Featured is a device for detecting electromagnetic signals, more specifically, the magnetic resonance signals from excited nuclei as well as related apparatuses, systems and methods. The detection device includes a planar strip array antenna including a plurality, and in more particular embodiments a multiplicity of parallel conductors (e.g., 4, 16, 32 or more of conductors). The length of the conductors is adjusted to substantially reduce the coupling of a signal in one conductor to an adjacent conductor(s). In a more specific embodiment the length is set so as to be equal to be about nxcex/4, where n is an integerxe2x89xa71 and xcex is the wavelength of the signal to be detected (e.g., the wavelength corresponding to the NMR resonance frequency for the nuclei). The device also is configured so that the electromagnetic wave on each conductor is one of a standing wave or a traveling wave. Additionally, the device is configurable to provide broad band de-coupling by controlling a ratio of the spacing between conductors and the height of an encapsulation member so as to be less than or equal to a given value. Such a device can further include an EMF interference guard so as to isolate at least a portion of the conductors.

The present invention generally relates to apparatus and methods for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), also known as nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI). More particularly the present invention relates to an apparatus having a near-field radio-frequency planar strip array antenna that can be used for parallel spatial encoded and for conventional series spatial encoded MRI. The present invention also relates to methods and MRI systems related thereto.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a technique that is capable of providing three-dimensional imaging of an object. A conventional MRI system typically includes a main or primary magnet(s) that provides the background magnetic field Bo, gradient coils and radio frequency (RF) coils, which are used for spatial encoding, exciting and detecting the nuclei for imaging. Typically, the main or primary magnet(s) are designed to provide a homogeneous magnetic field in an internal region within the main magnet, for example, in the air space of a large central bore of a solenoid or in the air gap between the magnetic pole plates of a C-type magnet. The patient or object to be imaged is positioned in the homogeneous field region located in such air space. The gradient field and the RF coils are typically located external to the patient or object to be imaged and inside the geometry of the main or primary magnet(s) surrounding the air space. There is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,968,937 and 5,990,681, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference, some exemplary MRI systems.
In MRI, the uniform magnetic field Bo generated by the main or primary magnet(s) is applied to an imaged object by convention along the Z-axis of a Cartesian coordinate system, the origin of which is within the imaged object. The uniform magnetic field Bo being applied has the effect of aligning the nuclear spins, a quantum mechanical property of macroscopic particles comprising the imaged object, along the Z-axis. In response to RF pulses of the proper frequency, that are orientated within the XY plane, the nuclei resonate at their Larmor frequencies. In a typical imaging sequence, the RF signal centered about the desired Larmor frequency is applied to the imaged object at the same time a magnetic field gradient Gz is being applied along the Z-axis. This gradient field Gz causes only the nuclei in a slice with a limited width through the object along the XY plane, to have the resonant frequency and to be excited into resonance.
After excitation of the nuclei in the slice, magnetic field gradients are applied along the X- and Y-axes respectively. The gradient Gx along the X-axis causes the nuclei to precess at different frequencies depending on their position along the X-axis, that is, Gx spatially encodes the precessing nuclei by frequency (i.e., frequency encoding). The Y-axis gradient Gy is incremented through a series of values and encodes the Y position into the rate of change of the phase of the precessing nuclei as a function of gradient amplitude, a process typically referred to as phase encoding.
The quality of the image produced by the MRI techniques is dependent, in part, upon the strength of the magnetic resonance (MR) signal received from the precessing nuclei. For this reason an independent RF coil is placed in close proximity to the region of interest of the imaged object in order to improve the strength of the received signal. Such RF coils are sometimes referred to as local coils or surface coils.
There is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,162 a surface coil(s) for use in MRI/NMRI imaging and methods related thereto. In the preferred embodiment of that invention, each surface coil is connected to the input of an associated one of a like plurality of low-input-impedance preamplifiers, which minimize the interaction between any surface coil and any other surface coils not immediately adjacent thereto. These surface coils can have square, circular and the like geometries. This yields an array of a plurality of closely spaced surface coils, each positioned so as to have substantially no interaction with all adjacent surface coils. A different MR response signal is received at each different one of the surface coils from an associated portion of the sample enclosed within the imaging volume defined by the array. Each different MR response signal is used to construct a different one of a like plurality of different images then being combined, on a point-by-point, basis to produce a single composite MR image of a total sample portion from which MR response signal distribution was received by any of the array of surface coils.
The use of a phased array RF coils or surface coils with a tuned and matched circuit including low impedance pre-amplifiers have been used to de-couple adjacent loops as a mechanism for improving the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and field of view (FOV). In this regard, it should be understood that the term xe2x80x9ccouplingxe2x80x9d refers to the coupling of an MR signal in one coil to an adjacent coil(s), such that the signal being outputted by the adjacent coil is a combination of the MR signal detected by the adjacent coil and the coupled MR signal. Consequently, the image from the adjacent coil would be distorted to some degree. Although overlapping adjacent coil(s) and using low impedance pre-amplifiers have been effective from the standpoint of improving SNR and FOV, such circuitry becomes ineffective when both the number of coils and the coil density is increased. In other words, as the spacing between adjacent coils and between adjacent portions of a coil is decreased signal coupling is increased irrespective of the tuned and matched circuits.
Although there are a variety of spatial encoding methodologies or techniques being implemented, the most popular method used in commercial MRI scanners is two-dimensional Fourier transform (2DFT) encoding in which a two-dimensional spatial plane (e.g., XY plane) is encoded with both frequency and phase of the MR signals. Typically during one data acquisition, only a one dimensional time-domain signal is obtained and thus 2DFT encoding requires repeating the data acquisitions sequentially to achieve a pseudo second dimension of the time domain signals. The second dimension of the spatial information is encoded into the phase component by repeating the data acquisition with different phase encoding gradient strengths (i.e., varying Gy to create the other pseudo-time dimension. In this technique, each slice of the imaged object is in effect divided into a multiplicity of layers in the Y-direction or axis corresponding to the number of pixels in that direction (e.g., 128, 256). The number of pixels in turn is representative of the desired image resolution, in other words the higher the resolution the higher the number of pixels. In addition, the X-direction scanning process or the data acquisition is repeated by sequentially and repeatedly stepping through each of these Y-direction layers. Because the resolution of the time-domain signals depends on the number of repetitions of the data acquisitions, and the repetition rate is limited by the MR relaxation times; a higher resolution image takes a longer time.
Two recent methods, the Simultaneous Acquisition of Spatial Harmonics (SMASH) imaging in the time domain and the Sensitivity Encoded (SENSE) imaging in the frequency domain, changes such sequential data acquisition into a partially parallel process by using a phased array, thereby reducing the scan time as compared to the sequential data acquisition technique. In these two techniques, it is recognized that the data sampled below the Nyquist sampling rate can be recovered if the sensitivity profiles of the phased array detectors can provide enough spatial information to either interpolate the data in the time domain or unwrap the data in the frequency domain.
The time domain method recognizes the equivalence between phase-encoding with MRI gradients and the composite spatial sensitivity inherent in the detectors. It uses a numerical fitting routine to, among other things, interpolate a decimated number of phase-encoding steps and thus, achieve reductions in scan time. Although this numerical approach was instrumental in demonstrating the original SMASH concept, it did not recognize the underlying analytical relationship between the weighting factors for the composite harmonics, the FOV, the spacing of the detectors, the harmonic orders, and the sensitivity profiles of the detector coils.
Another problem is that conventional MRI phased array coils are unable to deploy a large number of coils due to the limitations imposed by both their loop structure and the de-coupling requirements for the mutual induction between the elements. Because the number of coils in the phased array corresponds to the maximum decimation factor for reducing the number of phase encoding steps, existing phased array designs significantly limit the potential for parallel spatial encoding.
It thus would be desirable to provide an array antenna or RF MR signal detector, as well as systems and methods embodying such an antenna/detector, that would allow the number of antenna elements for detecting near filed signals in the array antenna to be increased while maintaining the de-coupling of adjacent antenna elements and the desired SNR and FOV characteristics. It would be particularly desirable to provide such array antenna/detector, system and method in which the array antenna includes a multiplicity of elements for detecting MR signals, such as 6 or more, 32 or more or 64 or more elements so as to significantly reduce scan time. Such an array antenna/MR signal detector preferably would be simple in construction as compared to prior art antennas and/or MR signal detectors.
The present invention features a device for detecting or receiving electromagnetic signals and more particularly a device for detecting magnetic resonance (MR) signals from excited nuclei. Also featured are a detection apparatus embodying such a device, an MR excitation and signal detection apparatus embodying such a device, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system embodying such a device and/or such an MR excitation and signal detection apparatus. Further featured are methods related to the above-described detection device, apparatuses and system.
The detection device includes a plurality of conductors being arranged so as to be parallel to each other. Each of the conductors has a length that is set so as to substantially reduce the coupling of a signal in one of the conductors to an adjacent conductor. More particularly, the conductor length is set so as to be equal to be about nxcex/4, where n is an integerxe2x89xa71 and xcex is the wavelength of the signal to be detected. For MRI applications, xcex is the wavelength corresponding to the NMR resonance frequency for the nuclei being subjected to a given magnetic field strength by the main or primary magnetic coils. For example, the quarter wavelength for a proton NMR in a 1.5 Telsa magnetic field in air is about 117 cm.
In a specific embodiment, the detection device includes a multiplicity of parallel conductors, more particularly, about four or more conductors. In another specific embodiment, the detection device includes sixteen (16) or more conductors, more particularly thirty-two (32) or more conductors. In a further specific embodiment, the detection device includes a multiplicity of conductors in the range of from about 4 to about 32 conductors, more particularly in the range of from about 4 to about 16 conductors and further in the range of from about 16 to about 32 conductors.
The detection device further includes an encapsulation member comprising a substrate, on one surface of which is disposed the plurality of conductors and the other opposing surface thereof is disposed a ground plane, and an overlay that covers the conductors disposed on the substrate. The substrate and the overlay are made of a material having a dielectric constant so the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave on the each conductor is reduced so as to be in a desired range for purposes of scanning. In an exemplary embodiment, the encapsulation material has a dielectric constant in the range of from about 6 to 9.6 such that the quarter wavelength for a proton NMR in a 1.5 Telsa magnetic field on each encapsulated conductor is in the range of from about 48 cm to 38 cm. The ground plane is an electrical conductive material including, but not limited to, copper, aluminum or silver. The ground plane, as is known to those skilled in the art, is applied or otherwise secured to the other opposing surface and to keep EMF on strip in a quasi-TEM mode.
In other specific embodiments, the detection device is configured to operate such that the electromagnetic (EM) wave on each of the conductors is one of a standing wave or a traveling wave. In the case of a standing wave, the detection device further includes a mechanism that terminates one end of each conductor as one of an open circuit or a short circuit. In the case of a traveling wave, n is an even number such that the length of each conductor is a multiple of xcex/2 and a termination of each conductor is a resistive match.
Additionally, the detection device can be configured to include an electromagnetic field (EMF) interference guard that is electrical connected in a fashion so that the guard electrical isolates at least a portion of each conductor (e.g., the ends of the conductors) to minimize the EMF interference to the plurality of conductors by/from the environment including areas of the imaged object outside of the specific area being scanned. In one embodiment, the EMF interference guard includes two guard strips, each guard strip being disposed proximal the ends of each conductor strip and so as to minimize EMF interference from environmental electromagnetic waves approaching the ends of each conductor. In a more specific embodiment, a long axis for each of the guard strips extends generally perpendicular to a long axis of each conductor.
In another embodiment, a plurality or more of guard strips are arranged about the periphery of the plurality of conductors so as to, in effect encircle the ends and sides of the plurality of conductors. In yet another embodiment, the EMF interference guard comprises one or more members that are configured so as to be provide any of a number of geometrical shapes such as circular and oval. These one or more members are formed about the ends or about the periphery of the plurality of conductors such that the configuration minimizes external EMF interference. In a more specific embodiment, the EMF interference guard or each guard strip thereof is electrical connected to ground.
According to another aspect of the invention, the plurality of conductors are arranged so as to provide both narrow band de-coupling, as described above, and broadband de-coupling of the conductors. In specific embodiments, such broad-band de-coupling can be realized when the spacing (xe2x80x9csxe2x80x9d) between the conductors and the height (xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d) of the encapsulation member is set so a ratio s/h is greater than or equal to about 3 or about 2.5.
Also featured are a detection apparatus including a detection device, having a plurality of conductors as described above, and a plurality of receivers, one receiver for each conductor. In a more specific embodiment when using the detection apparatus in an MRI system, the detection apparatus further includes a plurality of transmit/receive (T/R) switching mechanisms (e.g., switches) one for each conductor/receiver path. The T/R switching mechanisms are configured and arranged so as to de-couple each detection device conductor from its corresponding receiver during the period of time when an excitation electromagnetic signal is being generated to depress the magnet moment of the nuclei within the imaged object and also to couple each detection device conductor with its corresponding receiver during the time period when the excitation electromagnetic signal is not being generated, such as when a MR signal is to be detected.
Additionally there is featured an excitation and detection system including the features described above for the detection system. Such an excitation and detection system further includes a transmitter that generates the excitation electromagnetic signals or pulses, an antenna for transmitting these signals into at least the region of the imaged object to be scanned, and a controller that selectively controls signal transmission and signal reception so that each occurs at predetermined times and/or predetermined time intervals.
Further, there is featured a MRI system including the excitation and detection system described above, a main or primary coil that generates a homogeneous magnetic field in a predetermined region in which the object or portion thereof is to be imaged, gradient coils for generating one or additional magnetic fields, controllers for controlling the operation and energization of each of the main and gradient coils, the generation/transmission of the excitation electromagnetic (RF) signals and the acquisition/detection of MR signals by the detection system. Such a system further includes a processing apparatus that processes the data acquired so as to yield an image of the object that was scanned.
Other aspects and embodiments of the invention are discussed below.

Apparatus for magnetic resonance imaging having a planar strip array antenna including systems and methods related thereto


A closed rim-type drive sprocket for chain saws, comprising two axially spaced plates for supporting the side links of a saw chain, a gear surface disposed between the lateral plates. The gear surface comprises circumferentially spaced teeth forming gullets therebetween. Bottoms of the gullets are inclined by an acute angle greater than 20 degrees relative to the rotary axis to force particles entering the gullets to be displaced toward openings formed in one of the plates.

The present invention relates to drive sprockets used in driving a sawchain of a chain saw.
Chain saws are used for felling trees and cutting timber to a desired length. Chain saws can be hand-held, vehicle mounted or stationary. The power of the motor is converted to a cutting force in the chain through a drive sprocket, and to facilitate the use of a small high speed motor it is desirable to use a sprocket with small diameter.
Many problems in using a chain saw involve the cooperation between the drive sprocket and the chain. A sprocket with few teeth may cause uneven motion, vibrations and sudden stresses in the chain. This will deform and stretch the chain, which then does not fit the sprocket well enough, causing even worse vibrations and ultimately a risk of chain breakage.
Since sawing normally is performed with the part of the chain which moves towards the drive sprocket, this will operate in an environment of sawdust, fibers and resin.


A satellite positioning system receiver programmed to operate synchronously with an expected time of arrival of information from at least one satellite of a satellite positioning system, and to receive the information from the at least one satellite when the receiver is operating during the expected time of arrival of the information. In one embodiment, the receiver operates synchronously with an expected arrival of specific subframe information from at least one satellite of a satellite positioning system, and receives the specific subframe information when the receiver is operating.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite based location and time transfer system developed by the United States government and available free of charge to all users. Other satellite positioning systems (SPS) have also been or are being developed, including the Glonass satellite system in Russia and the Galileo system in Europe.
The location of an SPS receiver is based upon a one-way ranging between the SPS receiver and several satellites, which transmit signals having the times-of-transmission and orbital parameters for their respective time variable locations-in-space. An SPS receiver acquires satellite signals by correlating internal replica signals to carrier frequencies and distinguishable codes for each of several in-view satellites. When satellite signals have been acquired, the SPS receiver uses time and the orbital parameter information from the acquired satellites for measuring ranges to the satellites, preferably four or more satellites. These measured ranges are called pseudoranges because they include a term caused by a time error of the SPS receiver clock.
The SPS satellite pseudoranges are measured by determining phase offsets between pseudorandom (PRN) codes of the received satellite signals and the internal replica PRN codes referenced to the SPS receiver clock. Some SPS receivers measure and integrate the carrier phases of the satellite signals in order to reduce noise on the measured phase offsets. The SPS receiver then determines an SPS-based time by monitoring the SPS signals until a TOW field is decoded. The SPS-based time is used to determine the times that the phase offsets were measured. The measurement times are then used with ephemeris data received from the satellites for calculating instantaneous locations-in-space of several satellites and for linearizing location equations relating the calculated locations-in-space to the measured pseudoranges. Having four or more linearized location equations for four or more satellites, respectively, SPS receivers can resolve their 3-dimensional geographical location and correct the time error in their internal clocks.
It is known generally to use almanac and ephemeris information stored on SPS receivers to speed the acquisition of satellites. The almanac data contains coefficients to Kepler's equations of satellite motion and is useful for computing which satellites are visible at a particular time. The almanac data may also be used for computing satellite location and velocity vectors, from which satellite Doppler estimates may be computed for aiding signal acquisition. The almanac data provides low-resolution satellite position accuracy, which is typically no better than about 1 kilometer when fresh. Almanac data however contains a relatively small number of bytes, approximately 1200 bytes for 32 satellites, and almanac data is useful for 6 months to 1 year depending on whether satellites are re-positioned or new satellites have been added or removed from the constellation. In the GPS constellation, each satellite broadcasts almanac data, which is updated every few days, for all GPS satellites on a twelve and one-half minute cycle.
Ephemeris data is similar to almanac data but provides far more accurate satellite position information, which is accurate to within several meters if the ephemeris data is not more than a few hours old. The accuracy of satellite position information derived from ephemeris data degrades with time. SPS receivers typically use ephemeris data for computing precise satellite locations, which may be used for position computation when combined with SPS receiver measured pseudorange information. A GPS constellation ephemeris data set for one satellite is approximately 72 bytes of data, and thus ephemeris data for all 32 GPS satellites requires about 2304 bytes of data storage space. In the GPS constellation, each satellite broadcasts its own ephemeris data every thirty-seconds. An SPS receiver must acquire a satellite in order to obtain its ephemeris data.
In a typical GPS receiver, for example, in GPS enabled cellular communications and stand-alone navigation devices, the time to acquire new almanac data directly from a satellite requires more than twelve and a half minutes (12.5 minutes). Operating GPS receivers for the relatively long period required to obtain almanac data directly from a satellite draws substantially charge from the battery, which is undesirable in many applications including GPS enabled cellular telephones. The time required to obtain ephemeris data in this manner is comparatively small, at approximately thirty seconds (30 sec.).
It is known to provide almanac information to GPS enabled radio communications devices in an over-the-air radio message, as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,064,336 entitled "GPS Receiver Utilizing A Communication Link", among other patents and publications. In some instances, however, it is undesirable to use almanac information or to obtain it in an over-the-air message.
It is also known to provide ephemeris information to GPS enabled radio communications devices in an over-the-air radio message, as performed, for example, by the Motorola Eagle GPS receivers. In prior art FIG. 1, GPS satellite ephemeris and almanac information 10 is transmitted from a cellular communications network base-station 12 to a wireless subscriber device 14 using an over-the-air communications protocol. Wireless subscriber device 14 contains a GPS receiver 16 with an antenna, a cellular transceiver 20, and two databases, stored in memory, to store ephemeris data 22 and almanac data 24. The GPS receiver 16 can acquire both almanac and ephemeris data directly from GPS satellites via antenna 18 and store them into the almanac database 24 and ephemeris database 22. In addition, the cellular transceiver 20 can acquire fresh almanac and ephemeris data 10 from the cellular network via over-the-air messages.
Transmitting satellite almanac and ephemeris data over a communications link however requires costly network infrastructure. Additionally, relatively long data strings are required for the transmission of ephemeris and almanac data, and the management of requesting and storing the data derived from over-the-air messages is cumbersome. Other GPS receiver applications, including vehicle navigation, do not include a radio, which could be used for receiving over-the-air assistance messages. For these and other reasons, in at least some applications, it is undesirable to obtain almanac data from over-the-air assistance messages.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,437,735 entitled "Position Detection System Integrated into Mobile Terminal" discloses receiving ephemeris data at a mobile GPS receiver either directly from GPS satellites or from a wireless communications network, and transforms the ephemeris data to almanac information by scaling and masking ephemeris parameters to form corresponding almanac parameters, which are stored on the GPS receiver for positioning determination. Almanac data derived in this manner is believed have substantial errors, for example, accumulated error in the along-track direction, which will likely produce unacceptable results over very long time periods.
The various aspects, features and advantages of the disclosure will become more fully apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon careful consideration of the following Detailed Description thereof with the accompanying drawings described below.

Satellite positioning system receivers and methods


A root separator structure adapted for disposition in a container having peripheral walls to facilitate insertion of the root system of a plant into and removal from the container, to hold the plant stably in the container, and to enhance root growth in the container. The structure has a shell-like body with coplanar radial arms defining compartments in the container. The radial arms terminate in steps elevated above the plane of the arms, to contact and hold the root system of the plant in upright position. The steps have inclined faces which help guide the root system into and out of the container. The steps can be integrally joined to the peripheral walls, or the body can be separate to the removed from the container with the plant to facilitate spreading the divided root clumps.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the art of plant containers, and more particularly it concerns an improved means in a plant container for dividing the roots of a plant into clumps or clusters while growing in the container.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,830,015 entitled "ROOT SEPARATING MEANS FOR PLANT CONTAINER", I have disclosed a device for promoting plant growth by means of a root separator adapted for disposition as an insert inside a plant container having a peripheral wall. Alternatively the root separator can be molded in place in the container at the time of manufacture. The root separator has outwardly extending apertured walls terminating at the peripheral wall of the container and defining therewith a plurality of compartments into which the root system of the plant can grow to form a plurality of root clusters. The root clusters can be spread apart radially after the plant is removed from the container for transplanting.
This device has proven generally successful in practice, but several difficulties have been encountered in its usage. In the first place, it is often required to transplant into a plant container a plant which has grown elsewhere and has developed a large, compact root ball or a plant which has been grown in a deep liner pot. It is very difficult to fit such a ball into a tapered plant container, because the ball rolls around and is not stable. If the ball is forced into a tapered pot which can hold the root ball snugly, the space is insufficient for proper root growth and the roots will grow into a tight tangled mass and when planted outdoors will have what is commonly known as an interface problem. The roots also cannot be watered, nourished and aerated properly. The transplant pot must necessarily be larger than the root ball. Bare root plants cannot be placed in the pot quickly and assume a stable position. When hundreds or thousands of plants are to be transplanted as is common in the plant nursery industry, the transplanting operations becomes very time consuming, laborious and inefficient.

Root separating means for plant container


[Object] To provide a negative type photosensitive composition developable with a low concentration alkali developer and capable of forming a cured film excellent in transparency, in chemical resistance and in environmental durability; and further to provide a pattern-formation method employing the composition. [Means] The present invention provides a negative type photosensitive composition comprising: (I) an alkali-soluble resin, namely, a polymer comprising a carboxyl-containing polymerization unit and an alkoxysilyl-containing polymerization unit, (II) a polysiloxane, (III) a compound having two or more (meth)acryloyloxy groups, (IV) (i) a silicone derivative having a particular structure and/or (ii) a compound having two or more epoxy groups, (V) a polymerization initiator, and (VI) a solvent.

In the field of optical devices, such as, displays, light emitting diodes and solar cells, various proposals have been recently made for the purposes of energy conservation and of improvement in light utilization efficiency. For example, there is a known method for increasing the aperture ratio of a liquid crystal display. In that method, a transparent planarization film is formed to cover a TFT element and then pixel electrodes are formed on the planarization film (see, Patent document 1).
It is also proposed to form a structure in which a touch panel is provided on an organic EL or on a liquid crystal module. Further, a flexible display, in which a plastic substrate is adopted in place of a glass one, is now attracting attention. In production processes of those devices, coating films are formed thereon preferably at such a low temperature that constituting elements of the devices may not be thermally damaged. Also in formation processes of coating films on other organic semiconductor devices or organic solar cells, the films are required to be cured at a low temperature in view of ecological preservation. However, for example, in the field of touch panel, reliability of the panel is tested on the basis of whether or not the panel can keep working normally at a certain voltage for a certain time under conditions of high temperature and high humidity. In view of that, common acrylic polymers are known to be often unable to provide enough durability to meet the demands of customers although capable of curing at a low temperature.
Patent document 2 discloses a negative type photosensitive composition comprising: an alkali-soluble resin, such as, a cardo resin; a multifunctional acrylic monomer; and a photo radical polymerization initiator mixed with a particular silane coupling agent. Working examples described in the document show that chemical resistance thereof depends on the kind of the resin.
Polysiloxane is known to have high heat resistance, but there is a case where a coating film thereof must be cured at a temperature of, for example, 200° C. or less according to the constituting elements of the device. In order to form a coating film having strong resistance against high temperature and high humidity, the coating film generally needs to be heated at 120° C. or more so that condensation reaction of silanol groups can proceed rapidly to be completed. Patent document 3 discloses a negative type photosensitive composition curable at a low temperature, and the composition comprises polysiloxane, an acrylic polymer and a polymerization initiator. When a coating film of that composition is exposed to light, the acrylic polymer having unsaturated bonds is photo-radical polymerized to form a cured film. However, some acrylic groups often remain unreacted after the film of the composition is cured at a low temperature, and hence there is a problem in that the unreacted acrylic groups react with chemicals employed in the production process of the device. Accordingly, it has been desired to develop a composition having both curability at a low temperature and strong chemical resistance. Further, in consideration of environmental burden, the composition is also wanted to be developable with a low concentration alkali developer other than organic one.

Negative type photosensitive composition curable at low temperature


Methods and apparatus for validating design changes in an integrated circuit design without propagating the effects of individual design changes to every location in the integrated circuit design. Local sensitivity functions at design nodes are aggregated and merged at interconnecting nodes in a recursive process.

A typical integrated circuit (IC) design may be composed of millions of interdependent and interconnected design components (e.g., logic gates, switches, memory cells, buffers, inverters, amplifiers and the like). Creating and verifying a design can consume tremendous amounts of labor-hours and computational resources. Typically, an IC is designed using a computer-aided design (CAD) tool that converts a low-level design description (e.g., a register transfer level description) or high-level design description (e.g., a Hardware Description Language or Verilog description) into a computer model of the IC. The model specifies what every bit of the circuit design does on every clock cycle, and constitutes a logical modeling/verification step of the design. The physical design of the IC takes the logical model of the IC (e.g., RTL model) and a library of design cells (e.g., logic gates), and creates a chip design. This involves figuring out which gates to use, defining physical locations for them and wiring them together. Then, the design is validated by design rule checking and by simulating the performance of the design in a computer model. When problems in the design are identified, there may be a large number of possible hardware modifications to address each problem. Each hardware modification must be tested to determine if the modification fixes the problem and if the modification creates any new problems. Each time a hardware modification is tested, the modification must be modeled and the operation of the modified design must be simulated again. Even if one localized change is made, either the entire design or an entire functional area of the design must be tested to determine the global effects of any the design change. For example, many designs have critical signal timing requirements and corresponding critical signal paths. If a modification is made to one signal path of the design, even a modification to a non-critical signal path, the effect of the modification must be computed for every other signal path to determine if new critical signal paths have been created and whether they meet performance requirements.
In the past, when designs were limited to, perhaps, thousands of elements and interconnections, or even hundreds of thousands, the time and cost of multiple modifications and simulations may have been acceptable. Currently, however, the number of elements, interconnects and signals in a typical design may reach many hundreds of millions. The conventional method of implementing the entire design and then addressing design problems is now very time consuming and to some extent ineffective. For example, IC manufacturing processes are variable and conventional IC design tools make assumptions about the statistics of the variations. In an IC with 10 million signals, for example, a 0.1% error rate can translate to 10,000 design issues that need to be addressed. Addressing this number of problems is very time consuming at best, and prohibitively expensive at worst. And, as noted above, because a design change in one region of the IC can impact performance anywhere else, often the entire design must be reevaluated. Even a slight modification in which one elemental design component is added, modified, or removed, may propagate widely through the design and significantly affect the overall behavior of the design.
Given that there can be a large number of design issues in a complex IC design, that each design issue may have many possible solutions, and that each possible solution may create other design issues, the total number of design iterations may be astronomical. To address this problem, various techniques have been proposed that attempt to reduce the amount of computation required. These techniques are based on limiting and/or identifying the boundaries of the design beyond which the effects of a design modification can be disregarded. Even when such techniques are employed, however, the analysis of multiple proposed modifications on an individual basis is still time consuming, computationally extensive and costly.
For example, a timing violation might be addressed by adding or removing a buffer stage or altering a signal amplitude to shift an edge trigger point. This, of course, has a propagating effect which extends beyond the improved timing of a single stage in the timing path. As the changed delay or amplitude of the signal propagates throughout the portion of the design influenced by the modification, the modification impacts the timing at each stage, which may change the critical paths for the entire design.
Conventional methods for validating such design changes would require another round of physical design and simulation. Therefore, evaluating a range of signal strength changes or a range of potential buffer sizes to determine the optimal value required to resolve the timing violation could be prohibitively expensive.

Methods and apparatus for validating design changes without propagating the changes throughout the design


A rehabilitation system for training hand movement of a user, the system comprising: a platform to be attached to the hand of the user; a plurality of finger assemblies operatively connected to the platform, each finger assembly having: a motor, a proximal follower assembly for a metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint having a proximal rail guide operatively connected to the motor, and an intermediate follower assembly for a proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint having an intermediate rail guide operatively connected to the proximal follower assembly; wherein a knuckle joint indicator of the proximal rail guide corresponds to a first virtual center and knuckle joint indicator of the intermediate rail guide corresponds to a second virtual center, the alignment of the knuckle joint indicators to the virtual centers enable motion of the finger to be controlled and maintain rotational axes of the finger about each virtual center when the proximal and intermediate follower assemblies are actuated by the motor.

Traditional rehabilitation devices for training hand movement suffer from two problems. Firstly, the devices are not wearable and therefore do not allow the user to perform functional movement using their fingers which require rehabilitation. Secondly, users are trained with a pre-programmed training trajectory that the user has previously been trained on in a passive environment. These kinds of systems lack voluntary involvement for control of rehabilitative training.

Wearable power assistive device for helping a user to move their hand


A viscoelastic, solid-state surfactant composition for textile treatment, containing based on the total weight thereof (i) a total amount of 10% to 70% by weight of at least one surfactant, (ii) a total amount of more than 1% by weight of at least one benzylidene alditol compound of formula (I), and (iii) water, constitutes an easily soluble, aesthetically pleasing and storage-stable form of a solid-state composition for providing surfactant-containing liquors.

Textile treatment agents are usually present in solid form (as powder or tablets, for example) or in liquid form (or also as a flowing gel). Liquid detergents or cleaning agents in particular are increasingly popular with consumers.
Solid textile treatment agents have the advantage that, unlike liquid textile treatment agents, they do not require any preservatives, and the contained ingredients (e.g. bleaching agents or enzymes) can be incorporated in a more stable manner. Liquid product formats are increasingly gaining acceptance in the market, particularly due to their quick solubility and the resulting quick availability of the active ingredients they contain.
Consumers have grown accustomed to the convenient metering of pre-portioned textile treatment agents, such as washing agent pouches, and use these products in the form of tablets (solid textile treatment agents) or in the form of pouches (also: pillow-like packaging) that are usually filled with at least one liquid textile treatment agent. In addition to the above-mentioned advantages, however, the use of liquids has for example the disadvantage that the liquid textile treatment agent flows out of the pouch of the portion when there are leaks therein.
Single-use portions in water-soluble pouches are also popular with consumers because of the attractive appearance of the pouches. The appearance of the dosage form is becoming increasingly important. Besides good cleaning performance and adequate storage stability, a good appearance is one of the reasons on which the selection of a product is based. In particular transparent products are perceived by the consumer as optically appealing. Solid surfactant compositions used for textile cleaning are usually opaque. The object is therefore also that of providing translucent to transparent solid surfactant compositions.
From the perspective of consumers, it would be also desirable to combine the advantages of the solid and liquid product formats and provide a dosage form that is improved compared with the prior art, particularly for detergents or cleaning agents that are usually liquids. For this purpose, it has to be possible for the contained components to be portioned for single-use and for a visual appearance that is attractive to consumers, in particular transparency or translucency, to be achieved simultaneously.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Viscoelastic, solid-state surfactant composition having a high surfactant content


An image forming device sheet conveyance and guide mechanism 6 has a first pre-transfer guide plate 61 and a second pre-transfer guide plate 62. The first pre-transfer guide plate 61 is provided on the transfer roller side upstream of the transfer nip in a transfer sheet conveying direction, and guides a transfer sheet into the transfer nip. The second pre-transfer guide plate 62 is provided opposite to the first pre-transfer guide plate 61 and on the photoconductive drum side upstream of the transfer nip in the transfer sheet conveying direction, and guides a transfer sheet into the transfer nip. The first pre-transfer guide plate 61 is provided with contact portions 64 protruding toward the second pre-transfer guide plate 62, and the second pre-transfer guide plate 62 is provided with semiconductor members 63 in contact with the contact portions 64.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a transfer sheet conveyance and guide mechanism of an image forming device, and specifically to a transfer sheet conveyance and guide mechanism which guides a transfer sheet fed upward from a pair of paper stop rollers to a transfer nip between a photoconductive drum and a transfer roller.
2. Background Information
In an image forming device utilizing an electrophotographic system, a charging unit, an exposure unit, a developing unit, a transfer unit, a cleaning unit, and the like are arranged around a photoconductive drum as an image carrying member. A fixing device is provided downstream of the photoconductive drum in a transfer sheet conveying direction. In such an image forming device, the charging unit will first uniformly charge the surface of the photoconductive drum. Next, the exposure unit exposes the photoconductive drum based on image data to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoconductive drum. The electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing unit into a toner image, which is transferred to a transfer sheet by the transfer unit. The toner image on the transfer sheet is fixed by means of a fixing unit, and the transfer sheet on which the image is formed is discharged to a discharge unit.
One type of transfer unit in an image forming device is a transfer roller that is disposed so as to be in contact with the photoconductive drum and form a transfer nip therebetween. A transfer sheet is transported from a feeding unit to the transfer nip through a pair of paper stop rollers. At the transfer nip, a transfer bias voltage is applied to the transfer roller to transfer the toner image carried on the photoconductive drum to the transfer sheet. In order to obtain a fine image by precisely transferring the toner image held on the surface of the photoconductive drum to the transfer sheet, it will be necessary to precisely guide the transfer sheet transported from the pair of paper stop rollers to the transfer nip. Thus, a pair of pre-transfer guide plates are provided upstream of the transfer nip in a transfer sheet conveying direction in order to precisely guiding the transfer sheet transported from the pair of paper stop rollers to the transfer nip. Here, one of the pair of the pre-transfer guide plates is disposed on the transfer roller side, and the other is disposed on the photoconductive drum side, and the pre-transfer guide plate provided on the photoconductive drum side is connected to ground.
Recently, as multifunction devices having the functions of a copying machine and a printer have increased in number, there are more and more devices having a vertical transport path for upwardly transporting a transfer sheet, in which an image forming unit, a fixing unit, and so on are disposed in a vertical direction, in response to the need to miniaturize the device and speed up image formation. In a miniaturized image forming device having such a vertical transport path, a photoconductive drum and a transfer roller are designed to have smaller diameters. Accordingly, the space between the transfer roller and the pre-transfer guide plate provided on the transfer roller side, and the space between the pre-transfer guide plate provided on the transfer roller side and the pre-transfer guide plate provided on the photoconductive drum side are narrower.
Here, if an electrically conductive member is used as the material that forms the pre-transfer guide plate, when a transfer bias voltage is applied to the transfer roller in an image forming process, transfer bias current flows through the pre-transfer guide plate provided on the transfer roller side to ground. If the transfer bias current thus flows to ground, insufficient transfer potential will be applied from the transfer roller to the transfer sheet, thus generating a defective transfer. In addition, if an electrical insulator is used as the material that forms the pre-transfer guide plate in order to prevent the transfer bias current from escaping, when the transfer sheet passes by the pre-transfer guide plate, charge storage due to triboelectrification between the transfer sheet and the guide plate will occur, thus generating gray streaks on a formed image.
In the device shown in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-219042, the transfer bias current is controlled in order to prevent defective transfer and transfer void.
In this conventional device, after a transfer sheet is fed into the transfer nip, current leakage from the transfer roller to the pre-transfer guide plate via the transfer sheet will be detected, and a controller will change the transfer bias to be applied to the transfer roller based on the detection result. However, in this device, both a detection circuit for detecting the current flowing into the pre-transfer guide plate and a controller have to be provided, resulting in an increased cost of the overall device. Additionally, if the pre-transfer guide plates are chipped due to friction with a transfer sheet in the image forming process, or if paper dust from the transfer sheets is adhered to the pre-transfer guide plates, the amount of current detected by the detection circuit will varies from an initial value, making it difficult to control the current.
In view of the above, there exists a need for a transfer sheet conveyance and guide mechanism of an image forming device which overcomes the above mentioned problems in the prior art. This invention addresses this need in the prior art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.

Image forming device and transfer sheet conveyance and guide mechanism thereof


Presented herein is a direct memory access engine for providing data words in the reverse order. The data words are fetched in batches comprising a predetermined number of data words starting from the last data word and proceeding to the first data word. The batches are stored in a local buffer. The contents of the local buffer are transmitted in reverse order.

The MPEG-2 standard uses video packets comprising any number of macroblocks to confine bit errors. Frames are represented by a set of macroblocks. The macroblocks are grouped into a data structure known as a video packet. In MPEG-2, all macroblock rows start with a new video packet. During the decoding of a video packet, if an error is encountered, the video decoder can simply drop the remaining macroblocks that followed the bit error. In this manner, only a small amount of information is lost as a result of the bit error.
MPEG-4 Part 2 also uses video packets to confine bit errors. The video data is transmitted as a video elementary stream. The portions of the video elementary stream that are at the video packet level and lower are encoded with a variable length code. In MPEG-4 Part 2, the video packet is defined such that the video packet can be decoded in a forward order, or the reverse order. Accordingly, after encountering an error, the video decoder can go to the end of the video packet, and start decoding in the reverse order, until the same error, or another error is encountered. In this manner, a greater portion of the video packet is recovered and reconstructed, in spite of encountering error(s).
To take advantage of the foregoing feature, the video decoder needs to be able to receive and decode the video bitstream in reverse order in real-time. During the decoding, the video elementary stream is stored in a memory known as the compressed data buffer in the forward order, along with a table that indicates the starting addresses of each video packet. The video decoder receives and decodes the video elementary stream by accessing the compressed data buffer. Upon encountering an error, the video decoder can receive the video packet at the ending address of the video packet and moving in the reverse order.
Receiving the video packet in reverse order can be made possible by manipulating the memory access. For example, the video decoder can sequentially access data words in reverse order. After accessing each data word, the video decoder can use logic to reverse the bit order of the data word. However, the foregoing adds significant operations to the video decoder and makes accessing and decoding in the reverse order difficult to perform in real-time.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional systems will become apparent to one of skill in the art through comparison of such systems with the invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

DMA engine for fetching words in reverse order


The invention provides a solder structure which is least likely to develop Sn whiskers and a method for forming such a solder structure. The solder structure includes an Sn alloy capable of a solid-liquid coexistent state and an Au (or Au alloy) coating covering at least part of the surface of the Sn alloy. The Au covering is a film that covers and coats at least part of the surface of the Sn alloy. As a preferable mode, the Au coating forms a netlike structure on the surface of the Sn alloy. The thickness of the Au coating is, for instance, 1 to 5 μm.

Conventionally, solder alloys containing tin (Sn) have been in use as a brazing filler metal. The brazing filler metal joins electronic components or semiconductor devices to the wiring on a substrate. Or the brazing filler connects semiconductor modules, which package semiconductor devices, to a mounting board. In connecting a semiconductor module to the mounting board, a so-called high-temperature solder (high-melting-point solder), which has a melting temperature higher than that of the brazing filler metal for connecting the semiconductor module to the mounting board, is used. This high-temperature solder is used so that electronic components or semiconductor devices within the semiconductor module may not fall off as a result of the melting of the brazing filler metal used in brazing them.
Also, from the viewpoint of reducing the impacts on the environment or the human body, there has been a tendency to avoid the use of SnPb alloys and promote the development of Pb-free Sn alloy solders which do not contain lead (Pb).    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-138334.

Solder structure, method for forming the solder structure, and semiconductor module including the solder structure


A method for inspecting a pattern includes measuring, in a first direction, a width of a reference pattern at plural positions in the reference patter; measuring, in a second direction, a width of the reference pattern at the plural positions. Comparing the first and second width and determining which of the first and second widths is shortest; extracting a defect in a pattern to be inspected; and evaluating the extracted defect depending on the determined direction.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method for inspecting a pattern and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor chip having a circuit pattern.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a way to miniaturize an information technology device, a package in which a chip such as a semiconductor chip is directly mounted on a substrate, becomes popular. In this package, a dust on a pattern of the chip can cause a contact failure or poor characteristics. As a result, it is necessary to inspect the pattern to determine whether there is a significant defect in the chip before mounting it on the substrate.
A method of inspecting a pattern is shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-84379, where a pattern to be inspected is compared with a reference pattern obtained by imaging a non-defective pattern. Then, the differences between these patterns are acquired. An area where the difference is large is extracted as a defect region. Next, the size of the defect region is compared with a threshold value which is set in advance.
The threshold value differs according to a position in the pattern, because the density of the fine circuit pattern on the chip usually differs according to a position in the pattern. In other words, the complexity of the shape of the pattern causes a variation of the density and a necessity of fine segmentation of the pattern.
As a result, it is necessary to set a large number of threshold values according to positions in the pattern. Such setting takes a long time, resulting in lowering a working efficiency.

Method for inspecting a pattern and method for manufacturing a semiconductor chip having a circuit pattern


An extensibility framework that allows a user to write user-defined modules that include user-defined operators (UDO) and user-defined aggregators (UDA) in a non-temporal fashion without the need to worry about temporal attributes of events (or event types). The temporal domain is managed on behalf of the user, and allows the user to write operators and aggregates in the temporal data streaming domain as well as to port existing libraries of non-temporal UDOs/UDAs to the temporal data streaming domain. Temporal attributes and event types are managed for non-temporal UDOs/UDAs by the extensibility framework on behalf of the UDO/UDA writer. Windows can be employed to bridge the gap between the non-temporal domains and temporal domains. Support for complex event processing (CEP) is provided in UDOs/UDAs for base classes related to a CEP operator, CEP aggregate, CEP time sensitive operator, and CEP time sensitive aggregate.

Traditional database systems have been in existence for some time and are employed to serve the needs of many different information uses. Such database systems are typically referred to as persistent systems where data is stored and later accessed for processing, analysis, mining, etc. However, such traditional persistent systems do not support a new class of continuous time-varying data as in stream-based data systems. Stream-based data systems can be found in applications where data is continuously received asynchronously such as in web applications (website visits), financial institutions, sensor systems, and telecommunications environments (e.g., call records), for example. While users have become adept at programming for persistent data systems, the learning curve is more difficult for stream-based systems.

Extensibility model for stream-based operators and aggregates


Systems and methods described herein provides a method for dynamically allocating an iteration number for a decoder. The method includes receiving, at an input buffer, an input signal including at least one data packet. The method further includes calculating a first iteration number for decoding the at least one data packet. The method further includes monitoring at least one of available space of the input buffer and available decoding time for the at least one data packet. The method further includes dynamically adjusting the first iteration number to a second iteration number based on the available space or the available decoding time to continue decoding the at least one data packet.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the inventors hereof, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted to be prior art against the present disclosure.
Low-density parity-check (LDPC) code can be used to encode data packets in wireless transmission. At a wireless receiver, when a wireless signal is received, the received signal can be decoded via a maximum likelihood decoding scheme implemented via an iterative decoding process. The more iterations the LDPC decoder employs, the better the decoding performance may be. However, the available decoding time for a codeword (CW) or a data packet is limited. For example, for a normal guard interval (GI) under the 802.11 standard, the decoding time for each symbol is 4 μs. For a short GI, the decoding time for each symbol is 3.6 μs. Thus, a tradeoff can exist between the decoding time and the decoding performance.
In the current systems, the iteration number of a LDPC decoder is determined using an average number based on empirical data. For example, an average number of iterations for a noisy CW received in the wireless signal is 5 iterations. Different signal quality may lead to different decoding performance. For a low-noise corrupted CW, a small number of decoding iterations can achieve successful decoding results; for a noisy CW, more iterations may be needed. Thus, using the same number of iterations for all received CWs can be inefficient for low-noise corrupted CWs, and inaccurate for high-noise corrupted CWs.

Systems and methods for dynamic iteration control in a low-density parity-check (LDPC) decoder


Various embodiments illustrated and described herein include one or more of systems, methods, and software providing for configurable metrics and metric visualizations with regard to company data. Such embodiments provide flexibility to users in defining metrics, such as Key Performance Indicators (KPI), and dashboard views. One such embodiment includes receiving a dashboard view request from a requestor. A dashboard configuration may then be retrieve from a database. The dashboard configuration typically includes various data elements that define either directly or by reference to other data and graphical elements from which a dashboard visualization can be rendered. The various data elements and graphical elements generally are user configurable and standardized to be interchangeable in defining and generating dashboard visualization based on underlying operational data of an organization.

In times of increasing competitive constraints and globalization, product life cycles and time for decisions become shorter for many companies. Furthermore, wrong management-decisions and late identified market-trends may have fatal consequences in rapidly evolving markets. For these reasons, management often monitors company, department, and market performance through metrics, to take appropriate real-time measures. Such measures are often provided in so-called dashboards, which may include graphical representations of business performance. Measures displayed in dashboards may include metrics, such as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Metrics presented in dashboards typically are hard-coded interfaces specific to one or more metrics. To change, add, or remove metrics from a dashboard, each specific interface affected needs to be modified. Further, backend connections to data from which the metrics are generated may also need to be added to or changed. Such dashboards therefore are not nimble and fail to meet evolving market and business environment needs.

Configurable metrics and metric visualization


The invention concerns copper azide containing carbon nanotubes. The invention also concerns methods of producing such nanotubes by placing CuO nanoparticles within carbon nanotubes to produce CuO-containing carbon nanotubes, contacting CuO-containing carbon nanotubes with hydrogen to produce reduced nanotubes; and contacting the reduced nanotubes with hydrazoic acid to produce copper azide containing carbon nanotubes.

The currently used primary explosives, such as lead azide and lead styphnate, present serious health hazards due to the toxicity of lead. There is a need to replace them with equally energetic but safer-to-handle and more environmentally friendly materials. Copper azide is more environmentally acceptable, but very sensitive and detonates easily from electrostatic charges during handling.

Carbon nanotubes containing confined copper azide

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


Apparatuses, devices, and methods of initializing an electronic device such as a wrist-worn device are provided. An optical input device may read the display of the wrist-worn device to obtain input corresponding to a pairing token presented at the display. An optical input processor may process the input to identify the pairing token. The pairing token may be provided to the wrist-worn device during a handshake process in order to establish a wireless communications session with the wrist-worn device. An initialization process may be performed via the wireless communication session. The initialization process may initialize the wrist-worn device such that a user may operate the wrist-worn device following the initialization process.

In order to ensure the best possible performance and user experience, manufacturers may periodically provide updates to the software or firmware of electronic devices. In some situations, a manufacturer may issue a software or firmware update after the electronic device is shipped to a retailer but before a customer purchases the electronic device. As a result, it can be advantageous for a customer to check for any available software or firmware updates before using the electronic device. This process may involve attaching the electronic device to a computing device such as a desktop computer and accessing a remote system to determine whether any software or firmware updates are available.
In other situations, a user may prefer to being using the device as soon as possible after purchase. The user may therefore hope to avoid potentially time-consuming updates. In these situations, however, a minimum amount of configuration settings and preferences may need to be applied before the device is functional for a first-time use. Providing such setting or preferences at the device may also involve attaching the device to a computing device in order to perform an initial configuration of the device.
These initial steps may delay the time between purchase of the device and when the device is ready for use. Having to wait for the device to be functional may diminish the user experience. Therefore, a need exists for improved approaches to initializing electronic devices.

Wireless initialization of electronic devices for first time use


In a method for automatically connecting a mobile device to a server, an update command is periodically sent to a first server wirelessly connected to the mobile device after the mobile device enters a sleep mode. The update command requires a network status of the first server. The mobile device is waken when the network status is not acquired within a predetermined time period. Alternate servers are searched for to generate a list of server names. A target server is selected from the list, and a connection command is sent to the target server for establishing a connection between the mobile device and the target server. Network setting information is acquired from the target server. The connection between the mobile device and the target server is established according to the network setting information.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the field of wireless communications, and more particularly, to a mobile device, a storage medium, and a method for automatically connecting the mobile device to a server.
2. Description of Related Art
Sleep mode refers to a low power mode for mobile devices (e.g. mobile phones). When a mobile device enters the sleep mode, all unnecessary hardware and firmware of the mobile device are turned off to save power. Usually, the mobile device in the sleep mode maintains a connection with a server in order to receive requests from the server, such as phone call requests and short message service requests. However, if the mobile device in the sleep mode disconnects from the server, a user of the mobile device has to wake the mobile device manually and reconnect the mobile device to the server. It is inconvenient for the user to be always renewing a connection between the mobile device and the server.

Mobile device, storage medium, and method for automatically connecting the mobile device to server


Disclosed are various embodiments for non-mechanical assistance for autonomous vehicles. An unknown environmental condition may be detected that affects a navigation of the autonomous vehicle. A passenger and/or other source may be presented an inquiry requesting identification of the unknown environmental condition. A response to the inquiry may be used as an input by the vehicle control system in determining appropriate navigation of the autonomous vehicle.

Vehicles navigate along a route to get from one destination to another. At times a planned route may be affected by an object in the road, road construction, a pedestrian, another vehicle, and/or other type of condition. For example, if an object is in the road, the vehicle may navigate around the object to avoid contact.

Environmental condition identification assistance for autonomous vehicles


An endotracheal tube holder includes a faceplate configured to be positioned against a patient's face and adjacent the patient's mouth. The faceplate includes an elongated guide track in a guide track portion which is configured to be positioned beneath the patient's mouth. The endotracheal tube holder also includes an endotracheal tube platform attached to the guide track portion of the faceplate and configured to carry an endotracheal tube thereon. A slide is provided for moving the endotracheal tube platform along the guide track. In addition, a lock is included for locking the endotracheal tube platform to one of a plurality of locations along the guide track.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to endotracheal tube holders which hold an endotracheal tube in a patient's mouth during mechanical ventilation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A patient may require an endotracheal tube to assist with the patient's breathing. An elongated tube is passed through a patient's mouth and into the trachea, and an inflatable exterior cuff on the tube is used to seal the trachea about the tube. The external end of the endotracheal tube is connected to a ventilation system in a known manner.
It is important to physically secure the endotracheal tube to the patient to keep the tube from being accidentally removed, crimped or the like. Adhesive tape has been used to secure the tube, but the tape is uncomfortable for a patient and has a tendency to traumatize a patient's skin. A number of endotracheal tube holding devices have been proposed in the art. A complicated structure has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,358, and sold by Respironics Inc. as the "SecureEasy.RTM." endotracheal tube holder. While this device does adequately hold an endotracheal tube in place, its complicated headgear/strap arrangement makes it inconvenient for use by nursing personnel. Other endotracheal tube holders are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,760,811; 3,774,616; 3,976,080; 3,946,742; 3,993,081; 4,249,529; 4,326,515; 4,344,428; 4,351,331; 4,378,012; 4,437,463; 4,449,527; 4,520,813; 4,537,192; 4,548,200; 4,622,034 and 5,009,227. Other medical tube holding devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,987,798; 4,282,871; 4,571,245; 4,660,555; 4,739,757 and 4,774,946.
The devices shown in the above-identified patents have a common characteristic in that the endotracheal tube is held in one position and cannot be readily moved. When the tube is held in a fixed position beyond a certain period of time, damage to a patient's mouth and/or lip tissue occurs. This is a particular problem with critical care and other patients who require the use of an endotracheal tube over an extended treatment period.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an endotracheal tube holder which permits the tube to be moved to different positions with respect to a patient's mouth and/or lips.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,671 describes an endotracheal tube holder which permits a limited degree of motion of the tube. However, this device requires considerable force to move the tube holder, offers little degree of movement, and includes a faceplate which completely covers and contacts a patient's lips. Thus, tissue damage to the patient's lips is not avoided. Moreover, access to the patient's mouth is not possible without completely removing the tube holder.
It is, therefore, a further object of the present invention to provide an endotracheal tube holder which permits considerable movement of the tube holder, and avoids mouth and lip tissue damage, yet leaves a patient's mouth and lips substantially uncovered and accessible. It is an object of the present invention to provide an endotracheal tube holder which is easy to install and use, is comfortable to the patient, and permits easy movement of the tube between a large number of different positions without disturbing the patient to any significant degree.


A frequency of somatic mutations in a biological sample (e.g., plasma or serum) of a subject undergoing screening or monitoring for cancer, can be compared with that in the constitutional DNA of the same subject. A parameter can derived from these frequencies and used to determine a classification of a level of cancer. False positives can be filtered out by requiring any variant locus to have at least a specified number of variant sequence reads (tags), thereby providing a more accurate parameter. The relative frequencies for different variant loci can be analyzed to determine a level of heterogeneity of tumors in a patient.

It has been shown that tumor-derived DNA is present in the cell-free plasma/serum of cancer patients (Chen X Q et al. Nat Med 1996; 2: 1033-1035). Most current methods are based on the direct analysis of mutations known to be associated with cancer (Diehl F et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci 2005; 102: 16368-16373; Forshew T et al. Sci Transl Med 2012; 4: 136ra68). Another method has investigated cancer-associated copy number variations detected by random sequencing of plasma DNA (U.S. Patent Publication 2013/0040824 by Lo et al.).
It is known that with time, more than one cancer cell would acquire growth advantage and produce multiple clones of daughter cells. Ultimately, the tumorous growth and/or its metastatic foci would contain a conglomerate of groups of clonal cancer cells. This phenomenon is typically referred as tumor heterogeneity (Gerlinger M et al. N Engl J Med 2012; 366: 883-892; Yap T A et al. Sci Transl Med 2012; 4: 127ps10).
Cancers are known to be highly heterogeneous, i.e. mutation profile of cancers of the same tissue type can vary widely. Therefore, the direct analysis of specific mutations can typically detect only a subset of the cases within a particular cancer type known to be associated with those specific mutations. Additionally, tumor-derived DNA is usually the minor species of DNA in human plasma; the absolute concentration of DNA in plasma is low. Therefore, the direct detection of one or a small group of cancer-associated mutations in plasma or serum may achieve low analytical sensitivity even among patients with cancers known to be harboring the targeted mutations. Furthermore, it has been shown that there is significant intratumoral heterogeneity in terms of mutations even within a single tumor. The mutations can be found in only a subpopulation of the tumor cells. The difference in the mutational profiles between the primary tumor and the metastatic lesions is even bigger. One example of intratumoral and primary-metastasis heterogeneity involves the KRAS, BRAF and PIK3CA genes in patients suffering from colorectal cancers (Baldus et al. Clin Cancer Research 2010. 16:790-9).
In a scenario in which a patient has a primary tumor (carrying a KRAS mutation but not a PIK3CA mutation) and a concealed metastatic lesion (carrying a PIK3CA mutation but not a KRAS mutation), if one focused on the detection of the KRAS mutation in the primary tumor, the concealed metastatic lesion cannot be detected. However, if one included both mutations in the analysis, both the primary tumor and the concealed metastatic lesion can be detected. Hence, the test involving both mutations would have a higher sensitivity in the detection of residual tumor tissues. Such a simple example becomes more complex when one is screening for cancer, and as one has little or no clue of the types of mutations that might occur.
It is therefore desirable to provide new techniques to perform a broad screening, detection, or assessment for cancer

Method of measuring a fractional concentration of tumor DNA


Systems, methods, and computer media for estimating user eye gaze are provided. A plurality of images of a user's eye are acquired. At least one image of at least part of the user's field of view is acquired. At least one gaze target area in the user's field of view is determined based on the plurality of images of the user's eye. An enhanced user eye gaze is then estimated by narrowing a database of eye information and corresponding known gaze lines to a subset of the eye information having gaze lines corresponding to a gaze target area. User eye information derived from the images of the user's eye is then compared with the narrowed subset of the eye information, and an enhanced estimated user eye gaze is identified as the known gaze line of a matching eye image.

Wearable computing devices, also known as user-mounted devices or head-mounted devices or head-mounted displays (HMDs), have begun to increase in popularity in recent years. HMDs are commonly integrated into gaming systems but may be used in a variety of other contexts. HMDs typically include outward-facing sensors that gather data about the user's environment as well as inward-facing sensors that track the user's eye movements. Current eye tracking technology, however, is generally limited to simply recording the eye's movements. A more robust eye tracking system is needed.


According to one embodiment, a semiconductor light emitting element includes a stacked body, a first and second electrode, a support substrate, a protective film and a dielectric film. The stacked body includes a first semiconductor, a second semiconductor layer and a light emitting portion. The first electrode is provided on a first major surface of the stacked body. The second electrode is provided on a second major surface of the stacked body. The support substrate is provided on the second major surface via a bonding metal. The protective film is provided on at least a side surface of the stacked body except the second major surface. The dielectric film is provided between the bonding metal and a region of the second major surface not provided with the second electrode, and between the bonding metal and a surface of the protective film on the second major surface side.

In a recent technique used for manufacturing semiconductor light emitting elements such as LED (light emitting diode), a stacked body including a light emitting portion is formed on a sapphire or other growth substrate. This manufacturing method is performed in the following procedure. On a substrate made of e.g. sapphire, a stacked body including a light emitting portion is grown. Next, a conductive substrate is bonded to a major surface of the stacked body on the opposite side from this growth substrate. Subsequently, the growth substrate is removed from the stacked body. Then, an electrode is formed on the surface of the stacked body exposed by the removal of the growth substrate. Another electrode is formed on the conductive substrate.
With regard to the above process, a laser lift-off method has been proposed as a method for removing the growth substrate from the stacked body. However, after removing the growth substrate, in the etching step for dividing the stacked body, the bonding metal for bonding the conductive substrate to the stacked body is exposed. This bonding metal, if scattered by partial peeling or overetching, may cause leak current.

Semiconductor light emitting element and method for manufacturing same


A flicker band automated detection system and method are presented. In one embodiment an incidental motion mitigation exposure setting method includes receiving image input information; performing a motion mitigating flicker band automatic detection process; and implementing exposure settings based upon results of the motion mitigating flicker band automatic detection process. The auto flicker band detection process includes performing a motion mitigating process on an illumination intensity indication. Content impacts on an the motion mitigated illumination intensity indication are minimized. The motion mitigated illumination intensity indication is binarized. A correlation of the motion mitigated illumination intensity and a reference illumination intensity frequency is established.

Electronic systems and circuits have made a significant contribution towards the advancement of modern society and are utilized in a number of applications to achieve advantageous results. Numerous electronic technologies such as digital computers, calculators, audio devices, video equipment, and telephone systems have facilitated increased productivity and reduced costs in analyzing and communicating data, ideas and trends in most areas of business, science, education and entertainment. For example, digital cameras have had a significant impact on the field of photography and usually offer a number of features that enhance image quality. Nevertheless, there are several phenomena such as flicker or running bands in an image frame that can adversely impact results. Setting a rolling shutter time to a multiple of a corresponding illumination variation (e.g., 1/100 seconds or 1/120 seconds) often mitigates adverse impacts associated with the flicker bands. However, determining the illumination variance frequency is usually very difficult and often susceptible to a number of inaccuracies.
A rolling shutter approach is often utilized by a variety of devices (e.g., a CMOS imagers) to control the optical integration time. Rolling shutter approaches typically enable an equal optical integration time to be achieved for pixels in an image frame however this optical integration does not typically happen for all pixels simultaneously. The actual interval used for integration is usually dependent on the vertical position of the pixel in an image frame. Rolling shutter approaches typically utilize at least two pointers, a reset pointer and a read pointer, to define shutter width. Shutter width is the number of lines ("distance") between the two pointers. These pointers continuously move through the pixel array image frame from top to bottom, jumping from line to line at timed intervals. The reset pointer typically starts the integration for pixels in a line, and subsequently, the read pointer reaches the same line and initiates signal readout. Shutter width multiplied by the line time gives the duration of the optical integration time. If the illumination intensity of the light source does not remain constant over time, rolling shutter methods of integration time control can lead to the possibility of flicker or "running bands" in the image frame.
Flicker band issues are typically caused by scene illumination sources with varying light intensity. For example, illumination intensity usually fluctuates in light sources driven by alternating current (AC) supply power. The light intensity of AC powered light sources (e.g., fluorescent lamps) usually is enveloped by a 100 Hz or 120 Hz wave if the power source is operating at 50 Hz or 60 Hz correspondingly. If the video rate is 15 frames per second, there could be six (50 Hz power) or eight (60 Hz power) flicker dark bands overlying the preview image.
Determining the illumination variance frequency is traditionally resource intensive and difficult. A straightforward frequency transform (e.g., FFT) of the image frame consumes significant amounts of computation resources and the results can be relatively easily corrupted by the image content. Some traditional attempts at detecting mismatches between the frequency of an illumination source and the duration of optical integration time for an imager with rolling shutter involve detecting a sine image fluctuation in the difference of the two consecutive image frames. However, these approaches are often limited by averages from a single line or row of an image. In addition, a slight vertical shift in the camera such as the shaking hand of a photographer, could greatly deteriorate the results. Relatively low confidence levels associated with these traditional approaches are exacerbated by the utilization of zero crossing point estimation of flicker wave periods.

Flicker band automated detection system and method


A method for transmission network control, the transmission network being configured for use in providing electricity from a generator to an end user, the method including receiving a sensitivity parameter, identifying a switchable set of switches within the transmission network using the sensitivity parameter, determining a candidate switch from the switchable set to change a corresponding state, wherein the state can be changed from open to closed and closed to open, determining a proposed change of state of the candidate switch, updating an optimal power flow (OPF) problem as a function of the candidate switch and the proposed change of state, determining and storing in a memory a solution to the updated OPF problem, generating an updated sensitivity parameter based on the stored solution to the updated OPF problem, and determining, using the updated sensitivity parameter, if the stored solution to the updated OPF problem meets a predetermined criterion.

Typically, power generation plants provide electricity to end-users via an electrical distribution network. Power generated by a power plant is provided to a transmission network, which provides electricity to a distribution network, which provides electricity to end-users. Different companies may own different parts of an electrical distribution network, and different portions of electrical network may have different costs associated it. For example, the cost to generate electricity at one power generation plant can vary when compared with the next. Also, the cost to transmit a given amount of electricity over one portion of the transmission network can differ from the cost to transmit the same amount of electricity over a different portion of the transmission network.
One method to control the generation and distribution of electricity is called economic dispatch. Economic dispatch typically involves the short-term determination of the optimal output of a number of electricity generation facilities, to meet the system load, at the lowest possible cost, while providing power in a robust and reliable manner. Economic dispatch systems typically use specialized computer software that is configured to honor operational and system constraints of the available resources and corresponding transmission capabilities.


In a magnetic ink character recognition system provided in a magnetic ink character reader, the system includes; a read unit for detecting magnetic flux generated from each magnetic ink character separately printed in every field in a check or bill, and outputting a digital signal read therefrom; a storage unit operatively connected to the read unit for storing the digital signals output from the read unit; a field sort unit operatively connected to the storage unit for receiving the digital signals from the storage unit in every field and sorting the digital read signals for each field; a decision unit operatively connected to the field sort unit for receiving the digital read signal sorted by the field sort unit, judging the thickness of the magnetic ink character in every field, and determining a representative thickness value in every field; a correction unit operatively connected to the storage unit and the decision unit for receiving the digital signals from the storage unit and correcting the digital signals based on decision data output from the decision unit for every field; and a recognition unit operatively connected to the correction unit for determining whether or not the corrected signals are readable.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic ink character recognition system provided in a magnetic ink character reader.
2. Description of the Related Art
Magnetic ink character readers (below, MICR) are mainly utilized in banks for reading and sorting checks or bills on which magnetic ink characters are printed. A magnetic ink character is a character printed using ink which includes a magnetic powder material.
As is well known, a check or bill returns to the bank after passing through various circulation routes. Accordingly, it is usually damaged in the circulation route. Therefore, it is necessary to print the characters on the check or bill using magnetic ink to ensure reliable reading of the character.
In general, there are two types of magnetic ink characters, i.e., E13B and CMC 7, which are standardized by the International Standard Organization (ISO). The former is currently used throughout the world, particularly in Japan and the U.S., and comprises ten numerals (0 to 9) and four symbols, as explained hereinafter.

Magnetic ink character recognition system


Disclosed are foldable swimming goggles. The swimming goggles include a left frame body and a right frame body, wherein the left frame body is provided with a supporting block and a limiting block, the supporting block is internally provided with an accommodating groove, a pressing shaft is clamped in the accommodating groove, the lower portion of the pressing shaft is fixedly provided with a positioning rotary wheel, and the right frame body is provided with a steering block. Firm connection of the product is completed through the pressing shaft and the positioning rotary wheel. When the swimming goggles need to be folded, the pressing shaft is pressed to separate the positioning rotary wheel from the steering block, so that the right frame body rotates to make the product folded.

The invention relates to a swimming goggles assembly, in particular to foldable swimming goggles.
With the development of society, people's life has been greatly improved. More and more people pay attention to outdoor sports, and especially underwater sports are favored by people. Swimming goggles are equipment used in underwater sports. As the goggle frame of common swimming goggles is one-piece and cannot be folded, the common swimming goggles occupy a large space during packaging and transportation, the transportation cost of the product is affected, and thus the sales prices of the swimming goggles rise, which is not conducive to effective application and popularization of the product.


There is provided a coaxial cable connector for coupling an end of a coaxial cable to an outer diameter of a threaded interface port. The coaxial cable connector includes a connector body, a tubular inner post, and a sleeve member. The connector body has a first end, an opposing second end, and a bore therethrough. The inner post is disposed within the bore of the connector body, and includes a first end and a second end. The first end is adapted to engage the connector body so as to prevent relative axial movement with the connector body. The second end of the inner post is adapted to be inserted into the end of the coaxial cable. Either the first end of the connector body or the first end of the inner post includes a basket portion adapted to engage the threaded interface port. The basket portion includes an outer diameter, an inner diameter that is less than the outer diameter of the threaded interface port, and a relief element. The relief element is adapted to radially expand the outer diameter of the basket portion upon engaging the interface port. The sleeve member is disposed in overlaying relation to the basket portion, and includes an inner diameter that is less than the expanded outer diameter of the basket portion. The sleeve member is axially movable in relation to the basket portion from a first position to a second position to radially compress the basket portion.

There are several known coaxial cable connectors presently used for CATV and related applications in which the connector is attached to a remote interface port, such as an RCA or RF port, typically found on a device such as a television, computer, or the like.
In attempting to sidestep problems associated with threaded F-type connectors being left loose, many attempts have been made to provide a push-on connector. Though the majority of these efforts provide a connector having adequate shielding and grounding, most are easily disengaged from the RF port. Some push-on connectors have provisions to either secure or latch the connector in place, but the majority of these connectors depend upon a particular port size in order to easily latch, wherein the connector maintains sufficient interference with the port to stay bound therewith. Unfortunately, ports are provided in a wide variety of finish qualities and vary significantly in the major diameter over the threaded portions thereof. There is a need to provide a latching push-on connector that can adequately latch on small ports without being too difficult to actuate on larger ports.


The disclosed computer-implemented method for recovery of computing environments via a replication solution may include (1) dynamically maintaining a replica of data associated with a protected computing device via a data replication device, (2) obtaining, from a preboot execution environment (PXE) server, a PXE that includes a bootable replication environment for the protected computing device, (3) directing the protected computing device to boot using the bootable replication environment, (4) exposing at least one data storage device associated with the protected computing device to the data replication device via a secure data connection, and (5) replicating the replica of data associated with the protected computing device to the data storage device associated with the protected computing device via the bootable replication environment and the secure data connection. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Organizations increasingly rely on physical and virtual machines to store and/or process digital assets. To protect against data loss and/or to minimize downtime, an organization may use a replication solution (e.g., a replication platform) to replicate digital assets to a local data store, a remote data store, and/or a cloud-based data store. In the event of data loss, such as a natural disaster, the replication solution may then recover the replicated assets, migrate the replicated assets to another machine or site, resynchronize the replicated assets back to a machine at the original site, and so forth.
However, recovery of some physical or virtual computing environments via conventional replication solutions may present various challenges. For example, recovery of a physical machine via a conventional replication solution may require various attach and/or detach operations with respect to one or more physical disks. Such attach and/or detach operations may be difficult to automate, and traditional automation solutions may depend on proprietary solutions that may not be cost effective or may involve a vendor lock-in. Likewise, recovery of a virtual machine via a conventional replication solution may present similar challenges, as performing attach and/or detach operations with respect to a virtual disk may require access to an underlying hypervisor of the virtual computing device. Such access may be difficult or impossible to obtain, particularly in the context of virtual machine instances that may be managed by third party providers.
Hence, the instant application identifies and addresses a need for additional systems and methods for recovery of computing environments via a replication solution.

Systems and methods for recovery of computing environments via a replication solution