The present disclosure relates to a method and/or engine controller and/or article comprising a storage medium having stored thereon instructions that when executed by a machine estimate air fractions in internal combustion engines with dual-loop EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) systems for supporting multiple alternative combustion modes.

Internal combustion engine emission regulations are becoming increasingly stringent. Using multiple combustion modes in internal combustion engines has been considered as a means to reduce emissions and to simultaneously maintain the functionality of the exhaust treatment systems. More sophisticated alternative combustion modes such as low temperature combustion (LTC), homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI), and premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI) are being developed and implemented on these engines along with conventional combustion in an attempt to meet emission regulations while maintaining desired performance levels.
Internal combustion engines may be understood to include both spark ignition (including direct ignition) and compression ignition (e.g., diesel) engines. Direct ignition may be understood as a type of spark ignition where each cylinder has a dedicated coil rather than energy from a single coil distributed to multiple cylinders. LTC may be understood to include combustion with a flame local temperature in the range of about 1400° K to about 2200° K (as compared to combustion with a flame local temperature in the range of about 1800° K to about 3600° K). PCCI may be understood to include ignition where fuel and air may be mixed prior to injection into a combustion chamber. HCCI may be understood to be a type of PCCI where the fuel and air mixture is relatively homogeneous at the time of ignition. It may be appreciated that LTC may produce relatively lower levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter than relatively higher temperature combustion. NOx may be understood to include NO and NO2. As used herein, "about" may be understood to mean±10%.
In addition to alternative combustion modes, it is contemplated that alternative and/or additional fuels may also be used to optimize performance while reducing or maintaining engine-out emissions. For example, in addition to hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline or diesel fuel. It may also include biodiesel (a diesel-equivalent processed fuel derived from biological sources such as vegetable oils) as well as other alternative fuels which are capable of combustion.
To reduce the engine-out emissions, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) has been increasingly implemented on internal combustion engines. For some alternative combustion modes such as PCCI and HCCI, a dual-loop EGR system (e.g., a high-pressure loop and a low-pressure loop) may be desirable in order to offer a sufficient amount of EGR gas to control engine-out emissions. The properties of the EGR gases from the high-pressure loop and low-pressure loop may be different due to cooling and filtering effects. For example, the low-pressure loop may receive exhaust gas from downstream of a turbocharger and after-treatment so that such gas is relatively cool and relatively clean. The high-pressure loop, on the other hand, may receive exhaust gas from upstream of the turbocharger and after-treatment so that such gas is relatively warm and relatively unclean. Some engines may have both a low-pressure loop EGR and a high-pressure loop EGR system.
Dual-loop EGR systems may also enhance the operation of alternative combustion engines. Emission and control requirements of alternative combustion engines may vary with operating conditions, e.g., speed-load relationship. For example, the relatively higher temperature HP-EGR gas may help stabilize combustion for relatively light or low load conditions. Similarly, the relatively clean, filtered LP-EGR gas with high mass air flow rate may help reduce NOx emissions for relatively heavy or high load conditions.
The dual-loop EGR system may introduce challenges for an engine control system because of a lack of measurement of the EGR/air rate in the intake manifold and a lack of measurement of the ratio of high-pressure EGR gas to low-pressure EGR gas. It may therefore be desirable to estimate the air fractions in all intake and exhaust sections of an engine in order to provide closed-loop control of the EGR rate, high-pressure EGR amount and low-pressure EGR amount. Air fraction may be understood to mean the fraction of a measured gas that is air. An air fraction of one may correspond to 100% air and an air fraction of zero may correspond to 0% air.
For example, for diesel engines, combustion is generally complete and the air to fuel ratio is typically lean. Complete combustion may be understood to mean substantially all of the fuel is burned so no unburned fuel remains. Air to fuel ratio (AFR or λ) may be defined as the mass ratio of air to fuel present during combustion. As used herein, both AFR and λ may be understood to mean the air to fuel ratio.
A stoichiometric mixture may be defined as chemically balanced, i.e., all the fuel is combined with all the oxygen. If the air-fuel ratio is greater than the stoichiometric amount, the mixture may be said to be lean, i.e., more air than fuel. Likewise, if the air-fuel ratio is less than the stoichiometric amount, the mixture may be said to be rich, i.e., more fuel than air. Accordingly, in a diesel engine, the air to fuel ratio is typically greater than the stoichiometric amount, i.e., lean. The exhaust gas may, therefore, contain unburned air that may be returned or recirculated to an intake manifold through one or more EGR systems. Because the combustion is generally complete, the exhaust gas may not contain unburned fuel.

Air fraction estimation for internal combustion engines with dual-loop EGR systems


Methods and structures are disclosed demultiplexing optical signals transmitted over an optical fiber into a silicon substrate and to multiple detectors. The silicon substrate has two spaced-apart surfaces and a diffractive element disposed adjacent to one of the surfaces. Each of the optical signals corresponds to one of multiple wavelengths. The optical signals are directed into the silicon substrate along a path through the first surface to be incident on the diffractive element. The path is oriented generally normal with the first surface and/or with the diffractive element, which angularly separates the optical signals such that each of the wavelengths traverses through the substrate in a wavelength dependent direction to the first surface. Each optical signal is steered from the first surface towards the second surface to be incident on different optical elements that direct them generally normal to the first surface to be incident on one of the detectors.

This application relates generally to optical routing. More specifically, this application relates to passive optical networks.
Fiber-optic telecommunications systems are currently deploying wavelength division multiplexing ("WDM") as a mechanism for expanding the capacity of new and existing optical fiber systems. In WDM, multiple wavelengths of radiation simultaneously transport information through a single optical fiber. Each wavelength operates as an individual channel carrying a stream of data.
A passive optical network ("PON") is a communications architecture in which each single optical fiber transmits multiple channels of information in this way as distinct wavelengths of radiation. The network is termed "passive" because the wavelengths are combined (multiplexed) and separated (demultiplexed) using wavelength-selective splitters or couplers rather than active switching or variable routing components. One example of a PON is the distribution of video (television, cable TV, and/or video downloads), analog or digital telephone (local, long-distance, and/or VoIP), and digital computer data (Internet or network connectivity) from a service provider to a multiplicity of subscribers via optical fiber-to-the-premises ("FTTP" or "FTTx") connections. At or near each subscriber/user location along such a PON, it is generally necessary to receive and demultiplex two or three incoming optical signals from a single optical fiber. This may be done at relatively wide wavelength spacing compared with the dense wavelength division multiplexing that is used for long-haul transmissions. At least on optical signal is multiplexed and transmitted back into the optical fiber at a distinct wavelength.
For example, in one implementation, downstream traffic is provided on a 1490-nm channel and upstream traffic is provided on a 1310-nm channel. In another implementation, an additional 1550-nm band is allocated for downstream rf video traffic.
There are a number of different PON standards in existence. The ITU-T G.983 standard defines standards for ATM PONs ("APON") and broadband PONs ("BPON"). These represent the earliest PON standards, with BPON building on the APON standard to provide support for wavelength division multiplexing as well as better upstream bandwidth allocation. There has been more recent interest in the ITU-T G.984 standard, which supports higher rates and enhanced security as a further evolution of the BPON standard. In addition, the IEEE 802.3ah standard provides a standard for using Ethernet for packet data. Emerging approaches for providing customers with the "triple-play" of services described above over a common system or network require data-transfer rates in the gigabit/second (Gb/s) range or higher, which can be most easily achieved using optical rather than electronic ("copper") transmission lines, leading to the nomenclature "GPON" for gigabit passive optical networks.
In implementing any of these various PONs, there is a general need for structures to manage the transmission of the different signals, both downstream and upstream. Current implementations suffer from a number of deficiencies. For example, persistent concerns with structures that are used exist in the isolation of the different wavelengths, the need to control the absorption of stray radiation, and the cost of fabrication.

Method and apparatus for demultiplexing optical signals in a passive optical network


A novel gene designated as FRAG1 from and its encoded protein is disclosed. A fusion protein called FGFR2-ROS, which is formed by chromosomal rearrangement of rat FRAG1 with FGFR2 is also disclosed. Methods of producing FRAG1 protein, related fusion proteins, and antibodies against FRAG1 are disclosed, as are related pharmaceuticals and methods of using such nucleic acids, polypeptides, and antibodies are also disclosed.

This invention relates to a novel gene that activates Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 2 (FGFR2).
The fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are a family of related proteins with roles in mitogenesis, differentiation, wound healing, and organogenesis (Basilico et al. Adv. Cancer Res. 59:115-165, 1992). The biological responses of FGFs are mediated through specific high-affinity receptor tyrosine kinases (Givol and Yayon, FASEB J. 6:3362-3369, 1992). Four distinct classes of fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) that encode structurally related proteins have been identified: FGFR1/F1g, FGFR2/Bek, FGFR3, and FGFR4 (Dionne et al., EMBO J. 9:2685-2692, 1990); Miki et al., Science 251:72-75, 1991; Keegan et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:1095-1099, 1991; and Partanen et al., EMBO J. 10:1347-1354, 1992).
Activating mutations (i.e. mutations, leading to highly phosphorylated receptors, that are associated with various cancer states) in transmembrane domains of EGF receptor and FGFR3 were reported in rat leukemia and human achondroplasia, respectively (Ben-Levy et al., J. Biol. Chem. 267:17304-17313, 1992; and Shiang et al., Cell, 78:335-342, 1994). Furthermore, several growth factor receptors have been found to be activated by chromosomal rearrangement in cancer cells (Sawyers et al., Cell 77:171-173, 1994), including EGFR in leukemias, NGFR (TRK) in colon and thyroid carcinomas, HGFR (MET) in gastric carcinomas, RET in thyroid carcinomas, ALK in lymphomas, and PDGFRβ in myeloid leukemias.
One chromosomal rearrangement associated with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia was shown to create an expressed fusion between a novel gene sequence, tel, and the tyrosine kinase domain of the growth factor receptor PDGFRβ (Golub et al., Cell 77:307-316, 1994). tel appears to be a member of the ets gene family, members of which encode transcription factors. Genes other than growth factor receptors (GFRs), are activated and cause tumorigenesis by gene fusions resulting from chromosomal arrangement. For example, a majority of the cases of chronic myeloma leukemia (CML) contain a chromosomal rearrangement between chromosome 9 and 22 (t(9;22)(q34;q11) that results in a fusion of the oncogene α-abl, a cytoplasmic kinase, to bcr, which promotes myeloid tumorigenesis and is used as a diagnostic for the malignancy (Bernards et al., Mol. Cell Biol. 7:3231-3236, 1987; and Konopka et al., Proc. Nat'l. Acad. Sci. 82:1810-1813, 1985).

Fibroblast growth factor receptor activating gene 1 and related compositions and methods

The Government of the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services


A light emitting material included in a light emitting device. The light emitting material includes a conjugated polymer having a conjugated part and a blue light emitting compound having a blue light emitting part and satisfies the following formula y≧log10(5.1×x0.2+1), wherein y represents the amount of light emitted by the blue light emitting compound where the total amount of light emitted by the conjugated polymer and the blue light emitting compound in the light emitting material due to excitation caused by light having a wavelength of 370 nm is 1, and provided that the gram light absorption coefficient of the conjugated polymer and the blue light emitting compound in the light emitting material are expressed by ε1 and ε2, and further the content of the blue light emitting compound is expressed by P2 (parts by mass) where the total content of the conjugated polymer and the blue light emitting compound in the light emitting material is 100 parts by mass, x is defined by the formula: X=(ε2/ε1)×P2 corresponds to x.

In recent years, an organic EL display using an organic electroluminescence (EL) device has been attracting attention as a next-generation display. This organic EL device has organic layers such as a light emitting layer and a charge transport layer. The organic EL device may be made of a small molecule organic material, a polymeric organic material, or a composition containing both the organic materials. The use of the polymeric organic material as a principal material is advantageous when producing a large display or the like because a homogenous film can be formed when a coating method such as ink-jetting, spin coating or the like is used (Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

Light emitting material, ink composition, thin film, light emitting device and method for manufacturing light emitting device


An orbiter floor machine for treating floors, the floor machine having a top-hat-like housing with a handle extending upwardly toward a user. The floor machine includes a motor having a rotatable drive shaft extending therefrom, the drive shaft having a shaft axis. An annular flywheel has an axial opening that fixedly receives the drive shaft so that rotation of the drive shaft causes rotation of the flywheel. A bearing assembly has an eccentric aperture through which the drive shaft extends such that the bearing assembly has an axis that is radially spaced from the shaft axis. The bearing assembly is secured to the flywheel such that the rotation of the flywheel causing the bearing assembly to orbitally rotate such that the bearing axis orbits about the drive shaft axis. A counterbalance weight is secured to an outside perimeter of the flywheel in a position opposite to the bearing assembly axis with respect to the shaft axis. The forces caused by the orbiting motion of the weight acts to counterbalance the forces caused by the orbiting motion of the bearing assembly. A brush carrier is secured to the bearing assembly such that the brush carrier orbitally rotates with the bearing assembly. A brush ring is secured to the brush carrier to transmit the orbital rotation into an effective floor-scrubbing action. The weight of the non-rotating parts is made larger than the weight of the rotating parts to minimize the effect of the rotating parts being slightly out-of-balance. The location of the drive shaft within the bearing assembly permits the rotating parts to be located as close as possible to the surface to be treated such that force moments or out-of-balance conditions caused by engagement of the brush ring with the floor will not be transmitted in a significant manner to the handle of the machine.

Floor treating machines have been used for many years to polish floors and/or clean carpets. Such machines typically include a top-hat-like hollow housing with an elongated handle angled upwardly toward a user. Attached to the housing is a motor having a rotatable drive shaft that extends through the housing and is connected to a circular brush ring. The brush ring may include cleaning bristles, coarse or smooth pads, or any other surface for cleaning or polishing depending on the type of floor to be cleaned or polished.
In these prior art machines, the motor drive shaft is coaxially connected to the brush ring. When the motor rotates the drive shaft, the coaxial connection causes the brush ring to rotate identically with the shaft. While this rotational motion adequately polishes floors, a back-and-forth scrubbing motion is more effective for cleaning. When using the prior art machines, the user must manually move the entire machine back and forth to create the desired scrubbing motion. Such manual motion takes much effort and still inadequately cleans because of the inability of a user to manually move the machine back and forth fast enough to thoroughly clean the floor.
To overcome some of the disadvantages of these prior art machines, the assignee of the present invention previously developed and sold a small ten-inch diameter floor machine that provides an orbital motion to its brush ring. In that machine, the motor was mounted directly on the machine housing with a drive shaft extending through the housing. A bearing assembly was eccentrically mounted on the drive shaft such that the bearing assembly rotated and moved orbitally about the motor shaft. A brush ring carrier was attached to the bearing assembly by screws to translate the rotational and orbital motion to the brush ring. A series of small, flat washers, each having a radial side more heavily weighted that its opposite side, were placed between the bearing assembly and the motor to counterbalance the orbital motion of the brush ring caused by the eccentric mounting of the bearing assembly.
The design of the previous orbiter floor machine sold by the assignee of the present invention worked adequately for a small 10-inch machine, but the design could not be used for larger machines such as the 17-, 20-, and 24-inch machines commonly available (size refers to the diameter of the brush ring used). In such larger machines, the small washers of the small machine could not sufficiently counterbalance the force caused by the orbital motion. Such washers have a substantial portion of their weight centrally located such that the weight of the washers needed to counterbalance the increased radius of the brush tings of the larger machines is much greater that would be the case for a counterbalance weight located further from the shaft. If more washers are added to provide the necessary counterbalancing weight, the counterbalancing forces will act on a plane at a substantial distance from the forces at the brush ring that are intended to be counterbalance. As a result, the system becomes out-of-balance and unstable with vibrations being transmitted to the user.


There is disclosed a radio node for a wireless communication network, the radio node being adapted for processing reference signaling based on a coding, the coding being based on a Golay sequence. The disclosure also pertains to related devices and methods.

In modern wireless communication systems, different kinds of reference signaling are utilised, e.g. synchronisation signaling, demodulation signaling, etc. Such reference signaling may cover a large frequency range (bandwidth), and may have to be provided under heavy load conditions. Due to its importance for facilitating efficient communication, reference signaling should be easy to identify and in particular should have good interference characteristics and/or be easy to identify.


A document shredder for destroying a generally rectangular document and having feed rollers for engaging a marginal portion of a document and simultaneously spirally coiling the document into a generally cylindrical form while advancing the document in an axial direction. A rotary shredding mechanism cuts the leading end portion of the document as it is advanced by the feed rollers. The shredding mechanism may be arranged to cut the advancing document along a line of shear spaced inward of the leading edge of the leading end portion to trim successive strips from the leading end of the document. The shredding mechanism may also include chipping mechanism for reducing each strip to smaller bits as the strip is formed. The shredding mechanism may also include a rotary cutting element for cutting a series of generally parallel cuts in the document extending inward of the leading edge to form a succession of flag-like projections at the leading edge of the document which are thereafter sheared from the document by the shredding mechanism.

This invention relates in general to apparatus and method for destroying documents and the like and deals more particularly with an improved document shredding machine and method.
Machines for destroying classified documents and other confidential papers have gained widespread acceptance by government agencies, industry and business. However, the majority of these machines are large complex mechanisms designed for high speed operation to destroy large volumes of material and are relatively costly to produce. Such machines as have been provided for desktop operation are also relatively expensive to produce, require considerable desk space and do not adequately satisfy the need of the homeowner or small business establishment for an inexpensive compact machine suitable for light duty operation.
It is the general aim of the present invention to provide an improved document shredding method and an improved lightweight, compact, document shredding machine of simple durable construction which may be produced at low cost for light duty desktop operation.


Launch and recovery of an aerial vehicle by a forwardly moving surface vehicle relies on a winch module having a winch to selectively reel out and reel in a towline and a sensor capable of sensing tension in the towline. A lifting body assembly having a pair of lifting bodies and a snagging wire is connected to the towline. The lifting bodies lift and laterally extend the snagging wire between the lifting bodies. An aerial vehicle flying through the air engages the snagging wire by a hook. A first signal representative of tension of the towline causes the winch to reel in the towline and to bring the aerial vehicle to the surface vehicle, and a second sensor associated with the hook generates a second signal representative of tension in the hook and causes the aerial vehicle to cut its motor.

This invention relates to a method of launching and recovering fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). More particularly, this invention integrates proven aerodynamic designs and controllable tether mechanisms on unmanned platforms to launch and recover fixed wing aerial craft.
Currently, fixed wing UAVs are difficult to launch and recover from ships at sea. The most prominent past example was a system of the 1980s which the U.S. Navy designated Pioneer. The Pioneer UAV was launched from U.S. battleships with what was called rocket assisted take off (RATO) and recovered in a net mounted on the side of the ship. All the structure associated with RATO made it cumbersome, and the recovery via the net worked only for pusher-propeller UAVs. Consequently, even if fixed-wing UAVs could be launched from ships at sea, recovery would not be available for most types of fixed wing UAVs.
These limitations have resulted in predominant reliance on rotorcraft UAVs for maritime operations. However, this reliance on rotorcraft UAVs significantly limits operational capabilities and utility. In other words, the extended capabilities of many fixed wing UAVs currently can't be exploited since many existing UAV designs can't be dependably recovered at sea without requiring special configurations such as pusher propellers, or other extensive modifications.
Thus, a need has been recognized in the state of the art for an improved system and method for launching and recovering fixed wing UAVs using USVs to allow more widespread use of contempory UAV designs.

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


An assembly having a dual barrier gasket located at an interface between a first body and a second body is disclosed. The dual barrier gasket may include a substantially cylindrical inner surface. The dual barrier gasket may further include a gasket outer surface that is configured to provide an inner sealing barrier and an outer sealing barrier, where a first tangent plane to a portion of the outer sealing barrier is radially offset from a second tangent plane to a portion of the inner sealing barrier. The gasket outer surface may include a first port and a second port. A channel may extend from the first port through the dual barrier gasket to the second port. The first body (or the second body) include a channel extending from a cavity between the two sealing barriers of the dual barrier gasket and the first body (or the second body) to an external port.

The present disclosure relates generally to gaskets and, more particularly, to dual barrier gaskets.
Gaskets are commonly used in a number of industries for sealing a variety of equipment, such as valves. In the production of oil and gas in the field, a number of valves are often used with a well tree at a well head to control fluid flow associated with the well. Another valve, such as a down-hole safety valve (DHSV), also known as a sub-surface safety valve (SSSV), is positioned down the well to provide closure under emergency conditions.
In subsea well applications, industry standards require at least two sealing barriers between the flow bore, which contains production fluid, and the exterior environment for openings located before the first wing valve of the subsea tree. This same requirement may also be imposed on surface equipment by customers. However, tree gate valve bonnet flanges and piping outlet flanges typically associated with well tree equipment are usually equipped with gaskets providing only a singly sealing barrier. In the past, to meet the two-barrier industry standard, some have considered the lower master valve at the well tree to be a second barrier, and the DHSV or SSSV has been considered to be the first barrier. But this design approach provides two sealing barriers only when the DHSV or SSSV is closed. When the DHSV or SSSV is open, the conventional gaskets of the well tree are the only barrier between the production fluid and the environment. Conventional gaskets only provide one barrier. In such conditions, that approach fails to meet the two-barrier standard and renders the well vulnerable to leakage and potentially disastrous events. Some have addressed this issue by adding a second outer gasket to the flange that encompasses a smaller inner gasket. This has the disadvantage that the larger, outer gasket will require a much large flange and flange retention means, such as bolting size or clamp size.


A high-voltage super junction device is disclosed. The device includes a semiconductor substrate region having a first conductivity type and having neighboring trenches disposed therein. The neighboring trenches each have trench sidewalls and a trench bottom surface. A region having a second conductivity type is disposed in or adjacent to a trench and meets the semiconductor substrate region at a p-n junction. A gate electrode is formed on the semiconductor substrate region and is electrically isolated from the semiconductor substrate region by a gate dielectric. A body region having the second conductivity type is disposed on opposite sides of the gate electrode near a surface of the semiconductor substrate. A source region having the first conductivity type is disposed within in the body region on opposite sides of the gate electrode near the surface of the semiconductor substrate.

A power MOSFET is a specific type of metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) designed to handle significant power levels. The power MOSFET is the most widely used low-voltage (that is, less than 200 V) switch. It can be found in most power supplies, DC to DC converters, and low voltage motor controllers.
For higher voltages, such as above 500 V, some manufacturers have begun to use charge compensation or "super junction" techniques. By using such techniques, the resistance in epitaxial layers, which can be the largest resistance contributor in high voltage MOSFETs, can be reduced by a factor of greater than 5 compared to conventional techniques.
Engineers have developed deep trench super junction devices in an attempt to further enhance device performance. However, these conventional deep trench super junction devices suffer from shortcomings.

High-voltage super junction by trench and epitaxial doping

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


Development of silver halide photosensitive material with a developer containing a developing agent and a free sulfite is accompanied by deposition of silver sludge. Silver sludge is effectively suppressed by adding to the developer (a) a six-membered heterocyclic compound which has a six-membered ring containing two nitrogen atoms and has a mercapto group, a hydroxyl group and one or two substituents having 2 to 20 carbon atoms in total or (a') a six-membered heterocyclic compound which has a six-membered ring containing three nitrogen atoms and has a mercapto group and a hydroxyl group.

In general, automatic developing machines or processors are often utilized for the development of silver halide photosensitive material from the standpoints of quickness and ease of operation and handling. The processors involve a series of steps of development, fixation, washing and drying. There is an increasing demand for more rapid development. One typical means for accelerating development is to increase the activity of developer. For the rapid development of black-and-white photosensitive material, the activity of developer may be increased by increasing the concentration of a developing agent or increasing the pH of the developer. It is, however, difficult to maintain the developer active because the developer undergoes substantial degradation by air oxidation. Another approach for rapid processing is made from the aspect of photosensitive material. Reducing the thickness of photosensitive material (e.g., protective layer) is effective for rapid processing.
It is well known from early days to use sulfites in order to prevent degradation of developer. When the sulfites which are capable of dissolving silver halides are added to developer, silver can be dissolved from the photosensitive material into the developer as a silver sulfite complex. As the silver complex is reduced in the developer, silver gradually deposits and accumulates on the developing tank and rollers. This is known as silver sludge or stain. Since silver sludge can deposit on photosensitive material being processed thus staining images, the processor should be washed at intervals, that is, periodic maintenance is necessary. If the amount of sulfite added is increased, the amount of dissolving out silver sulfite complex is also increased and the degree of silver sludging is accordingly increased, offsetting the benefits of rapid processing.
One known method for reducing silver sludging is by adding a compound capable of diminishing silver ions dissolving into the developer and/or controlling reduction of silver ions into silver as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication (JP-A) No. 24347/1981. This method, however, inevitably retards development itself and lowers sensitivity. Such a sensitivity lowering is a serious drawback for a photosensitive material/development system which is desired to have as high sensitivity as possible. Although it is quite effective for rapid processing to reduce the thickness of photosensitive material (e.g., protective layer), processing of such relatively thin photosensitive material through the processor on the running mode suffers from the problem that more silver ions are dissolved into the developer, aggravating silver sludging. The method of JP-A 24347/1981 is insufficient in preventing silver sludging. There is a desire for a further improvement.
Japanese Patent Publication (JP-B) Nos. 46585/1981 and 28495/1987 disclose another method for reducing silver sludging by adding select compounds. The compounds described therein have an improved anti-sludging function, but they are not necessarily stable and would immediately lose their activity in the system where the developer is subject to air oxidation. There is a need for a further improvement.
Mercaptopyrimidine compounds are known from early days and some have been utilized in the photographic art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,240,603 and UK Patent No. 957,807 utilize mercaptopyrimidine compounds as fixing agents for silver halides. High pH solutions of mercaptopyrimidine compounds in high concentrations are effective fixers. In fact, at least 8 grams of mercaptopyrimidine compound is used in U.S. Pat. No. 3,240,603.
JP-B 24464/1985 utilizes mercaptopyrimidine compounds in bleach-fixing solution for promoting bleaching action.
German Pat. No. 21 26 297 utilizes mercaptopyrimidine compounds in the second developer of a color reversal system for the purpose of increasing the sensitivity thereof. Exemplary is 2-mercapto-4-hydroxy-6-methylpyrimidine. Evaluating this compound, the inventors found that it is effective for preventing silver sludge from depositing, but to a less extent. There is a need for a further improvement.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,199 utilizes mercaptopyrimidine derivatives in the second developer of a color reversal system for the purpose of improving photographic properties. Exemplary is 2-mercapto-4-hydroxy-6-aminopyrimidine. Evaluating this compound, the inventors found that it does not have a satisfactory function of preventing silver sludge.
JP-A 204037/1984 utilizes heterocyclic mercapto compounds in black-and-white developer at pH 11.5 or higher for the purpose of preventing silver sludging. One exemplified compound is 2-mercapto-4-hydroxypyrimidine. Testing this compound, we found that it is not necessarily effective for preventing silver sludging.
JP-B 35493/1973 utilizes heterocyclic mercapto compounds in developers for preventing silver sludging. Exemplary is 2-mercapto-4-hydroxy-6-methylpyrimidine. It is effective for preventing silver sludge from depositing to a less extent as mentioned above.
UK Pat. No. 1,296,161 uses mercaptopyrimidine derivatives in developers of the silver salt diffusion transfer type for the purpose of preventing silver sludging. Exemplary is 2-mercapto-4-hydroxy-6-carboxyquinazoline. Evaluating this compound, the inventors found that it does not have a satisfactory function of preventing silver sludge.
As mentioned above, there are known a number of examples utilizing mercaptopyrimidine compounds in processing solution. Several mercaptopyrimidine compounds are used as fixers in concentrated high pH solution form while some are known as agents for preventing silver sludge. Since heretofore known mercaptopyrimidine compounds are not fully effective for preventing silver sludge, there is a need for a substantial improvement.
JP-B 121854/1989 discloses a black-and-white developer which contains an amino or heterocyclic compound having a group capable of adsorbing silver halide for achieving improved photographic quality and preventing black pepper. Exemplary are 1-morpholinopropyl-5-mercaptotetrazole and 1-morpholinoethyl-2-mercaptoimidazole. These compounds were not found to be fully effective for preventing silver sludge.
Several mercaptotriazine compounds have been used in the photographic art. JP-B 24464/1985 uses a mercaptotriazine in a bleach-fixer for promoting bleaching. JP-A 5334/1974 adds a heterocyclic mercapto compound to a lith developer to thereby remove trailing of photographic high contrast photosensitive material. Exemplary is 2,4,6-trimercapto-1,3,6-triazine. JP-A 204037/1984 discloses a black-and-white developer at pH 11.5 or higher which contains a heterocyclic mercapto compound, for example, 2,4-dimercapto-6-hydroxy-l,3,5-triazine for preventing silver sludge. JP-A 53244/1991 uses mercapto-1,3,5-triazine in a dveloper for preventing silver sludge. An example is 2,4-dimercapto-6-hydroxy-1,3,5-triazine again. Evaluating these compounds, we found that they do not have a satisfactory function of preventing silver sludge.
One prior art well-known image toner is 1-phenyl-5-mercaptotetrazole (see T. H. James, The Theory of the Photographic Process, Ch. 16, page 476) which greatly affects photographic properties such as fog, sensitivity and gradation. There is a desire for a method capable of approximating yellow brown color tone to completely neutral with minimal influence on photographic properties.

Development of silver halide photosensitive material and developer


A technique for communicating in a network management system is disclosed. The technique includes transferring information from an application server to a gateway that processes the information, transferring the gateway processed information from the gateway to a plurality of adapters associated with the gateway that process the gateway processed information, and transferring the adapter processed information from one of the adapters to a client.

Network management systems (NMS) facilitate the exchange of management information between Network Elements (NEs) and network administrators' Operations Support Systems (OSS). Network administrators can use an NMS to install and configure NEs, provision services, manage network performance, find and solve network problems, and plan for network growth. Network management systems today face many challenges as networks grow in size. Network management systems need to be scalable. For example, thousands of events can be generated when a fault is discovered at a network element. In a large network, a network management system can easily be overwhelmed. It would be desirable to develop a network management system that is robust, scalable, and capable of efficiently handling a growing network.


A stacked integrated circuit package-in-package system is provided forming a first integrated circuit spacer package including a mold compound with a recess provided therein, stacking the first integrated circuit spacer package on an integrated circuit die on a substrate with the recess positioned therebetween, and attaching a first electrical interconnect extending from the recess and connected between the integrated circuit die and the substrate.

Electronics demand more integrated circuits in an integrated circuit package while paradoxically providing less physical space in the system for the increased integrated circuits content. Some technologies primarily focus on integrating more functions into each integrated circuit. Other technologies focus on stacking these integrated circuits into a single package. While these approaches provide more functions within an integrated circuit, they do not fully address the requirements for lower height, smaller space, heat dissipation, and cost reduction.
Modern consumer electronics, such as smart phones, personal digital assistants, and location based services devices, as well as enterprise electronics, such as servers and storage arrays, are packing more integrated circuits into an ever shrinking physical space with expectations for decreasing cost. Numerous technologies have been developed to meet these requirements. Some of the research and development strategies focus on new package technologies while others focus on improving the existing and mature package technologies. Research and development in the existing package technologies may take a myriad of different directions.
One proven way to reduce cost is to use package technologies with existing manufacturing methods and equipments. Paradoxically, the reuse of existing manufacturing processes does not typically result in the reduction of package dimensions. Existing packaging technologies struggle to cost effectively meet the ever demanding integration of today's integrated circuits and packages.
Numerous package approaches stack multiple integrated circuit dice or package in package (PIP) or a combination. The electrical connections to the each of the stacked integrated circuit require space typically formed by spacers, such as silicon or interposers. Current spacers require additional steps and structures increasing manufacturing costs and decreasing manufacturing yields. These spacers also limit the amount of height reduction.
Thus, a need still remains for a stacked integrated circuit package system providing low cost manufacturing, improved yields, and reduce the integrated circuit package dimensions. In view of the ever-increasing need to save costs and improve efficiencies, it is more and more critical that answers be found to these problems.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.

Stacked integrated circuit package-in-package system with recessed spacer


Systems and methods for determining an extended low contrast detectability performance function for an operating range for a core operating mode of a radiographic imaging system using actual reconstructed images characterize the contrast performance of a radiographic imaging system over its operating range and for any patient size based on the off-line calibration, uses ordered pairs of flux index and contrast index for each scanned object to provide a contrast index for each protocol for each contrast set, and uses the ordered pairs of flux index and contrast index to determine an extended low contrast detectability performance function for the operating range of a radiographic imaging system. Extended low contrast detectability performance data compilation and methods of clinical use, and low contrast phantom configurations and methods of calibration are also disclosed.

Because radiographic imaging, including computed tomography (CT) has the capability of detecting small low contrast features, it has become an integral part of radiology medical practice, allowing medical practitioners to detect low contrast tumors and lesions in soft tissue anatomical regions including the brain and the liver. Low contrast detection is an important characteristic of diagnostic x-ray imaging methods. An important issue in radiology today is how to reduce the radiation dose during CT examinations without compromising the image quality. Generally, higher radiation doses result in the ability to detect lower contrast smaller objects, while lower doses lead to increased image noise. Increased radiation dosage increases the risk of radiation induced cancer.
The descriptions in this patent are focused on computed tomography (CT) but the application of the technology described is not limited to CT. The technology described can be applied to other radiographic imaging systems as well so that references in this patent to "CT" or "CT scanner" should be interpreted as applying to other radiographic imaging systems.
The ability of a CT system to differentiate a low-contrast object from its background is measured by its low contrast detectability (LCD). LCD is measured with phantoms that contain low-contrast objects of various sizes. Phantoms that produce low contrast objects by using materials with different densities are useful for testing conventional energy integrating CT scanners. Phantoms that produce low contrast objects using energy sensitive materials would allow performance testing for a dual energy scanner.
The low-contrast resolution of a CT scanner is generally defined as the smallest object that can be detected at a given contrast level and dose. The contrast level is usually specified as a percentage of the linear attenuation coefficient of water. A sample specification with the current method might be "4 mm at 0.3% contrast for 10 mm slice thickness at 30 mGy CTDIvol dose." Sometimes other dose metrics are used such as the surface dose measured at the outer surface of the phantom.
The current LCD specification is made at a single protocol in one of two ways:    1. human observation—reconstructed images are viewed by one or more human observers to determine the smallest pin that is visible in the opinion of the observer;    2. statistical method—an automated algorithm predicts from a flat "water" image the contrast required to detect a given size pin with a specified confidence interval.
In this description, it will be shown that the current LCD specification is inadequate in that it characterizes the performance of the CT scanner at only one protocol and that it is necessary to characterize the performance over an extended range including, for example, the full operating range of the scanner.
Contrast Index
In order to extend the measurement of low contrast detectability, a new contrast measure, M can be used, as defined in one way for example by Equation 1,
                              M          =                                    M              0                        cp                          ,                            (        1        )            and designated as "contrast index." In Equation 1, p is the smallest pin size, measured in millimeters, visible at contrast level, c, measured in Hounsfield units (HU) where one Hounsfield unit corresponds to 0.1% of water attenuation and M0 is an arbitrary constant for bringing the measure, M, into a convenient numerical range. It is important to note that the contrast level, c, in this definition is the nominal or expected contrast level of the object as opposed to a measured contrast level, later indicated with an upper case C. In this example, M0=6000 in order to map the best current contrast specification of 2 mm at 0.3% to a contrast measure of 1000. For example, the specification, "4 mm at 0.3% contrast for 10 mm slice thickness at 30 mGyCTDIvol," would generate a contrast measure of 500,
                    M        =                              6000                                          (                3                )                                                          (                4                )                                              =          500.                                    (        2        )            Flux Index
Commercial CT scanners typically operate over a wide range of protocols, each of which can have distinct contrast characteristics. The protocol parameters that impact contrast include (1) scan time, (2) tube current (mA), (3) slice thickness, (4) object diameter, (5) tube voltage (kVp) and (6) x-ray filter. Also, contrast is significantly impacted by non-linear reconstruction methods as well as the reconstruction pixel size and reconstruction filter. It is assumed in the following that the tube voltage, the x-ray filter, the scan diameter and the reconstruction method, collectively comprising a core operating mode, are fixed and that the scanner, in that core operating mode, can be characterized by the CTDIvol dose index. Then the parameters that directly affect the x-ray flux available for detection are:
1. scan time (0.25-2.0 sec/revolution)
2. x-ray tube current (20-400 mA)
3. slice thickness (0.5-10.0 mm)
4. object diameter (20-50 cm)
5. dose index (CTDIvol)
A relative flux measure, designated as the "flux index," incorporates these 5 parameters as follows.
                              FluxIndex          =                                    CTDIvol                              CTDIvol                ref                                      *            mA            *            sliceThick            *            scanTime            *                                          ⅇ                                                      -                    objDiam                                    *                  attWater                                                            ⅇ                                                      -                    refDiam                                    *                  attWater                                                                                refDiam          =                      20.0                                                                          cm                                              (        3        )            CTDIvol is per 100 mAs and CTDIvolref is an arbitrary constant dose reference value per 100 mAs that will be determined for each core operating mode tested. For practical combinations of these parameters, the range of Flux Index is approximately [0.1, 7,000.0]. An example of a current LCD specification could be "4 mm at 0.3% for 10 mm slice at 90 mAs." Since this example relates to the 20 cm CATphan, the Flux Index would be 900.
The relative flux index, described above, relates linearly to dose except for the factor involving the object diameter. The currently accepted dose index for CT is CTDIvol as defined in IEC 60601-2-44. Dose is linearly related to flux for a given object size and slice thickness. The contrast measurements discussed in this paper are generally accomplished at the center of the object. For that reason, the derivation and the description of the ExLCD method is currently based on the relative flux index.
ExLCD Graph
As described above, the range of flux index for a CT scanner is approximately [0.1, 7,000.0]. It can be demonstrated that the corresponding range of contrast index is approximately [0.5, 1000.0]. These ranges define the scope of the ExLCD graph, shown in FIG. 27 in log-log format.
Larger values of Contrast Index indicate better image quality or the ability to detect smaller, lower contrast objects. Smaller values of Contrast Index indicate poorer image quality or the ability to detect only larger, higher contrast objects.
Larger values of Flux Index indicate higher dose or smaller patient sizes. Smaller values of Flux Index indicate lower dose or larger patient sizes.
The current LCD methods often utilize the CTP515 low contrast module (FIG. 5) of the CATphan phantom (FIG. 4). [The Phantom Laboratory, http://www.phantomlab.com/pdf/catphan600_download.pdf] The "supra-slice" contrast sets are used but only the lowest 0.3% contrast set is typically reported.
There are two LCD measurement methods currently used on commercial CT scanners: (1) human observer method and (2) statistical method. We have compiled some recent reported measurements from the major CT manufacturers and collected them in Table 1. [NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency, Buyer's Guide, Computed Tomography Scanners, Reports CEP08007, CEP08027, CEP08028].
TABLE 1Recent reported LCD measurements from major CT manufacturers.ContrastSliceColorFluxIndexScannerContrastPin SizeDoseThicknessmAsCodeIndex500A0.3%4 mm10 mGy10 mm90red900400B0.3%5 mm16 mGy10 mm180blue1,4401,000C0.3%2 mm40 mGy10 mm350green3,600400D0.3%6 mm7.8 mGy 10 mm105yellow657source: NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency, Buyer's Guide, CT ScannersIt is instructive to convert these reported measurements to Contrast Index and Flux Index values and show them on an ExLCD graph (FIG. 6) based on the above definitions of ExLCD Contrast Index and Flux Index.Human Observer Method
Currently, LCD is determined by scanning the CATphan under selected protocol techniques and reconstructing the image(s). One or more human observers are then presented with the images to render an opinion regarding the smallest object they believe is visible and therefore detectable for the 0.3% contrast set. For the reported measurements described above, it is not clear whether a single observer or multiple observers were used. It is also not clear how the specific protocol was selected to derive the reported specification. At the present time, it is believed that all of the CT manufacturers except one use the observer method.
Statistical Method
At the present time, it is believed that the statistical method is used only by one CT manufacturer. The statistical method for LCD avoids the problems associated with human observers. The method relies only on noise measurements in a reconstruction. It does not use a phantom with actual contrast objects. It analyzes image noise in a specific manner that determines the amount of contrast needed to detect an object of a given diameter relative to the background with a stated level of confidence. Because the assessment is made by the computer and not a human observer, the method is highly repeatable and reproducible. However the statistical method cannot differentiate contrast performance resulting from non-linear reconstruction methods since only a noise image is evaluated. The performance of the system relative to how well the original low contrast object is preserved cannot be determined. As discussed in more detail later, this is true of any noise analysis method that does not measure an actual object.
Quantum Noise Limited
An imaging system is said to be "quantum noise limited" if, for all practical purposes, the only source of image noise is the statistics of finite x-ray quanta. In the context of Equation 13, a quantum noise limited system is one in which the electronic noise is absent, i.e., when. The plots in FIG. 3 illustrate the S/N as a function of relative x-ray Flux Index. In a log-log plot, the S/N ratio for a quantum noise limited system (green trace) will be represented by a straight line whose slope is ½. If electronic noise (system noise) is present the overall S/N will be significantly impacted only for lower flux values as shown by the red trace in FIG. 3.
It is reasonable to predict that a contrast measure over the full range of scanner protocols and body sizes will have a form similar to the S/N as shown in FIG. 3. For example, a scanner may exhibit contrast measurements such as those shown in the upper plot in FIG. 7. Then it would be possible to accurately characterize the contrast performance of the CT scanner with a curve such as the red one shown in the lower plot in FIG. 7.
With the current LCD method, however, a scanner is characterized with only ONE contrast measurement taken at a single protocol, illustrated by the bold red + and the dotted vertical line in the upper plot in FIG. 8. This single measurement does not characterize the contrast performance of the scanner. In fact, it significantly misconstrues the true contrast performance of the scanner. As shown in the lower plot in FIG. 8, the single protocol measurement implies contrast performance that follows a quantum noise limited curve defined by the single measurement as shown by the dashed line in the lower plot in FIG. 8. The inaccuracy of the single protocol contrast performance curve is illustrated in FIG. 9. Additionally, the current LCD methods do not adequately handle smaller pins, those that are impacted by system blurring, i.e. the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF). The profiles in FIG. 10 illustrate the problem with smaller pins. In FIG. 10 only pin sizes, 15, 7, 5, 3 and 2 mm are shown.
Conventional detectability methods that are based only on a noise analysis such as the statistical method, noise power spectrum, simple-pixel standard deviation or matched filter standard deviation all can over estimate the performance of a reconstruction process that alters the contrast of the test object. Given reconstruction processes that limit spatial bandwidth of both noise and object, conventional detectability methods will not account for changes in the assumed object. For example assume that a small pin in an LCD test phantom is exactly a cylinder with a 2 mm diameter and a contrast of 0.3%. If perfectly reconstructed, image pixels within the area of the pin will have an average contrast of 0.3% and all pixels outside this region will be 0%. However the MTF of the system will blur the pin especially at its edges and spread some of its contrast into pixels beyond the original geometric boundary. This results in a reduction in average contrast within the pin region.
From the narrative above, we obtain an intuitive sense about the inaccuracies of the single protocol LCD method. These inaccuracies occur for one or more of the following reasons that will be described in more detail later in this document.
1. human observer variation
2. finite pin size selections
3. selection of protocol
4. presence of system (electronic) noise
5. impact of system blurring (MTF) on smaller pins
The low contrast detectability (LCD) performance of a CT system is a critical performance characteristic, providing a measure of the scanner's ability to produce high quality images at the lowest possible x-ray dose. Because it is increasingly important to utilize lower dose protocols in present day CT scanners, it is now critical that LCD be measurable over the entire range of protocols and body sizes.
In the lower graph in FIG. 7 we illustrate an ExLCD contrast performance curve for a typical (simulated) CT scanner. CT systems vary in their contrast performance based on the following system characteristics:
1. overall dose/quantum efficiency
2. system/electronic noise
3. system blurring (MTF)
4. non-linear reconstruction methods
The dotted and dashed traces in the upper plot in FIG. 11 illustrate qualitatively how the contrast performance curve is impacted by some of these system characteristics. The lower plot illustrates the significance of those performance curve variations relative to dose. In that plot, the red line intersections show the relative dose required to achieve similar image quality on each of the respective scanners.
The three colored or shaded traces in the upper plot in FIG. 12 illustrate how three representative CT scanners might be compared. In the lower plot, the representative CT scanner performance curves are overlaid on the error region of the single protocol contrast method, illustrating that the inaccuracies of the current LCD method may effectively prohibit true differentiation of the contrast performance between CT scanners.

Extended low contrast detectability for radiographic imaging systems


An arrangement to determine physiologic data, position, orientation and/or geometry of an object of interest includes an ultrasound unit with a multiplicity of ultrasound transducers to monitor physiologic parameters, especially motion and deformation, of an object of interest encapsulated by a body in real-time in three dimensions of space and to generate numerical control or trigger information for other medical devices.

In many medical applications such as medical imaging and radiation therapy the quality of the outcomes is significantly impaired by patient and organ motion. Especially in abdominal radiation therapy patient and organ movement is a crucial factor.
The accuracy of current radiation methods lies well within the millimeter range. However, in clinical practice the achievable precision of radiation therapy when irradiating a tumor within the abdomen is largely reduced due to motion induced by breathing, heart beat and intestine peristalsis. Due to the mentioned motion the irradiated volume has to be increased by an additional margin to ensure sufficient (i.e. the pre-scribed) radiation dose within the diagnosed tumor volume. This margin usually has to be chosen in the range of several centimeters so that organs at risk suffer from a significantly elevated exposure to radiation. To minimize the required radiation dosage the motion of the irradiated object has to be controlled and/or corrected for.

3D motion detection and correction by object tracking in ultrasound images


The present application discloses a fiber distributed acoustic sensing system, including a forward pump source, a wavelength division multiplexer, an active phase-shifted grating array, a backward pump source, and a data demodulation and processing device. The active phase-shifted grating array includes several active phase-shifted gratings engraved on a same fiber, each active phase-shifted grating having a same excitation light wavelength. The active phase-shifted grating array is configured to receive a forward pump pulse and a backward pump light pulse incident from the backward pump source, so that a forward excitation light and a backward excitation light are generated in each active phase-shifted grating, and two adjacent active phase-shifted gratings are enabled to generate excitation light self interference within a same pulse duration. The data demodulation and processing device is configured to perform interference detection on a fiber phase between two adjacent active phase-shifted gratings to detect an acoustic signal acted on the fiber. According to the system in the present application, the passive reflected light interference is replaced with active excitation light interference, thus the excitation light signal has great strength and high stability, and environmental adaptability is high.

An acoustic detection technology is a sensing technology for detecting and monitoring an acoustic signal, and can collect, in a real-time manner, a vibration frequency, a phase, and an amplitude of an acoustic vibration that varies quickly. The acoustic detection technology based on fiber sensing has advantages of wide frequency band, high sensitivity, high temperature resistance, not being interfered by an electromagnetic field, and the like. Thus, the acoustic detection technology based on fiber sensing is widely applied to the exploiting of natural gas and petroleum; to the health monitoring of civilian facilities, such as bridges, large buildings, and other civil engineering; and to the fields of military, national defense, and the like. Among them, a fiber distributed acoustic sensing technology gradually becomes focus of fiber sensing researches owing to its advantages of large scope, good bang-for-buck, high information obtaining efficiency, and the like.
According to different sensing fibers, existing fiber distributed acoustic detection systems mainly are classified into two types: one is using a narrow-linewidth distributed feedback-fiber laser (DFB-FL) as a light source, and by using backward Rayleigh scattering in a fiber, a Rayleigh scattering light returned at a different time corresponds to different positions on the sensing fiber, and the external sound field information at different positions is obtained through phase demodulation; and the other is using the narrow-linewidth distributed feedback-fiber laser (DFB-FL) as a light source, and by using passive identical weak fiber gratings, a large amount of passive identical weak fiber gratings whose reflectivities are less than one thousandth are inserted in the fiber to replace the Rayleigh scattering, thereby significantly enhancing stability of backward scattering light.
However, according to the foregoing first solution, Rayleigh scattering in the fiber has disadvantages that it is essentially a random process, in which the strength is weak, and there exists problems such as random fluctuations. Although demodulation stability can be improved through phase demodulation technology, problems such as polarization fading still exist. Moreover, according to the foregoing second solution, the passive identical weak fiber grating has a disadvantage that a reflection wavelength thereof is easily affected by a local temperature and a stress to be drifted. In a case that a length of an incident light is remained, "voids" may easily occur to the reflected light at some positions on the fiber. In this case, the external sound field signals at these positions cannot be collected and demodulated, thus the environmental adaptability in this solution is weak. Therefore, a fiber distributed acoustic sensing system that has great signal strength, stable signals, and high environmental adaptability is urgently demanded.

Fiber distributed acoustic sensing system

Laser Institute of Shandong Academy of Science


A method for providing stateful proxying is disclosed, comprising: associating a first base station with a first base station identifier at a signaling protocol gateway, and with a first Internet Protocol (IP) address of the signaling protocol gateway; associating a second base station with a second base station identifier at the signaling protocol gateway, and with a second IP address of the signaling protocol gateway; establishing a first signaling protocol connection between a third base station and the first base station via the signaling protocol gateway with the first base station using the first IP address of the signaling protocol gateway; and establishing a signaling protocol connection between the third base station and the second base station with the second base station using the second IP address of the signaling protocol gateway.

The X2 interface and X2 application protocol (referred to herein as the X2 protocol or X2AP) are a defined interface and protocol for providing point-to-point communications between two eNodeBs within a Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network. The X2 interface supports the exchange of signaling information and also supports the forwarding of packets from one eNodeB to another eNodeB via a tunnel. The X2 interface is defined and specified in various 3GPP technical specifications, such as 3GPP TS 36.420, hereby incorporated by reference. The X2 interface is used by the X2 application protocol, which supports many applications, including mobility management (e.g., handovers); load management; reporting of general error situations; resetting X2; setting up X2; and eNB configuration updates. The X2 application protocol is defined and specified in 3GPP TS 36.423, hereby incorporated by reference. The following 3GPP technical specifications are hereby incorporated by reference: TS 36.423; TS 36.420; TS 36.421; TS 23.402; TS 24.302; and TS 24.312, dated as of the priority date of this application.
The X2 application protocol has largely been adopted by the 3GPP as a standard for the upcoming 5G network technology as well, in particular for interfacing with 4G/LTE technology, and is complemented by 5G-specific standard protocols called Xn. Additionally, the 5G standard includes two phases, non-standalone (which will coexist with 4G devices and networks) and standalone, and also includes specifications for dual connectivity of UEs to both LTE and NR ("New Radio") 5G radio access networks. The inter-base station protocol between an LTE eNB and a 5G gNB is called Xx. The specifications of the Xn and Xx protocol are understood to be known to those of skill in the art and are hereby incorporated by reference dated as of the priority date of this application.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

X2 brokering with aggregation optimization


A flexible board includes a flexible body and a linear conductor. The flexible body includes a first main surface and a second main surface. The linear conductor is provided at the flexible body so as to be located closer to the first main surface than to the second main surface. The flexible body is valley-folded along a line crossing the linear conductor such that the first main surface is located inside of the fold, and is mountain-folded along a line crossing the linear conductor such that the first main surface is outside of the fold. An average radius of curvature in an area where the flexible body is mountain-folded is greater than an average radius of curvature in an area where the flexible body is valley-folded.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flexible board and an electronic device, and more particularly to a flexible board including a linear conductor in a flexible body, and an electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a conventional flexible board, for example, a high-frequency signal line disclosed by WO 2012/073591 is known. The high-frequency signal line includes a dielectric body, a signal line and two ground conductors. The dielectric body is a laminate of dielectric sheets. The signal line is located in the dielectric body. The two ground conductors are located in the dielectric body so as to sandwich the signal line in the direction of lamination. Accordingly, the signal line and the two ground conductors form a stripline structure.
One of the ground conductors has a plurality of openings at positions over the signal line when viewed from the direction of lamination. Thereby, little capacitance is created between the signal line and the ground conductor. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the distance in the direction of lamination between the signal line and the ground conductor having the openings, and it is possible to make the high-frequency signal line thinner. This high-frequency signal line is used, for example, to connect two circuit boards.
The dielectric body of the high-frequency signal line disclosed by WO 2012/073591 is flexible, and the high-frequency signal line is bent when used. When the high-frequency signal line is bent, the signal line located in the dielectric body is stretched and/or compressed, and the signal line may be broken.


A check valve which includes a body adapted at one end to receive a liquid source and at the other end to engage with a spray nozzle and having a bore therethrough, an internal annular recess within the body, the upstream end of which body provides a valve seat, a valve assembly located in the recess and having a valve member having a generally curved end directed towards the seat and bias means to normally hold the member against the seat until the pressure at the inlet reaches a pre-determined minimum.

For ease of description, we shall refer to the valve when associated with spray drying of milk.
Spray drying techniques are well known and in these milk is sprayed through nozzles into a chamber where the liquid part of the milk is evaporated away and milk powder either falls to the floor of the chamber and is removed therefrom.
Historically, on completion of operation the spray drying industry simply stopped pumping the liquid through the nozzles and as the pressure dropped, a certain percentage of the liquid simply fell as drops from the nozzles, without being atomized, and this material could well lead to pollution of the product in the chamber.
Check valves have been proposed but in practice have suffered from major disadvantages.
A first such disadvantage is that the valves caused a limitation in liquid flow therethrough and there was a large pressure drop over the valve. This meant that in order to operate a plant to capacity, it was either necessary to use higher pressures or larger diameter pipes and valves to enable the optimum flow through the nozzles.
The second disadvantage was that these valves normally had a soft seal, such as an O-ring and it was found, in practice, that this seal could be destroyed during use which would enable parts of the O-ring to pass to the chamber, again polluting the product.
In fact most of these check valves have had a complex design which requires the use of many seals and multiple sealing points. As a result there are many stagnant points such that milk products can build up and, if overheated, catch fire. Additionally soft seals are prone to failure and consequent leakage. As such check valves are generally welded together any repairs are extremely difficult.
Other check valves have used metal to metal seals which increases the wear rate and as discussed above access for repair is difficult in conventional valves.
An additional disadvantage with previous check valves is that as fluid flow is not necessarily smooth through them and stagnant deposits can form they are difficult to keep clean.


The invention relates to a device (10; 50) for mechanically comminuting materials, including a vertically extending comminuting chamber (14) having an upwardly extending supply side (15) and a downwardly extending discharge side. The comminuting chamber is enclosed by an circular cylindrical and/or conical downwardly expanded comminuting chamber wall (12), and in which at least one rotor (16, 18) rotating about a vertical rotor axis (R) is arranged, which is provided with striking tools (38) that extend radially into the comminuting chamber, at least during operation. The rotors (16, 18) are held in a stationary manner with respect to a support base (20) of the device, and the comminuting chamber wall is supported on the support base. According to the invention, the comminuting chamber wall is held in place by way of a lifting device in the direction of the rotor axis (R) in a height adjustable manner relative to the support base (20). The lifting device (36) has a working position, in which the lower edge of the comminuting chamber wall (12) is arranged close to the support base (20) or to a part connected thereto, and a maintenance position, in which the lower edge (32) of the comminuting chamber wall (12) is vertically raised above at least one of the striking tools (22, 24). The invention allows easy maintenance and an uncomplicated exchange of the striking tools of the comminuting device.

The invention relates to a comminution device or crushing device for the mechanical crushing of materials, specifically material conglomerates made of different materials. The comminution device includes a vertical crushing chamber with an infeed side pointing vertically upwards and an outlet side pointing vertically downwards. The crushing chamber is enclosed by a circular cylindrical and/or conically flared crushing chamber wall. The crushing chamber features at least one, preferably two, successive sections arranged in axial direction, wherein at least one rotor each is arranged rotatably about a vertical rotation axis R and coaxially to the crushing chamber. The rotor carries the striking tools which at least during operation are projecting at least mainly radially into the crushing chamber, e.g. impact rods or chains. The rotor is held in a fixed stationary position in relation to a supporting base of the crushing device, which supporting base also serves to support crushing chamber wall. Crushing devices of this type feature a vertical alignment of the crushing chamber, thus ensuring that the infeed side is pointing vertically upwards and that the outlet side is pointing vertically downwards. A problem arises during the maintenance of the striking tools which are subject to considerable wear and tear. Replacement requires cumbersome working under very confined conditions within the crushing chamber.
It is the aim of the invention to create a crushing device of the above-mentioned kind which will be easy to maintain.


A vehicle model including main and secondary modules is provided. The vehicle module may also include vehicle components, a frame, a camera system, and a controller. The vehicle components are operably connected to the modules. The frame supports the modules and components and defines a 3D coordinate system including identifiable reference points. The camera system is arranged with the frame to capture activity within the 3D coordinate system. The controller is in communication with, and configured to direct operation of, the modules, components, and camera system based on the identifiable reference points and accessible vehicle CAD data. The vehicle components may comprise a subject platform located adjacent to, detached from, and integrated to function with the modules. The subject platform may be configured to vertically adjust between a plurality of positions for simulating ground outside a vehicle.

Vehicle models, otherwise referred to as vehicle bucks, have been utilized to conduct studies into human motion relating to vehicles. A vehicle model generally includes moveable parts that can be adjusted to reflect a variety of vehicle packages. A typical study includes the collection of human motion data related to one or more of the modeled vehicle packages.
For example, a vehicle model can be variably adjusted to conduct research into human motion while entering and exiting a vehicle (otherwise referred to as ingress and egress). Vehicle models can also be configured to conduct other human occupant package research studies, including, but not limited to, roominess, vision and reachability. Vehicle models can also be used to conduct human ergonomics studies.


In an MPEG-2 transmission system a plurality of programs each consisting of a plurality of elementary streams are multiplexed on a transport stream by a multiplexer (8). The transport stream is transmitted by the transmitting means (10) via a transmission medium (16) to a receiver (18). In the receiver (10) the signal is demodulated by the receiving means (12) and demultiplexed by the demultiplexer (14).. In order to be able to find the different elementary streams which form a program several tables are used. Said tables which can change over time, are updated by information present in the transport stream. The tables are identified by a version number in order to be able to distinguish different versions of them. The version numbers are not necessarily subsequent numbers. In a prior art transmission system filtering has to be performed on all possible version numbers to find updates of a table.. In the transmission system according to the present invention, filtering is performed by only selecting sections having a version number which is different from the previous version numbers.

The present invention is related to a transmission system for transmitting a multiplex signal from a transmitter to a receiver, said multiplex signal comprising at least one information section carrying information about the multiplex signal, the receiver comprising evaluation means for evaluating said information section, said evaluation means being arranged to select information sections with symbol values corresponding to a predetermined sequence of symbol values, the receiver further comprises processing means for processing the multiplex signal in dependence on information present in the selected information sections.
The present invention is also related to a receiver, a decoder, a transmission method, a receiving method and a decoding method for use with such a transmission system.
A transmission system according to the preamble is known from the MPEG-2, DVB, JSAT Transport Demultiplexer, Preliminary Technical Manual published by LSI Logic under document number DB14-000007, Draft Jul. 30, 1996, pp. 4-12-4-15.
Digital broadcast systems as they are being standardized, or are already standardized are based on the so-called MPEG-2 transport stream. The MPEG-2 transport stream offers the possibility of transporting digital video signals and other signals, such as related audio or data signals associated therewith in a very flexible way. The MPEG-2 transport stream is based on 188 byte transport packets, which carry a plurality of so-called elementary streams. Each of said elementary streams is identified by a so-called Packet ID (PID). This elementary streams can be (encoded) video streams, audio streams, and related data signals as required for functions like conditional access or electronic program guides (EPG,s).
The relation between a program and the corresponding elementary streams is defined by a plurality of tables. First there is the Program Map Table (PMT) in which the relation between each program in the transport stream and the PID of the related audio and video signals is stored. Second, there is the Program Association Table (PAT) in which the number of programs transported by the transport stream is stored. Further the PAT gives for each of the programs the PID of the elementary stream which carries the entries of the Program Map Table. Finally there is the Conditional Access Table (CAT) which holds the relation between the different types of conditional systems that may be used and the combination of conditional access PID's, table ID's and table ID's associated therewith.
These tables are stored in the receiver and are initialized and updated by information carried by the information sections. These information sections are also identified by a PID. The PID for the PAT is "00", and the PID for the CAT is "10". The PID for the PMT is stored in the PAT at the position corresponding to the program actually to be decoded.
When a program with number i has to be decoded, the PMT table has to be reconstructed from the transport stream. The decoder reads from the Program Association Table the PID for program number i. Using said PID, all elements of the PMT are read from the transport stream, and the complete PMT is built up using said elements. If the PMT is constructed, the demultiplexer can find the elementary streams in the multiplex signal.
Sometimes during a transmission of a multiplex signal the PMT has to be updated due to a change of said multiplex signal. This can be caused by the addition of programs and/or elementary streams. This change is indicated by a changed version number of the Program Association Table entries. In order to be able to find PAT entries of which the version number has changed, the receiver must perform a filtering operation to distinguish between all possible version numbers. Because 5 bits are reserved for the version number of the PAT, 32 different version numbers are possible. This requires 32 filter operations for each PAT entry, resulting in a substantial computational effort.

Transmission system for transmitting a flexible multiplex signal


A method and apparatus adjust pilot fuel injection timing in relation to a main fuel injection timing into a piston cylinder of an operating gaseous-fuelled direct injection internal combustion engine using high levels of EGR. A set of engine parameters are monitored which determine engine load and engine speed and an indicator of EGR concentration within the intake charge. Pilot fuel timing relative to main fuel injection timing is then adjusted according to the engine parameters. High levels of EGR are shown to be tolerated with relatively limited penalties in relation to other emissions typically found with high EGR by reducing the relative injection timing the pilot fuel as compared to main fuel injection timing.

For all their advantages, diesel-fuelled engines have a significant disadvantage. When burned substantially in a diffusion combustion mode, diesel fuel generates high levels of some pollutants. Pollutants such as oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) can be problematic. Cleaner burning gaseous fuels such as natural gas, hydrogen, ethane, propane, blends of gaseous fuels such as blends of natural gas and hydrogen, as well as others tend to expel fewer pollutants than diesel fuel when burned in an internal combustion engine. It has been determined that some gaseous fuels can also provide similar power output when directly injected at high pressure upon completion of a compression stroke or near the commencement of a power stroke in, for example, a four-stroke engine.
While providing emissions benefits, gaseous fuels tend to need some type of ignition assist to initiate combustion when used in an engine with diesel engine compression ratios. One common ignition assist is a pilot fuel provided to a charge to create an auto-ignitable charge that can be used to help initiate combustion of the gaseous fuel when the gaseous fuel is directly injected, as noted above.
Ultimately, however, while providing emissions benefits, combustion of gaseous fuels do generate NOx. In particular, diffusion combustion resulting from gaseous-fuelled direct injection engines tends to generate higher NOx levels than is the case with combustion of a premixed gaseous charge. However, techniques are available for lowering NOx in such an engine. It has been found that exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) can be an important method for reducing NOx in a compression ignition direct injection engine.
Ideally, ever increasing concentrations of EGR in the intake charge would be used in gaseous-fuelled direct injection engines. That is, more EGR tends to reduce NOx. However, as EGR concentrations increase, emissions penalties in relation to other emissions occur. In particular, hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM) all start to increase with ever increasing levels of EGR. Therefore, EGR for compression ignition direct injection engines have tended to be limited to 30% before other emission become prohibitive.
The present method is applicable to gaseous fuelled compression ignition direct injection engines (or direct injection engines that use a main fuel requiring a auto-ignitable pilot fuel to assist in ignition of the main fuel) for reducing overall emissions by using high EGR levels (beyond 30% by mass concentration in the intake charge) while managing other emissions that frequently arise with high levels of EGR.

Method and apparatus for providing for high EGR gaseous-fuelled direct injection internal combustion engine


An amplifying circuit with a variable supply voltage and a method thereof are disclosed. The amplifying circuit employs a voltage converter to adjust the supply voltage, thereby upgrading the energy efficiency of the circuit. The circuit also includes a control device, which can generate a control signal for controlling the voltage converter according to an output signal or input signal of the circuit.

(a). Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to electronic circuits, and more particularly to amplifying circuits with a variable supply voltage.
(b). Description of the Prior Arts
Amplifiers are very common circuit components. However, most amplifiers do not utilize power efficiently. In general, only a part of the energy provided to an amplifier will be used to drive the amplifier outputting an output signal according to an input signal. Most of the energy is wasted.

Amplifying circuit with variable supply voltage


A connector for a printed circuit board, having a terminal guide for guiding lead terminals, improved to suppress cracking or separation caused by a temperature change in the regions where the lead terminals are soldered to the printed circuit board. The connector has a housing having side walls on both longitudinal ends thereof, the side walls being provided with engaging grooves. The housing mounts a plurality of lead terminals which are led therefrom. The connector also has a terminal guide which is a substantially tabular member made from an insulating material provided on both longitudinal ends thereof with projections for engagement with the engaging grooves of the housing. The terminal guide has a plurality of lead terminal insertion holes formed at the same pitch as the lead terminals so as to receive these lead terminals. At least one stress relieving portion in the form of a slit or an elongated slot or aperture is formed in the terminal guide so as to localize any thermal expansion or contraction of the terminal guide occurring in the longitudinal direction thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector for a printed circuit board and, more particularly, to a terminal guide of lead terminals used in a right-angle type connector for a printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Arts
There are two types of connectors for printed circuit boards: straight-type connectors in which lead terminals are led straight in order to mount the connector perpendicularly to the printed circuit board and right-angle type connector in which lead terminals are bent at a right angle to enable the connector to be mounted in parallel with the printed circuit board.
A right-angle type connector for printed circuit boards has a problem in that, when the number of the lead terminals is large, it is difficult to maintain the pitch or spacing of the lead terminals in conformity with the pitch of the holes which are formed in the printed circuit board to receive the lead terminals. This problem causes an impediment to the use of an automatic assembly system which is becoming popular in recent years. Whether an automatic assembly system can be adopted significantly depends on whether the lead terminals can possibly be arranged at such a small pitch is possible.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-98280 shows an example of such a known right-angle type connector for printed circuit boards. The connector has a housing which is provided at both ends thereof with protruding tabs and notches having groove are formed in the housing at the inner side of the protruding tabs. Orthogonally-bent terminals are mounted on the housing. A terminal guide is provided that has lead terminal insertion holes formed at a pitch corresponding to the pitch of the lead terminals. Projections for engagement with the above-mentioned grooves in the housing are formed on both ends of the terminal guide.
In use, after the lead terminals are mounted on the housing, terminals are inserted into the lead terminal insertion holes in the terminal guide. Then, both ends of the terminal guides are put into engagement with the notches near the tabs and the projections are resiliently engaged with the grooves, thus holding the leads correctly at a predetermined pitch.
The following problem arises when the lead terminals are mounted by soldering their ends to the printed circuit board. For instance, a glass epoxy resin having a thermal expansion coefficient of 0.1% is used as the material of the printed circuit board while the material of the terminal guide is,for example, a reinforced polyethylene terephthalate having a thermal expansion coefficient of 0.3%, Consequently, if heat is applied after independent soldering, stress is concentrated to the ends of the lead terminals and the root portions of the solder, due to difference in the thermal expansion, i.e., due to difference in the thermal expansion coefficient between the printed circuit board and the terminal guide. Consequently, cracks or separations appear at the soldered portion, resulting in an inferior contact.
In another assembly method, ends of the lead terminals are automatically soldered to the printed circuit board and then the assembly is cooled down to the normal temperature. Stress concentration also takes place in this method in the regions between the ends of the lead terminals and the soldered portions of the printed circuit board, due to a difference in the amount of thermal contraction caused by the difference in the material. Cracks or separations also take place in this case, with the result that the reliability of electrical connection is impaired.


A grinding jig for holding a blade tool having an edge in a grinding machine. The grinding jig may have a first and a second clamp half arranged to hold between them at least a portion of a blade tool. An elongate support portion may support the grinding jig onto a support bar of a grinding machine. The elongate support portion may comprise a front end abutment surface and a rear end abutment surface. The front and rear end abutment surfaces may be spaced to receive a portion of a support bar such that the grinding jig may be moved back and forth relative to the support bar in a direction parallel with its longitudinal center axis.

Grinding of blade tool, such as knives, which has edges with opposite edge bevels is typically made by clamping the blade tool in a grinding jig and moving the tool across a revolving grindstone. When the edge bevel on the first side of the tool has been sharpened, the grinding jig is turned over and moved in opposite direction across the grindstone so that edge bevel on the second side of the blade tool is sharpened.
FIG. 1 shows schematically a conventionally grinding jig 10 which comprises a lower clamp 12 that extends from a support pin 14 which in operation is guided on a transversal support bar of a grinding machine. An upper clamp half 11 is movable and may be forced against the lower clamp half by a screw 13 so that a blade tool (not shown) may be clamped by the upper and lower clamp halves.
While proven reliable in grinding operations, the conventional grinding jig has a drawback in that blade tool is not centered in the grinding jig. This has the effect that the angle between the blade and the grinding stone changes when the grinding jig (after completed grinding the first edge bevel) is turned over to grind the second edge bevel of the blade. The deviation of the edge bevel angles appears to increase with increasing blade thickness.
A further drawback with the conventional grinding jig is that it has shown to produce convex edges. The strength of the edge of the blade is reduced with increasing convexity.
Thus, there is a need for an improved grinding jig for blade tools.
Consequently, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a grinding jig for blade tool that solves at least one of the problems of the prior-art.
In particular, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a grinding jig which achieves a strong edge of a blade tool after grinding.
In addition, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a grinding jig for a blade tool which achieves a minimum of difference between the angles of the edge bevels of the blade tool after grinding.
A further object of the present disclosure is to achieve a simple, yet robust, and easy to handle grinding jig for blade tools providing a minimum of difference between the angles of the edges of the blade tool after grinding.


A method includes fixing an axis between a first arm with a lengthwise slide for a first vertex pivot and a second arm comprising an angle indicia proximal a first end and also a lengthwise slide for a second vertex pivot. The axis is configured to interlock the two arms proximal respective first ends in a fixed angular relation based on the angle indicia. A first half of an elliptical arch is scribbed on an elliptical template blank via a scribbing point proximal the axis by sliding the first arm along the lengthwise slide on the first vertex pivot and sliding the second arm along the lengthwise slide on a co-vertex pivot. A second half of the elliptical arch is scribbed by sliding the first arm along the lengthwise slide on the co-vertex pivot and sliding the second arm along the lengthwise slide on the second vertex pivot.

The first example of an early Gothic arch in Europe is in Sicily in the Greek fortifications of Gela. The semicircular arch was followed in Europe by the pointed Gothic arch or ogive, whose centreline more closely follows the forces of compression and which is therefore stronger. The semicircular arch can be flattened to make an elliptical arch, as in the Ponte Santa Trinita. Parabolic arches were introduced in construction by the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi, who admired the structural system of the Gothic style, but for the buttresses, which he termed "architectural crutches". The first examples of the pointed arch in the European architecture are in Sicily and date back to the Arab-Norman period.
Conventional tools available for constructing elliptical arches are cumbersome and impractical. There is a need in the market for an elliptical arch master which is easy to use and accurate.

Elliptical arch scribbing tool and method