A method for generating a velocity-indicating, tomographic image of a sample in an optical coherence tomography system includes the steps of (a) acquiring cross-correlation data from the interferometer; (b) generating a grayscale image from the cross-correlation data indicative of a depth-dependent positions of scatterers in the sample; (c) processing the cross-correlation data to produce a velocity value and location of a moving scatterer in the sample; (d) assigning a color to the velocity value; and (f) merging the color into the grayscale image, at a point in the grayscale image indicative of the moving scatterer""s location, to produce a velocity-indicating, tomographic image. Preferably a first color is assigned for a positive velocity value and a second color is assigned for a negative velocity value.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a technology that allows for non-invasive, cross-sectional optical imaging of biological media with hi high sensitivity. OCT is an extension of low-coherence or white-light interferometry, in which a low temporal coherence light source is utilized to obtain precise localization of reflections internal to a probed structure along an optic axis. In OCT, this technique is extended to enable scanning of the probe beam in the direction perpendicular to the optic axis, building up a two-dimensional reflectivity data set, used to create a cross-sectional gray-scale or false-color image of internal tissue backscatter.
OCT has been applied to imaging of biological tissue in vitro and in vivo, although the primary applications of OCT developed to date have been for high resolution imaging of transparent tissues, such as ocular tissues. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/040,128, filed Mar. 17, 1998, provides a system and method for substantially increasing the resolution of OCT and also for increasing the information content of OCT images through coherent signal processing of the OCT interferogram data. This system is capable of providing cellular resolution (i.e., in the order of 5 micrometers). Accordingly, OCT can be adapted for high fidelity diagnosis of pre-cancerous lesions, cancer, and other diseases of the skin, bladder, lung, GI tract and reproductive tract using non-invasive medical diagnostics.
In such diagnostic procedures utilizing OCT, it would also be desirable to monitor the flow of blood and/or other fluids, for example, to detect peripheral blood perfusion, to measure patency in small vessels, and to evaluate tissue necrosis. Another significant application would be in retinal perfusion analysis. Monitoring blood-flow in the retina and choroid may have significant applications in diagnosis and monitoring macular degeneration and other retinal diseases. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to combine Doppler flow monitoring with the above micron-scale resolution OCT imaging in tissue.
Wang, et al., xe2x80x9cCharacterization of Fluid Flow Velocity by Optical Doppler Tomography,xe2x80x9d Optics Letters, Vol. 20, No. 11, Jun. 1, 1995, describes an Optical Doppler Tomography system and method which uses optical low coherence reflectrometry in combination with the Doppler effect to measure axial profiles of fluid flow velocity in a sample. A disadvantage of the Wang system is that it does not provide a method to determine direction of flow within the sample and also does not provide a method for generating a two-dimensional color image of the sample indicating the flow velocity and directions within the image.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,114 to Petersen, et al. also provides an optical coherence tomography system capable of measuring the Doppler shift of backscattered light from flowing fluid within a sample. However, similar to Wang, et al., Petersen, et al. does not disclose a system or method for displaying the direction of flow within the sample, nor does Petersen, et al. disclose a system or method for providing a two-dimensional color image of the sample which indicates the velocity and directions of flow of fluids within the sample.
The present invention involves an advancement in OCT technology that provides for quantitative measurements of flow in scattering media by implementing systems for increased interferogram acquisition accuracy, coherent signal processing and display. The present invention provides a combination of micron-scale resolution tomographic optical imaging of a tissue sample simultaneously with Doppler flow monitoring of blood and other body fluids within the sample volume.
The present invention utilizes an OCT data acquisition system to obtain precise localization of reflections internal to the sample along the optic axis. Scanning the OCT probe beam in a direction perpendicular to the optic axis builds up a two-dimensional data set comprising a gray-scale cross-sectional image of internal tissue backscatter. The data acquisition system may also utilize a calibration interferometer for providing sub-100 nm accuracy calibration of the reference arm position during interferogram acquisition. In combination with the production of the cross-sectional gray-scale image internal tissue backscatter, the present invention also provides a two-dimensional color data image representing the Doppler flow velocity and directions of moving scatterers within the sample. The method for generating the two-dimensional, color, Doppler image is generally as follows:
For each axial reference arm scan (xe2x80x9cA-scanxe2x80x9d), interferometric data is acquired. This interferometric data corresponds to a cross-correlation measurement of the light returning from the reference arm and the light backscattered from the volume of potentially moving scatterers illuminated by the sample arm probe beam. The acquired interferometric data is first band-pass filtered for noise reduction. Next, the filtered data is coherently demodulated at a frequency corresponding to the Doppler shift induced by the reference mirror of the interferometer to produce an array of in-phase data values vs. time and an array of quadrature data values vs. time. As those of ordinary skill in the art will realize, the time element in these arrays is directly proportional to the reference arm length, and in turn, is directly proportional to the scanning depth into the sample.
Next, a starting time and a time window is selected. The selected starting time corresponds to a starting depth and the selected time window corresponds to a depth-range that is preferably longer than or equal to the coherence length of the light source of the low-coherence interferometer. At the selected starting time, the values of the in-phase array and the quadrature array corresponding to the selected time window are extracted from the in-phase and quadrature arrays and passed into a Fourier transform (FT) circuit or algorithm to obtain a power spectrum (localized Doppler spectrum) for that particular time window (depth range).
From this power spectrum, a central velocity estimate is calculated to obtain an estimate of the mean scatter velocity for that particular time window. In one embodiment, the central velocity estimate is obtained by calculating a centroid for the power spectrum. This velocity estimate will have a sign and a magnitude. Next, one of two colors is assigned for to the velocity estimate, the particular one of two colors assigned being determined according to the sign of the velocity estimate (i.e., blue for positive values and red for negative values). The brightness, intensity or density of the color to assign to the window is determined by the magnitude of the velocity estimate. The resultant color and brightness is applied to an image pixel, or to a plurality of image pixels in a velocity profile (which is an array of image pixels corresponding to the particular A-scan). The particular pixel(s) to which the color and brightness is applied is the pixel(s) corresponding to the particular depth range of the selected window.
Next, at a predetermined point past the starting time, another time window of in-phase and quadrature data is extracted from the in-phase an time window, a velocity estimate is calculated as described above, a color is assigned for this velocity estimate, and the color is applied to the velocity profile corresponding to the particular depth range of this next time window. New windows will thereafter be repeatedly extracted and processed to generate a complete velocity profile for the particular A-scan. In one embodiment of the invention, this complete velocity profile is a one-dimensional array of colorized image pixels corresponding to the lateral position of the sample probe.
Preferably, multiple A-scans are performed for a sample, each A-scan corresponding to a particular lateral position of the sample arm with respect to the sample. Alternatively, for angular scanning implementations of OCT, subsequent A-scans are arranged into a radial array. It is to be understood that while the present invention describes multiple A-scans as being displaced laterally, it is within the scope of the invention to utilize the same signal processing algorithms described herein with respect to these acquisition and display methods. The above process of generating a velocity profile is performed for each A-scan taken. The processing can be performed either in real-time or after all of the A-scans have been taken and stored in memory. Thereafter, the velocity profiles are aligned side-by-side to create a two-dimensional colorized Doppler image indicating the direction and velocity of moving scatterers within the sample. This two-dimensional colorized Doppler image may then be merged with, or superimposed onto the gray-scale tissue backscatter image to create a complete image of the sample showing internal tissue scatterers as well as the velocity and direction of moving scatterers within the sample.
The time windows extracted from the real array and imaginary arrays, described above, can be either non-overlapping (adjacent) or overlapping time windows. If non-overlapping windows are used, the color determined by the above process would be applied to the entire time window (i.e., if the time windows correspond to a sample depth that will be approximately 10 pixels deep in the final image, the color determined by the above process would be applied to all 10 pixels in the colorized Doppler image). But if overlapping time windows are used, the velocity value determined by the above process can be applied to a time (depth) range equal to the amount that the time windows do not overlap. For example, if the windows overlap entirely except for a sample depth corresponding to a depth of approximately one pixel in the final image, the color determined by the above process would be applied to only a single pixel in the colorized Doppler image. Thus, while more processing would be required to process the entire A-scan data, the overlapping time windows would provide a much more precise Doppler image than the non-overlapped time windows.
An alternate scheme for color coding the velocity information assigns a specific color or shade to each velocity and encodes into brightness, the magnitude of the signal or equivalently, the reflectivity of the tissue at the site. This alternate color coding scheme may offer some advantages in image rendering speed and ease of interpretation. In this scheme, a blood vessel would appear as a series of concentric rings, whose radius is smallest at the vessel""s center.
Prior to merging the two-dimensional colorized Doppler image with the gray-scale image the user may be prompted to select both positive and negative, minimum threshold and maximum saturation velocities. These threshold and saturation velocities are then applied to the velocity array or to the velocity profile to provide an upper and lower bound to the velocity display color scale which allows all desired velocities to be displayed. Velocities which are larger than the maximum positive and negative saturation velocities, respectively, may be rendered the same color (brightness, shade, etc.) as the positive or negative maximum saturation velocities themselves, or else may be rendered in some other distinctive color (brightness, shade, ect.) in order to indicate that the velocity color scale was saturated at that location. Velocities which are smaller than the positive and negative threshold velocities are rendered as transparent to indicate that flow was not detected in that image region, and to allow for visualization of the underlying gray-scale magnitude reflectivity image.
It has been shown, mathematically, that a better velocity estimate can be obtained for a particular position within the sample (i.e., within a particular time window and lateral position) by taking multiple A-scans for that lateral position and then averaging the velocity estimates together. Accordingly, in one embodiment of the invention, multiple A-scans are taken for each lateral position of the sample arm, and the velocity estimates calculated for each A-scan taken are averaged together to produce a more accurate velocity estimate for that particular lateral position of the sample arm. Alternatively, better velocity estimates may also be obtained by averaging estimated windowed spectra obtained from multiple A-scans for each time window and lateral position, followed by calculating the centroids of the averaged spectra.
It is also known that the spatial resolution of the velocity estimate is limited by the window size, the larger the windowxe2x80x94the lower the spatial resolution. But velocity resolution is inversely related to the window size, the larger the windowxe2x80x94the better the velocity resolution. Two alternate embodiments of the invention, however, overcome this trade-off and provide for simultaneous high spatial resolution and high velocity resolution. This is done, in a general sense, by slowing down the time for taking the A-scan.
In a first alternate embodiment, for each position of the reference arm, instead of one set of in-phase and quadrature data taken, multiple sets of in-phase and quadrature data are taken. Thus, instead of calculating a velocity estimate for a window pertaining to multiple positions of the reference arm, the velocity estimate is calculated for a block of data pertaining substantially to a single position (depth) of the reference arm. With this alternate embodiment, it is not necessary to take the multiple sets of data at a single position of the reference arm, so long as all the readings are taken within a range of reference arm movement less than the coherence length of the interferometer""s light source.
In a second alternate embodiment, instead of one A-scan being taken for each lateral position of the sample arm, multiple A-scans are taken at each lateral position of the sample arm. The in-phase and quadrature data are then arranged into a two-dimensional matrix by aligning the one-dimensional (vertical) matrices for each A-scan taken side-by-side. Thus, instead of calculating a velocity estimate for a window pertaining to multiple positions of the reference arm (a vertical xe2x80x9ccolumnxe2x80x9d window), the velocity estimate is calculated for a single position (a horizontal xe2x80x9crowxe2x80x9d window) of the reference arm. The step of taking multiple A-scans for each lateral position of the sample arm may be accomplished by: (a) incrementally advancing the sample arm laterally and taking the multiple A-scans for each incremental advance of the sample arm; (b) laterally sweeping the sample arm over the sample a multitude of times, taking one A-scan for each lateral position of the sample arm; or (c) some combination of (a) and (b).
The above steps for converting the interferogram data into power spectrum data may be performed by a bank of narrow-band band-pass filters (NBPF), where each NBPF passes a particular frequency along the power spectrum frequency scale. The outputs of each NBPF may be input directly into the centroid calculation. This method eliminates the need for the short-time Fourier transform circuit/algorithm and, may also eliminate the need for the coherent demodulation circuit/algorithm. Thus, this method provides faster and cheaper signal processing.
The above steps for converting the interferogram data into power spectrum data may also be performed by a bank of coherent demodulators and a corresponding bank of low-pass filters, where each demodulator demodulates the data at a particular frequency along the power spectrum frequency scale. This approach offers several advantages for the acquisition of local spectral information. First, the output of each of the detection channels is nearly instantaneous, allowing for substantially real-time implementation of CDOCT. Further, the electronic components are readily available.
This latter approach may also be accomplished using a synthesized multi-frequency demodulating waveform, a mixer, and a low-pass filter. In waveform is synthesized as a sum of a desired number of sinusoids at a range of frequencies. These frequencies are mixed in a single mixer with the interferogram data, and the resulting mixed signal is then low-pass filtered. While this alternate embodiment represents a substantial savings in the number of components required, it does not provide estimation of the complete frequency spectrum within the analysis region.
Finally, the present invention provides two implementations of scatterer velocity estimation and one implementation of turbulence estimation using an auto-correlation method, which is based on a mathematical derivation that estimates the central velocity and turbulence of the fluid flow in the sample as being related to the first and second moments of the Doppler-shifted frequency power spectrum. The first utilizes a complex demodulated detector output to obtain both the centroid velocity and an estimate of the power spectrum variance. The second is a much simpler version and provides an estimate of the central velocity only.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for generating a two- or three-dimensional color image of a sample indicating the flow velocity and directions within the image using an OCT acquisition system.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for generating a velocity-indicating, tomographic image of a sample in an optical coherence tomography system including the steps of (a) acquiring cross-correlation data from the interferometer; (b) generating a grayscale image from the cross-correlation data indicative of a depth-dependent positions of scatterers in the sample; (c) processing the cross-correlation data to produce a velocity value and location of a moving scatterer in the sample; (d) assigning a color to the velocity value; and (f) merging the color into the grayscale image, at a point in the grayscale image indicative of the moving scatterer""s location, to produce a velocity-indicating, tomographic image.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, the appended claims and the attached drawings.

Doppler flow imaging using optical coherence tomography

c/o University Hospitals of Cleveland, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, 11100 Euclid Ave.


A mobile communication terminal and an operation method may be provided. This may include connecting to a first communication network, and executing an adaptive application that allows the mobile terminal to display either a first user interface screen or a second user interface screen depending on the connected communication network. This may also include connecting to a second communication network, determining that the mobile communication terminal is connected to the second communication network, and while executing the adaptive application and in response to the determination that the mobile terminal is connected to the second communication network, displaying a second user interface screen corresponding to the second communication network.

1. Field
The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal and an operation method thereof, and more particularly, to a mobile communication terminal, which provides different user interfaces depending on the type of communication network, and an operation method thereof.
2. Background
A mobile communication terminal is a portable device that can be carried around and has one or more functions such as voice and video call communication, sending and receiving messages simultaneously to and from other terminals, inputting and outputting information, chatting, storing data, and the like. As the functionality of the mobile communication terminal has been diversified, a mobile communication terminal having various complicated functions, such as taking pictures or video, music or video file playback, games, broadcast reception, and the like has been implemented as an all-in-one multimedia player.
Various novel attempts have been made in terms of hardware or software to achieve more complicated functions of the mobile communication terminal implemented as a multimedia player. One example is provision of a user interface environment allowing the user to easily and conveniently find and select a desired function.
As 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) mobile communication systems based on WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) radio access technology are currently widespread, high-speed transmission of large-volume data and the provision of seamless service become available. In line with this, the development of multimedia functions of mobile communication terminals suitable for such a wireless communication environment is actively in progress.
Under this network environment, the quality of video calls can be further improved, and large volumes of data can be transmitted at high speed. This allows for the differentiation of user interfaces. With the provision of differentiated user interfaces, there is demand for mobile communication terminal technologies offering improvements in multimedia player functions.

Mobile communication terminal and operation method thereof


Examples of an amplifier includes an input divider section having a first path and a second path for branching of an input signal, wherein a passing phase at the first path and a passing phase at the second path are different; a first amplifying element that amplifies a signal input to the first path; a second amplifying element that amplifies a signal input to the second path; an output synthesizing section that performs synthesis of an output of the first amplifying element and an output of the second amplifying element with a third path for transmitting the output of the first amplifying element and a fourth path for transmitting the output of the second amplifying element, wherein a passing phase at the third path and a passing phase at the fourth path are different; and an electromagnetic coupling section that establishes electromagnetic coupling of two signals.

In the trend of increase in communication capacity, wireless communications necessitate amplification of signals with a wider band or signals that span multiple frequency bands. Also, wireless transmitters are required to reduce power consumption due to demands for reduction in the size of heat dissipation features as well as reduction in running costs. As a result, it is important in high frequency amplifiers to achieve high efficiency over a wide frequency range.
The patent literature PTL 1 discloses a high frequency amplifier. PTL 1 also discloses an amplifier that carries out branching of an input signal so that branched signals advance into two paths, and amplification of the branched signals, and subsequent synthesis of these signals, where a 90 degree hybrid circuit is disposed between the amplifier and an output synthesizing circuit. By virtue of this, output matching that is open to the fundamental wave of the input signal and short-circuited to the second harmonic is created and thereby high efficiency of the amplifier is realized.


A de-blocking method smoothes pixels along a row or column that crosses a block boundary. Smoothing is performed to remove quantization or compression artifacts that appear on block edges when pixels in adjacent blocks are separately compressed. A maximum-allowed edge-pixel difference is generated from the quantization parameter QP. For each edge-crossing row or column, an edge difference is generated as half the difference between adjacent edge pixels in two blocks. This edge difference is compared to the maximum-allowed edge-pixel difference. When the edge difference is larger than the maximum-allowed edge-pixel difference, then the difference is limited to the maximum-allowed edge-pixel difference, since the pixel difference may be a real edge in the image. The limited or edge difference is then added or subtracted in decreasing amounts for several pixels in the row or column near the edge, smoothing the edge difference across several pixels, such as seven pixels.

This invention relates to video compression, and more particularly for spatial de-blocking methods.
Video data can greatly enhance the quality of a computing experience. The consumer use of the Internet took off once graphics was linked to earlier text-based web pages. Portable consumer devices such as cell phones and personal digital assistant (PDA's) are being equipped with small cameras to allow for capture of still or even video pictures. Efficient transmission of captured images over limited-bandwidth links requires some sort of compression of the images.
A number of video-compression techniques are known. Compression standards, such as those developed by the motion-picture-experts group (MPEG), have been widely adopted. These compression techniques are lossy techniques, since some of the picture information is discarded to increase the compression ratio. However, compression ratios of 99% or more have been achieved with minimal noticeable picture degradation.
Next-generation compression standards have been developed for transmitting video over wireless networks. The MPEG-4 standard provides a robust compression technique for transmission over wireless networks. Recovery can occur when parts of the MPEG-4 bit stream is corrupted.
These MPEG standards ultimately break the image up into small 16×16 pixel macroblocks or even smaller 8×8 pixel blocks. Each block can then be compressed more or less independently of other blocks, and movement of blocks can be described as highly compressed "motion vectors" rather than large bitmaps of pixels.
FIG. 1 shows an image frame divided into rows and columns of blocks. The MPEG standard uses a divide-and-conquer technique in which the video sequence is divided into individual image frames known as video object planes (VOPs), and each frame is divided into rows and columns of macroblocks. Each macroblock is a rectangle of 16 by 16 pixels. Each macroblock can be further divided into 8×8 blocks.
Various window sizes and image resolutions can be supported by MPEG standards. For example, one common format is an image frame of 176 by 144 pixels. The image frame is divided into 18 rows of 8×8 blocks, with each row having 22 blocks each of 8×8 pixels. A total of 396 blocks are contained in each frame.
The blocks are arranged in a predetermined order, starting in the upper left with the first block (BLK #0). The second block, BLK #1, is to the right of BLK #0 in the first row, followed by blocks #2 to BLK #21 in the first row. The second row contains BLK #22 to BLK #43. The last row contains BLK #374 to BLK #395. Of course, other image sizes and formats can have the blocks in rows of various lengths, and various numbers of rows.
When an image frame is encoded, each block is encoded in order, starting with BLK #0 in the first row, and continuing with BLK #1, BLK #2 to BLK #21 in the first row, then BLK #22 to BLK #43 in the second row, and on until the last row with BLK #374 to BLK #395. The blocks are arranged in the bit stream into one or more video packets (VP) with a header.
Since each bock is compressed separately from other blocks, there can be noticeable discontinuities at block edges. For example, an highly-compressed image of a blue sky may have visible color-change bands caused by blocking artifacts. While the actual sky changes gradually from one shade of blue to another, only a few blue shades may be used to represent the sky in the compressed image. Several rows of blocks may code all pixels as a dark shade of blue while a next row codes all pixels as a lighter shade of blue. An abrupt color change may be noticeable at the edge of the row. When the color change boundary moves diagonally or crosses rows, the row crossing may cause a stair-step of jagged block edges to be visible.
MPEG decoders may use a de-blocking filter to reduce the visibility of such blocking artifacts. Filters can be applied along block edges, both vertical and horizontal edges. See for example the ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 standard's working group document m4960.doc: section 9.1 De-Blocking Filter. FIGS. 2A-B show prior-art de-blocking filter applied to vertical and horizontal block edges. In FIG. 2A, a row of pixels V0, V1, . . . V9 crosses a vertical boundary between two 8×8 blocks, BLK #N and BLK #N+1. Pixel V4 is the last pixel in BLK #N, while pixel V5 is the first pixel in block #N+1.
Due to compression, a noticeable color difference may appear between pixels V4 and V5. The prior-art de-blocking filter combines pixels V1, V2, V3, V4 in BLK #N using the S1 smoothing filter, pixels V5, V6, V7, V8 in BLK #N+1 using the S2 smoothing filter, and pixels V3, V4, V5, V6 that cross the boundary using the S3 smoothing filter.
In FIG. 2B, a column of pixels V0, V1, . . . V9 crosses a horizontal boundary between two 8×8 blocks, BLK #N and BLK #N+22 in the next row. Pixel V4 is the last pixel in BLK #N, while pixel V5 is the first pixel in block #N+22.
Due to compression, a noticeable color difference may appear between pixels V4 and V5. The prior-art de-blocking filter combines pixels V1, V2, V3, V4 in BLK #N using the S1 smoothing filter, pixels V5, V6, V7, V8 in BLK #N+22 using the S2 smoothing filter, and pixels V3, V4, V5, V6 that cross the boundary using the S3 smoothing filter.
The smoothing filters can be re-applied for each of the 8 columns and each of the 8 rows in each 8×8 block, for all blocks in a frame. The pixel inputs V1, V2 . . . V8 can be shifted to the right by one column, or down by one row, and the operations repeated on the new inputs.
FIG. 3 is a diagram highlighting computational steps performed during a prior-art de-blocking process. The three 4-pixel groups S0, S1, S2 are input to vector multipliers 11, 14, 16. Vector multiplier 11 receives pixels V3, V4, V5, V6 that cross the horizontal or vertical boundary, and generates frequency component A0 as the inner product of the S0 pixel vector and the transposed ([ . . . ]T) discrete cosine transform (DCT) kernel [2−5 5 2]T:A0=([2−552]*[V3V4V5V6]T)/8
Vector multiplier 14 receives pixels V1, V2, V3, V4 in BLK #N, and generates frequency component A1 as the inner product of the S1 pixel vector and the DCT kernel:A1=([2−552]*[V1V2V3V4]T)/8
Vector multiplier 16 receives pixels V5, V6, V7, V8 in BLK N+1 or N+22, and generates frequency component A2 as the inner product of the S2 pixel vector and the DCT kernel:A2=([2−552]*[V5V6V7V8]T)/8
These three inner products are frequency-domain components of the pixel arrays within the two blocks and crossing the block edge. The absolute values of frequency components A0, A1, A2 are generated by absolute-value generators 22, 24, 26, such as by dropping the sign bit. Minimum selector 10 then selects the minimum absolute value of A0, A1, A2. The original sign of S0 is applied to this selected minimum to generate A0′.
The original A0 is then subtracted from A0′, the difference multiplied by 5 and integer-divided by 8 using calculator 28. The result is input to clipper 20, which clips the result to a value between 0 and DE. DE is half of the edge-pixel difference (V4−V5)/2, generated by pixel differencer 18. Thus clipper 20 limits extreme values to a range of 0 to (V4−V5)/2. The clipped difference value output by clipper 20 is D.
Applicator 30 then adds clipped difference D to edge pixel V5 to generate the filtered pixel V5. Clipped difference D is also subtracted from edge pixel V4 to generate the new filtered pixel V4. The filtered values of V4 and V5 replace the old values in the image to be displayed. The edge difference between pixels V4 and V5 is thus smoothed by D, reducing the change in pixel value from V4 to V5. This reduces visible color change at the block edge.
When the absolute value of the frequency component A0 (from the edge-crossing pixels) is greater than the quantization parameter QP, then condition checker 32 disables filtering for the current row or column. Large pixel differences may be caused by a real edge in the image, while smaller pixel differences are more likely caused by compression noise. When the absolute value of A0 is less than or equal to QP, then applicator 30 is enabled to add D to pixel V5 and subtract D from pixel V4.
A large amount of computational work is required for each pair of edge pixels that are smoothed. In particular, vector multipliers 11, 14, 16 each perform four multiplies and three adds, and a final divide-by-eight or 3-bit left-shift. While one arithmetic-logic-unit (ALU) or multiplier/adder/divider could be re-used three times, either the hardware required or the number of clock cycles to perform the three vector multiplies is significant. A total of 12 multiply operations is needed, and each multiply can be a full integer multiply rather than a simple right-shift multiply.
Since there are 300 or more blocks in each frame, and the de-blocking process may be repeated 16 times for each block, many computations may be performed by the de-blocking filter. It is therefore desirable to reduce computational complexity of the de-blocking filter. A more streamlined de-blocking filter is desirable.

Spacial deblocking method using limited edge differences only to linearly correct blocking artifact


Bathing brush including an annular main body made of elastic and water-absorbent material and several bathing balls fixed on the main body at intervals. Each of the bathing balls includes at least one elastic mesh tube and at least one binding member. The circumference of the elastic mesh tube is crimped and waved. Then the elastic mesh tube is bound by the binding member. The bathing balls tightly abut against the circumference of the main body. In use of the bathing brush, the multiple bathing balls are able to maintain water therein. Moreover, the main body can also maintain a certain amount of water therein. The water contained in the main body can be gradually released to infiltrate into the adjacent bathing balls. Accordingly, the bathing balls can kept wet for a longer time.

The present invention is related to a cleaning tool for cleaning human body, and more particularly to a bathing brush capable of maintaining water.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,234 discloses a cleaning brush for cleaning human body. The cleaning brush is made of a plastic elastic mesh tube with a certain length. A first, a second and a third binding members are bound on the mesh tube to form a first and a second expansion sections. Such cleaning brush is characterized in that the first expansion section is pumpkin-shaped and has relatively regular outer periphery. The second expansion section is petal-shaped and has irregular outer periphery. The pumpkin-shaped first expansion section is easy for a user to hold. The petal-shaped second expansion section has meshes extending in different directions for enhancing cleaning effect for human skin.
The above cleaning brush has small volume and can only contact with human skin on small area. Moreover, it is hard to use such cleaning brush to clean the back of a user. To overcome this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 6,098,232 discloses an elongated bar-like cleaning brush on which multiple bathing balls are sequentially arranged. A user can hold either end of the cleaning brush to clean his/her back.
Both the above two cleaning brushes employ elastic mesh tubes for brushing human skin and achieve satisfactory cleaning effect. However, the cleaning brushes are made of plastic material so that they can hardly maintain water therein during bathing. As a result, a user must frequently sprinkle water onto the cleaning brushes to kept them wet.
By means of increasing the length or diameter of the elastic mesh tube, the water maintained in the above cleaning brush can be slightly increased. However, the central portion of the cleaning brush, which is bound by the binding member and is quite hard will be enlarged. This makes it uneasy for a user to hold the cleaning brush. Moreover, when contacting with human skin, the user will feel uncomfortable.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a bathing brush which not only is able to maintain therein more water than a conventional bathing brush, but also is able to prevent a user from feeling uncomfortable when using the bathing brush.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide the above bathing brush which contacts with human skin by larger area when used.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide the above bathing brush which includes multiple bathing balls with different patterns so as to enhance the cleaning effect.
According to the above objects, the bathing brush of the present invention includes an annular main body made of elastic and water-absorbent material and several bathing balls fixed on the main body at intervals. Each of the bathing balls includes at least one elastic mesh tube and at least one binding member. The circumference of the elastic mesh tube is crimped and waved. Then the elastic mesh tube is bound by the binding member. The bathing balls tightly abut against the circumference of the main body. In use of the bathing brush, the multiple bathing balls are able to maintain water therein. Moreover, the main body can also maintain a certain amount of water therein. The water contained in the main body can be gradually released to infiltrate into the adjacent bathing balls. Accordingly, the bathing balls can kept wet for a longer time.
The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:


A system and methods of sequencing a nucleic acid by detecting the identity of a fluorescent nucleotide analogue incorporated at the 3′ end of a growing nucleic acid strand are provided. The system may include a substrate comprising a plurality of substantially parallel excitation waveguides, and a plurality of substantially parallel collection waveguides, the excitation waveguides and collection waveguides crossing to form a two-dimensional array of intersection regions, a plurality of optical sensing sites in optical communication with the intersection regions, one or more switchable light sources and a detector coupled to the light dispersive module. Methods of using these systems are also described.

The completion of the 'Human Genome' project in 2003 which revealed the sequence of all 3 billion bases of the human DNA has enabled a large number of applications in medical diagnostics, prognostics, therapeutics and more. Many of these rely on re-sequencing part or all of the genome of individuals, creating a need for reliable, fast and affordable DNA sequencing technologies.
In an effort to address this need, several different technologies had been developed in the last few years and new generations of sequencing systems have emerged. All of these new systems are grouped under the Next Generation Sequencing title to distinguish them from the first generation technologies used until and within the 'Human Genome' project (1990-2003).
The most advanced of these Next Generation Sequencing approaches employ solid surfaces (e.g., chips, beads, nanopores etc.) for sequencing reactions. Such surfaces enable lower reagent volume, higher multiplexing, higher accuracy and repeatability and simpler protocols, all of which are critical for meeting the stringent requirements of Next Generation Sequencing.
There remains a pressing need for improved systems for Next Generation Sequencing. An ideal system would provide increased sensitivity, eliminate or reduce washing steps and simplify integration with microfluidic technologies. The present invention satisfies this need and provides related advantages.

System and method for nucleic acids sequencing by phased synthesis


Methods and compositions for treating neuroendocrine tumors are disclosed.

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are tumors arising from cells of the endocrine and nervous systems. Although there are many types of NETs, they share common features. For example, the cells of these neoplasms all have special secretory granules. They also often secrete biogenic amines or polypeptide hormones. The prevalence NETs is estimated to be 35 per 100,000. See Öberg & Castellano, Cancer and Metastasis Reviews 30:3-7 (2011). Somatostatin analogs such as Octreotide LAR are often used. But they only alleviate symptoms by blocking hormone release. Chemotherapies with cisplatin, etoposide and doxorubicin are often administered, but with only marginal effect. Thus, there is still significant need for additional pharmaceuticals and methods for treating NETs.

Method of treating neuroendocrine tumors


An object of the present invention is to care for the occipital region supported with an occipital region supporter, without leaving an uncared-for part thereof, at time of automatic care of the person's head. In order to achieve the object, an automatic head washing apparatus 11 according to the present invention, is an automatic head care apparatus that cares for a person's head automatically, which has a first end effector 13 and a second end effector 16, and which is controlled by a plurality of modes including: a first mode for rubbing a second region 24 of the occipital region 22 by moving the second end effector 16 in a state in which the first end effector 13 contacts a first region 23 of the occipital region 22 of the person with the first end effector 13 being fixed at a first position; and a second mode for rubbing a first region 23 of the occipital region 22 by moving the first end effector 13 in a state in which the second end effector 16 contacts a second region 24 of the occipital region 22 with the second end effector 16 being fixed at a second position.

A hair washing has been known as one of the typical person's head cares. In the hairdressing and beauty industry, the laborious head and/or hair washing has been desired to be automated. Also in the medicare industry, the laborious hair washing services for the inpatients have been expected to be automated.
JP 2002-136331 (A) discloses an automatic hair washing apparatus which washes a person's head with hot water by jetting the hot water to the head.
FIGS. 15A and 15B are explanatory views for explaining an automatic hair washing apparatus according to prior art disclosed in JP 2002-136331 (A). FIG. 15A is a cross-sectional view of the automatic hair washing apparatus at the time of hair washing, and FIG. 15B is the cross-sectional view of the automatic hair washing apparatus at the time of washing the occipital region of the head.
As shown in FIG. 15A, the automatic hair washing apparatus has a hair washing basin 1 into which the person's head is inserted, has shower nozzles 2, mounted on an inner wall of the hair washing basin 1, for jetting water, etc., on the hair of the occipital and temporal regions of the person's head, has an overhead shower nozzle 3 for jetting water, etc., on the hair of the frontal region thereof, and has an occipital region supporter 4.
When the occipital region of the head is washed by the automatic hair washing apparatus, the occipital region supporter 4, having supported the occipital region of the person's head, is tilted down, and then the occipital region thereof with which the occipital region supporter 4 has contacted is washed manually whilst a user or an operator, of the apparatus supports the person's head by hand.
In accordance with the automatic hair washing apparatus as shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B, the hair washing is performed by the hot water, etc., being jetted on the person's head from the shower nozzles 2, in a state that the occipital region of the person's head is put on the occipital region supporter 4. With this apparatus, because the hair on the person's head can be washed automatically, its manual labor can be saved.
Disadvantageously, in the conventional automatic hair washing apparatus as shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B, the occipital region of the person's head is supported on the occipital region supporter 4, and the part of the head which contacts the supporter 4, can not be washed by the jetting of water. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 15B, it is necessary to manually wash the occipital region which contacts the occipital region supporter 4, whilst the user of the apparatus supports the person's head by his/her own hand. The weight of a person's head is about 5 kg, and to support the person's head by hand at the time of washing the occipital region of the head becomes a physically big burden on the user. Here, in order to reduce the user's burden, if the occipital region thereof is washed manually in a state that the occipital region is supported on the occipital region supporter 4, then the part of the head which has been supported on the supporter 4 remains unwashed.
The present invention is to solve such a problem of hair washing, and provide an automatic head care apparatus or an automatic head care method for automatically caring a part of the occipital region, which is supported on the occipital region supporter.

Automatic head care apparatus and automatic head care method


A system and method are provided for processing an imaging job using adaptive universal symbols. The method comprises: establishing a user interface (UI) representing imaging job options with adaptive universal symbols at a job source, which can be an imaging driver or a direct submit application; accepting adaptive universal symbol selections from the UI; sending an imaging job to an imaging device, in an imaging device-specific format, along with the adaptive universal symbol selections; and, at the imaging device, processing the imaging job in response to the selected adaptive universal symbols. With respect to print, copy, or fax jobs for example, the adaptive universal symbols may represent options such as staple, cut, fold, hole-punch, trim, N-up, duplex, paper size, input tray, output bin, copies, collation, margin, sheet/page orientation, or front/back covers.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to digital image processing and, more particularly, to a system and method for using universal symbols to adaptively represent, at an image driver interface, the complete gamut of processing options.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a user chooses to print a document or image to an unfamiliar printing device, the user must be able to visually distinguish between the choice of options presented on the printer user interface. That is, the user must conceptualize how the output is to look (i.e., 2-sided or stapled in the corner). The user must, then, find a correspondence between the options displayed in the user interface and their conceptualization.
This correspondence issue can be particularly problematic with users who are not familiar with the natural (human-spoken) language of the user interface. For example, a foreign visitor at a domestic work site may desire to print a document/image from a computing host, such as a desktop computer, to a printer local to the site. If the foreign worker is unfamiliar with the natural user interface language (e.g., English) used by the printer driver on the host, it maybe very confusing to operate. Manufacturers can produce a multi-language printer driver to alleviate this problem. But this solution greatly increases manufacturing costs, introduces translation errors, and results in a long list of languages that need support.
FIG. 1A depicts a conventional printer driver user interface, where all the selections are textual based (prior art). This type of interface requires that the operator to be both proficient in the natural language of the interface, and be able to associate the selection phrases with a corresponding output.
FIG. 1B depicts a conventional printer driver user interface (UI) with some graphical display (prior art). All the selections are still textual based, but the outcomes of the selection options are represented with a graphical display. For example, the display can be a "stack of paper" icon. The representation of the stack of paper dynamically changes to represent the application of a selection. For example, if the user chooses stapling, staples may appear on the corresponding edges of the paper stack represented in the icon. While this is an improvement over the strictly textual representation, it is still difficult to use for someone not proficient in the natural language, or unfamiliar with the textual phrases. In this case, the user must find the selections corresponding to the desired output by trial and error.
FIG. 1C depicts a conventional printer driver UI, where the settings of some print options are graphically represented (prior art). Typically, each option group (staple, punch, layout) is textually selected. Once selected, various icons are displayed to represent the selectable settings in the group. For example, if the user selects a checkbox labeled 'Staple', the user may be presented with another dialog containing several iconic representations of a stack of paper, each showing a different staple configuration. The user then chooses one of the icons.
While this UI is an improvement to some aspects, it is still difficult to use for someone not proficient in the natural language, or unfamiliar with the textual phrases, in that it is still heavily textual driven, and the outcome of multiple selections is not graphically displayed, so that the user is uncertain of the result. Further, the icons are hard-coded in the printer driver for use with a particular corresponding manufacturer/model of printer. The hard-coded options are inapplicable to other printer models (with different options), or obsolete if the corresponding printer is upgraded.
FIG. 1D depicts a graphical UI from an automated photo kiosk (prior art). More specifically, a kiosk UI is shown that is used for walkup printing of still photos or digital images supplied from a digital camera memory stick. A user places a still photo (or extracts an image from a memory stick) on the platen and scans it. The UI system then leads the user through a sequence of screens, one at a time. Each screen represents an option that either manipulates the image data (e.g., cropping or red-eye removal), or placement on the output sheet (e.g., border or n-up). Each option screen presents multiple icons, where each icon is a graphical representation of a setting. Additionally, when the user selects an icon, the effect of applying the setting is simulated on the display.
This method still has shortcomings in that it is limited to a walkup device interface, as opposed to being host-side driven. Further, the kiosk UI operates with only a single image, not multiple page data or general paper handling operations associated with multiple page data (e.g., duplex or booklet). Neither does the system handle general finishing operations, such as staple, punch, trim, fold, or cut.
The screens are seen in a sequential order. Therefore, all the option categories cannot be seen at one time. The user must select option/settings in the predefined order. The user must remember which options they selected, once they move to the next screen. Thus, while this graphic interface is suitable for single-picture images, it is inadequate as a printer driver or host-side print operations.
Therefore, there is a need for an effective method for users who are not proficient in the natural language, or unfamiliar with the textual phrases associated with a printer, to recognize and select settings from a printer driver that correspond to their desired output.
It would be advantageous if an imaging driver user interface existed that could represent all the possible options available regardless of the user's natural language.
It would be advantageous if an imaging driver had a completely graphical UI, where job options and job selections were represented by a symbol, universally recognized and independent of any natural language.
It would be advantageous if the above-mentioned universal symbols could be redefined adaptively for use with different imaging devices, to correctly represent available options.

Adaptive universal symbol driver interface


The present invention relates to a positive resist composition and to a pattern forming process using the same. The present invention provides: a positive resist composition having an enhanced etching resistance and an excellent resolution and being capable of providing an excellent pattern profile even at a substrate-side boundary face of resist, in photolithography for fine processing, and particularly in lithography adopting, as an exposure source, KrF laser, extreme ultraviolet rays, electron beam, X-rays, or the like; and a pattern forming process utilizing the positive resist composition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a positive resist composition and to a pattern forming process using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known that as LSI progresses toward a higher integration and a further acceleration in speed, a miniaturization of a pattern rule is required. Accompanying with this trend, an exposure method and a resist material are drastically changing. In particular, when a lithography of a pattern with 0.2 μm or less is carried out, KrF or ArF excimer laser beams, an electron beam, or the like are used as an exposure light source, and a chemically amplified type showing a good sensitivity to those high energy beams and giving a high resolution is used for a photoresist.
Resist compositions are classified into a positive type where exposed areas are made to be solvable and a negative type where exposed areas are left as a pattern, and that one of them is selected and used, which can be more conveniently handled depending on a required resist pattern. Further, chemically amplified positive resist compositions are each typically configured to contain: polymer, which is insoluble or poorly-soluble in an aqueous alkaline developer, and which is decomposed by an acid and turned thereby to be soluble in an alkaline developer; and an acid generator to be decomposed by exposure light to produce an acid; as well as a basic compound for restricting diffusion of the acid produced by the typical exposure.
Negative resist compositions of a type configured to adopt phenol units as alkali-soluble units constituting a polymer to be dissolved in the aqueous alkaline developer, have been numerously developed, and particularly for exposure by a KrF excimer laser light. Since phenol units of these compositions do not exhibit light transmittivity in the case of exposure light having wavelengths in a range of 150 to 220 nm, the compositions have not been used for ArF excimer laser light. However, such negative resist compositions have been recently noticed again as ones for EB or EUV exposure which are exposure methods for obtaining finer patterns, and reports thereof are found in Japanese Patent Laid-open (Kokai) Nos. 2006-201532, 2006-215180 and 2008-249762, and the like.
Further, examples of characteristics to be demanded for resist compositions in the case of the resist elaboration as noted above, include not only a higher resolution which is a fundamental performance of a resist, but also a higher etching resistance. This is because, progressively finer patterns necessitate to progressively decrease thicknesses of resist films. Known as one technique for obtaining such a higher etching resistance, is a method, which also has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open (Kokai) No. 2008-249762, to introduce, as subsidiary components of the polymer: a polycyclic compound such as indene and acenaphthylene, which includes an aromatic ring(s) and a non-aromatic ring(s), and in which the non-aromatic ring has a carbon-carbon double bond conjugated with the aromatic ring; into a polymer having hydroxystyrene units.
In turn, as polymers for positive resists, it has been proposed to use a polymer having only indene structures such as described in Japanese Patent Laid-open (Kokai) No. 2004-149756, while another method has been proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-open (Kokai) No. 2006-169302 to use units having acenaphthylene structures by combining them with a hydroxystyrene derivative.
However, in trying to conduct such a fine processing that gaps between line widths are decreased down to as narrow as 50 nm which is demanded in the presently most-advanced processing technique, bridges are caused between pattern lines even by variously conducting a fine control by adopting a polymer system which has been conventionally presented for a positive resist composition, thereby making it difficult to form a fine pattern.

Positive resist composition and pattern forming process


A cooling apparatus for an electronic device of high calorific density including an elastomer interposed between a semiconductor chip and a heat sink so as to connect them thermally. The elastomer may also be in close contact with a large number of semiconductor chips having various configurations which are mounted on a board, so that the elastomer is thermally connected with them, whereby the elastomer absorbs thermal deformations.

The present invention relates to cooling apparatus for an electronic device including a semiconductor chip is incorporated and, more particularly, to cooling apparatus for enabling cooling in accordance with an amount of heat generation and which is suitable for preventing deformations or some other unfavorable phenomena of the semiconductor chip.
Arrangements wherein a radiator fin or a thermal diffusion plate such as a thermal conductive layer is directly attached to a casing of LSI chips mounted on a board in order to increase an amount of heat radiation are disclosed in, for example, "Electronics", August 1989, p. 29, and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 63-289847.
In these conventional arrangements, an electronic device is integral with a heat sink of a specific configuration. Consequently, when the electronic device is operated in such a manner that the amount of heat generation in chips incorporated in the device is larger than the amount of heat absorption by the heat sink, it is necessary to attach, to the electronic device, a heat sink of a different configuration to accomodate the circumstances. However, a connection method which is excellent in heat conduction and highly reliable must be employed every time such replacement is conducted, and such cooling arts are not flexible enough for cooling of the entire system.
Another arrangement is disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 61-74356, wherein a cooling jacket is fixed onto a plurality of semiconductor chips by bolts, with an elastic member of fibrous cotton having high thermal conductivity being interposed therebetween so as to cool the semiconductor chips.
In last-mentioned conventional arrangement, the elastomer is designed to be a thin layer to improve the thermal conductivity. Consequently, unless the jacket is attached to the semiconductor chips with high accuracy, an undue force is exerted on the chips. As a result, the semiconductor chips can not be cooled in accordance with the respective amounts of heat generated by the respective chips, and this arrangement is not flexible enough for cooling of the entire device system.
A further arrangement is disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 1-286455, wherein a ribbed thermal conductive member is provided on a semiconductor chip mounted on an insulating board, and a heat sink, including a radiator fin, is attached to the ribbed thermal conductive member with presssure springs and rotary ball members interposed therebetween, which heat sink can be detached and is guided and moved in directions parallel to the insulating board by a guide mechanism of the ribbed thermal conductive member.
In this last-mentioned conventional arrangement, although the heat sink is detachable, the pressure springs tend to cause the force to affect the insulating board and the ribbed thermal conductive member, resulting in a force that will break the semiconductor chip. Additionally, high assembly accuracy is required for improving the thermal conductivity.


A method for performing intraocular brachytherapy and an apparatus for performing the same is disclosed. The apparatus preferably comprises a hand-held delivery device that advances a radiation source into an associated cannula or probe that is positioned adjacent the target tissue. The handpiece provides for shielded storage of the radiation source when retracted from the cannula and includes a slider mechanism for advancing and retracting the radiation source. The radiation source is mounted to a wire that has a flexible distal end and a relatively stiffer proximal end. A positioning system for the cannula is also disclosed.

The slow, progressive loss of central vision is known as macular degeneration. Macular degeneration affects the macula, a small portion of the retina. The retina is a fine layer of light-sensing nerve cells that covers the inside back portion of the eye. The macula is the central, posterior part of the retina and contains the largest concentration of photoreceptors. The macula is typically 5 to 6 mm in diameter, and its central portion is known as the fovea. While all parts of the retina contribute to sight, the macula provides the sharp, central vision that is required to see objects clearly and for daily activities including reading and driving.
Macular degeneration is generally caused by age (termed Age Related Macular Degeneration or "AMD") or poor circulation in the eyes. Smokers and individuals with circulatory problems have an increased risk for developing the condition. AMD is the leading cause of blindness in people older than 50 years in developed countries. Between the ages of 52-64, approximately 2% of the population are affected. This rises to an astounding 28% of the population over the age of 75.
There are two forms of macular degeneration, which are known as "wet" and "dry" macular degeneration. Dry macular degeneration blurs the central vision slowly over time. Individuals with this form of macular degeneration may experience a dimming or distortion of vision that is particularly noticeable when trying to read. In dry macular degeneration, yellowish deposits called drusen develop beneath the macula. Drusen are accumulations of fatty deposits, and most individuals older than 50 years have at least one small druse. These fatty deposits are usually carried away by blood vessels that transport nutrients to the retina. However, this process is diminished in macular degeneration and the deposits build up. Dry macular degeneration may also result when the layer of light-sensitive cells in the macula become thinner as cells break down over time. Generally, a person with the dry form of macular degeneration in one eye eventually develops visual problems in both eyes. However, dry macular degeneration rarely causes total loss of reading vision.
Wet macular degeneration (which is the neovascular form of the disease) is more severe than dry macular degeneration. The loss of vision due to wet macular degeneration also comes much more quickly than dry macular degeneration. In this form of the disease, unwanted new blood vessels grow beneath the macula (Choroidal Neo-Vascularization (CNV) endothelial cells). These choroidal blood vessels are fragile and leak fluid and blood, which causes separation of tissues and damages light sensitive cells in the retina. Individuals with this form of macular degeneration typically experience noticeable distortion of vision such as, for example, seeing straight lines as wavy, and seeing blank spots in their field of vision.
Early diagnosis of the wet form of macular degeneration is vital. If the leakage and bleeding from the choroidal blood vessels is allowed to continue, much of the nerve tissue in the macula may be killed or damaged. Such damage cannot be repaired because the nerve cells of the macula do not grow back once they have been destroyed. While wet AMD comprises only about 20% of the total AMD cases, it is responsible for approximately 90% of vision loss attributable to AMD.
It has been proposed to provide a device that is particularly suitable for the localized delivery of radiation for the treatment of macular degeneration. See, U.S. Pub. Appln. US 2002/0115902A1 to DeJuan, et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. A localized retinal detachment (called a "bleb") is created by performing a retinotomy and injecting saline therethrough using a subretinal infusion needle, thus creating a space between the partially-detached retina and the area of chloridal neo-vascularization. A radiation-emitting source is introduced into the bleb and the CNV is directly irradiated. The exposure of the new blood vessels formed during the wet form of macular degeneration to radiation provides sufficient disruption of the cellular structures of the new blood cell lesions to reverse, prevent, or minimize the progression of the macular degeneration disease process. Such therapy can potentially restore visual acuity, extend retention of visual acuity or slow the progressive loss of visual acuity.
The present application relates to advances in apparatus, systems and methods for performing intraocular brachytherapy, in general, and for the treatment of macular degeneration with radiation, in particular.

Methods and apparatus for intraocular brachytherapy


Wavefront loading in a processor is managed and includes monitoring a selected wavefront of a set of wavefronts. Reuse of memory access requests for the selected wavefront is counted. A cache hit rate in one or more caches of the processor is determined based on the counted reuse. Based on the cache hit rate, subsequent memory requests of other wavefronts of the set of wavefronts are modified by including a type of reuse of cache lines in requests to the caches. In the caches, storage of data in the caches is based on the type of reuse indicated by the subsequent memory access requests. Reused cache lines are protected by preventing cache line contents from being replaced by another cache line for a duration of processing the set of wavefronts. Caches are bypassed when streaming access requests are made.

A modern graphics processing unit (GPU) includes memory caches for storing data. These caches have limited capacity and, in operation, are subject to concurrent access by a large number of threads, resulting in frequent cache misses and relatively low memory access efficiency. In addition, conventional memory management techniques, which apply uniform management criteria to all requests, are not well-suited for memory traffic generated by GPU compute applications, which exhibit highly varying behavior. Further, conventional approaches to memory management can allocate data to different caches inefficiently, such as by storing one-time-use data in multiple caches at different levels of a memory hierarchy, thereby wasting system resources.

GPU cache management based on locality type detection


An apparatus for securing an article in a fixed position using a plurality of holders is provided. Each of the holders includes a hollow piston that is slidably mounted in the holder and is movable to ascended and descended positions. Each holder includes a suction cup at one end and an opening at the other end. A vacuum at the suction cups in sealing engagement with the article permits the holder to maintain the article in a fixed position. The piston of each holder that is not required to secure the article may be moved to the descended position. The piston may then be clamped in the descended position by engaging a hook mounted on the holder to a pin mounted on the piston.

This invention relates to an apparatus for sucking an article like a workpiece to be cut by a woodworking machine by negative pressure.
The workpiece which is to be cut by a woodworking machine is held by an apparatus for sucking by negative pressure as shown in FIGS. 1-2 in general.
In FIGS. 1-2, the apparatus has a plane shaped table 1 the inside of which is provided with a negative pressure recess 2. This recess 2 is connected with a tube 3 which is attached to one side wall 1A of the table 1. A pointed end of the tube 3 is connected with a vacuum pump (not shown) or a blower (not shown) which sucks the air in the recess 2.
The top wall 1B of the table 1 is provided with a big opening 4 and this opening 4 is covered with a plate 5 which is mounted on the top wall 1B. The plate 5 is provided with a opening 6 which is connected with the opening 4 of the top wall 1B.
According to the above construction, a workpiece 7 is mounted on the top surface of the plate 5 in such a condition that the workpiece 7 covers the opening 6 of the plate, then the vacuum pump or the blower is operated, so that the air in the recess 2 is drawn. As a result, one part of the workpiece 7, which part is facing the opening 6 is sucked below and the workpiece 7 is held on the plate 5.
It is possible to adhere a seal member on the plate 5 in order to increase the airtightness and the coefficient of friction between the plate 5 and the workpiece 7.
However, there are many sizes and shapes of workpieces 7, so that it is necessary to provide many kinds of plates 5 corresponding to many kinds of workpieces 7. As a result, much money and much time are necessary to manufacture many plates 5, and wide space is necessary to keep the plates 5.
Moreover, it is difficult to manufacture many kinds of workpieces 7. Furthermore, the shapes of the plates 5 are changed while the long preservation, so that the quality of the plate 5 becomes worse.
If the workpiece 7 is changed, it is necessary to change the old plate 5 into new plate 5 corresponding to the new workpiece 7.
In case of using a seal member on the plate 5, it is necessary to maintain the seal member, and the measure of the workpiece varies according to the thickness of the seal member.

Apparatus for sucking by negative pressure


A system and method for scheduling employee shifts. Two types of users generally utilize the system to post and view schedules, managers and workers. A manager may define shifts for work areas and post the shifts so workers may obtain their schedule and know when to work. Workers may retrieve the schedule from any network enabled device located anywhere. Worker unavailability times and requests for schedule changes may be made remotely by the worker at any network enabled computing device. Managers may accept or reject requests and utilize employee unavailability times to schedule workers to a shift and readily observe conflicts and schedule around these conflicts using a schedule screen that shows the workers, their unavailability times and scheduled times. Time and wage summaries may be updated directly on the screen when changes to the shifts are made to allow a manager to minimize wages for a shift or work area.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention described herein pertain to the field of employee scheduling. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, one or more embodiments of the invention enable systems and methods of employee shift scheduling using a graphical web based interface or wireless device interface.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are many types of schedules that are used in a wide area of endeavor. Schedules generally plot a task, resource or human against time in order to schedule a solution to a problem. Gantt charts, PERT charts, resource plots and other types of schedules vary in the element that is plotted against time. Gantt charts plot a list of tasks that may or may not depend on one another against time. PERT charts are intended to calculate the minimum time required to complete a complex project having distinct tasks. Another type of chart that is used is an employee shift schedule.
There are a number of requirements and/or preferences associated with employee shift scheduling. Traditionally, employee scheduling has been done by a manager writing employee names and times to work on a paper that is posted in a work area. The schedule allows employees to know when they are required to work. In addition, managers have used spreadsheets to post schedules by printing out a schedule and posting it in a work area. The amount of time that this process takes is large when events occur that require changes to the schedule. When a manager receives a request for time off for an employee of a given shift, the manager generally makes multiple phone calls to other employees in an attempt to fill the empty shift. With a paper based solution, all employee unavailability times are haphazardly written in a list and when the manager creates the schedule conflicts that could be avoided are generally missed and result in extra work for the manager. The resulting schedule therefore immediately requires editing.
Current computer based solutions display shifts on a schedule but leave the schedule screen when performing tasks. Leaving the schedule screen makes it difficult to observe schedule conflicts when requesting shifts for example. In existing applications, there is no way for a manager to determine a conflict before the manager assigns a shift that conflicts with a user-unavailability. To find the conflict a manager must traverse multiple screens which is inefficient and frustrating to the manager. Current web based solutions do not automatically calculate wages, hours and employees in real-time when a shift change is made on a schedule and therefore do not allow a manager to quickly minimize wages for a shift. In addition, there are no known solutions that provide a single screen that is updated with conflicts that a manager can readily de-conflict or avoid conflicts by observing a potential conflict and unavailability while on one screen. In addition, when a schedule has been updated, users with limited functionality cell phones for example may be sent a text message saying that a schedule is ready without actually sending a compressed or shorthand version of the schedule.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,049,776 to Donnelly, et al., describes a system that identifies candidate workers to be assigned to a project based on their predetermined skills and predetermined time availability. The system is directed towards scheduling workers based on their individual skills to unique projects. Workers are inherently unequal and therefore there is no contemplation of shift scheduling where one worker may readily substitute for another. FIGS. 28 and 29 show that schedule conflicts are shown with windows unrelated to the schedule window. In addition, there is no contemplation of showing or utilizing one schedule to perform and display shift related tasks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,663 to Miller describes a method for optimizing project scheduling. The existing schedule is optimized by iterating through the schedule and modifying each task according to policies that minimize task duration. The methods also include selection of an optimum mix of workers to be hired to complete a scheduled project. Workers are inherently unequal and therefore there is no contemplation of shift scheduling where one worker may readily substitute for another. In addition, there is no single schedule screen where conflicts between shifts and reserved times for an employee may be dealt with for example.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,957,188 to Dellevi et al., describes a system for trading shifts between employees. The method includes checking a database to ensure that the individuals trading shifts have the same training. In addition, there is no contemplation of showing or utilizing one schedule to perform and display shift related tasks.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,346 to Green describes a system and method for bidding on vacation and holiday shifts. The methods include giving priority to employees based on seniority with respect to vacation and holiday shifts worked or not. In addition, there is no contemplation of showing or utilizing one schedule to perform and display shift related tasks, e.g., FIG. 7 shows days but not the shifts on each day and does not allow for shift related tasks to be performed as such on the calendar of FIG. 7.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,334,133 to Thompson et al., describes a system for substituting workers for other workers that are unavailable due to a temporary absence. When a worker absence is to occur, the system searches a database to obtain a list of potential replacements for worker that will be absent. The system then contacts potential replacement workers for example substitute teachers. There is no method for showing conflicts and providing shift related tasks to be performed on the schedule.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,792,087 to Abdoh describes a system for scheduling health care workers that uses a telephone interface and an email interface to communicate a plurality of schedules to workers. There is no single schedule interface showing shifts on each day and providing shift relating tasks to be performed on the schedule.
United States Patent Application Publication No. 20040215475 describes a system for shift scheduling and cost determination. The system is mainly concerned with minimizing costs through appropriate allocation of personnel per shift. The system does not contemplate use of a single schedule showing all workers times per each day. See FIG. 3.
For at least the limitations described above there is a need for a system and method for scheduling employee shifts that allows for conflicts to be readily determined and shift related tasks to be performed on the schedule.

System and method for scheduling employee shifts


An operable ramp is moveable between stowed and deployed positions. In the deployed position, the ramp provides a sloped transition surface that extends from a lower surface of an architectural setting to an upper surface of the architectural setting. The operable ramp includes a ramp panel and a housing. The height of an upper surface of the housing is selectively adjustable. The operable ramp further includes a drive assembly that is at least partially disposed within the housing. The drive assembly has a drive linkage coupled to a first end of the ramp panel to move the operable ramp between the stowed and deployed positions. The drive linkage raises the first end of the ramp panel to a first elevation when the upper surface of the housing is at a first height and to a second elevation when the upper surface of the housing is at a second height.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires the removal of physical obstacles to those who are physically challenged. The stated objective of this legislation has increased public awareness and concern over the requirements of the physically challenged. Consequentially, there has been more emphasis on providing systems that enable physically challenged people to access buildings and other architectural structures that have a step at the point of ingress or egress. Such systems can also be utilized in building interiors to provide improved access to inside architectural features, such as raised landings.
Installing a fixed ramp is a common way to provide the physically challenged with access to a building with one or more steps at the entrance, i.e., between a lower surface and an upper surface. Fixed ramps take up a large amount of space and often detract from the aesthetic qualities of the building. Fold out ramps, similar to those used in vehicles can be utilized, but deployment often requires a large area into which the ramp deploys. Other ramps simply raise or lower one end or to reciprocate between a "step" configuration and a "ramp" configuration. Such ramps, however, typically require a pit formed in the upper or lower surface to integrate the ramp with the step of the architectural setting. That is, the ramp is recessed into the architectural setting. In addition, ramps are often installed in architectural settings in which the step height varies, and ramp components and installations must be modified to suit a particular environment.
Accordingly, there is a need for a ramp that provides access to a building with a step at the entrance or within the interior, while minimizing the space required by the ramp. There is also a need for a ramp that allows for installation without requiring undue alterations of the architectural setting and that can be easily adapted for installation in different architectural environments.


In a gas turbine engine a method for thrust variation with reduced compressor RPM excursion is provided in two modes which includes adjusting pivotable compressor vanes mounted upstream of compressor rotor blades, ahead of the conventional vane schedule therefor in a closed loop fashion, responsive to compressor corrected RPM, so as to adjust the fuel demand and engine thrust thereof while maintaining relatively high scheduled compressor corrected RPM scheduled as a function of fan corrected RPM while retaining the conventional method of fuel flow scheduling. Thus mode 1 of the invention adjusts the compressor vanes in advance of the conventional schedule therefor, e.g. pre-closes them on the deceleration side of the Bodie transient and appropriately opens them on the acceleration side of such transient subject to closed loop monitoring of the corrected compressor RPM and being guided thereby so as to result in reduced excursion in such RPM, during both legs of such transient. Because of such reduced RPM excursion, fast changes in engine thrust are possible. In mode 2 of the invention, snap accelerations of a gas turbine engine and its compressor, are assisted by opening the compressor vanes ahead of the conventional schedule therefor in an open loop fashion, not so much for compressor corrected RPM excursion advantage as for improved compressor stall margin. The methods of the invention thus emphasize the primacy of vane control over fuel flow control for reduced compressor RPM excursion in the first mode and increased stall margin in the second mode.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for thrust variation in a gas turbine engine with reduced compressor RPM excursion, particularly while maintaining a relatively high compressor corrected RPM.
2. Prior Art
In conventional or prior art thrust variation in a large majority of gas turbine engines, a particular schedule of variable vane angle (RCVV) against corrected compressor speed (N2C25) and engine inlet temperature (TT2) is employed both during steady state and transient operation. Thus in the prior art, during a Bodie transient, (full power to part power to full power or decel followed by accel), a fuel flow scheduling method is employed wherein the fuel flow is first decreased for decel purposes and later increased for accel purposes. This method, when done with the conventional vane scheduling referred to above, results in undesirable transient stall margin loss since the stator vanes (ahead of the compressor blades in such engine) lag or move only after the compressor speed or corrected RPM has changed. In addition, such conventional method results in large rotor speed changes or excursions during power changes, resulting in slower engine response (e.g. from part power to full power) as more fully discussed below with respect to FIG. 3 hereof.
A modification of such fuel flow control method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,523,423 to Young (1970) where a low rotor RPM is regulated with exhaust nozzle modulation to prevent engine stall. In another prior art method given in U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,643 to Pollak et al. (1990), stator pivotal vanes and fuel flow are modulated in a coordinated fashion to hold constant corrected high rotor RPM.
In the first reference, fuel flow adjustment gives rise to stator vane lag with problems associated therewith, as noted above and further discussed below with respect to FIG. 3 hereof. The second reference discloses maintaining compressor corrected RPM constant by synchronizing vane angle and fuel flow modulation which can give rise to engine stability problems including fan stall.
The prior art fuel adjustment method also presents a problem in snap acceleration of a gas turbine engine from a steady state condition by, e.g. a steady state operating position of compressor vanes wherein a scheduled fuel increase, causes the compressor to operate at higher corrected RPMs before the stator vanes pivot open sufficiently, which causes a reduction in compressor air flow and an increase in combustor fuel-air ratio and the compressor approaches stall conditions for such engine. A similar stall threat is presented by the conventional method of fuel adjustment (operational in most aircraft engines) method on the accel side of a Bodie transient (part power to full power). The above stall margin concerns are discussed more fully below with respect to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 herein.
Accordingly, there is a need and market for improved Bodie decel-accel procedure and a snap accel procedure which substantially obviates the above prior art shortcomings.
There has now been discovered, in a gas turbine engine, a method of compressor vane control for reduced compressor RPM excursion during a Bodie transient and/or a method for imparting a snap accel to such engine at an increased stall margin therefor, according to the present invention, while retaining the conventional method of fuel flow scheduling.

Compressor vane control for gas turbine engines

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


A fusible link includes a fuse portion that has a first resistance portion and a second resistance portion which are formed of a fusible metal conductor. The first resistance portion has a fusible portion which is provided in proximity to a connecting portion of the first resistance portion with the second resistance portion. The fusible link further includes a metal chip whose melting point is lower than a melting point of the fusible metal conductor. A ratio of resistance values of the first resistance portion and the second resistance portion is set so that a heat concentration portion of the fuse portion whose temperature is increased by an overcurrent in a rare-short-circuit range is shifted to a part of the first resistance portion which excepts the fusible portion.

The present invention relates to a fusible link and more particularly to a fusible link which is not fused or melted by an overcurrent in a rare-short-circuit range.
Conventionally, fusible links (F/L) with an overcurrent of 200% or more of a conducted, or rated, current have been used as a protective fuse for an electric circuit such as a motor load circuit through which an overcurrent flows. For this purpose, fusible links with an overcurrent of 200% or more have been demanded to efficiently protect such an electric circuit when a burst current (a dead-short-circuit occurs) is generated. Namely, a current range is divided based on a boundary value. A current flowing at the boundary value is as large as twice a rated value. A dead-short-circuit range is a current range larger than the boundary value and a rare-short-circuit range is a current range smaller than the boundary value. A fuse having characteristics which are effective for both the dead-short-circuit range and the rare-short-circuit range is demanded.
When a large overcurrent flows as when a dead-short-circuit occurs, a fusible link needs to ensure the interruption of a load circuit before the circuit is damaged or a lead wire connected to the load circuit is fused or fumes. In addition, for example, when an electric powered window of a motor vehicle is opened or closed, although a motor lock current, in an intermediate current range, flows through a circuit with an overcurrent of 200% or less for on the order of about 10 seconds, the circuit needs to be prevented from being interrupted easily even though the motor lock current flows frequently.
As a fuse having characteristics like those described above, there has been proposed a fuse which includes a pair of connecting portions which are opposed to each other, and a fusible element portion (a fuse portion) which is provided at an intermediate portion of one of the connecting portions and fixes a metal chip by a surrounding attachment portion (refer to Patent Document 1, for example). Here, the metal chip is a linear material which is produced by extruding a low melting point metal into a linear shape and cutting it to a predetermined length, and the fusible element portion is made up of a plate-shaped fusible metallic conductor. A base material of the fusible element portion is an alloy of copper which constitutes a conductor wire, and the fusible element portion is made to be fused momentarily when a large current flows through a cross-sectional area which is smaller than an other portion. On the other hand, the material of the metal chip is tin (Sn) whose melting point is lower than that of copper (Cu), and when electrified, the metal chip heats and melts to be dispersed within the fusible element portion for formation of an alloy phase. Therefore, in the small current range to intermediate current range, the fusible element portion is fused in the alloy phase whose resistance is higher than that of the copper alloy which constitutes the base material thereof. In this way, the fuse having the low melting point metal such as tin or alloy containing tin as its main constituent changes its fusing time with respect to conducted current depending upon the mass of tin. Conventionally, the fuse of this type utilizes a solid metal chip, and the fusing characteristics thereof have been controlled by changing the dimensions of the solid metal chip utilized.
In the conventional fuse that has been described above, however, when an overcurrent in the rare-short-circuit range (for example, a small current range when overcurrent is on the order of 110%) flows, the dispersion of tin is progressed by Joule heat and the alloy phase is formed, whereby the fuse becomes easy to be fused or heated. Because of this, it becomes difficult for the fuse to be kept unmelted for a long period of time (for example, 10 hours or longer).
[Patent Document 1] JP-A-5-166453


System and method for generating meta-data for a product is disclosed. An artifact repository stores first artifacts for building the product. The artifact repository stores first meta-data for one or more of the artifacts in the repository. A build manager builds second artifacts for the product from source code and one or more of the first artifacts based on information in a project script. The build manager is adapted to combine the first meta-data for each of the one or more of the first artifacts used to build the second artifact to form second meta-data for each of the second artifacts.

Software development is complex and expensive. Many techniques have been developed to attempt to reduce the complexity, produce more reliable software, and reduce the expense.
Many software development projects use a waterfall development process. A waterfall process is a sequential software development process, that has, for example, phases of conception, initiation, analysis, design, construction, testing, production and maintenance. The waterfall development process has been very successful, especially for large projects in which the final product is well-defined and unlikely to change significantly once finished. The waterfall process, however, is not suitable for software that is continuously being improved, because each improvement has to go through all of the stages above before finally being incorporated into the product. The waterfall process leads to a sequential approach in which each new feature to be added to the product must be added in sequence and tested before the next feature can be started.
In recent years, software projects have become larger, relying on large stable, prewritten components being connected together to form the software. Each of the prewritten components may gradually evolve as bugs are fixed and new functionality is added. However, the basic functionality of each prewritten component remains the same. Thus, software development is about connecting together these prewritten components and checking that the changes to the prewritten components do not adversely affect the software as a whole. Any software project may comprise a large number of these prewritten components, all of which may be constantly evolving. The waterfall process is a slow and expensive method to test and deploy software written in the above manner, causing unnecessary delays in the time it takes a customer to receive updated software that is more reliable and has more features.

Meta-data for single development test environment


A method and apparatus for cleaning surfaces to absolute or near-absolute cleanliness involves spraying jets of heated cleaning solution so that it flows over and scrubs the surfaces to be cleaned. The cleaning solution is continuously recirculated and filtered during cleaning to remove over 99% of all particles having a diameter equal to or greater than 0.02.mu.. The cleaned surface is rinsed with heated, filtered deionized water and dried to provide a surface having absolute or nearly-absolute cleanliness to the limit of the best commercial instrumentation, e.g., .ltoreq. five particles with a diameter of .gtoreq.0.02.mu. per cubic foot of gas flowed over a cleaned surface as detected by a laser particle counter. The method is useful for cleaning gas valves and regulators and components thereof as well as existing gas flow equipment, for example, for use in semiconductor processing equipment. The cleaned surfaces are sterile and therefore also useful in the health and pharmaceutical industries.

During the past ten years the requirements for cleanliness in semiconductor processing equipment have increased at least a hundred times. In the past three years alone requirements have increased ten fold. There is little doubt that the industry will need "absolute" cleanliness, that is to the limit of current measurement, in the next several years.
Semiconductor feature sizes have been cut in half in the past few years and packing densities have doubled or tripled in the same time period. It also appears that the rate of change is accelerating rather than holding at past rates. With these changes, the problems caused by contamination in semiconductor processing become even more serious.
Cleanliness is also important in the health and pharmaceutical industries, driven by the need to reduce the contamination of treatment processes. In view of these requirements, there is a need for gas flow equipment such as valves and regulators, for use in semiconductor processing and in the health and pharmaceutical industries, which is cleaned to previously unheard of levels.
In the past, such components have been cleaned almost universally by use of solvents. In addition to the problems of atmospheric pollution and operator health hazards, solvents do not clean absolutely. They leave films and particle residuals. Ultrasonic cleaning may also drive particles into crevices in instrument parts, for a later release. Chlorofluorocarbon cleaning solvents sold under the trademark Freon are examples of known cleaning solvents as well as 1,1,1-trichloroethane and methylene chloride.
Currently available, specialty-cleaned, double-bagged regulators and valves (off-the-shelf) cleaned with conventional solvents and methods have been tested for cleanliness by passing dry nitrogen gas, filtered through a 0.01 .mu. filter, through the components and then through a laser particle counter for detecting particles. The results showed particle counts of 100 to 1,000 or more particles of 0.1 .mu. diameter or larger per cubic foot of gas flow. These dirty or contaminated components will not clean up once installed in a gas flow system even though large amounts of dry nitrogen or argon gas are passed through the system. Thus, the components become sources of contamination during semiconductor wafer manufacture or other associated process.
The lack of cleanliness of the components cleaned by conventional solvents, methods and apparatus is also problematical where active ions and organic contamination such as organic films remain on the components. Active ions, e.g. metallic ions, can adversely affect the process in which the equipment is to be used. Organic contamination will not show up in the aforementioned particle count with a laser particle counter but can react in a treatment process to produce harmful effects.
In the past it has been postulated that such residual contamination was due to "shedding" of particles from a soft seat. Applicant's research in connection with the present invention has shown this not to be true and that an absolute level of cleanliness can be achieved by means of the present invention.
It is well known to use of choline (trimethylhydroxyethylammonium hydroxide) and hydrogen peroxide in a de-ionized water solution for cleaning silicon wafers in semiconductor production. One early formulation was known as the "RCA" cleaning method because of its discovery at RCA many years ago. Japanese Patents 63-114,128 and 63-272,149 involve similar solutions, in some cases with the addition of a surfactant.
Choline based cleaning is excellent for silicon wafers. However, the results of research by applicant in connection with the present invention indicate that choline gives poor results when cleaning stainless steel and plastic. Choline is unstable at the high processing temperatures required for stainless steel cleaning with the method of the present invention as discussed below. Also, hydrogen peroxide cannot be safely heated to near boiling temperatures in a mixture with an organic solute. An "RCA" type bath must necessarily be used at bath temperatures under 50.degree. C.
German Patent DE 3,610,592 discloses a sprayable oven and grill cleaner for removing baked on food residues wherein tetraalkyl ammonium hydroxide is substituted for the usual sodium hydroxide with the solvent of plain water, not de-ionized water. This strong, but crude cleaner is not applicable to instrument products for obtaining absolute or near-absolute cleanliness.

Method and apparatus for cleaning surfaces to absolute or near-absolute cleanliness