A diffuser-deswirler for a gas turbine engine is provided. The diffuser-deswirler includes an inner shell and an outer shell spaced apart and configured for receiving a flow of compressed air from a compressor of a gas turbine engine. A plurality of vanes extend between the inner shell and the outer shell to define a plurality of fluid passageways and a splitter extends along the circumferential direction between adjacent vanes to split the flow of compressed air passing through the each fluid passageway. All of these components are manufactured as a single monolithic piece and are configured for diffusing and deswirling compressor air before passing it to a combustor for an improved combustion process.

Typical aircraft propulsion systems include one or more gas turbine engines. For certain propulsion systems, the gas turbine engines generally include a fan and a core arranged in flow communication with one another. Additionally, the core of the gas turbine engine general includes, in serial flow order, a compressor section, a combustion section, a turbine section, and an exhaust section. In operation, air is provided from the fan to an inlet of the compressor section where one or more axial compressors progressively compress the air until it reaches the combustion section. Fuel is mixed with the compressed air and burned within the combustion section to provide combustion gases. The combustion gases are routed from the combustion section to the turbine section. The flow of combustion gasses through the turbine section drives the turbine section and is then routed through the exhaust section, e.g., to atmosphere.
Compressed air exiting the compressor section of the gas turbine engine typically has a high velocity. For example, the compressor discharge air within certain gas turbine engines may have a Mach number between 0.7 and 0.9. However, a typical combustion section of a gas turbine engine requires a high pressure, low velocity airflow to reduce the likelihood of flame-outs, to facilitate a stable and consistent burn, and to achieve an overall improved combustion process. For example, a combustion section may require a flow of compressed air having a Mach number less than 0.2 or 0.1. Therefore, certain gas turbine engines include diffusers which are designed to recover the static pressure of compressed airflow by decreasing its velocity and deswirlers for straightening the flow of compressed air. However, conventional diffusers and deswirlers are distinct components coupled by a transition duct, resulting in discontinuities, flow perturbations, excess drag, and efficiency losses. In addition, the manufacturing time and costs associated with the assembly of such a multi-part assembly are very high and increase the likelihood of component failures. Furthermore, manufacturing restrictions limit the number, size, and configuration of flow control features formed within such multi-part assemblies.
Accordingly, a gas turbine engine with an improved component for diffusing and deswirling the flow of compressed air into the combustion section would be useful. More specifically, a diffuser and deswirler for a gas turbine engine that is easier to manufacture and includes features for improved static pressure recovery and airflow control for improved combustion would be particularly beneficial.

Diffuser-deswirler for a gas turbine engine


A portable external device for a mechanical circulation support system includes first and second power sources, e.g. batteries and control electronics for redundant uninterrupted operation of an implantable blood pump. The control and power source module may be configured to accommodate a variety of wearable configurations for patient convenience and comfort.

Generally speaking, heart failure is a major public health problem affecting a great number of people. Heart transplantation has been one of the most effective therapies for treating heart failure. However, transplantations may be limited by complications from long-term immunosuppressive therapy, allograft coronary artery diseases, as well as the limited number of donor organs.
Mechanical circulation support (MCS) systems, both total artificial hearts (TAH) and ventricular assist devices (VAD) have been studied in the hopes of augmenting or replacing the role of heart transplantation for heart failure patients. A VAD may be a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), a right ventricular assist device (RVAD) or a biventricular assist device (bi-VAD). Generally speaking, VADs may be employed to provide heart failure patients with therapies including as a bridge to or recovery from heart transplantation, as well as a long-term alternative to the transplantation.
TAHs and VADs are blood pumping devices connected to a patient to receive blood from a source and pump the blood to one or more destinations within the body of the patient. For example, an LVAD receives blood from the atrium or ventricle of a patient and pumps the blood into the aorta. An RVAD, on the other hand, receives blood from the atrium or ventricle and pumps the blood it into the pulmonary artery. An MCS generally includes external components including, e.g., control electronics and power sources connected by one or more percutaneous cables to internal components including, e.g., a blood pump. As a patient resumes regular activities after receiving an MCS, the design and configuration of the MCS equipment they wear becomes an important aspect of their safety and comfort.

Portable controller with integral power source for mechanical circulation support systems


There is provided an elevating device for elevating furniture equipped with legs (such as a chair) by placing the device beneath the legs of the furniture. The device includes, such in the case of a four legged chair, four adjustable radial arms respectively terminated by a pedestal section for supportively elevating legs of the chair. Each pedestal section is placed beneath a leg and the radial arms are then immobilized by tightly sandwiching the radial arm between a top plate and a bottom plate.

Heretofore numerous devices for adjusting a seat to an appropriate seating height have been proposed. Such devices are often needed to allow for a small person, such as a child, to be seated at a proper level for actively partaking in tabled activities such as eating, writing, coloring, playing games, etc. A common solution to this problem is a high chair equipped with longer chair legs than normal so as to elevate the child to table level.
The patent literature discloses devices for extending the length of legs of legged seating devices such as chairs, stools, benches, etc. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 994,598 to Martin discloses an adjustable stand equipped with telescoping legs while U.S. Pat. No. 3,183,861 to Halstrick discloses a stool equipped with telescoping legs. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,272,636 to Dietrich there is depicted legged extensions secured onto each chair leg and braced together by diagonally crossing tie rods. Self-latching chair leg extensions for use in combination with tubular chair legs is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,722,970 to Stechmann. U.S. Pat. No. 2,917,104 to Cottle also discloses an adjustable chair fitted with adjustable leg extensions. U.S. Pat. No. 2,913,207 to Eash discloses a leg extending assembly in which a leg extension is fastened onto each leg. A similar type of leg extension for use in chair legs of an angle iron construction is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,935,813 to Bermon et al. Another adjustable chair leg extension device for adjustable placement onto each leg of a chair is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,107,629 to Dallas. U.S. Pat. No. 2,189,256 to Stahl discloses an adjustable chair having leg extensions hinged onto the chair at the base of the chair legs which elevates the chair by hinging the leg extensions onto the chair leg bases.
Other elevating devices designed to be placed on or beneath the seating device are disclosed by the patent literature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 323,610 to Van Wie discloses a platform for chairs equipped with an extensible bottom. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,605,815 to Zoronovich there is disclosed an elevating child chair seat which fits onto an adult chair seat. An adjustable junior chair lift of a boxed side rail construction with legs seated within the cornering edges of the side rails upon which the elevated chair legs rest is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,215,382 to Stein.
Notwithstanding a long established need for an economical, compact, safe, and adjustable device for elevating chairs, stools, and tables and other similar furniture with legs, the existing practices have remained substantially unchanged throughout the years.


A manually powered, pedal-powered exerciser mower includes a frame, a mower assembly mounted to the front of the frame, and a pedal-operated chain drive that drives the mower in both forward and rear directions. A movable kickstand raises the rear of the mower so that the mower may also be used as a stationary exercise bicycle. A brake enables the user to selectively vary pedaling resistance when the mower is used as a stationary exercise bicycle but the brake can also be applied while mowing.

Pedal-operated lawn mowers are known.
A first set of pedal-operated lawn mowers have a frame that includes a steerable front wheel. A mower assembly trails the front wheel. See for example Porath, U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,816 and Chun, U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,058. The front wheel compresses down a strip of uncut grass prior to cutting, resulting in a strip of uncut or poorly cut grass being left behind. The lawn mower can also slide and be difficult to turn in wet grass due to turning forces being generated by a single wheel.
Woodling, U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,393 discloses a pedal-operated lawn mower in which the mower assembly is attached to the front forks of a conventional bicycle whose front tire has been removed. The resulting lawn mower eliminates the problem of uncut grass but turning causes the mower assembly to urge tipping of the bicycle frame to one side. Furthermore, conventional bicycles that would be adapted for use cannot operate in reverse, making it impossible for the lawn mower to back out from under trees or bushes.
Chun further teaches that a pedal-operated lawn mower can also be used as a stationary exercise bike, an advantageous feature. However when the lawn mower disclosed in Chun is used as a stationary exercise bike, pedaling causes the cutting blades to also turn. This poses a safety hazard.
Thus there is a need for an improved pedal-operated lawn mower that can also be adapted for use as a stationary exercise bike. The improved lawn mower should cut the grass without leaving strips of uncut grass, should be stable in turns without the frame being urged to tip, and when used as a stationary exercise bike the mower cutting blades should remain stationary.


An inflatable cushioning system with separate inflatable cushioning chambers a common tool guideway and a common air inlet. The inflatable cushioning chambers each have an inflation port. The common air inlet is in fluid communication with each of the inflatable cushioning chambers. During inflation, pressurized air is inserted into the common air inlet. The pressurized air then enters the individual cushioning chambers through the inflation ports. The inflatable cushioning system is inflated using a multi-purpose inflation tool having a body with a main portion and a second portion, the second portion being connected to the main portion and both portions having hollow interiors. The second portion of the tool having a connecting means for connecting the tool to an external pressurized air source. The tool also having a blade connected to said main portion for cutting the tool guideway as the tool is advanced through the tool guideway. The tool also has a plurality of apertures in the main portion for providing fluid into the inflatable cushioning system.

The present invention relates to inflatable products. More particularly, the present invention relates to an inflatable device for packaging that has been specially provisioned to provide for rapid and simplified deployment.
The need for protecting products from damage during distribution has lead to the development of various shock absorbing packaging materials. These materials are intended to "float" a product within a shipping container and provide controlled deceleration to a packaged item during impact. Because of their low density, the transportation and storage cost of ready to use cushioning materials is significant. By utilizing "foam in place" or inflatable cushioning, the user may greatly reduce such costs.
The use of foamed polymer cushioning materials has many disadvantages. In order to use these "foam in place" materials a user must undertake the storage and mixing reactive chemicals that are hazardous in nature. Further to these problems, foamed cushioning materials are not readily recyclable or efficiently disposable by the recipient. Inflatable cushioning systems may offer solutions to many of these problems.
Inflatable cushioning systems use inert polymer films and do not require the handling of hazardous materials by the user. The various polymer films used in inflatable cushioning systems do not take up as much landfill space since the material is easily compacted after use by deflating the inflatable chambers, such as by cutting open the chambers. Inflatable cushioning systems may even require less storage space than the various components required for the use of foamed cushioning materials.
Example of inflatable cushioning systems and methods can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,254,074 and 5,339,602. In these devices, thermoplastic films are formed into a bag into which air is inserted. This inserted and entrapped air increases the volume of the bag so that the bag can fill the void between any fragile items and the carton or package in which the fragile item is being shipped. Typically, the bag will not be filled to its maximum capacity with air. Accordingly, the bag may be compressed between the packaging carton and the fragile item so as to block and brace the item within the container and better protect the item from breakage. While effective in achieving this end, the bag may provide only limited protection from deceleration forces that can damage the packaged item.
A further example of an inflatable cushioning system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,904 to Pharco. While providing improved deceleration characteristics that protect the item from shock, the cushioning system must be properly sized to the item to be packaged.
Presently available inflatable cushioning systems utilize a single or limited number of air receiving chambers. The systems will fail to provide any protection should an air leak occur. Further, present inflatable cushioning systems fail to provide means for rapid multiple deployment through automated or semi-automated processes.

Inflatable package cushioning and method of using same


A latch assembly with a first mounting plate and a second mounting plate. The assembly includes a first latch holder extending from the first mounting plate. A second latch holder is provided that extends from the second mounting plate. The assembly includes a latch arm including a first portion and a second portion. The latch arm is movable between an unlatched position and a latched position and is selectively reversible to be pivotally connected to either the first latch holder or the second latch holder.

Latch assemblies are well known for maintaining swingable members, such as doors and gates, in a closed position. Swingable members are typically hinged on one side to a relatively fixed member, such as a frame or post. Existing latch assemblies are typically "handed," which means the latch needs to be installed in a particular configuration depending on whether the swingable member is hinged on its left or right side. Therefore, the components must be installed in a certain manner, which leads to complexity during installation. Moreover, the latch itself may only be able to open in a single direction, towards the right or left, as dictated by the way the mounting plates are designed to mount to the swinging and fixed members, and the shape of the latch arm.
Therefore, there is a need for a reversible latch assembly that allows the decision to be made as to which direction the swingable member should open at the time of installation.


There is provided a tonal component detection method including performing a time-frequency transformation on an input time signal to obtain a time-frequency distribution, detecting a peak in a frequency direction at a time frame of the time-frequency distribution, fitting a tone model in a neighboring region of the detected peak, and obtaining a score indicating tonal component likeness of the detected peak based on a result obtained by the fitting.

The present technology relates to a tonal component detection method, a tonal component detection apparatus, and a program.
Components constituting a one-dimensional time signal such as voice or music are broadly classified into three types of representations: (1) a tonal component, (2) a stationary noise component, and (3) a transient noise component. The tonal component corresponds to a component caused by the stationary and periodic vibration of a sound source. The stationary noise component corresponds to a component caused by a stationary but non-periodic phenomenon such as friction or turbulence. The transient noise component corresponds to a component caused by a non-stationary phenomenon such as a blow or a sudden change in a sound condition. Among them, the tonal component is a component that faithfully represents the intrinsic properties of a sound source itself, and thus it is particularly important when analyzing the sound.
The tonal component obtainable from an actual sound may often be a plurality of sinusoidal components which are gradually changed over time. The tonal component may be represented, for example, as a horizontal stripe-shaped pattern on a spectrogram representing amplitudes of the short-time Fourier transform with a time series, as shown in FIG. 8. FIG. 9 illustrates a spectrum in which frames in the vicinity of 0.2 seconds on the time axis in FIG. 8 are extracted. In FIG. 9, true tonal components to be detected for reference are indicated by directional arrows. The high-accuracy detection of the time and frequency in which the tonal components are present from such a spectrum becomes a fundamental process for many application techniques such as sound analysis, coding, noise reduction, and high-quality sound reproduction.
The detection of tonal components has been made from the past. A typical technique of detecting tonal components includes a method of obtaining an amplitude spectrum at each of the short time frames, detecting local peaks of the amplitude spectrum, and regarding all of the detected peaks as tonal components. One disadvantage of this method is that a large number of erroneous detections are made, because none of the local peaks becomes necessarily tonal components.
Incidentally, local peaks occurred in the amplitude spectrum includes (1) a peak due to the tonal component, (2) a side lobe peak, (3) a noise peak, and (4) an interference peak. FIG. 10 shows results obtained by detecting local peaks in amplitude spectrum on the spectrogram of FIG. 8 and the results are indicated by black dots. It will be found that the black horizontal stripes, i.e. tonal components shown in FIG. 8 are detected in the form of a horizontal line shape in FIG. 10 as well. However, on the other hand, it will be found that a large number of peaks are also detected from portions such as noise components. FIG. 11 shows results obtained by similarly detecting local peaks based on the spectrum of FIG. 9, and the results are indicated by black dots. It will be found that there are a large number of erroneously detected peaks in FIG. 11 as compared to accurately detected tonal components in FIG. 9.
For the method described above, an approach for improving the detection accuracy may include, for example, (A) method of setting a threshold for the height of each local peak and then not detecting local peaks having a smaller value than the threshold, and (B) method of connecting local peaks across multiple frames in a time direction according to the local neighbor rule and then excluding components which are not connected more than a certain number of times.
The method of (A) is assumed that the magnitude of tonal components is greater than that of noise components at all times. However, this assumption is unreasonable and is not true in many cases, thus its performance improvement will be limited. Actually, the magnitude of the peak erroneously detected in the vicinity of 2 kHz on the frequency axis of FIG. 11 is almost the same as that of the tonal component in the vicinity of 3.9 kHz, thus this assumption is not true.
The method of (B) is disclosed in, for example, R. J. McAulay and T. F. Quatieri: "Speech Analysis/Synthesis Based on a Sinusoidal Representation," IEEE Transactions on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, Vol. 34, No. 4, 744/754 (August 1986), and J. O. Smith III and X. Serra, "PARSHL: An Analysis/Synthesis Program for Non-Harmonic Sounds Based on a Sinusoidal Representation", Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference (1987). This method employs a property that tonal components have temporal continuity (e.g., in case of music, a tonal component is often continued for a period of time more than 100 ms). However, because peaks in any other components than the tonal components may be continued and a shortly segmented tonal component is not detected, it is not necessarily mean that sufficient accuracy can be achieved in many applications.

Tonal component detection method, tonal component detection apparatus, and program


There is provided a wireless communication system including a plurality of wireless communication devices that transmits a signal relating to provision of service. The service includes a plurality of stages relating to provision. A plurality of the wireless communication devices correspond to a plurality of the respective stages and transmit the signal corresponding to the stage with radio field intensity corresponding to the stage. In addition, there is provided a wireless communication device including a transmitter that transmits a signal relating to a request of service and a receiver that receives a signal relating to provision of the service from a connection device connected on the basis of a signal relating to the request. The service includes a plurality of stages relating to provision. The transmitter transmits the signal relating to the request corresponding to the stage with radio field intensity corresponding to the stage.

With recent development of information communication technology, many technologies related to electronic payment are developed. Specifically, there are payment service technologies using wireless communication, such as near-field communication (NFC) or Bluetooth (registered trademark).
In one example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique allowing a portable device to transmit and receive a token relating to a transaction, such as payment, by wireless communication.
Further, in one example, Patent Literature 2 discloses a method of processing financial operations allowing for access to a core banking system of a financial institution on the basis of information read from an integrated circuit (IC) card provided in a portable device.

Wireless communication system and wireless communication device


A computer-implemented method for detecting client types may include identifying a communication from a client system transmitted according to a network protocol, analyzing the communication to determine at least one protocol implementation characteristic that describes how the client system implemented the network protocol in the communication, submitting the protocol implementation characteristic to a protocol implementation database that correlates client types with protocol implementation characteristics and receiving, in response to submitting the protocol implementation characteristic, a client type of the client system. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

In the digital age, organizations increasingly rely on digitally-stored data and computing services to conduct their day-to-day operations. Many organizations may wish to provide network access to data, computing services, and/or other computing resources.
In order to meet digital security objectives, some organizations may wish to restrict and/or analyze access network connection attempts based on information about the client device that is attempting a network connection. For example, an organization may wish to exclude connections from certain computing platforms for security reasons.
Some traditional systems may ascertain a client system's type (e.g., the platform of the client system) by accepting self-reported client type information from the client system. Unfortunately, this may allow attackers, non-compliant users, and/or non-compliant applications to easily circumvent security policies that are based on client types by spoofing client type information for client systems. Accordingly, the instant disclosure identifies and addresses a need for additional and improved systems and methods for detecting client types.

Systems and methods for detecting client types


There is provided an information processing apparatus including a similar tag list acquiring unit that acquires a similar tag list from which wireless tags having similar tracking information are extracted, a tracker extracting unit that extracts users permitted to access information of the wireless tags included in the similar tag list, a determining unit that determines whether a suspicious tag, which is a wireless tag included in the similar tag list that does not permit the user to access the information of the wireless tag, is included, with respect to each of the extracted users, and a notifying unit that transmits a notification to the user for whom it is determined that the suspicious tag is included in the similar tag list.

The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, a program, a storage medium, and an information processing system.
Recently, use of wireless tags has increased. A wireless tag maintains a unique ID and the ID is read by a reader. For example, wireless tags are mainly used in the field of a product management. In the field of product management, managers who manage the circulation of products attach wireless tags to the products, associate IDs of the wireless tags and information regarding the products with the wireless tag attached, manage the IDs and the information, and easily manage the circulation of the products (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-352814).

Information processing apparatus, information processing method, program, storage medium, and information processing system


A transmission power control method for controlling a transmission power of an E-HICH for uplink user data transmitted from a cell controlled by a radio base station to a mobile station, includes: notifying, from a radio network controller to at least one radio base station controlling a first cell and a second cell, offsets between the transmission power of the E-HICH and a transmission power of a DPCH, when a mobile station is performing a soft-handover with the first and second cell; determining, at the first cell, a transmission power of a first E-HICH based on a notified offset, and transmitting the first E-HICH to the mobile station using the determined transmission power; and determining, at the second cell, transmission power of a second E-HICH based on a notified offset, and transmitting the second E-HICH to the mobile station using the determined transmission power.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission power control method and a mobile communication system for controlling a transmission power of a transmission acknowledgement channel for uplink user data, which is transmitted from a cell controlled by a radio base station to a mobile station.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional mobile communication system, when setting a Dedicated Physical Channel (DPCH) between a mobile station UE and a radio base station Node B, a radio network controller RNC is configured to determine a transmission rate of uplink user data, in consideration of hardware resources for receiving of the radio base station Node B (hereinafter, hardware resource), a radio resource in an uplink (an interference volume in an uplink), a transmission power of the mobile station UE, a transmission processing performance of the mobile station UE, a transmission rate required for an upper application, or the like, and to notify the determined transmission rate of the uplink user data by a message of a layer-3 (Radio Resource Control Layer) to both of the mobile station UE and the radio base station Node B.
Here, the radio network controller RNC is provided at an upper level of the radio base station Node B, and is an apparatus configured to control the radio base station Node B and the mobile station UE.
In general, data communications often cause burst traffic compared with voice communications or TV communications. Therefore, it is preferable that a transmission rate of a channel used for the data communications is changed fast.
However, as shown in FIG. 1, the radio network controller RNC integrally controls a plurality of radio base stations Node B in general. Therefore, in the conventional mobile communication system, there has been a problem that it is difficult to perform fast control for changing of the transmission rate of uplink user data (for example, per approximately 1 through 100 ms), due to the increase of processing load and processing delay in the radio network controller RNC.
In addition, in the conventional mobile communication system, there has been also a problem that costs for implementing an apparatus and for operating a network are substantially increased even if the fast control for changing of the transmission rate of the uplink user data can be performed.
Therefore, in the conventional mobile communication system, control for changing of the transmission rate of the uplink user data is generally performed on the order from a few hundred ms to a few seconds.
Accordingly, in the conventional mobile communication system, when burst data transmission is performed as shown in FIG. 2A, the data are transmitted by accepting low-speed, high-delay, and low-transmission efficiency as shown in FIG. 2B, or, as shown in FIG. 2C, by reserving radio resources for high-speed communications to accept that radio bandwidth resources in an unoccupied state and hardware resources in the radio base station Node B are wasted.
It should be noted that both of the above-described radio bandwidth resources and hardware resources are applied to the vertical radio resources in FIGS. 2B and 2C.
Therefore, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), which are international standardization organizations of the third generation mobile communication system, have discussed a method for controlling radio resources at high speed in a layer-1 and a media access control (MAC) sub-layer (a layer-2) between the radio base station Node B and the mobile station UE, so as to utilize the uplink radio resources effectively. Such discussions or discussed functions will be hereinafter referred to as "Enhanced Uplink (EUL)".
Referring to FIG. 3, the mobile communication system, to which the "Enhanced Uplink" is applied, is explained.
As shown in an example of FIG. 3, in the mobile communication system, a cell, which is controlled by a radio base station Node B, is configured to transmit an "Enhanced HARQ Acknowledgement Indicator Channel (B-HICH)" which is a transmission acknowledge channel, in order to perform a retransmission control of the uplink user data, i.e., "Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ)".
In other words, in the above mobile communication system, the cell, which is controlled by the radio base station Node B, is configured to perform an error detection check ("Cyclic Redundancy Check" CRC) of the uplink user data transmitted via an "Enhanced Dedicated Physical Data Channel (E-DPDCH)", and to notify an "ACK" or a "NACK" to the mobile station UE using the E-HICH, so as to perform the retransmission control of the uplink user data of the mobile station UE.
To be more specific, as shown in FIG. 3, the mobile station UE, which has transmitted an E-DPDCH #1 to a cell #2, is configured to transmit the subsequent E-DPDCH to the cell #2, upon receiving of an E-HICH #1 (ACK) from the cell #2.
On the other hand, the mobile station UE is configured to retransmit the E-DPDCH #1 to the cell #2, upon receiving of the E-HICH (NACK) from the cell #2.
Further, in the above mobile communication system, a closed loop transmission power control using a "Transmit Power Control (TPC) command" is known, as an example of the transmission power control method for a downlink dedicated physical channel (herein after, DPCH) transmitted from the radio base station Node B.
Referring to FIG. 4A, the closed loop transmission power control using the TPC command is described.
As shown in FIG. 4A, the mobile station UE, which has received a downlink DPCH transmitted from the cell #2, is configured to determine the increase/decrease of a transmission power of the downlink DPCH in the cell #2 controlled by the radio base station Node B, based on the transmission power of the received downlink DPCH. Then, the mobile station UE is configured to transmit the determined result of the increase/decrease of the transmission power of the downlink DPCH to the cell #2, using the TPC command (for example, UP command/Down Command).
In addition, the cell #2 is configured to control the transmission power of the downlink DPCH to be transmitted to the mobile station UE, using the TPC command transmitted from the mobile station UE.
In addition, in the above mobile communication system, the cell #2 is configured to determine the transmission power of the E-HICH, based on the transmission power of the downlink DPCH and a predetermined offset (an E-HICH offset).
As described above, in the mobile communication system, the reception power of the downlink DPCH in the mobile station UE will be improved by the transmission power control using the TPC command, and therefore, the reception power of the E-HICH, which depends on the downlink DPCH, will be also improved.
Next, referring to FIG. 4B, the transmission power control using the TPC command in the mobile communication system in which soft-handover (SHO) is performed is described.
In the above mobile communication system, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the mobile station UE is performing the SHO by establishing radio links with the cell #3 as well as the cell #4, and when the mobile station UE receives the same DPCHs #1 transmitted from the cell #3 and the cell #4, the mobile station UE is configured to combine the DPCH #1 received from the cell #3 and the DPCH#1 received from the cell #4, so as to determine the increase/decrease of the transmission power of the DPCH #1 in both of the cell #3 and the cell #4, based on the reception power of the combined DPCH #1.
Then, the mobile station UE is configured to transmit the determined result of the increase/decrease of the transmission power of the DPCH #1 to the both of the cell #3 and the cell #4, using the TPC command.
In addition, in the above mobile communication system, the transmission power of the E-HICH #1 transmitted from the cell #3 is configured to be determined, based on the transmission power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #3 and the predetermined offset (the E-HICH offset).
In addition, the transmission power of the E-HICH #2 transmitted from the cell #4 is configured to be determined, based on the transmission power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #4 and the predetermined offset (the E-HICH offset).
Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, in the above mobile communication system, if the mobile station UE is performing the SHO by establishing the radio links with the cell #3 as well as the cell #4, and if the reception power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #3 is good enough, even when the reception power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #4 is insufficient, the reception power of the combined DPCH #1 will be sufficient for the mobile station UE.
Therefore, in the above mobile communication system, the mobile station UE can receive the DPCH#1, if the reception power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #3 is good enough, even when the reception power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #4 is insufficient.
Accordingly, in such a condition, the transmission power of the DPCH #1 does not have to be increased, and the mobile station UE is configured not to transmit the TPC command (for example, UP command) for increasing the transmission power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #4.
However, in the above condition, as shown in FIG. 5, the transmission power of the E-HICH #2 transmitted from the cell #4 is depending on the transmission power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #4, so that the reception power of the E-HICH #2 will be insufficient, when the reception power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #4 is insufficient in the mobile station UE.
Therefore, in the above mobile communication system, when the mobile station UE is performing the SHO by establishing the radio links with the cell #3 as well as the cell #4, the mobile station UE can receive the E-HICH #1 transmitted from the cell #3, however the mobile station UE cannot receive the E-HICH #2 transmitted from the cell #4.
Accordingly, in the case as shown in FIG. 5, there has been a problem that the mobile station UE can receive the E-HICH #1 (NACK) and the mobile station UE can not receive the E-HICH #2 (ACK), even when the cell #3 transmits the E-HICH #1 (NACK) in response to the E-DPDCH #1 transmitted from the mobile station UE, and the cell #4 transmits the E-HICH #2 (ACK) in response to the E-DPDCH #1 transmitted from the mobile station UE.
Therefore, in such a case, the mobile station UE does not transmit the subsequent uplink user data, but the mobile station UE retransmits the E-DPDCH #1 to the cell #4 unnecessarily.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Transmission power control method, and mobile communication system


Particular embodiments include method embodiments and apparatus embodiments. One method embodiment comprises: placing a printing plate on an imaging device; imaging the plate according to imaging data; and applying UV radiation using a plurality of UV emitting LEDs during the process of imaging of the printing plate. In one embodiment, the plate initially has ablatable material, and wherein the imaging includes ablating ablatable material on the plate according to the imaging data to form an ablated plate, and wherein the applying the UV radiation includes exposing the ablated plate to UV radiation to cure the plate. In one embodiment, the imaging device is an external drum imager that includes a drum that rotates during imaging.

Preparing printing plates such as photopolymer flexographic plates and letterpress printing plates coated with photopolymer material (such plates in general referred to as "polymer plates") is being more and more automated. A typical process of preparing such printing plates includes starting with a plate that has an ablatable material thereon, imaging in a digital imager to ablate the ablatable material according to imaging data, and a curing process of the exposed plate that involves exposure to light energy, e.g., ultraviolet (UV) light energy. Automation often includes inline exposure to cure the plate inline after imaging.
Polymer plates as described herein include plates for flexography made of a material such as photopolymer material that can be cured by exposure to UV, and also letterpress plates (e.g., lithographic plates) that have a photopolymer material coated thereon that is exposed by UV material to cure the coating. Polymer plates as used herein also include cylinders with photo-curable coatings thereon, sometimes called polymer sleeves or photopolymer sleeves. Note that the term "polymer" is not meant to limit the composition of the photo-curable material. Any photo-curable material that is curable by UV radiation is included.
Many polymer plates are optimized for a 365 nm curing wavelength. Depending on the speed by which the polymer plate is imaged, there has to be sufficient UV power available to do sufficient UV curing of the polymer during the inline exposure. For 4 m2/h productivity, the UV power at 365 nm has to be around 150 Watts. State of the art systems that include such so called inline exposure typically use gas filled arc lamps to generate sufficiently high levels of UV energy in the required wavelength or wavelengths. Such arc lamps consume up to several Kilowatts of electrical power to provide the required amount of exposure energy. Furthermore, as much as 98% of this energy is converted into heat or other unwanted wavelengths, and needs to be filtered out and cooled away from the polymer plate. The conversion efficiency of such arc-lamp-based inline exposure systems is usually not better than 1.5% to 2%. Furthermore, such arc lamps run at high voltages, e.g., several hundred to several thousand Volts. Furthermore, such arc lamps typically need to be cooled, e.g., water cooled in order to remove the enormous amounts of waste heat and radiation not needed for the curing process.
The combination of the need for a relatively high voltage and for water or other types of cooling is potentially hazardous.
In addition to the hazards and the waste, heating of polymer plates has a negative impact on the homogeneity of halftone screen dots, e.g., has negative impact on the appearance of a homogeneous screened area. This can further increase the amount of UV energy necessary for curing.
Furthermore, some of the wavelengths produce by such arc lamps, e.g., radiation in the UV-C range can produce artifacts such as relatively brittle screen dots that can break off the plate after as few as a few hundred or perhaps a few thousand impressions. Therefore, there is a need to filter out undesired wavelengths other than the 365 nm range of wavelengths needed to cure a plate.
Such filtering of unwanted wavelengths further reduces the curing efficiency of the 365 nm range wavelength, so that the amount of 365 nm energy necessary for curing is raised.
Arc lamps also are known to produce a light source that is relatively not very diffuse. This causes very thin and small support shoulders of screen dots on a printing plate. Often complex reflector geometries are used in an attempt to compensate for the non-diffuse nature of the light from an arc lamp.
Furthermore, arc lamps are known to have a relatively limited life time. A life of between 500 and 2000 hours is typical.

Exposing printing plates using light emitting diodes


A differential output circuit first and second transistors forming a differential pair and having control electrodes input with binary signals, a constant current circuit supplying a constant current to the first and second transistors, and a protection circuit protecting the first and second transistors from external noise. The protection circuit has transistors respectively coupled in parallel to the first and second transistors and input with a first power supply voltage, and transistors respectively coupled between a second power supply voltage and first and second output terminals of the differential output circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to differential output circuits and semiconductor devices, and more particularly to a differential output circuit that is used in a driver circuit for a high-speed low-amplitude differential output interface, and to a semiconductor device having such a differential output circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, differential output circuits used in driver circuits for high-speed low-amplitude differential output interfaces include Current Mode Logic (CML) circuits shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and Low Voltage Difference Signaling (LVDS) circuits such as that shown in FIG. 3. In cases where such differential output circuits are used in driver circuits of semiconductor integrated circuits such as ICs and LSIs for high-speed signal transmission apparatuses as shown in FIGS. 4 through 6, an output signal must be output from the differential output circuit to the outside of the differential output circuit. For this reason, input/output cells including pad portions that connect to terminals of an IC package via wires are connected to an output part of the differential output circuit. In such input/output cells, a protection element or a protection circuit is used to prevent deterioration or damage to the semiconductor integrated circuit caused by surge or Electro-Static Discharge (ESD).
In FIGS. 1 through 6, the same designations are used for the circuit elements. VCC1 and VCC2 denote power supplies or power supply voltages, GND denotes the ground or ground voltage, and VA and VB denote control inputs.
FIGS. 4 and 5 show cases where the input/output cells are connected to the CML circuit shown in FIG. 2 using N-channel MOS transistors (hereinafter simply referred to as NMOS transistors) as differential pair transistors.
In FIGS. 4 and 5, NMOS transistors N1 and N2 forming the differential input pair respectively operate in response to corresponding input signals Si1 and Si2, and a current flowing through an NMOS transistor N3 that forms a current source flows to one of the NMOS transistors N1 and N2. The input signals Si1 and Si2 are logic signals having mutually inverted logic signal levels. Output signal So1 and So2 that are output from corresponding first and second output terminals OUT1 and OUT2 respectively have amplitudes determined by currents flowing through corresponding resistors R1 and R2 and resistances of these resistors R1 and R2.
In FIG. 4, the resistors R1 and R2 are externally connected to the corresponding first and second output terminals OUT1 and OUT2, and are connected to a power supply VCC2 which is different from an internal power supply VCC1. But if the internal power supply VCC1 can be used, it is possible to use it as a common power supply instead of using the two power supplies VCC1 and VCC2.
In FIG. 5, the resistors R1 and R2 are internally connected to the corresponding first and second output terminals OUT1 and OUT2, and are connected to the internal power supply VCC1. However, it is possible to use a different power supply VCC2 in place of the internal power supply VCC1.
FIG. 6 shows a case where the input/output cells are connected to the LVDS circuit shown in FIG. 3 using N-channel MOS transistors as differential pair transistors and P-channel MOS transistors (hereinafter simply referred to as PMOS transistors) as differential pair transistors.
In FIG. 6, NMOS transistors N1 and N2 forming the differential pair respectively operate in response to corresponding input signals Si1 and Si2, and PMOS transistors P1 and P2 forming the differential pair respectively operate in response to the corresponding input signals Si1 and Si2. A current flowing through an NMOS transistor N3 that forms a current source flows to one of the NMOS transistors N1 and N2 or, a current flowing through a PMOS transistor P3 that forms a current source flows to one of the PMOS transistors P1 and P2.
Generally, the input signals Si1 and Si2 have logic levels such that the current flows to the PMOS transistor P2 when the current flows through the NMOS transistor N1, and the current flows to the PMOS transistor P1 when the current flows through the NMOS transistor N2. The current flowing through the PMOS transistor P3 and the current flowing through the NMOS transistor N3 have approximately the same current values.
The output signals So1 and So2 that are output from the corresponding first and second output terminals OUT1 and OUT2 have amplitudes determined by the voltage generated by the current flowing through a resistor R4 that is connected between the first and second output terminals OUT1 and OUT2.
FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a conventional low-amplitude differential output circuit applied with the case shown in FIG. 4. In FIG. 7, a first power supply voltage is the ground voltage GND, a second power supply voltage is VCC1, and a third power supply voltage is VCC2.
A low-amplitude differential output circuit 100 shown in FIG. 7 includes NMOS transistors N1 and N2 forming a differential pair, resistors R1 and R2 forming loads of the corresponding NMOS transistors N1 and N2, a constant current circuit 101 for supplying a predetermined constant current to the NMOS transistors N1 and N2, and an input control circuit 102 for generating signals Si1 and Si2 having mutually inverted logic levels (or complementary logic signal levels) based on an input signal Si which is a logic signal.
The input logic signal Si that is input to the low-amplitude differential output circuit 100 is converted into the 2 kinds of logic signals Si1 and Si2 having the mutually inverted logic signal levels by the input control circuit 102, and the logic signals Si1 and Si2 are input to the gates of the corresponding NMOS transistors N1 and N2 forming the differential pair.
The constant current circuit 101 carries out a current conversion with respect to an external reference voltage V1 via an operational amplifier AMP, a resistor, a PMOS transistor P11 and an NMOS transistor N11. Since the reference voltage V1 is stable, a constant current is obtained by this current conversion. The constant current is supplied to the NMOS transistors N1 and N2 via PMOS transistors P11 and P12 forming a current mirror circuit and NMOS transistors N3 and N12 forming a current mirror circuit.
The currents flowing through the NMOS transistors N1 and N2 are switched depending on the logic signals Si1 and Si2 from the input control circuit 102. A resistor R1 is connected between a first output terminal OUT1 and the third power supply voltage VCC2, and a resistor R2 is connected between a second output terminal OUT2 and the third power supply voltage VCC2. Amplitudes of output signals So1 and So2 are determined from the currents flowing through the NMOS transistors N1 and N2 and the resistances of the resistors R1 and R2.
Since the first and second output terminals OUT1 and OUT2 are directly connected to an external circuit, input/output cells IO1 and IO2 each including a pad and a protection element for preventing electrostatic damage are connected to the corresponding first and second output terminals OUT1 and OUT2. The circuit elements shown in FIG. 7, excluding the resistors R1 and R2, are integrated within a single IC.
For example, a Japanese Patent No. 3202196 (issued from a Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2000-68813) proposes providing in parallel transistors forming a differential input pair of the differential output circuit and transistors having the sources thereof connected in common, so that the transistors operate during a normal operation of the differential output circuit.
A Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2004-215137 proposes providing in parallel to an input transistor pair of the differential output circuit transistors for amplifying a high-frequency component.
A Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2004-31407 proposes a CML circuit using 2 circuits having the same structure as a countermeasure against inconsistencies introduced during the production process of the differential output circuit.
A Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2004-112453 proposes a transmission apparatus operating at low voltages.
Recently, in high-speed interfaces, there are demands to increase the operation speed of the low-amplitude differential output circuit. In the case of the circuit shown in FIG. 7, the input/output cells IO1 and IO2 for preventing electrostatic damage are connected to the corresponding first and second output terminals OUT1 and OUT2 which form differential output terminals. For this reason, as the operation speed of the low-amplitude differential output circuit increases, the operation speed deteriorates due to the effects of the protection element within the input/output cells IO1 and IO2 and the effects of a parasitic element in the vicinity of the protection element.
As for the quality of the differential output, an error is generated in the waveform of the differential output from the first and second output terminals OUT1 and OUT2 due to inconsistencies, generated during the production process, of the internal cells and the parasitic elements in the vicinity of the internal cells, between the input/output cells IO1 and IO2 that are connected to the corresponding first and second output terminals OUT1 and OUT2.
In an integrated circuit having a large scale as in the case of the LSI, the scale of the circuit and functions within the circuit is large, and a large number of input/output cells are used because the package has a large number of terminals or pads for the integrated circuit. Accordingly, when using the low-amplitude differential output circuit shown in FIG. 7 in the integrated circuit, it is necessary to develop special input/output cells that are different from peripheral input/output cells, as the input/output cells for the driver circuit. Consequently, in addition to the time required to develop the internal circuits to be provided in the integrated circuit, additionally time is required to develop the special input/output cells.
Generally, a resistor or a transistor is used as the protection element for preventing the electrostatic damage. But when the transistor is used as the protection element, the transistor and the parasitic element in the vicinity of the transistor affect the high-speed characteristic of the integrated circuit. When a resistor is connected between the pad and each output terminal producing the differential output of the low-amplitude differential output circuit, the high-speed characteristic of the low-amplitude differential output circuit is affected by the parasitic element in the vicinity of the resistor and the increase in circuit area caused by the provision of the resistor. In addition, in the case of the circuit shown in FIG. 7, the connection of the resistor reduces a drain-source current of the NMOS transistor N3 forming the current mirror circuit, and the constant current characteristic of the constant current circuit 101 deteriorates because the operation of the NMOS transistor N3 changes from a 5-active (or 5-saturation) region operation to a 3-active (or 3-saturation) region operation.
In addition, in a case where a resistor is connected between the pad and the output terminal for improving ESD withstand voltage, the circuit area increases due to the additional provision of the resistor, and the operation speed deteriorates due to the resistor and the parasitic element. As for the operation of the internal circuit, the operating range of the transistor within the differential output circuit decreases due to the additional provision of the resistor. For example, if the NMOS transistor N3 and the PMOS transistor P3 shown in FIGS. 4 through 7 form a current mirror circuit together with an external constant current circuit, a source-drain voltage for operating the NMOS transistor N3 and the PMOS transistor P3 in the 5-active (or 5-saturation) region is required, and in order to increase the source-drain voltage that is reduced due to the additional provision of the resistor, it is necessary to increase the transistor size of the NMOS transistor N3 and the PMOS transistor P3. Consequently, the circuit area increases in such a case.
Furthermore, the so-called silicide transistor having a thin oxide layer and reduced parasitic resistance in the periphery of the transistor is used to further improve the high-speed operation. On the other hand, such a silicide transistor is not used, and instead, a transistor having a thick oxide layer is used for the transistor within the input/output cell where the electrostatic and surge directly enter.
However, when the electrostatic or surge enters the input/output cell from the outside, the electrostatic or surge may not pass through the input/output cell and deteriorate the silicide transistor which has the thin oxide layer and the reduced parasitic resistance within the integrated circuit. Particularly the low-amplitude differential output circuit is easily affected by such electrostatic or surge, because the output part is directly connected to the pad.
Therefore, it is conceivable to increase the transistor size of the protection transistor which is provided within the input/output cell for the purpose of improving the ESD withstand voltage, so that the electrostatic or surge passes through the input/output cell. However, increasing the transistor size of the protection transistor will increase the parasitic resistance in the periphery of the protection transistor, to thereby cause the high-speed operation of the low-amplitude differential output circuit to deteriorate.

Differential output circuit and semiconductor device having the same


The semiconductor device includes at least three semiconductor elements disposed directly or indirectly on a planar member and constituting an upper arm and a lower arm which perform ON and OFF action at mutually differential times; an upper-surface voltage applied region of each semiconductor element is configured to be narrower than an area of the aforementioned whole semiconductor element in planar view; and each semiconductor element is disposed so that the shortest distance between the semiconductor elements constituting the upper arm is formed so as to be longer than the shortest distance between the semiconductor element constituting the upper arm and the semiconductor element constituting the lower arm.

For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses that, when two three-phase inverters are connected to each other in parallel, a module constituting an upper arm of one inverter and a module constituting a lower arm of the other inverter are disposed to be adjacent to each other in each phase, and the modules constituting the same arm are disposed in a staggered manner, thereby suppressing an increase in temperature of each semiconductor element constituting the inverter.

Semiconductor device with reduced thermal resistance


A thermal energy storage container which includes a first panel having a container attachment element located around a periphery thereof. The container attachment element is adapted to engage a complementary lid attachment element. The thermal energy storage container includes a container compartment adapted to store a thermal energy storage material. A thermal energy storage lid which includes a lid attachment element located around a periphery thereof. The lid attachment element is adapted to engage a complementary container attachment element.

The present invention relates to thermal energy storage lids and containers and, more particularly, to lids and containers having a thermal energy storage material located therein.
Thermal energy storage packs are generally known for use in maintaining the contents of a storage container in a heated or cooled state. For example, frozen thermal packs are pre-filled with a thermal energy storage material which can be frozen and then placed alongside food in an insulated container, such as a cooler, in order to maintain the cooler contents, such as food and drinks, in a cold state for a predetermined time period. Such thermal energy materials generally have 10-15 times the thermal capacity of frozen water and therefore maintain the cooler contents in a cold state for an extended period of time in comparison to ice alone. Such cold packs can be reused numerous times by refreezing them between use, and also avoid the problem of melting liquid contacting the items in the cooler. However, it is not always convenient to fit a cold pack in a cooler or other containers in addition to the various food and drinks placed therein.
Energy storage materials which maintain heat are also known which can be preheated in a microwave or through other means, and then placed in a cooler in order to provide heat within the cooler to keep food storage containers in the box warm for a predetermined time period.
These heat or cold packs generally come in predetermined sizes which are not always suitable for use with a particular cooler or box, depending upon the articles or food storage containers also being placed therein.
One embodiment of the present invention is directed to a thermal energy storage container. The thermal energy storage container includes a first panel having a container attachment element. The first panel defines a recess for receiving food. A second panel is offset from the first panel. The second panel has a peripheral edge connected to the first panel to form a container compartment generally coextensive with the second panel. The container compartment includes a thermal energy storage material.
Another embodiment of the present invention is separately directed to a thermal energy storage container. The thermal energy storage container includes a first panel having a container attachment element. The first panel defines a recess for receiving food. A second panel is offset from the first panel. The second panel has a peripheral edge connected to the first panel to form a container compartment generally coextensive with the second panel. The second panel defines a hole. A tube surrounds the hole and projects away from the container compartment. The tube forms a conduit to allow the insertion of a thermal energy storage material into the container compartment.
Another embodiment of the present invention is separately directed to a method of making a thermal energy storage container. The method includes: providing first and second panels, the first panel including a container attachment element, the second panel being offset from the first panel, the second panel having a peripheral edge connected to the first panel to form a container compartment generally coextensive with the second panel, the second panel further defining a hole and including a tube surrounding the hole and projecting away from the container compartment, the tube forming a conduit to allow the insertion of a thermal energy storage material into the container compartment; inserting a thermal energy storage material into the container compartment through the tube; and closing the tube to seal the container compartment.
Another embodiment of the present invention is separately directed a thermal energy storage lid for a container. The thermal energy storage lid includes a first panel having a lid attachment element. A second panel is offset from the first panel. The second panel is removably connected to the first panel to form a lid compartment generally coextensive with the second panel. A thermal energy storage material for storage is located in a sealed pouch in the lid compartment.
Another embodiment of the present invention is separately directed to a thermal energy storage lid for a container. The thermal energy storage lid includes a first panel having a lid attachment element. A second panel is offset from the first panel. The second panel has a peripheral edge connected to the first panel to form a lid compartment generally coextensive with the second panel. The second panel defines a hole. A tube surrounds the hole and projects away from the lid compartment. The tube forms a conduit to allow the insertion of a thermal energy storage material into the lid compartment.
Another embodiment of the present invention is separately directed to a method of making a thermal energy storage lid for a container. The method includes: providing first and second panels, the first panel having a lid attachment element, the second panel offset from the first panel and having a peripheral edge connected to the first panel to form a lid compartment generally coextensive with the second panel, the second panel defining a hole and including a tube surrounding the hole and projecting away from the lid compartment, the tube forming a conduit to allow the insertion of a thermal energy storage material into the lid compartment; inserting a thermal energy storage material into the lid compartment through the tube; and closing the tube to seal the lid compartment.
Another embodiment of the present invention is separately directed to a thermal energy storage system. The thermal energy storage system includes a thermal energy storage container. The thermal energy storage container includes a first panel having a container attachment element. The first panel defines a recess for receiving food. A second panel is offset from the first panel. The second panel has a peripheral edge connected to the first panel to form a container compartment generally coextensive with the second panel. The container compartment includes a thermal energy storage material. The thermal energy storage system also includes a thermal energy storage lid. The thermal energy storage lid includes a first panel having a lid attachment element. A second panel is offset from the first panel. The second panel has a peripheral edge connected to the first panel to form a lid compartment generally coextensive with the second panel. The lid compartment includes a thermal energy storage material. The thermal energy storage lid is removably attached to the thermal energy storage container.
Another embodiment of the present invention is separately directed to a method of making a thermal energy storage system. The method includes: providing a thermal energy storage container having first and second panels, the second panel being offset from the first panel, the second panel having a peripheral edge connected to the first panel to form a container compartment generally coextensive with the second panel, the second panel further defining a hole and including a tube surrounding the hole and projecting away from the container compartment, the tube forming a conduit to allow the insertion of a thermal energy storage material into the container compartment; inserting a thermal energy storage material into the container compartment through the tube; closing the tube to seal the container compartment; providing a thermal energy storage lid having first and second panels, the first panel including a lid attachment element, the second panel offset from the first panel and having a peripheral edge connected to the first panel to form a lid compartment generally coextensive with the second panel, the second panel defining a hole and including a tube surrounding the hole and projecting away from the lid compartment, the tube forming a conduit to allow the insertion of a thermal energy storage material into the lid compartment; inserting a thermal energy storage material into the lid compartment through the tube; closing the tube to seal the lid compartment; and attaching the thermal energy storage lid to the thermal energy storage container.
Another embodiment of the present invention is separately directed to a set of stacked thermal energy storage containers. The set of stacked thermal energy storage containers includes a plurality of thermal energy storage containers. Each thermal energy storage container is of a proportionately different size. Each thermal energy storage container includes a first panel having a container attachment element. The first panel defines a recess for receiving food. A second panel is offset from the first panel. The second panel has a peripheral edge connected to the first panel to form a container compartment generally coextensive with the second panel. The container compartment includes a thermal energy storage material. The plurality of thermal energy storage containers are concentrically stacked together.
Another embodiment of the present invention is separately directed to a method for making a set of stacked thermal energy storage containers. The method includes: providing a plurality of thermal energy storage containers, wherein each thermal energy storage container is of a proportionately different size; each thermal energy storage container including first and second panels, the first panel including a container attachment element, the second panel being offset from the first panel, the second panel having a peripheral edge connected to the first panel to form a container compartment generally coextensive with the second panel, the second panel further defining a hole and including a tube surrounding the hole and projecting away from the container compartment, the tube forming a conduit to allow the insertion of a thermal energy storage material into the container compartment; inserting a thermal energy storage material into the container compartment through the tube; closing the tube to seal the container compartment; and concentrically stacking the plurality of thermal energy storage containers together.
Another embodiment of the present invention is separately directed to a method for maintaining a consumable product at a desired temperature for a desired amount of time. The method including: providing a plurality of thermal energy storage containers, wherein each thermal energy storage container is of a proportionately different size; each thermal energy storage container including first and second panels, the second panel being offset from the first panel, the first panel including a container attachment element, the second panel having a peripheral edge connected to the first panel to form a container compartment generally coextensive with the second panel, the container compartment including a thermal energy storage material; concentrically stacking the plurality of thermal energy storage containers, the number of thermal energy storage containers in the stack depending on the desired time period for which the desired temperature is to be maintained within the innermost thermal energy storage container; providing a thermal energy storage lid having first and second panels, the first panel including a lid attachment element, the second panel offset from the first panel and having a peripheral edge connected to the first panel to form a lid compartment generally coextensive with the second panel, the lid compartment including a thermal energy storage material; and attaching a thermal energy storage lid to the innermost thermal energy storage container in the set of stacked thermal energy storage containers.


A vehicle is described, the body of which comprises at least one cross-member delimiting a vehicle engine or luggage compartment and defined by a box structure which is made fluid-tight to retain a liquid in its interior, and is provided upperly with a filler closed in a fluid-tight manner by a removable stopper, and lowerly with means for withdrawing from the interior of said box structure a liquid contained in it, so that the box structure acts as a storage reservoir for a wash liquid for the vehicle windows.

This invention relates to an improved vehicle, of which a body structural element is formed in such a manner as to define a storage reservoir for a liquid to be used by the vehicle, such as the vehicle window wash liquid.
In current vehicles, the vehicle window was liquid, consisting usually of water with or without the addition of detergents, is normally held in suitable reservoirs housed in the engine compartment (for washing the vehicle windscreen) and, more rarely, in the vehicle luggage compartment (for washing the vehicle rear window), from which the wash liquid is withdrawn under the control of the user, normally by means of electrically driven pumps, and is fed through a suitable hose system to nozzles which spray it onto the windows to be washed.
It is apparent that, especially if the space contained in the vehicle engine compartment or luggage compartment is small, the overall size of such storage reservoirs, which have a volume of at least the order of a liter, reduces the space available for other vehicle mechanical components which may be more important from the point of view of vehicle efficiency or safety, so creating considerable layout problems for the designers during the vehicle design stage, together with considerable maintenance problems in that, because of the space requirements of such window wash liquid storage reservoirs, some components requiring maintenance are sometimes located in nearly inaccessible positions so increasing the manhours required for vehicle maintenance.

Vehicle with a reservoir incorporated in a structural element of the vehicle body


A clinical information extraction and training mechanism is provided for automatically extracting and identifying information in plain text narratives in a set of electronic medical records. The mechanism segments each clinical note in a plurality of clinical notes into one or more identified sections, labels each identified section with an associated tag, and generate a tag data structure utilizing explicitly tagged sequences of sentences and associated tags. The mechanism performs statistical analysis of the identified sections that contain tags identified in the tag data structure to identify one or more valid stop/start conditions; extracts a first set of positive examples of sentences for a selected type of information, and then trains a cognitive system to identify sentences in the plurality of clinical notes that fail to have a tag associated with the selected type using the positive examples of sentences for different types of information.

The present application relates generally to an improved data processing apparatus and method and more specifically to computer mechanisms for training supervised machine learning models to automatically identify information in plain text narratives of electronic medical records.
Decision-support systems exist in many different industries where human experts require assistance in retrieving and analyzing information, such as from patients' electronic medical records (EMRs). Clinical notes, such as plain text narratives created by clinicians (i.e. physicians, nurses, and other care providers), are a rich source of patient care documentation in the patients' EMRs. While the clinical notes are free-form in principle, clinicians write them using the SOAP (subjective, objective, assessment, and plan) format. Typically, clinicians organize content within the clinical notes using section tags, such as "Assessment:" or "Plan:". For example, the former indicates subsequent text (usually written in multiple lines, sometimes as a bulleted or numbered list) is the clinical assessment and the latter indicates a treatment plan. However, the presence of such tags is not guaranteed and their surface representation may vary considerably. For example, some clinical notes may use the abbreviated form "P:" or synonymous labels such as "Recommendation:" to indicate treatment plans.

Identifying information in plain text narratives EMRs

International Business Machines Corporation


A continuous process for manufacturing a multilayered wound dressing including an apertured wound contact layer, an absorbent material layer and a backing layer, including (a) providing a substantially continuous first web comprising the wound contact layer and a first process release liner; (b) forming a plurality of apertures through the wound contact layer; (c) applying the absorbent material layer to the wound contact layer; (d) laminating a substantially continuous web of the backing layer over the absorbent material layer to form the composite web; and (e) cutting individual multilayered wound dressings from the composite web.

The present invention relates to multilayered wound dressings suitable for the management of especially chronic wounds. More particularly, the invention relates to the manufacture of these dressings in a continuous process such that large quantities of individual dressings can be produced in a repeatable and cost efficient manner.
Wound dressings, and in particular, multilayered wound dressings are known to be useful in speeding healing of acute wounds, stimulating healing of chronic non-healing wounds and in reducing wound pain. Wound dressings include transparent adhesive films, primarily constructed of polyurethane, non-transparent adhesives such as hydrocolloids, semitransparent adhesives including hydrogels and non-transparent non-adhesives such as foams.
Hydrocolloid dressings have found widespread use especially for the management of chronic wounds, such as venostasis ulcers and decubitus ulcers. Hydrocolloid dressings also are useful for dressing certain acute wounds such as burns, donor sites and even post-surgical incisions. Hydrocolloid dressings are comprised of a suspension of fluid absorbent fillers in a pressure sensitive adhesive vehicle. Many hydrocolloid adhesive formulations have been described in the prior art. Suitable adhesive formulations may be found, for example, in the following patents, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety: U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,546; U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,369; U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,732; U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,325; U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,257; U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,490; U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,785; U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,618; WO 99/11728 and WO 99/14282.
Because the hydrocolloid is both adhesive and absorbent, these dressings can be placed in direct contact with the wound and can be adhered to the intact skin surrounding the wound. Generally they need no adjunct fixation and are thus convenient and economical to use. Hydrocolloid dressings are typically occlusive, which means they do not allow the wound to dry out and form eschar. Such dressings maintain the wound in a moist environment so that the cascade of cellular processes involved in wound healing proceeds in an optimal manner. Moreover, the moist hydrocolloid does not adhere to the wound. When a change of dressing is necessary the hydrocolloid dressing can be easily removed from the granulating wound bed without damaging the new tissues.
However, many chronic wounds are highly exudative, and one of the limitations of hydrocolloid dressings arises because of their relatively limited absorption capacity. If the dressing cannot absorb the wound exudate at a rate commensurate with exudate production by the wound, the dressing will quickly become saturated with fluid. This will cause the dressing to leak, and will cause maceration of the skin surrounding the wound. Wound exudate can be highly irritating to intact skin, and can cause the skin to break down and excoriate. Because these chronic wounds can often last for many months and even years, leakage of exudate can cause serious problems for the maintenance of healthy intact skin of the patient, and can therefore compromise effective wound management.
It is predominantly the older population that suffers from venostasis ulcers and decubitus ulcers. The market for dressings for these chronic wounds is therefore a growing one because of the changing demographics especially in developed countries. Considerable effort is being directed to development of improved chronic wound dressings, and this effort is very much directed to improve absorbency by use of composite dressing structures.
A number of approaches have been taken to develop dressings that have enhanced absorption capacity for chronic wounds. Dressings currently on the market that are indicated for heavily exuding wounds can comprise absorbent foams, such as absorbent polyurethane foams, or fibrous absorbents such as are used in dressings containing fibers of calcium alginate, or blends of sodium and calcium alginate, or fibers of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. Examples of commercially available foam based dressings include Tielle(copyright), sold by Johnson and Johnson, Allevyn(copyright), sold by Smith and Nephew and Lyofoam(copyright), sold by the SSL Company. Examples of fibrous dressings currently on the market include Aquacel(copyright), sold by ConvaTec and Sorbsan(copyright), distributed by Maersk Medical.
However, there are drawbacks with the use of these foam and fiber based dressings. Neither material is inherently adhesive and therefore the fibrous or foam pad must be held in place with adjunct fixation. The Tielle(copyright) product from Johnson and Johnson is available with the absorbent foam as an island pad centered on an adhesive coated microporous foam backing. While this dressing has a high capacity for fluid management, this capacity is achieved in part by transmission of water vapor through the microporous backing. Such water vapor transmission can lead to drying out of the wound, especially as the exudate level drops during the intermediate stage of wound healing. Drying of the wound can lead to significant delay in healing and even to deterioration of the wound bed by formation of eschar.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,822 addresses this problem. This patent discloses a dressing comprising a wound contact sheet laminated to one side of an absorbent layer of water swellable material such as polyurethane foam. The wound contact sheet is provided with one or more slits. Expansion of the absorbent layer by exudate absorption causes the wound contacting sheet to expand, and the slits to open, thereby allowing passage of high flow rates of exudate. If the flow of exudate falls, then the slits close, thereby avoiding excessive drying of the wound bed.
There are many other examples of composite multilayered wound dressings in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,337 discloses a composite dressing having an absorbent adhesive laminated to a fibrous absorbent such as an alginate. The fibrous absorbent is further laminated to a backing material such as a nonwoven polyester fabric by means of a second adhesive layer in between the fibrous layer and the nonwoven polyester fabric.
WO 00/41661 discloses a multilayered wound dressing having an absorbent layer having a high absorbency but a low lateral wicking rate and a transmission layer having a high moisture vapor transmission rate bonded to the side of said absorbent layer furthest from the wound. The wound dressing may also include an adhesive layer for adhering the dressing to the skin surrounding the wound. The optional adhesive may be a fluid interactive hydrocolloid adhesive and may be provided with perforations to assist transport of exudates through the dressing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,103,951 discloses a composite dressing having a polymeric cover layer bonded to a fibrous web that contains a mixture of a superabsorbent and a hydrocolloid. The fibrous web is characterized by a glazed surface of fused fibers on to which are deposited particles of hydrocolloid containing adhesive. The selvage edge of the dressing is fused to itself and to the polymeric cover layer. A process for the production of such a dressing is also described.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,579 discloses a hydrocolloid having a polymeric support layer which can be continuous or discontinuous, an occlusive backing layer that overlies the support layer, an optional adhesive which may be a hydrocolloid adhesive on the skin contacting surface and an optional absorbent region interposed between the support and the backing layer.
EP 0 617 938 B1 discloses a wound dressing having a non-continuous hydrocolloid-containing polymeric support layer and an occlusive backing layer overlying the polymeric support layer, with an optional adhesive on at least a portion of the wound contacting surface, and an optional absorbent region interposed between the polymeric support and the occlusive layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,001 discloses a wound dressing having a wound and skin contact layer, an upper occlusive layer with an absorbent layer in between with leak prevention seals which define an absorbent region. These seals disclosed as being effective in preventing the escape of wound exudate from the dressing on to the surrounding intact skin.
It can readily be seen from the foregoing review of the prior art that there has been considerable recent activity in the development of composite wound dressings suitable for chronic wound healing. In general, these composite wound dressings contain, as elements in their preferred embodiments, both hydrocolloid adhesives and another absorbent layer such as a fibrous or foam pad, the latter acting in such a composite as a sump to contain excess exudate. Moreover, composite absorbents of hydrocolloid and foam or fiber can also be backed with a microporous foam or film. The microporous foam or film backing will transport excess moisture out of the dressing but without the concomitant risk of drying the wound bed, since the hydrocolloid adhesive will maintain the wound bed moist even if the fibrous or foam absorbent becomes overly dry through evaporation.
The wound dressings described most recently in the prior art are much more complex than those earlier described and known wound dressings. Such complexity makes development of suitable high speed processes essential so that large quantities of these more complex dressings can be manufactured economically.
The present invention relates to a continuous manufacturing process for the production of complex multilayered wound dressings comprising laminates of several dissimilar materials in which the individual materials may be combined in various, predetermined configurations. The process of the present invention is a flexible, modular continuous manufacturing process, in which any or all of the unit operations including, for example, die cutting, lamination, island pad placement, heat bonding of composite absorbents, application of release liners, may be combined in different ways to manufacture specific dressing constructions. For example, the wound contact layer of the dressing may be die cut to form slits, perforations or apertures. The absorbent layer of the dressing may be applied as a discrete island of various dimensions to the wound contact layer. With the flexible process of the present invention, the dressing construction may be heat or adhesive bonded to give integrity in use. Further, a release liner having, for example, an unfolded, single fold or double fold configuration may be provided in the continuous process of the present invention.
In one embodiment, the present invention relates to combining some or all of the foregoing operations into a single, continuous process such that the individual materials may be continuously fed into the process, and the finished dressings continuously emerge at the end of the production line. In one embodiment, the steps are carried out in a registered continuous process.
Thus, the present invention relates to a process of manufacturing a multilayered wound dressing including an apertured wound contact layer, an absorbent material layer and a backing layer, including (a) providing a substantially continuous first web comprising the wound contact layer having a first and second major face and a first process release liner adhered to the first major face of the wound contact layer; (b) forming a plurality of apertures through the wound contact layer; (c) applying the absorbent material layer to the second major face of the wound contact layer; (d) laminating a substantially continuous web of the backing layer over the absorbent material layer to form the composite web; and (e) cutting the multilayered wound dressing from the composite web, in which the steps (a)-(e) are carried out in a continuous sequence.
In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a multilayered wound dressing comprising an apertured wound contact layer, an absorbent material layer and a backing layer, including (a) providing a substantially continuous first web comprising the wound contact layer having a first and second major face, a first process release liner adhered to the first major face of the wound contact layer and the second process release liner adhered to the second major face of the wound contact layer; (b) forming a plurality of apertures through the wound contact layer by cutting, and removing the second process release liner and portions of the wound contact layer cut out from the apertures; (c) applying a discrete absorbent layer from a substantially continuous web of the absorbent material to the second major face of the wound contact layer; (d) laminating a substantially continuous web of the backing layer over the absorbent material layer to form the composite web; and (e) cutting individual multilayered wound dressings from the composite web, in which the steps (a)-(e) are carried out in a continuous sequence.
In another embodiment, the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a multilayered wound dressing comprising an apertured wound contact layer having a first and second major face, an absorbent material layer and a backing layer, including (a) providing a substantially continuous first web comprising the wound contact layer having a first and second major face and a first process release liner adhered to the first major face of the wound contact layer; (b) forming a plurality of apertures through the wound contact layer; (c) applying a discrete absorbent layer from a substantially continuous web of the absorbent material to the second major face of the wound contact layer, cutting and removing a portion of the web of the absorbent material; (d) laminating a substantially continuous web of the backing layer over the absorbent material layer to form the composite web; and (e) cutting the multilayered wound dressing from the composite web, in which the steps (a)-(e) are carried out in a continuous sequence.
Accordingly, the method of the present invention provides a process for preparing complex multilayer wound dressings in a continuous sequence.

Process for the manufacture of multilayered wound dressings


An image processing apparatus according to the present invention that displays a stereoscopic image to a viewer, includes an input unit that inputs image data related to the stereoscopic image, a detection unit that detects a change of a projection amount of the stereoscopic image from the image data input by the input unit, a generation unit that generates the image obtained by suppressing high-frequency components from the stereoscopic image when the change of the projection amount is detected by the detection unit, and a display control unit that displays a video image generated by the generation unit in a display apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display control apparatus suitably used for, for example, stereoscopic training a display control method, and a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
A display which enables viewing of stereoscopic video by showing different images to both eyes of a viewer is known. On such a display, a video subject for the left eye and the video subject for the right eye are arranged in shifted positions according to the distance and stereoscopic training can be provided by using the parallax. A parallax barrier, polarizing filter, and time division have been realized as methods of displaying right and left images on the same display surface.
However, when stereoscopic video being viewed is switched, the sense of depth changes rapidly, which often makes fatigue caused by the viewing accumulate. Thus, as a method of preventing viewing fatigue, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-239389 discusses a method of displaying interpolating stereoscopic video in which parallax is gradually changed before video is displayed by generating interpolating video with less parallax than the video original. Accordingly, a rapid parallax change is mitigated by viewing the interpolating video so that fatigue can be reduced. Moreover, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-191460 discusses a method of reducing fatigue of an operator by delaying switching timing of reproduced images to artificially prolong the period of a repeated operation after a detection switch is pressed when the operator feels fatigue due to the repeated operation.
However, according to the method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-239389, a beginning portion is replaced by interpolating images and thus, the scene at the beginning lacks stereoscopic vision depending on video content when stereoscopic video is switched. Also according to the method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-191460, if video content when switched contains a moving subject, the speed of the moving subject in the video is also slowed down by delaying the switching timing of reproduced images, leading to video which caused an uncomfortable feeling.

Display control apparatus, display control method, and program


A microelectronic device comprising a stack structure comprising a non-staircase region, a staircase region, and an array region. Each of the non-staircase region, the staircase region, and the array region comprises tiers of alternating conductive materials and dielectric materials. One or more pillars are in the non-staircase region and in the array region, and one or more supports are in the staircase region. A conductive material is in each of the non-staircase region, the staircase region, and the array region and extends vertically into a source adjacent to the tiers. The source comprises corrosion containment features in each of the non-staircase region, the staircase region, and the array region, adjacent to the conductive material in the source. Additional microelectronic devices, electronic systems, and methods are also disclosed.

A continuing goal of the microelectronics industry has been to increase the memory density (e.g., the number of memory cells per memory die) of memory devices, such as non-volatile memory devices (e.g., NAND Flash memory devices). One way of increasing memory density in non-volatile memory devices is to utilize vertical memory array (also referred to as a "three-dimensional (3D) memory array") architectures. A conventional vertical memory array includes transistor/memory-cell pillars extending through one or more decks (e.g., stack structures) including tiers of alternating conductive materials and dielectric materials. The vertically oriented conductive materials of the tiers are configured, for example, as word lines or control gates and the dielectric materials are at each junction of the memory-cell pillars and the conductive materials. This configuration permits a greater number of transistors to be located in a unit of die area by building the array upwards (e.g., longitudinally, vertically) on a die, as compared to structures with conventional planar (e.g., two-dimensional) arrangements of transistors. Such a configuration permits a greater number of switching devices (e.g., transistors) to be located in a unit of die area (i.e., length and width of active surface consumed) by building the array upwards (e.g., vertically) on a die, as compared to structures with conventional planar (e.g., two-dimensional) arrangements of transistors.
To form 3D NAND Flash memory devices, a so-called "replacement gate" process may be used, in which tiers including alternating dielectric materials and nitride materials become tiers including alternating dielectric materials and conductive materials. The nitride material of the tiers is replaced with a conductive material, producing the tiers of alternating conductive materials and dielectric materials. During the replacement gate process, a material removal process (e.g., an etch process) is conducted to form so-called "slits" in the tiers, with the slits extending from an upper surface of an uppermost tier to a lower surface of a lowermost tier. The nitride material of the tiers is then removed through the slits and replaced with the conductive material. The slits may be present in different portions of the 3D NAND Flash memory device, such as in a staircase region, an array region, or a region external to the staircase region. During the formation of the slits, overetch of the tier materials may occur, extending the slits through a contact material and into a source material underlying the tiers in the array region and into the source material underlying the non-staircase region. Therefore, the slits extend into the source material in the array region and the non-staircase region. Similarly, in forming the slits in the staircase region, a fill material may be overetched such that the slits extend through the fill material and into the source material in the staircase region. When exposed to the conditions (e.g., etch chemistry, etch time) of the etch process, corrosion of the source material and the contact material may occur in the staircase region, array region, or non-staircase region. The corrosion may cause lifting of the tiers in the array region and of the staircase in the staircase region, leading to arcing and other performance issues in the 3D NAND Flash memory device containing the corrosion.

Microelectronic devices including corrosion containment features, and related electronic systems and methods