A projection image display apparatus includes: a light source; an illumination optical system that uniformly irradiates a surface of an image modulation element serving as a primary image surface with a light beam emitted from the light source; and a projection optical system that enlarges and projects image information on the primary image surface modulated by the image modulation element onto a screen serving as a secondary image surface, and that includes a first optical system that forms an intermediate image from the image information, a single-image second optical system that enlarges and projects the intermediate image to display a single image on the screen, a plural-image second optical system that enlarges and projects the intermediate image to display plural images on the screen, and an optical path switching mechanism that selectively guides a light beam from the first optical system to the single-image or plural-image second optical system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a projection image display apparatus that displays a projection image on a screen and a projection optical system for use in the projection image display apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, projector apparatuses have been widely used as projection image display apparatuses that display a projection image on a screen. Use of projector apparatuses facilitates upsizing of a display screen while maintaining a high resolution compared to flat panel display apparatuses such as LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays) and PDPs (Plasma Display Panels).
Some projector apparatuses are configured to output a plurality of images for display.
In one such example, one projector apparatus projects a right-eye image and a left-eye image on each of two screens in a time-sharing manner, providing parallax between the images on the screens (see Japanese Patent No. 4052315, for example). When the thus configured projector apparatus is used, the right-eye image and the left-eye image are alternately incident on the eyes of a viewer, allowing the viewer to recognize a stereoscopic image.
In another example, the display area of a display device such as a liquid crystal display element is divided into two, and a right-eye image and a left-eye image are displayed in each of the display areas at the same time to form a stereoscopic image (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-271828, for example). In the projector apparatus, a relay optical system for sectioning an image is provided between a projection optical system and a display device, and once an image is formed by the relay optical system, two sections of the image are split from each other by reflective surfaces.
In still another example, an optical path switching section that switches optical paths in a time-sharing manner is provided between a projection optical system and a screen, and a plurality of images are formed side by side on the left and the right of a screen using projection light that has passed through each of the paths (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-279847, for example). When the thus configured projector apparatus is used, the single projector apparatus outputs for display a wide-screen image in which a plurality of images are formed side by side on the left and the right.

Projection image display apparatus and projection optical system


A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that reduces computer file system access time associated with on-access scanning in a computing facility by receiving file access information describing a pattern of access of each accessed computer file, processing the file access information to generate a file access performance cost statistic for each of the accessed computer files, maintaining the file access performance cost statistic for each of the files, generating a file access performance cost mapping of the computing facility's file system relating to the computer files, generating a locality statistic from the performance cost map of a probability that the second computer file will be accessed near the time that the first computer file is accessed, and pre-scanning the second computer file when the probability is high that the second computer file will be accessed when that first computer file has been accessed.

1. Field
The present invention is related to computer processing, and more specifically to computer system performance improvements related to on-access scanning.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer users want assurance that their computers represent a secure environment for their data, and on-access scanning of computer files is an important utility in today's computers. However, users also want to have the smallest productivity impact in gaining that assurance. On-access scanners do not intercept attempts by the user to access files until the user makes the request for the file, meaning that the time between the user making the request and receiving the results is lengthened by the on-access scan of the file, thus reducing productivity. If the delay caused by the on-access scanner is unacceptable, the user may simply configure the computer to not scan the affected files, removing any assurance that the scanner could otherwise offer. Therefore a need exists to provide a scanning facility that minimizes the impact to user productivity by reducing the file access delays related to file scanning.

Method and system for preemptive scanning of computer files


A method for displaying brake power status of a vehicle is disclosed. The method obtains vehicle status data from at least one onboard subsystem, and generates a power indicator based on the status data. The power indicator includes a charge indicator region defined by a stationary charging boundary and by a dynamic transition threshold, a friction brake indicator region adjacent to the charge indicator region and defined by the dynamic transition threshold and by a stationary friction braking boundary, and a real-time power level indicator responsive to the vehicle status data to indicate a position in the charge indicator region or the friction brake indicator region. The transition threshold moves in response to changes in the status data over time, resulting in a moving boundary between the charge indicator region and the friction brake indicator region. The power indicator is displayed on an electronic display element onboard the vehicle.

The prior art is replete with various onboard vehicle systems, instrument devices, gauges, and instrument displays. The number and type of vehicle instruments and displays can vary from one vehicle model to another, from one vehicle platform to another, and the like. In this regard, fully electric and hybrid electric vehicles may utilize instrumentation and gauges that are specific to those types of vehicles. For example, fully electric and hybrid electric vehicles may include displays that indicate the operating status of the electric power system, the battery charge level, and the like.
The popularity of hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid, and fully electric vehicles continues to increase over time. Accordingly, the prior art is replete with different systems, control technologies, and processes related to the operation of such vehicles. A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) includes a rechargeable energy storage system (ESS) which is usually configured as a rechargeable battery or battery pack having a relatively high energy density. An HEV can also include a gasoline, diesel, or alternative fuel internal combustion engine. Other vehicle designs may employ a fuel cell and/or another power source in place of or in conjunction with an internal combustion engine in order to further reduce vehicle emissions and improve the operating range of the vehicle. A fully electric vehicle (EV) only includes an electric drive train, e.g., an electric motor and an ESS.
In certain HEV and EV designs, the drive wheels of the vehicle remain continuously connected to the driveline to enable regenerative braking capability, thus providing a relatively efficient means of capturing useful and otherwise wasted braking energy during coast-down and/or during active braking. As is known in the art, an electric motor/generator (MOGEN) can be selectively operated in such a manner as to allow the device to act as a generator during coast-down or an active regenerative braking event. When acting as a generator, the electric MOGEN recharges the ESS while applying a negative torque to the drive wheels and/or the drive shaft, thus electronically slowing the vehicle. The electric MOGEN likewise can be selectively operated as an electric motor, thus drawing stored electrical energy from the ESS as needed to propel the vehicle. Regeneration during coast-down or active braking contributes to the deceleration of the vehicle. In this regard, negative braking regenerative torque can be applied as a function of brake pedal travel to mimic the characteristics of a standard vacuum-based hydraulic brake system. In practice, braking regenerative torque can be applied as an additive torque to the friction brake torque (which is generated in response to driver actuation of the brake pedal).
Conventional energy/power gauges in HEVs and EVs usually indicate when the ESS is delivering traction power and/or when the ESS is being charged via regenerative braking or coasting. Such power gauges saturate at the maximum charging power level. Consequently, these conventional energy/power gauges do not indicate a dynamic threshold between regenerative braking power and friction braking power.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have an improved methodology and related instrument display system that accurately indicates regenerative and friction braking power in real-time onboard a host vehicle. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Regenerative and friction power indicator for a vehicle braking system


A method for determining airspeed of an aircraft that includes determining a rotor model relating a power coefficient of a propeller of the aircraft to an axial inflow velocity through the propeller as a function of a set of rotor operating parameters; determining the set of rotor operating parameters by sampling an electronic control signal associated with an electric motor actuating the propeller; computing the axial inflow velocity through the propeller based on the set of rotor operating parameters using the rotor model; and determining the airspeed based on the axial inflow velocity.

Airspeed is one of the most important parameters that an aircraft operator (e.g., pilot) uses to control an aircraft and understand its performance in flight. Failure to accurately indicate the airspeed of an aircraft can lead to improper control inputs being provided by an aircraft operator, component damage, and/or unplanned (e.g., undesirable) loss of vehicle control and/or the vehicle itself.
Thus, there is a need in the inflight diagnostics field to create a new and useful method for airspeed determination. This invention provides such a new and useful method.

System and method for airspeed determination


A vacuum tube replacement device includes an indicator. The indicator can be arranged to provide audible and/or visual indication of system performance, function, status, or any other desired indication. The vacuum tube replacement device is pin-for-pin compatible with standard vacuum tube circuit pin configurations. The replacement device may be a solid-state tube emulator device, a traditional glass envelope vacuum tube device, or some other hybrid device. The visual indicator is equally useful for non-vacuum tube replacement devices such as audio amplifier circuits.

Glass vacuum tubes have been widely used in audio applications such as amplification of musical instruments as well as hi-fidelity reproduction. Although solid-state circuit technology has also been developed for use in such audio applications, vacuum tubes are still being used in audio applications. Many modern audio applications still use vacuum tubes for their acoustic properties, as well as their esthetic appeal.
The quality control effort associated with traditional vacuum tube devices is inevitably subject to less efficient production standards as compared to a solid-state solution. Traditional vacuum tube devices include a glass surround that is vacuum-sealed to a socket base similar to a light bulb. Inside the glass surround, a complex structure of metal plates, filaments, and other metal plated material arrangements are necessary to provide the proper function of the vacuum tube. Vacuum tube devices are prone to mechanical failure similar to light bulbs, where the filament materials eventually break due to mechanical failure. Solid-state devices are significantly less expensive to manufacture, smaller in size, and less prone to mechanical anomalies.
Solid-state technology has been acknowledged for cost, performance, manufacturing, and/or other advantages over glass vacuum tubes. A variety of conventional solid-state circuits have been developed to provide pin-for-pin compatible replaceable devices. The use of these solid-state devices has been applied to signal amplification functions and related compression and/or non-linear signal limiting properties.
The disclosure described herein expands on the application of vacuum tubes and other pin-for-pin compatible vacuum tube replacement devices by incorporating indicators to enhance the user awareness, functionality, aesthetic nature, and/or safety, as well as other application of these devices. As will be further described, the indicators may also be useful in other non-vacuum tube based applications.

Indicators for vacuum tube replacement devices


A fish processing unit for longitudinally quartering a fish during a single pass through the unit. A fish is laid on its side and longitudinally oriented in alignment with the direction of travel of a conveyor belt. The conveyor belt passes over the top surface of a front table assembly, then into a fish quartering assembly, and then on to the top surface of a rear table assembly. Within the interior of the fish quartering assembly are mounted a plurality of circular blades that are driven by hydraulic motors. Two of the circular blades are vertically oriented in the same plane with one spaced above the other a predetermined height H1. Two other pairs of horizontally oriented circular blades have their inner edges aligned with each other and they are positioned to the respective sides of the vertically oriented circular blades. What starts out as a whole fish exits the fish quartering assembly in four quarter pieces and a throw portion that includes the backbone of the fish. The quarter pieces of fish are then passed over the top surface of the fish skinner unit with the fish skin positioned on its bottom surface. A single pass removes the skin.

The invention relates to fish processing and more specifically to a method and apparatus for cleaning fish.
Presently commercial fishermen when fishing with purse nets gather the nets close to their ship and empty the catch onto the deck of the ship. The fish are then sorted and stored in refrigerated storage areas until the ship goes into port. In port the frozen fish are unloaded and processed for sale. The fish are sometimes skinned and filleted before they are sold.
Often a substantial portion of the fish, such as the head, tail, skin, and backbone are not commercially marketable. Therefore when a fish is stored in an unprocessed state, the unuseable parts are a costly waste of space in the refrigerated chamber.
It is an object of the invention to provide a novel fish processing unit on a commercial fishing boat that processes the fish immediately after they are caught and then discards unusable parts and freezing the saleable portions.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel fish processing unit that receives a whole fish at one end and it exits the other end in four quarters, including the backbone as waste or a discard portion.
It another object of the invention to provide a novel method of processing a whole fish that utilizes a fish skinner unit that allows a quarter portion of a fish with skin on its outer surface to be transported across the top of the fish skinner unit in a single pass to remove the skin.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a novel fish processing unit for longitudinally quartering a fish during a single pass through the unit that is economical to manufacture and market.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel fish skinner unit that is economical to manufacture and market.


The present invention relates to 99mTc-maraciclatide radiopharmaceutical compositions, which are stabilised with a radioprotectant. Also described are kits for the preparation of the radiopharmaceutical compositions, as well methods of preparing such compositions from the kit. The invention also includes methods of imaging the mammalian body using the radiopharmaceutical compositions.

99mTc-maraciclatide is the recommended INN (USA Approved Name) for 99mTc-NC100692. 99mTc-NC100692 has been described in both patents and publications, as a radiopharmaceutical which targets integrin receptors in vivo.
WO 03/006491 discloses compounds of Formula (I):
or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereofwherein:                G represents glycine        D represents aspartic acid        R1 represents —(CH2)n— or —(CH2)n—C6H4— wherein        n represents a positive integer 1 to 10,        h represents a positive integer 1 or 2,        X1 represents an amino acid residue wherein said amino acid possesses a functional side-chain such as an acid or amine,        X2 and X4 represent independently an amino acid residue capable of forming a disulfide bond,        X3 represents arginine, N-methylarginine or an arginine mimetic,        X5 represents a hydrophobic amino acid or derivatives thereof,        X6 represents a thiol-containing amino acid residue,        X7 is absent or represents a biomodifier moiety,        Z1 represents an anti-neoplastic agent, a chelating agent or a reporter moiety and        W1 is absent or represents a spacer moiety.
WO 03/006491 discloses that a preferred chelating moiety has the formula shown, and includes 99mTc complexes of said chelator conjugate of Formula I therein:

WO 03/006491 does not disclose kits.
Edwards et al [Nucl. Med. Biol., 35, 365-375 (2008)] disclose that 99mTc-maraciclatide (99mTc-NC100692) can be prepared from a kit. Edwards et al state that each lyophilised kit contains approximately 44 nmol maraciclatide (NC100692), plus a number of excipients including buffer, stannous reducing agent and methylene diphosphonic acid (present as a Sn2+ solubiliser). Edwards et al report that the radiochemical purity (RCP) of each reconstituted kit was determined at 20 minutes post reconstitution, and was found to be at least 90%. The RCP was found to be stable over the period that the reconstituted kits were used.
The Present Invention.
Technetium-99m (99mTc) is a radioisotope which decays with a half-life of 6.02 hours to technetium-99 (99Tc). The radioactive decay is accompanied by the emission of a gamma ray with an energy that is near ideal for medical imaging with a modern gamma-camera. The decay product, 99Tc, is also radioactive and decays by β-emission with a half-life of 2.1×105 years (to the stable isotope 99Ru), but the radioactive emissions from 99Tc are insufficient for medical imaging.
Conventional 99mTc "generators" comprise the radioisotope 99Mo, which decays with a half-life of 66.2 hours. The chemical form of the technetium eluted from such a generator is 99mTc-pertechnetate. About 86% of 99Mo decays result in the production of 99mTc, however ca. 14% of 99Mo decays result in the direct production of 99Tc. Therefore, if a 99mTc generator is eluted a very short time after the previous elution, the 99mTc content will be low but will be about 86% of the total technetium content. As time passes since the previous elution of the generator, 99Tc is being produced both from 99Mo and from the decay of 99mTc to 99Tc. Consequently, as the time interval between generator elutions increases, the 99Tc/99mTc ratio increases. The 99Tc and 99mTc technetium isotopes are chemically identical, and consequently any radiopharmaceutical preparation must be able to cope with a wide range of 99Tc chemical content in the eluate in order to be able to function effectively over the usable lifetime of the generator. It is also the case that elutions made with a fresh 99mTc generator are likely to have a higher radioactive concentration, and thus have a higher concentration of reactive free radicals arising from radiolysis of the solvent (water). A viable 99mTc radiopharmaceutical preparation thus needs to be able to provide satisfactory RCP performance even when such reactive free radicals are present. These characteristics of the 99mTc generator are illustrated in most radiochemistry or nuclear chemistry textbooks, and the problems that different eluate properties can give to the performance of 99mTc kits have been described by Saha, G. B. "Radiopharmaceuticals and Methods of Radiolabeling"; Chapter 6 (pages 80-108) in Fundamentals of Nuclear Pharmacy (3rd Edn.).
The present inventors have found that the Maraciclatide kit reported by Edwards et al (above) suffers from various problems not previously recognised in the prior art:                (i) relatively low initial RCP post-reconstitution of the kit with 99mTc-pertechnetate;        (ii) insufficient post-reconstitution stability;        (iii) the need to store and ship the kit at −15 to −20° C. to maintain kit stability and performance;        (iv) only a single patient dose being obtainable from the kit.
The present invention provides improved 99mTc-maraciclatide radiopharmaceutical compositions which exhibit more reproducible initial radiochemical purity (RCP) and improved stability post-reconstitution, so that an RCP of 85 to 90% is maintained at 6 hours post-reconstitution. The problem of unsatisfactory RCP for 99mTc-maraciclatide preparations under certain conditions of radioactivity levels, radioactive concentrations or reconstitution volumes was not recognised in the prior art. Such conditions are those that could arise under normal conditions of use of a commercial radionuclide generator, such as a 99mTc generator.
Berger [Int. J. Appl. Rad. Isotop., 33, 1341-1344 (1982)] discloses that a wide range of antioxidants can be used to stabilise 99mTc-radiopharmaceuticals. Methylene Blue and ascorbic acid have since been highlighted as particularly suitable stabilisers [Weisner et al, Eur. J. Nucl. Med., 20, 661-666 (1993) and Liu et al, Bioconj. Chem., 14(4), 1052-1056 (2003)].
The present inventors have also established that the well-known radioprotectant ascorbic acid/ascorbate actually has a deleterious effect on the RCP of 99mTc-maraciclatide. A further known radioprotectant gentisic acid caused discolouration problems which negated its use in the present composition. The present invention provides compositions comprising a radioprotectant which solve this previously unrecognised problem. The kits of the present invention have the advantages of: higher initial RCP; more robust RCP over longer time periods post-reconstitution; compatibility with various commercial 99mTc radiopharmaceutical generators and under a range of elution conditions; the facility to obtain two patient doses per kit (i.e. to reconstitute successfully with higher levels of radioactivity); adequate stability to be stored and shipped at fridge (+5±3° C.) rather than freezer temperature (−10 to −20° C.) and kit shelf-life stability of at least 3 years.


A novel method for disposing of drill cuttings and more particularly to the process for source identification of such cuttings and the identification of value added processes for commercializing the cuttings in an economical manner. The method of recycling of oil and gas well drill cuttings as disclosed herein begins by identifying drill cuttings by location, type of earth formation and earth strata level from whence extracted, drying, coding and containerizing said cuttings by said grade, mineral type, extraction location, and geological age. Uses for the recycled and graded drill cuttings include graded virgin aggregate for road construction including asphaltic cement, recyclable stone retaining walls and lawn ornaments or other applications useful in landscaping or water drainage control by mixing the dried and refined cuttings with recycled polymer.

This invention relates generally to a novel method for disposing of drill cuttings and more particularly to the process for source identification of such cuttings and the identification of value added processes for commercializing the cuttings in an economical manner
In the process of drilling for oil and gas large amounts of earth, rock, shell, minerals, etc., are removed from the borehole along with drilling fluids containing chemical additives. As part of the drilling process the fluids and chemicals are recycled leaving the rock, shell, minerals etc. to be disposed of in some manner. These so-called drill cuttings are processed at the well site to reduce their bulk and remove as much of the chemical residue as possible. However, in most cases the residual contaminates remain above acceptable limits for reintroduction back in the environment without further treatment. In some cases the cuttings are collected, chemically treated, and transported to landfills where they may be further treated if necessary for atmospheric decay or simply pumped into abandoned wells. In other cases the cuttings are pulverized and treated at the well site for injection back into the earth formation of the well being drilled. Most recent developments have improved the cuttings treatment process at the well site to the point that they are considered as being acceptable for reintroduction into the environment without further treatment. In the case of off shore drilling, the cutting may be simply spread over the seabed around the drill site or transported to designated sites to serve as artificial reefs. However, on land even the highest quality drill cuttings must often be transported great distances for disposal and are often treated as contaminated waste products. As the cost of transport increases and the availability of disposal sites decreases, the cost of cuttings disposal continues to spiral upwards.
Alternative methods must be found to recycle the cuttings in a way that will help pay for their transport and reduce reliance on other mineral deposits and thereby reduce energy costs.
In addition it has been found that if the cuttings have not been treated properly or disposed of in a proper manner, they may be considered as hazardous at some future date, in which case the companies who produced the cuttings originally are held responsible for the excavation and removal for treatment and disposal. Under current law once a mined or excavated material has been found to be acceptable for reintroduction into the environment and recycled by transformation by a third party into a commercial product, the original producer is no longer responsible for the material. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the oil and gas industry to find ways and means to recycle its waste materials rather than dispose of it by burial.


Methods and systems are provided for determining scan settings for a localizer scan based on a magnetic resonance (MR) calibration image. In one example, a method for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) includes acquiring an MR calibration image of an imaging subject, mapping, by a trained deep neural network, the MR calibration image to a corresponding anatomical region of interest (ROI) attribute map for an anatomical ROI of the imaging subject, adjusting one or more localizer scan parameters based on the anatomical ROI attribute map, and acquiring one or more localizer images of the anatomical ROI according to the one or more localizer scan parameters.

Medical imaging systems are often used to obtain internal physiological information of a subject, such as a patient. For example, a medical imaging system may be used to obtain images of the bone structure, the brain, the heart, the lungs, and various other features of a subject. Medical imaging systems may include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, computed tomography (CT) systems, x-ray systems, ultrasound systems, and various other imaging modalities.
Prior to performing a diagnostic scan of the subject, a fast, anatomy location blinded, thick slice scan or low-dose scan of the subject, often referred to as a scout scan or a localizer scan, may be performed to obtain localizer images of the subject's internal anatomy. The medical imaging system and/or operator of the medical imaging system may plan the diagnostic scan of the subject according to the localizer images, to ensure that the full-strength diagnostic scan of the subject correctly images the subject as desired. If the localizer images do not adequately show all aspects of the desired anatomy, the localizer scan may have to be re-performed to ensure the diagnostic scan is carried out correctly, which may prolong the diagnostic scan.

Systems and methods for generating localizer scan settings from calibration images


A semiconductor structure. The semiconductor comprises a substrate, a first deep well, a diode and a transistor. The first deep well is formed in the substrate. The diode is formed in the first deep well. The transistor is formed in the first deep well. The diode is connected to a first voltage, the transistor is connected to a second voltage, and the diode and the transistor are cascaded.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a semiconductor structure, and more particularly to a semiconductor structure with electrostatic discharge protection.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, integrated circuits (ICs) are susceptible to the electrostatic discharge (ESD) and damaged by the ESD such as the high-voltage transient of an electronic device. In some electronic devices, the high-voltage transient could be have positive and/or negative peaks, and the high-voltage transient may range from hundreds to thousands of volts (V) of static voltage, and the duration may last for several micro-seconds. The high-voltage electrostatic discharge transient could be caused by the user's electrostatic discharge, for example, when the user contacts the terminals or circuits of the integrated circuits (such as apparatus control) or the casing of an apparatus through friction or sensing. Thus, the static voltage caused by negligence may damage the input transistor.
The integrated circuits normally need electrostatic discharge protection circuit to protect the electronic components of an electronic device. However, conventional electrostatic discharge protection structure, such as a high-voltage diode, the voltage is too high and the conducting impedance is too large. Thus, when the voltage increases, the increase in the current is very tiny, and the expected levels of the operating voltage and the current of the high-voltage diode cannot be reached.
FIG. 1 shows a semiconductor structure of generally known technology. The semiconductor structure 5 comprises a substrate 50, an N-type deep well 55, a P-type deep well 60, an N-type deep well 65, an N-type doping well 70, a P-type doping well 75, an insulating material 80, a high-voltage 90 and a low-voltage 95. In terms of location relationship, the N-type deep well 55 is formed in the substrate 50, the P-type deep well 60 is formed in the N-type deep well 55, the N-type deep well 65 is formed in the P-type deep well 60, the P-type doping well 75 is formed in the P-type deep well 60, and the N-type doping well 70 is formed in the N-type deep well 65, wherein, the high-voltage 90 is connected to the N-type doping well 70, and the low-voltage 95 is connected to the P-type doping well 75.
Given that the area is 95 um×150 um, the experimental results obtained according to the generally known technology are illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 shows a current-voltage relationship diagram of a semiconductor structure of generally known technology. As indicated in FIG. 2, the breakdown voltage is 30V, and the slope of current vs. voltage is very small, and 10V increase in the voltage only leads to 0.3 A increase in the current. The small slope is ascribed to the parasitic resistance of the structure of generally known technology being too larger. Moreover, the human body model of structure of generally known technology is 0.5 KV, which is far below the standard (at least 2 KV) of the integrated circuits.


A soft-focus zoom lens system including a positive front lens group, a negative intermediate lens group, and a positive rear lens group, in this order from the object. Zooming is performed by varying axial distances among the front, intermediate and rear lens groups. The zoom lens system satisfies the following conditions: EQU SAU/fw<-0.10 (1) EQU 0.30<D.sub.23w /fw (2) EQU 0.25<D.sub.12t /ft (3). wherein: SAU designates the amount of spherical aberration at an open aperture, with respect to a focal length at which the amount of spherical aberration, upon zooming, becomes the smallest; fw designates the focal length of the entire lens system at the short focal length extremity; D.sub.23w designates the axial distance, at the short focal length extremity, between the most image-side surface of the intermediate lens group and the most object-side surface of the rear lens group; D.sub.12t designates the axial distance, at the long focal length extremity, between the most image-side surface of the front lens group and the most object-side surface of the intermediate lens group; and ft designates the focal length of the entire zoom lens system at the long focal length extremity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a soft-focus zoom lens system having a soft-focusing effect over a range from a shorter focal length toward a medium-longer focal length, the zoom lens system which can be utilized in an interchangeable photographing lens for a single lens reflex camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
A soft-focus lens system has conventionally been used for taking portraits, and has therefore been employed in a medium-telephoto photographing lens having a relatively narrower angle-of-view. On the other hand, a soft-focus lens system has recently been employed even in a photographing lens having a wider angle-of-view in order to take photographs of distant views such as landscapes and the like. However, a zoom lens system having a soft-focusing effect over a range from a shorter focal length toward a medium-longer focal length has not been provided.


An airflow channel module for oxygen concentrator is provided, including at least two molecular sieves, an oxygen storage unit, an air expelling unit, an air channel module, an air intake/expel module, and an automatic valve. The airflow channel module utilizes the oxygen storage channel and the air channel hidden inside the air channel module, the air intake channel, the air expelling channel and the air supply channel hidden in the air intake/expel module, and the automatic valve to control the flow of the air, oxygen and the nitrogen. By modularizing the airflow channel and eliminating the exposed hoses in conventional oxygen concentrator, the airflow channel module simplifies the assembly and maintenance of the oxygen concentrator.

FIG. 1 shows a three-dimensional view of a conventional oxygen concentrator, including two molecular sieves 81, 82, an oxygen tank 83, a plurality of hoses 84 connected to both molecular sieves 81, 82, an electromagnetic (EM) valve 85 and a plurality of hoses 86 connected to EM valve 85. The operation of an oxygen concentrator is to guide the external air into one of the molecular sieves through the control of EM valve 85. The special molecular in the sieves can absorb the nitrogen so that the remaining air is high-purity oxygen. The remaining high-purity oxygen enters oxygen tank 83 through hoses 84. At the same time, the other molecular sieve expels the nitrogen out through EM valve 85. The two molecular sieves take turns to perform the absorb/expel operation to continuously outputting high-purity oxygen. However, the conventional oxygen concentrator has the following disadvantages:
1. A plurality of hoses 84, 86 must be correctly and accurately assembled to the corresponding parts of the oxygen concentrator so as to prevent leakage. The assembly process is time-consuming and inconvenient.
2. The oxygen concentrator consists of a large number of constructing elements, which leads to high manufacturing cost as well as high storage cost.
3. The hose connection is complex and increases the maintenance difficulty.
4. The exposed hoses are both ugly and prone to danger; therefore, a large encasing unit is required to house the entire structure, which results in further cost.
It is imperative to provide an airflow channel module for the oxygen concentrator to improve the above disadvantages.

Airflow channel module for oxygen concentrator


A connection device for plastic pipe elements (1) which allows performing pre-assembly and being finally assembled without requiring skilled labor, having a pipe element (1) with at least one end, a plastic connection element (2) which is connected to an outer surface of the pipe element (1) through the end, which has a resistance wire (3) wound on the outer surface of the pipe element (1) itself.

Joining plastic pipe elements by means of different techniques is known today.
One of these joinings is the so-called heat-fusion socket joining in which a tube and a fitting are joined by heat fusion. The outside of the tube and the inside of the fitting are heated with matrices the temperature of which is adjusted by means of a fusion welder to the melting temperature of the plastic used. The elements are then removed from the matrices and coupled to one another. The problem lies in the fact that it is only useful for a specific range of diameters between 20-125 mm, in addition to the fact that it requires regulating the fusion welder temperature, performing fusion welder and matrix maintenance and restoration, requiring medium cost welding equipment and performing welding on a workbench. Furthermore, the welds from joining overhead segments are complex.
On the other hand, for intermediate diameters between 63-250 mm electrically weldable joining which is also done by heat fusion, but in which the melting temperature is reached as a result of an electrical resistance that is embedded in an electrically weldable fitting, is often used. The terminals of the welding connector of the fitting are connected to the cables of an electric welding unit and the current generated by the machine heats the resistance by Joule effect. The electric current used is a low-voltage electric current (24-40 V). The inner surface of the fitting is therefore welded with the outer surface of the tube. When the process ends, a fusion indicator of the part assuring that the process has been suitably performed will come up. However, this joining method is extremely slow, requiring between 20 and 30 minutes for the entire welding process, particularly due to the operations required for preparing the tube, in addition to requiring a great precision and skilled labor who suitably prepares the segments to be joined, which includes scraping off the rust, etc, which makes the on-site implementation thereof expensive, in addition to the fact that in the case that a special, not straight part, for example, an elbow or a T-shaped part is to be provided, it becomes even more expensive, given that said parts are not often required. In other words, the fittings have a high cost, the range of fittings being limited. Furthermore, to prevent a tolerance difference from occurring between the tube and the fitting, a thorough tube preparation as mentioned above is required.
Finally, joining by butt welding is often used for large diameters. According to this system, the ends of the tubes to be joined are heated with a heating element for a specific time and at a specific pressure. The heating plate is removed, the ends are arranged facing one another and joined, maintaining the pressure for as long as required. The problem of this type of joining lies in the high cost of performing same, given that a hydraulic unit, special clamps and a generating set are required, which makes it more expensive and significantly slower to perform, requiring between 40-120 minutes per joining, given that the operator, who must be a skilled operator, has to furthermore move the whole machine to the successive joining points. Furthermore, this joining method involves a reduction of the useful section of the tube due to the inner weld bead, so a coefficient of pressure reduction according to the regulation of 0.8 and 0.6 in the fittings must be applied. This technique entails a high complexity for performing overhead welding, does not allow welding tubes of different thicknesses and performing same is severely limited by atmospheric conditions.
Therefore, the need to provide a simple, cost-effective and easy-to-install connection device which allows an electrically weldable connection that can be used for any type of joining required in systems of plastic pipe elements is considered.


A solar panel assembly attachment apparatus is provided. In another aspect, a single piece and entirely metallic grounding clip is employed. A further aspect includes a clip or fastener which provides both frame grounding and a frame-to-strut attachment. In still another aspect, a grounding clip having barbs is linearly slid onto a solar panel frame and the clip additionally includes one or more flexible wings which are removably snap-fit into a slot of an elongated and rigid strut.

The present invention relates generally to a solar panel assembly attachment apparatus and more particularly to a grounding clip which attaches a solar panel frame to a strut.
Traditionally, peripheral mounting frames holding solar or photovoltaic panels are mounted to a supporting structure on a building roof or on the land through use of threaded fasteners and multi-piece brackets. Exemplary traditional devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,758,011 entitled "Adjustable Mounting Assembly for Standing Seam Panels" which issued to Haddock on Jul. 20, 2010, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,317 entitled "Mounting System for Installing an Array of Solar Battery Modules of a Panel-Like Configuration on a Roof" which issued to Tomiuchi et al. on Aug. 22, 2000. These patents are incorporated by reference herein. These devices, however, solely provide frame retention, and are time consuming and complex to install on a job site, such as on top of a windy roof, which thereby incurs significant labor expense and effort.
Another solar panel module fastener is disclosed in German Patent Publication No. 10 2010 022 556 invented by Klaus Hullmann et al. While this fastener is a noteworthy advance in the industry, further improvements are desirable.
Finally, various conventional devices have been used to provide electrical grounding to solar panel assemblies. For example, a grounding lug is attached to a solar panel frame by screws and a wire that extends through a cradle of the lug is retained therein by one or more set screws. An example of this is disclosed in FIG. 1 and the background section of U.S. Pat. No. 7,195,513 entitled "Self-Locking Wire Termination Clip" which issued to Gherardini et al. on Mar. 27, 2007, and is incorporated by reference herein. This patent highlights many of the disadvantages of this lug and threaded fastener approach. Furthermore, this conventional lug and threaded fastener device is time consuming and difficult to install on site and is not easily suited for pre-assembly.
In accordance with the present invention, a solar panel assembly attachment apparatus is provided. In another aspect, a single piece and entirely metallic grounding clip is employed. A further aspect includes a clip or fastener which provides both frame grounding and a frame-to-strut attachment. In still another aspect, a grounding clip having barbs is linearly slid onto a solar panel frame and the clip additionally includes one or more flexible wings which are removably snap-fit into a slot of an elongated and rigid strut. In yet another aspect, two spaced apart and generally C-shaped clamps are coupled to a central mounting section including flexible wings. A method of grounding and attaching a solar panel frame is also disclosed.
The present invention is advantageous over traditional devices. For example, the clip of the present apparatus is inexpensive to manufacture and install. Furthermore, the present grounding clip is suitable for pre-assembly to the frame offsite or at a manufacturing plant, thereby improving quality and reducing assembly cost. Moreover, the present grounding clip allows for simple linear frame attachment and simple linear strut attachment free of extraneous loose parts such as threaded fasteners, nuts and brackets. The multiple clamp and barb configurations of the present apparatus also advantageously increase the electrical grounding continuity and reliability to the solar panel frame as compared to conventional devices. Additional advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and appended claims.

Solar panel assembly attachment apparatus


A method for operation of a lubrication circuit in an internal combustion engine is provided herein. The method comprises during a first operating condition, operating an oil agitation device to increase the turbulence of oil in the lubrication circuit, the oil agitation device positioned downstream of an oil pump in a supply line in fluidic communication with a lubricant receiving component.

Lubrication systems are used in internal combustion engines to lubricate moving components to reduce friction within the components, thereby increasing the component's longevity. For example, pistons, crankshafts, bearings, etc., may all be lubricated with oil by a lubrication circuit provided in the engine. However, it may be desirable to operate the lubricant (e.g., oil) in the lubrication circuit within a desired operating temperature range to avoid over-temperature or under-temperature conditions which may lead to component degradation and increased wear. To avoid over temperature conditions, heat exchangers have been integrated into lubrication circuits to remove heat therefrom. As a result, the likelihood of the lubricant in the lubrication circuit experiencing an over-temperature condition may be reduced.
However, during cold starts in the internal combustion engine, the lubricant may experience an under-temperature condition. As a result, the viscosity of the oil is increased thereby increasing component wear and other types of degradation stemming from improper lubrication of components. Consequently, the longevity of the lubricated components in the engine may be reduced. Electric heaters have been integrated into oil pans in engine lubrication systems to avoid under temperature conditions. In this way, the oil may be actively heated during for example, a cold start, to decrease oil viscosity, thereby decreasing friction losses in lubricated components. Additionally, the oil may be stored in an insulated storage tank during periods when the engine is not performing combustion and subsequently used to lubricate various components during start-up.
However, electric heaters may consume energy from the vehicle's battery, decreasing the vehicle's efficiency. Moreover, electric heaters may have a limited life span which may be in part caused by oil degrading various parts of the heater. Additionally, heated oil that is insulated cannot be stored indefinitely and the temperature of the oil will eventually decrease below a desired level.
As such in one approach, a method for operation of a lubrication circuit in an internal combustion engine is provided. The method comprises during a first operating condition, operating an oil agitation device to increase the turbulence of oil in the lubrication circuit, the oil agitation device positioned downstream of an oil pump in a supply line in fluidic communication with a lubricant receiving component.
In this way, the oil temperature may be increased via the oil agitation device, thereby reducing the likelihood of under-temperature conditions during certain periods of engine operation. In one example, the first operating condition may be when the oil is below a predetermined threshold value. Thus, the oil may be heated during a cold-start. As a result, the likelihood of component degradation stemming from improper lubrication may be reduced.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following Detailed Description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

Method for heating the engine oil of an internal combustion engine and internal combustion engine for performing such a method


Boundary timing in the design of an integrated circuit is facilitated by designating a subset of boundary latches in the circuit, and applying placement constraints to the boundary latches. Global placement is performed while maintaining the boundary latch placement constraints, and a timing driven placement is performed after implementing timing assertions. Boundary latches are designated using a depth-first search to identify the first latches along interconnection paths with the PI/PO, and filtering out ineligible latches according to designer rules. A latch can be filtered out if it is in a large cluster of latches driven by a primary input or driving a primary output, if it drives too many POs, or is a feed-through latch. Constraints include movebounds, preplacement, or attractive forces between boundary latches and other boundary fixed objects, i.e., a fixed gate or a PI/PO.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to integrated circuit design, and more particularly to a method of placing logic in a design as part of a physical synthesis process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Integrated circuits are used for a wide variety of electronic applications, from simple devices such as wristwatches, to the most complex computer systems. A microelectronic integrated circuit (IC) chip can generally be thought of as a collection of logic cells with electrical interconnections between the cells, formed on a semiconductor substrate (e.g., silicon). An IC may include a very large number of cells and require complicated connections between the cells. A cell is a group of one or more circuit elements such as transistors, capacitors, resistors, inductors, and other basic circuit elements combined to perform a logic function. Cell types include, for example, core cells, scan cells, input/output (I/O) cells, and memory (storage) cells. Each of the cells of an IC may have one or more pins, each of which in turn may be connected to one or more other pins of the IC by wires. The wires connecting the pins of the IC are also formed on the surface of the chip. For more complex designs, there are typically at least four distinct layers of conducting media available for routing, such as a polysilicon layer and three metal layers (metal-1, metal-2, and metal-3). The polysilicon layer, metal-1, metal-2, and metal-3 are all used for vertical and/or horizontal routing.
An IC chip is fabricated by first conceiving the logical circuit description, and then converting that logical description into a physical description, or geometric layout. This process is usually carried out using a "netlist," which is a record of all of the nets, or interconnections, between the cell pins, including information about the various components such as transistors, resistors and capacitors. A layout typically consists of a set of planar geometric shapes in several layers. The layout is then checked to ensure that it meets all of the design requirements, particularly timing requirements. The result is a set of design files known as an intermediate form that describes the layout. The design files are then run through a dataprep process that is used to produce patterns called masks by an optical or electron beam pattern generator. During fabrication, these masks are used to etch or deposit features in a silicon wafer in a sequence of photolithographic steps using a complex lens system that shrinks the mask image. The process of converting the specifications of an electrical circuit into such a layout is called the physical design.
Cell placement in semiconductor fabrication involves a determination of where particular cells should optimally (or near-optimally) be located on the surface of a integrated circuit device. Due to the large number of components and the details required by the fabrication process for very large scale integrated (VLSI) devices, physical design is not practical without the aid of computers. As a result, most phases of physical design extensively use computer-aided design (CAD) tools, and many phases have already been partially or fully automated. Automation of the physical design process has increased the level of integration, reduced turn around time and enhanced chip performance. Several different programming languages have been created for electronic design automation (EDA), including Verilog, VHDL and TDML. A typical EDA system receives one or more high level behavioral descriptions of an IC device, and translates this high level design language description into netlists of various levels of abstraction.
Physical synthesis is prominent in the automated design of integrated circuits such as high performance processors and application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Physical synthesis is the process of concurrently optimizing placement, timing, power consumption, crosstalk effects and the like in an integrated circuit design. This comprehensive approach helps to eliminate iterations between circuit analysis and place-and-route. FIG. 1 shows the logical flow for a general physical synthesis process 2. The process begins with logic (cell) placement 4 for moveable objects in the circuit netlist. Placement may be carried out according to a variety of methods, one example being an analytical placer which optimally solves a relaxed placement formulation, such as minimizing total quadratic wire length for the interconnections between the placed cells. The timing of the circuit (dataflow) is then analyzed and adjusted in a virtual optimization 6 which eliminates most timing path violations. Clock networks for clock sinks of the circuit such as latches are then optimized 8, and wire synthesis 10 is performed to provide routing (interconnections) between the cells according to the netlist. The process continues with a coarse optimization 12 and a fine optimization 14 which refine the layout using for example buffer insertion, gate sizing, min-cut placement or other heuristic techniques. After any of these steps the process may use various constraints or design parameters to determine whether further placement or optimization is desired, and any step(s) may be repeated.
Physical synthesis has the ability to repower gates (changing their sizes), insert repeaters (buffers or inverters), clone gates or other combinational logic, etc., so the area of logic in the design remains fluid. However, physical synthesis can take days to complete, and the computational requirements are increasing as designs are ever larger and more gates need to be placed. There are also more chances for bad placements due to limited area resources and boundary timing constraints (required arrival times or slack) that are applied to the primary inputs or outputs of a circuit or sub-circuit.

Boundary latch and logic placement to satisfy timing constraints

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention relates to a collinear antenna structure. The structure comprises a dipole antenna, a coil, and a set of stacked radiator, wherein the length of the dipole antenna is xc2xdxcex, the ground end and the signal end of the dipole antenna are connected to a coaxial cable, the length of the cable line is less than xc2xcxcex, one end of the cable line is connected in series to the top of the signal end, wherein the stacked radiator comprising at least two parallel radiators in series, the length of each radiator is xc2xdxcex, the distance between the two radiators is about 1.0 to 4.0 mm, one of the stacked radiator is axially connected in series to the other end of the coil, thus forming the structure of the antenna. This invention provides a collinear antenna structure, the antenna uses the coil to axially connect the signal end of the dipole antenna and the stacked radiator, and let the electromagnetic radiation wave emitted from the signal end of the dipole antenna and the electromagnetic radiation wave emitted from the stacked radiator to propagate toward the same direction thus promoting the radiation gain profit effect. Through a combination of at least two parallel radiators in series and the associated coil, the entire length of the antenna could be effectively reduced, it is also intended that this invention is suitable for the usage of desk electric communication equipment.

The present invention relates to a collinear antenna structure, and more specifically to a stacked radiator collinear antenna structure.
The traditional basic structure of a dipole antenna is one signal end matched with one ground end and the two ends are connected to a coaxial cable as shown in FIG. 1. The theoretical averaged radiation gain profit of this basic structure is about 2.14 dBi. However, under this basic structure, the normally used method for promoting the radiation gain profit is to connect more than one dipole antenna in collinear to obtain higher radiation purpose. But when the antenna is positioned in collinear, the entire length of the antenna structure would be too long. For example, the normal collinear array antenna under the condition of using 2.4 to 2.5 GHz channel band, in order to obtain the ideal 6.0 to 7.0 dBi radiation gain profit value, the ideal length of the collinear antenna would be about 30.0 to 40.0 cm. It is evident that the length of the antenna is too long to suit for the usage of desk space.
The traditional collinear antenna structure as shown in FIG. 2 is the Franklin antenna, FIG. 3 is the series-fed transposed coaxial collinear antenna, and FIG. 4 is the series-fed symmetrical coaxial collinear antenna. Basically, the antenna structures mentioned above are all connected in collinear. Taking FIG. 4, series-fed symmetrical coaxial collinear antenna as an example, in order to obtain a 6.0 dBi radiation gain profit value, the length of the collinear antenna structure is about 3.0 xcex, when using the 2.45 GHz channel band, the wavelength A is 122 mm, so the entire length of the antenna is about 36.6 cm, the length is not suitable for desk space usage and only suitable for outdoor usage only. Taking FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 as another examples, when using the 2.45 GHz channel band, in order to obtain 6.0 dBi radiation gain profit value, the length of the antenna structure would be 2.5 to 3.0 xcex, and the entire length of the antenna is approximately equal to 30.0 to 38.0 cm, which is also too long to suit for desk space usage, and only suitable for outside use only.
In order to solve the problem mentioned above, the present invention provides a collinear antenna structure for effectively shortening the length of the antenna and suits for the need of desk electric communication equipment.
It is a purpose of this invention to provide a collinear antenna structure, the antenna uses the coil to axially connect the signal end of the dipole antenna and the stacked radiator, and let the electromagnetic radiation wave emitted from the signal end of the dipole antenna and the electromagnetic radiation wave emitted from the stacked radiator to propagate toward the same direction thus promoting the radiation gain profit effect.
Through a combination of at least two parallel radiators positioned in series and the associated coil, the entire length of the antenna could be effectively reduced, it is intended that this invention is suitable for the use of desk electric communication equipment.
The above problems and others are at least partially solved and the above purposes and others are realized in a collinear antenna structure shown as follow:
The present invention relates to a collinear antenna structure. The structure comprises a dipole antenna, a coil, and a set of stacked radiator, wherein the length of the dipole antenna is xc2xdxcex, the ground end and the signal end of the dipole antenna are connected to a coaxial cable line, the length of the cable line is less than xc2xcxcex, one end of the cable line is connected in series with the top of the signal end, wherein the stacked radiator comprising at least two parallel radiators in series, the length of each radiator is xc2xdxcex, the distance between radiators is about 1.0 to 4.0 mm, one of the stacked radiator is connected in series with one end of the coil, thus forming the structure of the antenna. This invention provides a collinear antenna structure, the antenna uses the coil to axially connect the signal end of the dipole antenna and the stacked radiator, and let the electromagnetic radiation wave emitted from the signal end of the dipole antenna and the electromagnetic radiation wave emitted from the stacked radiator to propagate toward the same direction thus promoting the radiation gain profit effect. Through a combination of at least two parallel radiators in series and the associated coil, the entire length of the antenna could be effectively reduced, it is intended that this invention is suitable for the use of desk electric communication equipment.


A particle-beam inspection system may include a reflective particle-beam imaging system providing an image of a selected portion of a sample and a diffraction pattern of the selected portion of the sample and a controller communicatively coupled to the reflective particle-beam imaging system. The controller may receive two or more sample-plane images from the reflective particle-beam imaging system associated with two or more selected portions of the sample, where at least some of the two or more selected portions of the sample overlap. The controller may further receive two or more diffraction-plane images from the reflective particle-beam imaging system associated with the two or more selected portions of the sample. The controller may further construct one or more output images of the two or more selected portions of the sample from the two or more diffraction-plane images using phase information obtained from the two or more sample-plane images.

Inspection metrology is typically utilized to evaluate and/or control various process steps throughout a semiconductor fabrication process. It is typically desirable to provide high-resolution inspection with a high throughput to provide sufficient data for evaluation and/or control within acceptable throughput requirements. Various inspection technologies provide different tradeoffs between resolution and throughput and may thus be strategically utilized within an inspection process. However, advances in fabrication technology providing smaller and more complex devices require commensurate advances in inspection technology to maintain a desired throughput. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide systems and methods for accurate and efficient inspection.

Reflection-mode electron-beam inspection using ptychographic imaging


A method for producing an inverse vertical seismic profile using a seismic source place down a borehole has been invented. The directly transmitted waves from the seismic source and the secondary reflectances thereof are detected by a sensor(s) on the earth's surface. The method depends only on knowing the relative arrival times at the sensor of the direct waves and the secondary reflectance waves. A pseudo-reflection seismogram is produced by (1) Autocorrelating a recording of a long series of random pulses, such as those produced by a drill bit, to produce a one-sided autocorrelation function containing peaks corresponding to the direct waves, primary and secondary reflectances; (2) Stacking (adding the amplitudes for equivalent time points) a plurality of autocorrelation functions obtained at a single depth in the borehole to reduce noise; (3) Producing a series of stacked one-sided autocorrelation functions for different depths in the borehole to yield an IVSP; and (4) Vertically stacking together the one-sided autocorrelation functions from the series of recordings to remove peaks due to primary reflectances. The invented method also provides means to derive the interval velocities for individual geologic strata and to determine the position of the source relative to the IVSP and to a geologic horizon. The IVSP, source positions, and interval velocities can be determined at the well site in approximately real time. A single, one-component seismic sensor is sufficient for the recordings required to produce the IVSP. Either polycrystalline diamond bits or tricone bits may be used as seismic sources. However, the method is not limited to continuous randomly generated seismic sources and may also be used with periodic or impulsive sources.

Field: This invention relates generally to vertical seismic profiles (VSP), which are used to obtain information needed to perform more precise interpretations of geophysical seismic data and to obtain geophysical information beyond the limits of the well bore. More specifically, a method of constructing an inverse vertical seismic profile is disclosed.
State of the Art: One current method for performing a VSP survey involves clamping a set of three component geophones to the walls of the borehole for coupling. A repeatable surface source such as an explosive detonation is used to produce a seismic signal. The seismic wave transmitted directly to the geophones and the waves reflected from geologic horizons located below the geophones (referred to hereafter as "primary reflectances" or "primary reflected waves") are recorded on the downhole geophones. The downhole geophones are then moved to a new depth location in the well and the recording sequence is repeated. This is a long and tedious process. Many problems can occur with coupling and determining the orientation of the three component geophones.
A more efficient method of obtaining similar data is to place the seismic source in the borehole and the geophones on the surface. The profile compiled in this way is referred to as an inverse vertical seismic profile (abbr. hereinafter as IVSP)
However, measurements made by the above methods can only be performed when drilling is not taking place. It is highly desirable to be able to perform the VSP recording(s) during drilling and process the data on-site, so that the drilling engineer can make use of the information. For example, when the drill bit is about to reach a boundary between different geological strata, the drilling engineer may wish to interrupt drilling or modify the drilling conditions before penetrating into the next stratum. Also, there often may be inaccuracies in the mapping of the strata. The drilling engineer may then be unable to determine whether he has penetrated the correct stratum and has a "dry hole," or whether a deeper hole is required to penetrate the desired stratum.
Methods have been developed which can be used during drilling. These methods employ the seismic signal provided by the motion of a rotary drill bit in the borehole, or by a seismic generator attached to the drill string near the bit. Such methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,718,048 to Staron et al., 4,849,945 and 4,365,322 to Widrow, 4,207,619 and 2,933,144 to Scott, the contents of which are incorporated by reference. All of these teachings utilize sensors on the earth's surface to record the directly transmitted waves and the primary reflectances thereof which bounce to the sensors from geologic horizons below the source. Consequently, each recording must be made with the source (i.e. the drill bit) located within the limits of a single location. The length of recording time is limited to relocations of the bit during drilling of 10-15 feet at most. Thus, recording time is typically less than 20-30 minutes. The resolution of IVSPs compiled by these methods is substantially limited both by the short recording times and the relocation of the drill bit down the borehole as drilling commences.
In the Staron teaching, the drill bit's signal is recorded both at the top of the drill string and on the surface of the ground. The data recorded at the top of the drill string is used as a pilot signal that represents the source signature. It is cross correlated with the seismic signals that pass through the earth and are recorded on the surface geophones. A system believed to be similar to that of Staron is in current industrial use under the tradename TOMEX (Western Atlas Downhole Seismic Services, Rector et al., Oil & Gas Journal, pp. 55-58, June 19, 1989).
The Staron method is furthermore severely limited in many drilling situations by the ability to decipher the signal recorded at the top of the drill string. The quality of the pilot signal is adversely affected by (1) internal damping in the drill stem and the losses in the mud that attenuate the amplitude of the vibrations emitted from the drill bit; (2) resonances in the drill stem, bottomhole assembly, and derrick that deform the recorded signals, and (3) the presence of parasitic signals caused by the drill pipe hitting the sides of the borehole or by surface vibrations from other machinery (Lutz et al. 1972, Transactions Soc. Petrol. Engin. vol. 253, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference). Because of these problems, it is difficult to use the Staron method in highly deviated wells. Also, to date the Staron method is useful only with tricone bits, whose vertical motions permit the pilot signal to be recorded at the top of the drill string. Polycrystalline diamond bits (referred to hereinafter as "PDC" bits) cannot be used with the Staron technique, because PDC bits impact the borehole horizontally (Brett et al. 1989, Soc. of Petrol. Eng., SPE 15971, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference). Moreover, the Staron method produces unsatisfactory results when downhole drilling motors are employed.
The compilation of a VSP or IVSP from the detected direct and reflected waves requires considerable processing of the recorded signals. A typical method used to process a recording of a plurality of randomly produced seismic signals is a pulse coding technique called Sosie (Barbier, 1982, Pulse coding in seismology, publ. Intl. Human Resource Devel. Corp., Boston, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference). The continuous sequence of pulses or vibrations that are produced by a drill bit are transmitted into the earth and are effectively being convolved with the earth's reflectivity response. The Sosie technique compresses a continuous sequence of pulses into a single pulse. This method is similar to echo compression techniques used in radar and sonar detection. In the Sosie technique, the onset times of the source pulses are recorded. The observed seismogram S, containing the source pulses W and the reflectance response R of the earth, is crosscorrelated with the onset of the source (in the method of Staron, the signal which is simultaneously recorded at the top of the drill string). The crosscorrelation of the two like functions produces the autocorrelation function ACF. In the Sosie method the autocorrelation of the source signature is produced: EQU S(t)=ACF W(t)*R(t) (1)
Using a long random sequence of pulses such as those provided by drill bit motion, the source autocorrelation function reduces to an individual pulse I and correlation noise. EQU S(t)=I(t)*R(t)+noise (2)
This cross-correlation procedure is known as decoding. The seismogram from the continuous pulses is now similar to that produced from a single shot pulse (i.e., dynamite) and the earth's reflectivity function.
It is the object of this invention to overcome the limitations of previous methods. More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a method of seismic sensing while drilling which is not affected by relocation of the source in the borehole, permitting recording times of extended duration without loss of resolution.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method which can be used with any type of downhole seismic source and with any type of drill bit.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a method which does not require prior knowledge of the source signature, such as is obtained by recording a signal from the top of the drill string.
It is moreover an object of the invention to provide a method of recording and processing overlapping seismic signals produced from a plurality of seismic sources placed within a borehole.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a method permitting the interval velocities for different geological strata to be determined.
Finally, it is an object of the invention to provide means for locating the position of the source relative to the IVSP and determining when the source is about to penetrate the boundary of a geologic stratum in approximately real time.

Inverse vertical seismic profiling while drilling


What is presented is a medical environment control system includes a plurality of audio/video devices, a server and a client system. Each one of the plurality of audio/video devices receives or sends an audio/video signal. The server is connected to each one of the plurality of audio/video devices and is configured to controllably receive and send audio/video signals to and from the plurality of audio/video devices. The client system is interoperable with the server and with a user of the client system through a user interface. At least one medical device is also connected to communicate with the server. The user can control the plurality of audio/video devices through the client system and the server, and receive the one audio/video signal outputted from any one of the plurality of audio/video devices and the at least one medical device at the client system.

General purpose control systems for devices are commercially available from multiple sources, such as from Crestron Electronics, Inc. of Rockleigh, N.J. Such systems typically have a main or "master" controller that may be independent or integrated with a device such as Adagio Audio that serves as the control processor. The control processor is loaded with code using logic symbols defining how each device will be used. Devices may be placed into the system and specify which control port those devices are connected to and default options for that device. The devices are controlled by the central controller via their communication interfaces
Conventional general purpose control systems may be adapted for a variety of environments, such as educational and medical environments. A modern medical environment, particularly an operating room or other surgical environment, may have multiple different devices, including environmental, audio-visual (AV) devices and particular medical devices that are desired without any consideration of the environment control system. While some devices such as lighting device might be considered standard, in some medical environments there may be an uncompromising insistence on using particular medical devices, and a control system has to be able to adapt to such medical devices.
Environmental devices include devices such as room lights and room cameras. AV devices include devices such as displays and display panels, CD (Compact Disc) players, DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) recorders, VTRs (Video Tape Recorder) and reference image storage servers. Medical devices include devices such as ultrasound equipment, laparoscopes, x-ray machines, laser scalpels, surgical lights, medical navigation devices and endoscopes. Some medical devices, such as endoscopes, provide video or image signals. The devices in a medical environment can be interconnected in a network and have the same communication interface (or at least operate according to the same communication protocol). Examples of such medical environments are discussed in U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2005/0128184 and 2005/0284491.
However, unlike other environments, there are several problems associated with the control system for devices in a medical environment. Since the medical procedures cannot be adversely affected by a device or system failure, the network and control system tends to be limited in functionality and convenience when compared to other environments. Medical environments are not the same and each one will differ in the configuration of devices, and configuration of the control system for an individual unique medical environment presents special considerations. Even the same medical environment can be different over time as medical devices or other devices are removed or added to the environment.
Conventionally, the control system for an individual medical environment is unique and the software utilized in the control system is custom built and installed. When a device is added to the environment, the custom built software has to be recompiled. These limitations implicate practical limitations on the control systems for medical environments. The systems cannot be set up by medical personnel and must be set up by a person having knowledge of the programming language.
Some control systems have associated software programs that enable some steps in the automation of controlled devices to be automatically generated. For example, once a device has been dragged into the configuration in Crestron's Systembuilder programming platform, the programmer can use automatically generated templates or can manually create page design layouts with VTPro e (Crestron's touch panel design interface). After the code has been complied and loaded onto the "control system" it cannot be retrieved to edit or change and can only be changed by a person with a copy of the original program. They cannot be viewed or changed by the end user.
In a Crestron system, only an external PC loaded with either SIMPL Windows software or the Systembuilder program can change the way the system functions and, as mentioned above, the program loaded onto the system would be required. The end user may change only items such as saving pre-sets or timers. If a piece of equipment needs to be changed a certified developer would be required to make changes to the program, recompile and upload to the control processor. This also applies to the layout and naming of buttons on Touch Panels which need to be modified via Systembuilder or VTPro e. In a Creston environment there is no device native to the system that can by an end user edit any part of the operation of the program or the visual aesthetics of any touch panel connected to the system.
Both Systembuilder and SIMPL Windows rely on an external program (VTPro e) to create Touch Panel pages and then use digital links (joins) in order to associate the program to the Touch Panel buttons. Systembuilder is capable of creating some of these links automatically however again this cannot be accessed through the control system itself or by an end user. The Programmer can select a theme for the Touch Panels which will define colours and button attributes and this theme and all pages for control need to be uploaded to each Touch Panel or Panel Processor. Again once this has been loaded it cannot be changed by the user and cannot be extracted from the system.

Software based system for control of devices


The invention relates to window framing systems which seal against exterior surfaces, particularly embossed surfaces. The system is held together with a plurality of screws. The inner component of the frame contains at least one hollow void having a V-shaped strut which provides additional structural support to the inner component and minimizes any dimpling or screw breakthrough due to the use of automatic screwdrivers having a torque which is in excess of the mechanical strength of the inner frame member.

The invention relates to window framing systems which seal against exterior door surfaces, and particularly garage door surfaces, including embossed surfaces. The extruded fame is held together with a plurality of screws in which the extruded hollow frame into which the screw is inserted contains a hollow void having a V-shaped strut contained therein which provides additional structural support to the hollow member and minimizes any dimpling or screw breakthrough due to the use of automatic screwdrivers having a torque which is in excess of the mechanical strength of the extruded hollow frame member.
Consumers often request the inclusion of a series of decorative windows in garage doors and exterior door surfaces in general. When used in a garage, these windows are usually incorporated into the upper section of the garage door. The windows are formed in individual panels of the upper section and provide daylight illumination of the closed garage. A window opening is generally cut or preformed in each panel into which a window is to be inserted.
Insertion of windows into the window openings typically involves fastening two hollow extruded frames together within the garage door. In order to maximize the speed with which this operation could be performed, installers typically use automatic screwdrivers or screwdriver bits inserted into drills. These tools, are designed for high speed screwing operations and generally possess a sufficient degree of power to screw right through the extruded hollow frame if the operator is either working too fast or carelessly.
The Prior Art solutions fail to effectively provide a window framework system which permits high speed installation without the attendant problems of improper installation or aesthetically-imperfect installation.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a hollow extruded window frame with improved structural integrity which permits the quick installation of window frames minimizing the possibility of dimpling or screw breakthrough.
It is an object of this invention to effect screwing engagement of a front and a rear window frame system wherein the rear window frame contains additional structural support.
It is another object of this invention to improve the aesthetics of the installed window frame thereby reducing consumer rejection of various installations.
These and other objects of this invention will be evident when viewed in light of the drawings, detailed description and the pending claims.


A compound and method are disclosed for reducing the effects of epilepsy, especially temporal lobe epilepsy. The treatment disclosed by the subject invention is provided by administering an aryl-cycloalkyl-alkanolamine substance having the general formula: ##STR1## The compounds procyclidine, biperiden, and trihexyphenidyl fall within this class of compounds. Although not previously recognized to be effective against epilepsy, all three representative compounds were tested against soman and pilocarpine, two cholinergic neurotoxins used in animal research on epilepsy. All three of those compounds were shown to be highly effective in providing protection against the seizures and neurological damage caused by cholinergic neurotoxins, even when administered only after the onset of convulsions.

A pattern of brain damage is often found at autopsy in individuals whose clinical history includes frequent episodes of prolonged epileptic seizures (Corsellis et al 1976; a list of complete citations is provided below). Such epilepsy-related brain damage occurs most frequently in association with a type of epilepsy known as temporal lobe epilepsy (also referred to as psychomotor epilepsy or complex partial seizures). In this type of epilepsy, episodes of seizure activity may be quite prolonged (i.e., they may last for several hours), and they are often very difficult to control with any drugs currently available. The mechanism by which prolonged seizures give rise to brain damage was unknown until recent animal studies provided evidence linking such damage to excitatory transmitter systems in the brain, primarily the glutamate transmitter system (Olney et al 1986).
It is impossible to demonstrate with certainty that any seizure or seizure-related brain damage in a non-human animal falls within the proper definition of "epilepsy." Therefore, seizures and brain damage in lab animals which appear to be comparable to human epilepsy are referred to as "epileptiform" rather than "epilepsy." In lab animals, epileptiform seizures and brain damage can be induced by convulsant drugs, as discussed below. They also occur spontaneously in some strains of lab animals which are specially bred to exhibit epileptiform symptoms. Despite limitations, animal models offer the only methods available to researchers for studying epilepsy, short of tests on humans. Therefore, researchers use animal models to test drugs for anti-convulsant potential, and a great deal of research has been devoted to identifying drugs which generate epileptiform manifestations (i.e., seizure activity) and consequences (particular types of brain damage) that most closely resemble the manifestations and consequences of epilepsy in humans.
Three of the convulsant drugs that are of interest to researchers studying epilepsy are (1) kainic acid, a glutamate agonist (Nadler 1981); (2) pilocarpine, a cholinergic agonist (Clifford et al 1987); and (3) soman, a cholinesterase inhibitor (McLeod et al 1984). In several important respects, both the manifestations and the consequences of severe cases of epilepsy, especially temporal lobe epilepsy, resemble the manifestations and consequences of each of those convulsant drugs. Each of those substances can cause continuous seizure activity which can persist for hours, similar to "status epilepticus" in humans. In addition, each of those substances causes disseminated brain damage which resembles the damage observed during autopsies of humans who suffered from severe epilepsy.
A number of efforts to treat lab animals against convulsions induced by kainic acid, pilocarpine, and soman have focused on tranquilizers and sedatives. Diazepam (sold under the trade name Valium) suppresses seizures induced by these agents, but only at relatively high doses which are overly sedating (Clifford et al 1982; Fuller et al 1981). This makes such agents undesirable, especially as a long-term preventive measure.
Braitman et al 1988 states that a substance referred to as MK-801 (a glutamate antagonist, discussed below) provides some degree of protection against soman, if administered before soman exposure and if used in conjunction with other protective agents. However, recent research by the inventor of the subject application has discovered that when MK-801, phencyclidine, or ketamine were used in an effort to protect lab animals against pilocarpine, the seizure activity was made worse and the outcome was rapidly lethal. Although the reasons for these apparently conflicting results are not entirely clear, both sets of results suggest that interactions between the cholinergic and glutamate receptor systems may be relevant to efforts to provide an effective method for protecting the brain against epileptic seizures and against brain damage which can result from such seizures. The following sections provide information on both the cholinergic and glutamate receptor systems.

Aryl-cycloalkyl-alkanolamines for treatment of epilepsy


Methods and apparatus for routing signal paths in an integrated circuit. One or more signal routing paths for transferring signals of the integrated circuit may be determined. A dummy fill pattern for the integrated circuit may be determined based on the one or more metal density specifications and at least one design rule for reducing cross coupling capacitance between the dummy fill pattern and the routing paths. The signal routing paths and/or the dummy fill pattern may be incrementally optimized to meet one or more timing requirements of the integrated circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention are generally related to fabrication of integrated circuit devices, and more specifically to routing of signals in an integrated circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fabrication of integrated circuits generally involves depositing multiple layers of metal and insulation materials selectively on a silicon wafer. Particularly, the insulation (or dielectric) layers may be deposited between metal layers and may provide electrical insulation therebetween. The metal layers may connect one or more devices of the integrated circuit. In some cases, the metal layers may be interconnected to each other through vias etched in the intervening dielectric layers to route one or more signals of the integrated circuit.
The dielectric layers of an integrated circuit may vary in thickness as a result of various patterning processes that may be performed while forming the vias and patterned metal layers. Such thickness variations may be undesirable because they may reduce yield during fabrication of the integrated circuits and adversely affect performance of the integrated circuit.
In some cases, metal dummy fill structures may be provided in low metal density areas to produce a more flattened layout. The dummy fill structures may be formed as metal squares or metal rectangles that equalize spatial density of metal, thereby making the topology of metal layers more uniform and reducing the undesired variations in thicknesses of the dielectric layers. The metal dummy fill structures are generally formed in a final physical design step that is performed after a routing step which determines placement of signal lines that transfer signals in the integrated circuit.


An optical sensor includes an image sensor, a proximity sensor and a visible light sensor. The image sensor includes a first pixel and a second pixel. The first pixel is coated with a first optical film for blocking light whose wavelength is outside a first predetermined range and a second optical film for blocking light whose wavelength is outside a second predetermined range. The proximity sensor generates an IR signal according to a first exposure value. The visible light sensing unit generates a visible light signal according to the difference between the first exposure and a second exposure value or according to a ratio of the first exposure value to the second exposure value. The first exposure value represents an incident light quantity which is absorbed by the first pixel. The second exposure value represents an incident light quantity which is absorbed by the second pixel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to an optical sensor, and more particularly, to an optical sensor capable of detecting IR light and visible light simultaneously.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Light is the portion of electromagnetic radiation whose wavelength is between 300 nm (ultraviolet) to 14,000 nm (far infrared). The wavelength of visible light lies in a range from about 380 to about 780 nm. Infrared radiation (IR) is the portion of electromagnetic radiation whose wavelength is between 780 nm to 1400 nm. With high thermal efficiency, strong penetration and easy absorption, IR imaging is used extensively for communication, probing, medical and military purposes.
An optical sensor is used for converting optical signals into electrical signals using an image sensor capable of detecting light in a wavelength range of 400-1000 nm. Visible light sensors are commonly used for controlling environmental brightness. IR sensors, also called proximity sensors, are often used for surveillance purposes.
FIG. 1 illustrates the optical spectrum measured by a prior art visible light sensor. Curves R, G and B represent the transmittance-wavelength characteristics of the red, green and blue visible light, respectively. As previously explained, human eyes are unable to perceive invisible light whose wavelength is larger than 780 nm. However, the prior art visible light sensor may detect peaks in the non-visible range of the optical spectrum which results in inaccurate results. For example, when the intensity of ambient light becomes insufficient to human eyes, the prior art visible light sensor may provide an inaccurate result of sufficient ambient light due to the detection of invisible light. Therefore, optical sensors are required to simultaneously include functions of the visible light sensor and the proximity sensor in many applications.
In US Patent Application No. US 2006/0180886, a visible light sensor having a multi-layer filter structure by alternatively fabricating Ag and Si3N4 layers on an optical device is disclosed. The thickness of each layer in the multi-layer filter structure is determined according to Fabry-Perot interference principle so that each region of the optical device may detect a specific wavelength range for blocking IR light. However, this prior art requires complicated manufacturing processes which may reduce product yield or increase manufacturing costs.

Optical sensor capable of detecting IR light and visible light simultaneously


A charging cable includes a first connector including a first proximity detection pin and a first power pin; a second connector comprising a second proximity detection pin and a second power pin; and a cable electrically connecting the first power pin of the first connector and the second power pin of the second connector, wherein the cable may not connect the first proximity detection pin and the second proximity detection pin.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
In general, vehicles use gasoline or diesel as fuel, and gasoline and diesel not only generate harmful substances and cause air pollution, but also due to the depletion of crude oil, each industry is in a hurry to develop alternative energy, and to develop and operate electric vehicles as an alternative.
However, in the case of electric vehicles, the time required for charging is longer than that of gasoline and diesel vehicles, which causes trouble in operation, and the charging infrastructure is also insufficient, which makes it many difficult to commercializing electric vehicles.
In addition, as demand for electric vehicles is expected to increase explosively with increasing demand for electric vehicles, an energy supply and demand strategy will be needed to meet the demand for electric power in order to commercialize electric vehicles.
Accordingly, there is a demand for a vehicle-to-vehicle charging method for charging an electric vehicle lacking a battery by connecting a charging cable between a plurality of electric vehicles.

V2V charging cable and control method thereof


An image forming apparatus includes an accommodating portion, a motor, and a development sensor. In the accommodating portion, a replacement developing component is fitted. The replacement developing component is fitted with a rotary member including an operating member, and stores toner. The motor rotates the rotary member on the replacement developing component fitted in the accommodating portion. When a new replacement developing component is fitted, the development sensor is not in contact with the operating member before the motor rotates the rotary member and is in contact with the operating member on the rotary member that has moved as the motor rotates. The development sensor outputs a first level when in contact with the operating member and outputs a second level when not in contact with the operating member.

The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus that can be fitted with a replacement developing component for storing toner and to a replacement developing component that is fitted to an image forming apparatus. The present disclosure also relates to a method for controlling an image forming apparatus.
Image forming apparatuses that perform printing using toner are known. They include, for example, printers and multifunction peripherals. When printing is performed, toner is consumed. Some image forming apparatuses are fitted with a toner storage container for their replenishment with toner. When the toner storage container runs out of toner, it is replaced with a new toner storage container. Some image forming apparatuses sense their being fitted with a new toner storage container.

Image forming apparatus, replacement developing component, and method for controlling image forming apparatus