companies such as Qualcomm, Intel, AT&T and many more giving rise to the Internet of Things (IoT) concept. All electrical equipment will be intra connected and inter connected to the World-Wide Internet Web network by Ethernet. Home appliances, from refrigerators to the family swimming pool, will get "smarter," improve function, safety and deliver lower maintenance costs. Smart homes, smart cars, smart boats, smart power grids and smart cities are transitioning to internet communications between any device powered by electricity. Powerline Communications enabling IoT via AC power mains is well established under the HomePlug standard. Sun Digital Systems Powerline Communications ("SDSPLC") will make that transition possible in mobile systems utilizing lower voltage power distribution wiring. The communication signal and electrical power are delivered on the same wire pair.
The demand for all types of information including text, audio, video and high-speed/low-speed data streams has increased dramatically. The number of users of this data at multiple locations has expanded just as rapidly. The need to improve high data rate delivery and reliability of information exchange to a large and growing number of locations or nodes within a vehicle, vessel, aircraft or a fixed land-based system operating on lower voltages has surpassed present technologies ability to fulfill these needs. SDS Inc Powerline Communications delivers Ethernet information transmission over common power wiring now used to distribute lower voltage, high current electrical energy such a 12 Volts throughout a system. This application present special problems solved by SDSPLC technology. There is no need to add communication wiring. SDSPLC developed unique circuits to achieve cost effective impedance isolation between the power source(s) or power load(s) and the communication interface enables deliver of high-speed Ethernet data. SDSPLC impedance conditioning makes high current, low impedance equipment wiring compatible with high performance Powerline Communications technology.
Impedance isolation enables SDS Powerline Communications products to provide the lowest cost, highest data rate, energy efficient bidirectional, transparent, impedance modulation tolerant conducted communications system meeting the needs of modern lower voltage systems. SDSPLC uses the same data format and is compatible with radiated communications or wireless schemes such as Wi-Fi. Radiated and SDSPLC conducted communication complement each other and may coexist in the same system forming a high reliability redundant Ethernet communications network with no network management overhead. Information is highly available anywhere and everywhere by using both wired and wireless communication methods. As part of a hybrid network, SDSPLC enabled equipment support wired devices while freeing up wireless bandwidth for mobile devices not permanently connected to power distribution wiring. This improves radiate data bandwidth available to equipment that can only access information via the wireless network. In many cases conducted communications is more reliable than wireless communications because impairments are easier to manage than atmospheric and radio interference.
SDSPLC utilizes conducted communication technology to modulate plain, low cost, lower voltage power wiring to deliver Ethernet data to multiple locations throughout a mobile or fixed base system. When appropriate impedance isolated Powerline Communications, SDSPLC may be powered by a lower voltage power source like solar energy with local battery storage backup for continuous operation regardless of the time of day or utility power grid status. Two nodes consume less than 4 watts at full 100 to 250 Mbps data rate. Only one node transmits at a time per IEEE802.3 protocol so a large number of nodes is supported by low power signal energy. Nodes automatically go into sleep mode unless data traffic is present. SDSPLC conserves energy at every data node by operating at low power levels and switching to sleep mode whenever possible and yet reverting back to high speed mode when needed.
SDSPLC inventions fill the need for faster, highly available communications over longer distance without adding the expense of installing special wiring such as Ethernet Category data cable. A simple connection to lower power wiring is all that is required. As the need for multi-point broadband data access expands and the number of networked machine to machine and network to user communications grows. SDSPLC technology delivers high speed, reliable communications over wired networks without Ethernet wire. SDSPLC fills the need for conducted communications without adding any new specialized wiring to an existing wired vehicle, vessel or aircraft. Optionally, highest performance is achieved by adding impedance isolation to the network power source or sources and/or power loads.
SDSPLC technology turns any lower voltage plain wire distribution wiring system into an Ethernet communications network while still delivering electrical power to each node. SDSPLC is a Ethernet Powerline bridge compliant with the IEEE 802.3 standard and delivers a communications channel up to 250 Mbps. This is accomplished over any pair of plain hookup wires. Lower data rate, lower cost implementations are compatible with and operate on the same high speed wired network. All data rate performance presented here are the actual delivered, usable UDP or TCP data rate values in Mbps. The symbol or PHY rates are 2 or more times higher than the delivered data rates presented in this document. PHY data rate has little meaning to the end user so we use real delivered data rate.
Therefore, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above.

Impedance isolated lower voltage and wired data communication network


A device includes a memory device and an NPN or PNP diode coupled to a word-line of the memory device. The NPN or PNP diode reduces device damage and performance impairment that may result from device charging by drawing charges away from the memory device.

Etching processes, such as plasma etching, may be used to fabricate integrated semiconductor devices. Typically, however, during such processes, charge may flow on interconnect lines that connect to a gate of such devices. Due to the relatively high capacitance of the gate of the devices, charge may build up (i.e., "charging") disproportionately at the gate of the semiconductor devices. Because gates in many semiconductor devices include a very thin dielectric layer, the dielectric layer is particularly sensitive to charge accumulation.
For example, the performance of semiconductor devices may be degraded by charge build-up. Charging can produce various forms of damage in the materials used in the semiconductor devices, including formation of electron traps in gate dielectrics and the displacement and implantation of atoms at the material surface due to ion bombardment. The accumulated charges may decrease the breakdown voltage of a gate dielectric of a device and further cause shifts in the threshold voltages of the device, resulting in reduced reliability.


An apparatus for time-gated fluorescence or luminescence detection includes gating means (206) arranged to alternately permit light from an excitation source (242) to be directed to a sample (235) along a first communication path (231, 232), and then permit light emitted from the sample to be directed to a detector (246) along a second communication path (237, 238) while blocking the first communication path (231, 232): The gating means (206) may comprise a single chopper wheel or apertured disc, or a rotating or oscillating arm, and may further comprise one or more reflective facets (207). The gating means (206) may be driven via a magnetic rotor, with a ferrite bead placed to offset rotor magnets with respect to drive coils, when at rest, so as to assist with self starting.

Any discussion of the background art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such background art is prior art, nor that such background art is widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge in the field.
Fluorescence is the name given to the process of light emission following a transition between energy levels that occur without a change in the electron spin state. It is typically a short-lived phenomenon with excited-state lifetimes measured in nanoseconds for most common fluorophores. Phosphorescence on the other hand describes excited state transitions that involve a change in spin-state, and when these transitions are spin-forbidden, emission lifetimes can extend for several thousand times longer than fluorescence decay.
Fluorescence based techniques provide a powerful means for both the qualitative and quantitative detection of bio-molecules. Fluorescence methods afford a sensitive means for the detection of single molecules, however, fluorescent probes (also referred to as fluorescent markers), used to "label" a particular feature in a sample (for example a particular organism or bio-molecule such as Giardia in a water sample) to determine the presence and/or number of features in the sample, lose much of their discriminatory power in the presence of autofluorescence. Organic and inorganic autofluorophores are ubiquitous in nature and some materials fluoresce with great intensity, obscuring or diminishing the visibility of synthetic fluorescent probes. Spectral selection techniques (emission and excitation filters) can reduce the problem but are not always applicable due to the abundance and spectral range of autofluorescence.
Using techniques such as time-resolved fluorescence microscopy (TRFM), it is possible to spatially discriminate fluorescent regions that differ by less than a nanosecond in fluorescence lifetime. TRFM techniques operate in the frequency domain, usually employing a sinusoidal modulation of the excitation source to induce a phase (φ) delayed modulation in fluorescence intensity from which fluorescence lifetime can be determined using Δφ and modulation frequency parameters (FIG. 1A).
Time-gated luminescence (TGL) techniques operate within the time-domain and are directed towards detection of events that occur at much longer time-scales (phosphorescence).
For TGL operation as shown in FIG. 1B, the detector is gated off whilst a brief pulse of light is used to excite emission from the sample. The detector is maintained in the off-state for a resolving period (gate-delay) whilst short-lived (<1 μs) fluorescence fades beyond detection. The detector is then enabled to capture luminescence in the absence of autofluorescence, greatly increasing the signal-to-noise ratio. As can be seen, pulse fluorometry or time-gated luminescence techniques operate on much longer timescales. Fluorescence lifetime constants can be determined by observing intensity in the fluorescence signal after different gate delays. A key advantage of TGL techniques is the suppression of short-lived fluorescence to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
Whilst it is possible to discriminate probe fluorescence from autofluorescence using TRF techniques, a simpler and much less costly TGL instrument can be employed if a suitable luminescent probe is available. Lanthanide (Eu3+ or Tb3+) chelate luminescent probes have exceptionally long phosphorescence lifetimes (τ) reaching milliseconds for some compounds. Other compounds that have found wide application for TGL include the platinum and palladium (copro)porphyrins with lifetimes ranging from 10 to 1000 μs depending on their environment. The very large difference in τ between typical autofluorophores and the luminophores used for TGL has helped ensure useful results were gained even with simple instruments relying upon chopper-wheels.
The substantial increase in SNR afforded by TGL techniques is a critical factor when searching for rare target organisms encountered in autofluorescent environments. For example, the detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts in drinking water requires the filtration of large volumes of water and results in a matrix of mineral particles, algae, desmids and plant matter that is strongly autofluorescent. TGL microscopy has been demonstrated to greatly suppress this background and simplify the detection of both Giardia and Cryptosporidium, two important waterborne pathogens. There are instances where the detection of rare-event signals using conventional fluorescence techniques is exceedingly difficult (or impossible) and consequently, where TGL microscopy has greatest utility.
Luminescent probes based on the lanthanides Eu3+ and Tb3+ were described in the 1960's but effective immunofluorophores using these compounds were not reported until the early 1980's. TGL microscopes were built to exploit these novel compounds however various deficiencies in the instrumentation and luminescent probes resulted in relatively insensitive instruments. As technologies matured, improvements were made both in instrument design and probe quality. The evolution of TGL microscope instrumentation designed for the detection of phosphorescence (τ>10 μs) is briefly discussed below.
With reference to FIG. 1B, TGL techniques employ an excitation pulse to excite photon emission from the sample. The excitation pulse ideally terminates abruptly (<1 μs) whilst the detector is maintained in the off-state for a predetermined time (the resolving period or gate delay), the duration of which is designed to permit short-lived fluorescence to decay. After the gate-delay has elapsed, the detector is gated on to initiate the start of the acquisition period to detect the fluorescence signal from the luminescent label, free of background noise from autofluorophores in the sample.
In 1988 Soini et al. [Soini E J, Pelliniemi L J, Hemmila I A, Mukkala V M, Kankare J J, Frojdman K, Lanthanide chelates as new fluorochrome labels for cytochemistry, Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry 36(11) 1988 p. 1449-51] described a europium chelate that could be easily bound to bio-molecules to permit them to "re-test the old idea of time-resolved fluorescence microscopy in immunohistology and cytology". Using steady state excitation, it was shown that Eu-antibody labelled histology sections were visibly luminescent to the naked eye and would likely provide a means to improve signal to noise ratio under TGL conditions. The following year, Beverloo et al. described a Xenon flashlamp excited TGL microscope synchronized to a chopper wheel. Phosphorescence persists for orders of magnitude longer than prompt fluorescence and makes feasible the use of mechanical choppers for visualizing the phenomenon and the majority of early TGL instruments employed chopper wheels to isolate the excitation and detection states in a TGL cycle.
The first TGL microscope employing two phase locked chopper-wheels for pulse control (detection and excitation) was reported by Marriott et al. in 1994. FIGS. 2A and 2B details the essential features of such an instrument 100. Excitation chopper wheel 101 and emission chopper wheel 103 are shown with the chopper-blades positioned in their respective states for the excitation and detection (emission) states of a TGL cycle FIGS. 2A and 2B respectively). During the excitation state of FIG. 2A light 105 from excitation light source 107 passes between the blades of the excitation chopper 103 and is deflected by a dichroic mirror 109 in filter cube 111 and is focused by microscope objective 113 onto a sample under test (not shown). During this state, the prompt or autofluorescence 115 from short-lived autofluorophores in the sample is directed back through the microscope objective 113, and through the dichroic mirror 109, but is blocked from reaching the detector (not shown) by the emission chopper 103 i.e. in this state the excitation light source is open and the detector is closed. FIG. 2B shows the detection (emission) state of the TGL chopper where the blades of choppers 101 and 103 have moved such that light 105 from the excitation source 107 is blocked by the blades of the excitation chopper 101 whereas the phosphorescence 117 from the luminescently labelled sample passes through the blades of emission chopper 103 to the detector.
The detection-side chopper 103 is phase locked to the excitation chopper 101 by a control module (not shown) to maintain an arbitrary phase difference between the two. The TGL system 100 can be switched from delayed luminescence mode to 'prompt' mode by adjusting this phase angle.
As described above, the gate-delay is the intervening period between termination of the excitation pulse and commencement of the acquisition phase (see FIG. 1B). For most phosphorescent labels, decay follows single exponential kinetics (I0=Ite−t/τ) and emission decays substantially as the gate-delay interval approaches the luminescence lifetime. Unfortunately, the gate-delays typical for chopper based switching mechanisms are quite long (about 20 to 500 μs) in comparison to the emission decay time of the fluorescent labels and therefore the fluorescence has typically decayed quite significantly before the detection state is able to commence. Also, conventional time-gated luminescence microscopes incur substantial losses both during the excitation and emission/detection states as light passages through the dichroic filter cube. The dichroic mirror in the filter cube also has significant limitations on the particular wavelengths that are allowed to be either reflected on to the sample or to pass through to be detected due to the limitations in coating designs. Thus, such systems have severe limitations on the number of allowed wavelengths and the reflection/transmission bandwidth of the design wavelengths that are able to be utilised for the detection system. Such dichroic filter cubes are also expensive and complex to interchange causing significant barriers to the use of the TGL microscope system for different excitation sources or luminescent probes with different operating wavelengths.
Electronic shutters may be used to overcome the gate-delay limitation of chopper-wheel systems, for example ferro-electric liquid crystals (FELC) which rotate the plane of light polarization in response to an applied voltage and can serve as fast optical shutters. A TGL microscope was constructed by Verwoerd et al. in 1994 [Verwoerd N P, Hennink E J, Bonnet J, Van der Geest C R, Tanke H J, Use of ferro-electric liquid crystal shutters for time-resolved fluorescence microscopy, Cytometry 16(2) 1994 p. 113-7] in which the emission-plane chopper was replaced with two crossed LC shutters. For excitation, a Xenon-arc lamp was interrupted by a mechanical chopper to generate pulsed output; gating of the LC shutters was synchronized to the chopper wheel position. Whilst effective, the FELC shutters imposed a substantial insertion loss with transmission reduced to just 15% when fully open. A further limitation of chopper excitation schemes arises from the relatively slow rise and fall time of the pulse (for example, in the systems described by Verwoerd et al, the rise/fall time was 50 to 100 μs at a chopper rotation speed of 3,800 rpm). Excitation pulses with slow falling edges force extension of the gate-delay that leads ultimately, to a loss in SNR. The gain achieved by switching rapidly in the emission plane with the FELC shutter was offset by the slow falling edge of the excitation pulse.
Since 1994, the majority of the improvements in TGL microscope detection systems have been obtained by improvements in either the excitation source—flashlamp, visible and ultraviolet (UV) lasers, or light emitting diodes (LEDs)—and/or the detectors used to capture the fluorescent light with increasingly improved signal-to-noise ratio—image-intensified gated charge coupled device (CCD) and electron multiplying charge coupled device (EMCCD) detectors have been particularly successful as described in the inventor's earlier patent application PCT/AU2005/001606.
The basic requirements for TGL microscopy are relatively straightforward, a pulsed excitation source and a gated detector. However, the common features of the prior art TGL microscope systems to provide these basic requirements has been the dual shutter system (either using chopper wheels, electronic shutters, or a combination of both) similar to that depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B. As previously described, this type of system requires that the phase of each of the excitation- and emission-side shutters are precisely synchronised with both the excitation source and the detector acquisition state. To achieve this, complex electronic phase matching circuitry and control systems are required, which are both expensive to implement and maintain. Furthermore, the detector systems that must be used with these TGL microscope systems are prohibitively expensive (typical cost of a TGL EMCCD detector at the time of writing is in the range of about $20,000 to $45,000).
The prohibitive cost of such systems means that they are not available on a large scale since only the most well-funded research facilities can purchase and maintain such items.
Therefore, there is a need for a TGL system that is simple to both implement and use.

Auto-synchronous fluorescence detection method and apparatus


Methods and systems are provided for injecting fuel into a combustion chamber of an engine. In one example, a system may include a hollow cone-shaped injector and a control unit to control the injector. The control unit may detect the position of an inlet valve and trigger the injection process, wherein the injector may be configured to spray fuel out of an inlet duct, through an annular gap, and into the combustion chamber of an engine in an injection process.

The present subject matter relates to an engine having a combustion chamber, an inlet duct, which may be associated with the combustion chamber, which may be used to supply the combustion chamber with intake air, an inlet valve, which may be designed to close the inlet duct with respect to the combustion chamber in a first position and may be further configured to open wide an annular gap in a second position. The subject engine may further comprise an injector associated with the combustion chamber, for injecting fuel into a motor vehicle having said engine. The present subject matter may further relate to an injection method provided for the engine system described above.
Engines, or more specifically, internal combustion engines, that comprise an injection device arranged within an intake duct are known, one example approach is shown by Baeuerle et al. in DE 102008044244 A1. Therein, Baeuerle discloses an internal combustion engine comprising at least one combustion chamber that may be closed off by an inlet valve and at least one air intake duct leading to said inlet valve. The above mentioned prior art further comprises a fuel injection device, which includes a first and a second injection valve associated with the at least one combustion chamber for the metered injection of fuel into the at least one intake duct. In order to achieve a mixture preparation and ultimately combustion of the fuel/air mixture within the combustion chamber provided, the two injection valves are designed in such a way that the first injection valve discharges a widely spread cone-shaped spray pattern having a substantially large cone angle, and the provided second injection valve discharges a cone-shaped spray pattern that comprises a more acute cone angle relative to that of the first provided injection valve.
However, the inventors herein have recognized potential issues with such systems. As one example, fuel injectors may produce a spray pattern shaped like a solid cone. In producing a solid cone-shaped spray, the usefulness of the spray injectors may not be fully utilized. Specifically, when the fine liquid spray produced by the fuel injector comes into contact with a surface other than the intended target of the annular gap within the combustion chamber, such as the piston or the inlet valve, the previously fine mist may collect and form relatively larger sized droplets. When mixing air and fuel within a combustion chamber, it may be preferable to provide the liquid fuel in a relatively fine particulate form such that it may be easier to completely mix the fuel and the intake air in a more efficient manner.
In one example, the issues described above may be addressed by a method for injecting fuel into a combustion chamber of an engine, comprising; in response to opening an inlet valve associated with the combustion chamber, injecting fuel into the combustion chamber through an injector coupled to an inlet duct, wherein the injected fuel has a geometry of a hollow cone. In this way, a hollow, cone-shaped inlet duct may enable the possibility of using the entire annular gap of a combustion chamber within an internal combustion engine for injection of a fuel. This may result in a larger quantity of fuel being introduced into the combustion chamber.
As one example, an embodiment of the present disclosure may comprise an internal combustion engine having a combustion chamber, an inlet duct associated with a combustion chamber for supplying the combustion chamber with intake air, an inlet valve which may be configured to close an inlet duct with respect to the combustion chamber in a first position and to open wide an annular gap with respect to the combustion chamber in a second position, an injector associated with a combustion chamber for injecting fuel, and a control unit for controlling the injector.
According to the present subject matter, the control unit may be configured to detect a second position of an inlet valve and may be further configured to trigger an injection process of an injector when an inlet valve is in a second position. In a second position, an injector may be arranged within an inlet duct and may be configured to spray the fuel out of an inlet duct and through an annular gap within a combustion chamber during an injection process. In one example, the injector may comprise a hollow cone shape, which may be configured to discharge the fuel in a formation which may comprise the geometry of a hollow cone. In this way, a hollow cone-shaped spray pattern may enable the possibility of using the supplied fuel more effectively, and it may be possible to inject fuel without unnecessary wetting of other surfaces within an inlet duct or inlet valve of a provided internal combustion engine.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.


Arrangements, including a method of speech command management that changes a content of active speech commands and inactive speech commands, based on each application status in a terminal. When plural applications are active and when a user is interacting with one of the active applications, the provided speech command management makes the content of recognizable speech commands to be limited to local commands of an interacting application, and also global commands of other background applications. Also, the provided management arrangement makes the content of recognizable global speech commands based on each application status. This management arrangement reduces the number of recognizable speech commands, and thus prevents misrecognitions inducted by using many speech commands.

When a plurality of applications exist in one system, the applications may be able to be simultaneously executed. However from the viewpoint of a user, the number of the applications the user can simultaneously execute may be extremely small, in most cases, one. Particularly when operations by speech interaction are executed, the number of applications simultaneously interacting with the user is preferably limited to one.
On the other hand, when the user desires to operate an application other than the application currently interacting with the user, the user in a speech interactive system may speak a global command corresponding to a user-desired application. Then the system transfers to a state of interaction between the user and the user-desired application, and to a state of execution of a specific function. It is therefore important for the user's satisfaction that the user is able to directly operate the user-desired application by means of speech without using a textual menu each time to select the user-desired application.
One background interaction type user interface unit detects that a content of a user's speech corresponds to an application other than one being currently executed, and executes the speech interaction application corresponding to the speech content instead of the currently interacting one. (for example, see JP-A No. 56694/2001).
Car navigation systems may be sold by their manufacturers in the form that all programs to be executed in the system are previously installed in the system. In this case, all applications are known to the manufacturer, and thus any state of the system could be anticipated and adjusted to execute normal interaction.
Current speech recognition systems (e.g. car navigation system)are not perfect, for example, a recognition ratio may be decrease as the number of commands to be recognized is increased. As one example, when terminal functions are advanced and more applications are installed, the number of the commands to be managed is greatly increased. Then, the increased command vocabulary may lowers the recognition ratio.
Car navigation systems where applications can be installed from the Internet via mobile phones are possible. In this case, which types of applications that are installed within a system at any given time may not be assumed. Therefore, global commands to be recognized cannot be optimally set according to all the possible states of the navigation system by previously counting the states, for example, the number of the commands to be managed cannot be decreased by adjusting the applications.

Speech command management dependent upon application software status


A token has a memory, an interface allow connection to a host, and a processor. The processor, in response to user input for configuring a remote access connection, executes a first set of processing instructions to establish a trusted connection with the server host, exchanges credentials over the trusted connection to establish a secure connection with the server host over an untrusted connection, and defines configuration information for accessing user selected data or services. The processor, in response to user input received in a legacy environment, executes a second set of processing instructions that includes establishing, over an untrusted connection, a secure connection with the server host using the security credentials, configuring the secure connection for access to the data or services, making the data or services available in the legacy environment, and defends against attempted access to data or services available at the token other than the data or services made available in the legacy environment.

As users rely more and more on remote connections to access resources, such as devices, services, and data, security concerns increase accordingly. To increase access to resources regardless of security, the resource must have easy access and high usability. Reducing the amount of effort required to access the resource will fundamentally change how and when people use the resource. The usability barrier should be below a level of effort users are willing to give to get access to the resource. The users should think of the resource as the preferable and easier alternative to other resources.
When security joins into the interaction, the usability barrier typically rises. In order to maintain security on the user's device or devices, the security mechanisms and techniques should remain easy and simple to use. If the security becomes too difficult or inconvenient to use, users will either reduce the level of security or eliminate it completely. This leaves the resource and the user's device open to malware attacks.
By providing devices and methods that have easy access to resources and strong, but easy to use, security, the security may actually improve. Usable security measures make users far more likely to leave the security measures in place, rather than disabling them for ease of use.

Wormhole devices for usable secure access to remote resource


A screen device suited to use in a projection type display device for a high-definition television set. The screen device includes a screen on which television images are projected, and a screen frame to which this screen is attached at the central section thereof. Incorporated into this screen frame are speakers which are used as the front speakers of a sound reproduction system of the type which is commonly known as the 3-1 type 4-channel system.

This invention relates to a screen device best suited to use in a projection type display device for a high-definition television (HDTV) set.
Nowadays, high-definition television sets which can provide more impact and realism in feeling than conventional television sets are being rapidly developed. Such high-definition television sets incorporate an audio system having three front channels and one rear channel (hereinafter referred to as 3-1 type 4-channel system) (e.g. "NHK TECHNICAL REPORT", 1986 11, VOL. 29, pp. 417-420).
An example of such a system is shown in FIG. 1. This system includes a front-left channel speaker 2 arranged forward on the left (of a viewer 1), a front-central channel speaker 3 arranged forward at the center, a front-right channel speaker 4 arranged forward on the right, a rear-left channel speaker 5 arranged rearward on the left, and a rear-right channel speaker 6 arranged rearward on the right. The two rearward arranged speakers reproduce the same sound.
FIGS. 2 and 3 are a front elevational view and a plan view, respectively, of the screen of a conventional high-resolution television set and the front speakers of the 3-1 type 4-channel speaker system used therewith. As shown in the drawings, this conventional high-definition television set includes a screen 7 having a front projection type display, a left side sound speaker 2, a center sound speaker 3 arranged behind the screen 7, and a right side sound speaker 4.
In this television set, television images are displayed on the screen 7, 3-channel front sound being reproduced through the speakers 2, 3 and 4 arranged behind and on the left and right of the screen 2. The reference numeral 8 indicates the frame of the screen 7.
With a television set with the above construction, since the center sound speaker 3 is arranged behind the screen 7, the screen operates as a barrier to the sound emanating from this speaker 3. Furthermore, in the case of a rear projection type display, the above-described speaker system cannot be adopted since the center speaker 3 arranged behind the screen stands in the way of rear projection. Moreover, when a larger screen is employed, the sound should be magnified accordingly so as to augment the impact and realism in feeling of the television system, resulting in large-sized speakers which occupy a relatively large floor area when installed.
It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a screen device in which the above-mentioned problems are eliminated, i.e., a screen device in which the sound from the center speaker is not interfered by the screen and which can provide greater impact and realism in feeling even with a complete system including speakers that is reduced in size.
Another object of this invention is to provide a screen device which can be used in a rear projection type display.
The screen device in accordance with this invention is characterized in that the three kinds of front speakers are incorporated into the screen frame to which the screen is attached in the central section thereof.
Further, the screen device in accordance with this invention is characterized in that it includes, in addition to the speakers that are incorporated into the screen frame, speakers which utilize the screen itself as the diaphragm.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An audio speaker system includes a pair of satellite speakers each having a copper lined pyramidal enclosure formed by four side walls diverging outwardly upwardly from a downwardly facing apex. A speaker mounting support at an upper end of each of the satellite speaker enclosures has a horizontal upper surface through which an upwardly facing speaker is mounted. A plurality of upwardly and inwardly inclined walls connect an upper end of each of the triangular side walls of the satellite speaker enclosures with the horizontal upper surface. A pyramidal speaker grill having four triangular side walls tapering to an upper apex covers the horizontal upper surface and is supported by the inclined walls. A sub-woofer speaker includes a pyramidal enclosure lined with a thin sheeting of copper and has four triangular side walls tapering to an upwardly facing apex. A horizontally extending speaker mounting support is formed at a lower end of the sub-woofer enclosure and a downwardly facing speaker is mounted through the horizontal speaker mounting support.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to audio speaker systems, and more particularly pertains to an audio speaker system of the type utilized in stereo systems. Conventionally produced audio speaker systems include various different shapes of enclosures which each have tweeter, midrange and woofer speakers. These conventional enclosures are directional and the speakers must be oriented in a specific configuration with respect to an intended listener seating area. These conventional speakers utilize enclosures formed from wood, plastic and fiber board materials. These enclosures tend to dampen the sound produced by the enclosed speakers. In order to overcome these problems, the present invention provides a pyramidal enclosure having four triangular inclined walls lined with a thin copper sheeting to reflect produced sound in all directions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of audio speaker systems are known in the prior art. A typical example of such a audio speaker system is to be found in U.S. Design Pat. No. 259,786, which issued to F. Leeson on July 7, 1981. This patent discloses a hexagonal conferencing telephone unit. U.S. Design Pat. No. 262,793, which issued to D. Hathaway et al on Jan. 26, 1982, discloses a loud speaker enclosure having four inclined trapezoidal side walls. A pair of speakers are mounted through one of the tapering trapezoidal side walls and thus produce a directional type speaker. U.S. Design Pat. No. 274,056, which issued to F. Myer on May 29, 1984, discloses a pyramidal speaker enclosure having four inclined triangular side walls intersecting at an upper apex. U.S. Design Pat. No. 276,519, which issued to G. Hobrough et al on Nov. 27, 1984, discloses an elongated vertically upstanding speaker enclosure having six intersecting rectangular vertical side walls. U.S. Design Pat. No. 288,090, which issued to L. Lewis et al on Feb. 3, 1987, discloses an audio speaker frame formed from a plurality of intersecting strut members.
While the above mentioned devices are directed to audio speaker systems, none of these devices disclose an audio speaker enclosure lined with a copper sheeting and including four triangular side walls intersecting at an apex. Additionally, none of the aforesaid devices contemplate the provision of a pyramidal speaker grill in conjunction with an oppositely facing pyramidal speaker enclosure. Inasmuch as the art is relatively crowded with respect to these various types of audio speaker systems, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for and interest in improvements to such audio speaker systems, and in this respect, the present invention addresses this need and interest.


The disclosed invention is embodied in an improved LED-based lighting fixture for projecting a beam of light having a substantially uniform intensity, rotationally, and a selectable, substantially uniform chromaticity. The lighting fixture includes (1) a concave reflector having circumferential facets, a focal region, an aperture, and a central opening; and (2) a light source assembly including two or more groups of LEDs mounted at the forward end of an elongated, thermally conductive support. The light source assembly is mounted relative to the reflector with the elongated support's longitudinal axis aligned with the reflector's longitudinal axis and with the groups of LEDs located at or near the reflector's focal region. Each of the two or more groups of LEDs includes a plurality of LEDs arranged in two or more columns substantially parallel with the light source axis, with each column including only LEDs configured to emit light in a limited range of the visible spectrum and having the same distinct dominant wavelength, and with each group of LEDs including LEDs configured to emit light in two or more dominant wavelengths. The two or more groups of LEDs are configured to cooperate with the faceted concave reflector to project a beam of light having a selectable, substantially uniform chromaticity.

This invention relates generally to lighting fixtures for theater, architectural, and television lighting applications and, more particularly, to lighting fixtures incorporating light-emitting diodes ("LEDs") that project high-intensity beams of light having a selectable chromaticity.
Theater, architectural, and television lighting fixtures for projecting high-intensity beams of light traditionally have included an incandescent lamp mounted with its filament(s) at or near a focal point (or region) of a concave reflector. A lens assembly is located forward of the lamp and reflector and, if a particular color is desired, a light-absorptive colored filter, or gel, is mounted at the lens assembly's forward end. In use, light emitted by the lamp is reflected in a forward direction by the concave reflector, and the lens assembly in turn projects the light forwardly through the colored gel along the fixture's longitudinal axis.
One type of such lighting fixtures includes a concave reflector having a generally ellipsoidal shape, and the lamp filament(s) is(are) located at or near the reflector's near focal region. A gate is located at or near the reflector's second focal region, and the lens assembly images the light passing through the gate at an area to be illuminated, e.g., a theater stage. Another type of such lighting fixtures includes a concave reflector having a generally parabolic shape, and the lamp filament(s) is(are) located at or near the reflector's single focal region. In this case, the lens assembly simply projects the reflected light in a forward direction, to bathe, or wash, an area to be illuminated.
Lighting fixtures of these types have enjoyed widespread use in theater, architectural, and television lighting fields. However, because of recent advances in the development of high-intensity light-emitting diodes ("LEDs"), the incorporation of incandescent lamps in such fixtures is in some cases now considered unduly wasteful of energy. In addition, such incandescent lamp fixtures generally require frequent servicing due to the relatively short lifetime of incandescent lamps. Efforts, therefore, have been made to develop new lighting fixtures incorporating LED arrays and also to retrofit prior fixtures to substitute LED arrays for their incandescent lamps.
One approach to reconfigure prior incandescent lighting fixtures to incorporate LED arrays is described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,261,241, issued in the name of David W. Cunningham and entitled "Lighting Fixture and Light-Emitting Diode Light Source Assembly," (the "Cunningham '241 patent"). The patented fixture includes a concave reflector that mounts a light source assembly including three or more LED assemblies, a heat sink, and an elongated heat pipe assembly having a rearward end connected to the heat sink and a forward end that mounts the three or more LED assemblies. The light source assembly is mounted relative to the concave reflector with the heat sink located on the reflector's backside and with the LED assemblies located at or near a focal region of the reflector. In operation, light emitted from the three or more LED assemblies is reflected forwardly by the concave reflector to a lens assembly, which in turn projects the light along the fixture's longitudinal axis. Excess heat generated by the LED assemblies is conducted rearward along the heat pipe assembly to the heat sink, for dissipation.
The fixture disclosed in the Cunningham '241 patent is highly effective in projecting a rotationally uniform beam of light using substantially reduced electrical power. However, the patent's disclosure is limited to projecting beams of light that are generally white, using LEDs that are each configured to emit light across the entire visible spectrum. The patent does not discuss the use of LEDs emitting light in different wavelength bands or the selective energizing of the LEDs to project a beam having a selectable color, or chromaticity. Nor does the patent discuss the structure required to ensure that the projected beam has a substantially uniform chromaticity. A projected beam can be said to have a substantially uniform chromaticity if its chromaticity variation in both horizontal and vertical directions fits within a MacAdam ellipse of size 6X or less, and preferably 3X or less.
One prior lighting fixture incorporating LEDs emitting light in different wavelength bands, for projecting high-intensity beams of light having a selectable color spectrum, or chromaticity, is described in U.S. patent application Publication No. 2012/0140463, filed in the name of David Kinzer et al. The Kinzer fixture includes a planar array of LEDs emitting light in a mix of narrow wavelength bands spanning the visible spectrum, with the various colors arranged in a substantially random pattern. The LED array is mounted at the rear end of an elongated mixing tube assembly, which in turn is mounted to a conventional lens assembly. The mixing tube assembly includes a reflective inner surface having a converging section and a diverging section, which cooperate to homogenize the light emitted by the planar LED array. In use, light from the LED array is directed through the mixing tube assembly for mixing, and in turn through a gate and the lens assembly for projection toward a distant location. Although the Kinzer fixture is effective in projecting a beam of light having a selectable and generally uniform far-field chromaticity, it is considered unduly complex and expensive.
It should, therefore, be appreciated that there remains a need for an improved LED lighting fixture configured to project a high-intensity beam of light having a selectable, substantially uniform chromaticity. The present invention fulfills this need and provides further related advantages.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

LED-based lighting fixture providing a selectable chromaticity


A hologram chip may be programmed to emit and/or augment energy tuned to interact with bodily functions through transdermal contact. The chip may be programmed by using a pair of Tesla pancake coils, each coupled to a spherical electrode and driven to create an energetic field between the electrodes. The hologram chip may be in contact with a transmitter coil. A tuning medium may be in contact with a receiver coil. A wave function generator may drive the transmitter coil until it is in resonance with the receiver coil causing an energetic field to form between the spherical electrodes. The longitudinal waves passed from the transmitter side to the receiver side may be conducted through the receiver pancake coil and through the tuning medium, which in turn may transmit the natural frequencies/information of the tuning medium through the longitudinal waves to the hologram chip on the transmitter coil.

The embodiments herein relate generally to chips for transdermal emission/augmentation of energy.
The ability to carry information through longitudinal wave carriers has until now, been underutilized. FIG. 1 shows an example of a Tesla coil, waveform/signal generator connected to a spherical electrode as disclosed by Konstantin Meyl's book Scalar Wave Technology: Documentation for the Experimental-Kit for the Transmission of Electrical Scalar Waves. Configured correctly, the Tesla coil may produce a longitudinal wave which may carry energetic information over space. FIG. 2 shows a configuration of connections of the components of longitudinal (scalar) electromagnetic wave/field generating equipment with additional connections to different jumper fields as disclosed by Konstantin Meyl. The configuration may transfer a waveform signal from the transmitter side to the receiver side and vice versa via the longitudinal waves carried through the field between two spherical electrodes.

Chip for transdermal emission or augmentation of energy


The present invention is drawn to disinfectant systems and methods which can be used to produce a disinfectant solution. The system can include a first liquid composition and a second liquid composition. The first liquid composition comprises from 0.0005 ppm to 100,000 ppm by weight of a transition metal or alloy and an alcohol, and the second liquid composition comprises water and a peroxygen compound. The first and second liquid compositions are formulated to be combined so as to yield a resultant disinfectant solution. The disinfectant solution can be used to disinfect a variety of surfaces and even liquid compositions.

Disinfectants, such as hard surface disinfectants, are widely used in both domestic and professional settings. Exemplary of a commonly used hard surface cleaner is Lysol® disinfectant. Though Lysol® is effective for many applications; Lysol® is not as effective at reducing levels of bacterial endospores as commercially available glutaraldehyde aqueous solutions. Glutaraldehyde aqueous solutions are widely used as disinfectants, and are commonly available in 1 wt % and 2 wt % solutions, particularly in medical and dental settings. Glutaraldehyde solutions are typically used for more delicate medical/dental instruments that would otherwise be susceptible to damage by other sterilization methods, e.g., autoclaving. However, glutaraldehyde is also a powerful irritant and respiratory sensitizer. In fact, there have been reports of sensitization of individuals due to the fumes, which have lead to respiratory problems, headaches, lethargy, discoloring of the skin, etc. Because of these issues related to glutaraldehyde fumes, air quality must often be monitored, or appropriate air ventilation must be present. As a result, though glutaraldehyde solutions are relatively effective disinfectants, it would be desirable to provide compositions that can exhibit even more effective bacteria kill levels, and at the same time be safer for the individuals using the disinfectant.

Disinfectant systems and methods comprising a peracid, alcohol, and transition metal


A resonator is provided that includes opposing mirrors arranged substantially parallel to each other and separated to confine reflections for gain. A gain medium is between the opposing mirrors. A pump pumps the gain medium. At least one microrefractive element, or tens, hundreds, thousands, millions or more, stabilizes the resonator. The refractive element is disposed between the opposing mirrors and is configured to support a laser beam at a position of the refractive element. A method for producing laser light directs pump light onto one or a plurality of microrefractive elements. Reflections from the one or a plurality of microrefractive elements are confined in a resonator volume. Gain is provided in the resonator volume. Laser energy is emitted from the resonator volume.

Optical resonators for lasers generally consist of two mirrors, separated by a distance and facing each other. A gain medium between the mirrors amplifies light confined by the mirrors, and resonant frequencies are amplified during feedback to produce laser light. An important resonator design is the Fabry-Perot or parallel-plane cavity resonator, which consists of two planar mirrors. These resonators are used in lasers for many applications for favorable optical properties, including large free spectral range and high finesse. However, the planar mirror Fabry-Perot resonators suffer from the drawback of being "critically stable". Slight misalignments of the two planar mirrors (i.e., are not absolutely parallel) cause the cavity to become unstable. This makes lasing difficult, if at all possible. Fabry-Perot resonators, therefore, have little to no manufacturing tolerance. Furthermore, heating of a laser gain medium will adversely impact beam quality. Thermal gradients, arising from heat dissipation in high-power lasers, cause refractive index variations in the gain medium which result in the degradation of beam quality when a single beam is produced.

Micro-refractive element stabilized resonators, lasers and multiple beam lasing

The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois


An apparatus (18) for separating an individual chip (14) from a semiconductor wafer (10) adhered to a diaphragm (16) comprises a "C"-shaped arm (26) having parallel, spaced-apart upper and lower arm portions (28) and (29). The upper arm portion (28) is provided with a yoke (34) at its free end for engaging a robot (42) which carries a pickup tool (46). The free end of the lower arm portion (29) mounts a die ejector (38) lying directly beneath the pickup tool (46) when the robot (42) engages the upper arm portion (28). Once the die ejector (38) is positioned below, and the pickup tool (46) is positioned above, a particular chip (14), actuation of the die ejector causes the chip to be separated and urged upwardly for engagement by the pickup tool. In this way, the need to separately position the die ejector (38) and the pickup tool (46) is obviated.

Integrated circuits are typically manufactured from electronic circuits which are first formed on a semiconductor wafer. After the circuits are formed, the wafer is then diced into individual circuit-containing chips which, when packaged, form an integrated circuit. It is desirable during the manufacturing process to keep the chips arrayed to facilitate their testing. For this reason, once the circuits have been formed on the wafer, the wafer is set on an adhesive diaphragm. The wafer is then diced on the diaphragm such that the diaphragm remains intact, keeping the chips arrayed.
Separation of the chips from the diaphragm has been accomplished in the past by placing the diaphragm on a x-y table having a central opening seated within which is a die ejector. The x-y table displaces the diaphragm so that a selected chip overlies the die ejector. Actuating the die ejector pin serves to separate the chip from the diaphragm. A vacuum pickup tool, typically carried by a robot, is then positioned over the just-separated chip to engage it so the chip can be transported to a desired location. An example of a apparatus for accomplishing chip separation and pickup in the manner just described is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,362, issued on Dec. 3, 1985, to N. Bahnck et al. and assigned to AT&T Technologies.
Chip separation and chip pickup, as presently practiced, require two separate positioning operations. First the diaphragm must be positioned over the die ejector and then the pickup device must be positioned over the separated chip. Each positioning must be carried out precisely, thus necessitating an accurate positioning system (e.g., a servo motor and associated electronics) which is usually expensive.
Thus there is need for a technique which reduces the number of positioning operations required to accomplish chip separation and chip pickup.

Method and apparatus for separating chips


A combination puzzle toy includes a case defining a top open chamber having a flat bottom surface, and a plurality of blocks to be inserted into the top open chamber and supported on the flat bottom surface of the top open chamber and coupled to one another in a flush manner to form one of a number of combinations, each block being formed of a flat rectangular first block member and a flat rectangular second block member asymmetrically fixedly arranged in a stack.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a puzzle toy and, more particularly, to a combination puzzle toy that can be arranged to form one of a number of combinations.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1 and 2 show a combination puzzle toy A according to the prior art. According to this design, the combination puzzle toy A is comprised of a plurality of flat toy elements 100 of different geographical shapes that can be matched with one another to form a pattern (combination). Because the combination puzzle toy A can be assembled to form only one combination, the child remembers the way to assemble the combination after few trials, and becomes tired of play the combination puzzle toy A when knows the way to assemble the combination.
The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is the main object of the present invention to provide a combination puzzle toy, which trains the player""s metal ability.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a combination puzzle toy, which trains the player to endure trouble.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the combination puzzle toy is comprised of a case and a plurality of blocks. The case defines a top open chamber, which has a flat bottom surface. The blocks are to be inserted into the top open chamber and supported on the flat bottom surface of the top open chamber and coupled to one another in a flush manner to form one of a number of combinations. Each block comprises a flat rectangular first block member and a flat rectangular second block member asymmetrically fixedly arranged in a stack.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the combinations include one combination where the flat rectangular first block member of at least one of the blocks is respectively disposed in contact with the flat bottom surface of the top open chamber, and the rectangular second block members of the other blocks are respectively disposed in contact with the flat bottom surface of the top open chamber.


Methods and systems for robust and flexible extraction of image information using color filter arrays. Methods are provided comprising receiving a sample set of data generated by transforming and sampling an optical property of an original color image in a spatial basis, wherein the transformation effected is substantially local in the spatial basis and has partially overlapping spectra. A generalized inverse of the transform augmented with regularization constraints is applied to the sample set of data to infer original image data. According to one approach the generalized inverse does not use variational minimization or assume constant color ratios. According to an alternative approach regularization can take the form of predetermined spectral constraints applied to the sample set of data to infer the original image data. According to another alternative approach regularization can promote spectral sparsity. Methods are also provided for creating an optical color filter array, for sampling an image, for reducing noise in an image, and for computing a sparse representation of an image signal. Systems for carrying out these and other methods are also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to multi-spectral imaging systems such as still cameras, video cameras, scanners and microscopes and more specifically to imaging systems that use fewer sensor elements than previous techniques for comparable image quality.
2. Background Information
Images herein can be considered signals whose amplitude may represent some optical property such as intensity, color and polarization which may vary spatially but not significantly temporally during the relevant measurement period. In color imaging, light intensity typically is detected by photosensitive sensor elements or photosites. An image sensor is composed of a two dimensional regular tiling of these individual sensor elements. Color imaging systems need to sample the image in at least three basic colors to synthesize a color image. We use the term "basic colors" to refer to primary colors, secondary colors or any suitably selected set of colors. We exclude color difference signals, many of which are used in popular color spaces, from the definition of basic colors. Furthermore, all references to red, green and blue should be construed to apply to any set of basic colors.
We only consider systems that sense a "substantially local" transform in the spatial domain of the image signal, which is a transform whose value at a point depends only on the signal in its close neighborhood.
Color sensing may be achieved by a variety of means such as, for example, (a) splitting the image into three identical copies, separately filtering each into the basic colors, and sensing each of them using separate image sensors, or (b) using a rotating filter disk to transmit images filtered in each of the basic colors onto the same image sensor.
However, a very popular design for capturing color images is to use a single sensor overlaid with a color filter array ("CFA"). This includes the straightforward design wherein the value of each output pixel is determined by three sensing elements, one for each basic color, usually arranged in horizontal, vertical or diagonal stripes. This design yields red, green and blue images of equal resolution, or equivalently luminance and chrominance signals of equal bandwidth. 'Luminance" is defined as a weighted sum of basic color signals where all the weights are positive while "chrominance", is defined as a weighted sum of basic color signals where at least one weight is negative. The color stripe design is still used in high end cameras such as the Panavision Genesis Digital Camera, http://www.panavision.com/publish/2007/11/09/Genesis.pdf, page 2, 2007. Newer CFA designs by Bayer (see FIG. 4 and B. E. Bayer, "Color imaging array", Jul. 20, 1976. U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,065) and others (see K. Hirakawa and P. J. Wolfe, "Spatio-spectral color filter array design for enhanced image fidelity" in Proc. of IEEE ICIP, pages II: 81-84, 2007 and L. Condat, "A New Class of Color. Filter Arrays with Optimal Sensing Properties") make different trade-offs between luminance and chrominance bandwidths as well as the crosstalk between them.
Most of the early CFAs as well as their associated image reconstruction algorithms were designs based on intuition and experimentation but lacking rigorous mathematical foundation. In the paper "Color demosaicing by estimating luminance and opponent chromatic signals in the Fourier domain", Proc. IS&T/SID 10th Color Imaging Conf, pages 331-336, 2002, D. Alleysson, S. Susstrunk, and J. Herault analyzed electromagnetic filtering performed by CFAs as amplitude modulation of the color signals in the spatial domain (as used herein the terms "demosaic" and "demosaick" are to be construed as input image reconstruction procedures and the terms "demosaicer" and "demosaicker" as input image reconstruction algorithms). This led to frequency domain image reconstruction techniques that viewed the problem as that of demultiplexing the luminance and chrominance signals via demodulation and filtering. See E. Dubois, "Frequency-domain methods for demosaicking of bayer-sampled color images", IEEE Signal Processing Letters, 12(12):847-850, 200 and N. Lian, L. Chang, and Y. P. Tan, "Improved color filter array demosaicking by accurate luminance estimation" in IEEE International Conference on Image Processing, 2005, ICIP 2005, volume 1, 2005.
The complementary problem of designing CFAs with good frequency domain properties was attacked by D. Alleysson, S. Susstrunk, and J. Herault, "Linear demosaicing inspired by the human visual system", IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, 14(4):439-449, 2005 wherein the doubling of the number of blue photosites in the Bayer CFA at the expense of Green photosites was suggested. This was followed by techniques to design CFAs directly in the frequency domain by K. Hirakawa and P. J. Wolfe, "Spatio-spectral color filter array design for enhanced image fidelity" in Proc. of IEEE ICIP, pages II: 81-84, 2007 and optimized by L. Condat, "A New Class of Color Filter Arrays with Optimal Sensing Properties". These techniques fix the pattern of each basic color to consist of a small set of spatial "carriers"—two dimensional sinusoids with appropriate frequencies, phases and amplitudes—and sum over the three basic colors to arrive at the final pattern. This pattern is then overlaid on the sensor. When an image formed by the camera's lens is filtered by the CFA, it is modulated by each of the carrier frequencies. The overlap of the modulation products of the 3 primaries induces a color transform and leads to a multiplex of luminance and chrominance signals modulated at different frequencies. As long as there is limited cross-talk between the luminance and chrominance signals, and the color transform is invertible the original color image can be recovered.
An important consideration in the choice of sensor color space so far has been the high frequency content of chrominance signals. Well chosen color transforms result in chrominance signals with low high frequency content. This allows the chrominance signals to be placed close to each other and to the luminance signal in the Fourier domain without significant cross-talk. See Y. Hel-Or, "The canonical correlations of color images and their use for demosaicing" and K. Hirakawa and P. J. Wolfe, "Spatio-spectral color filter array design for enhanced image fidelity" in Proc. of IEEE ICIP, pages II: 81-84, 2007 and L. Condat, "A New Class of Color Filter Arrays with Optimal Sensing Properties".
An important factor influencing the close packing of color component (luminance, chrominance) signals is the geometry of their spectra. Square and rectangular sampling lattices admit higher resolution along the diagonal directions than along horizontal or vertical directions. Optical systems, on the other hand, generate roughly equal resolution in all directions thereby yielding images with nearly circular spectral support. When plotted, the 2D Fourier transform of a CFA is a rectangle while that of a color component of an optical image is a circle. This leads to the problem of efficiently packing circles into rectangles. FIG. 3 shows an exemplary monochrome image 310 and it's spectral image 320. The spectral image is obtained by taking the logarithm of the absolute value of the Fourier transform of the image.
An aggressive class of techniques for close packing of color component spectra employs adaptive directional techniques during image reconstruction. These techniques assume the color component spectra of small image patches to be sparse in at least one direction. They design their CFA to generate more than one copy of chrominance spectra (see B. E. Bayer, "Color imaging array", Jul. 20, 1976, U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,065), implicitly or explicitly identify the cleanest copy during the image reconstruction step and use directional filtering to demultiplex them (see E. Dubois, "Frequency-domain methods for demosaicking of bayer-sampled color images", IEEE Signal Processing Letters, 12(12):847-850, 2005 and K. Hirakawa and T W Parks, "Adaptive homogeneity-directed demosaicing algorithm", IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, 14(3):360-369, 2005. Also see Ron Kimmel, "Demosaicing: Image reconstruction from color ccd samples", IEEE Trans. Image Processing, 8:1221-1228, 1999 and E. Chang, S. Cheung, and D. Y. Pan, "Color filter array recovery using a threshold-based variable number of gradients", in Proceedings of SPIE, volume 3650, page 36, 1999). The benefits of adaptive directional image reconstruction come at a heavy cost, though, since sensing edge directions from noisy sub-sampled images is a hard problem and the non-linear nature of sensing edges making makes noise reduction a non-separable step from image reconstruction.
Universal demosaickers have also been devised that can reconstruct images sampled by any CFA. This has allowed for easy experimentation with novel CFA designs, including patterns with basic colors arranged in a random pattern (as used herein the term "random" is to be construed as including "random" and "pseudo random").
CFA Design in the Fourier Domain
Consider a photosite located at n=[n1 n2] that filters incident light x(n)=[xr(n) xg(n) xb(n)]T through color filter array c(n)=[cr(n) cg(n) cb(n)] and measures the resulting, scalar signal y(n), wherey(n)=c(n)·x(n)  (1)
Consider a set of real carrier sinusoids s(k)(n), 1≦k≦m of unit amplitude, frequencies ω(k)=[ω1(k),ω2(k)] and phases
                         ϕ                  (          k          )                    ∈              {                  0          ,                      π            2                          }              ,  given by
                                          s                          (              k              )                                                      (            n            )                          =                                            ⅇ                              j                                                  (                                                                                ω                                                  (                          k                          )                                                                    ·                      n                                        +                                          ϕ                                              (                        k                        )                                                                              )                                                      +                          ⅇ                              -                                  j                                                        (                                                                                ω                                                      (                            k                            )                                                                          ·                        n                                            +                                              ϕ                                                  (                          k                          )                                                                                )                                                                                2                                    (        2        )            Each color of the CFA, ci(n), iε{r, g, b}, is the superposition of these carriers scaled by an appropriate real amplitude αi(k),
                                          c            i                                          (            n            )                          =                              ∑                          k              =              1                        m                                                        a              i                              (                k                )                                                                                s                                  (                  k                  )                                                                          (                n                )                                                                        (        3        )
The choice of carrier frequencies is a CFA design decision except for the zero frequency or DC component, whose presence is essential for all physically realizable CFAs. For this reason we set ω(1)=[0 0]. It follows that αi(1)>0, iε{r, g, b}.
Once the sensor is exposed to image x(n) and its mosaiced output y(n) is captured, a signal processing step is needed to reconstruct x(n). Assuming the carrier frequencies ω(k), 1≦k≦m are sufficiently separated so that sidebands centered about them do not overlap, each modulated signal can be recovered by multiplication with its respective carrier followed by convolution with a low pass filter h(k). Formally,u(k)(n)=(h(k)*(s(k)·y))(n)  (4)
Each u(k)(n), 0≦k≦m can be viewed as a color component. Motivated by the fact that αi(1)>0, iε{r, g, b}, we loosely refer to u(1)(n) as the luminance signal, and u(k)(n), k>1 as the chrominance signals.
It is important to note that if the carrier frequencies ω(k), 1≦k≦m are insufficiently separated so that all sidebands centered about them overlap, existing techniques do not prescribe any means of recovering them without crosstalk.
Since u(n)=[u(1)(n) u(2)(n) . . . u(m)(n)]T is generated by the modulation of the incident image x(n), it can be written asu(n)=A·x(n)  (5)where
  A  =            [                                                  a              r                              (                1                )                                                                        a              g                              (                1                )                                                                        a              b                              (                1                )                                                                                a              r                              (                2                )                                                                        a              g                              (                2                )                                                                        a              b                              (                2                )                                                                          ⋮                                ⋮                                ⋮                                                              a              r                              (                m                )                                                                        a              g                              (                m                )                                                                        a              b                              (                m                )                                                        ]        .  A can be interpreted as the color transform matrix, and provided its rank is 3 or greater, x can be recovered byx(n)=A−1·u(n)  (6)Here A−1, the generalized inverse of A, can be interpreted as the inverse color transform.
From the above discussion it is clear that the three decision variables for a CFA design are the carrier frequencies ω(k), 1≦k≦m, phases φ(k), 1≦k≦m and amplitudes given by the matrix A.
Bayer CFA in the Fourier Domain
For a Fourier domain analysis of the popular Bayer CFA see E. Dubois, "Frequency-domain methods for de-mosaicking of bayer-sampled color images", IEEE Signal Processing Letters, 12(12):847-850, 2005. FIG. 4 shows the Bayer CFA 410. FIG. 5 illustrates how color information with its circular support is packed into the sensor's rectangular support. This can be most easily understood in terms of an alternative color space:
                              [                                                    L                                                                                C                                                                                1                                                                                C                                                                                2                                                              ]                =                                            1              4                                                  [                                                                    1                                                        2                                                        1                                                                                -                      1                                                                            2                                                                              -                      1                                                                                -                      1                                                                            0                                                        1                                                              ]                                                      [                                                            R                                                                              G                                                                              B                                                      ]                                              (        7        )
In FIG. 5, the central circle represents Luminance (L). The four quarter circles at the vertices make up Chrominance1 (C1). The two semi-circles at the left and right edges make up the first copy of Chrominance2 (C2a). The two semi-circles at the top and bottom edges make up the second copy of Chrominance2 (C2b).
It's apparent from this figure that there is empty space between circles that goes unused. Such inefficiencies are unavoidable by existing CFAs that attempt to maintain at least one copy of luminance or chrominance spectra free from crosstalk. This invention redresses such inefficiency, among other things.
Universal Demosaickers
A few so called universal image reconstruction methods exist which work with arbitrary Red, Green and Blue CFA patterns. These include one described in Condat, "Random patterns for color filter arrays with good spectral properties", (Research Report of the IBB, Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, no. 08-25, September 2008, Munich, Germany), IBR, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, which uses variation minimization to infer the original image.
Lukac et al., "Universal demosaicing for imaging pipelines with a RGB color filter array" (Pattern Recognition, vol. 38, pp. 2208-2212, 2005) IBR, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, presents a universal demosaicker which makes assumptions about the local constancy of color ratios.
Neither of these universal demosaickers use spectral band-limitedness constraints in a systematic way.

Method and system for robust and flexible extraction of image information using color filter arrays